Tag Archives: aerial

Bremerton From Above

Bremerton’s naval yard has been cleared out a bit in the last few years. It used to be the resting place of a bunch of decommissioned aircraft carriers. Most have now gone to the breaker’s yard. If you drove into Bremerton, it was quite something to come along the shore and see all of those carriers in front of you. Many years ago, I was on a trip that included a flight from Seattle. We climbed out over the top of Bremerton, and I was able to grab a quick couple of shots through the window of the airliner. I do wish I had got some better shots of the carriers lined up before they all went away.

Old Victory Shot

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I was searching through my archive looking for some ship shots and the keyword search threw up a few extras that were separate from what I was after. It included some shots of HMS Victory. Victory is one of the most famous warships in the UK. She was the flagship of Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar and he died on her deck as the battle was won. She survived after her main career was over and sat afloat at Portsmouth for many years before being restored and put on display in a dry dock in the navy base.

I have been on board a few times over the years. I have some old photos from the film days that I took and also some aerial shots of her and thought I might share them here. I understand that she has recently undergone a further restoration. The hull had been sagging around the supports underneath and so she has been repaired and the support system modified. It is also now possible to go under the hull as part of the visit. This is something I would like to try when I next have time during a visit to the UK.

Osborne House

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I was digging through images for something else and came across some aerial shots I took while flying around the Isle of Wight with my relative and fellow aviation nut, Pete. We had been flying up to Cowes from the west end of the Island and then turned to go around East Cowes and off towards Ryde. I grabbed a bunch of shots of Osborne House. Now managed by English Heritage, it was one of the homes of Queen Victoria. Not that this is a recommendation for holidaying on the Isle of Wight, but it is where she died.

I think I have shared some photos of it before but these don’t show up in my list of previously posted shots so I thought I would throw these on to the blog to provide some geographical variety and also to cover for the fact that I don’t have a huge amount to post at the moment!

Looking Down on SF Bay

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As we left San Francisco after our brief visit in January, I was on the side of the plane looking down on the Bay as climbed out and headed north. The usual departures of the 01s take you straight out over the bay and then you turn north as you head towards Oakland. The lighting was a bit harsh on this day but it was a good view of the city as we made our way home.

Lake Washington Waterfront Houses

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My previous trip with Kenmore including some low flight over Lake Washington which gives a good view of some of the local houses. Lakefront property is likely to be nice and these certainly looked like they were okay! Here are some of the shots I got. I was hoping to do this again soon but Kenmore has just canceled flights (as of the time of writing rather than posting) so I guess I will have to wait.

Rebuilding the Taxiways at LAX

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In recent years, LAX underwent a reconfiguration of the norther runways. I understand this was partly to accommodate the A380 operations which, when initially introduced, created some restrictions on other operations as a result of the runway spacing. They respaced the runways. I wondered whether any of the aerial photos I had taken at LAX showed the differences that had been made.

My first flight was during the reconfiguration process. The change to one of the runways had already been made and could be seen in the spare surface were the original northerly edge had been. Other work was underway around the thresholds and in the underrun. The photos from later show the finished configuration. The threshold of the inner runway has been moved from its original location and the underrun work is now complete. Things like runways feel like they should be so permanent but, as with any man made construction, they can be taken apart and rebuilt if that is what is needed.

Ribblehead Viaduct

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The Victorians built railways across the UK in a serious way. Geography was not a barrier and tunnels would get you through hills and viaducts would address valleys. They also liked them to look pretty cool. There are numerous viaducts across the UK – some of which are well known and others of which are rather anonymous. One of the more famous viaducts is the Ribblehead. It is part of the Settle to Carlisle line which was once lined up for closure but now seems to be secure.

The main shot here was taken from my friend, Mark’s, Ercoupe as we had a flight from Blackpool and up over Yorkshire and Cumbria. We were flying after work so the evening light was setting in and the shadows of the viaduct were very nice. Since this was the days of film, there aren’t lots of shots to choose from. However, this one worked out well enough. Nancy and I visited the area from the ground when we lived up that way and here are a couple of additional shots of the viaduct from the ground.

Mt Rainier Just Before Sunrise

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I was heading east for a work trip that needed an early start. We got airborne from SeaTac before the sun came up and turned to the east after departure. We were heading towards what I thought should be Mt Rainier. However, I couldn’t see the mountain. I could see a cloud that was above the majority of the cloud bank which I assumed was the mountain but I couldn’t be sure.

As we came around the south side I was able to see that the cloud was indeed once that was forming over the windward side of Mt Rainier. The east side of the mountain was uncovered and, even though the sun had not yet come up, the early light was enough to give a view of the mountain. I was using the M6 which is not so great in low light but, even so, I was able to get some shots of the mountain as the plane headed on its way.

Lake Union Seaplane Base is Busy – But Not With Us!

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We flew across Lake Union on our way back to Kenmore so went over the top of Kenmore Air’s base there. It turned out to be a busy time for the base. There were a bunch of planes on the water heading in and out of the base with others tied up awaiting their next flight. Having watched ops at the base on a number of occasions, the view from above provided a very different perspective to what I have seen before. At some point I hope to fly in there to experience it for myself.

Space Needle is Ready for Its Close Up Mr de Mille

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On our floatplane trip to the San Juans, our return leg was supposed to include a landing on Lake Union to pick up another passenger. However, they had already got their ride so we didn’t need to stop. However, our pilot thought a trip downtown would be a good way to end our trip so we did a quick run through. The approach to the lake involves a close pass of the Space Needle. We did the same thing and were really close to the visitors checking out the view. It was quite something to see so close up. Looking at the detail of the photos, I can see all of the people staring back at us!