Category Archives: aircraft

This is Further Away Than I Expected to See an Air Canada Max

During my brief visit to Heathrow, I got a bunch of long-haul departures and loads of single aisle types serving destinations closer in. However, I was caught off guard slightly by one 737 Max 8. It belonged to Air Canada. I’ve seen a few of those including when they were on test, but I hadn’t anticipated seeing one in the UK. However, the longer range of the Max means that Air Canada is using it serve Halifax from London. I guess that is not really much longer a flight than plenty in Europe, so it makes sense and is probably more efficient. I just didn’t expect to see one of their narrowbodies there. Given that the A321neos are now becoming so prevalent, this is likely to be a regular thing for other airlines too. JetBlue is already doing this so others will be too.

A Visiting Spit While We Wait

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During the Buccaneer event that I went to at Kemble, we spent some time in an enclosure out near the taxiway. This would be good for the first part of the event, but I was out there quite a while before things were due to kick off. While hanging around, the purr of a Rolls Royce Merlin came to my ears and, downwind there was a Spitfire. It flew a nice curving approach and touched down before taxiing in quite close to where I was standing. It was a two-seat example and presumably had come to provide rides for some enthusiasts. I didn’t see it head back out, so I don’t know whether it was a brief visit or whether it did some rides and then left. Interesting markings on it, though.

A Hot Air Balloon Near My Evening Stroll

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One evening while wandering through the fields near our house, I saw a hot air balloon in the distance. When we lived in Woodinville, the balloons were a regular feature of the summer months. Morning and evening flights were common. I didn’t know that flights around Winchester were a thing and, given the proximity to Southampton Airport, I thought it might not be practical but apparently, I was wrong. I was hoping that they would continue to drift in my direction, and I would get a closer look. Then I noticed that they were dropping out of sight quite quickly, so I headed through a tree line to see them drop behind some trees off in the distance. The vent on the top of the balloon briefly opened as they touched down but then closed up almost as quickly. I guess they weren’t in a rush to rapidly deflate. I wonder whether I shall catch any more flights in the future.

Bournemouth Aviation Museum

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I posted some shots of the Chichester Miles Leopard in another post and some of the Vulcan cockpit – both exhibits at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum. I haven’t shared some more general shots of the museum, though. I stopped over there late one afternoon. They weren’t due to be open for too much longer, but I did have some time to wander around. Being the end of the day meant it was quiet, so I was able to have a bit of freedom taking shots of the planes on display.

There is an interesting mix of types on show will military and civilian types to see. Some are full aircraft while others are fuselage sections that have been saved when the whole plane was being disposed of. The cockpits of many were accessible. Planes like the Jaguar have a soft spot for me so I liked taking a look at them. Others were less of interest but still worth a peak. I did like seeing a Cri-Cri – the world’s smallest twin (at least when it came out in the 80s).

Some of the types have a connection to the flight testing that this part of the country is associated with. Bournemouth is not far from Boscombe Down which has been the centre of UK military flight test for many decades. The BAC 1-11 is an ex-Boscombe asset. Others are just interesting types. If you are in the area and like planes, do swing by. Don’t make a significant detour specifically for it but do check it out if nearby.

KC-10s Are Consigned to History

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The retirement of the KC-10 Extender by the USAF caught a lot of attention when it happened. I was intending to write something then but got distracted by other things. I won’t put much together to be honest. Our team at Global Aviation Resource made a better effort of that so check that out if you are interested. Instead, I am just going to post some of my favourite images of the Gucci tanker. Strange to think it has gone given how effective it can be.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.