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There’s two different topics I want to cover with this post but I will try and explain myself a bit first. It is political season here at the moment and after watching meet the Press in the gym this morning I wanted to talk about it a bit, but I also was going to post today about my comparison of the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds.

Let’s talk about planes first. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds are the two air demonstration teams of the US Navy and US Air Force respectively. The blue angels (obviously the Blue part) have always been that little bit more of a dream sight for me than the Thunderbirds (red for the nose of their aircraft though they are predominantly white).   Both teams are pretty similar to each other but each has their own unique attributes.

Unfortunately I can’t say one team us better than the other as they both have pros and cons. They both fly Jet Aircraft (F/A-18C for the angels, F-16C for the Thunderbirds) which have unique attributes of their own, but they are fairly even.   The demos were pretty similar to each other with each having a few unique stunts of their own.

The cons though are pretty minor. The Blue Angels didn’t have as much of a ground show as the Thunderbirds did, but that made the Thunderbirds show, slow starting and a little bit boring at the beginning. I felt that the Angels had a bit more speed at times over the Thunderbirds but again this is probably due to the aircraft and not the team as such. Either way I can’t complain about either.

The one thing that seals the deal for the angels in my book is Fat Albert. The Marines who support the Blue Angels are not left out, they have their own show stopper a large C130 transport plane which they show off and it just makes for something that the Thunderbirds don’t do at all.

But the reality of the situation is that both teams are amazing at what he do and there is no real winner other than the public who get to watch amazing demos either way (better than the Roulettes anyway).

The other red and blue at the moment is the Battle between the Republicans (red) and the Democrats (blue) in the lead up to the presidential election. It’s been all over the media right now and to be honest I wish I could have a say.

Not being and eligible voter really means I can’t or shouldn’t say much but it’s a big thing over here. It feels like the elections are 1000 times more complicated than back home and always so full on. There are the primary votes where they choose who will be eligible for each party then the general election comes into it.

Last night the Republicans announced who will be Romney’s VP for the “ticket” but god Damn what a spectacle they make it out to be. The news covers everything minor little detail of the announcement like where he lives, what he does in his personal life, hell even what he cooks (apparently he makes his own sausage).

It’s going to be a fun few months I suspect in the lead up to the election in November, should be interesting to watch along, I won’t say who
I think should win cause I don’t have a say but I have a feeling things could be “hopeful” in November

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I managed to finish them all off this afternoon. So here for your enjoyment ladies and gents are a few samples of my favourites from my first SeaFair

From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos

And the full collection can be found at the following link:

Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos

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Well, my birthday is drawing to a close, but not after a stellar weekend. Now it could not top my 30th Birthday last year when I spent a lengthened celebrations in New York and Paris and with my first ever Transatlantic Flight, it was truly an epic celebration. But this year, well it was going to be my first as a Washington Resident, a far way from home, not many friends, what was I to do. Originally I was going to trip up to Vancouver and do some spotting. But then I was told about SeaFair and that the Blue Angels were coming to town. I was staying put!. Fast forward a few weeks and the plans for my birthday grew. I decided to fork out for a ticket, then I ended up just going to make sure that I had a full weekend of Aviation goodness as I was going to finally sign up to the Museum of Flight and get a membership there, which would give me access to the Blue Angels at Boeing Field. It was going to be good. Then the plans lengthened and now the celebration will continue next weekend when I head up to Vancouver on my first road trip in the truck and head to the Abbotsford Airshow and staying at one of my favourite hotels the Fairmont Vancouver Airport (it was a bargain, im a sucker). Either way this was a truly epic plan and now the first part is over.

I am totally and utterly beat after 2 days of record high temps here in Seattle of 93F on average (about 34c which really isnt much but Seattle is not built for this heat) but the sun was out, the sky was blue and i spent the weekend in the Sun turning into a bright red lobster and loving every minute. I am sure I could talk all day about the Air show and getting to watch the Blue Angels for the first time (thats a whole other post sometime this week) but to be honest, right now, I just wanna chill out, have some dinner and then relax.

But first I will give you a little tease of some images from the weekend. I took 3800 photos on the SLR over Saturday and Sunday and there is some truly epic photos, stuff that even blows my mind how beautiful they turned out. So keep an eye on my twitter feed during the week and on the picasa link at the bottom of the page. I put up a folder full of some of the not as good shots for those who don’t want to wait, but trust me… you will want to.

From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
From Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
Sea Fair 2012 Processed Photos
SeaFair 2012

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On Thursday I managed to get myself into my first photography gig here in the USA. Even though I wasn’t being paid it was good to be able to still get some work for a purpose, something a bit out of the ordinary for me.  I was taking some photos for David at Airline Reporter who was covering the launch of the United Airlines 787. It was held up at Everett mid morning so I had to take the morning off work, but I was not going to complain all that much really.

The morning was great, I was getting my first foray into being a semi legit photographer (Although my skills are far from excellent, they need a bit of work) but I was also getting my first chance at stepping onboard a 787, and it would be a new 787, not even delivered yet… how cool is that!

Now who's legit!

It was an enourmous privilege to be able to access a brand new aircraft at a press event, and to be even thought of as press/media… wow totally new concept for me. So I made sure I was on my best behaviour as well. All in all I definately probably was a bit more conservative than I should of been, but I didn’t want to end up on the “Naughty List” as it was termed during some conversations.

I wasn’t there to blog about everything, so I won’t give a run down on the aircraft or the services or anything, for that you should read David’s site but I will give you my thoughts on the 787 as a whole since it was my first time seeing it.

From UA 787 Launch

The aircraft is pretty similar in my opinion to the size of a 767. Not as big as a 777 not as small as a 757 or 737. So good mix in between and it is apparent its replacing this aircraft. Interior feels damn spacious with the Sky interior bins etc, so that makes a whole other difference. The cockpit is pretty cool (got to sit in the Left seat 😀 😀 ) and the Heads Up Display is really cool.

From UA 787 Launch

The Exterior of the plane is just brilliant, this one was fitted with GE GenX engines, although unfortunately there was no badging on it to tell this so it was a bit hard to distinguish between these and the Rolls Royce Trents but damn they are big (not as big as a GE90 though). The nose is a bit wierd though, it so doesn’t seem similar to any other aircraft i’ve ever seen. It looks more bird like, rather than like a normal aircraft, kind of droopy if you will. The smooth lines of the composite and the raked wing tip are pretty good though.

From UA 787 Launch

I do like the livery over all. There has been a lot of bashing in the media (and i’m not towing the party line here), but I do like the tail. The Old Continental Globe does stand out on the tail and I do like the colours and the styling still. There was a number of unique logos just for the 787 but nothing like the livery ANA uses.

From UA 787 Launch

I have to admit I was a little nervous to begin with yesterday, trying to make sure I didn’t let David down, or stuff up or make a fool of myself, but he was happy with my work and hopefully it means more opportunities in the future.

by ·Comments Off on Sunburn that was totally worth it

Another Sunday afternoon, sitting in front of the computer, but this time though like the last few weeks I have been “working.” I have another 2000 or so photos to sort, select, touch up and just be shocked over. Yesterday was my first ever airshow here in the USA. Thankfully there was no real travel (apart from about an hour on the road in the truck, which was awesome cause I LOVE road tripping in it, its so effortless driving it) required as it was at the Joint Base Lewis McChord, just south of Tacoma Washington. Now what is a Joint Base, well its a mixed base of a US Army Base (in this Case Fort Lewis) and a US Air Force Bases (McChord Air Force Base) mash them all together and you get one epicly large area of space (one of the signs on the Freeway said “Joint Base Lewis McChord Next 6 Exits and considering exits are usually 2-3 miles apart thats HUGE!).

I had the best time, a new friend up here in Seattle invited me along. He provided the comfort and the company, I provided the transportation, so it was win win all around. I had a good time, i was like a little school girl, the squeeling, the big smile. O it was all to much. But It was the stuff in the Air we were there to see. Now there was 1 or 2 displays I had seen before. A B52 doing a pass. Just one. It came along slowly about 2000-3000Ft high, and just kept on going, straight over the field and didn’t look back. There was the Viper West Demonstration Team (F16) which I had seen at Avalon about 10 years ago almost. The B1 was also doing a flying display and I had seen that at Avalon as well. But thats where it all was different.

There was the usual Aerobatic displays from Extra 300s which make for a good way to break up the action at times but its usually the same. Rolls, loops, smoke, spins. There was the re-enactment displays that usually happen. This time around it was a Vietnam Era display. With an AH-1 Cobra, a Huey a O1 Bird Dog and an A1 Skyraider. All truly awesome as they recreated a typical mission from the Vietnam days in picking up a downed pilot. Pyrotechnics and all. Then came the stuff I had been wanting to see for so long. There was the US Air Force Heritage Flight. A number of years ago the US Air Force put together a display of a Modern Era Fighter with a WW 2 fighter as a tribute. It was so popular it became pretty much a standard affair. I have seen many a combination of shots but this show it was a P51 Mustang and the F16.

There was my first look at a Jet Demonstration team, the Patriots. Now back home we had the Roulettes from the RAAF. Don’t get me wrong, they are good at what they do. but to be honest a turboprop just doesn’t enthrall me doing loops etc. When you see the same manuevers done at high speed it just looks more awesome and I am sure is a lot more fun. So the Patriots were great, multicoloured smoke, loops, rolls, high speed knife edge passes. The only thing I didn’t like during it was the plugging for the advertisers. They are a commerical team so they have to make money, I understand that, but seriously every 2 minutes. Then the next big draw card for me was the B2. Yes thats right I said B2. A fully fledged Stealth Bomber. I had only ever seen photos or videos and they seriously do not do that thing justice. It does not look real. It looks so sleak, slim and it is DAMN quiet, I did not even hear a thing out of it when it was doing it’s passes.

But the #1 attraction for the day for everyone was the United States Air Force Thunderbirds. This is the USAF demonstration team. I mean seriously, you hear about these guys, you see photos, you see videos, you hear the stories. They do not prep you for the sheer awesomeness. But with awesome comes downsides. I was so dumb struck by some of the moves I lost chances for pictures, or there was times I was to engrossed in getting that perfect shot I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I could of. But to be honest I still loved them. There was a couple of times I wish I had been quicker on the shot with the Knife Edge passes and stuff or the 2 sneaky passes where one of the solo aircraft comes out of no where to scare the crap out of everyone. The blast splits were fantastic and a lot of the slow roll formations were just sheer beauty and skill. But the Thunderbirds still impress me. It makes me want to find the Documentary I saw of them years ago and the one little line I always remember from that video I heard as they broadcasted it out to everyone yesterday “Smoke on Ready Now”.

There is a downside to the Thunderbirds though. When they advertise the Thunderbirds are doing a show. Your looking at a solid hour. But not an hour of flight, only about 25 mins of flight. The rest of the time is Ground displays with the pilots getting in to their aircraft done in formation (will get photos of that next time) and the Ground staff doing their precision work as well. Plus the story telling that goes with it. But it was still amazing. I am not complaining.

Lots of funny moments during the show with some anti government times by people during a swearing in ceremony (people saying they can’t follow the president, so obviously republicans there) and funny calls like during the Patriots demo where they listed one of the pilots real jobs (it accounted to being “show off, show off, show off, die already will you). By the end of the day I was totally sunburnt, tired, thirsty, hungry (skipped lunch) and did not care that I had to wait an hour for a bus to get out of the base. O and the photos were worth it… check em out

JBLM Air Expo 2012

by ·Comments Off on Avgeek Goodies

3 Days, 400 something photos touched up out of a possible 2500. Not a bad ratio if you ask me. Since a day off on Friday was forced upon me (thanks Frontier… long story) I figured I may as well make the most of the time off and get stuck into all the photos I had failed to touch up since getting here. I had taken so many photos with the Paine Field Aviation Day, Spotting trips to Vancouver & Los Angeles, plus some spotting in Seattle at SeaTac and the Guppy assignment, it was about due (I still have approximately 300-400 Landscape photos to work on to from around town).

There was plenty of time spent both in front of the screen until late in the evening, getting everything done, but it was well worth it. I managed to get some really good shots, stuff that I had not expected to get, and a lot of stuff that is going to be regular to me now. Obviously now that I am here in the USA, gone are the Virgin Australia and the Qantas 737s, replaced with Alaska Airlines (for me anyway), United, Delta, Southwest & American. These will be my new staples, I will be hunting the specials that is for sure with these guys (knocked a couple off my list already). But then there are the rarer ones for me. Allegiant, Air Canada (at least south of the border in the USA anyway), Frontier (with their variety of tales) and all the International Goodies!

So rather than just talk about it… i give you some of the goodies!

From Los Angeles Airport Spotting
From Los Angeles Airport Spotting
From Los Angeles Airport Spotting
From Los Angeles Airport Spotting
From Vancouver Spotting 2012
From Vancouver Spotting 2012
From Seattle Spotting 2012
From Seattle Spotting 2012
From Seattle Spotting 2012

However rather than give you all 400 on one screen, here are the links to the folders, worth a browse, some really good shots in these folders:

Seattle Spotting 2012
Vancouver Spotting 2012
Los Angeles Airport Spotting

by ·Comments Off on Trip Report: 4th July Shenanigans

With a public holiday approaching and one more Radisson stay required to complete my trio of points and an impending deadline for my annual *G status qualification I had the perfect opportunity to get away.

I decided to head to LAX where I would have the opportunity to get in some spotting, a night at the Radisson LAX wasn’t to bdy priced and the flights to LA were not bad with United. So I racked up some time in lieu and booked it all in. Closer to the day I was considering a car for the day to make visiting the spotting locations easier. I found a lovely credit for priceline bids and bid away. I had denied bids till I put $30 for a convertible, Bingo! A car with Hertz was obtained.

Tuesday July 3rd (see I’m adjusting to the American way)

I finished work at 1pm after a quiet morning in the office, jumped in the truck and headed onto the 405. Traffic was fairly heavy till Renton and the 167 off ramp and took about 35 mins to make SeaTac. I had been worried I would have problems as I kept getting told there would be lots of issues due to the holiday.

I had decided to use the MasterPark “Garage” over the outside lots for an extra few dollars. The costs would still be less than a shuttle or a cab in each direction. As soon as I pulled up I was greeted and helped, even the shuttle driver was itching to get me to the terminal but I just had to get a few things sorted first (paperwork, gps put away etc), but I was on the road to the terminal in less than 5 mins and in the walkway to check in, 5 minutes later.

I had expected bedlam, I shouldn’t of worried, not a single person in front of me and I was checking in moments later and pointed towards security. I cleared security after getting an explosive swab down (first over here) but no nude o scope.

As United use the North Satellite I figured might as well just go relax in the club for a while, so off I went to the train station and the train was waiting so moments later I was in the Satellite. I had noticed an unusual Alaskan aircraft on the drive in but it was already gone by the time I got up there so went back to the basement where the club was located.

This was my first time in a United Club and I had heard so many people moan about them, how basic etc. Compared to a Qantas Club or a Virgin lounge yss they are basically, but it’s quiet, there are power points and complimentary drinks. Snacks were limited but enough for a snack or nibble. I grabbed some baby carrots, some trail mix and a diet coke and was about to put my ipod on when I found out I had made a rookie mistake, I forgot to charge my ipod.

I tried to turn it on, dead. I checked my camera bag. I had an ipod connector cable, but no charger. Damn! I scoured the lounge, no usb ports or computers. Double Damn. Went to the reception desk, yeah no chance there! So I figured I would check out the cost of anther charger (not that I needed one, if it was less than $15 I would do it. Yeah $35 for the cheapest charger… um how about no. By this time I had left the lounge and there was only 10-15 minutes till scheduled departure, so I sucked it up and just stayed near the boarding gate.

United Airlines (Operated by Skywest)
UA5358
Seattle to Los Angeles
1546-1825
Canadair CRJ-700 (N762SK)
Economy Class – Seat 12F

Boarding: 1523 (Gate N11)
Push Back: 1544
Take Off Roll: 1554 (Runway 16L)
Top of Descent: 1745
Touch Down: 1819 (Runway 24R)
Shut Down: 1829 (Gate 87)

Boarding was eventually called after the Gate Lice were queuing everywhere. Prepping for the boarding had been done every 2-3 minutes advising that people may need to gate check bags and that they needed to collect special tags etc. I was worried that being my first flight in a CRJ if my camera bag would fit in the overheads, but was advised it would be fine (it was). Eventually Boarding Group 2 was called and I strolled onboard and pretty much all the way to the back. One thing about being *G with United is that since I have no status with United im relegated to the back of the plane, but since I have status and can board early, I’m usually one of the only people AT the back of the plane.

I boarded onto the CRJ and the first thing i noticed was I am 6ft tall and i was skimming the roof. This does not bode well. I had read and been told about how the CRJs irrespective of size were the bain of many people’s existence. They are passionately despised. I wasn’t going to make that decision yet and was going to give it the benefit of the doubt, but things were not looking great so far.

I had managed to snag an exit row when I got to the club so that was ok. But the legroom didn’t look all to bad either way. One thing I did notice that was slightly peculiar about this exit row was not only did you have seat back tray tables, but you also had arm rest mounted tray tables. Very different. Also what is truly peculiar is that even though my camera bag did not fit in the overhead bin, it fit under the seat in front and I was legally allowed to leave it there. That through me big time! Back home that is a MASSIVE no no. Over here, yeah not so much. Thankfully I had the exit row so I didn’t end up sacrificing to much leg space in the end.

Boarding took up the entire alloted time, with what seemed and endless stream of people trying to fill every single overhead bin space. By the time boarding had finished, we actually pushed back pretty much spot on. Good work United. It was time for the manual demonstration since there are no facilities onboard the CRJ’s for any form of entertainment (not even audio) so I was in for a quiet time on my flight south. With offset windows it seems as well, I wasn’t even going to be able to spend my time looking out the window as much without leaning all the way forward.

We taxiied out fairly quickly to the active runway (the 16s today with L,R & C all being used). and there was no real delay in getting the clearance for take off as we barely even had turned onto the runway before the Captain was pushing those throttles to take off power. A quick trip up through the cloud layer and unfortunately as I was in a D seat, i missed the sight of Mt Ranier on the way out. But I was head down in my book by this stage, just chilling out. I had pre grabbed an apple from the United Club for the flight so that was at least a smart way to get over the wanting of a snack onboard. Thankfully drinks are free of charge.

I settled in to the book and eventually the service got around to our row, it was fairly slow but it was a 2.5 hour flight. Unfortunately no full can on this flight it was just a little cup of water and a little cup of diet coke. To tiny cups. I had enough coffee already that day so didn’t want to be adding more coffee to my system but the cold drinks were fine. A 2nd water service was offered a bit later in the flight so that at least helped out if you hadn’t brought anything with you.

A friend of mine had suggested checking out the “Bathrooms” onboard the CRJ for a bit of a laugh. I wasn’t quite sure why he said this, but I did anyway (after much waiting in line to actually get in there since it seemed like a constant stream of passengers in and out of the 1 bathroom at the rear. I almost smacked my head on the way in so it was not a good sign of things to come. The bathroom follows the curvature of the aircraft at the back and god damn is it small. You either have to lean and hunch forward, or lean all the way back like your spine will snap in half. This was a contortionists dream, now I am 6ft tall so anyone taller than I am, I pity them.

The flight just cruised on pretty well, first we were going to arrive ontime, then late, then early, then late. In the end I am pretty sure we ended up drilling holes in the Sky over LA because we ended up coming in what felt like it was late. But either way it was a pretty quiet run down the coast. We pulled into T8 and by the time we disembarked and I walked the endless way through all the corridors to the Baggage Claim it felt like it was forever. This is where United needs some help. We were told Baggage Claim 2 for our bags. WRONG. Their was 1 screen in the entire baggage claim area to find out where your bags come out, and it took me forever to find it after going to Baggage Claim 2 and seeing no bags and the belt not even moving. Turns out it was Baggage 4. Then i followed the instructions for the Radisson shuttle by using the “courtesy” phone in baggage claim, accept apparently the Radissons phone number has been disconnected. Yeah right. So I managed to find the number in my phone (with tripit dying left right and centre (something I still haven’t had a chance to resolve). I finally got through after several minutes on hold (thank you unlimited plan) and was told the shuttle would take 10-15 mins as the Radisson runs its own shuttle, they don’t use offsite companies. This was fine as I was just wanting to chill out after the scurrying back and forth but what the lady at the Radisson said threw me a little. She asked me what Terminal I was at. I said “Terminal 8 (as thats where I had landed) to which I was told “there is no terminal 8, who did you fly in with?” Eventually she told me where and how to locate the driver after I prompted her. But I am sure she would of told me?

Either way, now I was puzzled. Did i dream the Terminal 8, or was I going insane. So I tweeted my LAX experts and they both confirmed T8 is really just an extra satelite for T7. So really there isn’t technically a T8 but there is. All check in is done at T7 but you then move over to the gates at T8 post security (more on this later). So with that resolved I ended up finally at the Radisson. Check in was a few minutes wait but no big deal and I was greeted by a friendly staff member and thanked for being a Gold Member and was told I had been upgraded and that all my details were on file (the best news I like to hear when I am scamming). Nothing was mentioned during the time but i noticed a sign saying the hot water would be shut off between midnight and 4am. Thankfully I wasn’t intending on being awake during that period (nor taking a shower) so that would be fine.

When I finally got up to my room, I had a fair nice location in the building (close to the lifts which i don’t usually like but sometimes its ok) but the view was pretty damn awesome. then I noticed the interconnecting door was half open. Umm what the hell. So I pushed it. It wasn’t an interconnecting door. I had been given a suite! w00t!!! Not that I needed it as I was barely going to be in the hotel 12 or 13 hours. To be upgraded to so much space… happy as. The room itself was a bit of a mismatch. It looked old and run down but the TV’s looked new. The fridge in the suite was nice, would of been nicer if it was plugged in and turned on. The Cheese, Meat and Fruit platter was pretty awesome and provided a spectacular dinner with some vegies that I picked up at the local grocery store about a 15 minute walk away.

Either way, my night was pretty uneventful, TV (Masterchef w00t) some Vegies, a bit to much cheese and some Yoghurt eaten with a fork since they wanted a $5 delivery fee to deliver a spoon to the room… are you kidding me Radisson. The sleep number bed didn’t work but to be honest, I didn’t care, I passed out either way.

Wednesday July 4th

I woke up to lots of looming cloud… damn. But it didn’t deter me from going for a run outside. Why not run around the Perimiter of an Airport if you can? So I did. I had been in #Avgeek heaven the night before walking to and from the Grocery store with planes coming over me time after time. As I was out running, I was running when a Qantas 747-400 and a Qantas Airbus A380 both landed on 24R right next to me. Awesome++ Buzzed by a number of small ERJs etc but by the time i managed to get back to the hotel after running to find the location of Hertz on the way back, It turned out to be a 7km run. Been a while since i’ve done anything that long.

I cleaned up quickly (since the hot water failed to come back on… not happy jan) and as I was checking out I was going to complain about the lack of hot water when I was informed by the Front Office Supervisor (who checked me out) that I would be provided with a bonus 10,000 points for the hassle of a cold shower. Considering i was already getting a decent amount out of this stay.. I could deal with that. I headed off to the Hertz Depot on foot (About a 10 minute walk from the hotel), while consuming my breakfast of mini baguette and banana which all to much reminded me of my times in France last year where that was my daily breakfast while touring Normandy (though no coffee this morning).

Buzzed by many a plane as I walked my way to Hertz and upon entering the lot I saw a large amount of Mustang and Camaro convertibles… o this was good news. I managed to find the Hertz #1 gold office since the lines for the main office were HUGE, and they didnt mind that I had booked with Priceline. She offered me a Mitsubish Eclipse to which my words back where “Got something better?” I was pretty happy at this stage and in a good mood so didn’t mind forking over a little bit extra. In the end she said she could do me a high end mustang or a Volvo. The Volvo wouldn’t be covered by my insurance, no go. The mustang had GPS.. pass I had mine with me.

In the end they brought around a Camaro convertible for me. It was an additional $40 in the end because all the non crappy convertibles came automatically fitted with it and it turned out to be the Top of the Line prestige version of the Convertible. It was an Camaro Convertible SS. Nicely tuned V8 engine, fully optioned including reversing camera, reverse sensors, Heads up display, the Hertz GPS, Sirius XM radio, Onstar, flappy paddle gear box… just about everything! Did I mention it was bright red? Yellow would of been to much!

The car was super sweet. Amazing sound, but I didn’t put the top down till I got back to the hotel as I was in a bit of a rush to get back and get over to Imperial Hill to catch up with some fellow spotters. With my bags in hand and the GPS set, I sped over to Imperial Hill and rolled up to what looked like a full contingent of spotters. Awesome signs for the day! Even though the guys i were meeting couldn’t be around all that long, it was great to just spend a bit of time and get some tips from the locals.

For the morning I got some good shots of some of the heavies coming in including a Qantas A380 with the new “Spirit of Australians” titles that were only applied to one side? err wtf. Also kind of got a shot of a Cathay Pacific Cargo 747-8F (blocked by a building since he turned off short) but otherwise there was plenty of good sites. I did snap the new Southwest Airlines 737-800 (one of their newest in fleet) and also a few special liveries that came in. I did battle with the runways all morning as usually the heavies land in the morning on 25R, but not this morning. So I moved over to In n Out eventually (After a quick little detour via the beach to give the Camaro a good push) and then the runways swapped over to the otherside so all the stuff I really wanted to see, went to the other side.

At In n Out i did manage to get 2 x A380s at close quarters with Singapore Airlines and Air France and boy do they look huge from underneath. I enjoyed my lunch of a Double Double and Fries Animal Style for my once a year treat and being 4th of July, I figured it was fairly patriotic? The afternoon soon died down and tired of losing shots, I moved back to imperial hill, where low and behold the runways swapped back over to In n Out! God damn it! No luck at all.

Eventually I had to take the car back to the Hertz drop off, the staff all loved the fact that a guy was driving in with the music pumping and the top down in the sun (it eventually came out), typical tourist in California look, but I did not care. I was into the shuttle and heading back to LAX for my flight home (via San Francisco). After the driver pulled up at T6 and said “this is for United” i corrected him and said T7. So he dropped me off at T7. When i approached the door, the guard asked me what airline i was flying, i told him United and showed him my Gold Card, he then sent me back to T6… damn my feeble brain. It seems United do all premium check in regardless of destination at T6. So i trudged all the way back to T6 to check in.

During check in, again not a single person in existence I was offered a bump from San Francisco to Seattle and if it eventuated would nett me $200 in travel credits. Awesome++ but my first thoughts were, get the hell to security and get to your flight cause it says boarding at 16:35, which was wierd since I thought my flight was 1730, which it wasn,t it was 1710. The time then by the time I got through security and had to walk really fast over to T8 where my flight was departing was almost time to board! At security I was held up by the TSA not even doing anything with the premium security line, he let me wait till he had cleared everyone out of the normal line (what the hell for I have no idea) and then I got put through the Nude O Scope (Back Scatter Xray Machine) to delay things even longer. Either way I still made it through fine, if not to long of a process (about 10 mins).

Without any time to hit up the lounge, I just got over to T8 as quickly as possible and by the time I arrived at the gate I had a few minutes before boarding began.

United Airlines
UA558
Los Angeles to San Francisco
1710-1825
Airbus A320 (N469UA)
Economy Class – Seat 29F

Boarding: 1640 (Gate 83)
Push Back: 1709
Take Off Roll: 1719 (Runway 25R)
Top of Descent: 1750
Touch Down: 1808 (Runway 28L)
Shut Down: 1816 (Gate 74)

The flight to San Francisco boarded and it seemed that a lot of people were not going to make it. I was tempted to offer to bump on this flight, but could not see any later flights at all Direct to Seattle and wasn’t sure what the options were as I didn’t have time to investigate, so Just left it (if I didn’t have a bag checked through to Seattle it would be a different story).

I boarded with Group 2 after again fighting my way through the Gate Lice (some of them in the Priority line, sorry Premier Access line with Boarding Group 7) to board in the first wave of people of my group. I made it allllllllll the way to the back of the plane and stowed my bag with no hassles at all. Gotta love a mainline aircraft. With audio fitted I settled in, plugged in my headset, tuned into Channel 9 and was instantly greeted with #avgeek goodness. I could hear LAX ground giving instructions. I previously mentioned what Channel 9 was in one of my last trip reports but pretty much you can hear what the pilots have tuned on their main Air Traffic Control radio. So in this instance it was Los Angeles Ground. I could hear them giving orders to all the aircraft for pushback and taxi.

The Captain was a female but the Co Pilot was doing all the talking it seemed so that was a bit different (first time i think i’ve had a female Captain before). The Co Pilot had this really strong Southern/Texan twang to his voice and in sometimes when he was giving his requests on the ground it was as though he was singing them back as they seemed to rhyme (or at least he made them rhyme).

We had a quick taxi to the Active runway after pushing back and it was so great to know when we got clearance etc and got some fantastic photos of LAX on the climb out of the airport. It was due to be a fairly short flight (about the same as Brisbane to Sydney) but the service (same as any standard united flight) just didnt seem to happen. I don’t know if they FA’s serving economy were doing something but it was almost up till descent before they started their service (where as first class had been served immediately). What that meant was that we were pretty much thrown our drinks. Now to complicate matters as we were well into Descent by the time I got my drink and the lovely person in front had reclined all the way back, my tray table was not even remotely level, so as soon as i was handed my drink and cup of ice and placed it on the tray table, It went sliding to the floor and before I could grab the ice, it was gone. Thankfully my can of drink (yep the whole can) survived this encounter and I grabbed it before it went flying.

Other than this and the requirement to rush through drinking the can as we were almost practically on finals by the time I got my drink, it was an ok flight. Dual arrivals into SFO however we were spaced due to wake turbulence so no side by side shot 🙁 I was looking forward to that on my first landing into San Fran. Either way we pulled up to the gate about 10 minutes early and I had plenty of time for my connection which was actually going to be at the gate directly next to mine. However I had to go for a nice long long walk to the club after disembarking.

By the time I found the club (i thought the map had said there was one closer to my gate, but there wasn’t) and had a mild panic I had lost my Gold Card I had enough time for a couple of cups of coffee, about 10 minutes of charging my phone up a bit since I wasn’t sure if it was going to last it through on the power it had, then rock back up to the gate a bit early to see if I can get bumped (with a bowl full of trail mix in my hand that is). Unfortunately no bump though… they cleared ALL the standby guests… damn it!

Either way I was still going to get home tonight without a hitch so I grabbed a salad for dinner from the Takeaway outlet of Gordon Biersch (somewhere I had dinner last year when I visited Seattle) and waited for the flight to board (mear moments away).

United Airlines
UA428
San Francisco to Seattle
1939-2136
Airbus A320 (N408UA)
Economy Class – Seat 35F

Boarding: 1908 (Gate 75)
Push Back: 1939
Take Off Roll: 1949 (Runway 1L)
Top of Descent: 2055
Touch Down: 2121 (Runway 34C)
Shut Down: 2128 (Gate N10)

Boarding began, again wade my way through the Gate Lice as some other guy just trys to push his way onboard without even showing a boarding pass and almost got himself arrested by the TSA doing ID checks at the gate. I hopped on board and head to the back and was greeted with silence on channel 9 (after I managed to turn my headphones on properly). By the time we started push back and the Crew were doing their last checks I asked if we were going to get Channel 9 at all today (it is at Pilot Discretion if they turn it on or not) and was promptly told no. I asked if she could ask the Captain and was told “the captain has already made his decision and WONT be turning it on.” The way it was said just shocked me and it felt like this was going to be another flight where the famous United “service” showed its head. But It was ok.

We took off on the same runway that we used last time I was in San Francisco and the take off was quick, powerful and with an abrupt pull out away from the Airport area. Soon enough we were heading north and since I was in an F seat on the right hand side, had a fantastic view of all the mountains the whole flight home.

By the time service reached my row I could see them sporadically dishing out full cans and figured that there is a bit of a trick to it.

1. Sit at the back
2. Order something obscure that not many people are going to drink (in my case Soda Water and
3. Be nice 😀

In the end I got my full can of Club Soda/Selzer Water and a cup of coffee to keep me awake till I could get myself home safely, and the salad was pretty damn tasty with plenty of Lettuce. A beautiful approach into the airport with a wonderful sunset over the mountains including Mt Ranier. The most amazing thing on the approach though was the amount of Fireworks going off. Everywhere you looked there was thousands of them going off constantly. It was a truly amazing site as they were exploding left right and centre and I wondered if it was affecting the flight crew at all in anyway.

We eventually touched down on a direct approach from the South touching down on the Centre runway (my first time from that direction) and a quick taxi later we were at the North Satelite again. Exactly where I had left almost 30 hours ago. This time though, I had a long wait ahead of me while waiting for pretty much the entire aircraft to empty as out as i was in row 35 of 37… crap

By the time i finally got out of the aircraft, and had jumped on the train back to the main terminal, I was expecting to find my bag sitting waiting for me. But United baggage strikes again. WRONG BELT information! It was changed and no one notified… again! At least when I finally got to the right belt my bag was waiting for me. I headed over to the shuttle pick up area and the right shuttle was about to pull out from the stop so I flagged him down and jumped onboard and gave him my ticket so that they could have my truck waiting for me.

5 minutes later I was in my truck and 30 minutes after that I was driving into my parking space after witnessing fireworks explode everywhere all the way home. A Crazy way to finish a truly crazy 2 days!

LAX Spotting Trip

by ·Comments Off on Back in the Air

It has been 2 months since my last flight, I feel wierd this year having not yet flown since I got here, but today ends that drought. Off for a quick trip to Los Angeles thanks to a public holiday tomorrow for 4th july.

Flying down this afternoon (finishing work a little early) and heading down with United. So I am flying down with them to keep my Star Gold status alive (gotta credit at least once a year) and that should keep me going for a bit. This whole trip is a kind of mileage/mattress run almost, with some plane spotting thrown in for some fun.

I will put up a full trip report sometime over the weekend so that you can see all the exploits however I am sure the photos will be a while from the spotting as they will go to the end of the queue, after all of the other ones I have to touch up.

Plenty of good stuff to see/do today before I go, but stay tuned to the twitter feed 2moro, lots of #avgeek posts.

by ·Comments Off on Trip Report: Bolting North

Introduction:

I had been having a bit of a rough time in life and had decided it was time for a getaway, flights were pretty expensive at the last minute to anywhere really and I wanted to try and get some stays for the Club Carlson promos done and out of the way. So I was hunting down a Park Inn and found either a few options in Texas (but flights were a no go) however there was one in Vancvouer! Awesome. I could get the stay done, visit some friends and it would be a quick trip. Originally had planned on driving till I found some stuff on Bolt Bus.

Bolt Bus is like the Low Cost Carrier of Greyhound (if that was possible). In reality they are more like an express service. They had only just opened up services in the Pacific North West. Fares were cheap! I also managed to get a great deal on a 2nd night at an amazing hotel (but I shall leave that to later). Plans were set but no bookings were made. Weather did not look good, so the plan was to hold of as long as possible. This would be a very spur of the moment trip, definitely not me.

Thursday morning, weather improved, it was looking passable. I pulled the trigger and booked it all. I was set to head north!

Friday 8th June 2012

Finished work on a high note thanks to figuring out a very complicated itinerary and getting something to fare so I was extremely happy. I just missed the bus to Downtown as I needed to make my way down to the King Street Station area. So after waiting around and still unable to find any information on any lockers at King Street Station (there aren’t) , I caught the next 550 to Downtown. Damn was it a long long journey. Almost an hour! Wasn’t able to read, as I only had the Spinner suitcase it rolled around way to much on the bus and had to spend the whole time holding onto it on a very packed bus going stop start for almost an hour.. not a good way to have your mood go from good to frustrated.

Frustration got a little bit worse when I finally got to King Street Station as there was not a single sign for Bolt Bus anywhere! It was still about an hour till the bus so I figured I could get some dinner at Uwajimaya (conviently opposite the station) and pick up some supplies for the journey. After checking out the shops for a little bit and picking up some weird Green Tea Cookies (that were yummy by the way) and some water I managed to grab some dinner and after rushing to finish it before what I thought would be the time I would need to be there for the bus.

I rocked up back to the street around 730 for an 8pm bus figuring I needed to be there. WRONG!!! Bus was no where in sight, no one was in sight at all. There was literally nothing to even tell me if I was in the right spot. As time went by more and more confused travelers stumbled around all asking the same thing “Is this the stop for bolt bus?”. This is obviously not a good sign for Bolt Bus at this stage. Even a sign would have been a good thing.

Eventually about 7:55pm the Bus rolled up after a fight almost broke out at the dodgy looking pub across the street. Damn the driver for taking away our focus on the entertainment. Almost the entire bus emptied off and a large crowd was gathering around the bus by now. From here the driver went through his speel. Boarding by Groups on your boarding pass. Make sure you have your passport out and open and feel free to sit wherever you want.

Thankfully I was in the A Group even booking the day before so that was a good thing if you ask me. Maybe the closer you book you get a better boarding group? Who knows. But I dropped my suitcase underneath, lugged the camera bag up into the bus and took the customs form off the driver.

Onboard the bus it looked good. Bolt Bus has only been around a few weeks in the PNW so the bus is obviously still pretty fresh. Leather seats, power points at each row, plenty of leg room and free wifi onboard. Definitely a good thing if you ask me. All it really needed was a Tray table for laptops and it would have been perfect.

Wifi was active straight away, powered up and logged in, I didn’t even realize we were on the way. We probably pulled out about 5 minutes late. To be honest this was great. I had the time to settle down and get through all the emails and stuff I had put off for 2 days and catch up on life a bit. By the time we reached the border I had seen a beautiful sunset, enjoyed finishing off some snacks and then had also spent the time chatting with friends as well. At the border your informed the Wifi probably wont work after that point, so good to get any stuff you want done before the border (or after it on the Southbound).
We arrived the border at around 10:05pm really about 5 mins behind schedule so can not complain. I believe Bolt Bus allow approximately 30 minutes for the crossing but I have heard stories of buses taking over an hour. But this was good. We were running on time really and the border crossing was a non issue. A number of questions grilled by Canadian Immigration (same as last time but not as bad) and I was greeted in for the weekend with a stamp.. yay!

Back on the bus and on the road around 10:35pm so only 30 mins! Awesome! Book out, last few messages out before the Wifi dies and as we power north to Vancouver I chill out. Next thing I know after tuning out we are in Vancouver, rolling into Pacific Central Station at 1135. That is definitely good news, only 5 mins behind schedule the entire way!

Jumped in a taxi at the Station and I was at my hotel just minutes later. I had booked Friday night at the Park Inn & Suites Vancouver mainly to get their promotion stay where I can get about 44,000 free points with a 1 night stay. Would I stay here normally, nah I would stick more downtown. But I was not worried all that much. The rate was fairly good, I would get a room upgrade thanks to now being Carlson Clubgold thanks to a status match and I wasn’t going to spend all that much time at the hotel.

Check In was a bit slow with lots of paperwork required (more than usual) but eventually I was handed a “Letter” and directed up to my room on the top floor. I had been upgraded “according to the registration sheet” to a King Vancouver Vista room (possibly a business class room not sure) but either way the room was good. Didn’t see much that night as I was in bed, 10-15 minutes later.

Saturday 9th June

Woke up and the weather looked good, the view was amazing, just stunning, so decided to go for a run along the Seawall. After some quick directions down the Seawall and stuffing up my run tracking (yep im that retarded) I had a good run along the waterfront along False Creek. Felt good! After a slow morning of finding out the blog was offline, reading my email updates and general goofing around. I headed off to get some currency exchanged and then the first hit for the weekend of Tim Hortons… Conviently across the street!

After grabbing some breakfast and chilling out for a little while catching up on life, it was time to hit the road and get out to the airport to meet my friend. Leighton was kind enough again to take me spotting for the day and I was looking forward to a relaxed day without much else to do. I packed up all my bags and strolled on down to the Broadway Skytrain station. This station is on the Canada line which runs directly to the airport so I didn’t have to spend the time playing change trains to get out there while toting a suitcase.

Why dragging my suitcase? Well I had managed to score a room at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport for an insanely cheap deal. VERY VERY cheap rate. $69CAD for the room. For an amazing hotel, at the airport itself, I couldn’t believe it!

So I jumped on the train and 20 minutes or so later I was jumping off at the airport and strolling my way over to the Fairmont. The one thing I love about the Fairmont at the airport is that it looks super modern just like the rest of the airport but there are certain little things that keep it in line with that Chateau styling of the Fairmont brand. You actually enter the airport itself and then head to a level above the check in facilities to the reception of the hotel.

Being 11ish in the morning I did not expect to get access to a room, the plan was to drop bags and head straight off spotting. But the hotel had a room ready for me so I headed on up. There was a few issues with Wifi reception so the room I was originally in, was swapped for another room but the hotel was more than gracious. In fact their service was fantastic!! I could not fault this hotel, large spacious rooms, lovely luxurious beds, big bathroom, the only downside was a lack of power outlets (a common theme). Big picture windows overlooking the US Flight ramp (in the 2nd room) and I was in heaven! But no time to waste!

Spent the afternoon chatting, spotting, taking photos, eating, drinking (had lunch at the Beaver Bar which was fantastic as always). I enjoyed the day so much I lost track of time as by the time I got back to the hotel it was almost 5pm! There was a lovely little gift waiting for me in my room and the choc coated strawberries were delicious! I could get used to this. With more time spent taking photos from the room, I eventually headed downtown for dinner after not being able to make up my mind what I wanted.

The night was a bit mixed, with my usual self getting in the way. Managed to get lost, not look into things better and after not being able to make up my mind had part of my dinner at one place and finished it off super super late back at the Fairmont after a stop at the Whole Foods on Broadway… not my finest moments!

Sunday 10th June 2012

The morning was spent with a gym session where I could have been on the internet on the exercise bike (it didn’t work though which is probably a good thing), cleaning up the absolute destruction I caused last night in the room and just generally relaxing while taking more photos. I had been woken up by an offending Dash 8 spooling up to full power right outside my window. I guess sound proofing just cant block a full power turbo prop. Either way I didn’t mind. After a stroll through the airport to Tim Hortons down at the Domestic Terminal, with a good view of the runway and the taxi ways I enjoyed more time catching up on life with photos and some Tim Hortons.

Made sure I was back in the room for the Asian arrivals of JAL, China Eastern and the Air Canada from Tokyo and the Air Berlin flight from Dusseldorf. With the active runway for the Heavies right next to my room, it was a good way to finish off my stay at the Fairmont as I would eventually have to leave ?

Made my way back to the Skytrain (I had pre bought my ticket at the 7-11 after yesterdays costly mistake) and headed into the city. I made my way over to Pacific Central Station to drop my bags in a locker then reversed my journey back to downtown to spend some time doing a bit of shopping. I figured that if I could find a jacket the last time I was in Vancouver for cheap when I was desperate, it may work a 2nd time.

It did. I did a fair amount of exploring, hitting up wherever I could find (even heading back over to West Broadway.. thank you to the North Face Shop on West Broadway for their tip) but I am now the proud owner of a lovely warm North Face jacket, one that will keep me warm and dry during the Seattle weather!

After some shopping and wandering and aimless nothingness I hit up Japadog for a Kurubota hot dog Japanese styles (YUMMMM) and then slowly headed back to Pacific Central station to get my bag and wait for the bus. At least this time there is 1 sign in evidence at the Bus station but since Vancouver is the terminus you aren’t going to miss the bright red buses.

Again boarding was done via 3 groups (A, B & C) but the drive had everyone line up so there was some order to everything. This was a bit out of place compared to Seattle but maybe this is how its meant to be done. Either way I was in the A Group with 2 other people. There was a very very small group this time, maybe 12 or 15 max. So we boarded and were gone right on time. The road out was quick and there was not much traffic on the road so we made really good time to the US Border. What was even more impressive was the quickness of the processing. No hassles only a few questions this time (compared to entering in LAX) but to be honest it was a quick stop and we were on the road before we were even meant to be arriving at the border. This meant 2 more hours south and we would be in Seattle early!!

The wifi signal kicked in about 2 minutes after the border, so this is good timing as that’s how long it took me to get everything sorted! With Wifi up and running and my phone back out of Canada roaming o it felt good to be back in touch with life!

We flew down the Interstate as there was very very very little traffic and it was as though the day was just for us. The sun was out, I had wifi, and as we approached Seattle a magnificent view of Mt Ranier (which I couldn’t get a good shot of).

To be honest this was a great way to end the trip. We got in 30 minutes early (how often can you say that on a flight) and within 10 minutes or so I was getting picked up and ferried back to the apartment after promising a box of Tim Hortons donuts to someone. Easy as pie!

Conclusion

Absolutely loved the weekend. Some definite highlights and one or two low lights but that’s the way it always goes. The weekend was definitely successful in what I had intended on it doing. Getting me reinvigorated with life. It was great to spend Saturday with a mate and get to catch up on life and have a good afternoon where you can switch off and not worry about a thing.

Bolt Bus was definitely a fantastic thing and I will definitely use them again. It is silly to drive to either Portland or Vancouver with tickets so cheap, seriously cheap!! They are bargain fares but your not getting bargain service out of it. My only suggestion to them is some form of sign at the Seattle stop so people don’t mill around so much.

The Fairmont Vancouver Airport… well what can I say. I am in love with this hotel. Amazing people, amazing service and to top it all off… the location and the views. Found out this morning that I could of borrowed a BMW bike which would have been cool and next time I stay there I most definitely will take advantage of that and go for a ride somewhere. The hotels views were just stunning in my opinion and the airport has a lot to offer (the food there isn’t all that expensive in the main terminal either! So you don’t really need to head into the city for a decent feed).

Plans are afoot for another trip north, but for now I am ready to hit the streets for more adventure in life!

Vancouver Weekend

by ·Comments Off on A Truly Epic Day

Today was always going to be a happy day for me, I got to fulfil a dream. What I didn’t count on when I got up this morning was just truly how epic this day was going to be.

Woke up this morning, and the weather was perfect, not to cold but brisk enough. The sky was perfection blue. Fantastic start to Memorial Day weekend. I will post more about memorial day on Monday but for the start of a long weekend, it could not be better.

Today the plan originally was as such. Time to buy a truck. I had an appointment with Lithia Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Renton. After seeing them last Saturday night, today was going to be pretty damn awesome. I had a fantastic deal on a truck worked out with them, but for an extra $1k I could get something a little bit better. I was booked in for a new test drive. But lets look back at the truck stuff from last week. I had looked at Ford & Chrysler last week in Renton and looked at some pretty basic trucks. They werent all that flashy but thats not me really. Then it was late, but they were open and about to close in like 45 mins or so, but I stopped in at Lithia, just for the hell of it.

Well I am glad I did! because they had a massive sale on, they were dumping on the discounts and to be honest I didn’t think I could get my dream truck till I got there. When you see an american truck you think, big, 4×4, dual cab. Able to tow a small tank. Well the Chevy and Ford ones I was looking at, were to be honest, basic and not 4×4. I was happy, but i wasn’t in dream country. Fast forward a week of tossing and turning over which Dodge to pick, getting insurance quotes. I was tossing up over two different models and I had to make a decision.

So back to this morning. After getting to Dodge, I was greated like a long lost brother, they were awesome. Was taken out for a test drive, looked after, spoken to like a normal human being and all my questions were answers. In the end.. What did I go with… well here she is!

Its a Dodge Ram 1500 ST Quad Cab. With the Hemi V8! The truck sounds awesome, looks amazing and has everything I have ever wanted. Hell the thing handles like a dream! I love it! A dream come true. I have always wanted a truck and now I truly have one.. well not just yet. You can’t drive out of the lot without insurance and due to the long weekend my insurance agent is away. Great. Which means I can’t pick it up till Tuesday after work. But who cares! Tuesday night I get to pick up the new love of my life!

Now your all thinking… why would today be truly epic if he just picked up a truck. Well that’s not what made it epic. Today’s epicness started a couple of days ago. At an #avgeek tweetup. We got to chatting about planes and all the warbirds and stuff after PFAD and talking about the old bombers flying about the B17s, B24s etc Now I have always wanted to fly in a War Bird. Didn’t matter what, I would take whatever I could of gotten. Now the flights are never cheap, unlike a regular helicopter joy flight a warbird would be close to $500 but I would pay it. But there is one aircraft I would do anything, pay anything for a ride in. A B17.

Then last night, I was checking twitter before bed and I saw a tweet from the Museum of Flight. There was a B17 visiting for Memorial Day weekend. They were out here for Joy Flights. I was like SAY WHAT NOW! This was about 11pm at night, so couldnt call them to find out what was going on. I hit up there website, saw the price, momentarily thought no way, then snapped my head back into it. First thing this morning I would get myself on a flight. I sent them off an email last night hoping for a reply. I got one early this morning. It said “Call this number, if there is space, you can book it with the onsite team”

Around 830am I figured it was early enough. I called, and I hoped. I was prepared to take whatever time, cost or whatever I had to do, to get on that plane. I mean seriously, this was a dream come true. A B-17 offering joy flights in my new home town. I didn’t care about the cost, I didn’t know if I would ever get such an opportunity. Well I was told there was space at 115pm today. I figured I could do it, it would mean leaving right there and then, so I scoffed down the last of my coffee, grabbed a bottle of water and hit the road. I got to dodge early, tied up all the truck stuff and got my cheque from the bank and headed to Boeing Field.

I got to the Field around 12 about 15 mins before I was due to check in. I could not believe how good a day it was, the sky was perfect blue, not a cloud near the field and it was warming up (temp hit 78F when I was on my way home). I was in heaven. There was shiny aircraft everywhere. I checked in and signed all my forms and got chatting with the other guys who were on the flight. I was about the youngest on the flight by not to much but average age was well into their 60s. When the aircraft came in for the flight before mine. My heart stopped.

I had never before seen a real B17 in flight. It was as though I was in a dream. Looking at this marvelous, shining, metal aircraft as its 4 propellor driven engines powered it into the field. I was in love. Could this day get any better, I buy my first truck, ever. A dream come true just there, then a bucket list item ticked off, a dream just waiting to happen.

We watched it take off and that made it all the more harder to focus because it was our turn next. It was at this point we got our safety briefing. No “please refer to the safety card” or any such nonsense. Just down to earth, this is your seat belt, its different to anything else you would of used. Don’t sit here, don’t touch this or that, anything else, stand up whatever you want. Enjoy the flight. They asked for two volunteers, I didn’t get in first, I got in 2nd. After the 30 or so minute flight they came back. I was excited like a little school girl. I couldn’t wait. I was snapping away like crazy, a few videos here and there (and that is RARE for me). When it came time to board, my god!

What we were told then was that the first volunteer had to board first, he was heading directly to the cockpit for his flight. O M G.. DAMMIT! The 2nd volunteer, he would need to wait till right at the end to go to the cockpit, because well, he was going to be there for LANDING!!!!!! I said could it get any better… I think it just did! As we approached the pretty thing, the name of the aircraft really fit. Aluminium Overcast. A shiny, silver, metal object that was gleaming right in front of my eyes! I was happy as larry.

We boarded through the rear crew entry, just aft of the waist gun stations. I took my seat directly opposite the Port (left) 50 calibre gun and we waited to go. There was a bit of an oversight with the amount of people onboard as it had seemed they oversold the flight (no one was bumped though apart from a staff member getting a freebie ride). With buckles done, engines started we set off. The noise was amazing. Like music to my ears.

The takeoff was gentle, barely even noticed we were in the air. About 15 seconds after take off, we had a bit of a course correction and you REALLY felt the rudder movement. It was a floaty thing, you wouldnt think that such a bit of an aircraft would react that way. But it did. It was this surreal, undescribable feeling. I can’t say just how amazing it was. The sights were amazing as we did laps over Renton, Lake Washington and Southern Seattle. We obviously couldn’t stray into the SeaTac flight paths but you could see the most amazing sights.

Above the Radio Operators booth is a top hatch that can be removed. It was. At one point I had my head out in the open. Taking the most amazing photos in the Slip Stream and loving every second of it. Once everyone else had their turn up front, up I went. I managed to get a good deal of time in the nose. The glass nose of the B17 holds the famous Norden Bomb Sight (doesnt work in this version) but the nose has the best view in the house. The view from that seat, looking through the glass bubble down over Lake Washington was worth the $475 alone. I don’t care about the price that sight is burned into my brain.

It was a bit tough getting in and out of the nose, its very cramped and small but well worth the visit as you are even more forward than the pilot is! Amazing feeling. If I had of been on a bomb run over Europe, I could of triggered the bombs to release from that very seat. I came back up from the nose and after more watching the pilots at work and several more photos. It was time to come into land. We pretty much were standing almost to the very touch down point and the landing was SUPER smooth. Once the rear wheel (the B17 is a tail dragger) had touched the ground, we were told it was safe to get up again. This meant we could get some amazing photos during the long long taxi back to the parking bay.

This was a truly epic flight, once we parked up I got more photos (even a new Turkish 737 taking off behind the B17) and got some lovely artistic style photos. While I was purchasing a few momentos (an engraved 50Cal bullet and a B17 spark plug) there was an older Gentleman in full USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) uniform. He had been a crew member on a B17 during the war and he did 30 combat missions and was shot down on a mission to Poland. Unbelievable. Truly magical to meet such a man.

The day had just been truly and utterly epic. I could not believe how amazing that flight had been, how much of a kid I had turned into. I had not leaked the info about the flight to many people, so this is the first time a lot of my friends are finding out about it. Sorry guys… I wanted to keep it a suprise so I could enjoy every second of it. Apparently we had gotten the longest flight by far that day and to be truly honest, I dont think I will ever take a flight that could live up to those 40 or so minutes. Not even a First Class A380 flight for 14 hours could top it. It may be close… but it won’t ever be the same as my ride on the Aluminium Overcast.

Expat Life
Aluminium Overcast