Tag Archives: photo

Everts MD-83 Freighter While I Am Waiting

My buddy Chris was visiting Seattle but was stuck in the arrivals line at the airport. I was waiting to pick him up but, since it was taking longer than expected, I was checking out some other movements. An Everts MD-83 was scheduled out of Boeing Field. The weather was not great, and I didn’t know when Chris would finally get through immigration, but I figured I would give it a go. Sadly for Chris, the MD-83 got moving faster than him. It was on its way long before he finally got out. I had plenty of time to get back to SEA to pick him up.

Sunset on Mt Baker

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I made a quick excursion across the border to Abbotsford for the air show. I went for the evening show on the Friday rather than the day show. The conditions were really nice for most of the show with the cloud rolling in only near the end of the proceedings. Mt Baker is in the background across the border and provides a nice backdrop for some of the flying. As the light got nicer, I wasn’t going to miss out on a couple of shots of the mountain with its cloud formations above the summit.

Bulgarian L39

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I was doing a favor for a guy I know back from Chicago. He is researching Bulgarian aircraft that have found their way to the US and one of the planes he was interested in is an L39 Albatros that lives up at not too far from me. I went up to meet with the owner and get copies of the aircraft documentation. When I was done, he offered to take me to have a look at the plane in his hangar. It is a lovely looking jet. It was in amongst a bunch of other stuff in the hangar which made getting nice shots of it a little tricky, but it was still good to get shots of it.

Tire Ripples

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I had seen images from drag racing which showed how the tires get distorted as the immense amounts of torque are transferred through them. A tire is at its most effective when it isn’t sliding but is in static contact with the ground. You might recognize this from your own experience. If you push something across a surface, the resistance reduces once the item starts moving. The same thing happens with tires. To get the best out of them spinning is not good. With the tire gripping the surface but the axle rotating, the sidewall is the area that has to compensate which it does by distorting and then unloading as it drives the vehicle forwards. I wanted to try and catch this so took a bunch of shots focused on trying to catch this moment.

Frontier’s A321neo Special

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Frontier Airlines has been adding a bunch of A321neos to its fleet. They are not a regular feature at SEA but they do come in periodically. The airline has at least one that is painted in a special green livery incorporating Pratt and Whitney imagery including a bald eagle. This is to signify the environmental benefits of the latest generation of jets. I actually saw one when I was elsewhere in the country. It was parked on a pier I could see but I didn’t have my camera available to get a shot in the nice evening light there was at the time.

Fortunately, it showed up as coming to Seattle one weekend. I figured I would get another chance at it. However, the weather wasn’t looking great. There was a hint that things might improve so I made my way there to see if I would get lucky. Sadly, the forecast was a little optimistic and it was still rather gloomy when the jet made an appearance. I made the best of it that I could but it was not great. Amazingly, I have had a long time since taking this shot and have yet to have another chance to shoot this jet. I think it may have visited but there was no way for me to be there. Hopefully I’ll catch it in good light one day!

The Frogs Always Justify My Attention

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While sitting on the deck one evening, a frog was climbing up a post. I didn’t know how long it would hang around, so I grabbed a few quick pictures with my phone before going inside to get the camera with the macro lens. It hadn’t gone too far when I got back but I was glad I had taken the phone shots when I did. The frog was now climbing up the post and it jumped in to one of the hanging baskets. This made getting shots a touch trickier. There were also bits of plant getting in the way. I ended up using the focus stack function to get a sequence of shots which I then processed in Photoshop later. I just love close up shots of wildlife like this.

Someone Forgot to Close the Gas Cap

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Talon Air’s Hawker 4000 came to Boeing Field and my shots of its arrival have already had their own post. However, while I was reviewing the shots when I got home, something seemed a little odd between the shots. Something seemed to be flapping around on the lower rear fuselage. I zoomed in to the shots and there was an access panel that was unsecured. Its angle was changing between shots, so it was clearly moving around in the airflow. From what I can gather, this is probably where the fueling port is located. These doors are tough, so it was probably fine, but I wonder whether any damage was done on a long flight.

Inside An Airport Fire Truck

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I was chatting with one of the King County Sheriff team that looks after King County Airport (Boeing Field). We were standing by one of their fire trucks for airport operations and he suggested I take a look around the cab. We didn’t have a load of time but it was very cool to see the configuration of the vehicle. There is a central seat with controls on one side for the vehicle and on the other for the firefighting equipment. There are seats either side of the cab for additional crew. They have facilities for their breathing equipment so the crew can be strapped into the tanks while in their seats and ready to deploy as soon as they reach a fire. It would have been fun to chat further with the guy about their operations but the event we were both there for started up so we both had somewhere else to be.

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.

Dogs in Goggles Ready to Save You

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I was a bit far away from the action to get a good shot of this but, during the aviation exercise recently conducted between multiple agencies at Arlington, there were support teams for emergency requirements which included some dog teams. I saw the dog teams head to the helicopters to head out to one of the exercise locations and then return later. The dogs were wearing goggles to protect them while around the helicopters and airborne. I would love to have been a bit closer to get some better shots but sadly that wasn’t the case.