Tag Archives: aerial

Into the Heart of the World

The biggest thing that made me want to go to Big Island was volcanoes. I have seen plenty of photos and video of volcanic activity but I have never seen it for real. I wanted to try and experience the awesome power welling up from the heart of the earth. Awesome is a word that gets pretty free use but I think when it comes to the violence that the layer of energy just below the crust of the earth can produce, awesome is a word that is entirely justified.

The south end of Big Island is the one that is most active volcanically. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are both sitting quietly at the moment but neither of them is considered done. Mauna Loa has erupted relatively recently. However, the one that is playing at the moment is Kilauea. It has been busy erupting for a long time now. We checked it out by helicopter – the most easygoing way to see things. We took in two locations of activity.

The first was an open route to the inside of the planet. It has been active for a long time and has a visitor center. Apparently, you used to be able to walk close to the edge of the hole as a tourist. A parking lot is still visible. However, a violent outburst a few years ago suggested that this location was no longer safe. Now the visitor’s center is as far as you can go. There is a circular hole in the larger crater in which the lava bubbles. The level rises and falls daily and often will come over the lip into the larger crater. While we were over it things were a bit below the lip but you could still see the heat just below the surface of the lava. Because the air cools the lava quickly, you rarely see the molten lava is it is usually under a crust. Still very hot, but not liquid.

We then headed off to another area of activity. Here there was a rip in the surface from which gases were billowing. As you looked through the various holes, you could see into the heart of things and the glow from the lava was impressive. The color was intense and you could sense the heat within. As the lava emerged from various fissures in the surface, it would cool to make a new crust. A metallic looking surface would appear. Occasionally, the lava would bubble forward and, oh so briefly, there would be a red glow on the surface. Then it would cool and add a bit more to the metallic surface.

Big Island was a constant stream of references to the incredible forces that had formed the island. The lava fields covered much of the island. Even on the beaches, you had to be cautious of the lava chunks on the sand. My delicate feet did not like the lava. However, nothing could match the raw power that was on display at the volcanoes. I was certainly not disappointed having focused so much on them in planning the trip. Nature is amazingly powerful.

Aeromexico 787

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A little trip back to an earlier photo trip for this one. Aeromexico have lots of flights to the US but their LAX flight is obviously busy enough to justify a bigger jet. That is the 787. I got to see their 787 during my visit including some great views from the helicopter that we shot from over the airport. Above is a good angle to shoot the 787 from. The wing planform is pretty distinctive and so looking down you can see that most clearly.

The EC130 is a Nice Ride

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While on vacation on Big Island, I took a helicopter flight across the island. Other posts will include some of the shots from that flight. However, this is just to give credit to the helicopter itself. I flew with Sunshine Helicopters in one of their EC130s. I imagine the name has changed now that Eurocopter has gone through a couple of brand transitions under the Airbus umbrella.

This was my first ride in a 130. It is a popular airframe on the islands. Eurocopter took the Astar (Squirrel/Ecureuil) as a base and, given that tour operators were squeezing 6 passengers in, they came up with a fuselage that provided comfortable space and lots of window space so that the performance of the airframe could be matched with the level of comfort required. They succeeded in my experience. I should point out I was up front. There are two passenger seats up front alongside the pilot and four in the back. I felt like I had a ton of space to relax and the view was pretty impressive. Whether the middle of the back is as good, I don’t know but everyone seemed to have a really good time. It seems like an airframe designed with something specific in mind and it seems to fulfill the role really well.

Cinder Cones

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The active volcanoes are cool to see but the landscape on the Big Island is dotted with plenty examples of where the earth has had a previous effort at disgorging its contents. The mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea look exactly like you would expect a volcano to look with a nice big flat conical structure. However, the eruptions have not all come from the top of the mountain. There have been regular eruptions from weak points along the surface of the mountains and these eruptions have left their mark in more ways than just the lava flows scarring the slopes below them.

When the lava breaks out, it hardens as it reaches the surface. The deposits around the opening grow and you create a mini version of the mountain. These are called cinder cones. They are scattered all around the landscape and each was the site of a previous eruption. The center is hollow where the lava flowed out and sometimes the weakest side may have collapsed to leave the cone a little more exposed. The color of the rock can be pretty dramatic too. They look so benign now but at their most active peak, these places would have been spewing forth huge quantities of red hot molten rock. They would not have been a good place to be.

Watching the World Drift By

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As previously mentioned in another post, the great location at the back of the Harpoon. On the trip back, this was where I spent much of my time. I was checking to see whether anyone else wanted to be there but apparently not. Consequently, I relaxed there a lot while the central valley passed beneath me. Whether it was the patterns of orchards or the cattle feed lots, there was always something to see. As we got closer to Stockton, it was housing developments and the shapes that come with them – sports fields, schools, malls, parking lots. A very relaxing way to see the state.

Those That Sneaked In

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I learned something significant while shooting the airliners from above LAX. It is a lot harder to see an airliner from above than I thought. In the many years of flying, I am familiar with the importance of maintaining a good lookout and the difficulty of spotting other aircraft around you in the sky. From our locations over the airport, we were generally picking out the aircraft from a background of the city, not the sky. I had figured that we knew the approach paths and what was due in so we would not have trouble seeing the planes as they came in.

I was very wrong. First, they are not easy to find at all. Three sets of eyes were looking but we would find things at odd times, sometimes when they were very close. Also, with parallel operations to the 24 and 25 complexes, you can get distracted by activity on one side and miss out on something the other side. The result of this was that we did not see some of the jets until they were on the ground. Pete, who was with me, flies 777s so we were keen to get the BA jet when it came in. We knew the arrival time and still managed to miss it until it was on the ground. An Air France A380 also sneaked in past our “diligent” scan. An Aeroflot A330 was also successful in coming in untouched.

All of these were a little frustrating but not terrible. However, it did give me pause for thought about how I would plan the flight the next time in order to keep track of the things that I most wanted to get. This flight was my first time trying this so I was happy to have got so many shots that I like. The missed ones are not the end of the world. I did learn a lot though and will make sure I use that knowledge next time.

Aerial Firefighting Demonstration

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Every other year the Aerial Firefighting conference comes to North America. This year it was held at McLellan Field near Sacramento. A tow day conference, I originally was going to attend on both days. Unfortunately, I had a work conflict and had to miss the first day. Fortunately I was able to be there on the second day which was the day that included a demonstration session on the airfield. An internal exhibition of products and services was open for the entire time but the demonstration included a wide number of airframes – far too large to fit indoors.

There was a wide variety of types on display. Helicopters are a big part of aerial firefighting and there was a number on display. Airbus Helicopters had brought their H215 demonstrator along as the conclusion of their North American tour. This version of the Super Puma is a derivative of the AS332 (and indeed this airframe had a data plate that listed it as an AS332) and is designed to be a simplified and cheaper version providing a more affordable utility type. It was alongside a new Bell 412 and some refurbished airframes including a Bell 205 and a freshly refurbished UH-60 Black Hawk.

Fixed wing types came in all shapes and sizes too. Air Tractor AT802s were on display in both wheeled and amphibious configurations and these two aircraft put on a number of water drop demonstrations. A Pilatus PC-12 provided a demonstration of management of a fire with down linked information. Calfire had a Bronco and a Tracker on the ramp while a bunch of Broncos were busy in a flying program to get ready for the season. MAFFS had a P-3 on the ramp while another took off early in the program. A Bombardier CL415 shared ramp space with a Neptune conversion of the BAE Systems RJ85.

However, the ramp was dominated by one aircraft. Global Supertanker had brought their converted Boeing 747-400 to show off. They have taken the system from the 747-100 airframe previously in use and added it to a more modern version of the airframe. Fresh from the paint shop and shortly to receive approval of the STC, they were keen to show off the aircraft. I am not sure how well it will fit in with the needs of firefighting agencies around the world but it certainly is an impressive beast.

I didn’t get to take as many stills as I had planned. The organizers asked me to shoot some video for the, which I did. Hayman was working with me so he made sure we had the necessary shots for the GAR feature. After a few passes, I was able to switch and get some stills anyway. I also got roped in to taking the group photo for the conference attendees. If I had known that was required, I would have made some arrangements to get a better vantage point. Still, it was a good day out and the conference sessions I saw were similarly informative. Next year it is in France. Perhaps we shall have to go!

: A US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk taxis in at McClellan Field in Sacramento CA.

Hyperlapse Oakland Approach

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I was a sitting by the window on the approach to Oakland and decided to play with the video functions on my phone. I have shot video clips a number of times of the approach but it takes a lot longer than you realize and makes for a very dull video without editing aggressively. Also, the turbulence when handholding a phone means the video is very jerky. Instead I switched the phone to time lapse mode and pointed it out of the window. The result is an accelerated version of the approach. The bumps are smoothed out by the compression of time and the maneuvers become more aggressive. I let the thing run until we are at the gate since that provides a more natural finish point. We spent a lot of time facing the water as we descended which is a bit less interesting than I would like but you can see that we are getting closer quite quickly.

Southern Hemisphere Rest Stop

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The scheduling of flights from Australia and New Zealand to the west coast of the US is not ideal for getting maximum utilization from your aircraft. There is a long time between the arrivals and the most desirable time for departing on the return journey. Consequently, there are a lot of jets that spend a good portion of the day sitting at LAX. Rather than waste valuable gate space, these jets are disembarked and then towed to remote stands to await the time when the evening flights will be readied.

There is a large parking area to the west end of LAX where these jets are kept. You will see Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand aircraft all parked up here in the middle of the day. We were able to make a short detour from our normal operating area to the west end of the airport when ATC was able which meant we could get a good view of the jets parked up here. One of the Qantas jets was carrying special markings for the Wallabies rugby team. Later in the day they will have started the return trek across the Pacific.

More Aerials from LAX

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I have put together a number of posts about specific aspects of our flight over LAX. However, there were lots more aircraft that we shot on the flight. It is just that they didn’t seem to warrant their own post. Instead, here is a selection of additional shots taken on the flight.