Palace Sightseeing is No Fun When It’s Hot

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On my first visit to Tokyo, a few years ago, I made a brief visit to the park around the Imperial Palace.  I decided to take another look during my first visit this year.  However, while I knew it was going to be hot (it had been incredibly hot and humid all week) but the exposed area around the palace combined with the beating sun meant it was pretty uncomfortable.  There were still plenty of tourists though.

I walked along one side of the palace grounds near the main entrance and then along the moat to some of the more famous viewing locations.  I got a few shots as I walked along but it is fair to say I was not totally in to it.  After I had got a bit further on, the heat was really getting to me and the desire to be back in the shade overtook any desire to explore further.  There was a running club finishing their run which seemed amazing to me as I could hardly handle walking.  Time to retreat.

I Am Liking the A350

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When I first saw images of the A350, I did not think much of its looks.  The nose profile seemed odd and I was disappointed.  However, something about it has got to me.  I have been seeing a lot more of them in service recently and something about the jet in person is appealing.  It doesn’t hurt that a few of the airlines I have seen have interesting liveries.

Narita seems to be a popular destination for the type and I got to see examples from Delta, Thai and Vietnam Airlines while I was there.  Deliveries have really ramped up now so it will not be long before I am seeing them regularly.  Asiana has been using it to SeaTac for a while and China Airlines is bringing them in to Vancouver.  Good that I like them since I will be seeing a lot more of them.  Now I need to fly in one to see what it is like as a passenger.

Beach Driftwood

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Wood on the shoreline is usually pretty interesting from a texture perspective.  Spending a bunch of time in the water getting beaten by waves and any other debris in the water tends to smooth out the surfaces and also emphasize the flaws in the structure of the wood.  I saw a bunch of wood on the beach at Shoreline when walking along the shore there and one in particular caught my eye.

Virgin Orbit

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Everyone seems to have a plan for getting into space these days.  Some companies have more than one!  Virgin already has their Galactic operation that is based on the Spaceship Two design evolved (a lot) from the original Scaled Composites design.  However, they have a second approach that is a small satellite launcher rather than a passenger craft.  This one is going to be launched from a Boeing 747-400.  They have provided one of the old Virgin Atlantic aircraft for this purpose.

I was down in Long Beach recently and saw the plane sitting on the north side of the field.  Sadly, the light from the south side was very nice but it was too far away.  A trip around the field did get me closer to it although now backlit.  Not far away are the offices of Virgin Orbit.  The launcher will be mounted on a pylon under the port wing making use of the hard point that was included to allow the ferrying of a spare engine.

How things develop we shall see in a reasonably short time I imagine.  The operation seems to be pretty significant and will need to deliver something before too long.  In the mean time, here are a couple of shots of Cosmic Girl when she was in passenger operation.

Starbucks Number One

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When you don’t drink coffee, as I don’t, Starbucks is not something you pay much attention to.  However, when you have the tourist route to do in Seattle, the first Starbucks shop down at Pike Place is part of the routine.  You have to get in line if you want to order something because there are plenty of people also looking to check the place out.  Meanwhile, some musicians are set up outside the door to keep you entertained while you wait.

Once you get inside, there is coffee to be ordered.  There are also plenty of souvenirs which seemed to be selling well.  Since I didn’t have anything to buy, I was able to watch everyone else doing their thing.

Whose Truck is This (and How Old?)

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Sitting in the lounge at Narita waiting for my flight home, this truck belonging to Delta was parked below us.  It may be painted in Delta markings but it isn’t hard to see who originally bought it.  I guess it isn’t the newest truck in the fleet and, unlike a lot of the vehicles on the ramp, this looks like it was built in the US.

Got My Eye on You

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I have been in downtown Dallas a couple of times recently for work.  One of the places we have had dinner is across the road from a small park area that has a sculpture of a giant eyeball at one end.  It is a bit creepy to be honest.  I photographed it on my way to dinner when the sun was still going down.  When we came out, it was fully dark so I figured I would get another shot.

U-125 Out and Back

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The BAe125 (and all of the successor names) was a dominant biz jet for many years.  It also found a few roles in military operations from transport, through trainer, to flight calibration and reconnaissance.  The JASDF was one such operator with the aircraft designated U-125 in Japanese service.  Hyakuri is home to a detachment and one of the jets flew during my visit.  It taxied out and headed off on its mission.

Returning later on it was stopped in time to make the taxiway not far passed my location.  The aircraft has a fairing underneath the fuselage for the search radar.  The operator sits in the fuselage just above this location.  They are also provided with a huge observation window for observing what is going on outside.  Must be a good spot for taking pictures!  I’m not jealous…

Refurbished Space Needle

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With some visitors in town recently, I made another trip up the Space Needle.  They have finally finished to refurbishment of the area at the top of the tower and it is a pretty cool job that they have done.  The glazing around the balcony area is finished as is the floor area inside.  There is also now a stairwell to take you down to the next level.  This has been refurbished to create a glass floor for a ring around the whole floor.  This glass floor rotates.  I imagine this is where the restaurant was when the Space Needle first opened.  It gradually cranks around and it gives you a fantastic view downwards.

Apparently there will be a refurbished restaurant next year which, I assume, will be in the section a third of the way up the tower (since I can’t see where else it would go).  The new floor is really cool though.  Having been up a couple of times recently, I thought I wouldn’t have much new to see, but the addition of this element really gave me lots of new things to look at.

 

Lufthansa MD-11

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Aside from FedEx, MD-11s are becoming pretty thin on the ground.  Lufthansa Cargo has had a decent fleet of them but there will come a time before too long when they are all gone.  I figured one weekend I would nip out and get the arrival of one of them.  The arrivals of heavy jets, particularly freighters, are often put on the inside runway which gave me a bit of a chance but, at that time of day, there aren’t great spots.  I found a place that is rather close to being underneath the jet but it would have to do.  I still think it is a nice looking jet, even if it didn’t prove to be a success in its originally intended role.