Tag Archives: seatac

Sun Behind a 747

I was flying home from the Midwest and, as we taxied off the active runway, I could see an Asiana 747-400F taxiing for departure.  We crossed the runway before it took off and, since I was on the side of the aircraft facing the runway, I got a good view of the sunlight punching through the clouds off to the west.  I got the phone out to get a shot having completely forgotten that the 747 would be on its way any time.  As it came into view, I grabbed a couple of phone shots as it passed the sunlight.  Phones are still not a true competitor to a decent camera, but they can really produce something useful.

How Many Jets in One Approach Shot?

I was waiting for one specific jet at SEA (which has long ago made an appearance on this blog) but, while I was hanging around, I was shooting different angles up the approach.  In a few shots I could see a number of aircraft lined up on the approach or turning on to it.  I played around with seeing how many I might get in one shot.  It needed relatively clear air to get the more distant planes visible.  A hazy day would not do the trick.

Two Goes At Singapore Arrivals

Singapore Airlines has been flying into SEA for a while.  Initially they stopped at Vancouver and then continued to SEA before reversing the journey, but I guess loads were good enough that they changed to a direct flight.  It arrives first thing in the morning and then heads out mid morning to go home.  I have tried to get shots of it but the combination of weather issues and making it work for a weekend morning when I can plausibly be there has been tricky.  One weekend, the weather wasn’t great, but I decided to give it a go.

I was looking to shoot from a location that gives an angle on the touchdown zone which I figured would help overcome the less than ideal weather conditions with more ground in the shot.  However, I was disappointed to find that they were bringing the jet in on the outer runway.  Consequently, it was a bit more distant than ideal (although the crummy weather meant haze was less of an issue than might otherwise have been the case).

The following week, I had a second go.  The weather was slightly better but still not great.  I was rather worried that I was going to have a repeat of the previous week.  Not great conditions and would it go to the outside.  As I watched the track inbound, I could see a bunch of other aircraft vectoring in for their approaches.  Busy arrivals can often mean the heavies get sent to the inner runway to avoid wake turbulence requirements causing delays to the narrow bodies.  This was the case and I got what I was after.  The only issue was that there were quite a few planes taxiing out for departure and obscuring my shot (and throwing out some heat as well).  However, I did get a shot so let’s count that as a win.

Take the A340 Chances When You Can

Who knows how long the A340s will last.  I thought I had probably seen the last of them but Lufthansa was kind enough to make them a feature of their winter schedule to Seattle.  Of course, not running every day combined with the great winter weather that Seattle is known for meant the chances of getting good shots were limited.  Even when the conditions were favorable, they departed in the middle of the day which meant high sun angles and more glare.  However, when the conditions were as good as could be expected, I took the chances that were available.  Here are some shots from probably the last season.

Another Delta A350 – This One From TAM

Delta acquired a bunch of A350s when airlines were disposing of them and they have progressively been heading from storage at Victorville to Singapore for reconfiguration.  I have posted about these already with a couple of LATAM jets having come through.  The most recent one I saw was actually an ex-TAM aircraft.  Again, not the best of conditions for shooting its arrival but it was still fun to see something you would normally never see at SEA.  It was a bit damp so there was a little vapor over the wings which was nice.  Next time I see it, it will be indistinguishable from the other Delta A350s.

Xáat Kwáani

The repainting of the Salmon Thirty Salmon jet caught a lot of attention and was the subject of a previous post.  The jet was not destined to be in standard Alaska Airliners colors, though.  Instead, it went to be painted in a special livery that has a salmon connection.  This time it is adopting a native theme to the painting.  The name is Xáat Kwáani which means Salmon People.  It was unveiled in an event in Anchorage and made a couple of flights within Alaska before coming home to Seattle.  It arrived on a Friday evening so plenty of people were out after work to catch it landing.  I’m sure I’ll see it again plenty of times but it was nice to get it on a lovely evening.

Better Timing With This Ex-LATAM Delta A350

The movement of the ex-LATAM Airbus A350s that Delta has picked up on their way to Singapore via Seattle got me out once before.  The jet was arriving after dark but I gave it a go anyway.  The next one to make the move from California to Singapore came through at a more convenient time for me being both daylight and also when I wasn’t at work!  The weather was not perfect but the sun did pop out which made for some reasonable lighting and it was a chance to catch a jet in LATAM colors which I probably won’t get very often.

Delta/LATAM Comes in After Dark

Delta picked up a few ex-LATAM Airbus A350-900s as part of that airlines restructuring during the downturn in the airline business caused by the pandemic.  They went initially in to storage and then have been progressively moved to Singapore for updating to the Delta configuration.  Seattle has been the location for them to come through on their way to Asia.  I have missed a few but one was due to come through when I could see it.  Sadly, it departed a little late from Victorville and was showing due in after dark.

Since it was an unusual movement, I figured it was still worth the effort.  I would use the 500mm since it has a wider aperture and test the low light capabilities of the camera to the full.  It still meant some very low shutter speeds but I let the tech compensate for my low skill levels.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well some of them came out given the lack of light.  Since this shoot, I did also reprocess with PureRAW3 and this improved the quality of the shot further.

The Virgin A350 Comes to Me

When we were in the UK, I had hoped to see the Virgin Atlantic A350-1000s in use.  I did see them in the distance but never got anything of them moving.  I was a touch disappointed because the Seattle route is served by the 787 fleet and we don’t get anything as large as the A350 coming here – normally!  However, Virgin is apparently involved in supporting the NFL games in Europe and the Seattle Seahawks had a game scheduled in Munich.  Virgin sent an A350 to Seattle to collect them.  It operated the normal inbound flight and then took the team direct to Munich.

It arrived in good conditions and from the south which allowed me to get some reasonable shots of it.  Lighting was a little overhead but it wasn’t too bad and could definitely have been worse.  I wasn’t able to see them depart but, once the game was over, the return trip was made.  I didn’t get the arrival but I was able to see the final departure of the jet as it headed back to London.  Maybe Virgin’s traffic will grow enough to justify the A350 on the route more often?  I would certainly like more opportunities to see the jet.

Falcon 50 Through the Snow

Crappy conditions are not usually what you are after when photographing aircraft but, sometimes it is what you get and you have to make the best of it.  One upside is that, if you are somewhere with a reasonable amount of traffic, you can play around with getting shots of something you weren’t necessarily focused on.  While standing in the snow waiting for the Skycourier’s arrival, I did have a Falcon 50 on approach.  I like the Falcon 50 a lot so this would normally have my attention already.  However, crummy conditions almost left me in the car.  I decided at the last minute to try it anyway.

I was really quite pleased with the patterns that the snow made around the jet as it came in.  in such bad light, the landing lights are always going to be more dominant and their ability to light up the snow flurries ahead of them can work out well.  These pictures will probably never be gracing anyone’s walls but I got a kick out of them when I went through them back at home.