Virgin America Before Alaska Took Over

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I just happened to come across this shot while looking for something else. It was a Virgin America A320. Virgin America did a reasonable job of building a profile on the west coast before they were swallowed up by Alaska. Initially their fleet was added to Alaska’s, but it wasn’t too long before Alaska disposed of the Airbus planes to focus on their Boeing fleet. They were good looking jets, and I flew inside one once after the merger where the interior finish certainly marked them as a bit different to the norm. I just figured I’d share this shot as a memory of something long gone.

Kestrel That Isn’t Shy

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During a walk through Windsor Great Park, we were about to turn onto a new path when we noticed a few people stopped a short distance away. If there are a few people all doing nothing and looking in one direction, there is a good chance there is something interesting that they are looking at. Sure enough, there was a kestrel sitting on the fence. Whenever I see something like this, I figure there is a chance that it is going to get spooked and fly off so grab a quick shot before it is too late.

However, this bird didn’t seem in the least bit bothered. It was well aware of the small crowd that it had attracted but no one was getting close, so it seemed content to just sit there. I walked in a new direction to try and get a better angle on it – still convinced that it would scoot but no. It happily stayed there while I got a different look at it. Having achieved that, it was time to continue with our walk but, as I looked back, it was still sitting there. Maybe it had just eaten and was now digesting lunch?

Didn’t Expect an Airvan

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I was down at Lee on Solent on a Saturday morning for a hovercraft encounter. It was a glorious day with lovely sunny conditions and not too much wind. The air temps were not high, but the sun made it feel great. I was pondering whether there could be anything interesting happening at the nearby Solent Airport but that wasn’t why I was there and I knew I had a visitor at home, so I wasn’t going to spend any more time self-indulgently than was already the plan.

There was regular traffic departing from the airport, but I wasn’t paying it much attention since the straight climb outs were some distance from me. Then I saw one turning in my direction. It was a GippsAero Airvan. I didn’t have the right settings on the camera so fumbled inelegantly to try and get things close to right and grabbed a few shots of it as it flew by. Looking at the shots later, it has markings associated with a Spitfire operator which will connect with a post to come.

Vacuum Mooring for a Ferry

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I had noticed the marks on the side of the Wightlink ferries at various times. I had thought it was just marks from the dockside when the ship rubbed up against it. However, when walking around Spice Island, I got a look across at the Gunwharf terminal and saw some odd panels alongside the dock. I zoomed in tight on these to see if I could read what was written on the side.

It turns out that these are a vacuum clamp arrangement which holds the ship when it is docked. I assume that this replaces the old process of looping ropes over posts on the docks. The location would explain the marks that I have seen on the ferries. I assume there is some degree of freedom in the connection arms to accommodate the motion of the ferry even while it is in harbour. Now I am going to have to try and see these in operation. Next time we take the ferry, I shall try and get a good look.

Visualise That Trailing Vortex

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I was working through some images that I had taken on my one and only visit to Rainbow Canyon when the military was still flying through that part of region. One of the shots that caught my eye was this one of a Super Hornet. It had passed me and was heading down towards the valley. This involved a few tight pulls around the curves in the canyon. A strong trailing vortex changes the density of the air which affects the refractive index. This distortion of the light makes the vortex visible if only by impacting the view of whatever is behind it. A good view of that effect can be seen in this shot.

A Memorial to a Fellow Cyclist

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As we were driving towards Sparsholt, we came along a lane that I often cycle. At a junction, there was a white painted bike against a tree. It looked like a memorial, but we were in the car so there was nothing much to be done. However, it wasn’t too long before I rode back up this way on my bike. This time I was able to stop. The bike is a memorial to a cyclist that lost their life. There was a message with details of Dave Davenport. As a cyclist, I am very conscious of how vulnerable we are to the inattention of others with whom we share the road. This could be any of us.

Early Morning Arrivals

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A work trip had me at Heathrow just as the sun was peaking above the horizon. It was very low and, as I drove along the perimeter road to the car park, it was right in my eyes. I suspect that wasn’t too much fun for the arrivals that were on the runway aligned to the east. It did mean that the light was right on the nose of the arriving planes. I had brought the camera along because – well when don’t I?

The traffic in had been quite light so I was a touch early arriving and had about ten minutes before I needed to head into the terminal. Consequently, I got a few shots of some of the jets arriving from locations around the world. The light was almost on my side of the planes which, given I was to the north, tells me that we are getting towards summer. Here are a few of the arriving planes.

Sometimes, the Morning Delivers

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As I emerged from Waterloo Station one morning heading to work, I was surprised to find that, unlike the forecast, there was a hint of rain in the air. I almost changed my plan to walk across the city and take the bus but, it wasn’t that bad and I decided to chance it. Thankfully, it wasn’t really that much rain and I needn’t have worried. More importantly, as I came on to Waterloo Bridge, I could see that the sun in the east was creating a rainbow above the city. Once I got onto the bridge properly, there was a cool view of the rainbow looking down towards Westminster. Commuters normally don’t take photos as they don’t want to look like tourists but, on this occasion, lots of people were stopping to take a shot of a cool view.

Stukas Are Rare as Hen’s Teeth

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Given how many of them were built, it is surprising how few Stukas remain. There is one in restoration in Everett at FHCAM which is supposed to be intended to fly when it is complete. I saw that one at various times when still in Seattle. There is also one in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The RAF Museum at Hendon also has one and this is the one I saw most recently. Any others are wrecks that have been recovered. The shape of the Stuka is very distinctive. Footage of WWII so often includes them diving in on targets with the sound of the noise trumpet device that they could fit having become synonymous with aircraft diving. Not sure how many more of them I will ever see!

Cattle Scratching an Itch

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It had been a while since I had last taken a walk around Barton Meadows and, with all of the things I had needed to do on a Sunday done, I didn’t want to just doze off on what was a lovely day. I thought a couple of miles around the nature reserve would be a good finish to the afternoon. I wasn’t going to go without the camera, though. There was some wildlife to be seen but most things were a bit distant. The cattle were in the field though. Some of them were up at the gate at the top of one of the fields and using it to scratch themselves. I find this very amusing for some reason so switched to video to capture them looking like they were really enjoying themselves. Not quite Baloo in Jungle Book but similar!