Fort Worth Stock Yards

A work trip to Texas included a weekend where I was free to do some exploring.  I decided that the Stock Yards in Fort Worth would be worth a look.  I knew a little about it but not much.  There were the buildings left from the time when the yards were actively trading cattle.  These are now repurposed for the tourist business.  They also have some of the surrounding buildings like the hotels and bars that probably are still serving much the same purpose as they always have.

A lot of exhibits were set up with people in costume cooking or working with traditional crafts.  These were in a variety of tents.  They didn’t seem to be getting a lot of visitors and I felt a little conspicuous photographing them as a result but I guess that is all part of the attraction.  There was more to come but that will be another post.

Tornados and a Jag – My Old Handling Buddies

In my days in the aerodynamics department at Warton, I spent time working on the current aircraft handling section.  This included a number of types but the main focus was on jaguar and Tornado work.  When we were walking around the hangars at Duxford, there were examples of both jets on display.  The Tornado was a big part of what I worked on and I had always loved the jet as it was coming in to service at the time I was getting interested in aircraft.  The GR4 version is on display.

The Jaguar had been around a long time when I was getting into planes and the Tornado ended up replacing the Jaguars in the RAF Germany strike role.  The jet continued for a lot longer though and got some decent upgrades late in life.  I had a great time climbing over a jet in the hangar at Warton as we were looking at clearing a new store on the overwing pylon.  A lot of fun!

Gastown Steam Clock

One of the tourist attractions in Gastown in Vancouver is the Steam Clock.  Sitting on a street corner, this looks like a giant grandfather clock with steam whistles on the top of it.  It was surrounded by tourists and the number of selfies being taken was substantial.  We were there close to the top of the hour so we waited around to see what happened.  Below is some video of the lock striking the hour if striking is the right word.

Sunrise on Stored KC-46s

Boeing is now delivering KC-46s to the Air Force at a rate that is a bit of an improvement.  There are still plenty of issues with the project (with some only recently discovered) but at least jets are now making their way to the customer, even if they are not flying them too much!  However, there are still a lot of the jets parked at Paine Field.  The early morning sun provides some nice light on the line of aircraft.  It is a rather cluttered view with plenty of airfield material in the shot but the light makes it a bit more appealing.

Ribblehead Viaduct

The Victorians built railways across the UK in a serious way.  Geography was not a barrier and tunnels would get you through hills and viaducts would address valleys.  They also liked them to look pretty cool.  There are numerous viaducts across the UK – some of which are well known and others of which are rather anonymous.  One of the more famous viaducts is the Ribblehead.  It is part of the Settle to Carlisle line which was once lined up for closure but now seems to be secure.

The main shot here was taken from my friend, Mark’s, Ercoupe as we had a flight from Blackpool and up over Yorkshire and Cumbria.  We were flying after work so the evening light was setting in and the shadows of the viaduct were very nice.  Since this was the days of film, there aren’t lots of shots to choose from.  However, this one worked out well enough.  Nancy and I visited the area from the ground when we lived up that way and here are a couple of additional shots of the viaduct from the ground.

Dreamlifter in the Early Mist

My buddy Paul was visiting so we had a day out looking for some interesting shot opportunities.  We started off the day at Paine Field before the sun was really up.  A Dreamlifter was due in and we figured we would give it a try.  However, as we drove towards Everett, the fog was pretty thick.  The field is on the top of the hill so we thought it might be clear, but things did not look promising as we got closer.  The low cloud was also blocking off the sun that was just above the horizon which, given that it would have been backlighting the jet, might have been a bonus.

The Dreamlifter came out of the cloud very late on the approach and I was able to grab a few shots of it as it emerged.  It was a rather ethereal look as it came into view.  The dampness of the air meant that the plane was pulling vortices as it floated across the threshold and in to the touchdown zone.  Conditions might not have been the sort of thing that sounded good, but the result was a really cool shot opportunity.  As the plane taxied in to park, we got more shots of it although there was one that would have been fantastic, but Paul only spotted it when it was too late and I didn’t see it at all.  I won’t say what it was but maybe there will be another chance in which case you will see it here!

How Has Seattle Changed?

I have taken a lot of photos of Seattle since we moved here.  The city has a lot of development which shows itself clearly in both the downtown area and the South Lake Union area.  The downtown core is not massively different but the spread out from the center is noticeable, as is the change in stadiums.  My first visit to Seattle was in 1992.  Things were very different then.  I recently took a look at some photos I scanned from that trip including a view from the top of the Space Needle.  I also have some shots from the mid 2000s in the mix.

The following shots are combinations of shots from 92 and current shots along with some taken from one of our trips here in around 2005 when I had a work visit that we extended to include some time in the city.  The city already had some big towers in 92 but there has been a lot of development since then.  South Lake Union is a different story.  During my first visit, there was not a lot going on in the area.  Now things are heavily in the area with Amazon having led the investment but the Gates Foundation also having a big site.  Things have really changed a lot!

My First A350-1000 – Thanks Qatar

The A350-1000 has started to be delivered in some numbers.  However, none of the operators that I get to see regularly has any in their fleet at this point.  Some of the early deliveries went to Qatar Airways and they have been flying them to Dallas.  Since I had a free weekend in the area on a work trip, I decided to catch my first examples.

Things conspired a little against me, though.  On the Saturday, the weather that had just passed through had left some northerly winds which meant the approaches were coming from the south which is not so handy for getting shots.  I did find a location but it wasn’t a great spot.  Heat haze was still a bit of a problem and the angles were rather limited.

On the Sunday, normal service was resumed with a southerly flow.  However, just before the A350 showed up, they decided to do a sweep of the runway.  They moved arrivals to the inside runway which meant it the Qatar jet was a bit far away compared to everything that had been arriving on the outer runway a short while before.  Still, I got the shots.  It also taxied out just before the sun went down.  However, they crossed to the other side for departure so not much of a shot opportunity.

Not Sure This Bunker Would Have Survived

Perched above the beach at Lepe in Hampshire, overlooking the Solent, is an old bunker.  It is surrounded by fencing and there is signage about the purpose of the bunker.  You can see the hatch to access the bunker as well as some of the vents for the space below.  I’m not sure what the bunker was designed to survive.  It is close to a huge oil refinery and close to the headquarters of the Royal Navy.  In a shooting war, there would have been some large detonations nearby.  I doubt it would have provided sufficient protection to its occupants.

Boeing’s T-38 Finally Comes Out in the Sun

I have struggled to get shots of the Boeing chase aircraft in decent light.  Whether it is the T-33s or the T-38s, my encounters have generally been on overcast days.  Finally my luck changed and one of the T-38s came in to Paine Field for a couple of approaches on a sunny day.  It was the middle of the day so the light angles weren’t great but it was certainly a step up.  A couple of passes and then they headed to Boeing Field.