Category Archives: photo

Hats Off to the Chinook Demo Team

The final display of the Cosford air show was the Chinook demo. I have always enjoyed a Chinook display because it is a very agile helicopter despite its size and it can be thrown around which impresses. There is also the wheelie that it can do which has a unique feel to it. However, I wasn’t prepared for just how much I enjoyed the display.

There were a number of elements that made it so good. First, it was at the end of the show, and the light had come around to be more favourable for photos. This could have been even better because a bit of cloud cover rolled in. A little while after the display was over, this cleared and the warm light was so nice. It would have been great to have that on the helicopter during the display. Let’s not focus on the negative though, when there is so much positive.

They started the display carrying in a couple of underslung loads. Showing off the lifting performance of the helicopter is a great way of showing what this capability is all about. They had a howitzer and a truck on lifting lines using two of the three pickup points that the Chinook has. A bit of manoeuvring with that before dropping it off on the airfield. The gun crew then came out and set the gun up. They proceeded to fire off a few blank rounds.

Then it was back to throwing the helicopter around for a bit. A helicopter display always has an advantage in that it can keep things in front of the crowd, and some tight turns certainly achieved that.

However, I haven’t yet highlighted what really made the display great. The commentary was top notch. You might think that a military display narrator is going to run through a staid list of talking points but that was not the case here. Sure, they did highlight the capabilities of the helicopter and the helicopter force as a while but there was so much ridiculousness thrown in to keep you amused throughout.

Whether it was pointing out that one of the crew had both of his friends in attendance or describing the vertical climb and pointing out it has no operational benefit but it does look really cool, the lines kept coming. They were delivered in such a normal way, though, that you needed to pay attention to spot when the serious bits had been superseded by the more flippant lines. Top stuff and hats off to the team. Great flying, great performance and excellent writing!

Trains at Glasgow Central

Leave a Reply

I make pretty frequent work trips to Scotland, and, on some occasions, it is most convenient to stay at a hotel right next to Glasgow Central station. One side of the hotel looks out over the street but the other overlooks the station itself. I was in a room with this view on one occasion. I was looking right down on the platforms and the tracks heading out of the station to destinations near and far.

The structures for the overhead lines obscure a lot of potential shots but I did have a camera with me, so I was going to get a few shots of the trains coming and going. Here are some of those shots.

Floatplanes with Mark

Leave a Reply

Let’s jump back in time to when we were still in Washington. My buddy, Mark, had come down from Vancouver to visit a friend and had some time to kill so was stopping off in Kenmore to photograph some floatplane activity. I headed over to join up with him since it is fun to see a friend and there is never a bad time to watch floatplanes.

An extra was that Mark knew a spot that I didn’t – local knowledge, huh?? There is a public dock that is accessible and has benches to make hanging out relaxing. It is a lot quieter than the pier at Log Boom Park which, on a sunny day, can get very busy with the local kids swimming. It also brings you in closer to the approach path of the planes which adds some options for the shots. We hung out for a while with a bunch of the usual sort of traffic coming and going. Then we each had places to go. Having a location like this on your doorstep was definitely a bonus when we lived in Woodinville.

One Day I’ll Finish the Model of This!

Leave a Reply

During a visit to Yarmouth, we had a wander down by the water. Yarmouth is home to an RNLI lifeboat station with a Trent class lifeboat. I was given a Airfix kit of the Trent class for Christmas a few years ago. I got quite active building the kit during the pandemic and got it to a reasonably advanced stage before putting it aside for a while. That while has grown. I took a load of pictures of the boat to use as references for when (if) I get moving with it again. We shall see…

Time to Tank Typhoons Again

Leave a Reply

Tanker trips are always a great opportunity if they come up and I had another one a while back. Back to Brize and up in the Voyager. This was a slightly shorter trip than the last one as a result of a planned runway closure at Brize that needed us to be back on the ground. While it was shorter than my previous trip, we did have more trade.

The majority of what we got was Typhoon traffic. It is quite a challenge picking them out as they turn in towards the tanker for the join. Sometimes I spot them but often they are behind us before I know they are there. Isn’t that what a fighter pilot is supposed to always do? Once they appear on the port wing, you get a good look at them before they slip into pre-contact position. The forward fuselage is a good spot to be when they arrive and depart but, once they are on the hose, you can only see them from the last few rows of the aircraft and then it is very tight.

Fortunately, they stay on the basket for a while which means that people get a good chance to have a look and get some images. Picking a side for the light depending on which side of the racetrack we are using is handy, but you can also get a change of light if making the turn at either end. When the planes gather on the starboard side ready to depart, I changed my approach this time. I would kneel on the floor because, when they power up and climb away, they go up fast. You need to be low down to be able to track them heading off.

Exploring Zaragoza

Leave a Reply

I have made a couple of trips to Zaragoza in Spain for work. The first time I went, we got to the hotel at the end of the afternoon and there was a bit of time available before we were heading out to dinner. Consequently, I was free to go for a stroll for a while. The hotel was right in the centre of the city so I could get around quickly. I walked down towards the large plaza in front of the basilica cathedral. It was having some restoration work done on sections but much of it was clear to see.

The streets around the city were busy with people out enjoying themselves. Plenty of activity and places to stop and relax. The River Ebro is a short distance beyond the cathedral, and I headed down there briefly. There was also a market building close by which was worth a look. Since it was Spain, plenty of ham on sale there! There was also the remains of an old wall structure from long past in the history of the city.

It was a really nice chance to look around a city that I might not otherwise get to visit. It is a work trip so no extensive exploitation and the next day it was off to the factory but a good chance to be made the most of.

Who is Holding Who Up?

Leave a Reply

The Royal Navy contribution to the RAF Cosford air show was a great combination. They brought a Leonardo Wildcat in partnership with a Fairey Swordfish. This is right up there with the odd combination that I have seen at air shows over the years. A rotary airframe and a fixed wing has happened before but often the fixed wing is really struggling to go slowly enough for the helicopter. In this case, the helicopter has the speed advantage on the Swordfish. It is not a speed demon.

They did a pairs takeoff which was really interesting and then commenced their display with a flypast in tribute to the lost crew from the Merlin crash that had occurred not long before the show. They then carried out a sequence of passes before splitting for individual performances. The Stringbag is a beast of an aircraft, even if it isn’t fast. I got some other shots of it that will probably show up at some point.

Sunrise Over Derby

Leave a Reply

When thinking of scenic spots for a sunrise, I suspect the middle of Derby is not one that immediately springs to mind. However, I was up there for work and only had a short walk from the hotel to the office in the morning just as the sun was rising. I got into the office and immediately saw through the window that the sky was lighting up quite spectacularly. Sure, another location might have been better, but you can only photograph what is where you are!

Up Close with the Gripen E Pair

Leave a Reply

With RIAT having been cancelled for 2026, I find myself looking back at some shots from last year. This was the first time I got to see some Gripen E variants. All of my previous Gripen encounters have been earlier generations of the jet from the prototypes onwards. There was a pair of the jets taking off together at the end of the show. A tight crop on them as they climbed out gave a good look at these new airframes. I do like the Gripen. Nice to see it still finding customers.

Parc Guell

Leave a Reply

We had one full day in Barcelona before the family arrived and we took a bus ride up to Parc Guell to have a look around. It was already toasty when we got on the bus and the walk around a hilly park did seem like it might be a bit challenging. As it turned out, it was very warm, but it wasn’t as bad as we anticipated. We just paced ourselves around things rather than charging around. Plenty of water helped.

The entry point we used from the bus stop was popular but not as busy as the entry down the hill. This meant we had plenty of space and quiet as we walked around even though there were lots of visitors. We were also further up the hill which did mean that, while we did have some climbing to do, we were gradually making our way downhill over time which was welcome. Since this was our first full day, we had not yet got Gaudi overload. It was still a bit of a novelty. It was interesting to see his work, but it isn’t necessarily my thing. A bit too Alice Through the Looking Glass for me. We were certainly going to get a lot more of it in the coming days!

I won’t claim to know a lot about what each of the areas meant (except for the three crosses which were pretty self-explanatory). Instead, I was just bothered about the way it all looked (and how long before I could get in somewhere cool to have a drink). Here is a selection of shots from the park in no particular order.