Tag Archives: KSFO

Wow (and I Mean That Literally)

Yes, no exaggeration in this case. It really is Wow! Of course, Wow is an airline, not something so unusual. They are a low cost airline operating out of Iceland and they have started direct flights to San Francisco. I hadn’t managed to see them since they started service. They come in on certain days and later in the afternoon but had not been helped by air traffic delays in Iceland which had meant the flights were arriving late on a regular basis. I did finally get to see one of their A330s come in – late but not as late as had sometimes been the case.

The light at this time of year is not so easy. At the end of the day, the sun angle actually moves sufficiently far around to be on the nose and then even slightly backlit. The late arrival exacerbates the issue but the sun was still slightly on the right side when they came in. It does result in quite some contrast between the nose and the fuselage sides which, with a dark color like they have, makes for a more difficult exposure. I want to visit Iceland at some point so having a direct flight is definitely something to consider for me.

A340 Season

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It may be that the A340 is in its twilight years but it is still a type that is in operation with a number of airlines. Having watched a few different types disappear from service recently, I am paying more attention to those planes that might not be around for too much longer. I figure the A340 is one of those types. SFO gets a number of them on a normal day from a variety of operators. Virgin Atlantic brings in an A340-600 most days. Meanwhile, the original version shows up with a couple of airlines. Swiss and SAS bring in the A340-300 as part of their services. Philippine Airlines has been known to bring them in too but they are currently using 777-300ERs on this route and the 340s are elsewhere.

I made the effort to get the visitors both arriving and departing. Arrival shots are not great at this time of year as the heat haze starts to become a problem. However, you can still get something reasonable if you get a little lucky. You can go further out on the approach to minimize haze but you lose the context a little.

Moving around to the departure end of the 28s means you can get the planes as they come over your head when taking off. Sadly, all of them went from 28L rather than 28R which means they are slightly backlit when they come by. However, this doesn’t hurt things too much. The shots of them retreating into the distance were not possible on this day though due to the cloud rolling in off the hills which they disappeared into pretty quickly. I guess they will be around for a little longer but it won’t be too long before the A340 is consigned to secondary operators and lower utilization.

A Different Angle on the Parallel Approaches

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The parallel approaches to SFO are well known and have been the subject of previous posts here. This time I was looking for something different on this theme. I was at a favorite location of mine, Coyote Point. This is further out on the approach and a lovely park area. If nothing is happening, this is still a very relaxing place to be. It sticks out in to the bay with the result that you are much closer to the approach flightpaths. This makes for good opportunities to get shots of the aircraft and, in the warmer months, it reduces any problems with heat haze. However, it does change your alignment with the planes and the possibilities for parallel approach shots since the places appear to be stepped down from your angle.

This is not necessarily a problem so you can go vertical if you want. Also, it does make you well aligned for shots when the approaches are not happening in sync. You can find the second aircraft turning in further out is actually quite well lined up with the first since it is offset vertically as well as horizontally. The shots are not the classic parallel approach shots but they are still something a little unusual.

WestJet and the House of Mouse

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Promotional paint schemes are not uncommon – particularly with certain airlines. Alaska has a bunch of them. This one was a new one for me. WestJet, a Canadian airline, seems to have a marketing tie up with Disney too. They have painted a 737 up in an all-over shame that certainly gets your attention, if only to wonder what on earth it is. I was pleasantly surprised to catch it having had no idea it was on its way.

What, No Winglets?

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There is not a huge amount of variation in airliners these days so coming across something a little different is usually a moment of interest. While the name Alaska Airlines might suggest an airline focused on Alaska, it is actually headquartered in Seattle and seems to have a wide range of operations all across the west coast. Consequently, we see a lot of them in both Oakland and SFO. They have a large fleet of 737-800s and 737-900ERs and both types have been retrofitted with the APB Scimitar winglets. Apparently, not all of them though. This example I saw coming by Coyote Point and it not only doesn’t have Scimitars, it doesn’t have winglets at all. A rare beast these days.

Texas One Retires (for now)

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I saw online this weekend that Southwest Airlines had retired Texas One, a jet painted up in Texas colors. Texas One is a 737-300 and Southwest is accelerating the withdrawal of the 300 Series jets. It flew out of Dallas to a facility that will break the jet for parts. By coincidence, I happened to shoot this very jet the day before when it arrived at SFO. I had no idea that it would be at the end of its career. Nice surprise. For those that like the colors, fear not. I hear that Southwest will be painting another jet in this scheme before too long.

Marine Corps C-9

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If you had asked me whether the McDonnell Douglas C-9 Skytrain was still in service, I would have said no. Used by the Navy and Marine Corps, the fleet had been wound down as C-40 Clippers were introduced. I thought that they had all gone by now. You can guess, then, that I was rather surprised when I saw one at SFO. Two aircraft were on parallel approaches – one a Delta 757 and the other appearing to be a DC-9/MD-87/Boeing717. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention but parallel approaches are always worth a shot so I was taking pictures when I realized that the aircraft was a C-9B Skytrain in Marine Corps markings. The conditions were a bit heat hazy but I wasn’t going to miss this.

I grabbed a bunch of shots as it landed and felt rather pleased with the turn of events. I then stopped thinking about it. A little later I moved around to the other end of SFO to get some head on departures of some of the widebodies that were due out. You don’t get many narrowbodies taking off on the 28s unless the wind is particularly strong down those runways. One or two will use it but not many. I saw a narrowbody start its takeoff roll and almost ignored it AGAIN!

However, I did end up trying some shots and then realizing as it got closer that it was the C-9B again. I guess it was just my lucky day that I had two opportunities to miss it and didn’t either time. As it flew overhead, I was able to get some far better angles on it than were possible when on approach. I also got to experience the noise levels that jets of this vintage came with. I did a little research afterwards and apparently only two jets remain in use with the Marine Corps and all Navy and Air Force examples are retired. This one is a rare one indeed, not least because it is based on the east coast. No idea how long they have left but this was certainly a fortunate encounter.

Air Force One and More Bad Weather

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The Boeing VC-25, known as Air Force One when the president is on-board, made another visit to San Francisco a short while ago. I had previously gone out to try and get this aircraft when it was in town. One visit got there shortly after it had left. Another got there in time but the weather was a lot less than ideal. I wrote about the missed opportunity here and the slightly more successful time here.

The weather forecast for the time of departure was not good. Arrival had been around the time I was flying home a few days before so I had been more interested then in whether our flight was going to be delayed. With the weather looking poor, I was not making a plan to go. Instead I was visiting some people in Hayward to discuss another aviation project. As it happened, we wrapped up at about the right time for me to make the dash across the bay to SFO so I figured I would go. The rain had been bad but it did appear that things might be clearing up.

I got to the airport and could see that the VC-25 was still parked up. Aircraft were still arriving and departing so I knew I had some time. I just hoped it hadn’t all been delayed without me knowing. I hadn’t been there long when I got a visit from law enforcement. The big lens obviously got some attention. We had a chat and my details were verified but everything was ultimately cool. The cop was very friendly. As we finished up, I noticed that things had got very quiet. Nothing was arriving or departing – a good sign! The only thing airborne was a Coast Guard MH-65 in their new paint colors.

Meanwhile, the sun was making periodic peeps through the clouds. Was I actually going to get reasonable conditions? I could see the APU was running on the jet and a little while later, the beacon started flashing and the stairs were pulled away. Given that they don’t hang around, I figured we should see something soon. Sure enough, they taxied out from the parking area and headed for runway 28R via the taxiway on the opposite side of the peninsula on which the runways are built. A little worse for me with heat haze (yes, even on a crappy day the heat haze was still a problem).

I was aligned with the end of the runway so the jet taxied up and turned straight towards me before lining up and pushing the throttles up. The secret service vehicles that had followed it down the taxiway turned and raced alongside for a short while until the speed was too much for them. Unlike last time, they must have been a lot heavier because they used a lot of the runway before rotating. Then they climbed away. A successful shoot and time to head home!

An Abundance of Parallel Approaches

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Getting a parallel approach that actually results in the two planes being close together is something that you always hope for at SFO. While I was waiting for the Qantas jet to arrive, I was given an abundance of parallel approaches. No idea why it was good on this day. Traffic wasn’t particularly heavy. However, it seemed like everything was coming in at the same time. Sadly the conditions were not ideal but it was still okay.

Sometimes, the jets are a bit further apart but, when they first line up, they overlap in the distance. Other times they seem to start out further apart but you know that the perspective is off and they will end up close together. I guess this was just a lucky day. It is good to have lens options on an occasion like this. My longest lens is a prime. It works well for many things at SFO but, when the jets are close together, they will usually end up being too much for the lens. Having a second zoom to hand is ideal in that case.

Qantas Comes to Town

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If you shoot a few times at the same place, you get familiar with what to expect. Consequently, the arrival of a new operator is something of interest. In this case, it is the return of an operator. Qantas used to operate to SFO but pulled out a number of years ago. Now they have returned with a 747-400 coming in several times a week. I got my first view of one of the jets when I was at the airport to pick some people up. The scheduling of their flights means that they land in the morning but don’t leave again until late the following night. In the mean time, the plane is parked up near the parking structure for the international terminal and it was from there that I saw it.

I thought I ought to get an airborne shot so headed our one morning to see the arrival. The weather forecast was for a nice start followed by cloud moving in. The forecast was almost spot on but was a little optimistic about when the clouds would show up. They arrived a little early. Having had some really nice morning light on earlier movements, the conditions got a lot more overcast and dull by the time that the jet showed up. I guess this means I will have to try again at some point.