Aviation

Apr 17, 2026 ∞

Yesterday: my wife’s view of San Diego International tower from an E-175 (I’m not traveling with her) #AvGeek #Aviation #E175

An over wing view on an Alaskan Airlines (SkyWest) Embraer 175 upon landing at San Diego International Airport. The speed brakes are up and the winglet with blue to green swooshes is prominent. The tower is visible along with an assortment of jets, including FedEx. It’s a cloudy day with very thin stratus.

Apr 10, 2026 ∞

Please enjoy these 737 speed brakes, courtesy of my wife. Landing at ONT and then SMF #Aviation #AvGeek #B737 Overwing view of a Southwest 737 Max 8 with speed brakes fully deployed when landing at Ontario, California. The brakes are not quite vertical and the flaps are probably around 30 degrees. It's a smoggy day in Ontario, CA. An over wing view of a Southwest B737-700 landing at Sacramento International on an overcast day. The speed brakes are about half deployed while the flaps are around 30 degrees. Arrows near the window point the way off the jet during an emergency.

Apr 7, 2026 ∞

My wife flew over Yosemite today on the way to SoCal. She snagged a nice photo of the Yosemite Valley & Half Dome (center) #Aviation #AvGeek #Yosemite

A view out a left passenger windup with a view of a 737 Max wing with Southwest style winglets. It’s a mostly clear sky with Yosemite below where the Sierra Creat still has some snow and Half Dome rises prominently over the green & snowless U-shaped Yosemite Valley

Mar 8, 2026 ∞

A few glimpses of wildfire-oriented aircraft in the last weeks here near Chico, CA. They’re out training for the season. Love hearing the RJ85 (second photo) fly #Aviation #AvGeek #PlaneSpotting A C130 on approach to Willows Airport, just above the giant berm of I-5, the airport hidden behind that berm. Its red tail has a 120 on it and two of its turboprop engines can be seen. Its gear is down. An silohette of a Aero-Flite RJ85 flies overhead against a blue sky with thin, somewhat chaotic and translucent clouds. It's a bit off in the distance but its four engines and T tail are clearly visible.

Jan 19, 2026 ∞

Short Flight Factor 777-2 v. 2 for X-Plane 12 Review

I took the X-Plane 12 platform’s Flight Factor (FF) 777-2 v. 2 for an extended spin from San Francisco International to Frankfurt Airport. I’ve been using the FF 777-2 since they first released it in early 2024 while in alpha and beta development phases. I’ve become familiar with the software (minus crew interaction functions) and so will now write some of my thoughts on this particular KSFO to EDDF flight. I had hoped for a solid, error free flight, but that didn’t happen.

On preparation for the flight, the EFB was a chore to use for simply closing the hatches and arming the doors. There’s unneeded user interface flourishes and, I think, hard coded lag time between user clicks and removing ground services and closing doors. Sometimes it’s not clear why doors or cargo hatches won’t close. I assume because I have crew interactions turned off, things a bit off kilter. Weight and balance was a chore with a lot of clicks between the fuel, passenger, and cargo screens. There can definitely be improvements to that loading workflow.

The FF 777-2 FMS navigation database is, after all this time, completely at odds with X-Plane 12’s AIRAC navigation database. FF’s 777-2 does not use X-Plane 12’s nav database. It uses AIRAC 2105 while X-Plane 12 has AIRAC 2510. FF’s built-in database is four years old! SIDs, STARs, airways, and waypoints have changed quite a bit since 2021. The only way to make them the same is to buy the navigation database from Navigraph and load their latest data into X-Plane 12 and the 777-2. This means, without forking over a 30-Euro subscription fee, if you want the load a flight plan .FMS file that might work the first time, the open source Little NavMap flight planning software needs to export STARs and even airways as waypoints. But since 2021, even waypoints have changed a decent amount in European airspace. So I had to scrap a bunch of waypoints and load in Flight Factor’s 2021 STARs and ILS procedures. I could have used custom waypoints using coordinates.

The FF 777-2 performed well enough for takeoff, climb, and cruise. It did perform step-climbs automatically while I was asleep (not an aircraft feature, but meant for unattended long-haul flights). The approach is where things fell apart. FF’s FMS had a bizarrely constructed VNAV PATH that would have caused a lot of passenger discomfort with high descent rates… especially when turning to final. There’s no way the aircraft would have a stable approach. So I used the MCP to fly the aircraft for a bit. I captured the ILS localizer and glide slope, and when I disconnected the autopilot, the aural alarm & light would not extinguish. The aircraft flew steady and true on approach, and I had a nice landing. But upon leaving the runway, the speed brakes were stuck up and could not be disarmed. The AP aural alarm was still going. Replay did not work and eventually X-Plane 12 crashed. I assume I was supposed to set up Flight Factor’s own replay since they simulate nearly everything using plugins instead of using XP12’s very capable programming. So that means they’d have to build their own replay software.

I think that, as Toliss can use most of X-Plane 12’s built-in functionality (and its Nav database!) to simulate complicated Airbus Aircraft, so too can Flight Factor for Boeing aircraft. But I have a feeling they’ve sunk too many resources into simulating outside X-Plane 12. That's a shame.

For airliners, I think I’ll stick with the Zibo 737-8 and Toliss Airbus for a while, since flying the FF 777 does not bring me much joy. The Toliss and Zibo aircraft are solid and extremely predictable, plus they mostly use X-Plane 12’s functionality for simulation and navigation. Replay then works great. Bottom line, with aircraft that use X-Plane 12’s core simulation software, there are no surprises.

#Aviation #XPlane12 #FlightSim

Jan 14, 2026 ∞

May 2, 2025: Lufthansa B747-8 (D-ABYM) SFO-FRA (Frankfurt, Germany)
#HumpDay #B747 #Aviation #AvGeek #PlaneSpotting #Fujifilm A Boeing 747, owned and operated by Lufthansa, taxies at SFO to 28L. Its at an angle, but the sun is fully illuminating its right side. It is set against buildings and brown hills of South San Francisco. The bay in front is a bit choppy and the photo was taken somewhere above powerlines, as they are visible at the bottom edge of the photo.

Jan 13, 2026 ∞

December 14, 2025: Emirates A380-8 (A6-EUF), SFO-DXB (Dubai), using 28R #ThickTailTuesday #A6EUF #A380 #PlaneSpotting #AvGeek #Aviation #Fujifilm

An Airbus 380 is nose-on to the camera, showings its clearly thick tail reaching high above the ground. Its nose gear is turning so it is about to leave the taxiway for a runway. The sky is hazy yet still tinted blue. The bay in front of the runways is calm.

Dec 25, 2025 ∞

I'm not a fan of business or private jets but I like this photo of one taking off from SFO on December 14, 2025. It's a Bombardier Challenger 300 flying to Van Nuys. #Aviation #PlaneSpotting #Fujifilm #SOoC A private or business jet taking off from SFO 28R, showing its belly, with its gears up and a bit of wispy clouds behind it. Its flaps are still slightly down.

Dec 17, 2025 ∞

In Vancouver today, the sun came out and provided some great morning light at the waterfront

#Vancouver #Aviation #Seaplanes #Fujifilm #SOoC

A seaplane descends above the harbor, with the sun reflecting off its body. A large industrial facility with series of tall tanks looms in the background . The hills behind it all are forested with a few wispy clouds.

A seaplane flies a few feet about harbor waters as it lands, its airframe reflects in the harbor waters. The morning sun lights up a background of ships, port facilities, trees, and buildings built up a gentle hill.

A float plane descends in front of fluffy light orange clouds and unlit mountains below

Dec 16, 2025 ∞

Yesterday evening: Seaplanes at Vancouver Harbor #Seaplanes #Aviation #Vancouver #NightPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoC

A night view of two single prop seaplanes, opposite sides of the photo, at their own warmly lit docks. A windsock is flying at a slight angle toward the ground. There’s a strange cloud shrouded light above the horizon. Across the harbor are hills and lights. Just beyond the docks to the left, there’s a floating chevron gas station.

A nighttime photo of five brightly lit single prop seaplanes all lined up in a column along their brightly lit dock. A bright red beacon is at the end of the dock on the right. In the distance, across the harbor, are hills surrounded by artificial lights. A short span of suspension cable lights (including one tower) of the Lions Gate bridge is visible.