Category Archives: photo

Southsea Naval Memorial

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The journey to Portsmouth on the ferry is one I have made more times than I can recall and one of the landmarks that is embedded in my mind is the Naval Memorial on the front at Southsea.  This obelisk is a clear sign of either arriving or leaving but it is something that I have never actually looked at in any detail.  After we departed the Island on our last trip, we stopped off on the seafront at Southsea and walked along to the monument to check it out.

The obelisk is all I had in mind previously, but the memorial is so much more.  The original monument was created after the First World War for all the seaman that lost their lives.  There are many panels around the column with names and ranks of seamen.  Just looking at the different roles of sailors in that era of ships is interesting and to think of them all lost is sobering.

The memorial was expanded after the Second World War.  The walls surrounding the tower and the columned end sections were added along with sculptures of sailors.  The detail of them is impressive considering how long they have been exposed to the sea air and the Woolly sweaters, boots, beards and hats have a very authentic feel to them.  I find it hard to believe I have passed by this memorial all my life and only now did I stop to look and appreciate it.

A Pair of Otters Return to Kenmore

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Getting an Otter at Kenmore is not a challenge.  The Kenmore Air fleet returns to their home base each evening so a steady stream of them can be relied on.  What I hadn’t seen before was two showing up almost simultaneously.  I was watching the first on final approach when I saw a second appear in the background.  It provided a slightly more dynamic view of a regular occurrence.

SC Maglev Museum

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Nagoya is home to a museum of Japanese rolling stock.  The museum name focuses on Maglev technology and there is a Maglev prototype in the museum.  However, the exhibits are really a cross section of the Japanese rail industry over the years.  I will probably post some more from the museum as there were quite a few interesting exhibits.  Most of it was inside – most welcome on such a hot day – but the N700 prototype was outside.  I did have a look at that briefly along with an old steam locomotive but I was soon driven back inside by the temperatures.

When I first got there, you are directed into a hall with three significant exhibits.  It was so dark, I was wondering whether there would be any decent photo opportunities.  However, this was just the initial introduction and there were periodic videos and light shows to allow you to see these exhibits more clearly.  A little patience was required.  The main hall had the majority of the exhibits and they were lit normally.  There were plenty of people in the museum taking pictures with small children that didn’t seem to be enjoying it as much as the parents would have liked!  Maybe they wanted to be at Legoland across the street?

The Tornados Just Weren’t Playing Ball

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I do love the Tornado.  It was coming in to service just when I was getting into aviation and I ended up working on handling clearances for them when I was a junior aerodynamicist.  Their retirement by the RAF was a sad thing for me but I was consoled by the fact they remain in service with the other operators.  I was looking forward to seeing some at RIAT.  I did get to see some flying at a distance on arrivals day and they taxied up our way.  Nothing too close in the air though.

I did get a chance to see them on static display which is fine but not as fun as seeing them flying.  A lot of my hopes, therefore, were focused on departures day.  The German jets were scheduled out at various times during the morning.  However, they weren’t hitting their designated times and I was getting close to needing to leave.  Eventually I realized my time had run out.  I walked back behind the FRIAT stands and popped to the facilities prior to making the drive away.  While in there, I heard a very familiar roar.  Sure enough, as soon as I was out of sight, a Luftwaffe Tornado made its departure.  The Tornado doesn’t climb fast so it was nice and low as it passed the stand – apparently.  Bum!

He Is Heavy, He’s My Buddha

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A big reason (literally and figuratively) for going to Kamakura was to see the Buddha statue that is there.  It dates back to the 13th Century but has undergone some work since then.  It is a pretty bloody large statue.  It is also a popular tourist attraction so we were not alone on this day, even though it wasn’t a weekend.

Wandering around the Buddha and seeing it from all angles gives a good impression of its scale and also how it was made of many segments.  There are vents on the back to cool the interior (a little) which is good because you can go inside it.  It is very dark in there but you see the shape clearly.  The coloration also makes it clear which bits have been repaired over the years.  The temperature on a warm day will quickly encourage you to head back outside, though.

It is easy to get fixated on the Buddha itself but the environment in which it is displayed is really nice too.  The surrounding sculptures are interesting and there are some leaves on the ground with engravings.  Apparently there were many more at one point but only four of them remain now.  I hope nothing bad befell those who pinched the others!

Four 777Xs On the Ramp

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The 777X initial airframe has already made it on the blog when it was parked on the ramp and when it undertook some taxi trials.  It has since had the dodgy engines removed and I assume some more trustworthy examples are on their way.  First flight will not be this year, though, based on what I am reading in the press.  While the start of flying has not been achieved, production has continued.  The initial customer aircraft have also now shown up.  I understand that Lufthansa will be receiving at least one of these jets.  The flight line now has four jets parked up – two in house colors and two all white.  Hope we will see them up and active before too long!  I hear a fifth came out with Emirates’ wing tips just after I took this!  I have another primer one since which is below.

Inshore Lifeboat Deployment

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Bembridge has two RNLI lifeboats.  The launch of the all-weather Tamar boat has got a lot of coverage on the blog but I shouldn’t overlook the inshore boat that is also stationed there.  This boat can deal with lots of issues close to shore which the big boat is ill-suited for.  You might think this is less perilous work than that on the open seas but some of the rescue the inshore boats have carried out have really put the crews in harm’s way, often with them entering the water in rough and rocky shallows in breaking surf to rescue people trapped by changeable conditions.

After the all-weather boat had launched, the crew took the inshore boat out.  It is mounted on a trailer with a tug to move it out.  The tide was out and the reason for the boathouse pier is obvious with the exposed rocky shoreline.  They maneuvered the boat on its trailer in to the water and then got on board and powered it up.  Then it was off for training with the all-weather boat as well as on their own.  Again, the commitment of these crews should not be left unmentioned.  If you can do anything for the RNLI in any way, whether it is a membership or just donating when you see someone collecting on the high street, please do it.

A Sentinel Looks Glossy When it is Hammering Down

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Based on a Global Express business jet, the RAF’s Sentinel battlefield surveillance jet has plenty of lumps and bumps to distinguish it but the paint scheme is a different story.  It is painted plain gray and, aside from one example I saw at Red Flag, it doesn’t have any interesting squadron markings.  The Friday of RIAT was a very wet a dreary day but this had the effect of making the Sentinel look rather glossy.  I have never seen them look too interesting before (aside from Red Flag) but this looked okay.  I did shoot it departing too on an overcast day and it didn’t look too bad then so maybe this one was fresh out of the paint shop?

Big Steam Engines

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In the days of steam, power was produced by huge machines.  If you needed a more powerful machine, you just made it bigger.  The huge wheels and pistons that resulted were most impressive.  The Henry Ford has quite a selection of these old steam engines of various designs.  The efficiency improved as they introduced multiple phases to the machines to recover more work from the output of the engine.  The big beams and pistons remained a theme, though.  The large brick structures and the associated metalwork have been nicely preserved and displayed.

747s Might Be Fading But Thai Is Still Playing

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The passenger 747 fleet is something that is shrinking fast.  US operators have retired theirs but other operators still have fleets in use, some of which (like British Airways) are still fairly large.  However, they are definitely not as common a sight as they used to be and seeing one from a different operator is a nice surprise.  At Haneda I saw a couple of operators.  A Qantas jet was parked on the far side of the field and, while visible, wasn’t much of a shot.  However, a Thai Airways jet was on the gate when I arrived so it seemed like there was a fair chance it would move before I overheated and gave up.

It took a while but eventually it did push back and taxi for the runway I was watching.  It then sat at the hold for what seemed like a ridiculously long time.  It probably wasn’t that long but I was wilting in the heat and begging it to move.  Finally it did line up and got off the ground pretty quickly.  I guess the run to Thailand is not a long one so it wouldn’t have been very heavy.  I wonder whether I shall ever see one of these again?