Travels!

Night Flight in the Pilatus: Seattle to Sacramento

 A little over a week ago I did San Diego, Vancouver BC, Seattle, Sacramento, San Jose, Long Beach and back to San Diego in the Pilatus. Spent the longest time in Vancouver at 5 days, while all of the other stops were one day or less. I tried to get out to check out some of the sights, but it was tough with some of the short stops. Here's a few pics...

Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens Vancouver, BC Canada

Chinatown Vancouver, BC

Seattle was one of the briefest, but coolest spots. We were only there for about 5 hours, but thanks to an "in", we were able to tour the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The plane is still in flight testing, and has not reached the manufacturing stage yet. It was truly a sneak peak! We'll be cruising in these pretty soon.

Had to wear reflective safety vests on the flight line. Check out the Heads Up Display (HUD) just above my right forearm. Just like the fighter pilots! The second picture is looking from the rear of the plane to the front. All of the boxes are flight data recording and testing equipment.The 3rd picture is for you, Traj- brand new GE engines on the Dreamliner! Couldn't get a picture of the full exterior sneakily. You'll have to look it up yourself online. Hope I don't get anyone in trouble for posting these. Since our blog isn't too public, just keep these between me and you, ok? :-)

Also got to see the new cargo version of the 747, a -800 variant. The flight deck height in that airplane is amazing. You feel like you are sitting on top of a building. Here's the panel:

More travels to follow. Thanks for coming along with me. Hope the airplane stuff wasn't too boring for you. I'm such an aviation nerd!