Northwest Flying Photography Blog

Boeing had a problem. How do you get large pieces of the 787 from Japan and Europe to Paine field in Everett and get them there on time?

The solution? Take a big arsed airplane and make it bigger.

Thus, the Dreamlifter was born. (Get it? The 787 is the “dreamliner” and this thing lifts parts for it so it’s the Dreamlifter…Clever)

Anyway, thanks to the kind folks at FlightAware, I was able to keep tabs on the coming and goings of the Dreamlifter fleet and recently found a flight that coincided with my busy schedule. So I carved out 15 minutes and took some shots of the Dreamlifter landing at KPAE.

Ordinarily, I’m not much of a fan of the heavies, but I could not pass up this opportunity to shoot this rather unique aircraft.

Comments(0)

Seattle’s Museum of Flight has a lot of really beautiful airplanes on display. From a piper cub to the Lockheed M-21 Blackbird, and the BAC Concorde, the Museum of Flight facility at King County / Boeing field is a major destination for aircraft enthusiasts and tourism. What a lot of people do not realize is that the Museum has another facility at the Snohomish County airport. The Museum of Flight Restoration Center is open to the public and provides a great lesson on the work it takes to bring some broken down aircraft back from the scrap yard.

Staffed almost totally with volunteers, the Restoration Center is currently working on several unique or rare aircraft, like the only de Havilland Comet in the United States, and the XF8U-1 Crusader, the prototype to the F-8 Crusader that served with the US Navy and Marines from 1957 to 1976.

Currently, the floor of the restoration center is dominated by the Crusader and a Vought F-7U Cutlass, a Navy aircraft that flew for less than ten years and replaced by the Crusader.

Also on the floor is a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, a World War II fighter that flew with the US Navy and Marines.

Along with an impressive amount of parts and pieces of airplanes, some new woodwork is also on display, as the staff restore the wooden wings of a glider on the upper deck.

Outside the restoration center there are some more finds, particularly the first Boeing 727 and the Piasecki H-21 twin rotor helicopter.

A trip to the Restoration center is a must for all aircraft enthusiasts, if only to witness the skill and dedication it takes to bring these wonderful aircraft back to life.

The Restoration Center is open Tuesday through Thursday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Restoration Center is closed on Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. Please call 425-745-5150 for more information.

Comments(0)

I’m going to win an Ercoupe! You can buy a ticket too, but don’t expect to win, ’cause that baby is mine.

What’s an ercoupe? The lovely wife asks.

Verily, I answer here.

Photo by planephotoman on flicker

Comments(0)

Arthur C. Clarke died today.

Major suckage. One of the best science fiction writers that ever lived and an icon of my youth.

The books were WAY better than the movies.

You should read them.

Comments(1)

I haven’t been doing much of the photography thing, let alone the airplane photography thing, which is really no excuse for not typing something here for folks to read. The overall problem being that really no one wants to read about me not doing anything, and all I have been doing is a great big wad of nothing.

Fortunately, other folks have been very busy both flying and taking pictures, even if the pictures they take are the fancy moving ones. Case in Point, my friends at Fearless Widget Productions have put together a DVD and offered it to the general public for their purchasing consideration. The DVD “Flying the Finch” is available and more DVDs are on the way. The fine folks at Fearless Widget are great piots and fine people, not to mention putting together a great product. If you are at all interested in wood and fabric aircraft, you can not go wrong with “Flying the Finch.”

Here is a great little youtube clip:

 After you are done watching that, don’t forget to check out thier other YouTube vids.

Comments(1)

Yes, I’m talking to you.

 Darwin day

Comments(0)