GlobalHawkeye

DH.82A Tiger Moth G-ANFM ex-T5888, RAF c/n 83604

Hurricane Mk.XIIa ex-5711 RCAF c/n 72036

(displayed as R4175 RF-R, 303 Sqn RAF)

Spitfire Mk.Ia N3200 QV-, 19 Sqn RAF c/n 441

Spitfire LF Mk.IXb MH434 ZD-B, 222 Sqn RAF c/n CBAF441

B-17G Flying Fortress 44-85784 USAAF c/n 8693
(displayed as 41-24485 DF-A USAAF)

AT-6C Texan/Harvard IIa 41-33169 USAAF c/n 9275
(displayed as 111836 JZ-6 USN)

P-51D Mustang 44-72216 HO-M, 487 FS USAAF c/n 38675

HA-1112 Buchon M1L ex-C.4K-102 Spanish AF c/n 172
(displayed as Yellow-10 Luftwaffe)

Slepcev Storch SS-4 G-BZOB c/n 316-13592
(displayed as Fi-156 Storch 6G+ED Luftwaffe)

Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing N17GL c/n 4885

(ex UC-43 Traveler 43-10837 USAAF)

Vans RV-4 G-SPRK c/n 845, Fireflies display team

Typhoon FGR.4 ZJ914, 29(F) Sqn RAF c/n BS005

27 September 2014

Greenland

Today the VS19 from London to San Francisco flew much further north than usual. We were treated to great views over Greenland - even the captain was excited (judging from his announcements encouraging us to not miss the view).

These pictures are of the west coast of Greenland at a latitude of about 72 degrees north; as you can see, it's not very green. This first picture shows the Uvkusigssat Fjord.

...and this is the Ingia Fjord and the Ingia Isbrae glacier.

Check out the detailed maps here; look at the area where sheets d,e,f and g join.

21 June 2014

Mid Summer 2014

Mid Summer means a trip to The Wash to watch the Sun set over the sea... This year we parked in Old Hunstanton (there is a fine collection of beach huts) and then walked up to Holme where we saw some Avocet nesting in the reserve.

The sunset looked promising - except that with half an hour to go, a pesky bank of cloud got in the way - again. I just managed to grab this photo in time.

Although there seemed a lot of police cars whizzing about with lights flashing (after five I gave up counting) - at least I didn't get pulled over this year. But I was tempted to go have another look at the wind turbine in Swaffham. (For those who don't have a clue what I'm going on about - take a look at the entry for this day last year!)

26 April 2014

Priestley Wood

Among the bluebells, an unexpected relic in Priestley Wood.

22 April 2014

Everything in its place!

It was Bank Holiday weekend and time for a bit of DIY - organise the garage!

12 April 2014

Steam Driven Time Machine

Came across this old traction engine while on a walk along the Wantisden Valley. There were actually two engines and lot of other old farm machinery.

30 July 2013

Haifa

24 June 2013

More Flashing Lights

The traffic was gradually brought to a standstill by the police on the A14 last night - just in front of me and only a few hundred metres from my usual turn-off. Then a Eurocopter from the East Anglian Air Ambulance arrived to land on the carriageway. A nasty accident in the other direction - trust that the ambulance crews managed to get the injured to hospital okay.

21 June 2013

Sunset over The Wash - Longest Day 2013

I arrived back from an overseas trip in time to allow the now (almost) traditional visit to The Wash to see a mid-Summer sunset over the sea. Despite wet weather during the day and a forecast of thunderstorms, there was a break in the weather that allowed a dazzling view of the setting sun reflected across the sea.

As the sun set lower, it disappeared below a cloud bank on the horizon which, although a little disappointing, presented a moody picture with vivid colours on the clouds and reflected in the sea. (This picture taken by my Dear Wife.)

Twilight lingered and the lighthouse on the cliff top glowed more brightly, but we eventually decided to head for home - taking a direct route along back roads through Dersingham, Massingham and Castle Acre. On reaching Swaffham we took a small diversion to get a closer look at the Green Britain Centre large wind turbine. That turned out to be a mistake! As we continued our journey on the way out of Swaffham I saw something never previously experienced in over 30-years of driving - blue flashing lights in my rear-view mirror.

I pulled over, wound down the window and narrowly avoided the clichéd "what seems to be the problem occifer?" Apparently my brief interest in the wind turbine had been interpreted as 'acting suspiciously' and so they wanted to make sure I wasn't up to no good... all I can say is there can't be much else happening in Swaffham on a Friday night. After a quick PNC check we were on our way again.

27 May 2013

St Benet's Abbey

There isn't much left of the actual abbey church - a few flint walls that are under repair. The picture shows the remains of the abbey gatehouse into which a windmill tower has been built. I had been past the abbey during a boat tour, but this was the first time to get a close-up look at this local landmark.

Alderfen Broad

A sunny Bank Holiday Monday! Headed up to Norfolk and The Broads.

Alderfen Broad is one of the smaller pieces of water and well hidden. Having wandered around we eventually managed to get to water's edge where I took this panorama of 8 photos stitched together (go on - see if you can find the joins ;)

Air Defence Radar Museum, Neatishead

Visiting Irstead in The Norfolk Broads, I "just happened to remember" ;) that there was a radar museum nearby at Neatishead and being a Bank Holiday it might be open - it was. I had been expecting a very small museum with maybe a couple of rooms - but this place is extensive and well worth a visit. We started with tea and cake... and then had a guided tour that lasted about an hour. After that we were able to look around at our leisure until the museum closed. It deserved more time - allow at least half a day.

6 March 2013

Mt Fuji from the Tokaido Shinkansen

I have travelled the Tokaido Shinkansen (bullet train) many times from Shin-Yokohama to Osaka - but never had such a great view of Mt Fuji (or more respectfully, Fuji-san). The volcano creates its own weather system and usually has its head in the clouds. Photo taken from the train at 35°09'11.5"N 138°43'39.3"E.

29 December 2012

The Journey So Far

Found a neat site called 'openflights.com' that let's you make a map of the flights you've flown. The import facility is much easier to use than other similar sites - so I thought I'd give it a go.

1 December 2012

Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

Took a late evening stroll down Nathan Road to the end of the Kowloon peninsula to view the Christmas 'Symphony of Lights' along the famous Hong Kong skyline. The low cloud obscured some of the taller buildings (Bank of China and 2IFC) - but the reflected light has added colour to the picture.

21 October 2012

Borrowdale and Frith Wood, The Lake District

The late afternoon sun casts long shadows across Borrowdale as we headed back down into Rosthwaite after a walk to Watendlath via Dock Tarn. In the foreground Frith Wood displays some delightful Autumn colour.

Castlerigg Stone Circle, The Lake District

Castlerigg Stone Circle sits on a low hilltop just outside Keswick in Cumbria. This photo was taken very early one Sunday as the golden morning light cast across the ancient stones. In the background are Lonscale Fell and Blencathra.

20 October 2012

Derwent Water, The Lake District

6 May 2012

More Ducks

A week later than last year 'our' duck has once again decided to have her family in our garden - 10 ducklings this time, three less than in 2011. We hope that she is more successful in navigating the family to the local pond this time...
UPDATE: an ingeneous idea - dig a hole under the fence to the neighbour's garden (with permission of course) and the ducks were last seen waddling up the road to their home at the moat (much grander than a mere pond!).

9 March 2012

San Francisco Heritage Trams

The city of San Francisco has a wide variety of public transport - trolley buses, buses, cable cars and streetcars (trams) all mix with cars in the grid of one-way streets. The trams on the F-line are painted to represent cities from across the US. There are also trams from around the world.

8 March 2012

The Bay Bridge

The San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge

4 March 2012

Views over San Francisco

Two views from the top floor of the hotel in San Francisco on a warm Sunday afternoon. Quite a contrast to the reports of snow falling in the UK!

The Financial District (with the Transamerica Pyramid)

The Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill

22 September 2011

Norwegian Grey

A grey week in Trondheim - but I was able to try out the new 10-22mm wide angle lens.

15 July 2011

Hampton Horsepower

1 July 2011

A Little Piece of Italy

Last night I thought that my car radio had developed a fault - reception of some BBC stations was terrible. Imagine my surprise when an Italian DJ took over from the BBC; not French, Dutch or German but Italian!
I soon realised that the poor BBC reception was due to interference from our continental cousins. It's all down to an atmospheric effect known as 'temperature inversion' when a radio signal can be channeled long distances through the Troposphere. Read about it here and here.

One station came through so strongly that the radio even managed to receive and decode the RDS data (see photo). Reteotto Radio broadcasting on 105.1MHz from Lecce in Apulia at the very south of Italy. Coolio or what :)

29 June 2011

Bird's Eye View of the BBC

I had a set of meetings in central London and this was the view from the window at the first meeting. All Souls Langham Place and BBC Broadcasting House. It was a beautiful Summer's day in London.

11 June 2011

Suffolk Sunset

It's always good to carry a camera with you - you never know when you will see something worth capturing. Like this unexpected sunset on Saturday evening while out for a walk. Why unexpected - well, because it didn't look anything special until just as the sun was almost fully set.

2 June 2011

Big Cat Diary

Recently visited the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering at Cosford for a behind the scenes tour of the hangars. The college trains RAF recruits in the avionics and mechanical skills necessary to maintain front-line fighter jets; to do this they use retired RAF aircraft.

Most are disassembled to a greater or lesser extent, but some are kept in running condition. We were very fortunate to see this Jaguar GR.3A outside doing engine runs; it is painted in a very special retirement colour scheme. This photo was taken by my wife - not bad for an amateur!

After the tour we went on to visit the RAF museum, the David Austin rose gardens and the town of Ironbridge. A busy but very enjoyable day out - with something for everyone.

9 May 2011

Super Fast in Shanghai

Opened in 2004 at a cost of £830M, the Shanghai Maglev Train connects Pudong airport with central Shanghai - a distance of 19 miles covered in just 7 minutes 20 seconds - an average speed of 156mph.

The Maglev relentlessly accelerates around several steeply banked corners as it powers away from the airport until the top speed of 270mph (431kmph) is reached.

The indicator in the picture shows 406kmph - because I couldn't get a clear photo of the sign at top-speed; the train was juddering around too much from side to side!

29 April 2011

Royal Ducklings

Our duck finally brought out her ducklings for their first appearance in the garden this morning - just in time for the Royal Wedding. There are 13 in all - but so far the mother seems a bit confused wandering around the garden looking for a way out to Dan's pond.

7 April 2011

Ospreys Seen in Suffolk

Four special forces CV-22B Osprey are curently on detachment to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk. They take-off like a helicopter and then rotate the propellers to forward flight. The Osprey would be impossible to fly without a sophisticated full-authority flight control system between the pilot and the aircraft.

30 March 2011

Barrier Islands

The southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York is protected by a number of barrier islands - including Jones Beach Island (nearest the camera) and Fire Island. This photo was taken from American flight AA684 as it circled before approach into JFK.

Unknown to me at the time of taking the photo - a grisly drama was unfolding on the beaches seen in the photograph.