Buccaneer Event at Kemble

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The Buccaneer Aviation Group has charge of a couple of retired Blackburn Buccaneers that it looks after at Cotswold Airport at Kemble in Gloucestershire. They held an open day in April that included some taxiing of one of the jets and I decided this would be a good way to spend a spring Saturday. They were going to start up the jet, taxi it around on the ramp, run through a sequence of tests on the airframe and then go out to the runway for a fast run before returning to the ramp to shut down.

There would then be a break while they repositioned everything to their ramp where everyone would be able to spend some time up close with the planes and get pictures as required. The jet that was going to be taxied was one of the last Buccaneers built and is painted up in retro Royal Navy colours as worn by 809 Sqn jets when serving on Ark Royal before the carrier was retired. I don’t think this jet actually had any RN pedigree but that isn’t a big deal.

The second jet that they have is in the process of being prepped for painting in the standard RAF camouflage. Currently it is stripped back ready for paint, and I have to admit I found it rather cool looking with the random patterns that are visible. This will show in another post. The two jets were lined up together in front of the hangar to allow everyone to get their photos.

I was one of the first cars allowed through the gate to the second part of the day which meant I was able to get some images before everyone else showed up and it started getting busy. However, they did have a good level of organisation to it all so, after giving everyone some time to get up close, they pulled everyone back a bit to leave it unobscured for photos. I did notice some steps off to one side of the ramp and asked I they might be moved in to get a higher angle on things, fully assuming that wouldn’t be possible. I was wrong. They were more than happy to bring them in which made for a better angle on the shots.

The day had started out with some damp and windy conditions. It did rain a bit during the taxi section of the day. This was quite handy in that it made the grey paint look like it would on a carrier at sea, i.e. wet! It also showed up the blowing of the wing when they carried that out and resulted in a cool vortex in the inlet being visible. As the day progressed, the weather got a lot better. It was quite sunny by the time we were on the ramp with the jets.

The team were in no hurry to kick us out and, as the afternoon wore on, the number of people thinned out and the light got nicer. I hung around with a guy called Matt that I had met, and we were able to pass the time talking about planes, cameras and places. Finally, we were the only ones around and the crew started putting the jets away. The steps were still out so I was able to get a high angle as they pulled a jet beneath me. It was a tight fit, but it all worked out well. A top day out and many thanks to the tea baggers at TBAG.

Being Stalked by a Big(ish) Cat

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Early one morning, before work, I took a walk in the fields near the house. As I walked through an area surrounded by long grass, I saw an orange shape moving nearby. At first, I thought it was a fox. I put the camera up to my own and focused on the subject. It wasn’t a fox. Instead, it was a ginger cat that was on patrol from one of the local houses. It was watching me as I watched it. I went on my way and it went on its way too.

Time Lapse into National

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This is some older footage I took a while back when I was making a work trip to DC. I have done a bunch of these over the years. The phone allows you to get a good time lapse video (or I should say hyperlapse since it is a bit different) of the approach to landing. The countryside zips by in this type of video and you get the rapid changes in aircraft configuration along with the taxi in and shut down at the end of the flight. For those of you familiar with the northern Virginia area, you might well recognise some places. I did the same on the return leg into SEA as the day was ending.

A Couple of Military Hovercraft

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No shock to regular readers that I might swing by the Hovertravel facilities when on the Island. A pleasant surprise was to discover that it wasn’t just the Hovertravel craft that were present. A couple of smaller military craft were also parked up. I had seen pictures of these online but didn’t realise that they were still present. I don’t know whether they are ex-military that are being repurposed or new builds for the military. Whatever the story, here they were. It would be better to see them moving but it was the weekend so not a surprise that they weren’t going anywhere.

More Variations on the Theme of a Tug

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I have posted previously about the tugs that get used at airports to push back the jets when they are departing. The big tugs with a tow bar are common in the US. You also get the ones that pick up the nose gear and push from there. While sitting at Heathrow waiting for a flight, I watched their latest approach. These are remotely controlled devices.

They also grab the whole nose-wheel and have a capture device that wraps around the tyres to hold tight. By the looks of them, they are electrically powered so will be recharged when docked somewhere presumably. The operator walks alongside them as they move across the ramp and when moving the planes. It doesn’t seem that fast compared to a normal tug and clearly it still has an operator. However, it looks like a cheaper unit to buy and operate along with lower emissions compared to a large tug. I assume that is why they make sense. Here is some video of them dispatching a jet.

This Lifeboat Doesn’t Normally Live Here

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A recent sunny weekend took me and Nancy to the Isle of Wight to see my mum. She lives near Bembridge Harbour and, as we drove around the embankment, I noticed a lifeboat moored up at the marina. We took a walk across from her house and it turned out to be the Bembridge all weather boat. Apparently, the winch that is used to haul the boat back into the boathouse is currently out of service. As a result, they are operating from the marina until the repairs can be completed.

When you walk along the dock, you get to appreciate the size of the boat in a way that is not possible when looking down on it in the boathouse. The other than that struck me was just how pristine the thing looked. Boats tend to rapidly show signs of their usage, but the crew of this boat clearly have a ton of pride in maintaining things to a high standard. She looked great. I hope the winch is soon fixed, not least because I really want to get another chance to watch a slipway launch.

Inside the Spacious Vulcan Cockpit

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I remember reading a piece about the cockpit of the Vulcan a long time ago that focused on just how cramped a space it was. The B-52 cockpit was a spacious place while the Vulcan was incredibly tight and had very limited glazing. Despite this, the jet was flown at low level and would be thrown around at air shows.

The two pilots up front are sitting on ejection seats while the three crew behind them are not so, if things go south (and they did sometimes), those three were out of luck. However, until I went to the Bournemouth Aviation Museum, I had never been in to the cockpit in person. They have the cockpit section of a Vulcan that looks out over the approach road to the museum. You can climb the ladder into the cockpit and stand right behind the two ejection seats. It is unbelievably cramped in there. Looking back at the three fixed seats, I was struck by how claustrophobic it could feel and wondered what manoeuvring in the jet would feel like back there. Might be a touch nauseating!

Two Carriers Not Going Anywhere

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I’m not sure when this post will go live but, on the day I am writing it, the HMS Prince of Wales and its carrier strike group has sailed from Portsmouth for an eight-month deployment. A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the Isle of Wight and, as the ferry came through Portsmouth Harbour, I could see both carriers were tied up in the naval base. They were bow to bow alongside. Neither was showing much sign of going anywhere. However, as I now know, one of them was in the final stages of preparation for the deployment. I hope they have a successful mission.

Second Weekend Flyover – Super Bugs

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The football season includes both college and professional games. I shared some shots of some US Navy F-35Cs that had been in Seattle for a UW football game flyover. They were not alone, though. The Navy also brought some Super Hornets for the Seahawks game on the Sunday. Nancy had come along with me to see the F-35s depart and I was ready to move on, but she enjoyed the departure of the first jets and was happy to wait for the Hornets to go out too.

The nice thing about flyovers is that you know that they will go on time because the game will start to a schedule. They often depart early and fly around locally until the time comes for the flyover. I assume this also builds in some capacity in case they have an issue with one of the jets. We watched them blast out of Boeing Field and then headed on. The return would have been okay, but I wasn’t that bothered, and it was a nice day to be out.

Bluebells Are Starting

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Spring in the UK means bluebells will start showing up. I will come back to this topic in another post but, when we went to Farm Shop in Leckford , the road in came through some trees which had a carpet of bluebells beneath them. While Nancy was wandering around the shop, I did grab the camera and head along the road to get some bluebell shots. This was a nice start to the season but there will be more to come.