Tag Archives: photo

Patrouille de France Show Up Late

I am catching up on some things that happened quite a while ago. The visit of the Patrouille de France to Mather for a display as part of their US Tour was a combination of fun and frustration. I was covering the visit for GAR and had arranged to be there for the arrival, the practice and the show itself. They were supposed to show up relatively early but they had some serviceability issues and, when they finally showed up, the sun was setting.

There was still some light when the first jets flew into the pattern. As they taxied in, the light on them was rather nice. By the time the last jets (of the day) showed up, it was dark. The crews were very cheerful despite their difficult day and they spent a lot of time with some local kids for a French school. They didn’t all make it though. Two jets had diverted with problems and they would show up until late the following day. The A400M didn’t arrive until after I had left and it headed straight out the following morning to go and fix the two stragglers. The second day practice and flyby over the Golden Gate were scrubbed as a result with the flyby being achieved after the display rather than before.

It was a few days with a mix of good flying and disappointment but such is the way with aviation.

The Rarity That is an Aerostar

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I keep spoiling Pete with some of his favorites. I hope he appreciates this one. You don’t see a lot of Piper Aerostars about. It is a quite unusual aircraft, apparently designed originally for possible conversion to a jet in future versions. However, the piston version is the only one that was produced. The empennage is quite unlike most similar aircraft. The one I saw was looking like it was very well taken care of. The paint was certainly in great condition. It landed at Paine Field and taxied off to park. I understand it is something of a regular so I will hopefully see it again.

Tigers Being Tigers

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There are four tigers at Cougar Mountain Zoo. They are in two pairs and they move them between enclosures to give them some variety in their surroundings. They were pretty active compared to tigers I have seen in other places. They spent a lot of time checking out where they were. Of course, being cats, they also enjoyed lying around for some of the time. The staff also did a demonstration with them when they showed how they carry out physical examinations for the cats when necessary.

The tigers would come up to the fence and would stand up on their hind legs with their paws up on the fencing. This allows the staff to CA them out from the safety of being behind the fence. It is a good opportunity to realize just how big a tiger really is. Those paws are something and, if you were in there with them, you can see how easily they would dispatch you!

Lots of Cessna’s Small Jets

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I like bizjets but, if I am honest, my preference is for the bigger jets. The small jets are probably a more useful business tool but the big ones just look cooler. I recently have come across a steady stream of the smaller products though. The majority of these have been from the Cessna stable with CJs of various sizes popping up in front of me. Normally I don’t give them too much attention but today I am going to share a selection of the little fellas.

Southwest Scimitars and the Inaccuracy of Online Truths

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Online forums can be a great source of information. They can also be full of rubbish. With the introduction of the split scimitar tips on the 737 fleets, Southwest was an early adopter on their 800 series jets. However, I read that they had not been happy with performance and had stopped adopting them. They definitely weren’t going to have them on the 700 series. Above is a 700 series with split scimitars. A number of airframes have now been fitted including this one so I guess those people were not the most accurate source of info!

The Alpha Wolf Even Looks Like He’s the Boss

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The small pack of wolves at Cougar Mountain Zoo were quite something to watch. They had a variety of territories in their enclosure and they moved between them frequently. They did patrol the area near the visitors to keep tabs on what was going on. There was a very distinct hierarchy in the pack. The alpha male was very obvious. A number of them seemed to be at a secondary level and one seemed to be the most passive in the group, often staying away from rest. He didn’t seem to have any problems but did not get in the way of the others.

The alpha was a great looking wolf. When compared to the others, there was even something about the face that made you know he was in charge. He had a look that suggested he was constantly assessing things. It is easy to project human emotions on to animals but something about this guy made you think that he didn’t have time for the fun stuff and he was always on guard. He looked great.

So Close to a Gear Up Landing

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A gear up landing is never something you want to have. What is worse is doing it in front of a lot of people. However, the crowd can sometimes be a benefit. The open house at Paine Field included some flybys by various types and one Navion was the last in his group to recover. Coming down the approach with flap deployed but no gear he looked very odd. I imagine the horn should have been blaring but, whatever the reason, he continued. Much frantic waving by the crowd and a call from the air boss had the desired effect, fortunately. A go around ensued followed by a normal approach a landing. I understand many beers were bought that night.

Camden Yards

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I last saw Camden Yards over 20 years ago when I was living in Washington D.C. At the time, the trend for developing baseball stadiums back in downtown areas was only just getting going. Camden was a trendsetter. Now, many cities have gone down the same route and baseball stadiums are in the cities whether it is the majors or the minors. I was heading to get the train back to the airport at the end of my work visit and the route took me right through the middle of the complex. A game was due later in the day and some visitors were already taking tours while the vendor staff were just getting ready to serve the crowds that would come later. However, it was still nice and quiet as I passed through. It was also going to be a warm day so I imagine that the vendors were going to have a busy day keeping everyone refreshed.

Legacy 600 and a Close Relative

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When you consider the large cabin corporate jets, there is one jet that has not had as much success as it deserves. The Legacy 600 from Embraer is a derivative of the E135 regional jet but transformed into a longer range and far more comfortable jet. It hasn’t done much to dent the market that Gulfstream, Dassault and Bombardier have been operating in. It doesn’t have the super long range of some of the competitor products but, given that many operators never go off the US East Coast, that range is not a big deal for many customers. Prestige is though and the Legacy has never had the same cachet given its regional jet heritage.

This one showed up at San Jose on a sunny winters day. The interesting thing was that something very similar was also flying that day. The second aircraft is not a Legacy, though. It is an E145 that is operated by Intel. They have outfitted it as a corporate shuttle. It runs their staff between their locations. I don’t know what the interior is like but externally it looks a lot like a bizjet which, I guess is what it is.

The Sun is Out – Time to Jump in the Fountain

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It doesn’t matter whether a sunny day is a hot day or not. Get a bunch of kids somewhere near a fountain and they will be running through it in a heartbeat. When the air temperature is not that high, I guess the water temperature is probably not going to be much different. That doesn’t matter though. I think when you are a kid, you don’t care about stuff like that so much. Instead, you run through the water and have fun!