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Southern Hemisphere Rest Stop

The scheduling of flights from Australia and New Zealand to the west coast of the US is not ideal for getting maximum utilization from your aircraft. There is a long time between the arrivals and the most desirable time for departing on the return journey. Consequently, there are a lot of jets that spend a good portion of the day sitting at LAX. Rather than waste valuable gate space, these jets are disembarked and then towed to remote stands to await the time when the evening flights will be readied.

There is a large parking area to the west end of LAX where these jets are kept. You will see Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand aircraft all parked up here in the middle of the day. We were able to make a short detour from our normal operating area to the west end of the airport when ATC was able which meant we could get a good view of the jets parked up here. One of the Qantas jets was carrying special markings for the Wallabies rugby team. Later in the day they will have started the return trek across the Pacific.

San Luis Obispo

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We took a short trip to San Luis Obispo while staying in Paso Robles. I didn’t know what to expect of the town other than that it is rated the happiest town in America (or some similar “statistic”). We got a map of the town from the visitor center and the first stop off was the mission. California is not short of mission buildings and I was expecting something similar to most. I was pretty surprised to discover that it was a pretty large area. The grounds were nicely landscaped and the buildings were extensive. It was far bigger than I had expected. I guess this was an important mission in its day.

A short distance away was the town museum. Originally a library funded under the program Andrew Carnegie created for providing libraries across the country, the library moved many years ago to a larger facility. After some debate, the building was re-purposed as a museum. It was a pretty interesting little place. My mum works with a local heritage organization in her town and I couldn’t help but imagine this place experiencing the same things she goes through on a regular basis. We took a look around, made our donation and headed out.

The town center itself is pretty vibrant. We started out in an area that was mainly populated by individual businesses. The whole thing felt very interesting and different. I was impressed. As we walked on, we came to the area that had all of the familiar chains. You knew that they couldn’t be far away. It did seem that the town had managed to avoid the homogeneity of many other towns though. It also had a river running through the heart of the area. Much effort had gone into designing nice pathways along the river and encouraging people to use it. This is a big improvement on so many small rivers in towns which seem like glorified drainage ditches.

It seems like a nice place to visit and something that would have enough to encourage me to return.

Regional Parks Astar

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While I was getting lucky catching the Huey at Hayward, this wasn’t the only helicopter I came across in action. A short distance away from me, an Astar was running up on the ramp. Before too long, it lifted, taxied across to the active runway and then departed to the southeast. It turned out to belong to the Regional Parks service. I had actually seen this airframe before when it had been at Livermore. This time I was a lot closer to it and able to get a far better view.

It is actually quite a nice paint job that they have applied. Some quick research suggests that they have a couple of these Astars. I wouldn’t mind finding out more about them and what they are used for. It could make for a more detailed piece at some point.

Bomb Shelters(?)

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With the outbreak of the Second World War, Mare Island rapidly added some bomb shelters for the workers and residents. These concrete bunkers were built quickly but have lasted a long time. The doors to them have gradually decayed and they are now predominantly sealed with steel doors. As bomb shelters go, they were of reasonable use. A direct hit would have destroyed them and whoever was unlucky enough to be inside. However, they should have provided protection to the occupants from shrapnel resulting from a nearby impact had it ever happened. Now they just look a little incongruous amongst the trees but there would have been a time when they were considered a very welcome feature to those nearby.

More Aerials from LAX

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I have put together a number of posts about specific aspects of our flight over LAX. However, there were lots more aircraft that we shot on the flight. It is just that they didn’t seem to warrant their own post. Instead, here is a selection of additional shots taken on the flight.

Ospreys on the Docks

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I might have been visiting Mare Island to see the museum and surrounding area but I also got to fit in some wildlife viewing while I was there. I had stepped out of the back of the museum towards one of the dry docks. One of the guys working in a business nearby starting chatting and saying how he wished he had a long lens with him to photograph the ospreys. I could hear a lot of noise but he pointed out the source. All of the high structures around the docks be they cranes or gantries seemed to have a nest on them. Ospreys were all over the place. They had access to the fishing in the water a short distance away so the metalwork was providing a great vantage point with plenty of privacy.

The noise from the nest close to me was pretty loud. A chick was obviously awaiting some food. At first I thought the parents were going to come right in but then I realized that there were so many nests that the birds I could see flying were not necessarily anything to do with this chick. I don’t know whether it had worked that out, though, given the noise it was making when any bird came close. I have no idea how much the nest impact the operation of the machinery and whether there are any restrictions on what can be done when they are in place but they are clearly all over the place.

New Alaska Livery

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When an airline decides to change its livery, it isn’t too long before large numbers of their aircraft are in the new scheme and you start forgetting that there was ever a previous paint job. In between those two points is the time when you are interested in the change. Catching something in the new livery is of interest. Alaska Airlines has changed their colors. As an airline that is active in this part of the world, the chances of catching the new look should be good.

It so happens I have seen two of them in close succession. One was overflying me while I was out walking. There was a lot of wildlife on my walk so I had a long lens on the camera so managed to get a couple of shots. The light was not great and there was plenty of cloud so not a great shot. The next time was shortly afterwards when the conditions had become considerably worse. Torrential rain meant that the plane was pretty obscured by the rain drops even though it was not far away. Neither of these will be shots that get pulled from the archives I imagine as they will be replaced by many more as the planes get repainted. However, they were my first encounters with the new look.

St Peter’s Chapel

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Located on Mare Island, St Peter’s Chapel was a non-denominational chapel to support the naval facility. It is no longer an active chapel but it is available for use for ceremonies. The structure looks pretty small from the outside but it is surprising how many people it can accommodate without trouble. The wooden structure is very different to everything else on the facility and it looks quite rustic. Many panels inside the chapel reflect the naval history of Mare Island and, particularly, the submarine forces.

The striking feature of the chapel is the stained glass windows. Many of them were made by Tiffany and they are considered very valuable. An exact value is not given but, since they cannot be replaced, you could argue they are priceless. Not all of the windows are from Tiffany but most are and some include a signature which makes them even rarer. The windows survived relatively unscathed in the recent earthquake that hit the area so the team is making sure that they are left alone as much as possible to avoid causing more harm than good.

Scimitars on the 737-700

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When APB launched their Scimitar winglet retrofit program, they picked up a number of customer pretty quickly. I was soon seeing them fitted across the 800 and 900 series 737s of a number of operators. United and Alaska both seem to have gone all in pretty quickly. However, I guess the 700 series jets were not such a high priority – maybe the business case is not as compelling. Consequently, I hadn’t seen them fitted to any 700 series jets until I came across this United example. It was the first I had seen in action. I still haven’t seen many so I wonder whether this is going to be a fleet fitment or if United are testing it on a few airframes before making a larger decision. Anyone know?

Hawk Hunting

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On occasions you get lucky and something comes right to you. However, that is not always the way and sometimes you are just never quite in the right place. A Hawk was running along a ridge-line next to a drainage channel near me. I saw it first from a distance and figured it would be long gone by the time I got to the area. Apparently not. As I came alongside the ridge, it flew towards me before gentling drifting along the ridge in the direction I was traveling, i.e. away from me. As it got the end of the ridge it wheeled around to the other side. I figured it would soon repeat the process given the way the wind was blowing onto the ridge. Next time I would be perfectly placed for it to come towards me. I guess it never read the plan. I didn’t see it again. Therefore, the only shots I got were a little distant.