Category Archives: aircraft

The Tutor is Going

It seems that equipping display teams is becoming rather difficult for some countries. The RAF has taken the Red Arrows down to seven jets because of engine issues and a replacement has not yet been selected. Meanwhile, the RCAF has selected the PC-21 to replace the Tutor with the Snowbirds, but they won’t arrive for a while. In the interim, the Tutor is being retired so there will be a hiatus for the team.

The Tutor was a strange little jet. Looking a bit like a Jet Provost but with a bit more oomph, the RCAF retired it from training duties a long time ago but kept a bunch of them running just to support the Snowbirds. I have seen them display on multiple occasions and really enjoy the display. The team also were a lot of fun when I got to spend time with them in Waukegan for the show there. Moose Milk is dangerous stuff.

This year is the last year that they have displayed with the Tutor and, since we have been gone for a while now, I didn’t get to see their last shows. My last year of seeing them display was filled with difficulties either with aircrew that had been injured or with unserviceability. In one show a jet went down and the pilot ran to a backup jet but couldn’t get that one to work either. I guess that was a sign of just how much the fleet was aging. Oh well, farewell Tutor. I hope I get to see the display with the PC-21 at some point.

One of These Planes is Not Like the Other

Leave a Reply

After landing back at Heathrow from a work trip, we were taxiing back towards T5 and passing a variety of parked airlines. These two 787-9s caught my eye. Both are in Norse livery but one is labeled IndiGo. This Indian airline has been leasing jets from Norse. I guess only one got the change in titles. At the time of writing this, I understand the lease arrangements have ben terminated so maybe this was a lucky break to catch this before it wouldn’t be seen again.

I Guess I’ll Post This Gazelle

1 Reply

The Gazelle was very widely used in the UK armed forces when I was young. You would see the occasional civilian one as well, but I would see the military examples at air shows all the time. They have gone, now, but there are still examples to be found in use. That included a very pleasant surprise when I came across one at Boeing Field. The owner was doing some hover testing on the ramp at BFI, and I do love a Gazelle.

He was manoeuvring the airframe around a fair bit in the confines of the ramp, so I was able to get some different angles as well as a bit of variety in the background. Plenty of images were taken while I watched. After he landed, he came over to me and asked what I was doing. I was quite straight that I was taking photos of his helicopter. He did answer some questions about it but was not keen on the images being taken. Time has moved on quite a bit now, so I figure there is no harm in sharing them now.

Looking Out of the Window When Waiting to Depart LHR

Leave a Reply

Sometimes, when I get the window seat at the airport, there is really nothing much to see. I am on the wrong side, and everything is out of the other windows. However, on this recent flight, I did have a good view of the parallel taxiway as well as the runway for departing jets. Sure, it was backlit and sometimes taxiing jets could block the view of the runway. Also, windows looking into the sun are not great for clarity. Even so, an A380 from Singapore or a Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 is worth a look and whatever shots the phone can manage.

Won’t Forget the Blue Angels Crosses Too

Leave a Reply

I posted a bunch of crossing shots of the USAF Thunderbirds and, since I was doing that, I thought it might look like favouritism if I didn’t do the same for the Blue Angels. I saw a lot more of the Blue Angels in the second half of my time living in the US because Fleet Week in San Francisco and Seafair in Seattle always had them in attendance. That meant I got to see them after the transition to the Super Bug but the majority of shows I saw over the years were with the legacy Hornets. Anyway, here are a bunch of crossing shots for the Blues to balance things up.

Interrupting My Bike Ride with a Balloon

Leave a Reply

When the work schedule allows, I am making the most of the early light to get some bike riding done. When the weather is at its hottest, this is also the best time of day to ride anyway. It is a very peaceful time to be out in country lanes with very little traffic and plenty of wildlife. I was riding along one morning when I saw a hot air balloon off in the distance. Balloon rides are popular in our area, so this isn’t that surprising.

I then lost site of the balloon as I headed north for a while. As I got towards the northern part of my route, I briefly spotted the balloon again through the trees but then it was gone again. I wondered whether it would appear again as I started south but I couldn’t see it because the roads have tree cover on the side that might have offered a view. I gradually lost interest as I figured it had either landed or our routes had diverged again.

As I came through Micheldever, a Land Rover van came in the opposite direction towing a trailer. This was clearly the recovery team heading north. I thought I had my confirmation that they had landed somewhere I had already passed. Turning out of Micheldever, I was riding across the rolling hills towards Stoke Charity when I saw the balloon north of me and quite low to the ground. I stopped and watched it for a while. It was not coming right towards me but was heading slightly more to the east.

I was going to get moving again but then had a change of heart. I wasn’t under any time pressure to finish the ride since it was still really early. I turned around and rode back to Micheldever. I don’t know the village well having always ridden through it on one road. I went the other way with the hope that some sort of open space would show up. Sure enough, I came to a football field and the balloon was coming straight towards me. I stopped and waited to see where it would go next.

Turns out that they were planning on landing in the field I had just made it to. They delicately descended to the ground with a couple of minor skips as they touched down and then settled. When I have seen balloons in the past the crews got very tetchy if you got to close. In this case they kept the balloon inflated and just sat there. I rode onto the field and around while keeping a safe distance. However, they were more than happy to chat as I got closer. I spoke to them briefly and then decided I really ought to continue my ride.

Blue Eagles Return

Leave a Reply

One of the teams taking part at the show at Cosford was the Blue Eagles. The Army Air Corps used to have a team called the Blue Eagles and I saw them on a number of occasions but, apparently, the name went away for a while. It has returned and the routine is a combination of a pair of Apaches and a single Wildcat. This was my first time seeing an Army Wildcat display and that might not happen much more since the recent defence review announced the=at they would be phased out.

The coordinated manoeuvres of the two Apaches combined with the Wildcat doing its own thing. It kept something in front of the crowd at all times. The Apache is such an impressive machine with a menacing air about it. Meanwhile, the Wildcat has inherited the agility of the Lynx and so was thrown around with some vigour. I was happy to watch them perform and liked the synchronisation that they put into the planning. It is a good demo of the Army’s aviation capabilities.

Some Morning Heathrow Arrivals

Leave a Reply

Another morning flight for a work trip meant another stop at the Pod Parking. Since the traffic had been light, I was there a little ahead of schedule so it would be rude not to get some shots of the arriving traffic on the northerly runway at Heathrow. Had I been there at sunrise, the sun would have actually been right around on my side, but I was a little later in the morning, so it had come around on the nose.

A Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 was nice to have but I got some short haul types from across Europe. The really interesting surprise was a Loganair ATR42. There are lots of poles in the pod parking and they make getting an unobscured shot tricky. I will confess that some AI removal tools in Lightroom have been exploited to remove some of the distractions. I have not taken out anything that was actually over part of the airframe, even though that can actually work quite well. These are just tidied up to allow the airframe be the focus.

Old Wessex but They Still Look Good

Leave a Reply

When I was first seriously into aviation, the Wessex was in widespread use with the UK armed forces. The Navy had a load of them while the RAF used them for both troop transport and for search and rescue. The Sea King was in production and was gradually taking over the roles. As a fan of anything new at the time, I viewed the Wessex as rather old and uninteresting. The new Sea Kings were far more appealing to me at the time.

Two things have changed my perspective. First, I have grown to appreciate a load of stuff over the years that I didn’t care too much about when younger. Also, having had the fun opportunity of spending a load of time with Midwest Helicopters and their S-58Ts when living in Chicago, it reignited my interest in the type. I think Historic Helicopters have an operating Wessex, but I haven’t seen that myself. However, Cosford had a couple of examples on display – one in SAR yellow and one in camo. They looked immaculate and it was great to see them on the ramp looking just as if they could be ready to head out on a mission as soon as the show wrapped.

Thunderbirds Crossing Shots

Leave a Reply

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.