Tag Archives: california

Exposition Park Cats

As I walked into Exposition Park, I saw a cat wandering along the sidewalk near the road.  I stopped to watch it for a while, and it became a bit nervous when it realized I was watching it.  It soon retreated and I thought little more of it.  I assumed it was a wild cat rather than someone’s pet.  It was only a few minutes later that I came across another pair of cats.  They were playing together and initially seemed interested in my presence and then retreated too.  I assume that the park must have a few cats in residence.

A Twin Tub A-12 Sitting by the Parking Lot

Google Maps can really be your friend.  I was hoping to find the time to get to see the space shuttle stack in Expo Park while I was back in LA if possible.  I went on Google Maps to see how to get there and the layout of the area and I saw a tag for an A-12.  Sure enough, the twin seat Lockheed A-12 is mounted on display right next to the parking lot.  It is tucked in between the lot and a pathway over a dip in the grounds.  It is rather tight to the parking lot which made getting shots a touch tricky but the early morning light when I was there was the best angle for it.  I was pleased to add an unusual airframe to the briefest of visits!

Riding the E Line in LA

My morning trip to the California Science Center could have involved a quick Uber ride but, since I was in LA to discuss light rail projects, it seemed more appropriate that I take the train down there.  The station wasn’t too far away, and the E Line dropped me off right next to the park.  Whenever I am using some form of transit, I do try to get a photo or two. You never know when they might be useful for a presentation or for adding to a proposal.

Endeavour Assembled in the Construction Site

I made a big mistake a decade back when the Space Shuttle Endeavour was moved through the streets of LA from the airport to the California Science Center where it has been on display ever since.  I was in California and could have made a trip down but, for various reasons, didn’t end up doing so.  I have regretted it ever since.  The beginning of 2024 was the time when they relocated the shuttle from its horizontal position to a new installation where it is stacked on the external tank and boosters in the launch position.

I had a work trip in January that took me to LA and I was really hoping to see the stacking because the external tank was due to be lifted into position between the boosters.  Sadly, there was no spare time from arriving to departing and I didn’t get a chance to see it other than a brief glimpse from my Uber as I drove to and from the airport.

A couple of weeks later, I had to go back again.  By this time, the shuttle orbiter had been lifted into position on the stack too.  It is wrapped up to protect it from the weather since the whole stack is outside until they finish constructing the rest of the museum around it!  On the final day of my trip, I was heading to the airport in the morning.  I figured I could just squeeze a quick detour down to have a look at the shuttle before I went to the airport.

It is quite surreal seeing a stacked shuttle in the middle of a park.  It is even more strange because there is a lot of construction all around it obscuring your view of the subject.  I walked all around the area (at least where it was possible to go given the ongoing construction) looking to see what I could see.  Some of the angles had a better view but these were also backlit.  I ended up trying hard to find ways to let the tank block the sun!  I also was surprised to come across the lifting frames for the orbiter which, having served their purpose, were now sitting on the ground by a fence.  Not sure what happens to them now!

Construction of the museum will continue through this year.  I read somewhere that the structure will be completed by about July but I am not sure how accurate that is and whether that includes all of the fit out.  When it will be possible to visit the finished exhibit, we shall see.  It should be something to see when it is done.  I have seen Atlantis and Enterprise so, after this, I just need to get to NASM to see Discovery.

Old Filming in SF

Making my way through old shots for other projects often results in finding stuff I had completely forgotten about.  Before we lived in the Bay Area, I was there for some other reason.  I was down near the water and there was a film crew working on a production of some sort.  The character was on a dock and was approached by some other guys at which point he falls into the water.  There was a diver that got set up in the water beforehand for safety purposes.  Then they filmed the sequence.  I don’t recall them doing it more than once which made it easier than drying the guy off and giving him fresh clothes, I guess!

Re-Editing a B-2 Shot

Periodically, when I am looking through my image catalog for a specific subject for one project or another, I come across some images from a while back that look okay but might benefit from some of the more recent approaches to processing that I have adopted.  This doesn’t always help but it can be fun to start from scratch on a raw file and then see whether the final version is any better than the previous attempt.  I created a new virtual copy in Lightroom and zero out all of the sliders, upgrade to the latest processing version and give it a go.

I did this a little while ago on a shot of a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.  I shot this jet at Palmdale many years ago on a visit with my friend, Paul.  The shots were okay, and I was happy with them at the time.  Here I shall show you the current version first and then the next one down is the previous result of my processing from when it was shot.  Do you think it is a significant change?

VISTA X-62

The Antelope Valley Airshow at Edwards AFB last year gave access to some very unusual airframes including some unique types.  In the 90s, an F-16D airframe was converted into a variable stability testbed.  It was used for test pilot training but also became a testbed for other technologies.  Known as VISTA, it also tested a thrust vectoring nozzle on the engine as MATV, performing some amazing maneuvers.  I know one of the test pilots that flew it including when it misbehaved!

The aircraft continues to be used for new developments and, relatively recently, it was re-designated to be an X-plane.  It is now known as the X-62 while continuing to perform some of its original test pilot training roles.  It was on display in one of the hangars at Edwards.  It was a bit hard to get good shots of it since everything was rather crowded, but I was able to get a few that I was happy with.

NEO Versus Not-NEO

For some reason I was thinking about the comparison between the neo and classic versions of the A320 family and it got me wondering whether I had any shots that would provide a good direct comparison between the old and new versions.  The answer I came up with was shots of American Airlines’ A321s departing LAX.  They provided the combination of reliable lighting and similar angles on the climb out.  I was able to put the two together in one shot.  Externally, the differences are there to be seen but, if you are not knowing what to look for, you probably wouldn’t tell them apart.  Given the significant performance increase the neo brings, it would be easy to miss.

Darkstar (Not The Real One) and Blackbird (The Real One)

One of the bigger attractions at the Antelope Valley Air Show, held at Edwards AFB, was the appearance of the Darkstar plane from Top Gun Maverick.  Obviously not a real plane (and not even the real Darkstar which was a reconnaissance UAV that never progressed beyond testing), it was part of a hugely popular movie so garnered a ton of attention.  It was parked in the static display alongside a very real SR-71 Blackbird.  This was something I found far more interesting having seen them fly for real in my younger days.  The Darkstar was still fun to see. I am not that churlish.

Blackbird Air Park

Alongside, connected to but not part of Joe Davies Historic Airpark is Blackbird Airpark.  On the south side of Palmdale’s airport, this area pays tribute to some of the most iconic products from Plant 42 across the airfield.  Lockheed’s Skunk Works turned out some amazing aircraft and this exhibit includes an A-12, an SR-71, a U-2 and an D-21 drone.  Having an A-12 next to an SR-71 is pretty special.  You have to look closely to see which is which.  A selection of black airframes together in the desert sun does not make for easy photography and there are lots of power lines and fences in the background but it would be churlish to complain too much.  It is free after all!