M and J Adventures

Time in Jakarta

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:33:00 +0000

We're almost off again to visit friends and family in New Zealand; flying out of Barcelona for 3 days in Amsterdam and then the long haul to the antipodes.

It's got me thinking about last year's trip in which we stopped off in Jakarta for a few days. We have 2 sets of friends living in the city, so it was a great opportunity to see them again, and to visit a new city for both of us.

Our trip started by flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Weird, I know, but we had J's sister and brother-in-law staying with us during the week before we left, so we travelled back to Germany with them, and stayed for a few days with J's parents in Bad Karlshafen. Plus, as we were flying with Emirates Airlines who only commenced flying to Spain in August 2010, we had to start our journey with them in Frankfurt.

Flying back into Dubai was a strange experience for us. We felt as if we were arriving home, but being in transit meant that we didn't leave the airport, as we did so many times when we lived in the UAE. So near, yet so far.

The plane behind us with the DXB control tower in the background

An Emirates Airbus A380 looks small against the huge new Terminal 3 at Dubai's Sheikh Rashid International Airport

Arriving at the gate for our Jakarta flight, we were surprised to see an almost empty departure lounge. We boarded the bus that was to take us to our plane which was in an outfield position. Boarding, it quickly became apparent that the 300 seat plane only had 70 passengers for this flight. We were delighted - lots of space for everyone!

An Emirates 777 takes off as we taxi towards the runway to do the same

The Emirates crew on this flight was super-friendly and very relaxed, as there was not much for them to do with so few passengers onboard. Once the plane took off, I moved around the cabin and spent a lot of time taking photos of various cloud formations and talking to the crew. I must have slept a little as we passed over India, as I didn't see any land!

Crew members asked us where we were going.
"Jakarta," was our reply.
"Yes, but you're going to Bali, right?"
"No, we're staying in Jakarta."
"Why? There's nothing to do in Jakarta!"

We got this response quite a lot!

Arriving at 10pm, our good friend H was there to pick us up. After running the gauntlet of taxi drivers outside the terminal, we waited until a Bluebird Taxi arrived. This is the company that H prefers, as they don't rip off their passengers like she has experienced with other companies.

H and E's house is lovely - big and open with beautiful grounds, gorgeous trees filled with squirrels and butterflies, and a swimming pool in which to cool off in, between the thunder storms which are almost a common daily occurrence.

We settled into their family life, unworried about wanting to venture too far - it was just wonderful to see H again, and to sit and catch up with her after so long. The 2 girls were a joy, and we had fun - attending the younger one's football practice at their awesome American school, and cooking dinner with the older one.

Indonesia's version of Thailand's tuktuk is called the bajaj which is the name of the Indian manufacturer

We got out a couple of times with our other Jakarta friend, S - 1 dinner at an Indian restaurant and another at her home, where her cook made the most amazing food.

Jakarta is a very difficult city to navigate. We could see why people were surprised that we were staying there, and not going elsewhere in Indonesia. The traffic is diabolical and there are very few roads with pedestrian footpaths. Combining these factors with the hot, humid weather makes walking anywhere into endurance and survival tests, and all the senses that our bodies possessed were simultaneously assaulted as we walked along the roadsides, dodging vehicles and roadside stalls. This was just to get to the supermarket!

4 lanes marked on the road, but 6 lanes of actual traffic and motorbikes everywhere!

Despite the high traffic volume, it is organised chaos. No one gets angry, everyone lets other drivers in, and it flows as well as it can. We didn't see any accidents and I believe that we only ever saw one car with panel damage. However, getting around can take ages in the rush hours and in the wet. It's little wonder that most expats choose to employ a driver. The locals are experts at handling the traffic. We foreigners would either be too timid or too aggressive to fit in with the flow. Most of the streets in the neighbourhood areas are narrow, and often one way with little signage.

We did love the people - so open, friendly and willing to help. Indonesia has the world's biggest muslim population, but unlike some of the muslim countries that we have visited or lived in, we felt that there is a bigger sense of acceptance of others then we have experienced elsewhere. Of course, this differs from place to place, and certainly our friend E, (who works for the German Red Cross), was more wary, as he had been shot 3 times while driving in a car in the Aceh province. Miraculously, he survived after being med-evaced with serious injuries to Singapore for treatment. The incident has created ironic bemusement, because after all his many years spent living and working in Pakistan, he had to leave there because it was getting too dangerous; only to be shot in Indonesia within weeks of arriving to work there.

Indonesia was settled (mainly) by the Dutch many years ago, and we ventured into old Batavia for a look around. It's centered around a square surrounded by colonial buildings which now house either schools or museums.

One of the old Dutch colonial buildings

It was lunchtime, so there were kids in the square hiring bicycles and riding around, having fun. We got so many smiles, waves and greetings. It reminded us of a time in Oman when the schoolboys had hung out of the school buses to greet us.

Two gorgeous smiles and waves, even though the second girl is obscured....

...so I got another picture of her!

The bikes, complete with hats, stood in colourful rows waiting to be hired and ridden around the square.

No visit to Batavia is complete without stopping at Cafe Batavia. It was a welcome haven of air-conditioning, and wonderful food and drinks. They were setting up for a company's new product launch upstairs, so unfortunately I couldn't get any decent photos of their beautiful seating area, but the photos and pictures lining the walls of the ladies' toilet and the stairwell made for interesting images.

The ladies' restroom in Cafe Batavia

The poster wall, including a lot of photos of famous people who had visited the cafe. Note the image of Suharto, prominently placed in the center of the display!

Good fortune decorations for Chinese New Year hang in the cafe doorway

As we sat in the cafe, separated from the square by a row of windows, I was able to observe a lot of the activity, and unobtrusively take photos.

Street vendors taking a break

A group of schoolgirls all lost in their own thoughts

I didn't know whether this was a bride and groom getting images taken, or a fashion shoot. The guy in the white shirt is the make-up artist. The photographer had disappeared for a break.

Eating lunch, oblivious to all around her

This kid knew exactly how to sit on the bike. We saw some incredible stacks of people on motorbikes around the city.

Children ordering food

After venturing out of the square, the neighbourhood quickly degenerated. Although the people were still friendly, J became very aware that both H and I were carrying photographic gear that was worth several times more than most Indonesians would earn in a year, so she encouraged us to turn back.

All tucked up and sound asleep

A derelict building

But we did get as far as seeing a river that was mostly plastic which made us despair. Each minute, the volume of rubbish being carried out to sea was more than J and I could possibly use and recycle in a year. Truly disheartening.

Most of the household rubbish would be thrown out of the windows into the river

A guy was collecting some of the plastic - most likely that which he could trade in for money or re-use, but there was so much left in the river to wash away into the sea

Sitting outside her home on the river

Heading back to Batavia Square, we were followed by this cute little guy for a while. He chattered away to everyone around him and, most likely, to a lot of others that we couldn't see!

His hat looked like some sort of official military headwear

Now in the square was a group of kids dressed in very colourful batik clothing.

Cheeky!

They were more than happy to pose for photographs, and we exchanged email addresses so that we could send them the pictures that we took.

Our friend H takes photos of the boys

They were visiting from Yogyakarta which is an area renowned for its batik.

These kids were so cool!

They were certainly great ambassadors for their region's batik offerings.

The girls were little princesses!

Tired and hot now, we headed back home.

While we enjoyed our time in Jakarta, we wouldn't recommend it as a tourist destination, but for us with friends domiciled in the city, it was definitely a wonderful experience. We will certainly return to Indonesia to explore more of its offerings outside of the capital.

Blog Award

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:48:00 +0000

It's actually not an award, but more of a meme; the blogger version of a chain letter.

I'm usually not into these things, and to be honest, I've put off doing this one for as long as possible because:
~ analysing myself is not my favourite thing to do.
~ yes, I was the one who always broke chain letters when they used to arrive in the mail, and I do so with the emailed ones.
~ I don't like nominating the next victims to do it.

However, I was then nominated THREE times by bloggers Seabee, Jayne and Sandlander, all for whom I have the utmost esteem and regard, and we share the common bond of having lived in the U.A.E., with Seabee still there and Sandlander doing the odd forays back for work.

How could I say no: so, here goes!

1. If you blog anonymously, are you happy with this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously so that you could be anonymous now?

When I started our blog, we were living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates - land of censored internet, where anything with a rude word was not viewable, and some blogs were blocked because someone would take offence at the slightest criticism of the U.A.E. and all hell would break loose. I was never going to set the blogging world alight by discussing anything of great importance, and the main reason for the blog was so that friends and family, living at numerous points around the globe, could keep track of us as we travelled and experienced new adventures. Since leaving the U.A.E., I have relaxed and posted the occasional image of us and share a little more personal information than before, but I'm happy to keep ourselves relatively anonymous. After all, our friends and family know who we are, and anyone who wants further details can email us.

2. Describe an incident that describes your stubborn side.

I don't think that I have one! If I truly believe in something, I will resolutely defend my belief, but I'm happy to let others believe what they will and celebrate the differences. Anyone who has a totally different mindset to me is not going to be among my friends, anyway. I'm not sure that this really answered the question.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

How much alcohol am I allowed to drink before I do that? I hate mirrors with a passion and avoid them at all costs - hence my usual dishevelled appearance, no make-up and total disregard for myself. Mirrors in supermarkets and department stores should be banned.

4. What is your favourite summer cold drink?

Just one? Damn. It differs depending on where, when and who we're with. One of the best memories is of beer o'clock times while on holidays at Skala Eressos in Greece - sitting with friends in Rosie's Moon Cantina at around 4pm each day; eating tuna salads with divine feta cheese, and downing the first cold Heineken.
Heaven.

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

Put on loud music and sing. Doesn't happen very often anymore, I have to say.

6. Is there something that you still want to accomplish in your life?

I have a Bucket List. It involves a lot of travel and requires copious amounts of cash to do it.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person or always ditching?

I was smarter than I let on, but I didn't want to be singled out - I simply didn't know how to handle the recognition. Hence, I didn't try too hard and didn't do anything to draw attention to myself. Even when swimming, which I excelled at, when I did win races I would be embarrassed. When we moved to NZ from Fiji, I was stunned (as was my teacher) to top my first year in Science class, with the highest mark in the internal end-of-year exams, and then had to endure walking up to receive a reward at the Prize-giving ceremony. I made sure that I never did that again!

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what do you see?

In NZ last year, hugging my nephew goodbye, knowing that my brother's marriage was on the rocks and that my nephew would be moving to Slovakia with his mother, and not knowing when or if I will see him again.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people and events?

No, we choose not to reveal too much about ourselves. Our blog is mostly filled with what we've done and where we've been, but the posts read more like a travelogue than a personal diary.

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Next to mirrors, phones come a close second on the list of "Things that would be banned if I ruled the world". The book wins.

The meme is done and the chain is broken!

Germany for Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Since our return from the frozen north, I've been laid low with the worst case of flu ever recorded on this earth. I've only been operating at about 30%, so J has been doing the cooking and washing up. I've just been able to maintain doing the laundry or having a shower, before stumbling to the couch and collapsing in a pathetic, coughing, sneezing, aching, wheezing wreck; waiting for the room to cease its crazy whirling, and the polka-dotted elephants to stop dancing before my eyes.

As one who does not regularly fall ill, (the last time was when we lived in Dubai back in 2005), it's poleaxed me. J's mum was sick when she stayed with us at the beginning of Dec; then J went down with it; and then we travelled to and from Germany in trains and planes full of people with coughs and sneezes, so I guess that it was long overdue, and hopefully this will top-up my resistance levels for at least another 5 years to come.

Another thing, that I guess did not help, was having to do a lot of this:

We felt like our whole week with J's family was spent shovelling snow from pavements and carparks, or walking the family dogs through knee-high snow in the fields above the house.

At least Bonnie, (the youngest of the 3 family dogs), had fun and we provided her with some extra exercise and diversion.

It was extremely beautiful, and very cold; around -10degC on average. As the air was dry, I didn't have any problems with my Canon 5D2 fogging up, and it behaved perfectly. I did manage to get a few good shots under grey skies, but my fingertips just about broke off with the cold, as I would have to remove my gloves to adjust the camera settings.

We were lucky during one walk when the sun dipped below the cloud cover and shone blood red, before setting for the evening.

It was our first white Christmas where it actually snowed most days, and J's family was happy that we made the effort to get there, so I guess that it was all worthwhile.

Ask me again in a few days' time when I start to, once more, feel human.

Roadside Streams and Waterfalls

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 09:56:00 +0000

We didn't have to go far to find water in Andorra, as streams run alongside most of the roads leading into the valleys and skifield areas.

As there were many very pretty scenes, J was forever stopping the car so that I could hop out to get another image. The boys took the opportunities to fool around or eat!

Tobacco in Andorra

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 14:29:00 +0000

Seemingly, wherever there is a spare, arable section of land in Andorra that isn't built upon, it's planted in tobacco. The lucrative crop is the only surviving form of agriculture in the country, discounting the longer-growing forestry industry which has highjacked the untenable, steeper slopes of most of the mountains that are not fit for anything else.

Season's Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:11:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to all and have a safe and happy holiday season. We're off to Germany tomorrow for a week, before escaping back to a warmer Barcelona for New Year's Eve. Be careful out there!

Os de Civis

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:27:00 +0000

While visiting Andorra back in August, I read about a little village called Os de Civis and decided that it was worth a visit.

Os de Civis nestled in a valley, with the church at the highest point

While only accessible from Andorra, Os de Civis is actually a Catalonian town in the province of Lleida.

We spent a couple of hours here, wandering through the narrow lanes and up to the Romanesque church which, unfortunately, was not open. However, the stonework of the houses was truly artwork to admire.

Church entrance

View from the church verandah

Mammatus

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 13:18:00 +0000

Back in June towards the end of Iceland's volcanic eruption disruptions, I looked out of our window to see the most amazing cloud display. Grabbing my camera, I raced onto our balcony to record it.

Although there was no threat of rain and blue sky, a mass of mammatus clouds was buzzing across the sky. The clouds were moving quite quickly, so I had to work fast to record them.

I have read that they can form under layers of volcanic ash clouds, so I'm assuming that Eyjafjallajökull's eruption may have contributed to this formation.

It was only the second time that I had seen mammatus - the first being a brief display of them over Melbourne, Australia back in 2007.

They are my favourite clouds!

Usually mammatus clouds are associated with bad, often violent, storms or tornadoes, but we didn't experience any of that, thank goodness.

Shortly after they disappeared, we were treated to a very pink and orange sunset.

A beautiful ending to another perfect day in Barcelona!

Patrulla Águila - the Jet Aerobatic Team of Spain's Air Force

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:33:00 +0000

Closing this year's Festa al Cel was Patrulla Águila (Eagle Patrol) which is the Spanish Air Force's jet precision team.

I was lucky enough to catch their practice run on the Friday before the airshow as well as their official performance, so the weather variations in my images reflect the 2 days.

Flying CASA C-101 Aviojets, the team operates from the San Javier Airbase in Spain's Murcia region. They are the only team in the world to use yellow smoke which is one of the two national colours of Spain; the other being red.

Their display was extremely competent with tight formations and manoeuvres, and they were one of the few displays that flew close enough to the beach to make it more exciting.

This year, the team has a Catalan leader from Barcelona - Comandante José María "Pep" Alonso - and this made it all the more special for the crowd because a local boy was in charge!

The team is also known for its formation take-off and landing displays which quite often aren't thought about in the schematics. For shows based at airfields, this means that Patrulla Águila gives a comprehensive display from the moment that the pilots march onto the airfield to get into their planes until the time that they march out after the display.

This year is the team's 21st year of operation in which time it has grown from a formation of 5 aircraft, then 6, and finally to its present configuration of 7. Over 16,000 flight hours have been logged in this time.

As well as flying as part of a lot of Spain's national celebrations, Patrulla Águila has also flown demonstrations in countries such as Finland, Israel, Portugal and Turkey and, since 2003, there are annual tours to events in America and Canada.

For more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Yakovlev 11 and replica Mitsubishi A6M Zero

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:57:00 +0000

The coolest thing about Festa al Cel is that it's held in Barcelona which means that there are lots of countries' air forces and air museums within close proximity to call on and invite to participate.

The Belgian, French and the Netherlands air forces were well-represented this year; Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya Museum based at Sabadell is almost within spitting distance; EADS is across the French/Spanish border at Perpignan, and Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis Air Museum (AJBS) is located just south of Paris.

Along with the American P-51D Mustang that I covered in an earlier post, AJBS also flew in a Russian Yakovlev 11 and a replica Japanese Mitsubishi Zero.

In aviation circles, the Yakovlev is referred to the Russian equivalent of the American T-6 Texan Harvard, and their roles are very similar as both were used as airforce training planes.

Widely used by about 18 countries that were influenced by Russian weaponry and armament, the Yak-11 saw duty from 1947 until 1962. In 1950, a North Korean Yak-11 became the first registered "kill" of the Korean War when it was shot down by a US Airforce F-82 Twin Mustang which is an aircraft also worth researching.

After the Yak-11 was retired from active service, it became a much sought-after machine. Pilots bought and modified them into high performing aircraft for air races, and warbird enthusiasts purchased them for museum and private collections. Of the 3,859 built, approximately 120 Yak-11s are still capable of flying today, and most of these reside in Eastern Europe.

There are less than 10 known intact and airworthy Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero aircraft left in the world which is a tragedy given the aircraft's history. Most of these have been modified in some way, using pieces from other aircraft or especially manufactured parts, as well as replacement engines. Only one aircraft is known to still have the original radial 14-cylinder, 1,200hp Nakajima Sakae 31 engine.

The example from AJBS is not a genuine Zero as it started life as a single-seater American T-6 Texan Harvard. These were built for movie purposes, and starred in famous movies such as Tora! Tora! Tora! and Pearl Harbor.

Just over 10,000 units were manufactured in a brief period from 1940-1945 which was when Japan used them for WWII and the Pacific War. They were excellent long-range machines for use off aircraft carriers, and are perhaps best known for their part in the deadly and effective raid on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in the early morning hours of December 7th 1941. The Zero's fearsome reputation was sealed when it became the machine for the loyal kamikaze pilots. The success of the missions depended on the pilots committing suicide as they would steer their aircraft, ( heavily laden with explosives and fuel), into direct impacts with enemy ships - especially aircraft carriers.

Although more Zeros were built than any other Japanese aircraft over WWII, its effectiveness was short-lived as opposing forces quickly developed their own aircraft (P-38 Lightning, Corsair F4U and F6F Hellcat among them) and strategies, to counter-attack the onslaught of the Japanese Air Force.

For more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

F/A-18 Hornet

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 09:51:00 +0000

2 F-16s (one each from the Netherlands and Belgium) had put on stunning displays of manoeverability and missile avoidance, and now it was the turn of the F-18 from the Aérea de Torrejón Base in Spain which is the Ala 12 squadron's home.

The F-18 is an extremely versatile military aircraft, used in providing air defence for navy fleets, fighter escort for transport and bomber planes, air-to-ground and air-to-air combat, and reconnaissance.

In comparison to the single engine F-16, the twin engine F-18 is quieter, in that its engine noise isn't as harsh and doesn't rip up the air.

Where it shines is that it's highly manoeverable owing to its powerful thrust to weight ratio, and the pilot demonstrated this ability very well, by tail-walking the F-18 at low altitude along the beach, and then applying thrust to take the plane into a steep ascent at low speed. It was awesome to watch.

To read more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Antonov 2R

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 07:45:00 +0000

As far as Russian planes go, there are 3 manufacturers whose names stand above the rest - Antonov, Tupolev and Yakovlev.

The 1st and 3rd had representation at Festa al Cel this year, and Antonov's 2R biplane was the better known.

This remarkable aircraft is a derivative of the original An-2 which was manufactured in its model variants from 1946 until 1991. It stood in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest production run of any aircraft, but was only recently overtaken by the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

The An-2 had many guises, but was better known as a crop-duster for which it was initially built. It has also been used as a people and cargo carrier, firefighter and a parachute drop aircraft.

The Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya plane on display at Festa al Cel was a 2R which is a crop-dusting derivative of the An-2, and originally fitted with a large tank to hold the chemicals.

An interesting feature of the Antonov was that it had no stall speed - the speed at which aircraft stop flying and fall back to Earth.

The pilot's handbook said, "If the engine quits in instrument conditions (blind flying when you can't see the ground) or at night, the pilot should pull the control column full aft (it won't stall) and keep the wings level. The leading-edge slats will snap out at about 64 km/h (40 mph), and when the airplane slows to a forward speed of about 40 km/h (25 mph), the airplane will sink at about a parachute descent rate until the aircraft hits the ground."

Pilots also report that the aircraft is fully in control at 30mph - incredible! A modern-day Cessna has a stall-speed of about 50mph.

For more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Catalina over Catalonia

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:04:00 +0000

The plane that captured my heart at this year's show - the Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina!

My fascination with "flying boats" or "amphibious aircraft" began at a young age, when my father would drive my family down to Laucala Bay in Suva, Fiji to watch the New Zealand Air Force Sunderlands take off and land. These were the quietest moments for my parents, as my brother and I would sit spellbound, watching these huge craft either disengage out of a watery clasp, or climb ashore after landing, seawater streaming off every curve.

The PBY-5A Catalina is a wondrous beauty of classic aviation. I would run onto my verandah in Auckland to watch the local Catalina fly by. The engine noise is distinctive, and she's up there on my list of "must-view-at-every-opportunity" aircraft, along with the DC-3 and Harvard.

The plane on show at Festa al Cel is owned by The Catalina Society based at Duxford Airfield in the UK. The full history of this aircraft records her beginnings with the Canadian Airforce, before various stints as a transporter and a firefighting water-bomber.

Retractable floats are lowered for water landings. When retracted, the floats become the wingtips.

She was then converted to a passenger carrier for a sight-seeing venture in Zimbabwe but that fell through, and after some time in storage in Nanaimo, The Catalina Society purchased and flew her from British Columbia, in Canada, to the UK. She is now used in airshows and sightseeing flights.

More posts on the Barcelona Airshow can be viewed by clicking the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Helicopter Displays

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:12:00 +0000

Festa al Cel wasn't short of helicopter displays this year, with a couple of rescue choppers as well as the display team of the Spanish Air Force.

Helicóptero Salvamento Maritimo (Spain's Coastguard), based in Reus, flew in an Agusta Westland 139 to rendezvous with a coastguard vessel. They then demonstrated a personnel transfer between the helicopter and boat. Spain's coastguard helicopters are used for Search and Rescue operations in the Mediterranean, as well as the monitoring and detection of water pollution.

A Puma helicopter from Mallorca's SAR Escuadrón 801 performed a simulated rescue of a man in the water.

Spain's Air Force flew in Patrulla Aspa, or Blade Patrol in English. Using 5 Eurocopter EC120B Colibrí helicopters, the team was formed in 2003 and is based at Armilla. Their display is always a popular one with the spectators and touted to be the best in the world, out of all the helicopter formation teams.

For more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the "Festa al Cel" label below.

Twister Duo

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:40:00 +0000

A brand new acrobatic team showed their wings at this year's Festa al Cel. The UK's Twister Duo uses 2 Silence SA180/SA1100 Twister planes for its aerobatic display. The Silence Twister aircraft is a German design which has been tweaked and modified in order for it to attain UK Group A and aerobatic certification.

The planes are very quiet - hence the "Silence" part in their name - almost too quiet, as they don't announce their arrival like some of the noisier aircraft. However this doesn't detract from the competent and stunning display of synchronised aerobatics that are part of their routine.

As well as the Twister Duo, one of the planes teams up with an S1 Glider and a Cessna tow-plane for a demonstration with a difference.

For more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the "Festa al Cel" label below.

Hispano Aviación HA-200 Super Saeta

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 09:11:00 +0000

When I first saw this jet at last year's Festa al Cel, I didn't know what it was. Intensive online research revealed why - it's not an aircraft that was widely flown. The HA-200 Super Saeta was only operated by 2 countries, (Spain and Egypt), and only 200 units were built - 110 for Spain and 90 for Egypt. The Spanish airforce used their planes for both combat and as trainers.

Willie Messerschmidt assisted in the Saeta's design and, in 1962, Spain rolled out its first turbojet manufactured in the country. Saeta means Arrow, and the plane is powered by 2 Turbomeca Marboré engines mounted side-by-side, with intakes in the jet's nose. Another design first for Spain was the development of the pressurised cockpit which seated 2 pilots in tandem.

Festa al Cel featured 2 Saetas in its 2010 display. One is privately owned by Victor Lleó from the Club Acrobático Mediterráneo, and the other is owned by the Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya.

For more Barcelona Airshow posts, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Planes from Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 07:24:00 +0000

With the Fundació Parc Aeronàutic de Catalunya based in Sabadell, just out of Barcelona, (and where some of the visiting planes to Festa al Cel were based for the week), it wasn't surprising that they would parade some of their working exhibits.

Unfortunately, some flew too far off the beach to get decent photos, so I missed getting the older biplanes and the T6 Harvard.

The Fundació's website is merely a placeholder as of now but, hopefully with time, they'll start populating it with information as they do have some wonderful aircraft with local origins.

I'll be covering the Antonov 2R and Saetas in separate posts.

The MBB 233 Flamingo is a rare bird these days. It was built by SIAT (West Germany) in the 1960s in response to demands for an aeroclub training aircraft. In 1970, SIAT was acquired by MMB which was the successor to Messerschmidt. (Willy Messerschmidt was a big influence on the development of planes in this area.) Production was later handed to CASA. In 1986, the Flamingo was the test plane in the development of Porsche's aircraft engine. At present, there are only 2 known MBB Flamingos still flying in the world.

MBB 233 Flamingo

Built in the 60s in Czechoslovakia, the 2-seater Zlin Z-326 Tréner Master was manufactured in large numbers and sold all over Europe. It was one of the most highly successful acrobatic planes ever made, and won many competitions in its era.

Zlin Z-326 Tréner Master

Following on the heels of the Z-326, the Zlin Z-526 Akrobat was developed specifically for acrobatic events. The single-seat plane boasted a 6 cylinder, 160hp inverted engine.

Zlin Z-326 Tréner Master

To read more posts about the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Pioneer Team, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:55:00 +0000

Festa al Cel 2010 had no shortage of formation teams, and one of the cutest (am I allowed to say that about a formation team?) was the Pioneer Team from Italy.

Flying 4 Pioneer 300 propeller planes, they showed that they could mix it with the big boys when it came to formation flying, and gave a very competent and entertaining 10 minute performance.

The Pioneer 300 planes are categorised as "ultralight" aircraft, basically meaning that they are slower and lighter than most other aircraft, are more affordable, and have less restrictions on them than higher performance planes. The restrictions differ from one country to another.

A surprise came with a short pyrotechnic display as the planes each fired off a spray of fireworks.

The finale was a slo-mo dance across the sky, the smoke reflecting the Italian flag colours, with Pavarotti blaring through the PA system - very Italy!

Grazie Pioneer Team!

To read more posts on the Barcelona Airshow, click on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

P-51D Mustang

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:21:00 +0000

I love this little plane for its distinctive engine whine, and certainly because I was once able to climb aboard one in New Zealand and get a photo of its impressive cockpit!

Depending on which website I read, I found that this particular P-51 - Nooky Booky IV - was either listed as a P-51D or a P-51K. The difference between them was the factory location and the propeller diameter. The P-51K was manufactured in Dallas, Texas and fitted with a shorter 11" diameter propeller. It proved to be unreliable, and was later replaced with the original 11' 2" propeller.

Nooky Booky IV has a famous history. In WWII she flew with the 357th Fighter Group over Europe, and her pilot Major Leonard K. "Kit" Carson was the highest scoring Ace in the group with a tally of 18 and a half victories - achieved in only one tour of duty. Not sure what the "half" was - maybe a shared "kill"!

Although I can't find any mention of it, because of the prancing horse on the plane's tail, I'm also wondering if the original Packard V-1650 V12 piston engine has been replaced by a Ferrari engine.

The distinctive side profile of the P-51D Mustang

American-produced, the P-51 Mustang was actually built to British specifications. The original design was powered by the American Allison V-1710 engine, but when that proved to be unreliable at high altitudes, the British Rolls Royce Merlin 60 engine was a perfect substitute. At 30,000' the plane reached speeds of 440mph which was 100mph faster than speeds achieved with the Allison engine. (Later the Rolls Royce engine was replaced by the derivative V-1650 engine made by Packard, under licence to Rolls Royce.)

Speed was essential because the P-51's first role was with the British RAF, during WWII in Europe, escorting bomber squadrons and providing cover by engaging with enemy aircraft in order for the bombers to complete their missions.

The P-51 then served with the US Forces in the Pacific War and in the earlier days of the Korean War, before being superseded by newer jet fighters. Its popularity still kept it in service until around 1982 before it was retired. The P-51D differed in looks to earlier versions because of its full perspex "bubble" canopy which greatly increased visibility towards the rear of the aircraft. The popularity of this model ensured its longevity, and it was used by the fighting and defence forces of 55 nations.

Many of the retired Mustangs were bought by private owners and converted into air race specialists, or lovingly restored to become collectors' items and exhibited at airshows and displays such as Festa al Cel.

You can see more Barcelona Airshow posts by clicking on the Label "Festa al Cel" below.

Firefighting Planes

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

This year's Festa al Cel had a good representation of utility planes and helicopters with an interesting display coming from 2 firefighting planes.

The cute little Air Tractor is an extremely versatile aircraft, and can be configured to land on water or land. They can be used for crop dusting, seeding, firefighting, aerial spraying and there's now even a dinky military version to provide cover for ground troops.

The cute little single-seater Air Tractor

In Spain, Air Tractors are used by the Bombers de la Generalitat (Catalonia firefighters), and are usually the first response to bush and forest fires because of their ability to land in smaller lakes to scoop up water.

Able to fly low over a fire, the Air Tractor delivers an effective spread of water to douse flames

Affectionately called Zapatones (boots) by their pilots, these nimble aircraft effectively deliver loads of water over fires in quick succession, providing both extinguishing capabilities and cover for firefighters on the ground.

The Canadair CL-215T Grupo 43 delivers a bigger quantity of water per load, but requires larger and longer stretches of water on which to operate.

Canadair CL-215T Grupo 43

Also known as "Super Scoopers", their tanks can hold 5,300 litres (5,400 kg) of fluid which can be picked up in 10 seconds from the time the plane lands in the water and skims along at 75–80 knots (140–150 kph). That's impressive!

Scooping up water. The overflow spills out of the aluminium tubes located just behind the wheels on both sides.

They can land on water or land, and are capable of delivering 75-125 loads of water to a fire every day, depending on the proximity of the water source to the location of the fire.

Delivering a big water-bomb

The Canadair is renown for its ability to be very stable in gusty conditions which are often found above large fires. They operate well at low speeds with a stall speed of 125kph.

A low-level farewell pass

You can read more posts on the Barcelona Airshow by clicking on the label "Festa al Cel" below.

Holland's F-16

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:28:00 +0000

Not wanting to be outdone by their neighbours Belgium, Holland also sent along an F-16 from their RNLAF F-16 Demo Team which opened Sunday's programme.

With a plane painted in a metallic orange camouflage design, the Dutch display was also very good. Under the command of Captain Tobias Schutte from Leeuwarden Airbase, it takes a lot of people to keep this plane in the air. Apart from the pilot, the team consists of two coaches, six technical specialists, and two advisors. As always, there are advisors!

"One Team, One Task" is the motto of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and the Demo Team is not an exception to this. Not only do they perform their demo duties but, if required, they can also be deployed to worldwide airforce operations during the demo season.

The F-16 was designed with a bubble canopy, giving the pilot superb surround visibility. A Heads-up-display is projected onto the canopy, so that the pilot seldom has to look down at his controls. This greatly reduces chances of motion sickness and dizziness.

Unlike many other aircraft, the joystick controller in the F-16 is not mounted in the center, but on the right-hand side. This allows the seat to be more reclined which further reduces the motion-sickness and G-force effects. I wonder if they have left-handed models for left-handed pilots? Are there any left-handed F-16 pilots?

You can view more posts on the airshow by clicking on the "Festa al Cel" label below.

Belgian F-16

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:35:00 +0000

Impressively loud!

Diving while releasing anti-missile flares

The F-16 tears up the sky like a sharp knife through a piece of paper. I almost expect to see the air split as this plane goes through it.

Friday's practice plane in 2009 colours

Belgium sent one of their F-16 Fighting Falcons to open Saturday's programme. Under the command of Commander Mitch Beulen of the Belgian Air Component, the plane was thrown around the sky, giving us a comprehensive display of the plane's flight capabilities.

Up into a climb with moisture flying off the wings

Belgium was one of 4 countries to first order the American-built F-16 fighter - 160 of them in 2 batches. High attrition rates have seen the number of operational units reduced to 72 - the rest have either been destroyed, mothballed or sold to other countries such as Jordan.

New 2010 livery

The demonstration flight is made up of manoeuvres that are flown during practise sessions for operational missions. The only difference is that the demo flights are at a lower altitude and, as such, the amount of G-forces sustained by the pilot limits the display to approximately 10 minutes. That's about all that our ears could take anyway!

Knife-edge

I took these images of the F-16 during its practice run on Friday, as well as its official demo on Saturday. It wasn't until processing the images that I saw that 2 planes had been used. Friday's F-16 was in the old 2009 livery, while Saturday's plane sported the new 2010 design.

Anti-missile flares

Evasive action

You can read more airshow posts by clicking on the "Festa al Cel" label below.

Commercial Flybys

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:58:00 +0000

Part of the Festa al Cel programme was 3 organised fly-bys of commercial aircraft.

First up was the biggie. On Saturday afternoon, the Lufthansa Airbus A380 took off from El Prat and made its way north at low altitude along the beaches. It was a great sight to see and, for many on the beaches, it would have been their first look at the A380.

Lufthansa A380 - gear down and flying as slow as it could without stalling!

We were fortunate to see the first ever completed A380 in 2005, as Emirates showed it off as part of the 2005 Dubai Airshow, as you can read here. We also flew in an Emirates A380 (currently they have 13 in operation with another 77 on order!) from New Zealand to Dubai back in February.

Next, it was Vueling's turn. With its operations based in Barcelona, Vueling flies budget flights around Europe and the western Mediterranean. It's the 3rd largest airline in Spain behind Ryanair and Iberia.

Vueling A320

On Sunday, Spanair brought a new A320 by on a few runs past us. Spanair is a Catalan airline also based in Barcelona and, being the local airline, the pilot was keen to please as he flew quite fast and low, and did some impressive turns.

Spanair A320 with new livery

You can read more airshow posts by clicking on the "Festa al Cel" label below.

Festa al Cel 2010 - Barcelona's Air Show

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:43:00 +0000

Last weekend, the skies around our place roared to life with the varied engine sounds from aircraft participating in Festa al Cel - Barcelona's annual airshow which is held along the beaches.

Practice Days were Thursday and Friday with the main event spread over Saturday and Sunday. Although the programme was almost the same for the 2 days, there were single appearances by some specialist aircraft, so I sat down on the beach for the Friday practice and both Saturday's and Sunday's performances. I wasn't going to miss a thing!

Diamant Formation

One of the highlights of the show was the French airforce's precision team - Patrouille de France. For the first time in its almost 80-year history, the group is being led by a woman - Commandant Virginie Guyot. In fact, her leadership is the first for any demonstration team, worldwide.

Guyot received her wings in 2002 and was assigned to the MIG reconnaissance squadron 2/33 Savoie. She saw action in Chad, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and in 2007 she was promoted to Squadron Leader, before being made Commandant in 2009. On November 25th 2009, she was appointed leader of Patrouille de France, a position that she is due to vacate next month, as no one can serve as the team's leader for more than a year.

Croisillon Formation

The team's maneuvers are a joy to watch because of their precision and the proximity of each aircraft to the others. It's as if there are ropes, of identical lengths, joining the planes together. The turns, in particular, are marvellous to watch. The whole team turns as one, on a singular plane, pivoting on the inward aircraft whilst the group maintains a knifelike profile. During the turns, the re-positioning of aircraft into different formations happens so silkily that it's easy to miss their singular movements.

Diving down - straight down

Based at Salon-de-Provence, Patrouille de France flies 8 Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet trainer/light assault planes which, in the French Airforce, are used as trainer aircraft. Patriotically painted in tricoleur red white and blue, smoke generators have been installed where the guns are usually situated. Lights have been installed on the nose of each aircraft to enhance their head-on approaches.

My images were taken over 2 days which accounts for the varying weather conditions appearing in the shots. Illumination of the aircraft also depended on their positions relative to the sun. Unfortunately for most of the day, the sun was almost directly overhead and nose-on to the aircraft as they flew south along the beaches - hardly ideal for aircraft photography. There was little that could be done about that!

Showing all 4 sides

Splitsville

There'll be more upcoming posts about the airshow and the different aircraft that flew over the 2 days. You can read them all by clicking on the "Festa al Cel" label below.

A Trip to Andorra

noreply@blogger.com (nzm) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:46:00 +0000

When J's boys were with us over their Summer vacation, we took them to the tiny Principality of Andorra for a few days. From Barcelona, it's an easy 2+ hour drive through beautiful countryside.

A neighbour of ours had recommended the Hotel Bella Coma as a good place to stay. Remote and quiet, it was a good choice, but private transportation was definitely needed. The hotel is run like a family operation. We took the half-board option which gave us breakfast and dinner, and the food was really good - especially the dinner menu.

Hotel Bella Coma, picture-center, sits high above the parish of Sant Julià de Lòria on Mt. Rabassa.

We drove around the Andorran valley on a few occasions and I'll split the photos up into several posts.

Andorra promotes itself as a year-round destination, and there's definitely plenty to do in Summer, as well as in Winter which is when the place becomes a major snowsports destination, with most skifields in the main valley skiable back down to the major accommodation on the valley floor.

We drove up side valleys, through a mix of quaint older towns and purpose-built ski villages. The skifields were awesome areas, even without snow.

Ordino skifield. In 2009, the Tour de France leg from Barcelona to Andorra finished at Vallnord which is the next ski area at the top of this torturous road. What a hell finish to a long ride.

Wherever possible, Andorran land is farmed where it isn't either built upon, forested, or used for other commercial purposes such as ski areas. The main crop is tobacco which I'll dedicate to a separate post. Breeding cattle is also popular, and we came across many herds of wandering cows in the skifield areas, as well as horses.

Tobacco fields show as the dark green strip above the building, as well as the dark area to the end right of the cultivated area.

It's evident that a lot of terracing was undertaken to make level areas for farming on some of the steeper mountainsides.

The parish of Sant Julià de Lòria is the first township that is encountered once crossing over the border from Spain into Andorra.

Sant Julià de Lòria

At 908m, it's the lowest of the Andorran parishes; the majority of which are located on the main road which winds its way up through the narrow valley on the way to France.

It's magnificent countryside with mountains reaching up over 2,000m.

The rockfaces are extremely crumbly in some areas, and it's interesting to view the stratification layers and the colour variations.

Slate rock walls are very popular and pretty.

Waterfalls and streams are everywhere, and I will have a post dedicated entirely to some of the pretty ones that we encountered in our travels through the valleys. There are lots more waiting for my return!

In Spring, Andorra is known for its displays of wildflowers. It must truly be a spectacular sight to see the mountainsides covered in colour.

With stone so readily available, most structures were built with some form of it. This was a small building within the Vallnord skifield area.

At the very top of Vallnord, we saw this little filly standing with her back to the rain and wind, looking half asleep. We all thought of "My Little Pony" when we saw her!