I put together a post about some interesting jet traffic at Anchorage from a visit I made long ago. While jet freighters are a big deal at Anchorage, the area is also known for its more unusual prop traffic. Some of these are vintage and others are types that have fallen out of favor elsewhere but continue to have a use in Alaska. Here are some shots of the various props I got to see while on that trip in the mid-2000s.
I saw this tree while out in the neighborhood and through it couldn’t have looked more like an eye if someone had tried to make it. No doubt, the tree was keeping a check on what I was doing! Creepy…
I’ve posted shots of Omni’s 767s on the ground and on the approach at Boeing Field as well as showing up at Paine Field. This is a variation on a theme I guess since this one was arriving at Boeing Field after a short flight from SeaTac. This time I was up on the hill so was able to see it touch down from an elevated position. It’s nice to get wide body activity when up on the hill since you are a bit far away and a bigger jet is a clearer subject to photograph.
Nancy and I had been discussing what pictures to add to the walls in the house. We were trying to find something that was a nice layout and also could include images from a variety of places. We settled on the Collagewall from MPix. I have used MPix for a lot of photo printing requirements over the years so was happy to give this product a go.
They have a variety of configurations that you can choose from. They have varying dimensions and layouts and you can pick your images to fit different aspect ratios. The one we went with was 4.5’ across to fit a large wall space and it included some large and small square format images with a couple of panoramic shots and one vertical thin image. I did all of the selections and formatting in Lightroom and then just dragged and dropped them in to the configuration tool. It was very straightforward.
The whole things was printed and shipped quickly and would have been with us shortly thereafter had it not been for a winter storm that meant the package got to spend a week in Salt Lake City. However, it finally arrived and we could install it. There is a paper template provided to assist in putting it on the wall. You tape that in place checking for location and level before getting to work. A series of pins need to be inserted into the surface of the wall. Using the template, you can make an initial pin hole with one of the pins without pushing it all the way in. Then, when all locations have an initial mark, the template can be removed and saved for any future installation.
Then add the full set of pins by pushing them all the way in to the initial holes previously made. This results in a grid of pins covering the full area of the finished work. Slots on the back of the prints will then slide over the heads of the pins. For some of the small prints and the panos, adhesive foam pads are added to provide some stability. The larger prints are stabilized sufficiently by the pins. Then you slot everything in to place.
From start to finish, it was probably little more than half an hour to put it up. A significant portion of that was making sure the template was exactly where we wanted and properly leveled. Nancy pushed out each print while I was inserting the pins. Finishing it off was very simple. The nature of the installation means changing a print out for a replacement would be very easy and then include a folding element that can be inserted in the back to make each print stand on its own if required. I’m really happy with the way it has come out and might do a smaller installation for another location in the house. In truth, the longest part of this is choosing the right shots to include.
The USAF operates a small fleet of Boeing 757s for VIP transport. These C-32s are often thought of for their role transporting the Vice President when they adopt the call sign of Air Force Two. However, they transport a lot more people than just the Veep with other cabinet officials using them as well as senior Air Force staff.
One of them was at Paine Field for a while. I had heard that it had flown in but had assumed it had gone again. When I went up one evening after work (when the light was looking great and another jet I was interested in was due back), the people there told me it was still around. I figured it would be there for a lot longer and paid no further attention until someone noticed that it had moved out of its parking area on to a taxiway.
As with all of these things, nothing happened fast. Since the light was just getting better and better, I didn’t mind too much. Eventually a bunch of the passengers showed up – that will warrant its own post – and then they started up and taxied. They had to hold for a short while near the threshold so there was lots of time to get some shots. Then they were off. I figured, being a 757, they would be airborne quickly. They must have been heavy, though, since they ran a long way down the field before rotating.
I was driving over the bridge heading towards Anacortes when I glanced down towards the casino near the water. I noticed a railroad swing bridge across the water which I hadn’t seen before. Since I was on my own and with no set schedule, I figured I would drop in and take a look. The railroad runs alongside the casino and crosses the river at an oblique angle. Consistently, the open position for the bridge is not perpendicular to the track but lies inline with the river.
Everything about the track looked in excellent condition so I assume the bridge is regularly used. I have seen plenty of trains on the track closer to Burlington but didn’t know they came this far. It would be interesting to see the bridge in use some time. It is a pretty long structure and the control house is on the opposite side of the river. A bald eagle was sitting on that side making a lot of noise but too far away to justify a photograph.
I was flicking through some old shots that weren’t well keyworded and was surprised to find some shots from a San Diego visit which included some warships. I had some shots of an aircraft carrier including a few for a panorama that I had never compiled. Why not correct that? Here it is, the USS Ronal Reagan.
Since I was already in Anacortes, I headed down to the shipyard to see if anything interesting was going on. On my last visit, a ship from Woods Hole was there and got covered in this post. The same ship is still there but now it is nearing completion. The painting is mostly complete (aside from a while in the side of the hull which still needs to be closed up). The propulsion units (not sure whether they are called thrusters or propellers) have been installed.
It looks like it is going to be finished off before too long. I did see it from a different angle, albeit a more obscured by foreground clutter angle so you can get an impression of the size of the ship. When I showed the pictures to Nancy, she commented on how cool it would be to see them move the ship back to the water. This is definitely true although I doubt I will get the chance.
The day was fast running out and I was thinking about heading for home but one of the two 777X test aircraft out showed signs of heading home to BFI so I figured I would wait around for it. It looked like it would get back before the end of the light with a bit of margin so I decided it was good to wait. I have not shot a 777 landing from this location so wanted to get the shot.
However, while the time was looking good compared to sunset, it was not looking so good when thinking of the weather. There were some dark and stormy clouds off to the southwest and they seemed to be getting closer. As the 777X got to the city, I figured a coat was in order since it looked like the rain might arrive first.
Indeed it did and this brought the light levels way down. As it came down the approach, it was shrouded in rain and made for a less than distinct shape to shoot. Certainly not what I had been hoping for. However, why wait all that time and not take the shots. It touched down in the heavy rain but at least the reduced distance meant things weren’t as obscured. It rolled out and turned off the runway but I decided I was already done and headed to the car and dry warmth.
Having made a return trip to Anacortes to check out the dilapidated ship hills on the shore, I decided to add to my ferry collection. Just beyond Bellingham is an Indian Reservation called the Lummi Nation. Just off the coast is Lummi Island and there is a little car ferry that connects the island to the Nation. The ferry is called the Whatcom Chief and it is operated by the county. It isn’t a big ferry – it looks to hold about 16 cars – but the crossing is not long and they apparently will run extra services to clear a backlog of vehicles if needed beyond the scheduled services.
It was just as windy up at Lummi as it had been in Anacortes but it lacked the sun that I had experienced down there. Rain showers were blowing through periodically and it was a lot less enjoyable to be outside! However, I’d come all that way so I wasn’t going to miss out on the shots. As I mentioned, the ferry is not large and, with the wind whipping up some waves, it was bouncing around as it made the crossing. I guess you want to hose the salt water off your car after a crossing on a day like this since the spray was going across the boat as it pitched and rolled.
There were more cars waiting to make the crossing than there was space for so they squeezed as many as they could onboard and then headed back again. Hopefully they came right back for the remainders but I had got what I needed, had a decent drive home ahead of me and wanted to warm up so it was back in the car for me.
