Tag Archives: california

The Blimp is in Town

The Super Bowl was taking place in Santa Clara and I guess Goodyear had some sort of sponsorship activities underway. Consequently, one of their blimps came to the Bay Area. It was based out at Livermore. I didn’t get a chance to see it on the ground although Nancy drove past it a few times. However, it did fly over us on a few occasions so I stepped outside to get some pictures. These were taken with Nancy’s new camera. It is a Nikon P900 and it seems to do a pretty impressive job. It has a very long zoom range and good stabilization. So far I am impressed.

Sunol Wilderness Park

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Head south along I-680 from us for a short distance and you came to an area that includes Sunol Wilderness Park. A large expanse of land with many trails across it, this is a fun place to go hiking, particularly early in the year. The recent rains meant the hills were quite green and the temperatures have not got too high yet. The sun is always strong but the conditions were great for a hike.

The area is distinctly lacking in flatness. Every trail we took seemed to be a climb or a descent but that was part of the fun. Our initial route took us up a lot. We seemed to always be going up – sometimes rather steeply. Even as we were getting in the homeward stretch, we still seemed to be going up. I guess with hindsight, a hill called Flag Hill was always likely to be one of the highest points!

The downside to all of this is that the last section is a steep descent. I actually prefer climbing to descending. The knees have to work a lot harder on the way down and it seems harder to have a steady footing than when hauling yourself upwards but, with the end in sight and our food back at the car, we were motivated to get finished. A lot of the time we were away from any other walkers so it was a very relaxing place to be. No doubt we will be back there again before it gets too warm.

Elephant Seals

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For the last two years I have been to Ano Nuevo for the sunrise photo tour amongst the elephant seals. This year I decided I didn’t need to get there before the sun came up. However, Nancy was interested in seeing them and she wanted to try getting some shots with her new Nikon P900. Therefore, we decided to take one of the other tours that occurs during the mating season, albeit during more sociable hours. We still went for the morning event and it turned out to be a good plan.

Unlike the sunrise tour, the groups are much larger and you are not driven out. Consequently, you have to carry everything you want with you. It makes picking your gear a slightly more careful decision process. The sun was out and it was a very pleasant morning. There were a few locations that the docents took us to and, while the males had picked some good locations right on the paths, we were still able to get to see a lot of the seals.

The weather had been wet which meant there was a lot of water inland and this appeals to the males who come to find a puddle to rest in and, occasionally, practice fighting. This is clearly not serious combat as the whole thing is a bit halfhearted. When you see the real fights, you are left in no doubt they mean it. We did get to see a lot of the colony and enjoy the nice weather. All in all, a pretty good second option.

Nice to Still See an A310

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The freight ramps on the south side of LAX are a good place for some older jets. FedEx has a substantial fleet of aircraft and they are currently in the process of replacing many of the older jets with new (or newer) types with reduced operating costs. The fleet of Airbus A300 and A310 aircraft are gradually reducing. There was a nice looking A310-200 parked up on the ramp as we flew over. I haven’t seen too many of them recently so this was a nice surprise. A great view to get of it too.

The Whales Are Out There

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My sister has pretty amazing eyesight. Her ability to spot things before the rest of us has shown itself on many occasions. I have often been wondering if she is just making things up only to finally see what she saw. To all my pilot friends, I would recommend her as a second pair of eyes anytime.

We were taking a trip along the Pacific coast while they were over visiting recently and she said she had seen a whale. This is by no means unusual along this stretch of coast but, even so, I was a little unsure if it really was a whale. Turns out it wasn’t a whale. It was at least five of them. They were a little way offshore but there they were. Plenty of spouts of spray from blowholes and the occasional sighting of bodies as they came to the surface. It was a shame that they were so far out but at least they got some whales for their visit.

Santa Monica – The Friendly Airport

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My buddy Pete joined me for some fun in the LA area. Pete is a commercial pilot but any form of aviation appeals to him so we have a lot in common. We had a full day available to go exploring. One part of the day was allocated to a helicopter trip but the rest was open time for us. Our first stop was Santa Monica airport.

I was introduced to this great place by another friend, Paul, who was, coincidentally, introduced to me by Pete. It is a short distance north of LAX but is the total opposite. Santa Monica accommodates everything from light sport aircraft to some pretty substantial corporate jets. What it also accommodates is visitors. A nice terrace area is laid out at the terminal building providing a great spot to watch operations with the runway only a short distance away.

The tower frequency is piped to the terrace so you know what is going on. There are vending machines and bathrooms to cover both ends of the spectrum and, in the past, I have seen the airport police officers handing out stickers to kids. The place is so welcoming you see lots of parents show up with their kids to watch the planes. As a UK based pilot, Pete found this to be an amazing improvement on his usual experiences at small airports.

I didn’t actually take my camera initially. I wasn’t sure how long we would be there. As it turned out a couple of cool jets including a nice Gulfstream came in while I was cameraless. No matter. I did get it after a while and got a few shots of traffic before our plans took us onward. Before we left, we did walk across the road to the Museum of Flying. Santa Monica was the home of Douglas Aircraft for many years. The museum was sadly closed when we were there but there was a nice DC-3 on a pole along with an A-4 and an F-86 so something nice to see.

Views of San Jose and Beyond

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The top of Mount Hamilton provides a view down to San Jose in the valley below and then on to San Francisco Bay. You can see all the way up to San Francisco if the weather is clear enough. On the day we were there, the conditions were a little less clear but we still could see a good distance. Beyond San Jose, the hangars at Moffett Field were easy to spot as was Levi Stadium and the many buildings scattered around the shoreline of the bay.

I would love to be up on the top of the mountain early in the morning on a day with really clear skies. However, it is not an insignificant drive to get up there and you want to make sure it is going to be worth it. Therefore, while I am going to try and do this at some point, it is going to be a combination of good planning, luck and readiness to head off on short notice in order to make it all work out.

Compression of Perspective

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Shooting with a long focal length lens has the effect of compressing the image to make elements appear a lot closer together than they really are. When shooting from the helicopter over LAX I was using a 100-400mm lens. The aircraft themselves were quite low to the ground, particularly those on short final to land. They weren’t a long way off the ground but the lens in use had the effect of making things look a lot closer than they really were. Some of the shots I got of the aircraft over parking lots or near the In’n’Out really make it look as if the jets were barely airborne. I like the extra drama this adds to the shots.

Fiji Airways

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Seeing a new airline is always a nice surprise. I had not come across Fiji Airways before but saw a few of their A330s during my time at LAX. Not a bad looking livery given the boring schemes you often see these days.

Flightpath Learning Center

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Despite having gone to LAX many times to shoot and being aware of the Flightpath Learning Center, a museum about LAX located on the south side of the field, I had never been there before. When visiting with Pete, we were a bit more determined to see what it had to offer. Sadly, we got there at about 2:45 and the place closes at 3:00. Even so, we did have a quick look around in the time available. We even got to see a Singapore Airlines A380 depart from 25R as it rotated right outside the windows. Unfortunately, as seems to have been a theme on this trip, I was not carrying a camera.

The docents at the museum were very friendly and explained a little of the history of the collection and I decided I should go back again. The following day, Pete was on the crew for the return to London and I was due to fly back to Oakland. I decided to get everything ready ahead of returning my rental car and then go to Flightpath to spend some time prior to the trip home.

They have a DC-3 out in front of the museum which you can go inside. It is configured as a corporate transport for Union Oil and looks pretty neat. You can also stand outside their building under supervision and shoot the arrivals and departures. The location is a little closer to the thresholds of the 25 runways so it has a better view of some operations that can be achieved at Imperial Hill. The low shooting angle also provides a different perspective to the norm.

The museum itself has a lot of information on LAX and the operators there. They have a great selection of models, uniforms and memorabilia from the various airlines that have been based there. To see how LAX has evolved over the years is quite interesting. All of this is provided free of charge so is certainly worth a visit if you have some free time.