Do You Really Need Four Wheels?

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Another feature of English Day for Exotics@RTC is the occasional Morgan showing up. If a Morgan three-wheeler makes an appearance, it is guaranteed to garner a lot of attention and this event was no different. We actually got several of them. Trying to get some clean shots of them was tricky given the number of people that were checking them out. I am not a massive fan of Morgans per se but they are still something different to see amongst a sea of modern McLarens.

Sentimental Journey Comes To Town Part 1

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There are a few operators of large warbirds that take their planes on tours around the country providing people with an opportunity to check out the planes or, if they are willing to splash some cash, take a flight in them. Sentimental Journey is a B-17 that undertakes such flights and it came to the Pacific Northwest during the summer. I was at Boeing Field for a week before moving on to Arlington (of which more another time).

Because it does much of its business at the weekends, it is relatively easy to find time to come and see it fly. It did also do some flying later in the day so I was able to see it a few times. It certainly helped that the weather was really nice. I got some shots of it as it came to Boeing Field and then made some trips around the Puget Sound area. Here are some of the shots from that time. I did spend a little more time trying out shots from different places and those will get another post soon.

MV Royal Iris Decaying Slowly

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The Thames is a busy waterway for commercial shipping and has plenty of docks and wharves along its shores. Seeing boats tied up is no surprise but seeing one that is sinking is not what I would have expected. That is exactly what I found, though. This old ferry was sitting at an awkward angle and looking very unwell. I came upon it from the stern and then had to go inshore as the path deviated away from the river but it was soon back on the water and I was able to look back at the sad vessel. A little research when I got home told me it is the MV Royal Iris, once a Mersey ferry. She is not looking at her prime now!

National Geographic/Icelandair 757

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One weekend, I saw an early arrival of an Icelandair 757 was scheduled for Boeing Field. The weather was not looking great but it was an unusual arrival and I didn’t have any competing things top do so I went across. Icelandair has some charter aircraft and this one turned out to be one of those. I have shot the Abercrombie and Kent jet before. This is a high end tourist operation that takes people from exotic location to exotic location. On this occasion, it was something similar. This time the operation was National Geographic. When I saw the plane, I was quite surprised but not so much that I could grab a few shots!

Regents Canal

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There was a time when the canals of London were not a good place to be. They were risky areas to go and they were a good place to dump stuff. How things have changed over time and now canals are getting a new lease on life. Developments along them are springing up. I wanted to check out Regents Canal while were were in London. We started out at Paddington Basin and then walked along the canal through Little Venice, Maida Vale, Regents park, on to Camden and finishing up at Kings Cross.

You really do go through a wide variety of places on the walk. Almost all of it can be along the canal but there is a tunnel it takes which requires a detour over the hill through which the tunnel cuts. You go through some wealthy neighborhoods, some quite poor ones, past a power station and then suddenly in to the area behind some mansions in Regents park. You even go through the zoo although the animals seemed intent on not being visible to those that hadn’t paid to visit!

As you get close to the popular areas, the canal can get quite busy on the towpath but for other sections, you are not exactly alone but you are definitely free to stroll without encountering too many people. Meanwhile, boats will chug past you.

It is surprising how tranquil it feels along the canal. You are very close to the heart of London yet feel you could be a million miles away. You see all sorts of people as you go and, when it is sunny like it was when we were there, it all seems very picturesque. To go between two of London’s main terminus stations, this isn’t the quickest route but, if you have the time, it is definitely one of the nicest.

Blue Angels Super Bugs Get To Seattle

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I was at Boeing Field for the arrival of the Blue Angels for Seafair. It was a work day so I was sitting in the car and actually presenting to some colleagues via a Teams call. My presentation was underway as they were getting close but it was almost done. I was hoping that it would all wrap up before they got there. Sadly, I was wrong. I was on the final section of the presentation when they flew overhead in Delta formation. I was shut in the car but still had to explain why it had suddenly got so loud at my end.

Fortunately, that was the end of the meeting and I was able to get out of the car in time for the arrival of the individual jets for landing. I did get to see the Delta arrival again later in the weekend but I am not sure whether it is my imagination or not but it seemed lower and closer on that first occasion when I was sitting in the car with no camera.

Plenty of Minis

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English Day at Exotics@RTC means there will be some Minis. I mean the original Minis – none of the BMW type (I say none but there might be a few although they aren’t getting prime spots). They take me back to my childhood as the car I learned to drive in. These examples are in better condition and are far better performers than our 850cc example was, but they still look much the same.

One of them had a wooden dash which reminded me of my friend Sam. She had a mini with a wooden dash and she put in in a place for some work and, when she got it back, the dash wears gone. They denied it had ever been there and she was absolutely gutted. If you are reading this Sam, I hope that isn’t too painful a memory. If you haven’t ever driven on old Mini, my memory of it was that they were like a go kart. I haven’t driven one for decades and wonder how they would seem after years of driving modern vehicles. I hope it would still be fun.

You Fly The Huey And I’ll Check My Texts

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After talking to someone that flew for the operator, I found myself checking through some older shots of the Olympic Air Show with the Hueys doing flight demonstrations. As I scrolled through the shots, I saw that, of the two crew, one was busy flying the helicopter and the other was playing with their phone. I imagine that they were filming the display but I preferred the idea that the whole thing was too boring and they were just checking out messages instead.

Woolwich Ferry

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I last used the Woolwich Ferry around 1990. At no point since then have I needed to do so. However, on my exploitation of the eastern parts of the Thames (at least while still in London), I started out in North Woolwich and needed to get to Woolwich. The foot tunnel was an option but the ferry runs frequently and is free so it was my preferred option. From what I have read, they replaced both ferries relatively recently. One of them has an obvious name – the Dame Vera Lynn. The other one is named Ben Woollacott in honor of a young crewman who lost his life on duty a few years ago. I think that is a nice touch.

The two ferries run at the same time with each loading on opposite sides of the river and then departing at the same time. There is an odd “dance” that they do with one going upstream and one down as they cross each other before then sliding in to the dock to unload and repeat the process. When I boarded the ferry, I didn’t know how this worked so was quite confused as we headed up river. However, it all became clear quite quickly.

The ferries are very maneuverable. They was in which the crews can put them wherever they need to while operating on a river that has some strong currents is quite impressive. They seem to slide into the berths sideways when coming from one direction while they approach the northern side in a more traditional way. If you haven’t heard of a Voith Schneider drive, I suggest you look them up. Very clever stuff.

I made the crossing and got some shots and video while doing so but my interest was now piqued so I ended up spending a little longer on the south bank of the river watching them repeat the process to see how it looked from the outside. A slick operation. As I got off, I saw the holding area for the vehicle traffic that was waiting to board. It seemed that there was a lot more going south to north than in the other direction at that time of day.

The F-16XL That Most People Ignored

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There was a grey camo F-16 on the ramp at the air show at Edwards this year. When I saw it I was really excited but I think I was in the minority. I mentioned to a photographer next to me how cool it was and he commented on the air data boom. I told him it was an F-16XL and he had no idea what that was. The XL was the long range strike version of the F-16 that went up against and lost to the F-15E Strike Eagle. Two jets were built and they ended up having some test duties including so work for NASA. The single seater was the jet on the ramp for the show.

It has a large cranked delta wing but, from a normal viewpoint, that can be seen but isn’t obvious. A look at the shadows, though, and you know what you are dealing with. The airframe is an early fiscal number – the next jet became the AFTI aircraft – and the rear fuselage has the mounting points for an anti-spin chute rig. This jet has done a lot in its flying days but it is now a museum piece.