The subject of this post ended up getting some coverage but, when I saw it, I didn’t know about the interest surrounding it. I was at BFI awaiting the departure of another aircraft when a turboprop took off over me. I had the camera to hand so grabbed some shots of what I realized was an Airbus CN235. Painted in a dark gray scheme, it looked a little odd. A closer look at the shots showed it had a few lumps and bumps suggestive of an array of antennae. I figured it was just passing through en route to somewhere more interesting.
However, that wasn’t the case. It had been spotted flying some patterns over the city. I had seen some odd flight paths on Flightaware being flown by a plane called Spud21. I loved the name! it was flying orbits over the city but I couldn’t see anything else about it. However, when I saw the plane crop up in the media, the article identified that it was the owner of the Spud21 callsign.
I don’t know what the purpose of the flights was. It is suggested that the aircraft is owned by the US military but whether it is for their use or is in support of an overseas operator, whether these flights were for testing purposes or were checking out the residents I don’t know. I do know that it was something a little out of the ordinary though.
The houseboats aren’t the only thing along the shore of Lake Union. It is still definitely a working waterway and this is reflected by the yards along the edge of the lake servicing the boats. Floating dry docks and regular moorings are filled with boats of all sorts. Some look like they are retired from their original role while others seem to be in for maintenance before heading back into use. I’m not sure how busy the yards are compared to their peak and whether the neighbors are trying to ease them out but they do seem to be needed based on the number of them and the number of boats!
