Tag Archives: travel

Heathrow A350s

One of the things I was looking forward to seeing at Heathrow was A350s in new liveries. I have seen a lot of A350s but I have never seen the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic A350-1000s and, since they are based at Heathrow, I figured I would get a chance. As we landed and taxied in, I saw both operators’ aircraft but, because of where I was sitting, I wasn’t able to get any shots. The end of the journey and the return to Heathrow allowed me to address that.

I got to shoot an arriving BA jet while outside the airport and there were some parked up on the gates when we were getting ready to board our flights. Virgin was a bit more elusive. I could see one parked up behind a Cathay 777 but that was it. Other operators were also helping out though. Amongst the arriving jets were examples from Malaysian Airlines, Finnair and Iberia. All nice additions to the A350 collection for me.

Building A Cathedral On Boggy Ground

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Winchester Cathedral was not built on the best of ground. About 100 years ago, a major effort was made to save sections of the building from collapsing. A diver spent many months under water in the pilings beneath the building bringing in material to shore everything up. The effort was ultimately a success and some buttresses were added to take care of the rest. However, this all was done after the walls had made some significant movement. Today, this is still apparent when you look at some of the angles and realize that things are pointing in odd direction. The original stone masons were not inaccurate. Things just moved after they were done. Their choice of foundations was more of the issue!

A Juno Interrupts My Lunch

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Middle Wallop has a café upstairs in the museum and Paul and I retreated there for a little sustenance and some idle banter. On the visitor ramp across from the museum, a Juno helicopter from the training fleet was sitting awaiting its next flight. As we ate, we saw the crew step to the helicopter. For those of you that have followed military aviation, you will know that there was no need to interrupt our food. Unless there is an alert, military aviation happens at a deliberate pace.

After a while, with engines running and rotors turning, we did finally head out to the balcony alongside the taxiway that they would be using. Even this was slightly premature as it was a little longer before the rotors finally generated lift and the Juno got airborne. It then taxied towards us and through the gate to the airfield before turning across the grass and pulling up to depart. A brief addition to the day but a good one. My first Juno!

Spinnaker Tower

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A long time ago, as part of the redevelopment of the harbour at Portsmouth, a tower was built. It is alongside the Gunwharf Quays development and rises above the waterfront providing a view across to the Isle of Wight and back to the South Downs. The tower is shaped like a spinnaker from a yacht and so it is named Spinnaker Tower. I have seen the tower on numerous occasions when taking the ferry from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight. However, I had never actually been up it.

On this trip, we had a lot of time to explore Portsmouth and I decided to go up the tower as part of the visit. There are three visitor levels. The main level is the lowest of the three (but still a decent height). It has the most space and includes a glass floor section to allow you to look directly down. The next level up is a little smaller and has a café. The top level is smaller still and doesn’t really provide much the first level doesn’t have. The windows are also angled in steeply which makes them more problematic for photography.

The view across the whole of the dockyard including the Victory and Mary Rose was great (although one is indoors and the other is currently under covers) and you could see across the Solent or back towards the city. I really enjoy elevated viewing locations so this was a great place for me to spy on the world around me.

Army Flying Museum

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Our vacation in the UK wasn’t about aviation exploits but, if an opportunity presents itself, it would be churlish not to follow up. I had made arrangements to visit my friend Paul while I was in Hampshire and, halfway between us is Middle Wallop, home of Army aviation in the UK and also a museum. I guess that would be a good place to meet up.

The museum isn’t large but it has recently gone through some refurbishment and it is definitely a good place to spend a couple of hours. Army aviation has a strong rotary element to it but there has also been plenty of fixed wing activity. The collection is a good reflection of both. I will save one exhibit for a separate post but there are plenty of others. The Lynx was a big part of the Army’s fleet for many years and the example that they have in the first hangar is actually a development airframe that has been restored. The three windows on the cabin door are the most conspicuous identification item. There is another operational Lynx in the second hangar too.

A selection of Austers are included in the displays. There is also a Scout (with a second one on the grass by the parking lot). An Agusta 109 is tucked away too. This example was in service with Argentina in the Falklands and was co-opted by the UK forces when they took control. It was used for support to the SAS along with a second example. They ended up buying two more so I guess they worked well. The Beaver was also used extensively with one sitting outside too. The Alouette had a career with the Army but was not as widely used. It is still displayed, though. There are some old types reflecting the early days or military aviation too.

The only thing that confused me was the name. I have seen it called the Army Flying Museum (on the wall) and the Museum of Army Aviation. I wonder which it really is!

My First Trip To Myrtle Avenue

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The day before we left the UK for home, we headed to a hotel at the airport since we had an early departure in the morning. We got there early in the afternoon and I figured I had a little time to make my way to Myrtle Avenue. I have seen plenty of photos from this location but have never actually shot from there. They swap runways at 3pm and I had about an hour before that time. Not a lot but the conditions were great so time to try.

What I didn’t count on was the Piccadilly Line. I stood at the station under Terminal 5 for 25 minutes before a train finally left. I was only going to get to Hatton Cross with less than half an hour to go and I wondered whether it was worth it. However, I didn’t have any other plans so why not. Some rapid walking along the A30 to Myrtle Avenue with planes arriving over my head and I joined a large crowd of people hanging out enjoying the afternoon. Plenty of photographers were there but there were also loads of families just out enjoying the sunny afternoon and the planes.

It was worth going with a few interesting arrivals before 3pm arrived and they switched runways. At this point, I was tempted to head back to the hotel. Not having ever explored the east end of the airport, I didn’t know what was possible. However, as I mentioned above, I didn’t have any other plans so I wandered along the eastern perimeter road. I bumped in to a couple of other photographers – one of whom was visiting from Vancouver. There were a few spots where good shots were possible and the conditions were getting better and better. It proved to be a well worthwhile exploration which will get its own post at some point.

Winchester Cathedral

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First stop on our vacation was Winchester. It has been quite a while since I was last there and I didn’t remember much about it. The cathedral is the center of the city of old and we had a stroll around to see it. Later, Nancy took a visit inside but I never got around to doing that. Instead, I have to make do with some shots of the exterior of the cathedral. It will reappear in another post before too long, though.

Caldera In A Caldera

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Crater Lake is a lake in a caldera. In the middle of the lake is an island that was formed as the eruptions from beneath built up a new outcrop from the original caldera. That island has itself formed a caldera on the summit. The scale of everything is so large that it is easy to not even notice that this second caldera sits within the first caldera. There are some trees on the island that give you some context as to how large it all is.

Spooky Tree Trunk

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The Pacific Northwest provides a lot of dark and damp environments within which things can grow. The shady environment is not just good for them but it also provides a spooky setting for visiting humans. As we walked down through the trees to get to Short Sand Beach in Oswald West State park, we passed a tree along the trail that looked like exactly the sort of thing a set designer would come up with for some supernatural movie. It looked like it was designed to capture the unwary. On a sunny day, it was interesting. On a dark and cold evening, it might be a little less appealing.

A Tree Trunk Supporting Sea Life

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The Pacific Northwest shorelines are strewn with tree trunk. Whether they have been washed in to the see or are strays from the logging business, doesn’t matter. There are tons of them everywhere. This one was on Cannon Beach. I have no idea where it originally came from but it had washed up here at some point and got quite established in the sand. The surface of the wood had become the home of a multitude of sea creatures. It was festooned with them. I wonder how much they depend on it staying there or, if it gets washed out again in the next storm, they would be in trouble.