tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78870031567969489822024-03-13T21:13:31.626-07:00Old Plane PicturesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-81471840425876855772013-03-24T14:31:00.004-07:002013-03-24T19:57:03.292-07:00The Sad Tale of N747PA<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwH6L8dqSUKN46AJOGbOVWZogL3-4Oj15jupIVC982BgJ0yl_NEigeqO5Hy9pRQZYGsu4OlRHS6fPot1Hik__-R-5pDP-IOpdg_npROqlMBOyGKF4AOkrTJZFXlVXLplrFuz-Ijkljw4/s1600/747sunset_retouched_bw_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwH6L8dqSUKN46AJOGbOVWZogL3-4Oj15jupIVC982BgJ0yl_NEigeqO5Hy9pRQZYGsu4OlRHS6fPot1Hik__-R-5pDP-IOpdg_npROqlMBOyGKF4AOkrTJZFXlVXLplrFuz-Ijkljw4/s640/747sunset_retouched_bw_email.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N747PA - the second 747 to be built, and the first to be delivered and operated commercially. Seen here on a pre-delivery flight over Sequim Bay, WA - some time in 1970.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The very first 747 wasn't flown commercially, but the second that Boeing built was delivered to Pan Am, and flew with that airline and others, for many years. And here it is - N747PA, high over Sequim Bay in Washington State, some time in 1970. It flew with Pan Am on and off from 1970 until the airline wound up in 1991. It flew the equivalent of 13 times around the earth during its career, and as the first 747 to be delivered to the airline, it was chosen to make Pan Am's <i>final</i> <i>ever</i> flight, in May 1992.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N747PA suffered only one serious accident during its 20-year career, and that was pretty soon after entering service, in July 1971. Due to a series of errors on the part of the ground control and onboard crew, N747PA struck lighting structures at the end of the runway as it tried to take off from San Francisco international airport, causing serious damage to the rear fuselage, landing gear, hydraulics, engines and several passengers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to Wikipedia, 'the right main under-body landing gear was forced up and into the fuselage, and the left under-body landing gear was ripped loose and remained dangling beneath the aircraft'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most frighteningly, 17ft lengths of girder penetrated the cabin, seriously injuring two passengers seated towards the rear of the aeroplane, one of whom had a leg 'near amputated' by the impact.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the accident, the crew elected to continue takeoff, circled around for a couple of hours to dump fuel (which I imagine the guy with the severed leg just <i>loved</i>), and then made an emergency landing back at San Francisco. When it came to a halt, the plane collapsed nose-high onto its tail, and several passengers sustained serious back injuries during the botched evacuation, because (duh) the front evacuation slides were too high off the ground. <a href="http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR72-17.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The full accident report is here</span></a>, if you're interested, and here are some pictures of <a href="http://www.airlinercafe.com/page.php?id=77" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">N747PA undergoing repair</span></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The remainder of N747PA's operational career appears to have been uneventful. But unusually, things got interesting again <i>after</i> it was finally scrapped in 1999...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A South Korean couple bought N747PA (which by then had been sliced into sections) from a scrapyard in South California in 2000, and had it shipped in pieces at great expense to a suburban lot to the north of Seoul, where they painted it to sorta kinda represent Air Force One (because why not?) and 'converted' it into a noodle restaurant.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHnttA-zWfpTrzXE8EpbsRLO6v2cp-XRQY_QFuxj5FUcnqbI2H-sd2kfIKpMJxFu59d-hkwa9kvLdjVux5t5jYwOK131DR0WMFsg1QlPJV5P_77heVYZdYN1TOANnz0OzhmEWWpU9Zs0/s1600/url.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHnttA-zWfpTrzXE8EpbsRLO6v2cp-XRQY_QFuxj5FUcnqbI2H-sd2kfIKpMJxFu59d-hkwa9kvLdjVux5t5jYwOK131DR0WMFsg1QlPJV5P_77heVYZdYN1TOANnz0OzhmEWWpU9Zs0/s640/url.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The restaurant failed, (there's a pun in there somewhere about 'overheads' but I don't have the energy today) and <a href="http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/04/abandoned-boeing-747-restaurant.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">after sitting in a state of increasing disrepair for years</span></a> while the owners tried and failed to sell it, N747PA was finally cut up and scrapped for good in 2010. The LA times has a depressing article about the whole sorry affair <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/13/world/la-fg-korea-plane-demolition-20101213" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">here</span></a>. I probably think too hard about this stuff, but <a href="http://www.400scalehangar.net/forums/showthread.php?p=586535" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">these pictures make me sad</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The picture at the top of this page is a scan from an 8x10in color print that I found in a junk shop. Taken (appropriately) at sunset, the original print has a very strong orange/yellow color cast which I wasn't really able to correct, so after doing the basics - dust-reduction, contrast adjustment and so on - I converted it to black and white. A few minutes on Google Earth identified the distinctive landmass at upper-left as <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=sequim+bay&ie=UTF-8&ei=JHBPUbraN5CyigLEw4HwAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Paradise Cove, at Sequim Bay</span></a> - a few minutes flying time from Seattle.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-44406744896149932592013-03-10T22:30:00.003-07:002013-03-10T22:30:59.573-07:00Saudia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMXEYhhQEiUMnchsTSWsO9Jpdwb67zjZskhtbW80NDPyWK-lHDqucRZ01_FKINhv_Zzw-vfgYts_vSEZUyl-ENCGjLHZQt2OxwigAZvjIcBq7cwHQTvqlu00f611F49pFhpTnH-bNT0A/s1600/Saudia747_email_newversion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMXEYhhQEiUMnchsTSWsO9Jpdwb67zjZskhtbW80NDPyWK-lHDqucRZ01_FKINhv_Zzw-vfgYts_vSEZUyl-ENCGjLHZQt2OxwigAZvjIcBq7cwHQTvqlu00f611F49pFhpTnH-bNT0A/s640/Saudia747_email_newversion.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Boeing 747-100 high over Washington State. It is carrying the (likely spurious) registration HZ-AGK.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another Boeing 747, but a full-sized one this time, high over Washington State some time in the early 1970s, probably 1970, in fact. There's a mystery here though - it's in Saudia livery, and carries the registration HZ-AGK, but this registration never adorned a Saudia-owned 747. A 737, yes, and a 777 (still flying, I think) but never a jumbo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Very VERY close inspection of this 8x10in print reveals retouching paint over the engine nacelles, apparently obscuring Lufthansa logos. So the likelihood is that this is in fact one of two 747-130 aircraft that were delivered to Lufthansa in 1970 (<a href="http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/6/2/9/1010926.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">maybe even this one</span></a>), painted up before delivery to look pretty for Saudia - a client that ultimately bought four 747-100B aircraft a few years later. Mystery solved, probably. Arthur Conan-Doyle would have spent an entire book on that one, but I solved it in two paragraphs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And... onwards! To a real Saudia 747, and an SP variant (again). And another junk shop find... </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYihobRX8RLWLTWxBy6mQuy7DqgP9xEem8vqBV7SSX5UoHL7TISjAp75OQAk5OMaZNBST5ucHQ7uKHyK3XSrSFk_rYISCguV69Q1d1UhAvngAIhWqxRpq049M_-OdIVFZzJ4Ft8hWN_ag/s1600/SaudiaInterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYihobRX8RLWLTWxBy6mQuy7DqgP9xEem8vqBV7SSX5UoHL7TISjAp75OQAk5OMaZNBST5ucHQ7uKHyK3XSrSFk_rYISCguV69Q1d1UhAvngAIhWqxRpq049M_-OdIVFZzJ4Ft8hWN_ag/s640/SaudiaInterior.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One page of several in a full-color, large 1977 Boeing internal brochure, showing mockups of a proposed 'Boeing 747 Executive Airplane' for Saudia. The airline eventually bought three 747-SPs in 1982.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a bit special. Nestled inside a large, plain brown envelope in a junk shop near Seattle, I found a bound brochure of full-color photo reproductions of a proposed layout for an 'executive' Boeing 747-SP. Dating from 1977, the designs are pretty... amazing. This picture, showing one of several lounges, is relatively tame. The design team responsible was Walter Dorwin Teague, a Seattle-based design company long favored by Boeing. Saudia ultimately bought three 747-SPs in 1982 for government use. They're still flying, as far as I know. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there you go - that's how the 0.01% flies. Or did thirty-odd years ago. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-10951295928819151262013-03-03T11:29:00.002-08:002013-03-03T11:29:19.628-08:00Baby Boeing!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6w7HOxh37k8h3gPDOJXXnOF4N3-rf0IQA8Vw6bc7I85YZSvfZdfry562cwSy26c9cgNM9XGzysk8deTZ5r4g77rxJoK1qistkYt3jOB3MJDbvZqr3aX1c7KJUiPLcDFjEq9ok76VAhTU/s1600/baby747_retouched_email_DXO.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6w7HOxh37k8h3gPDOJXXnOF4N3-rf0IQA8Vw6bc7I85YZSvfZdfry562cwSy26c9cgNM9XGzysk8deTZ5r4g77rxJoK1qistkYt3jOB3MJDbvZqr3aX1c7KJUiPLcDFjEq9ok76VAhTU/s640/baby747_retouched_email_DXO.JPG" width="572" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boeing 747 SP HL7456, in flight over Washington, prior to delivery to Korean Air Lines in 1980/81</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A baby Boeing! I'm still not sure whether I think they're the ugliest or the prettiest of the 747s, but the short and fat 'SP' varient is certainly distinctive-looking. 'SP' stands for 'Special Performance', specifically in terms of range. It was originally called 'SB' for 'Short Body' but wiser heads prevailed. Designed in the 1970s at the request of Pan American Airlines and Iran Air, the weight saved by getting rid of so much fuselage meant that the SP could fly further without refueling - meaning that those airlines could run non-stop flights from North America to the Middle East. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can't really see it in this picture, but the SPs wingspan is actually greater than its length. The tail is taller than a normal 747, too. Boeing expected to sell more than 200 SPs but the orders never materialised, and ultimately only 45 were ever made. Some are still flying - one services VIP guests coming to and from the casinos in Las Vegas, and one has been converted to an <a href="http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Gallery/aircraft/AC/AC.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">airborne observatory</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This particular SP was delivered to Korean Air Lines in 1981, and flew with that airline until 1998, when it was bought by the Boeing Holding Company. It sat at Marana Airport in Arizona for eight years, and attracting no buyers, it was eventually scrapped in 2006. <a href="http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5681699&nseq=0" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Here's a picture of how it ended up</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This image originated from a badly faded, creased and generally crappy 8x10in colour print, found in a junk shop near Seattle. I've done a lot of colour corrections, got rid of the creases and increased the contrast. The result is not completely naturalistic, but I like it. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-53565525044936998122013-03-02T18:02:00.004-08:002013-03-02T18:55:55.954-08:00Naval Aircraft Factory PN-12<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5DtFW89GEotGuVJNAmA9QtMJNR-4gRPyd8WAytF6AovBd45QWeMM0hFFJc_Z_Pmv2ewaRhkLn1Bl7Pe4UMn-lgNe2mH0pw2fGJZCZGL1aiAXJiIX8TFYbKbQ1F47ILoq8ZPrtIL6NCU/s1600/1920sGroupShot_upload.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5DtFW89GEotGuVJNAmA9QtMJNR-4gRPyd8WAytF6AovBd45QWeMM0hFFJc_Z_Pmv2ewaRhkLn1Bl7Pe4UMn-lgNe2mH0pw2fGJZCZGL1aiAXJiIX8TFYbKbQ1F47ILoq8ZPrtIL6NCU/s640/1920sGroupShot_upload.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naval Aircraft Factory PN-12 (I think) some time in the 1920s or 30s, with an unknown group of humans.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's take a break (temporarily) from huge Boeing jets - this is a much older print of a much older plane. Discovered in the basement of a junk shop North of Seattle, this 8x10 inch print was in poor shape, and had been folded in several places, wearing through the paper almost to breaking point. What did people do before Photoshop...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This print is entirely uncaptioned. I don't know for certain what type of plane this is, or who the group of people in the foreground are, or where they are, or when the picture was taken. Close examination of the print revealed 'NAVY' written on the tale of this plane (the partial word is just visible behind some of the people in the middle) which gave me a clue, and some image searching of 'US NAVY biplanes' eventually turned up the Naval Aircraft Factory PN.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Aircraft_Factory_PN" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Naval Aircraft Factory PN</span></a> </span>series comprised a number of similar flying boats designed during the 1920s and 30s, the last of which were in service with the American Navy until the late 1930s. In 1925, a PN-9 attempted a non-stop flight between San Francisco to Hawaii, ditching in the sea after 1841 miles, but completing the rest of its journey on the water, after the crew improvised sails from fabric torn from its wings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually sailing more than 400 miles, the crew reached Hawaii ten days after leaving San Francisco. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can only assume that the reason the plane came down in the first place was the sheer combined weight of their balls.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to Wikipedia, the same aeroplane was later lost during another long-distance attempt to reach South America, eventually being 'sunk as a navigation hazard after ditching in the Caribbean Sea'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The group of people assembled in front of this PN are a mixed bunch of teenagers and adults, at the center of which is a stern older gentleman in what I assume is Navy uniform. A fun day out, I'm sure - whatever the occasion. I wonder how many of them are still alive today?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-65258260613822657932013-01-22T23:37:00.002-08:002013-01-22T23:43:30.663-08:00Northwest Orient Cargo <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1BqZJd6M7r1E1x_SUIbc2vpGYT4KOoqgd3f3W0t_XzMJgmrREyGAMgjMFxQjlwCWNOfG6ib6EdOM_Sf-IoOK16mNI2jFhfSP2Ydfs1-i8rDYe0qcK2iUTHDNiMnHJvJPOaNd4XOr0Rs/s1600/cargo747_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1BqZJd6M7r1E1x_SUIbc2vpGYT4KOoqgd3f3W0t_XzMJgmrREyGAMgjMFxQjlwCWNOfG6ib6EdOM_Sf-IoOK16mNI2jFhfSP2Ydfs1-i8rDYe0qcK2iUTHDNiMnHJvJPOaNd4XOr0Rs/s640/cargo747_email.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N616US - a 747-251F (F for 'freighter') on a test flight in 1975 over Mount Rainier, Washington. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Not all 747s carried paying passengers - many carried cargo, and continue to do so. This is a 747-251F, a freighter varient of the famous jumbo jet, which was delivered to Northwest Orient Cargo in 1975.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Delta Airlines bought Northwest in 2008, shut down the cargo operation, stored the long-serving N616US for a couple of years then sold the 35 year-old airframe to Kalitta Air in 2010. As of July 2012 it is in storage. I doubt it was ever as shiny again as it was in 1975, in this wonderful study which shows N616US the traditional pre-delivery pose, high over Mount Rainier in Washington.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This image was scanned from an 8x10in print, and I haven't done much to it. I cloned out some weird staining in the upper right, corrected a yellowish color cast and did some dust and scratches reduction but that was pretty much it. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-42836024385709725442013-01-15T00:02:00.001-08:002013-01-15T00:02:14.643-08:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO_ZptErX6DbN8gGfC89G2rHGV-lyf9rjfvHWATQKrHNZ886gno3ANjrhVxUYsHd42UoO_u3hnaxyNGcDXksCAJ05KzwzPXZDbkjylp9t_LeAjL70-pRh8VWpc1plqv44K6bsAJH0iUA/s1600/interceptors_retouched_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO_ZptErX6DbN8gGfC89G2rHGV-lyf9rjfvHWATQKrHNZ886gno3ANjrhVxUYsHd42UoO_u3hnaxyNGcDXksCAJ05KzwzPXZDbkjylp9t_LeAjL70-pRh8VWpc1plqv44K6bsAJH0iUA/s640/interceptors_retouched_email.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Convair F-102 Delta Daggers, 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, late 1950s.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A quick new years' update (I have A LOT of 747 pictures on the way) this is a pair of Convair F-102 Delta Daggers of 318 Fighter Interceptor Squadron, flying over Mount Rainier, with Mount Baker in the background (not 100% sure about this - the mountain in the foreground could be a pre-eruption Mt St Helens?) some time between 1957-60. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found this print in a junk shop along with several Boeing pictures of 747s, 727s... etc. A quick Google search (starting from the obvious basis that whichever squadron this is was probably based in Washington or Oregon) was enough to pinpoint the unit and date it pretty accurately to within a couple of years in the late 1950s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 318th was based at McCord AFB in Washington from 1955, and flew the F-102 for only three years, from 1957. The F-102 was the first supersonic interceptor to serve in the USAF and it was replaced in the squadron by the much improved (and even better-looking) F-106 in 1960. The 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron was eventually disbanded in 1989, finishing up on F15s. Shame, they had cool tail art. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't need to do much to this print when I scanned it, apart from basic dust reduction and some contrast tweaks. The print was in pretty good shape given it's more than 50 years old. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A pair of polished metal Delta Daggers skimming the top of a volcano... it doesn't get much better than that. Happy New Year!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-73353907229468234882012-12-28T19:42:00.002-08:002012-12-28T19:42:26.460-08:00Boeing 314 California Clipper<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYJc9pW5Dl_b1D7WVTaCgGG3O_mF_K8Z72ItvEZZeV12TLZlIfSyAmmeQYjoTSmIauZAaoqSpxac6ncAIdSyZ0PbaFWOUX7CdIK3mB1x92sVkT8faWkzS0I1vgfANqChTObDpSwb268E/s1600/boeing314.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYJc9pW5Dl_b1D7WVTaCgGG3O_mF_K8Z72ItvEZZeV12TLZlIfSyAmmeQYjoTSmIauZAaoqSpxac6ncAIdSyZ0PbaFWOUX7CdIK3mB1x92sVkT8faWkzS0I1vgfANqChTObDpSwb268E/s640/boeing314.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boeing model 314, California Clipper NC 18602, pictured in 1939 or 1940</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a bit special - the 747's distant ancestor the beautiful Boeing model 314 seaplane. This particular 314, named <i>California Clipper</i> was delivered to Pan American Airlines in 1939 and was used by the United States Army during WWII. It eventually retired in 1946, after logging more than a million flight miles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although undoubtedly lovely to look at, big seaplanes like this weren't always popular with passengers (since they tended to induce both seasickness and airsickness at various points of the journey) they were very hard to fly, and required much more experience and training on the part of their pilots and crew than more conventional land-based aircraft. In the 1930s these giant aeroplanes were the only way of getting passengers across the Atlantic, but after the war, with jet-powered airliners a mere decade away they were obsolete. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No Model 314s survive. Of the 12 built, three were lost to accidents and the rest were scrapped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a scan from an 8x10in print, which was in pretty terrible condition when I found it in a junk shop recently. The surface of the print was fine, but the entire image was covered in fine vertical lines, probably scratches in the film emulsion caused by careless handling of the negative during development or drying, all those years ago. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To remove these lines I used a technique I've never used before. I selected the areas where the lines were most noticeable (the water and the sky), copied these to a new layer and with the opacity of this layer set to 50% I shifted it horizontally by a few pixels. This gives the effect of 'canceling out' the lines, but it inevitably lead to some odd artefacts and a general muddling of the treated areas. Judicious use of the patch tool and content-aware fill mostly sorted this out. I'm not completely happy with the final result but it's significantly better than the original. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-81907367285040044702012-12-28T02:14:00.002-08:002012-12-28T12:49:30.864-08:00Two Firsts, over Seattle<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgcgouz8xMSGwyxnAw0VjVKh_CgEeshhBPaxKK9eCgBAXl75ijKMfpm-0cfKjO1rUcDYyVsVOy939Fq13fymBVgfXz3nQ25JMXIsA8eGjn_0MxGd-q-wWvActujZv0YI1Ox3SVQuMcfD0/s1600/Two747s.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgcgouz8xMSGwyxnAw0VjVKh_CgEeshhBPaxKK9eCgBAXl75ijKMfpm-0cfKjO1rUcDYyVsVOy939Fq13fymBVgfXz3nQ25JMXIsA8eGjn_0MxGd-q-wWvActujZv0YI1Ox3SVQuMcfD0/s640/Two747s.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first ever 747, and the first of a new breed - the 747-400, fly in formation over Seattle in September 1988.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've seen the first flight of the 747, and here's that same airframe, still flying almost 20 years later, but this time it's got company. The conspicuously shiny aeroplane in the foreground is<span style="text-align: center;"> N661US (test registration N401PW - as shown here), which was ultimately delivered to Northwest Airlines in December 1989 and later, in December 2008 to Delta, with whom she still flies, as far as I know. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: center;">Still awake? Very well. Then you might be interested to know that </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">N661US</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"> was the first of a new breed of 747 - the 747-400, which these days is by far the most common passenger variant. The most noticeable external difference compared to the prototype is the stretched upper cabin, but from a distance you're more likely to notice the upturned winglets on the end of the wings of 400 models. These increased the range of the 400 variant by ~3% and also allowed for higher cruising altitudes. How exciting. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: center;">Two jumbos in the same picture is pretty special, but this shot is special for another reason, and that's the scenery. This is Seattle! In the foreground you can see our shudderingly unlovely waterfront, dominated by the Alaska viaduct, and the downtown towers just behind that. To the mid-left is South Lake Union, now home to Amazon.com's vast campus, and snaking noisily through the middle of the picture is I-5. Just beyond that, Capitol Hill, where I currently live. In September of 1988, however, I was six years old, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirsk" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">5000 miles to the right</span></a>. Good times. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: center;">This picture was part of a collection of several 8x10in prints I found in a junk shop near Seattle, and I haven't done much to it. After scanning, adjustments were limited to dust and scratches removal (pretty standard) and minor brightness tweaks to bring out the planes, which in the original print were slightly silhouetted against the bright sky. I also increased the contrast of the buildings in the background, and boosted the saturation of the blue sky at the top of the image.<br /><br />Looking through various published pictures,</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> I have found an image similar to this (same flight, different framing) credited to Boeing photographer Ken Dejarlais. Whether this particular image was taken by Dejarlais I don't know.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-51436325385167177792012-12-21T16:33:00.000-08:002012-12-28T02:17:43.810-08:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH0pG7gYBifenaDga5yeHlws6OLsDrliXtQOmlwStdOUvSiGK_0t00nK-gaRpkmgAcNtsz_4p3nbpnPdt7wFxoshf3uY0dM76QlO3ng-TQehxcr-4AzS87ba4UPW5JeUHvH5IUd7yfxY/s1600/Tex_retouched_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH0pG7gYBifenaDga5yeHlws6OLsDrliXtQOmlwStdOUvSiGK_0t00nK-gaRpkmgAcNtsz_4p3nbpnPdt7wFxoshf3uY0dM76QlO3ng-TQehxcr-4AzS87ba4UPW5JeUHvH5IUd7yfxY/s640/Tex_retouched_email.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this Tex Johnson, famous Boeing test pilot? In the cockpit of N7470, the first 747, probably some time in 1968</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever wondered what the cockpit of one of the world's biggest planes looks like? Well it looks a bit like this, but hopefully not exactly. I think this is the cockpit of the very first 747, and judging by the state of some of the instrumentation (unsheathed wires, a temporary G-meter on the dashboard and is that scotch tape on the control column?) this was probably taken some time in 1968, after rollout but prior to its first flight. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barneybritton/7990274847/in/photostream/lightbox/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">This is how the same cockpit looks now</span></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know for certain who the man holding the column is, but he bears a resemblance to<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_M._Johnston" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">'Tex' Johnson</span></a></span>, famous Boeing test pilot who flew many earlier aeroplanes including the B 52 bomber and the 707 (more on the 707 in the near future). Is this Tex? I like to think so, but when I found the picture in an antique shop in northern Washington, it was uncaptioned. Johnson left Boeing in 1968 and never flew the 747 (as far as I know). He died in 1998.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-91752758090963516152012-12-21T15:34:00.000-08:002012-12-28T02:17:33.724-08:00And first... the first! 747, that is. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0yf6VdbcGrngf3gfv_0Cv5ARa6QzFmrPAqz9t38BQNZaNoR5arvq70itTtz-YKNnnDslTGrScwu9aRr2Ofz2bY0Op-yR7lUeQ2_Gs7JnNbzkmXWvxgD8N0kut18RGcwSE-LvuokZjhCQ/s1600/747firstflight_retouched_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0yf6VdbcGrngf3gfv_0Cv5ARa6QzFmrPAqz9t38BQNZaNoR5arvq70itTtz-YKNnnDslTGrScwu9aRr2Ofz2bY0Op-yR7lUeQ2_Gs7JnNbzkmXWvxgD8N0kut18RGcwSE-LvuokZjhCQ/s640/747firstflight_retouched_email.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first ever 747, taking off on its first ever flight, Feb 9th 1969. Photographer unknown</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've got a thing about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Boeing 747</span></a>, and I'm not completely sure why. It was the first aeroplane I ever flew on, but I don't remember being all that impressed at the time (although my 10 year-old self was amazed by how the wings flexed in turbulence). It's also the plane that takes me back home to England from my adopted city, Seattle WA, on a flight path that goes directly over my apartment, so I see it at pretty close quarters pretty frequently.</span><br />
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But I think the reason I like it so much is just that unlike all other really really large planes, it's a great-looking aircraft. The 747 has been in production for more than 40 years, and every major variant (with the arguable exception of the short and fat SP) looks equally elegant.</span><br />
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But for my money, the first was the best-looking. This is the <i>very</i> <i>first</i> 747, factory fresh, pictured (I'm pretty sure) moments after its very first takeoff from Boeing Field, Seattle on February 9th, 1969. I don't know that this is the first flight with certainty, but the people in the foreground (and buses in the background) match up with published images of the inaugural flight.</span><br />
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I found this print with several others in a junk shop north of Seattle. I'll be adding the rest to this blog soon.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7887003156796948982.post-82479417904017921782012-12-21T15:14:00.002-08:002012-12-28T02:17:20.163-08:00Welcome to Old Plane Pictures!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello! And welcome to Old Plane Pictures. This blog is pretty much what it sounds like - pictures of old planes that I've found in junk shops around Seattle, Washington, scanned and retouched. I'll also be adding descriptions based on my own research. Maybe I'll even throw a few jokes in there. Within a year, this blog will be bigger than George Takai's Twitter feed, you mark my words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, welcome. I'll be updating this page semi-regularly, as I find more Old Plane Pictures and get better at Photoshop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bb</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0