Author Archives: Rob

Bembridge Ledge Is a Dangerous Thing

Those familiar with the waters on the eastern end of the Isle of Wight will know about Bembridge Ledge. When the tide is in, you might be forgiven for thinking that, while away from the shore, you would be in deep water. This is not the case and there is a lot of shallow and rocky areas that stretch away from the land. You might think that everyone would stay well clear but both inexperienced and experienced mariners have come a cropper on these rocks. We were up on Culver Down and the tide was quite low. It meant that the ledge was very visible, and you get to appreciate just how extensive it is. Sadly, it will continue to claim victims.

The Ride to the Next Phase

Leave a Reply

This is just another British Airways Boeing 787-10 so maybe not something too exciting. However, this was the plane that was going to take me and Nancy to the UK as we wrapped up our time in the US. The plane was just another plane making another trip but, for us, it was the transition from one phase of our lives to the next. I have occasionally wondered about the journeys people are making when I see a plane coming from a long way away. It could just be a work trip or a vacation but sometimes it is a really significant transformation. This flight was that for us. Onwards!

I Can’t Resist a Little Time Watching Hovercraft

Leave a Reply

A previous post showed a couple of military hovercraft that were on the Hovertravel pad at Ryde when we were on the Island. It will shock no one that knows me to know that, since we had time, I stopped around to see the return of one of the Hovertravel services. On the ferry across I had managed to get some shots of one of the crossings and now I was able to get an arrival. The tide was quite low so there was a lot of the sand flats to cover. This is one of the unique features of the hovercraft that the service doesn’t mind whether the tide is in or out.

There were some strong winds on the days we visited and this shows itself in the way a hovercraft approaches. Because it has no significant physical contact with the water, its only way to counteract any crosswinds is to crab into them like a plane. Consequently, It looked like it was coming straight at me as it made its approach to the pad. Now we are more local, I suspect I shall aim to make a trip across just to spend time getting some more hovercraft images.

A Bit of a Royal Flypast

Leave a Reply

I was walking in the fields near our house once evening when I heard the sound of a helicopter above me. I searched the skies for it and picked up what appeared to be a dark AW139. I didn’t think it would be a military unit since the UK doesn’t have military 139s. I grabbed a bunch of shots from a distance. Lighting wasn’t ideal but, you don’t always get to chose the conditions you get. I think pulled up FR24 to see if it showed up and, sure enough, it did. It belongs to the King’s Flight and was heading to London from Culdrose in Cornwall. I guess the dark colours I was seeing were the maroon colours used by the royal helicopters. No idea if he was onboard or not.

A Tank Landing Craft

Leave a Reply

Before mum took her hovercraft back to the Island, we had a stroll along the waterfront at Southsea. The construction work was blocking off a lot of the space, but the park area was open (if a little soggy). There is a museum to D-Day which I have yet to visit. I will have to check it out at some point. Outside the museum, there is a tank landing craft from the Second World War. It can be visited if you are in the museum but, even from the outside, you have a close view of it. Tanks in the war were a lot smaller than they are now but even then, carrying a bunch of them required a big boat. I have no idea what it could have been like to head to a foreign shore in this thing.

Flare Doors Open on an F-35

Leave a Reply

Early in 2024, Mark and I were down in Arizona photographing aviation in all its forms. We did spend a little time in Glendale at Luke AFB and seeing a wide variety of F-35As (if you count variety as meaning very slightly different low visibility markings). One of the jets that came overhead on approach, and it had a pair of open doors on the underside. Initially I thought that this was the Integrated Power Pack outlet but then I saw that was next to the doors. It is actually the flare dispenser and I guess the doors must be stuck open after something from the mission.

Wind Blown Growth

Leave a Reply

There are some open areas in Winnall’s Moor Nature Reserve that have reeds that grow quite high. It seems that the wind bows across the marshes in a consistent direction. The reeds seem to bend over with the wind but then grow back upwards resulting in a curve to their stems. They are all aligned while showing the same curvature and they look really interesting.

Nice Retro Paint Job

Leave a Reply

I am not very good when it comes to identifying some of the older light aircraft types. I have some friends that will be despairing of me if they are reading this because they can tell any of these different types at a glance. Sorry about that guys. This plane took off from Paine Field one sunny evening and the old military style paint job looked lovely in that light. It looked like a Cub but I looked it up when I got home. Apparently it is an L4X and listed as Experimental. It isn’t listed as a Piper so maybe it is a home built of some sort. Whatever its origin, it did look nice with the sun on it.

A Wardroom on a Hovercraft?

Leave a Reply

In the 70s, the potential for hovercraft was unknown and there were many types being developed. The BHC-7 was a military design that was tested by the British Interservice Hovercraft Trials Unit. It went through a variety of modifications as different roles were evaluated. I think some were exported but the UK never bought any more of them. However, the thing that I found amusing was that, because the Navy were involved in operating it, there was a wardroom.

It might not be the most glamorous of locations and I suspect other warships have nicer wardrooms. The sofas looked a little rough and the tea facilities were basic. However, it is fun to see that the important things were taken care of while the trials programme was underway.

Head on For GlobalX

Leave a Reply

The GlobalX operations at Boeing Field had become a pretty regular thing so were not necessarily enough to pique my interest. However, I was passing the field when one was getting ready to depart and, since it was a cold, winter day, I figured that heat haze was not going to be too bad. As a result, I decided to go to the street at the departure end of the runway to try a head on shot. I knew they would rotate a long way from me but decided to see what the result might be.

I was quite pleased with the results with the haze being limited and, while I was shooting through a fence, there was not a significant reduction in image quality. This A320 is one that GlobalX took on after it departed the Alaska Airlines fleet. The majority of the airframe is plane white but the rudder has to be balanced after painting, so it was clearly easier to leave it with the remnants of the Alaska livery to save time and money. Not sure who was on this flight, but I imagine they were probably not there by choice.