Sagrada Familia Externals

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Been a bit of time since the last of my posts from our short trip to Barcelona. Up to this point, I have not included anything regarding possibly the most famous building in the city, Sagrada Família. If I am honest, this is something that I was only vaguely familiar with before we went. I had heard about it and the amount of time that it had been under construction but, until we saw a TV show about Spain that included it, I really wasn’t terribly up to speed.

We had a chunk of time set aside to visit and, having taken the subway to get there, we were well ahead of our time for our tour which gave us time to walk around the whole site and check it out from as many angles as possible. As with any famous tourist attraction in a big city, the place was absolutely mobbed. Since we were tourists visiting it, it would be churlish to think that we weren’t also part of the problem! Of course, with construction of the structure still underway, the amount of funding that we all bring in is probably important to helping get things finished.

As for finished, it famously isn’t. I thought I had heard that it was going to be decades before it was but either I got that wrong or things have accelerated. They have made a lot of progress with the seven main towers in place. When we went inside, our tour guide told us that they don’t know when it will be done either, but she indicated that it might be another decade and then it would be done. That doesn’t sound so bad. There is one whole façade that needs to be done. If you look at the more ancient cathedrals around Europe, they took huge amounts of time to build too so this isn’t out of the norm.

Another thing the guide told us about was that Antoni Gaudi’s philosophy was that the exterior of the building had to be the eye-catching element. Drawing people to the church is important and, when inside, it is less important to be wowed. The interior is actually very nice, but I shall cover that in another post at some point before too long. As I have mentioned in some other Barcelona posts, I am not a massive fan of Gaudi’s style. However, this structure is definitely interesting and worth checking out in detail. And there is no shortage of detail! So many elements across the exterior of the building with meaning built in. While we attribute it to Gaudi, it is worth noting that he died when barely anything had been built. Others have been taking forward his designs and concepts. Maybe he would be pleased with it, but we shall never know.

I won’t try and recall the details of the symbolism of the many elements of the outside. There is a combination of different periods during which work has been done which means the styles might vary significantly. There are some modernist features that look pretty cool but definitely seem at odds with other parts. I know that this annoyed some people, but the combination of styles is actually something that I appreciate. If everything was just one style, that might be a touch dull – a strange word to use for something that is so visually striking.

While I might not be so into the reasons for these buildings existing, I do appreciate the beauty that gets created. Whether it is a cathedral hundreds of years old or one that is still under construction, the scale and the adventure of them is something to behold. Walking around Sagrada Família was something so impressive. Next, it was time to head inside. I will note that being inside did give the ability to have a closer look at some of the external details too but, since there was no shortage of stuff to include in this post, I will save that for the next time.

Thunderbirds Crossing Shots

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As is often the case, I was looking for something when I came across something totally different and that took me down a rabbit hole. In this case, I found myself looking through some old shots of the USAF Thunderbirds. Particularly when living in the Midwest, I used to see them display pretty frequently. You get a bit blasé about it after a while. Anyway, I was skimming through shots to see whether I had any crossing shots that I liked. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few of them that came out pretty well. Modern cameras allow rapid frame rates which help with crossing shots but apparently, I could still get it right occasionally when the tech wasn’t quite so advanced. The weather and lighting might vary a bit but here are some of the ones I liked most.

Are There Really No People at Stourhead?

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Of course, the answer to this question is that there are tons of them. We went there earlier this year and the footbridge at one end of the lake looked like it was worth an image. However, there are so many people who visit Stourhead that you can’t conceive that it will be possible to get a shot with no one there. Instead, I decided to take a bunch of shots with people in different places and then use Photoshop to remove them after the event. As it turned out, this patient approach paid dividends as a gap appeared in the traffic and some people saw me waiting and held back. I assure you this bridge is rarely this quiet.

Prop Effects When Using a Phone

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Rolling shutter is a phenomenon that has become very apparent with the widespread adoption of digital sensors in cameras. The way in which a sensor scans across its surface means that relative movement can result in the position of objects being different at the end of the scan than the beginning. DSLRs used a digital sensor but a mechanical shutter so weren’t terribly susceptible to this (except when in video mode) but phones and video camera like GoPros have been.

Usually, if I am photographing aircraft with props, I am using my main cameras. (While I now exclusively use electronic shutter on my bodies, the read speed of the sensor is sufficiently high that the rolling shutter effects are barely visible. However, I rode my bike to Popham one Saturday and decided to grab a few pictures with my phone while I was there. The resulting shots have props that are clearly suffering badly from rolling shutter. It is not something I normally get so I actually found it rather funny. That wouldn’t be the case if I had desperately wanted the shot.

Hypercars Get Ready

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I was down near the start line for the hill climb at Goodwood when the hypercars were coming out. They were exiting the paddock and turning on to the start line. However, there were so many of them that after the initial cars had turned left onto the road, the rest had to turn right and go up to turn before coming back to join the line. There were that many cars. None of these were in anyway cheap under performers!

I could try naming them all but that is hardly possible. First, there are so many it would get boring. Second, I don’t even know what some of them were. I might have a bit of an idea, but I would really be guessing, and I don’t want to get people giving me a hard time about being wrong when there is no point. Instead, here is a sample of the amazing vehicles that were awaiting their turn to blast along the opening straight and turn up the hill for the large crowds at the Festival of Speed.

Want a Ride in a Spitfire

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Two seat Spitfires seem to be ten a penny these days. The ability to make some decent money providing rides for people is a good way of supporting more airframes which isn’t a bad thing, even if they don’t look quite as elegant as the original design. There was one at Compton Abbas on the day of our visit that was doing a pretty good business taking people up for a ride. A blast down to the south coast and back seemed to be the norm.

You had plenty of notice when it was going up. The process of strapping in the passenger was not speedy and, while the pilot might not yet have come out to pre-flight, the activity loading up let you know that a flight was not far off.

Conditions were pretty blowy which, given the location on a hilltop, didn’t seem so surprising. I wondered whether this would limit flying but it didn’t seem to be much of an issue. Besides, the wind was quite close to being down the runway so not much of a challenge. When firing up the Merlin, the crowds outside the restaurant were treated to a blast of wind from the prop. A few hats would be dislodged but no one seemed to mind!

There were quite a few flights during the course of the time that we were there. The return at the end of each flight included a high-level flyby but no beating up the field I’m afraid. That would have been a nice way to round things off but maybe that would not go down well with either the CAA or the neighbours.

Waymo Comes to London

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When I lived on the west coast of the US, I came across Waymo a few times. They were operating in LA and San Francisco and were starting up operations in Seattle around the time we left. I never got to try them out although I was quite interested in giving it a go. Recently I have seen a few self-driving cars in London, most of which belong to Waymo.

They use Jaguars for the programme with plenty of sensors around the outside of the vehicle. One was passing my in Tavistock Square and I grabbed a few shots of it. I’ve seen a bunch more since. I will have to look up what their plans are for starting service. I have also seen a different configuration vehicle with the name Wayve on the side. Know nothing about them!

Turbulent Times

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If you are only used to airliners, light aircraft can look pretty flimsy. They are well designed, but they are small and a little flexible looking. They might be more than up to the task but, to a first timer, they might have the impression of being a bit risky. Then you can look at a Druine Turbulent. That takes the idea of simple to a new level. It is a home-built design that first flew in 1951. Small, light, powered by a small engine and with an open cockpit, it seems like even fitting in it might be a bit snug.

One was parked on the field at Popham one Sunday when we swung by to get some lunch. In due course, the owner came back to the plane and headed off. He had to hand swing the prop himself, so the aircraft was chocked while he started it up. The chocks were then stowed in a panel behind the seat and he climbed in and taxied out. Take off was not startling but still reasonably swift and he climbed out en route. What a cool little plane. I wonder whether it is a cost-effective way of flying.

TfL Museum Acton Depot Open Day

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When we still lived in the US, I saw some YouTube videos of the Open Days at the Acton facility that the TfL museum has. The main museum building is in Covent Garden, and it includes all sorts of vehicles. However, the museum has way more than can fit in that building and, since we are talking about trains and buses as well as artefacts, there is a need for a lot of space. There is a depot at Acton that fulfils this role. It is not usually open to visitors, but they have public days scattered throughout the year.

I had looked at going several times since we moved back to the UK, but it either conflicted with something else, or my heart just wasn’t in it. Finally, I got a weekend when I was able to go, there was nothing else planned and I felt energetic about heading up to town. You take the Tube to Acton Town, and the depot is just across the road. It is a rather cool facility.

The trains and buses are clearly the most obvious of the exhibits and you can’t really miss them as you walk around but there is so much more. Talking to some of the staff as I looked around, they highlighted that they have lots of material that they have received but that has yet to be fully identified and catalogued. They are gradually working through it all but there is so much and it takes time to get the information on it. A location sends them a bunch of stuff when they want to be rid of it but that doesn’t mean it is a known quantity. Quite a challenge.

If you want an engine from a bus, a traction motor, parts of a bogie and so on, this is the place to come. They have all sorts of parts. As you walk in the entrance, you immediately come across all sorts of old electrical equipment. This looks like something out of a Fritz Lang movie. Really old school electrical equipment.

Then you have the station material. Whether it is a shop booth, the surround of a ticket window or a selection of old ticket machines and barriers, this is the spot. Many of these were familiar to me from my time living in London in the late ‘80s when I was a student. When I realise how old that makes them, I did have a bit of a moment!

Signage is something there is a ton of. They have multiple station signs to choose from but also all sorts of wayfinding signs and safety notices. Many of these don’t seem that out of date but then some of them are so different to what we are now familiar with that you can tell they are really old.

Of course, the biggest attractions both literally and metaphorically and the trains and buses. The buses are off to one side and there are all sort of ages and traction modes. Some trolley buses and diesel buses from across the decades are on show. Some of these had long careers while others came and went quite quickly.

The trains are lined up on the depot’s rails, and they come from all sorts of eras and lines since different lines have had their own fleets. One thing that I really liked seeing was Standard stock. As a youngster, this was the type that was being used on the Island Line on the Isle of Wight. They were replaced by the far more modern 38 stock! That only was replaced relatively recently. Some old Waterloo and City line equipment is there along with various vehicles that you can access including a Victoria Line train that the Queen was in for the opening of the line.

I’m sure for an enthusiast, this is an absolute gold mine of preserved vehicles and equipment. As someone who just finds engineering stuff interesting it is still a fun day out. Also, having been a user of the system since the 80s, it can be quite a trip down memory lane to see things that used to be such regular features and that have now gone. I’m glad I made the trip.

Generations of Provost

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RAF Cosford provided a perfect venue to have a demo from an old RAF Jet Provost T5. As the home of part of the RAF Museum collection, they have the original Jet Provost which is currently stored at Cosford outside the museum building. Looking at this airframe on its stalky undercarriage, you can see that not a lot was changed when adding the jet engine from the original Percival Provost. I saw one of these flying at Old Warden last year.

The later versions of the JP had a more optimised approach. The airframe was tweaked and the undercarriage was shorted considerably. With the need for prop clearance, there was no need for long undercarriage and, I imagine, it was probably really inconvenient for boarding and servicing. The JP3, JP4 and JP5 have their differences but they can clearly be seen to be of the same basic design. Having two of the three on one day was an interesting comparison.