Tag Archives: Aircraft

Rolling blog. Norway next…

24 Monday Feb 2025

Posted by in Air Travel, Aircraft, Airports, Norway, Photography, Railways, Travel

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12:00

After spending over a month in 35 degree plus heat and humidity I’m swopping the tropics for a short trip to Scandinavia. Having spent some of the morning reliving my time in Malaysia through editing pictures (you can find the results here) it’s time to leave Halifax and the Pennines behind and head off to Manchester Airport once more. I’ll blog throughout the trip, so feel free to pop back and see how it goes…

13:05.

I’m on way! Dawn kindly dropped me off at Sowerby Bridge station, where I caught the 13:02 bound for Salford Crescent.

I’ve not done this for a while!

As you can see from the picture, it’s a lovely (almost spring-like) day for travelling. Far better than the gloomy conditions I arrived home in.

14:40.

I had a 30 minute interlude between trains at Salford Crescent, a station that’ll soon gain an extra platform to take pressure of the island structure that was provided when it was first built. It’s not difficult to see why it’s needed. There’s an intensive service through the station nowadays. Plus, it’s an important destination in its own right due to the changing nature of the area. There’s also a lot of people like me changing trains to access Manchester Airport services.

16:10.

And relax. I’m at the airport after a trouble-free journey. Getting through security and all the other airport gubbins was easy as the place is really quiet today. Now I’m killing time before my flight departs. I’ve already had a text from KLM to say it’s delayed. Fortunately, the delay is only 10 mins (at the moment, anyway) but I have less than an hour at Schipol where I change planes, so I hope it doesn’t get any worse.

My steed from Salford Crescent to the Airport.

16:50.

I have to admit that Manchester Airport has got better over the years. Even so, neither this nor any other airport would be my choice of transport, but it’s not always down to me to make that decision. Here’s my next conveyance.

17:20.

That was interesting. We have a nearly full 737-800 and the crew have been desperate to get people to stash coats and small bags underneath the seats in front of them ‘cos people are bringing too many big bags on board which will only fit in the overhead racks! This has caused further delays as stuff has had to be redistributed!

Despite that and my now lack of legroom, the flight’s not been bad. We flew out of Manchester just as the sun was setting, the passed over rugged Derbyshire before heading slightly South to cross the Wash and skirt Cromer before crossing over into Europe. Another interesting thing about the flight is that the majority of the cabin crew are late middle-aged. I’ve no idea why. KLM isn’t a budget airline either. You get free nibbles and a drink. Not bad on such a short flight.

20:25 (Netherlands time).

I’d forgotten just how big Schipol airport is! It’s massive. When we landed we seemed to taxi for a good 20 mins (at a lick too) before we got to an air-bridge. Getting from there to my departure gate took ages. There was no time to stop off anywhere even if I wanted to. I made it to gate D71 five minutes before we started boarding. This is another full flight that seems to have been upgraded from the Emberauer I was expecting to another 737-800. Still, all that matters is that I’m on – and I have a window seat (not that I’ll be seeing much this time of night).

Passing through Schipol has brought back lots of memories of Amsterdam, a city I’ve not revisited for far too long. There’s lots of stories I could tell, going back to 1981 when I first came over with the intention of staying. My girlfriend at the time and I joined a group of friends who were squatting here. Sadly, it didn’t work out (Barbara didn’t take to things), and we split up on our return, but that was the start of my long relationship with the city which I’ve enjoyed with various friends and partners over the years – or just on my own. Now I’m just passing through, but I have a hankering to return. Perhaps a long weekend in the summer?

Right now, it’s time to explore pastures new and the ancestral homeland as the Biglands originated from Norway many centuries ago…

Homeward bound?

Shame it’s only a flying visit and I won’t have chance to visit the relatives, or the town of Bygland or Byglands fjord.

23:00.

Oslo airport is pretty quiet this time of night, and I entered the Schengen area in Schipol there was no more immigration ho-hah to pass through (don’t get me started on the Brexit shambles). Now I’m on the airport express train into central Oslo. Cool looking, aren’t they?

00:15. (Norwegian time).

Dunno why, but I was surprised to see just how much snow was on the ground as the train made its way from the airport to central Oslo. Maybe I’d been lulled into a false sense of security by the temperatures on the weather forecast. It’s not a problem, and central Oslo has been cleared of most of it. My hotel is right outside the station which is ideal for going for a wander tomorrow morning before i meet up with colleagues from Siemens and the UK. Right now it’s time to turn in as we’re going to have a busy day tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s a couple more pictures from the trip.

The airport Express pauses at Oslo Central.
Euston station, eat your heart out!

I may be in Norway, but the first sign I saw when I left the station building made me feel right at home!

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Asia day 34. In transit from country to country…

17 Monday Feb 2025

Posted by in Air Travel, Aircraft, Airports, Indonesia, jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Travel

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The time’s just after 11:00 here in Malaysia and I’m at Kuala Lumpur airport waiting for my Air Asia flight back to Jakarta. To be honest, I’m sad to leave. There are so many exciting rail projects that I didn’t get chance to look at, I barely had a day in one of my happy places (Georgetown) – and I could hear a beach calling my name. But it wasn’t to be…

As usual in Asia, I was up early, but I didn’t have a great night’s sleep (too many things going around in my head), so I was having my last roti canai breakfast at 07:30 this morning.

My last one for a while…

Sitting in a local eating hose watching the world go by is quite educational. The place I chose I know of old but it was interesting seeing the old men coming in who obviously all knew each other, picking up a breakfast to take to work (or take home). Suitably replete I returned home, showered, finished my packing and said goodbye to what’s been my home for the past three nights. It’s been fine but next time I think I’ll go back to where I stayed in 2023. I missed having a big window to storm-watch from!

Getting out to the airport was easy. There’s a direct rail-link that runs every 20 mins and takes 33 mins to get to Terminal 2. Arriving is a bit confusing as you have to walk through a huge shopping centre before you find the actual airport! There was a melee around check-in but I got through quickly enough. security and immigration were just as much a breeze. Now I’m sat plane-watching as I’ve time to kill before my flight leaves. Nicholas Lim (a Singaporean friend) has texted me to say the Jakarta airport rail-link is up the spout, so things may be a little slower at the other end!

I’ll update this blog later. Right now here’s a few pictures for you.

Aboard one of the new Chinese built KLIA trains en-route to the airport.
The view from the outdoor smokers area’s best for plane-watching!
I’m forever blowing puddles…An Air Asia flight creates waves as it passes through the remains of last night’s torrential rain.

It’s early evening after a ‘fun’ arrival. The flight from Malaysia was great. It took 2 hours to get to Jakarta, where the weather’s just as wet as KL only with more overcast skies. The fun started at immigration. Getting my visa on arrival was simple. It was the biometric gates that were the hassle as my arrival co-incided with several hundred people from all over Indonesia who’d just flown back from the Haj to Mecca! The queues would have been bad at a European airport, but watching elderly village women (who’d probably never flown before) trying to come to grips with the gates was a sight to behold! It was almost worth the delay. Everyone was patient with everyone else, but it did take some time!

Ordering a Grab’ taxi at the airport I travelled into Jakarta by road. The trip wasn’t bad until we got close to where my hotel is. The main roads were jammed with all manner of vehicles going in different directions but we made it through in good time until we turned into a narrow one-way street. We got caught in a jam coming up to a crossroads and moved about 100 meters in half an hour. It was so rammed with scooters, cars, and parked vehicles it was almost impassible to pedestrians, who had to try and weave their way through the gaps in the traffic. I’ve not seen anything like it for a long time. We ended up getting to my hotel 45 mins later than planned, but hey – I’m not going anywhere else tonight. The Choska Residence where I’m staying is rather plush. Impressive from the outside, it’s got some great public spaces. The rooms are fine too, with a fridge, desk and big TV as well as plenty of wardrobe space and a nice bathroom. It’s in a mixed area that seems in some ways to be quite affluent but in others not, with lots of street stalls and the usual detritus of Asian big city life. Just across the road is an interesting place that has links to my hotel. It’s billed as a communal living space. In a new building is a cafe, several different eateries – and a laundrette! Like my hotel, it seems popular with young Muslim women.

Yes, that is a row of washing machines along the back wall!
Nice place, isn’t it?
The exterior.
– and the lobby of my hotel…

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OK, who’s going to tell them?

21 Sunday Apr 2024

Posted by in Aircraft, Fake News, Mediawatch, Photography, Social media

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As a photographer and journalist I’m used to seeing bloopers of various kinds in print. You’d have thought that nowadays, with people having access to the sum total of human knowledge via the click of a button and access to the internet, it would be easy to find what you wanted. But, that requires having a rudimentary knowledge of the subject, an enquiring mind and the ability to say “really”?

Today, the Manchester Evening News failed on all those front. Whoever was doing their picture research for this puff piece will have outraged the country’s aircraft enthusiasts, historians and general anoraks in one go. Earlier, as I was checking news pages, this flashed up on my screen.

A ‘Spitfire‘? Really? Umm, no. That’s an equally famous but very different four-engined heavy bomber called the ‘Lancaster‘. Still, it’s from the same era (World War 2) so that’s alright then!

Actually, it gets worse, as David Wilding pointed out on Twitter (Bugger you Musk, there’s no way I’m calling it X).

Oh dear! Quite why a ‘court reporter’ is churning out puff-pieces like this is a mystery. But then so many newspapers have such limited staff these days people are expected to produce copy that’s why outside their experience. In many cases they’ve little knowledge of the subject that’s meant to be their specialism. Is it any wonder the public are so let down by the media nowadays? If those tasked with informing us can’t get the basics right, what chance do their readers have?

Oh, for those who know nothing about aircraft, here’s what a Spitfire really looks like. As you can see *cough* – it’s very easy to confuse with a 4-engine heavy bomber!

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Cambridgeshire day 4…

05 Tuesday Sep 2023

Posted by in Aircraft, Cambridgeshire, Duxford, History, Imperial War Museum, Photography

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Today we only had one destination in mind. The Imperial War Museum’s airfield at Duxford. We knew there was so much to see that we gave ourselves an entire day to see it – and we were very glad we did! Even we hadn’t appreciated just how large the aircraft collections are – and it’s not just aircraft either (more about that later).

We’d also decided on an early start as we knew today was going to be a hot-one weatherwise, although you wouldn’t have known that at 07:30 this morning. This was the view from our verandah with early morning mist obscuring the nearby fishing ponds – hardly flying weather – even for Ducks!

Now, unless you have an interest in aircraft and military or social history, Duxford probably isn’t for you. It’s not cheap to get in, and adult ticket (with a donation included) is £29, but when you see what’s preserved there and what goes on in the way of aircraft restoration and maintenance, you realise it’s not an bad price to pay. The museum’s also still an active airfield, so there’s always a series of aircraft taking off and landing with some providing commercial trips. Today this varied from civil light aircraft through to vintage Tiger Moth biplanes and a twin seater Spitfire, PT462. Costs vary considerably, with the Spitfire (understandably) being the most expensive, but if you have a spare few grand in your back pocket…

There was a procession of other aircraft in the air too. Single-seater Spitfires and Hurricanes kept the air full of the sound of Rolls Royce Merlin engines, as did an American P51 ‘Mustang’. The bigger aircraft stayed on the ground today but a PBY ‘Catalina’ flying boat and an American B17 ‘Flying Fortress’ basked in the sun for all to admire. Here’s a few pictures from our visit.

North American AT-16 Harvard IIB.
You don’t normally see a German V1 rocket displayed on the original ‘ski ramp’ launcher complete with propellant system. The old hangers and buildings are stuffed with aircraft and other memorabilia from the site’s time as an operational military airfield.
Hurricane Mk1 No V7497 was built in 1940 and is back in the air. You can learn more about the aircraft here.
A Sea Fury under restoration in one of the hangers. They way some of these planes are restored to airworthiness when some are little more than wrecks is truly amazing.
Some of the aircraft aren’t what you’d called tiddlers. Here’s a Handley Page Victor, built as one of the V-bombers that carried the UKs original nuclear deterrent.
In the same hall is one of the two surviving TSR-2 aircraft. The project was cancelled before the planes went into service, sparking lots of debate as to how good they *could* have been to this day.
Fans of the spoof Twitter site ‘RAF Luton’ will know this aircraft well as the English Electric Canberra features all the time. This brought memories for John as he maintained these planes out in Cyprus during his national service.

As well as aircraft there’s a whole building dedicated to land warfare at the far end of the site. This includes tanks and guns from world war 1 onwards, with some of the most recent being the most sobering as they’re fighting in the Ukraine right now. Former Soviet Union BMP1 and BTR80 armoured personnel carriers are used by both sides, whilst 14 of the British Challenger 2 tanks on display with them have been supplied to the Ukrainians (the first one ever to be destroyed in combat was reported today).

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Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

31st August picture of the day…

31 Thursday Aug 2023

Posted by in Aircraft, Cambridgeshire, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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The last blog of August’s only a short one as the pair of us are preparing for a few days away in Cambridgeshire starting tomorrow which means there’ll be a series of blogs and pictures from a different neck of the woods for a while. Dawn found an interesting opportunity at some new lodges where the price was just too good to resist, so we’re heading down there with her parents for a few days R&R in the hope we might actually get some summer weather. The place we’re staying at is just 30 mins away from the Imperial War Museum at Duxford which Dee’s dad (who did his national service in the RAF) has always wanted to explore. We went once to see the recreation of a WW2 ‘big wing’ which brought 22 Spitfire aircraft together but we’ve never explored the museum building or static aircraft exhibits so we thought. it’s time we did. Mind you, I’m the only one who knows Cambridgeshire, for the Platt family it’s pretty much virgin territory, so I’m going to be wearing a tour guide’s hat for the next week as I show them around the likes of Cambridge and Ely.

I’ll be having one day off to do some railway stuff which will give me another opportunity for blogging as I explore, although I’ve no firm plans for where I’m going yet, that depends on a client’s shot list arriving in my inbox tomorrow.

Right now it’s time to go. I’ve got stuff to prepare and a cottage to sort out for the folks who’ll be looking after it whilst we’re away. I’ll leave you with an image from the last time we visited Duxford. The chance to see so many vintage Spitfires is a rare one, but in 2015…

10 of the 22 Spitfires in flight at Duxford in September 2015. If you’ve any interest in planes powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines you can just imagine how this sounded.

You can see some more pictures of the aircraft we saw at Duxford here.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

14th May picture(s) of the day…

14 Sunday May 2023

Posted by in Aircraft, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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In contrast to last weekend when we were in Istanbul the pair of us have had a home-based time at Bigland Towers. The weather’s picking up – as are the temperatures – so the season’s feeling more like the May of old rather than the miserable and wet one we’ve experienced so far. We’ve also had a impromptu weekend. Yesterday, whilst browsing the internet I found out that the Lancaster bomber from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) was due to include an afternoon flypast at the Golcar lily festival in the nearby Colne valley. As the skies consisted of blue skies and bright sunshine the pair of us decided to pop over to watch. It’s near where Dawn’s parent live anyway so we could call in and see them. Surprisingly, information on the flypast was limited. There was nothing on the BBMF website. All I had for reference was an article on the Yorkshire Post website which gave times. Despite this, we decided ‘what the hell’ and Dawn drove us over. Fortunately (as a local girl) Dee had a really good idea where on the South side of the valley would be the best place to head to so we parked up on a road high above Golcar and waited. Eventually we were joined by another couple and their young lad. They’d spotted us, seen my camera and worked out why we where there. The cahp had ‘flightrader’ on his phone so scanned for signs of the Lanc’. No Lancaster to be found, but a Spitfire was heading our way…

Sure enough, in the timeframe the Lancaster was meant to arrive a Spitfire and Hurricane from the BBMF put in an appearance to put on a short display over the village before flying off to their next engagement. I’d been expecting a slow, four-engine bomber, not a pair of nimble (and far smaller) fighter aircraft, so even my 400mm lens was struggling with the range, but I managed to grab a couple of reasonable shots, but it was frustrating…

Today we haven’t moved from home at all. Whilst I prepared lunch Dee’s been the ‘hostess with the mostest’, cooking up a mouth-watering evening meal of pulled-pork, roasted vegetables and new potato’s seasoned with some of my home-grown Parsley. Now it’s time to call it a day and relax before the start of another week. I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from yesterday’s flypast. Expect more blogs and more wide-ranging travels next week…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

A return from our Turkish delight…

09 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by in Air Travel, Aircraft, Airports, Istanbul, Travel, Turkey

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Yep, we’re back in the UK after our long weekend in Istanbul which was enjoyed by all. I was certainly impressed with what the city had to offer in the way of history and architecture, but also in its people. Yes, some areas can be very touristy and you do get some hassle from touts in those places but it’s mild compared to other parts of the world I’ve visited and once you get away from that the atmosphere changes. All of us agreed that the vast majority of local people that we met made a really positive impression.

This morning it was time to fly back with a different airline from a different airport. Today we were flying with Turkish Airlines from the International airport on the European side rather than where we landed at Sabiha Gökçen on the Asian side. The airport was opened in 2018 and already covers a huge area, although there’s plans to expand it even more. Now, I have a love/hate relationship with flying. If I can avoid it I will because of the environmental cost and damage flying causes (especially domestic and short-haul), but sometimes there’s no viable alternative. That said, I do wince when I see massive new airports like Istanbul’s. The facilities may make life a lot easier for passengers but there’s a huge amount of steel and concrete involved in there construction, as well as clearing the land for the site and all the servicing facilities and power needed. Then there’s the fact that – really – they’re often huge shopping centres you merely catch flights from and International was no exception to this. There’s a mammoth amount of stalls selling luxury goods, expensive trinkets and the obligatory duty-free. On the plus side, the place isn’t cramped and claustrophobic the way some older airports can be, although there was a distinct lack of seating until you get to the gates. Maybe the planners just want you to spend your time wandering aimlessly through the shops in the hope you’ll buy something.

Security’s tight here too. Your baggage gets x-rayed as soon as you enter the terminal, then there’s the ID checks at the check-in desk, and again at baggage drop. Then you go through passport control and have your hand-luggage x-rayed once more. Finally, when you arrive at the gate there’s another ID and ticket check as well as another security search.

Finally, we made it onto the plane which was 25 mins late departing, but that was no big deal. Airlines get away with a lot when it comes to late flights. If it was a train people would be playing merry hell but at an airport people just seem to accept it. However, I can’t complain about the flight. Our plane was an Airbus A321-271NX which was as old as the airport. Unlike Pegasus, Turkish Airlines offer a full service onboard as part of the ticket price (just don’t ask how much extra you pay for luggage!). The staff were both friendly and efficient and the service really good. On the 3hr 50m journey we were served a hot meal which is in my case consisted of a Hummus starter with bread roll, chicken with rice and veg, then a chocolate pudding. You had a choice of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, plus tea or coffee to wash it all down with at the end.

Not a bad effort…

It felt like a far cry from some of the offerings of British Airways where you get a cardboard box with a sandwich and a chocolate bar – although to be fair the BA I’ve never flown more than short-haul into Europe with them for many years. Oh, and not booked by me I may add, but by companies on press trips when the Eurostar trains were full!

After such a good flight even Manchester airport didn’t let us down. We breezed through passport control, picked up our bags in reasonable time, then made our way to the station to catch a busy Trans-Pennine Express service to Huddersfield where Aubrey (having had a successful day in court where the jury was sworn-in) was waiting to pick us up and ferry us back to Halifax.

Now it’s time to unwind, having unpacked and prepared to resume life back in the UK. Dawn’s still on holiday tomorrow and off to watch the coronation with Fran and Kath (two more of the five) whilst I’ll be having a busy day at home catching up with work and picture editing from our travels. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with another highlight of our Turkish trip. Regular readers will know of our love for cats. This is a love that’s obviously shared by many Turks. Several mornings when we eating breakfast we had this charming companion distracting us – as we did today before we left…

Cute, no?

Here’s another thing that caught my eye. Tsunami warning/instruction signs in the Karaköy district where were staying.

There’s many more Turkish pictures to follow over the next few days, from tourist sites to streetlife, food to shipping. I’ll let you know where (and when) they appear…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Rolling blog. Turkey travels day 1…

05 Friday May 2023

Posted by in Air Travel, Airports, Istanbul, Photography, Rolling blogs, Travel, Turkey

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07:15.

Finally, after having this break planned for so long that we kinda forgot about it – we’re off to Istanbul with the gang. Dee’s finishing her packing whilst I’m on coffee duty and pottering around and making sure various devices are fully charged so that I can cut down on the amount of kit I’m carrying. We’re only away a few nights so it’s hardly packing for Asia.

Today’s a good day to be heading off. It’s snother grey, misty day here in the Calder Valley alhough this morning’s political news has added a bright spot. The local election results that have come through in overnight counting show the Tories suffereing heavy defeats, UKIP being annihilated and the Reform party getting nowhere. It’s not looking good for the Tories in either ‘red wall’ seats or their Southern heartlands…

We’ve less than an hour before we get picked up to begin our journey to Manchester Airport to join a Turkish Airlines flight. Admittedly, I’d rather be getting there on the Orient Express, but those days are long gone and Brexit has just killed off the last lingering UK leg of that romantic train. I’ll blog through the day (time and wifi) permitting. It’s a four-hour flight and Aubrey’s arranged transport at the other end to get us straight to the hotel, so we should be having a pleasant late afternoon in Istanbul. Let’s see how it goes…

09:45

We’ve had an easy and stress-free taxi trip from Halifax to Manchester Airport, even the infamous ‘cobbled motorway’ (M62) played ball. Now it’s time to check in at terminal 2.

11:40.

Here we go…

The 5 off on another adventure…

Our flight with Pegasus was rather good. An Airbus A321 Neo carried us to Istanbul. Here’s take-off from Manchester.

For much of the 3hr 40m flight it wasn’t possible to glimpse ground due to heavy clouds but every so often we got a decent break to compare different field systems in different countries. The one thing all the countries had in common was rapeseed crops. The bright yellow flowers are a bit of a give-away.

Once off the plane we breezed through customs snd immigration, which made a pleasant change. Aubrey has arranged a vehicle to take us straight to the hotel so that part was simple too. The roads were rammed but surprisingly free of hassle. No-one used their horns but the amount of people driving whilst using their phone’s was a bit of an eye-opener!

My first impressions were that arriving in Istanbul was very similar to arriving in Athens. Busy roads, lots of concrete and apartment blocks. The only difference was mosques and minarets.

We’re staying in the Wolf Hotel in the Karakoy district. The barrow streets are full of cafes, restaurants and bars – but not cars, which makes for a relaxed atmosphere and outside tables are great for people watching. There’s a fascinating mix of people, both tourists and locals. The biggest difference to the UK is the amount of smokers. Even conservatively dressed young Moslem women can be seen sitting outside cafes puffing away, something you’d rarely see in Britain.

More to follow…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

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– and relax! (Shropshire diary. Day 5)…

05 Tuesday Oct 2021

Posted by in Aircraft, History, Photography, Shropshire, Travel

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The weather forecast for Shropshire was lousy today. It claimed we’d be awash with rain, so we’d planned accordingly and arranged a couple of indoor visits. After a leisurely start to the day that involved lots of coffee and a healthy breakfast of porridge, blueberry compote and toasted coconut flakes we drove off to our first assignment – a visit to the Royal Airforce Museum at Cosford. For anyone interested in aircraft it’s an amazing place packed full of aircraft right through from World War 1 Sopwith Pups right to prototype Eurofighters – with lots more in between. The aircraft and other exhibits are spread over several halls, most of which are old aircraft hangers but the building dedicated to telling the story of the ‘cold war’ is a custom-built structure and a great exhibition space. Due to Covid rules we were encouraged to pre-book and register for add-ons like the 4D ‘Red Arrows’ experience, where you feel like you’re in the cockpit of one of the planes flying in their famous displays. The museum was quiet when we visited so we had the 4D experience (which costs £5 apiece) to ourselves. The pair of us found the museum so interesting we ended up spending several hours there, from 11:00 until after 14:30. Admittedly, we did take a coffee break in the cafe in-between halls!

An English Electric ‘Lightning’ interceptor aircraft on display in the ‘Cold War’ building. The Mach 2 Lightning was in service with the RAF from 1960 until 1988. It was designed to protect the RAF’s nuclear deterrent ‘V-Bomber’ airfields from Russian bomber aircraft. It’s displayed like this in homage to its incredible rate of climb capability which led to the nickname pilots gave it – the ‘Frightening’.
This is the British Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 strike and reconnaissance aircraft, one of only two ever built before the programme was cancelled back in 1965. The decision was controversial with some people maintaining this was the best aircraft we never built.
Here’s the Sikorsky S-65/HH-53C ‘Super Jolly Green Giant’ helicopter which was converted for special operations – hence the rotary cannon sticking out of the side behind the cockpit!

On leaving we drove back to our next appointment which was in Shrewsbury where we’d booked to see the new James Bond film “No time to Die”. At 2 hours 40 it’s hardly a short film but to be honest, the time flew by! It’s a blockbuster of a film with a real twist that I won’t reveal but fans of the franchise won’t be disappointed by the action scenes, chases, locations or gadgets. Daniel Craig’s as excellent as ever. Personally, I’d have to say he’s been my favourite Bond since Sean Connery started the ball rolling.

Now we’re relaxing at ‘home’ with a drink after scoffing a home-made veggie noodle stir-fry. Tomorrow the weathers meant to change once more so we’ll be back outdoors. The plan is to spend much of the day walking on the Long Mynd at Church Stretton, which is a wonderful bit of countryside. Watch this space…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

27th November picture of the day…

27 Wednesday Jan 2021

Posted by in Air Travel, Aircraft, Musings, Picture of the day

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There’s not much of a blog from me tonight. I’m tired and hurting from my fall yesterday, although I didn’t let it stop me getting my exercise today, it just meant some of it was through gritted teeth.

I do have one small cause for celebration. I try for a little victory each day – something that I’ve accomplished so that I can feel that I’m moving forward. Today’s was scanning the last few slides from our round the world trip. We left the UK and arrived in India on the 6th November 1997. Over the next 18 months we visited many states in India, then overland into Nepal to go trekking before flying to Thailand where we travelled overland to Malaysia, then by ferry to tour Sumatra, back to Malaysia and overland to Singapore before flying to Bali, then travelling by bus and ferry as far as the Island of Flores in the East. From there we flew back to Bali, toured the island with friends before doing a ‘visa run’ to Singapore and back. After which we went by bus and ferry to tour Java thence returning to Bali for the final time before flying to Australia for Xmas with friends we’d made on our travels. We toured Victoria with Alison and her family, then caught a train to Sydney to meet up with yet more friends before flying to Auckland, New Zealand. From there we travelled by train through the North Island, then a mixture of train and bus around the South Island (with Alison once again, sans kids) before flying back to Auckland to connect with our Air New Zealand flight to Los Angeles via a week in Fiji and another in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Barely pausing for breath in LA, we caught our final flight on the 20th March with Virgin Atlantic, who flew us back across the pond and home to London, where we arrived on the 21st March 1999. This rather breathless precis is just to give a flavour of what was an incredible experience. You’ll be able to find all the photographs in this gallery by the end of the week. One day (when time permits) I hope to blog in detail about aspects of the trip and show just how much the world has changed since those heady days of the 1990s. For now, here’s the picture of the day, which is the final picture I took on the trip…

We caught a Virgin Atlantic flight from LA (VS8) at 17.30, it’s an overnight flight as the journey takes 10 + hours to cover the 5416 miles. Waking up on the morning of the 21st just in time to feel the plane banking over the Atlantic at sunrise I grabbed this picture out of the aircraft window…

Memories…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!