Monthly Archives: January 2017

The French Government Comes to Town

Catching a cool bizjet is nice but coming across one that is a bit special is even better.  I almost missed this one.  I was focused on something else when I looked up and saw something on the approach.  At first I thought it was a parallel approach but I lifted the camera up to my eye and saw it was a colorful fun that was getting my attention.  It was a Dassault Falcon 7X.  It was in French government colors.  The fin was the French tricolor.  This was a cool thing to catch and quite a surprise.

Backup Strategy for the Blog Has Changed

Since I first started the blog using WordPress, I have been looking for something sensible for backing up the blog data.  I can use FileZilla to copy off everything on the blog periodically but that is a process that requires me to do something on a regular basis and it isn’t very convenient.  I had set up a plugin that was supposed to back up everything to a Dropbox account but I was never successful in getting too much of it to actually backup properly.  It always seemed to be stalled.  Consequently, I was concerned that I was vulnerable to a data loss.  Given how much effort goes into the backup strategy for my photos and documents, having the blog relatively unprotected didn’t seem to make much sense.

Then I came across an alternative approach.  This uses a plugin called UpdraftPlus.  I read a detailed article online about how to use this plugin to back up to a Google Drive account.  Since I already have one of those that doesn’t currently get used for anything else, I was interested.  The base account I have comes with 15 GB of storage so that seemed like plenty to cover what I needed.  The full article on how to set everything up is at https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/how-to-backup-your-wordpress-site-to-google-drive/ if you want to check it out.  It is not the simplest process and the interface appears to have been tweaked since it was written but I got to where I needed to be and have everything setup now.  It backs up on a daily basis so I now have a couple of previous backups at any one time should they be needed.  If you are wondering about backup strategies yourself, maybe this will be a useful approach to consider.

Spanish Fake Canopies

B11I2973.jpgWhen the Canadian Hornets first came into service, they introduced the fake canopy on the underside of the front fuselage.  This was a painted outline of the canopy.  The idea was that, on the heat of a dogfight, the opposing pilot might be confused about the orientation of the jet and think it was coming towards him rather than away as a result of seeing this canopy.

B11I4931.jpgThe US Hornets never had this on the fleet jets but it appears that the Spanish Air Force has adopted it for theirs (although not all of the jets are so painted).  I heard a rumor that the Canadians have some rights on this and other users have to pay for it but I have no idea whether there is any truth to this or not.  However, their jets certainly do have the canopies painted on the fuselage.

What a Tree!

Rain forest conditions produce plants that are uniquely able to exploit the environment.  This tree was like something out of a fantasy movie.  I think it was one plant but, to be honest, there would be no obvious way to tell where one ended and another started if it proved to be two or more.  The branches and roots were spread everywhere.  It really did seem like something that should come alive at some point and just envelope the unwary traveler.  It was dark and creepy underneath its canopy.  I found myself fascinated with it and looking at it from every different direction.  The sad part was that it was really hard to find a shot that really conveyed the feeling you had when there.

Aeromexico 787

C59F0392.jpgA little trip back to an earlier photo trip for this one.  Aeromexico have lots of flights to the US but their LAX flight is obviously busy enough to justify a bigger jet.  That is the 787.  I got to see their 787 during my visit including some great views from the helicopter that we shot from over the airport.  Above is a good angle to shoot the 787 from.  The wing planform is pretty distinctive and so looking down you can see that most clearly.

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Sea Otter Surfer

While watching the waves come rushing in to the Santa Cruz shore, I saw something floating on the surface just a little way out.  It appeared to be seaweed but that wasn’t all that was there.  A look through the longer lens confirmed that a sea otter was sitting out there enjoying the ride.  The clump of weed was drifting closer in so, when the waves started to break over the top, the otter would dive underneath and pop back up once the turmoil had passed.  The current was taking him along the shoreline over time so we lost track of where he ended up but he seemed to be enjoying the ride quite a lot!

 

The EC130 is a Nice Ride

While on vacation on Big Island, I took a helicopter flight across the island.  Other posts will include some of the shots from that flight.  However, this is just to give credit to the helicopter itself.  I flew with Sunshine Helicopters in one of their EC130s.  I imagine the name has changed now that Eurocopter has gone through a couple of brand transitions under the Airbus umbrella.

This was my first ride in a 130.  It is a popular airframe on the islands.  Eurocopter took the Astar (Squirrel/Ecureuil) as a base and, given that tour operators were squeezing 6 passengers in, they came up with a fuselage that provided comfortable space and lots of window space so that the performance of the airframe could be matched with the level of comfort required.  They succeeded in my experience.  I should point out I was up front.  There are two passenger seats up front alongside the pilot and four in the back.  I felt like I had a ton of space to relax and the view was pretty impressive.  Whether the middle of the back is as good, I don’t know but everyone seemed to have a really good time.  It seems like an airframe designed with something specific in mind and it seems to fulfill the role really well.

Davis Arboretum

We took a day trip up to Davis to check out the arboretum.  Running alongside the old Putah Creek, it has a range of different plants and trees along its length.  With the university buildings stretching alongside the creek, the paths provide access to the students and staff of the university as they get where they need to be.  Being, at least most of the time, away from the roads makes for a quiet and pleasant place to stroll.  At the time we visited, it was a turning point for some of the plants.  Fall had already done it work on some trees while others were still showing signs of color.

We weren’t the only ones appreciating the view.  We passed a number of painters (whether they were part of a class or just like minded individuals I don’t know) who were capturing the scenes around them.  I didn’t get to see whether any of them were particularly good but I hope they had a good time anyway.  There was plenty of wildlife along the creek.  Ducks were abundant, the occasional turtle showed itself, squirrels were everywhere gathering food for winter and some of the visitors had their dogs with them so no shortage of life.

Work was underway to reconfigure the flow of water through the creek.  This is intended to freshen up the water, deal with some of the weed growth on the surface and promote some other wildlife activity.  In some areas it was already showing results but the work was due to run into 2017 so it will be a while before the full effect is seen.

Some Janet Airline Activity

AE7I8034.jpgAny time at McCarran is likely to include some Janets.  The use of the 737s to transport staff to the various locations in Nevada at which spooky things happen is well established and you can see the schedule online if you want.  They have moved on from 737-200s to 737-600s but the service is much the same.  They may be 737s but the spooky nature of the operations makes them more interesting than the average airline.

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Turtles at Rest

The reef by our hotel was home to some green turtles.  They seemed to have developed a good schedule.  Morning was feeding time.  They would go out on the reef and spend their time nibbling away at the plant life growing on the rocks and coral.  By early afternoon they would have pulled themselves up onto the beach in an area the hotel had fenced off to keep people away.  There they would sleep all afternoon and into the night.  Come by during the afternoon and you could see them.  In the evening, lights on the beach would be switched on and you could still make them out a little way above the waterline.

No pictures from me of them in action.  I saw plenty of them while snorkeling on the reef and sometimes they would come and check me out.  You are meant to avoid disturbing them but when they come after you, it is hardly your fault.  However, I did kill my GoPro while out snorkeling so the photo opportunities were lost and will have to remain as memories.  Shots of them on the beach were a lot easier though so that is what we have here.