Arrivals at RIAT

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Arrivals day at any air show is a good opportunity to catch the movements of aircraft that will only be in the static display as opposed to the flying display.  At RIAT, there are park and view areas at the east and west ends of the airfield.  I have used both over the years but the east end can be really hectic.  It does give you the chance to shoot the aircraft on final approach but you can really be fighting for space.

I chose the west end this year.  Planes were landing at the east end but it was pretty normal for aircraft to taxi to the west end to then be led to their parking location.  Of course, a few interesting types managed to turn off early or backtrack before they got to the end but, on the whole, we did well.  The weather wasn’t great but there was a fair bit of sun which helped.

Some of the more exotic types made it up our way.  The Ukrainian SU-27s and their IL-76 came up as did the special schemes on some of the F-16s.  The Luftwaffe brought some marked jets along too.  An F-15E taxied past twice and provided a couple of speed brake waves for the gathered photographers.  It could get a bit congested and, with jets holding in the turning loop, they did occasionally send their jet wash across the path of the incoming jets which sabotaged a few photo opportunities.

Later on the Thursday, a few practice displays were also flown by crews qualifying for the show which provided a different angle on some of the performances.  An F-16C of the USAF did its full routine and then added a few extra banana passes bringing out right over us at speed several times.  Much appreciated!

Oso Slide

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During our return from the North Cascades Highway earlier this year, we drove past Oso, the site of a terrible landslide.  At the time, I didn’t realize where a good place to stop would be but, on a more recent trip up in that area, I decided to stop at the location of the memorial.  The Oso Slide made national headlines at the time it happened in 2014 – before we moved to Washington – but it quickly faded from the national headlines.  The side of a hill gave way after extensive rain and the nature of the material meant that, rather than sliding gently downhill, it gathered momentum and went a long distance.

A huge amount of the hill gave way, crossed the river and engulfed the small community and the highway on the other side.  43 people died and 11 survived.  Given those numbers, it is surprising that it is so little known outside the local area.  The river was blocked and caused flooding upstream and a lack of water downstream.  It soon cut itself a new path though.  The highway needed extensive repairs which took many months to complete.  There was nothing that could be done for the people and their homes though.  Most were found quickly but it took a while until the last victim was found.

There is a small memorial by the highway.  A tree is planted for each of those lost.  They each have a story and profiles of them all can be found on the Seattle Times website if you get a chance to look.  There is a sculpture of mailboxes of Steelhead Drive, the area that was wiped out.  Plans are underway for a more permanent memorial and donations are being accepted.

The hillside itself has a huge scar across it where the land gave way.  As is often the case, the scale of it is hard to understand when you are far enough away.  Looking closer at the trees around the rim shows you just how big it is and how much material thundered down the hillside.  There are mounds all around the valley floor where material piled up after it stopped.  To stand in front of it, you are left deeply touched by what happened.  Someone else was visiting when we were and he sat on the hood of his car starting up at the hill for many minutes.  I was left wondering just what his connection was to the awful events that took place.

Another Rapide!

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I posted some shots of John Sessions’ Dragon Rapide in this post.  I was pleased to see another Rapide show up at Fairford for RIAT.  I managed to get a few shots of it.  It was painted in a nice color scheme and looked very elegant as it pottered by.  Not a speedy plane (despite the name) so plenty of time to enjoy it.

More Luck With Hummers/Iridescence at the Right Angle

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My obsession/interest in photographing the hummingbirds in our back garden has continued.  I mentioned my poor early attempts in this post but things have gradually been improving.  I have decided to compromise on quality a bit by shooting from indoors.  The birds are clearly not enthusiastic about me being there with the camera so I decided that shooting through the window was an alternative.  Obviously double glazed windows are not optically ideal but they are surprisingly good it seems.  This has allowed me to get a number of shots I am a lot happier with.

One thing that I have seen much more of when shooting from this location is the way in which the color of the feathers varies so dramatically depending on the angle to the light.  The birds normally look very gray.  The backs can start to be green when the light strikes at the right angle but the most dramatic changes are for the head and throat.  Here a gray feather can suddenly transition to a pink of bright red.  It only takes a very small change in angle for this to become apparent.

Ukrainian IL-76

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The IL-76 is a beast of a transport.  It is a rugged plane and looks like it could handle anything thrown at it.  I have seen them on a variety of occasions – most recently the modernized versions used for civil freight work.  The older versions with the original engines are a great thing to see though.  The Ukrainian Air Force brought an example to RIAT this year.  It was flying overhead when the Sukhois were landing and then it came in too.  It came up to the west end where we got a good view of it.  Then it was parked up on static display for the show.  Sadly, I didn’t get to see it depart at the end of the show.

Building an America’s Cup Challenger

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Ineos is a name I hadn’t heard until recently.  They took over the Sky cycling team and that was the first time I became aware of them.  I guess that sporting achievements are something that their management are quite focused on because, while waiting to catch the ferry at Portsmouth, I got a look at the building in these photos.  It is their America’s Cup challenger facility.  The building looks pretty impressive and I hope that the boat that they come up with is similarly so.  It would be good to see the cup make its way to the UK after all this time.

The Avanti Couldn’t Escape Me Forever

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When I heard an Avanti had showed up at RIAT while I wasn’t there, I was a touch annoyed.  I am such a fan of the type that I thought missing it would be very frustrating.  Fortunately, it was still at Fairford at the end of the show so the departure day was going to be the time for me to get a shot.  It took off in plenty of time before I had to go so I was treated to the sight and sounds that accompany a pair of pusher props.

Daring Class Destroyer

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The Royal Navy destroyer fleet’s most recent additions have been the Type 45 Daring Class.  These ships are an integral part of the groups that will support the new carriers.  The Type 45s preceded the carriers in to service by a number of years.  They have a superstructure that suggests more focus on radar reflectivity and the main mast is a larger structure than seen on previous ships.  This example was sailing out of Portsmouth and towards the English Channel while I was at Seaview on the Isle of Wight.  It was a bit distant but still worth a shot given how I haven’t seen one on open water before.

1500th EJet

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An Alaska Airlines Embraer E175-E1 might not normally get a post but this one was operating a flight from Paine Field when I shot it.  I saw there was some sort of graphic on the fuselage but I hadn’t worked out what it said at the time.  Turns out this is the 1500th E Jet that Embraer has delivered.  That is quite an achievement when you considered that Embraer was a manufacturer of niche turboprops for many years.  Congratulations.

Re-Roofing Chichester Cathedral

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Chichester Cathedral was something I would easily recognize from a distance.  It has, for many years, had a copper roof and this gave it a bright green color.  It was very distinctive.  When we were in Chichester this year, we walked around the cathedral grounds and they were working to replace the roof.  Apparently, copper had been used in a previous re-roofing because it was cheaper.  However, it was not an ideal material for the roof as it was not heavy enough and had moved in the weather allowing some significant water damage to the wooden structure underneath.

This is now being repaired and the roof material replaced with the leads that had been used prior to the copper.  The project is underway in phases and has made good progress.  Some of the exposed roof sections are already done so the remaining work is under scaffolding.  However, there is still signs of the green roof.  Soon the cathedral will look something like its original configuration.  I shall miss the green but I imagine those looking after the cathedral won’t miss it so much!