The Motion Of A Caterpillar

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I have recently come across a couple of caterpillars during my wanderings.  One of them was in the parking lot at work while another was out on a trail.  Caterpillars are strange creatures because they only have a few “legs” which are bunch up together with one other at the other end of the body.  No doubt, a specialist would be cringing right now at the inadequacy of my description.  The result is that the motion of the body is quite complex.  Video is the best way to demonstrate this so I used the phone to get some footage including when the sun angle really helped to emphasize the complexity of the movement.

Cirrus and Grand Caravan Getting In Each Other’s Way

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Boeing Field is constantly operating from both runways at the same time.  The light aircraft traffic on the short runway can co-exist with whatever is underway on the main, long runway.  However, despite the clear ATC instructions, there are occasional when things don’t quite go to plan.  We had a Cirrus and a Grand caravan on approach to the parallel runways.  I am not certain who was at fault, but from my angle, it appeared that the Cirrus was drifting off towards the wrong runway.  It corrected its path but not before the pilot of the Grand Caravan decided that things were not looking good and went around.  It didn’t take them long to get back around the pattern and the second approach was incident free.  I don’t know whether the controllers ended up talking to either crew or not.

Chilbolton Radio Telescope

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A couple of years ago, I was taking a road trip across the Cascades and I came upon a large dish alongside the road.  It was a surprise and ended up being a blog post.  I guess it is a little less spontaneous to search out a dish but, while I was over at Middle Wallop, meeting up with my friend Paul, I knew I was near the old airfield at Chilbolton.  This had been an RAF base and then was used for test flying by Supermarine and Folland.  What I didn’t know until I looked it up was that the airfield was taken over for use as a radio telescope after it closed to flight operations.  I decided to swing by and see the dish.  As I came over the hill, I could see it in the valley but the road was narrow and there was nowhere to stop.  I got to the gate and a big sign advertised that random visitors were not welcome so I had to make do with a shot from the gate.

View From The Bridge

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Arriving back in Seattle from our UK vacation, we got to use the new international arrivals facility.  This includes the bridge from the South Satellite.  This crosses the taxiway between the two terminal buildings.  It’s not like you have the time to hang around in the area and I imagine they might discourage you from doing so.  However, you can grab a few shots of the aircraft beneath you while crossing.  The reflections were a bit of a problem but I am not going to be there very often so make the most of it!

Is Alresford Too Pretty To Be Real?

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A short distance from Winchester is the little town of Alresford.  I had flown over it as a youngster but had never actually visited and, when our friends suggested it as a good place to meet up while we were visiting, we went with their suggestion.  The center of the town is quite picturesque but some of the older parts of the town are just too like a postcard to be credible.  The oldest buildings include some down by the river where the old mill was.  As you walked along the path by the water, it was hard to believe that some of these buildings hadn’t been created by a set designer for a period drama.  This was a theme for our whole visit with so many villages with postcard-like houses.

Avro 707

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The development of the Vulcan required a lot of concept testing before the full size jets were built.  Avro built a series of smaller scale delta winged jets to work out some of the issues under the name Avro 707.  One of these lives at Old Sarum in the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection.  It is painted a bright orange color and, while tucked in a dark hangar, it still looks striking.  It would be great to get some elevation to show off the delta planform of the jet but still happy to have managed to see it.  I was rather close to it so needed to shoot a variety of shots to stitch together afterwards which only worked so well.

Slapped Around The Head But Still Swallowed

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When watching the herons hunting in Juanita Bay, you never know exactly what they are going to catch.  Something like a stickleback will be a relatively easy thing for them to swallow once they have caught it.  On one occasion, though, a heron caught something a little longer.  I am not good with different fish so can’t tell you what it was but it had a long body and a tail with some power.  The heron had the front of the fish in its beak but the back end was still flailing around.  The heron was hoping to win the battle but the fish made sure to give it some healthy whacks around the head before it finally succumbed.

A Middle Wallop Gazelle Is Worth A Wait

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I was ready to leave Middle Wallop when a look at ADSB told me that a Gazelle was operating in the vicinity.  The Gazelles are becoming a rarity these days so this seemed worth waiting for.  After a while, it vanished from ADSB and I was beginning to think it had landed elsewhere.  Fortunately, it popped up again, very close this time.  I was coming straight for me.  Unfortunately, it turned south and skirted around the airfield.  I could just see it in the distance.

Then it climbed up to the east before turning and conducting an autorotation to the field.  It landed away from me and beyond a ridge so out of sight.  I moved back to the balcony to see if I could see anything and was rewarded with it taxiing across the field in the distance.  It wasn’t long before it was behind the fencing heading to its ramp.  Still, while not a close encounter, it might be the last time I see one in UK service.

Handbrake Turn In A Ferry

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When you look at something like a ferry that can hold 180 cars and a thousand passengers, you don’t immediately think of agility and maneuverability.  However, the Wightlink ferries that run between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight have surprising capabilities.  The entry to Portsmouth Harbour is followed by a rapid change of direction to get to the terminal at Gunwharf.  From the Spinnaker Tower, you get a great view of how rapidly the ferry can be thrown around.  The St Clare is a bi-directional ship so it doesn’t back in like Victoria of Wight.  Instead, it looks like it is doing a handbrake turn.  The wake ends up almost combing out of the side of the boat!

Drone Control Meatbox

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When Llanbedr was the home for a bunch of drones, it also had some old airframes used to support the drone operations.  The Sea Vixen was one of the more famous jets saved from that program but the Boscombe collection has a drone support Meteor.  The red and yellow paint scheme is not subtle but it looks good, particularly in the dark hangar at Old Sarum where the collection lives.  I can’t claim to love the Meatbox but I do find it an interesting jet and seeing one in such good condition is a treat.