Monthly Archives: October 2015

DHL Freighters

AU0E4735.jpgDHL planes are hard to miss.  The bright yellow livery they carry is not one that you are going to miss easily.  They may not have the wide reach of FedEx or UPS in the US but Boeing Field is a regular stop for them.  The 767 is one of their staples, much as it is for all express carriers.  They also make use of the 757 which pleases me given my fondness for the first airliner I ever flew on.

AU0E4541.jpgEvening light is the best for getting a DHL jet since the yellow positively glows when the low sun gets on it.  I had a bit of traffic during this visit and these are the jets I saw.

 

The Shard

C59F0385.jpgVibrant cities are constantly changing. It is over ten years since I left London so it is no surprise that the skyline has changed a bit. The City is always prone to change. The architecture of the new buildings is always supposed to be distinctive and the buildings get names that reflect their appearance. I’m sure the Swiss Re building did not intend to be known as The Gherkin but it is. The tallest of the new buildings has embraced its shape. When first conceived it was known as the Shard of Glass. Now it is just The Shard.

C59F0324.jpgI first saw The Shard a couple of years ago when taking a helicopter flight over the city. I blogged about that trip in this post. At that point I was looking at the building from an elevated position. On this trip we wanted to check it out from up close. Like any really tall structure (and it is currently the tallest in Europe) there is a market for people to go to the top and see the surrounding view. We met up with my brother to see what it was like.

We visited at the end of the afternoon. This meant the light to the east was very nice but the view towards Westminster was a little compromised by looking into the sun through the usual London haze. This wasn’t a problem but it did limit some photographic opportunities. Then again, the layers of glass are not great for avoiding reflections anyway.

C59F0370.jpgA few years ago I was on the roof of the Sears Tower for sunrise and got to watch the shadow of the building move across the landscape. I wrote about that here. We were able to do something similar this time. The shadow of the Shard is a neat point which, while we were there was pointing straight at Tower Bridge. A nice effect!

London is a city that is built around railway lines. They weave through many parts of the city and London Bridge station is directly below The Shard. In the evening light, the tracks reflect the sun in a way that makes them very visually interesting. Only when the trains come along do you remember why they are there. From that height you can see several of the different rail routes into the city. Even though it was Sunday evening, there was still plenty of traffic moving along the tracks. Weekday mornings are very different of course.

C59F0383.jpgA high vantage point gives such a different perspective on what would otherwise appear large. The various buildings in the City are all below you. Tower Bridge looks like a toy. The Tower is dwarfed by the buildings around it. Monument is easily missed in amongst the multitude of large structures that came after the calamity it recalls. The London Eye – previously one of the best spots to view the city from – is well below you.

If you look further afield, you can see the old Maritime School at Greenwich or the Olympic Stadium in one direction or Wembley in another. To the south you can see Crystal Palace and on to the North Downs. (Yes, they are south of London but at least they are north of the South Downs!). You can see small housing areas squeezed in between the commercial buildings. Even small parks and sports grounds show up. There was even a tall ship coming up the river under sail. I was curious as to whether it would come up to the Pool and have Tower Bridge raised or not be we didn’t have enough time to wait and find out.

C59F0321.jpgIt took a while for us to work out that there is a second level to the public area. We went up the stairs to the area that is open to the air. It was quite interesting that they had this spot without enclosure. Sadly, apparently people do try launching stuff out of the gap. Not sure what piece of brilliance they think this will achieve but there you go. Having the fresh air is a nice feature though.

Once we were done we headed off to dinner. I couldn’t resist getting a few extra shots as we went away. Once it was dark, I took a few more because it looks pretty dramatic in the dark. Overall, a cool addition to the city I think.

Some King County Light Aircraft

AU0E4886.jpgSome of my trips to Boeing Field are pretty quiet.  Others seem to involve a constant stream of traffic.  With some interesting large machines appearing on a regular basis, it is easy to overlook the variety of smaller types that come through.  Some of these are commercial operations using planes like the Cessna Caravan.  Others are purely private users either based on the field or passing through.

AU0E4193.jpgSince my posts don’t give them any coverage normally, I thought I would just throw a selection of different types in to this post.  They might still not be getting as much attention as they could but at least you can see some of what is going on there.

Tower Bridge

C59F0290.jpgLondon is full of iconic landmarks but possibly the most famous one is Tower Bridge – even if not everyone knows what it is really called. When taking a walk along the South Bank, it would be rude not to head to the bridge to see it in the evening light. The area also includes the London Assembly building which looks like a giant egg. The comparison with the modern architecture and the gothic style of the bridge is pretty interesting. I have never managed to get a shot of the bridge when it is open and this trip was no exception. If you want to do so, they do publish the opening times in the paper so you can make an effort to be there.

C59F0321.jpgOur time by the bridge was just before we went up the Shard so we had a chance to get a different perspective on the bridge from above a little while later.

Life in the Old (Mad) Dog Yet

C59F8026.jpgFirefighting aircraft have often been older airframes converted for the task when their primary life is over. This has meant a lot of old piston types -both civil and military – have become tankers. Now there is a generation of jet airliners that are becoming viable candidates for conversion. I previously posted some shots of a BAe146 tanker. Erickson has been active in converting McDonnell Douglas MD-87 airframes to tankers and has a number already in service.

C59F8030.jpgDominating the flight line outside the Erickson hangars was a line of three MD-87s that had been acquired from Spain. They appeared to have come from a couple of operators and we sitting in storage. Most apertures were taped up and some panels/doors had been removed. However, these airframes are not destined to be parts donors. All of them are scheduled for conversion to tankers. Before too long they will be active supporting firefighting efforts across the country. The introduction of modern jet types to service should provide increased performance and the ability to respond faster to situations further away. They should provide a welcome boost to firefighting capability.

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PBY

C59F7986-Edit.jpgI’m not sure when I first became aware of the PBY Catalina but I am pretty sure it involved a plastic model that a friend of mine had.  (Kev Fry, was it you?)  Flying boats always appealed to me and the blisters on the rear fuselage caught my eye even at that time.  Erickson has a PBY in the collection and it was going to feature in our program.  However, my first encounter with it was as it was parked up on the ramp outside the hangar.

C59F7965.jpgI was walking around in the early evening light and the paint scheme seemed to glow in the low sun.  It is a big beast so there are lots of options as you walk around it.  Whatever shot you want to get, you do want something that emphasizes the hull shape since that is one of the defining characteristics of the plane.  Sometimes, getting in really close can achieve that.

C59F7981.jpgYou do want to check out multiple angles, though.  Whether it is the nose shape, the wheels and wheelwells or the rear blisters, there is something from any direction worthy of a look.  Whether they will all be great shots is a different story.  However, having the chance to shoot one when hardly anyone is around is a chance not to be passed on.

The Lego Artwork of Nathan Sawaya

IMG_3546.jpgNathan Sawaya may not be an artist you have heard of before but you may have seen at least some of his work. Nathan is an artist who works in Lego. He manages to combine the artistic vision of the piece he is trying to create with the technical skill in creating structures using standard Lego pieces – no simple feat given that most shapes have gentle curves to them and Lego is mainly straight edges.

IMG_3534.jpgAn exhibition of some of Nathan’s work was on recently in Walnut Creek and we headed along to see what was on display. There were two types of exhibit. Some were straightforward Lego creations on display on their own. The rest were a combination of Lego and photography. Nathan had created some elements in Lego that were then combined with photography to incorporate the Lego sculpture in the main photo. For example, one of the pieces was a bare tree that then appeared in a landscape shot. Another was some railroad tracks that became the foreground to a train station.

IMG_3537.jpgThe sculptures varied a lot in themes. Some were relatively light hearted such as a dog or some clouds. A woman’s red dress blowing in the wind with parts of it blowing behind (but with no-one actually in the dress) was a particularly interesting piece. Others were far darker in their inspiration with themes of escape and repression in the corporate world included. These pieces were often the more interesting ones to see as they had more to interpret versus the more light hearted but literal items.

IMG_3520.jpgThe audience for the exhibit was quite varied. Many people had brought their kids along based on their interest in playing with Lego at home. I suspect they were not quite so enthused with the more sinister works. The other visitors were decidedly more adult. Whether they are just fans of Lego or interested in the messages the artist was conveying, I shall never know.

Kings Cross Redevelopment

C59F0186.jpgTimes change! When I was still working in London, Kings Cross was a dump. I would often have to transfer trains from Thameslink to what was then GNER and would walk a short distance through the area. You could often experience some unusual people doing unusual things. One Sunday I rode through the area because the train I was on was not going the whole way due to maintenance. I found myself weaving through some interesting people who looked like they were still dealing with the previous night. All in all, it was not a great place to hang out.

C59F0187.jpgThe arrival of the Eurostar services at St Pancras seems to have been the trigger for some significant regeneration. We decided to check the area out while we were in London and I am glad we did. Aside from the changes to St Pancras itself and some expansion of Kings Cross Station, the surrounding area is undergoing a lot of change. The whole program is a work in progress with some elements done and others still being worked on. The area between the two stations has been transformed. It is now a nice walk up to the canal and beyond.

C59F0179.jpgRestaurants and cafes have sprung up and new housing developments are shooting up. Some of it is very high end but there is also affordable housing. There is a swimming pool that uses a natural, chemical free filtration process. There is a limit on how many people can swim each day in order to manage the water quality. There is also a garden that is quite innovative. Apparently, it was hard to get permission for an allotment system (that might also be to do with the contamination of the earth around the station – I don’t know) so instead they filled a bunch of skips (dumpsters) with earth and they are used as the garden instead. Very thoughtful.

C59F0184.jpgThere is obviously still some work to be done in developing the area but the start that has been made is impressive and I imagine the whole place will thrive in the coming years.

Air Force One

AU0E6592.jpgI have had a pretty poor run of luck when it comes to Air Force One. I have seen it overflying in the distance, I have seen the VC-25 on the ramp at Davis Monthan but was thirty seconds from being parked when it took off and I had a failed effort to get it at SFO which I mentioned in this previous post. It was back in San Francisco recently and I decided I was going to have another go.

AU0E6494.jpgI tracked the TFR online and, this time, it didn’t change. I, therefore, got to SFO with plenty of time before the departure. The weather was not fantastic but there was generally a clear spot over the airport so I was a little optimistic. As the intended time for departure approached, the cloud rolled in. Of course it did! Nothing I could do about that. Meanwhile, departures off 01 had stopped (I am not sure whether that was related to the Fleet Week air show or not) and a bunch of planes were lined up to depart from 28. Then they all stopped.

AU0E6513.jpgI assume the President had come by road as there was no helicopter activity other than a police chopper over the highway. The beacons were on as I heard the sound of a jet going around. It briefly appeared through a gap in the clouds and was a United 737. I guess they had just timed it wrong. I have no idea whether they held or diverted. Suddenly the VC-25 was rolling. It taxied rapidly along the northern taxiway by 28R with a couple of Secret Service vehicles following close behind. Without a pause it turned onto 28R past the waiting airliners and powered away. The Secret Service chased it for a while down the runway but it was airborne pretty swiftly. I guess it was lightly loaded. A few minutes later everything started moving again. Another ten minutes and the sun was out. Typical!

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Canyons and Farms

C59F9004.jpgFlying out of Madras on our air to air sorties we had a short time when we were transiting to and from the area where we were with the target aircraft. The area is dotted with farms but also has some dramatic terrain. I took the chance to get some photos of the various canyons, lakes and homes. It looks like a place with lots of great places to have a house. I hope they didn’t mind us flying over!