Tag Archives: moffett field

Solar Impulse and Shooting at Midnight

C59F0747.jpgThe round the world trip of Solar Impulse, the solar powered aircraft conceived of by Bertrand Piccard and built/flown by him and Andre Borschberg, resumed its journey after an enforced stay in Hawaii while they dealt with some overheating issues with the batteries.  By the time the batteries were fixed, it was too late in the year to continue.  The aircraft charges its batteries during the day and uses them at night.  If the day is shorter and the night longer, the flight is not sustainable.  The arrival of spring meant they could resume the trip.

AU0E4289.jpgOriginally the leg from Hawaii to the continental US was supposed to go to Phoenix. The break meant they came up with a revised route which included a stop in the Bay Area at Moffett Field in Mountain View.  This meant I could cover it for Global Aviation Resource.  There are two articles I prepared which you can see here and here.

The arrival was scheduled for about midnight.  Late landings and early departures are scheduled to provide the calmest conditions.  The very high aspect ratio, lightweight airframe is sensitive to turbulence.  It also is easier to schedule a very slow aircraft in to the air traffic patterns during the night.  While the time moved around a bit, it ended up being pretty much as expected.  This brought the issue of how to shoot an aircraft at midnight.

C59F0827.jpgI took a second shooter with me in the person of Hayman Tam.  I wanted stills and video for the story and can’t get both at once so we worked on it together.  He would focus on stills and I would get video.  I would also get some stills too.  The plane is sufficiently slow that you can get both for most situations apart from the landing itself.  It didn’t hurt that Hayman had just taken delivery of his D500 which should be a lot better in low light.

C59F0888.jpgI was mounting my camera and the 100-400 on a gimbal mount to steady it for video.  This was also helpful for getting stills.  Not ideal but better than nothing.  I was at the max ISO for my camera of 12,800 (excluding the extended ranges) with -1 to -2 in exposure compensation.  Even so, it was still a very slow shutter speed.  Some bursts of shooting were necessary to get a reasonable shot.  Fortunately the aircraft has a lot of lights of its own otherwise there wouldn’t be much to see.  It’s a shame my new bodies hadn’t arrived at the time as they might have been able to get better results.  Even so, I was quite pleased with what I got considering that I was shooting in the darkest conditions I have ever tried for a plane.

Views of San Jose and Beyond

AU0E3439.jpgThe top of Mount Hamilton provides a view down to San Jose in the valley below and then on to San Francisco Bay. You can see all the way up to San Francisco if the weather is clear enough. On the day we were there, the conditions were a little less clear but we still could see a good distance. Beyond San Jose, the hangars at Moffett Field were easy to spot as was Levi Stadium and the many buildings scattered around the shoreline of the bay.

C59F7637.jpgI would love to be up on the top of the mountain early in the morning on a day with really clear skies. However, it is not an insignificant drive to get up there and you want to make sure it is going to be worth it. Therefore, while I am going to try and do this at some point, it is going to be a combination of good planning, luck and readiness to head off on short notice in order to make it all work out.

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Rustling the Ruslan

wpid10380-C59F1240.jpgA long time holder of the title of world’s largest aircraft (until superseded by the single example of its big brother) was the Antonov AN124 Ruslan.  This giant freighter was created in the days of the Soviet Union by the Antonov design bureau in what is now Ukraine.  With the thawing of east-west relations, the utility of this aircraft was apparent to many western organizations both civil and military.  These days, the operators of the type have a steady business moving outsized freight around the world.  There has even been talk of restarting production although that remains just talk for now.

wpid10495-AN124.jpgMy first experience of the big Antonov came in 1988.  It made an appearance at the Farnborough airshow along with a pair of MiG-29s.  This was a big deal at the time and I remember being amazed as I stood next to these types that had been something previously unlikely to be seen unless something very bad had happened.  The MiGs flew impressive displays and wowed all who were there.  The Antonov was not so lucky.  On the first day of flying as I stood with everyone waiting for it to take off, it started to roll down the runway before a bang and flash indicated a surge in one of the engines and she stayed firmly on the ground.

wpid10384-C59F1258.jpgThat was as close as I got to one for a long time afterwards.  I occasionally might see one parked in a quiet corner of an airport and once or twice spotted one flying far off in the distance but I never saw one up close and flying until a short while ago.  I have a Flightaware tracker on the movements of these beasts and one of them was due into Moffett Field on a Saturday.  I decided this was something I had to do so made the trip across the bay.  Everything ran according to schedule and I was there to get a shot as she came in across the fence (a fence that spoiled a nice finishing shot which I include just because it was almost nice.)  Not bad after 26 years of waiting!

Moffett Field Hangar One

wpid10482-AU0E7897.jpgA visit to Moffett Field cannot be completed without reference to the huge airship hangars that they have. Hangar One is on the same side of the airfield as the museum and is right next to it. Hangars Two and Three are of a different construction and are on the other side of the field away from public access. Google is apparently the owner/tenant of the hangars now so they are out of bounds. In the museum, they have pictures of the hangars under construction. However, now you don’t have to imagine so much because Hangar One has had all of its cladding removed as part of its rehabilitation. Consequently, the structure is bare at the moment and you can see exactly how it is constructed. It looks pretty amazing although, given its size, it will always look amazing.

Moffett Field Museum

wpid10478-AU0E7889.jpgPaul’s visit also included a trip to Moffett Field. Neither of us had visited the museum there so we were both interested in having a look. To be honest, we had assumed it would be a relatively quick visit but the place was very interesting and a docent ended up chatting to us about lots of features in the museum and he was a great guy to talk to. He also took us outside to look at some of their more interesting aircraft.

wpid10466-AU0E7864.jpgThere are a few preserved aircraft at Moffett. Some restoration work continues and their P-2 Neptune is currently across the field being worked on. A P-3 is a short walk away from the museum but they have a fenced off area with a few other exhibits. These include an F-104G Starfighter that NASA used to operate, an AH-1 Cobra from the US Army, a research wind tunnel model (Moffett has an interesting selection of wind tunnels even after the demolition of the biggest one a few years ago) and their centerpiece, a Lockheed U-2. It is currently awaiting reassembly so the wings are on supports alongside the aircraft awaiting reattachment. They have worked hard on restoring it and it looks really cool. The camera installation is inside the museum as well.

wpid10474-AU0E7881.jpgMoffett Field’s history as an airfield is an interesting one and they cover it well. Whether it is the early airship work and the huge hangars that are still on the field or the long presence the US Navy had, the current ANG rescue operations or the NASA research activity, they have it covered. Do pay them a visit and support the work that they are doing. They have a few cool aircraft that are on the other side of the field which are currently out of bounds to the public so I shall have to see if there is a way to get to see them at some point.