A Windy Day with the Hovercraft

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On a quiet Saturday morning, I had a desire to get down to the coast. There were a few photo ideas I had been thinking about and, with no competing things going on, I decided to head down. The downside to this was that the weather was not going to be great. Potential for some showers and definitely some strong winds in the forecast. This might thwart some plans, but the lack of sun might also mean some angles were less problematic from a backlighting point of view.

A trip to Portsmouth means it is unlikely I will miss out on some Hovercraft photography. High winds can mean that the hovercraft service gets suspended but, on this occasion, luck was on my side. Moreover, instead of the regular schedule, they seemed to be running a shuttle with the one hovercraft running back and forth almost constantly. This gave me more chance to get some material without waiting for too long.

Southsea seafront has been undergoing a major refurbishment, and it had reopened on this weekend. The beach had been inaccessible for a long time so now it was possible to get back close to the operations at the Hovertravel terminal. I started off getting a bunch of still shots. The tide was not too high when I got there but there was a bank of shingle on the approach to the slipway. This meant the hovercraft was climbing over this bank before getting on to the concrete. It made for an interesting motion although the skirt accommodated the different sections with relative ease.

Having got a few photos, I decided that I would switch to video for the next rotation. That video will get its own post in due course.

A Complex Roof Structure

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When we go walking in Windsor Great Park, we tend to park at Savill Gardens and enter the park from there. During the visit with Mum, we went into the centre that they have built to have something at the café and check out the shop. The internal structure of the roof that they have built is really cool. Some great use of timber and structural analysis must have been needed to create something this interesting. I hope you like it as much as we did.

Virgin America Before Alaska Took Over

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I just happened to come across this shot while looking for something else. It was a Virgin America A320. Virgin America did a reasonable job of building a profile on the west coast before they were swallowed up by Alaska. Initially their fleet was added to Alaska’s, but it wasn’t too long before Alaska disposed of the Airbus planes to focus on their Boeing fleet. They were good looking jets, and I flew inside one once after the merger where the interior finish certainly marked them as a bit different to the norm. I just figured I’d share this shot as a memory of something long gone.

Kestrel That Isn’t Shy

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During a walk through Windsor Great Park, we were about to turn onto a new path when we noticed a few people stopped a short distance away. If there are a few people all doing nothing and looking in one direction, there is a good chance there is something interesting that they are looking at. Sure enough, there was a kestrel sitting on the fence. Whenever I see something like this, I figure there is a chance that it is going to get spooked and fly off so grab a quick shot before it is too late.

However, this bird didn’t seem in the least bit bothered. It was well aware of the small crowd that it had attracted but no one was getting close, so it seemed content to just sit there. I walked in a new direction to try and get a better angle on it – still convinced that it would scoot but no. It happily stayed there while I got a different look at it. Having achieved that, it was time to continue with our walk but, as I looked back, it was still sitting there. Maybe it had just eaten and was now digesting lunch?

Didn’t Expect an Airvan

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I was down at Lee on Solent on a Saturday morning for a hovercraft encounter. It was a glorious day with lovely sunny conditions and not too much wind. The air temps were not high, but the sun made it feel great. I was pondering whether there could be anything interesting happening at the nearby Solent Airport but that wasn’t why I was there and I knew I had a visitor at home, so I wasn’t going to spend any more time self-indulgently than was already the plan.

There was regular traffic departing from the airport, but I wasn’t paying it much attention since the straight climb outs were some distance from me. Then I saw one turning in my direction. It was a GippsAero Airvan. I didn’t have the right settings on the camera so fumbled inelegantly to try and get things close to right and grabbed a few shots of it as it flew by. Looking at the shots later, it has markings associated with a Spitfire operator which will connect with a post to come.

Vacuum Mooring for a Ferry

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I had noticed the marks on the side of the Wightlink ferries at various times. I had thought it was just marks from the dockside when the ship rubbed up against it. However, when walking around Spice Island, I got a look across at the Gunwharf terminal and saw some odd panels alongside the dock. I zoomed in tight on these to see if I could read what was written on the side.

It turns out that these are a vacuum clamp arrangement which holds the ship when it is docked. I assume that this replaces the old process of looping ropes over posts on the docks. The location would explain the marks that I have seen on the ferries. I assume there is some degree of freedom in the connection arms to accommodate the motion of the ferry even while it is in harbour. Now I am going to have to try and see these in operation. Next time we take the ferry, I shall try and get a good look.

Visualise That Trailing Vortex

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I was working through some images that I had taken on my one and only visit to Rainbow Canyon when the military was still flying through that part of region. One of the shots that caught my eye was this one of a Super Hornet. It had passed me and was heading down towards the valley. This involved a few tight pulls around the curves in the canyon. A strong trailing vortex changes the density of the air which affects the refractive index. This distortion of the light makes the vortex visible if only by impacting the view of whatever is behind it. A good view of that effect can be seen in this shot.

A Memorial to a Fellow Cyclist

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As we were driving towards Sparsholt, we came along a lane that I often cycle. At a junction, there was a white painted bike against a tree. It looked like a memorial, but we were in the car so there was nothing much to be done. However, it wasn’t too long before I rode back up this way on my bike. This time I was able to stop. The bike is a memorial to a cyclist that lost their life. There was a message with details of Dave Davenport. As a cyclist, I am very conscious of how vulnerable we are to the inattention of others with whom we share the road. This could be any of us.

Early Morning Arrivals

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A work trip had me at Heathrow just as the sun was peaking above the horizon. It was very low and, as I drove along the perimeter road to the car park, it was right in my eyes. I suspect that wasn’t too much fun for the arrivals that were on the runway aligned to the east. It did mean that the light was right on the nose of the arriving planes. I had brought the camera along because – well when don’t I?

The traffic in had been quite light so I was a touch early arriving and had about ten minutes before I needed to head into the terminal. Consequently, I got a few shots of some of the jets arriving from locations around the world. The light was almost on my side of the planes which, given I was to the north, tells me that we are getting towards summer. Here are a few of the arriving planes.

Sometimes, the Morning Delivers

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As I emerged from Waterloo Station one morning heading to work, I was surprised to find that, unlike the forecast, there was a hint of rain in the air. I almost changed my plan to walk across the city and take the bus but, it wasn’t that bad and I decided to chance it. Thankfully, it wasn’t really that much rain and I needn’t have worried. More importantly, as I came on to Waterloo Bridge, I could see that the sun in the east was creating a rainbow above the city. Once I got onto the bridge properly, there was a cool view of the rainbow looking down towards Westminster. Commuters normally don’t take photos as they don’t want to look like tourists but, on this occasion, lots of people were stopping to take a shot of a cool view.