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More FCLP at Coupeville

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My buddy Mark let me know that some more FCLP training was scheduled for Coupeville on a day with a good weather forecast.  Sadly, the wind suggested they would be operating in the opposite direction to that of my last visit (as discussed here and here) but there was the possibility of some morning flying which might mean the sun was on the right side for a while, even if a bit on the tail of the jets.  Unfortunately, the unit didn’t get the memo and they showed up in the middle of the day for the first round of flying so, while the conditions were okay, they were working against us.

Still, there are a lot worse things to do than watch Growlers bouncing through FCLP training.  You can move along the fence line at Coupeville to try and vary the angle, so Mark and I were zipping to and fro in order to try and find something different.  There are some bushes on the field that can be a touch inconvenient when looking to capture the moment of touchdown but a little experimentation and you could get a good result.

The jets appear to come through a tunnel in the trees as they are on final approach and the trees provide a nice backdrop for touchdown.  As they power up and away again, the light angles are most favorable so you can get a few good shots.  However, they end up pretty samey pretty quickly.

We expected a second batch of jets in the early afternoon so headed to the other side.  Here you are a lot further from the runway so the jets on the ground are rather distant and heat haze is a bit of a problem.  We got a few movements and then headed back to a nearby park where the jets tend to turn over the top of you as they enter the downwind.  The light is a bit better here but, again, the shots are pretty repetitive.  The only change is when the jet is done and it climbs straight out cleaning up as it goes.

With a decent amount of shots made, we decided it was time to try our luck elsewhere.  The Growlers would get back to Ault Field pretty quickly but we were going by car so it was a little longer for us.  However, there was much to justify the trip and that will be apparent in some upcoming posts.

Mount Rainier Aerial Tour

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Another trip and another flight out of SeaTac.  I was sitting on the left side of the plane without having given any thought to what I might see en route.  As it happened, we departed to the south and then, after a short time in the climb, we turned on course for our destination.  It just so happened that our turn brought us around the south side of Mount Rainier.  I was sitting on the side that happened to have a great view of the mountain as we turned.

I was sitting down the back of the plane so, for a while, the wing was in the shot.  I wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed by this or to have something to give some perspective to what I was shooting.  Aerial photos of large landscapes usually lack a sense of scale and I doubt the wing altered that, but it was worth a try.  The cloud banks that lay on the surrounding foothills are probably rather large, but they seem almost insignificant against the scale of the mountain.  A lucky day to be heading the right way, sitting on the right side of the plane, turning where we did and then not having the whole thing shrouded in cloud!

The Bridge Over Deception Pass

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Before we knew we were moving to the Pacific Northwest, we took a vacation up here.  Ironically, we did it because it was relatively close and we thought the next move might take us away.  Guess we got that one wrong.  On that trip we jumped between the islands a little and part of that involved driving up Whidbey Island and crossing Deception Pass.  Consequently, this post exists which describes my brief exploration of the bridge as we were passing over it in weather that was a little less than great.

Our recent visit to the Deception Pass State Park allowed us to walk along the beach and up towards the bridge.  This was a different perspective to the previous visit.  The shoreline is quite long and, for a while the bridge does not look that impressive as you are seeing it from quite a distance.  However, as you get closer and start to make out the traffic on the bridge, you get to appreciate how large it is and how high over the water.

Since it is actually two bridges, it lends itself to a panoramic format when you are looking from a distance.  It is only as you get closer to the bridge that you can start to compress the whole thing into something that fits the normal frame a little better.  This was the third leg of a day trip so I was beginning to get a little worn out so I didn’t go and explore all of the possible angles.  I will definitely be back and will try that another time but, given that I still had to walk back to the car, I decided I would save that for another day and focus on the trip home.

Max7 Number Two

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The first Max7 test aircraft got a blog posting here but I have now seen the second in action too.  I think I first saw it on the ramp at Renton but I didn’t see the registration so can’t be sure.  Now it is engaged in testing and flying regularly out of Boeing Field.  It actually departed as I pulled up, so I only got to watch it rather than get a shot.  It was a bit overcast then anyway.

Later in the day it returned and this time the light was a lot more favorable.  I have yet to be able to gauge it against a 700 series and see the increase in length but the bigger engines are pretty obvious.  Still not a huge number of orders so we shall see whether it becomes a success but, in the meantime, we shall see them testing in the area for a while.

Tulip Festival

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The Skagit Valley sits about an hour north of Seattle and is home to a lot of tulip farms.  The spring is the time for the tulip festival.  Unfortunately, the beginning of the festival was not a great time for us to get up there with other things going on.  However, as things calmed down for us, we were able to get up there towards the end of things.  We may have missed the peak time but there was still some impressive stuff to see (and hopefully quite a few less people!).

The fields were absolutely full of tulips.  They filled your field of view and you quickly became blasé about the vibrance of color around you.  Finding a way to try and convey the sight was a little trickier.  The thing I did find particularly visually appealing was the way that people would be walking along the paths between the flowers but appear to be afloat in a sea of flowers.  They were all busy photographing themselves in amongst the tulips so were not aware that they were the subject of more than one photo.

Night Arrival Over Seattle

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A trip away included a late arrival back into Seattle.  I hadn’t thought about which approach we might make to SeaTac so my seat selection was accidental, but I ended up on the side of the plane that was overlooking downtown Seattle as we made our final approach.  Having the M6 provided me with a bit more flexibility on shooting than would be the case with the phone and something far more maneuverable than if I was using one of the SLRs. It handled the low light levels surprisingly well.

I also think the smaller lens elements of the EF-M are better able to handle the distortion of windows.  The distorted bits could cover more of the field of view of course but you have more of a chance of getting between the worst bits.  With the big lenses, it is almost impossible to get a good clear patch for the whole lens when you zoom in to check the details.

Edmonds Museum

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Downtown Edmonds proved to be a great place to wander around.  Having enjoyed the waterfront, we walked into the town itself to check out the shops and with a lunch place in mind.  There is an interchange with a roundabout in it that has interesting streets heading off in each direction.  One of them takes you to the Edmonds Historical Museum.  As we walked up to it, it seemed like a pretty familiar structure and there was a good reason.

The building dates back to 1910 and it is a Carnegie Library.  We have come across a few of these over the years.  While the needs of libraries have outgrown the buildings, they have often found new uses and museums are a popular second life.  We didn’t go inside on this occasion.  We thought it might be worth a visit another time and we have a visitor coming for whom something like this might be right up their alley.

I-90 Floating Bridge

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I-90 crosses Lake Washington on a floating bridge.  I have driven over it countless times.  It crosses from Seattle to Mercer Island which the freeway then crosses before continuing on to the east side.  I was on that side of the plane when taking off from SeaTac and got a great view of the bridge.  The dead straight floating section and the transition to land looked very interesting from above.  The road actually goes through a tunnel on Mercer Island in a long curve which, when I imagined its path, only added to the geometry of the whole.

Little Nosewheel Tug

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A post a while back talked about nosewheel tugs that lift the whole nosewheel and move it around.  That post can be seen here.  I commented then about how large the tug was.  I hadn’t then seen that there are far smaller versions of the same concept.  This one is in operation at SeaTac.  It is suitable for narrow body jets and regional jets.  I don’t know whether it is being trialed or whether these will gradually replace the traditional tugs.  I guess we shall see in due course.