Tag Archives: Maryland

The Constellation in the Inner Harbor

The USS Constellation is the last sail powered warship built for the US Navy. She is now preserved in the harbor in Baltimore. I saw her a few times from a distance while I was in Baltimore but I didn’t get a chance to take a shot until I was walking back from a reception. By that time it was dark and, since I only had my phone with me, that had to suffice. The phone on the camera has a wide angle lens so, even though we were quite close, the ship is a little small in the original shot. However, she still looks pretty impressive. I imagine she would have looked even better when under sail!

Edgar Allan Poe Rests Here

Leave a reply

A recent trip to Baltimore for work did not involve much time to take a look around. Most of the time was in meetings or work related social events. However, I did need to go to the post office at one point to mail something out. As I walked up the street, I passed a little church that seemed to have some signage. I didn’t immediately pay attention but, when I was walking back, I saw that the graveyard included the last resting place of Edgar Allan Poe. The churchyard is not large and it is tucked in amongst a lot more modern buildings but Poe is a local favorite and his house is apparently nearby. This is where he is now, though.

Northrop Grumman Testbeds

2 Replies

Every once in a while I am looking for things to include in the blog from previous photographic outings. I was discussing an aircraft with an unusual radar installation which will now show up in an upcoming blog post as well. However, it triggered another thought about some radar testbed aircraft that I used to see quite regularly. For a number of years I was working in Washington DC on a regular basis and I would fly in to BWI airport. Aside from being a popular hub for Southwest, it is also the home of a Northrop Grumman radar plant.

They have a hangar on site which not only deals with their corporate aircraft but also their testbeds for the airborne radar programs. This hangar is located along a tree lined taxiway so everything is pretty obscured from view (unless you are airborne when you can see in a lot more clearly). The two testbeds that I saw quite frequently were a Sabreliner business jet and a BAC 1-11 airliner. The 1-11 was a regular sight when I was a lot younger but now they are almost all gone. Therefore, this was the one I was always pleased to see.

Sadly, I often saw them when I was without a camera or the camera was away. No electronics below 10,000’ in those days. However, I did catch them occasionally so these shots are a reminder of what was there. I suspect that the 1-11 is no longer in use. I imagine it was becoming a pain to maintain but I don’t know for sure whether it still is around. If you know, please do tell me.

JSOH Andrews 1994

Leave a reply

Another trip through the archives. While still living in DC in 1994, I took Nancy to an airshow at Andrews AFB for the Joint Services Open House. I found myself looking for something in my old negatives and the show had a few interesting things. 20 years means a lot of old aircraft have disappeared from service. Seeing them still active is a nice bit of nostalgia.

The shots aren’t great – few of my shots from those days are – and the negatives don’t always scan that well. All in all, not too much to boast about. However, I think they are interesting to see and maybe you will too.

More Maryland

Leave a reply

The trip to Maryland gave us a chance to see some areas of the state we hadn’t visited before. It is a pretty area. While there are lots of people there, the towns are older and have a more period feel to them. Plenty of history in that part of the world. Meanwhile, the weather cooperated providing some really nice skies. Here are a few pictures to give you a sample.

Solomon Island

Leave a reply

We had the great pleasure of traveling to Maryland to stay with our friends Mark and Rosie a while back. They are friends of ours from the UK who are currently in the US for work. We spent the weekend with them and got to enjoy a part of Maryland that neither of us had spent much time in before. They live down near where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay and there is plenty of water around you wherever you go.

As someone who grew up by the sea, I have always enjoyed being by the water. A good local spot to visit is Solomon Island and we decided to head there for a walk around and a spot of lunch. Since they have a boat, Mark and I decided to go by water while Nancy and Rosie took the car. I wanted to have a blast about in the boat and Mark wanted to go a bit faster than he would if Rosie was aboard so this worked for all of us.