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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
The Caravan’s of Seair seemed to delight in making their departures closer to Stanley Park than the Harbour Air flights. This meant the long lens was way too much at their closest point but it did provide some nice angles for the aircraft as they took off and climbed out. The Caravan looks rather uncomfortable when on floats on the water but, once it is airborne, it looks pretty good to me. I was quite pleased with these passes.
The Japanese Shinkansen trains introduced in the 1960s became known around the world as bullet trains. The shape of them was well known, often photographed with Mt Fuji in the background. While other countries developed high speed rail, the Japanese bullet train was often the first one people would associate with the topic. These first trains are known as the Series 0. There have been several iterations of design since. However, the Series 0 is still very recognizable to me and probably others of my generation.
I had seen a Series 0 vehicle once before. I visited the Nippon Sharyo factory is Toyokawa many years ago and they have a cab vehicle on display by the main gate. Sadly, I wasn’t able to get a photograph of that then. Seeing an example at the SC Maglev museum was my second opportunity. It was displayed alongside a number of the more recent iterations of the Shinkansen but, judging by the number of people taking photos of it, it still has a strong level of recognition.
