Cathay’s Special

Leave a Reply

For its 80th anniversary, Cathay Pacific painted one of its A350-900s in a retro livery. It makes you feel a touch old when you remember their whole fleet having been painted in these colours but then again, I am a touch old! This plane has been in to Heathrow on a number of occasions but combinations of time of arrival, weather and my availability have meant I have never seen it until recently. It was due on on a Saturday late in the afternoon. It was not going to be too close to sunset so, any delays should not be an issue.

The forecast was for overcast but, during the majority of the day, it was really sunny. I was hoping that this would stay but, unfortunately, the forecast was not wrong. I was watching the sun descend behind a cloud layer hoping that it might pop out below in time for the arrival. Sadly, this didn’t occur, but the lighting was not too bad, and I am pretty happy with the shots that I got. It really is a nice livery. The only discrepancy from the original is the the Union Flag is gone since Hong Kong is now back under Chinese control.

Cruising Along the North Kent Coast

Leave a Reply

I posted about the charity ride I did in September. The first day took us along the north Kent coast and a healthy tailwind pushed us along nicely. We went through some places that I have been to and plenty that I haven’t. Margate was last visited when I was in college! I had never been to Broadstairs (that I know of). I grabbed a few pictures of the coastline, castles and beaches so here are some of the places we saw along the way. The end of this day included a long climb up to the top of St Margarets with a brutal headwind, so it wasn’t all easy (and my rear tyre was deflating during that climb too!)

Storms Over Northern France

Leave a Reply

Our flight back to the UK from DC arrived early in the morning. I was sitting by the window and looking at the clouds. Nancy looked over and asked if they were storm clouds since they had a similar shape. Initially I thought they were too small, but the shape was right. It turns out, she was spot on. They were storm clouds and they were large – just a long way away. In fact, they were over northern France. As soon as we landed, I looked at the weather radar, and the image below shows just what the residents of that area were experiencing. Amazing to realise just how far you can see when flying.

Screenshot

Details on Tiles and Insulation Blankets

Leave a Reply

The previous post I created about the Space Shuttle, Discovery, had a number of shots of the whole orbiter. However, as I walked around, I found the lighting showed off the texture of the vehicle’s surface in a really interesting way. Not long before I went to Udvar-Hazy, I had seen a video that showed how the tiles had been made for the shuttle. That included a bit about the integrity that was required after which a hole was drilled in each tole for a moisture protection system. This hole created a hot spot which shows on all of the tiles on Discovery.

The tiles were used in the hottest areas of the airframe during reentry. Initially, the whole shuttle was covered in tiles but, over time, they changed to using a blanket type of insulation in the areas that were less stressed. The texture of these blankets looks rather rough for something that flies at such speeds. I guess it did the job nicely, though.

I also liked some of the details around the reaction control system nozzle and on the corners of some of the control surfaces. They look both tough but also quite delicate. An odd contradiction in my perceptions. To think that this was originally designed in the 1970s and then constantly improved up to the point when it was retired is quite something looking at it in 2026.

Triple Expansion Engine

Leave a Reply

Steam engines revolutionised industry but, initially, they weren’t very efficient. The introduction of the triple expansion engine brought a massive increase in efficiency and boosted what could be done with steam power. The Twyford Waterworks used to use a steam engine to drive the pumps that pull water from underground. That process now uses electrical pumps, but the engine has been preserved.

They fire it up for visitor days but, because it isn’t actually doing much work, it doesn’t need to generate much power. Even so, with the boiler providing the steam, the mechanisms can be fully exercised. Because it isn’t in constant use, the mechanics supervising it have to put a lot more effort into ensuring that it is properly lubricated. The oils would stay well spread and up to temperature if it was on constant use, but sporadic usage means it needs to be nursed more.

The heavy steelwork of the three cylinders is beautifully crafted, and the various pipes and gauges look like works of art. As the whole thing works through its cycles, you get a small appreciation of the engineering that came out of the late Victorian era.

RAF Chedworth

Leave a Reply

Flying over the Oxfordshire countryside, I saw a farm below that had clearly once been an airfield. Fortunately, I had a GPS track running so I could look up the location after the event. This was once RAF Chedworth. After it was no longer of use to the RAF, it was turned back to farming. The outlines of the runways are still clearly visible, even after years of growth. At ground level, I suspect they are hard to see but the aerial viewpoint can show what was once there for a very long time.

Dragonflies Laying Eggs

Leave a Reply

There is a pond at Longstock called Dragonfly Pond and it isn’t misnamed. I spent a bit of time watching the dragonflies skimming across the surface and then one seemed to be busy laying eggs beneath the leaves on the water’s surface. I switched to video and got the following clip. Tons of dragonfly larvae will, no doubt, hatch out. How many of them will survive to become an adult like this?

Sally B

Leave a Reply

The lighting was far from ideal at Cosford when B-17 Sally B did its display, but the display itself was a good one. After a couple of decades in the US, I have seen a variety of B-17s at air shows. Sally B will still be the first one I saw, though. She has been part of the UK display scene for as long as I have known about it and was one of the five that were used for the filming of Memphis Belle. Good to see her again and glad to know that they have continued to keep her active.

Thomas is Out and About

Leave a Reply

While out on a bike ride one weekend, I rode from Bighton to Ropley which takes me over the Watercress Line. I wasn’t aware what they might have going on that weekend, but it turned out that they had their “Thomas” making runs. It came out of Ropley towards the bridge I was on, so the phone came out to grab a couple of shots before I continued on my ride.