Author Archives: Rob

The Hummers Are a Quick Test for the New Lens

One of the things that I knew would be a limitation of the RF 200-800 was the aperture which is a lot smaller than for really expensive lenses (yes, it is also expensive but not in the tens of thousands type of expensive). In low light, this is going to be an issue and it would be interesting to see how things worked out. When I got home with it, I was sitting on the deck when some hummingbirds started feeding on the flowers in one of our beds. This area is in shade a lot of the time so light was limited. I was rather pleased with the effectiveness of the focus, the sharpness at full zoom and the relatively limited noise related issues from the R3. This is a combination that looks like it could be quite useful for a wide variety of occasions. Not the solution for everything but definitely versatile.

Tango Really Does Like to Get Those Jetpipes Close

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Those that have seen photos from the air show scene in 2024 may well have seen the spirited departure that the Royal Canadian Air Force Hornet demo includes. The CF-188 gets pulled aggressively to the vertical and the speed of rotation is chosen carefully so that the engine nozzles get very close to the ground, but the airframe is already lifting and climbing so that no contact is made. It makes for some cool shots. At Abbotsford and Comox, I was nowhere close enough to get a good look at the moment of rotation, but Bremerton provided a better chance. Rather far away so a bit hazy but still pretty cool. Shame the special demo jet broke again, and we had the twin tub instead.

A Tank in the Middle of the Town?

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When you get off the ferry at Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island, the first town you come to is Sidney. I didn’t know there was anything there that we were interested in but one of our party, Jim, was keen to see an F-86 Sabre and a Sherman tank that are on display in the town. They are sitting on a pretty average looking street so seem a little incongruous. The Sabre looked like it was in need of some love. The tank, on the other hand, seemed in great condition. Of course, a tank is a bit more resilient to the comings and goings of a town so it probably can handle itself. I did like the Keep Off notice on the front. Probably not original but, it would have been funny if it had been in German. (For the specialists, I know the Canada did not use these tanks in Germany.)

How Long Since This S-61 Flew?

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On the trip the guys made to see the Martin Mars fly, we stopped by Victoria International Airport on Vancouver Island. Round the back of the field, there were two S-61 airframes sitting doing nothing in particular. One was in the markings of British International Helicopters. It has been a very long time since I last heard of that operation. Apparently, the company has gone through various incarnations over the years. It did operate scheduled flights to the Scilly Isles off Cornwall with S-61s so maybe this airframe came from that service. Has it been sitting here ever since?

I Guess Ospreys Love Seafair

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Two years ago, I went down to Lake Washington to watch Seafair. I posted then about an Osprey that was flying along the shoreline while the airshow was underway. This year I went again and, while it wasn’t as frequent a visitor as last time, we did get another osprey checking out our part of the shore once more. We were well away from the display axis so no risk of an osprey checking out a gas turbine. Such a cool looking bird to see. Soon they will be gone for the season.

Erickson Makes the Bremerton Show Interesting

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The Bremerton Air Show had some interesting displays, but the biggest contribution came from the Erickson Air Collection. Aside from the Grumman Duck about which I have already posted, they brought a P-47 Thunderbolt, a P-40 Kittyhawk, a Bf-109 and an F4U Corsair. The Corsair was for the Legacy Flight at the end of the show, but the others went up together for a sequence of passes. Great to see these different planes out and about and congratulations to Erickson for having added so much to the show.

Your Own Island in Sproat Lake

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As we motored down Sproat Lake looking for good locations from which to photograph the takeoff of Hawaii Mars, we went through a narrow passage between sections of the lake. Just south of the passage was a small island. A closer look told us that there was a single house on this island. The idea of your own private island does sound quite nice. I think I would like the house to have a less obstructed view of the water but, maybe if you live there and see constant boat traffic like ours, the need for privacy makes the trees a better option.

What Sensors Are Behind These Panels?

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I was working through some shots of the 777X development aircraft as it landed at Boeing Field and I noticed a couple of the front windows were blanked out. One was a conspicuous sensor of some sort but not far behind it is one blank that looks a lot more normal but also seems to have some sensor protruding from it. No idea what they are sensing but I imagine it is important.

Smaller BC Ferries

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The approach to Swartz Bay ferry terminal on Vancouver Island brought us close to some other ferries in the BC Ferries fleet. Two of the Salish Class vessels were there, one heading out and another heading in alongside us. I only had my phone with me at that point, but I was able to catch both of them at different times and distances. They are a relatively recent build of ferry having been constructed in Poland. I haven’t made any of the shorter trips that would give me a chance to ride one yet.

Shooting Deliberately Tight on Arriving Airliners

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The arrival of the Starlux A350 has already appeared in a previous post. I got there a little ahead of its scheduled approach and, since I was playing around with using my longer lens, I decided to try shooting some of the preceding arrivals with the same lens from head on to get some tighter compositions and see just what would work before the planes got chopped off by the limited field of view. I had a variety of types coming in from the little E175s to 777Fs. They gave me some things to work with and I quite like how some of them came out. A bit of variety is good when the subjects are very repetitive.