SFO From the Bay Trail

My Tuesday after work sketch took me to the San Francisco Bay Trail which parallels Runways 28R and 28L and Taxiway F.

These are the two runways that handle most international traffic at San Francisco International Airport. In my two hours there, I saw planes landing or taking off from airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Condor (German), Lufthansa, SAS, Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic, Qatar, Iberian, Swiss, TAP Air (Portugal), Turkish Airlines, Zipair (Japan), and British Airways. San Francisco is really an international destination.

This trail and Bayfront Park are a well known location for plane spotting as you have unobstructed views of planes taxiing, taking off, and landing.

I was here to see the large passenger jet that largely replaced Boeing’s 747 on long distance international routes.

In an uncanny coincidence a Lufthansa 747-8 was on Taxiway F headed to Runway 28R when I was driving down Millbrae Avenue toward the airport. After I parked and walked up to the Bay Trail the 747 was throttling up for takeoff. Only four airlines currently have 747s in their fleet: Lufthansa, Korean Air, Air China, and Rossiya.

One of the few Boeing 747s throttling up for takeoff on Runway 28R. This is a 747-8, the largest 747 and Boeing’s largest passenger jet. This “stretched” 747 was designed to compete with the A380.

I was here to see the big boy that competed with the 747, Airbus’s A380. Two airlines fly A380s out of SFO, British Airways and Emirates. BA flight 284 was scheduled to depart at 16:20. But the flight was running a little late, which seems to be the norm.

The Bay Trail in the foreground and British Airways A380 is pulling away from Gate A11. This is one of 12 in BA’s fleet.
Flight 284 on the Taxiway F for Foxtrot. This airplane is so large that the suffix “Super” is part of its call sign.
This photo shows the scale of the world’s largest passenger plane compared to others on the tarmac. The aircraft in front of the A380 is an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8.
A380 on its way to line up for takeoff as a much smaller United Airlines jet lands.
Gear up with the South San Francisco sign below and San Bruno Mountain above.

Sketching Notes

I found a tree stump seat with the taxiways and runways in front of me. I first sketched in the fill as the runways are surround by the bay on three sides. In the background I penciled in the East Bay hills and mountains including Mt. Diablo. The tide was low when I stared sketching but was slowly filling in during the two hours of my visit.

Later I would add two planes on the taxiway, based on photographs taken in the field.

To my left and in the distance I could see the red, white, and blue tail of the A380 at Gate A11.

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