Rafale Display

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The Rafale has been in service for a long time now and exports have meant more countries operate it. I got to see some Indian Air Force examples when they came through Washington a couple of years ago. However, my experience of watching a display has been limited to the original Rafale A demonstrator and then the initial Rafale C development aircraft – both of which displayed at Farnborough. I have not seen a Rafale display since then.

This wasn’t the only reason I went to Cosford but it certainly was a big factor. The cancellation of RIAT had me thinking about what other air shows I might want to see and, while Cosford is not ideal from a lighting point of view with the crowd facing south-east, the knowledge that the French Air Force was bringing a Rafale to display was influential in my decision to go.

The display was excellent. I don’t know whether it is the characteristics of the aircraft and the nature of the display flying that the French Air Force goes for but this was an excellent show. (The French Mirage 2000 display always used to wow me too so there is a pattern.) The plane was constantly in motion and it really kept the attention of the crowd. There are definitely some lessons that other air forces could learn.

The display was just far enough into the show to get some benefit from the lighting coming around slightly. There was also some cloud which may have reduced the potential for silhouetting of the jet against the sky. I was a bit out of practice with my tracking but managed to get a few shots that I was happy with. I am not always in favour of special paint schemes for display jets but this one was no bad thing. I do hope to see the display again at some point – preferably in better lighting.

 

Lots of Wind Turbine Blades

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Taking the Red Jet out of Southampton took us past the other ships in the harbour and that included this vessel that was loaded up with blades for wind turbines. These blades are massive and having this many on one vessel was impressive. I don’t know whether this is for transporting them to other countries or is to take them offshore to be installed but it is a chunky boat. While the ship was the first thing that caught my eye, I then realised how many blades were sitting on the dockside behind it. The engineer in me would love to spend a bit of time having a look around that location!

How Will I Know the Type?

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The airlines have adopted the practice of writing their name on the underside of their planes. I am not sure if it was Emirates that started it but that was who I first noticed doing it and now others have followed suit. I haven’t seen the type written on the underside of the plane before, though. This bizjet flew over home on approach to Southampton. I can safely say I would have known what it was but apparently the owner wants to make sure no one is in any doubt about what type they are operating.

Avanti West Coast Trains

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The Pendolino fleet was being introduced by Virgin West Coast when I was previously working in London in the early part of the century. For whatever reason, I never ended up using them before we left and then it never happened while we lived in the US. Now we are back in the UK, various work trips have had me use them at last and I have to say that I am quite impressed. Given that they are now over 20 years old, they are still a decent experience as a passenger.

The operator is now Avanti. They have been bolstering the fleet with some Hitachi trains which I have also tried on a couple of occasions. I was eating lunch near the west coast mainline and got some shots of the trains as they zipped north and south. (This was when I got the shots of the pan on one of the trains that I posted about previously.)

Levelling Up

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On our return trip from Barcelona, we gave ourselves plenty of time for the flight back given that there was a lot of discussion about the immigration delays. Things worked out pretty well, so we were through to the gate in plenty of time. What a tragedy that I have extra time at an airport!! Level is a low-cost operation that IAG owns. It was originally set up using Iberia aircraft and crews before it got its own AOC. Now it is a standalone operation.

There were a few Level A330s in view at our part of the terminal. Some were undergoing maintenance before their next flights while others were loading up and departing. I got a variety of shots of them as I walked through the concourse and one of them departed for Los Angeles while we waited to board. While most departures were going off the southerly runway which was the opposite side to us, the long-haul flights that needed longer runways came from the northerly runway which meant we got to see them.

Morning Light on the British Museum

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I can take a number of routes to the office in the morning but most of them will end up taking me across the front of the British Museum. The light is not always great; there are often delivery vehicles in front or staff busy prepping the building for the day. On this morning, though, the light was really nice, and the frontage was remarkably clear. It would have been rude not to stop and take some quick images. You get blasé about passing these iconic locations on a daily basis and it is good to occasionally stop and appreciate them. (On the walk home, though, the clueless pedestrians that emerge can really drive me nuts!!)

Some Arrivals While I Wait at the Gate

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I had a short work trip to Scotland that involved a flight from Heathrow early one morning. The morning light was pretty good, and my gate was at the north end of Terminal 5 so I got to see a few of the arrivals while waiting to board. The Air India A350 was a nice catch but I got a variety of other arrivals. Aside from the regular British Airways short haul types, I did get and A380.

Add to that, there was an Air France A220 and a KLM A321neo. United also had an arrival. Shooting through the windows is not ideal and I was using the M6 which is really a step down from the R3 but has the advantage of slipping into my work bag easily so earns its place. I would really like to find something modern that has a similar form factor but is as responsive as current cameras. Sure, I really need another camera!

Solent Express Video

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I have posted a number of shots from the demonstration that Griffon Hoverwork undertook with Solent Express before she was sold. During the demo, I also took a load of video. The stills are something I like but the dynamics of the motion of the hovercraft and the flow of the spray around the vehicle are cool to watch and video is the only way that really allows that to be shared. It was a windy day, so the spray flows were really interesting as the hovercraft slew around. It took me quite a while to get around to editing the video, but it is finally done. I haven’t added any music because people often like the the raw noise. That also includes a lot of wind noise when the hovercraft is far away so be ready for that!

Some of the Weirder Great War Aircraft

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There is a gallery at the RAF Museum at Hendon that is focused on the Great War. This was the early days of aviation, and the development was so rapid that an aircraft might have an operational life of less than a year before something newer and better would replace it. Because so little was known at this point, experimentation with all sorts of ideas took place. Consequently, the types in this gallery have some wildly varying configurations. Pushers and tractors are on show. The sizing of some surfaces is huge compared to what would be expected now. They are really interesting to look at and see what ideas look relevant now and what has been abandoned. Here are some of the various types on display.

Sunset Over the Solent

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We made a brief visit to Cowes on the Isle of Wight for a birthday party. The party was a ton of fun, and it was great to see some people we hadn’t seen for a long time. While the party was in mid-flow, I did step out onto the terrace to get a breath of air, and the sun was setting in the distance. The view across the RYS’s back garden to the Solent was really attractive and the sky was illuminated nicely as the sun dropped below the horizon. What a delightful sight to have.