Tag Archives: seattle

Not Only a G-III But A Cool One

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If I see a GIV these days, it barely gets any attention from me.  Sure, I’ll take a shot, but I am not getting excited.  Go back a generation, though, to the G-III and suddenly I am definitely paying attention.  One came to BFI recently and, while I was at the wrong end for an arrival airborne shot, I did see in the distance on final (no heat haze thankfully) and then as it rolled out and headed to the ramp at Modern.  It was also in a nice dark paint job and it looked pretty cool.

It didn’t hang around too long.  I watched it taxi across the field and up to the departure end.  Then it was time for the long lens.  The old Spey engines don’t have as much grunt as the later Tays so I anticipated a longer takeoff run and was not disappointed.  I then watched it climb out with the Speys belching smoke.  The engines are hushkitted but are still noisy beasts.  As it climbed away, I got a clear view through the hush kits including the lobes of the exhaust diffusers.  What a fun thing to see.

Korean Air BBJ Is Back

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Korean Air’s fleet of bizjets come through Seattle quite frequently.  Their BBJs are not uncommon.  They use the airfield as the departure point for the trans-Pacific route to Korea.  Unfortunately, they often arrive in the middle of the night and head straight back out again.  I timed it well when they were making a daytime stop.  I got the arrival and the departure this time.

Conditions were not great but, last time I shot one of their BBJs, the high sun made the livery glare a bit.  Flat lighting avoided that this time.  The departure was a good one for me.  The route across the Pacific is a long one so the plane was pretty heavy.  This meant it rotated a long way down the runway and closer to me and was still only just climbing when it was level with me.  I went with a long lens which meant things got large quickly.  It did give me some shots I was pretty happy with, though.

Super Bugs At BFI

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Stopping for lunch at BFI, I was happy to be informed by someone already there that there were a couple of Super Hornets from the US Navy that had departed earlier and were due back shortly.  I was able to munch on my sandwiches and do a little work while I waited but it wasn’t too long before they arrived.  Initially, they appeared to be making a section approach but, as they got closer to the field, the separated and came in with about a 30 second spacing.  One of the jets had some squadron colors which is always welcome these days.  Not a dynamic approach but still a nice surprise.

Wolf Feeding Time

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Trying to see the wolves at a zoo is not always an easy task.  They tend to like to find a place to relax that is out of sight so, unless they are active, you might struggle to even see them.  We got lucky on our last visit to Woodland Park Zoo as we came past the wolf enclosure (the second time as it happened) just at the time they were being fed.

I’m not certain what they were being fed but it looked like rodents of some sort.  They would toss the food to the wolves and they would grab something and then head off somewhere away from the others to eat in peace.  That included one that came our way.  It was making quick work of its snack.  The sound of the food being bitten through was slightly unnerving but, thankfully, the pictures don’t convey that so you only have to look at the outline of whatever it was they were eating!

National A330 Drops Off The Troops

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National Airlines has a single A330 and, with their livery being far from dull, it is a neat looking aircraft.  It was coming to Boeing Field to drop off a bunch of troops.  Why it didn’t go to McChord, I don’t know and I don’t care.  I was able to get it on approach and then move down the field to see it parked up on Modern’s ramp.  A bunch of coaches arrived to collect the troops and you could see them lining up to grab their kit from the hold.

With everyone on their way, the A330 headed off to its next destination.  They had to cross the runway to get to the taxiway on the southwest side of he field since it is the only one able to accommodate widebodies.  Then they were heading my way for departure.  I stuck with the long lens to get a better rotation shot and then went for a close up of the gear retracting and the National logo on the underside of the plane.  Shame the conditions were a bit dull for such a nicely painted plane but still a nice catch.

Container Terminal Evening

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Evening light can make many things look better than they do in the middle of the day.  The warm evening light just makes things look better with the warm color and the softer shadows.  In those conditions, even a container terminal looks interesting.  From the roof of the hotel we were staying in downtown last year, we got a good view across Elliott Bay towards the terminal.

Sea Lion Boys On Tour

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This winter, the area around Shilshole Bay in Seattle has had some new residents.  It is not unusual for sea lions to be in the area at this time of year but this year they have taken to hanging out on the floating docks around the bay.  One favorite spot for them is the barrier alongside Ray’s Boathouse.  This barrier has a flat top to it but is based on cylindrical tanks.  Consequently, while a bunch of sea lions might be on top of it, another one climbing on or one jumping off can cause the whole thing to rotate and, if they are not careful, they can get dumped in the water.

A lot of people have been coming down to watch them hanging out.  A bunch will be on the floats, some asleep and others barking at each other or the sea lions trying to get on.  More can be seen swimming around in the surrounding area.  It was fun to watch them for a while but it was pretty chilly the day we were there so we didn’t hang around for too long!

Kite Surfing on Puget Sound

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One weekend afternoon, we took a walk through Discovery Park in Seattle.  We started up near to the top of the park and then took a trail that brought us down to the shore.  The trail continued along to the lighthouse at which point we started back to our origination point.  As we walked along the shore, the wind was quite brisk and it was proving to be fun for some guy that was out kite surfing.  Not only was he enjoying the conditions but I think he quite liked the attention.  He was very close in to the shore so was being watched by a lot of people doing the same thing as us.  I shot a little video of him before moving on and here is what I saw.

Alaska’s New Special

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The arrival of this Alaska 737 on the flight line at Renton got a lot of attention from the locals.  A special livery is always going to be of interest but this one is better than the average.  The dark blue combined with the orcas is a really cool look.  I first saw the jet while it was on the flight line at Renton ahead of a first flight.  I wasn’t able to get it as it left Renton but I was able to catch its arrival at BFI.  After a few test flights, it has now been delivered to Alaska so now I just have to hope I can catch it in better conditions.

Canadian Dauphin Eludes Me

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I don’t often see civilian Dauphins in service.  The Coast Guard operates the type but the US does not have a lot of them in private hands.  I saw a Canadian example showed up in Seattle and was quite a surprise.  It had a large winch mount on the fuselage which is unusual for a civilian operator.  It was quite a coincidence since Airbus Helicopters has just delivered the final Dauphin to a customer.  It has been superseded in their line by the H160.  I was hoping it would depart my way but it was cleared to the north on a downwind departure which they turned on to promptly after getting airborne.  I got shots but they were distant ones.