Tag Archives: Paine Field

The Sun Arrives for the Falcon 20

Autumnal weather can make for unpredictable conditions when photographing anything but especially planes. I was up at Paine Field for the NASA flying but was pleased to see that a Falcon 20 was also due to make a stop. This was an IFL Group aircraft making a short stop before heading off again. The clouds had been rolling through, but they parted just before the Falcon showed up. We had great light on it as it landed.

Conditions didn’t stay great and, by the time it taxied back out to depart, it was not so good. Not terrible by any standards but certainly not the lovely light we had for the arrival. It’s rare that I see a Falcon 20 being used for personal transport these days but the fact that they still have a good role for freight usage means we get to see them around still which is welcome.

Assembling Roof Beams with Cranes

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A hangar has been under construction at Paine Field for a while and, while so much time has been taken up by the preparation of the groundwork, I happened to be there when they were assembling the frame of the hangar. The long span that the finished structure will have is built up of two pieces with the side beams and the roof beams for one side being assembled on the ground and then two cranes being called in to lift both halves up simultaneously so that they can be bolted in the center to provide the rigidity needed.

Seeing the cranes holding these large frames in place and the crews using scissor lifts to get up to put the connections in place was quite neat. Once the frames are in place, the process of cladding the building can take place in slower time. Those cranes will have been expensive to rent so getting that heavy lifting done as fast as possible will have been the goal.

A Turbo Mentor Seems Like a Nice Runabout

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Beech built the Mentor trainer for the military with a piston engine before coming up with the more powerful turboprop version, the T-34C Turbo Mentor. This saw extensive service with the US Navy. Now there are plenty of them on the civil register including this one I saw one day departing from Paine Field. The dark blue paint enhances the look of the plane and it looks like it has plenty of oomph. I imagine it is a ton of fun to have. I think it would be great to shoot air to air as well!

Finally, I Catch the NASA DC-8

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I have not done well in my previous efforts to photograph NASA’s DC-8 environmental sampling aircraft. I had taken some distant overhead images when I was down at Star Wars Canyon and had hoped to see it fly at the air show at Edwards AFB last year. Sadly, that didn’t happen as it was down for some maintenance issues. With it due for retirement soon, I figured that might have been it. However, I was chatting to some friends a while back and they informed me that it was due to come up to Everett for about ten days of flying in November.

This proved to be the case. A program with Boeing as part of their EcoDemonstrator program had a new 737-10 that is ultimately destined for United (if the Max 10 ever gets certificated) flying with sustainable aviation fuel and the DC-8 flying behind it to sample the air, identify the emissions particles and measure the types of contrails formed but the different elements of the fuels. The Max 10 was painted in a special livery which included the EcoDemonstrator Explorer program name.

The DC-8 was operating from Paine Field for the trials. I was not able to get it arriving, but it was there long enough that I didn’t miss out. These shots are from the first time I was able to see it getting ready to fly and heading out. Over the course of the time it was here, I had further encounters and some of those are worthy of their own posts. Consequently, there will be more to share of this fantastic relic of a bygone era in passenger aviation.

Components for 767 Production

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One of the reasons we get a stream of unusual freighters into Paine Field is the delivery of sections of fuselage for the production lines. This can include front fuselage sections, center wing boxes and empennage elements. One afternoon an Antonov showed up to deliver some of these parts. While getting the plane arriving was why I was there, it was interesting to see these chunks of future planes (I believe these were for the 767/KC-46 line) being offloaded and driven off to be used.

Retro Saudia Jet Compared to the Original

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While the 787-10 was never built at Everett, there have been a few that have come here for completion before delivery to their airlines. One such jet was for Saudia or Saudi Arabians Airlines. It was painted in a scheme that was a close resemblance to their livery from the 80s and 90s. I had thought that it was a retro effort on their part, but I have since heard that this might actually be the livery for the fleet going forwards.

Whether that is the case or not, I did take me back to a shot I got in 1988. I was working for the CAA in the UK on noise measuring duties and got to spend a week inside the fence at Heathrow taking readings of departing aircraft. One of these was a 747-300 of Saudia. I had my camera with me that week and was able to get photos between taking readings. I thought it might be interesting to compare the old Saudia livery with the newer version.

Another 727 But This One Has Winglets

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I had been talking with some friends at Boeing Field about the Kalitta 727s that we had seen recently and we got on to the subject of winglets on the 727 and that the jets we had seen didn’t have them. Little would I know that I would address this a short while later. Kalitta Charters II was bringing another 727 in to Paine Field on a weekend evening and it was a different airframe to the ones I had photographed to that point.

It was also fitted with winglets! I am not sure how good the winglet design is on the 727. It looks like a pretty basic design and doesn’t seem to be very well integrated in the way that later winglet designs are. However, it must provide some benefit because they have sold a fair few of them. I clearly made the trip up to Everett to catch its arrival and I wasn’t alone. One more 727 in a time when they are not very abundant and a different configuration to boot.

Dreamlifters Are Still Here Occasionally

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The end of production of Boeing 787s at Everett meant that there was no longer a need for the Dreamlifter operations to support Dreamliner production. However, while the Dreamlifter base has closed, there are still some production activities at Everett on the 767/KC-46 line that require large structures to be delivered and the Dreamlifters are used for this sometimes. I understand at least one of them is currently stored, but the others are active.

I only rarely find myself at Everett when the Dreamlifter is there, but it has happened a few times over the last few months. Here are a few of the shots I have got since these things became a little bit rarer up this way.

SAAB 340 With an Interesting Pod

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I promise that this is the last of the unusual types that headed to Alaska for a large military exercise. This one I caught as it came through Paine Field. I like the SAAB 340 anyway but stick a pod under the fuselage and I will be doubly interested. The company that operates this jet is based in San Diego from what I can tell. Their product naming might be coincidental, but I suspect I know the favorite author of someone high in the company.

Another 727 Chance Before Sunset for Departure

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The arrival just before sunset of a Kalitta 727 was the subject of a recent post. It departed later that evening, but it was very dark by then and I didn’t hang around. It wasn’t long before the jet was back again and this time it arrived a little earlier in the day. That meant that there was a chance that they would depart before sunset. That was something I was willing to take a chance on. In the later evening, it is a quick jaunt to Paine Field from home. Sure enough, they obliged by being prompt. I had barely got there when the jet taxied. The light was very nice, and they were flowing to the north so I was able to get a few shots, hop in the car and be home so fast that Nancy thought I must have blown off the idea altogether!