Tag Archives: Arlington

Ryan Evening Flight

Arlington’s air show included a brief performance by the replica of the Spirit of St Louis.  I have only shot the plane once before and understand it is up for sale so it might not be around for much longer.  A chance to get it again was welcome and, since it was an evening air show, maybe some good light would be on the cards.  Sadly, it was pretty late by the time they got ready to go and the evening was overcast anyway.  Instead of good light, it was barely any light.

Even so, you go with what you have.  They taxi out passed our location which is nice to have.  Takeoff was away from us so they were a bit distant by the time they were airborne but still not too bad.  Some passes over the field and then a landing form the other direction and that was it.  They did taxi back in our direction of course.  Nice to see it again but, oh to get it in nice light.

Rabbit Rescue

A slightly sad tale for this post.  We get plenty of wildlife in our backyard including loads of rabbits.  They come in to much the grass all the time.  They are a combination of cute and inconvenient since they tend to spread a lot of seeds for things we don’t want in our grass.  Such is the way of nature of course.  Most days we will see one or more of them out there but they disappear quickly if we go outside.

One weekend morning Nancy looked out and saw one on the grass but not looking normal.  We went out to check what was going on and the rabbit seemed to have some injury which was preventing it from moving properly.  Without the ability to examine it, I thought its leg was hurt.  We pondered what to do.  Meanwhile, a bunch of crows started gathering on the fence sensing a meal.  They flew off when we went outside but the rabbit had moved itself somehow behind the aircon unit.  We know that nature has a course in these things but figured, if there was something we could do for the little thing, we should at least make an effort.  If it wasn’t going to make it, so be it.

A call to a rescue service told us that we should bring it to them and they would assess it.  Despite its injuries, the flight mentality was strong and it was not easy to scoop up.  However, I managed to get it wrapped up in a towel and into a box on another towel and off to PAWS in Lynnwood.  They did an evaluation and confirmed that this was definitely a fixable issue but not by them.  Off to Sarvey in Granite Falls.  This bun was getting quite a road trip.  We dropped it off with them which is when I took the picture above.  I hadn’t wanted to photograph it if it wasn’t going to make it since that seemed wrong somehow but, with someone taking care of it, I decided a photo was okay.

All this effort for one rabbit might seem strange when so many must die every day but it seemed like the right thing to do and it introduced us to two good organizations that deserve support.

Spirit of St Louis Replica

Arlington is the current home of a replica of the Ryan Monoplane flown by Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic.  This is a detailed replica built over many years by a guy called Mike Norman.  It has flown a few times and they are increasing the hours on the airframe prior to taking it further afield.  I hadn’t seen it before but my friend, Bob, advised that it was due to fly on a recent Sunday morning.  The weather was looking nice if a little warm (heat haze) so I made the trip up to Arlington early on the Sunday.

They taxied out a little later than planned but not by much and certainly not when you are working with an experimental airframe.  They took off to the north and flew a couple of circuits.  We were a bit distant from it but not too bad.  I figured I would head to the approach end for the next circuit.  I got there just as they were on short final so too late to get a shot but I figured I would get the next one when they climbed out again.  However, the next approach turned out to be for the cross runway.  They flew close by while downwind but I was on the wrong side for the light when they were on final.

On the next climb out they left the circuit to fly up towards Bellingham.  This left a problem.  By the time that they were due back, the light would almost definitely be tail on down the runway.  I discussed with Bob the options and we decided to go to the south of the runway and hope they came that way.  As it was, they arrived back at exactly the time the light was aligned with the runway so the worst of options.  However, we were not far from the threshold and had a mountain backdrop on final approach so not too bad.  It is a lovely looking replica.  I hope to see it fly again, maybe in nice evening light.  I suspect it is easier to fly when the air is a bit less bumpy!