Tag Archives: travel

Bembridge Post Lunch Departures

While visiting the Island, we had gone to our hotel to check in. Earlier in the day, we had seen a few planes climbing out of the airport at Bembridge off in the distance. As Nancy was getting settled in, I made the short trip across to the airport to see if anything was still around. There were a few planes taxiing out. My guess is that people fly into Bembridge, walk across to The Propeller Inn for a spot of lunch and then head home again. Given the time, I suspect I was at the back end of the post lunch crews. Nothing seemed to be arriving. The wind meant the runway in use wasn’t so favourable for photos but some of them had gradual climb outs, so it wasn’t so bad. A few light aircraft shots before returning to the hotel!

Alpine Helicopters – Alberta Edition

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In a previous post, I had shared some images of Alpine Helicopters from when we were in Kelowna. Our trip to Canmore in Alberta brought me close to another base for the company (assuming it is the same company rather than just a common name for operators). This base was providing pleasure flights for visitors heading up in to the mountains. The base was about a mile down the road from where we were staying so, one afternoon, after we had finished our plans for the day, I popped down to see if anything was moving.

The location is not ideal for photography. The base is on the side of a hill and the parking lot is quite a way below the area from which they operate. There is a viewing area for those that are waiting to go flying but I was outside the fence so had to see what shots I could get. There was a movement of a helicopter from a parking space to the pick up zone and then there was the departure of a flight. Things were not great for getting shots but they did curve around on takeoff giving me some views of the climb out. I needed to head back so I didn’t wait for the return.

Charlecote House

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Early morning run from Stratford down towards our location in the Warwickshire countryside and I found myself driving past Charlecote Park. This is a National Trust property so I could go and check it out at some point. At this time in the morning, I doubt it was open anyway and I had places to be so I just paused by the gate and took a look up the driveway towards Charlecote House. A cool looking building in the morning light. I was also quite taken by the wild boars that were guarding the gate!

A Few Trains in York

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Work took me to York for the day. York is one of the parts of the UK rail network that was absolutely instrumental in the development of the nation’s railways, and it is still a major intersection. Trains between London and Scotland come through but it also has services across the Pennines to the west and to many local destinations.

After my meetings had finished, I headed back to catch my train to London. I was a little early for it so walked around the station to see what else was there. The Hitachi trains are now a big part of service with the LNER Azumas, the Lumo services and some Transpennine Express services. Then there are other types to be seen too. A lot has changed since I was last working in the industry in the UK, so it was interesting for me to see what is now in use and what is still around!

Time Lapse into National

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This is some older footage I took a while back when I was making a work trip to DC. I have done a bunch of these over the years. The phone allows you to get a good time lapse video (or I should say hyperlapse since it is a bit different) of the approach to landing. The countryside zips by in this type of video and you get the rapid changes in aircraft configuration along with the taxi in and shut down at the end of the flight. For those of you familiar with the northern Virginia area, you might well recognise some places. I did the same on the return leg into SEA as the day was ending.

Metalwork Used to be More Complex

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One of the cool features of older large stations in the UK is that their original owners were into making statements with the architecture. Consequently, you end up with some gran roof structures – not least to allow a number of tracks to be covered to keep the travelling public dry – it does rain in the UK occasionally. In the Victoria era, they would make sure every detail was taken care of. The cast iron pillars on which everything was built would not just be functional. They would let you know who built it. I loved the ironwork detail on this part of the station in York. The North Eastern Railway may have been superseded by many other companies, but they are still remembered here.

The Thai Air Force A340 Tempts But Thwarts

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On my last visit to LA before I left the US, I was quite surprised by an interesting airframe parked at LAX. The FBO ramps on the south side of the airport often have interesting visitors but this one was quite special. The Thai Air Force A340-500 was parked up in a corner. I last saw this plane as it overflew Seattle, and I happened to see it. I was in the back of an Uber as we left the airport, and I tried to get a shot with my phone as we drove by outside.

When I got to the airport hotel in the evening, the plane was still there. I got a more distant shot but from a better angle as it sat in the same location. It did have some lights on, and I wondered whether it would depart while I was watching. Sadly, nothing before I turned in for the night. The next morning, I came back and it was gone. The lights were clearly an indicator that it was heading out that night. It must have been quite late.

Lake Louise is a Bit of a Zoo

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When we visited Lake Louise, we immediately took the shuttle bus that ran down to Moraine Lake. That was a wonderful place to be, and I have posted about it previously. When we had wrapped up our time down there, we took the shuttle back up to Lake Louise. We had figured on spending some time there but, as soon as we got there, the contrast with Moraine Lake couldn’t have been more stark. The place was absolutely heaving. The lake’s shoreline was jammed with people. It was really unappealing, and, after the tranquility of Moraine Lake, it seemed even worse. We had a brief look around and then bailed out.

The APM at LAX is Almost Ready

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If you have ever flown out of LAX, you will know the delights that the road access to the airport provides. The time it can take to get around the loop of the terminals can often be awful. If you are on a shuttle bus looking to get to the other side of the airport, it can seem like forever. Combine that with the offsite rental car facilities and the journey from gate to car and in reverse can be a big deal. LAX is currently building a people mover system. It will connect the new consolidated rental car facility with the terminals and will, hopefully, address a lot of the congestion. The system is in test at the moment and, while I was at my hotel, I got a view of some of the system. Vehicles were on the tracks so hopefully the testing program will go smoothly and the APM will soon be active!

Bow River Loop

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A short walk from the heart of Canmore is a loop trail that runs along the Bow River. It probably was a longer walk to get to the trail and back than the trail itself was but it was a lovely stretch of the legs for us. I have previously posted about the elk encounter that we had on that walk but the rest of the walk provided some lovely scenery to enjoy. There are some old bridges across the water that look like they would have been rail bridges at some point but now provide great foot access for everyone. A relaxing place to stroll, for sure.