ETSIA

Hace veinticinco años ya de esto. Ese curso finalizamos los estudios 25 alumnas y 116 alumnos.

Spirit of Berlin

One of the advantages of being there vey early on the first day was that there were no queues, plus I had the luxury of spending some time talking to the soldiers. They told me that this C-17, named the Spirit of Berlin, is stationed in South Carolina, which is a long long way from Berlin.
When I was a kid I went to an open day door at Air Base Torrejón, close to Madrid. I can still remember how huge a similar aircraft looks like when entering through the rear ramp for a child. At the time, I think it was a C-5 Galaxy.

Close look at A400M

When I first moved to Germany, the plan was that I would work on the TP400 project (the turboprop engine designed by a joint venture of european companies powering the A400M). As life has many turns, I ended up doing relatively little on this engine, but even so it was quite special to have a look inside and even sit in the cockpit for a little while. I also spent some time talking to one of the French pilots, which made for an even better experience. Merci beaucoup!

Food for the aero soul

I was yesterday a few hours at ILA and I really enjoyed the time. I arrived very early and managed to see most of what I wanted to see before it got too crowded, i.e. no queues! 

This is one of our engines, a BR710, proudly powering a beatiful Bombardier Global 5000.

More TK...

MIT - Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel

First stop at MIT, battling the wind and the snow (not a good day for outdoor photography). This reminded me of my time as an intern in the aerodynamics lab in my college a long time ago, working with other fellow students to determine the drag polar of a model aircraft. I have very fond memories of that time.

ILA 2012

This shiny DC-6 was flying over the south of Berlin as I had my camera with me (shortly before taking the shot of the shopping center). You can see it here as well (much closer).

Shaky photo

This is an easy joke. As I told a friend, any shaky photos can be attributed to an aftershock or, in worse case, a proper earthquake. 


But this was not a joke, there were several noticeable shakes while I was in Christchurch, including a magnitude 5 one. It was enough to wake me up and make me wonder if it was time to look for a door frame. And then it was gone...

VIP Flight

I have never flown in First Class (yet, you never know). So far all I managed to do was getting into this one a long long time ago, which was also configured as a VIP aircraft.

Douglas C-47B Dakota

Displayed exactly as it left VIP service in 1977 (Wikipedia).

de Havilland Vampire

For more info on this aircraft, click here.

Memory Alcove

This bent propeller reminded me of the famous stained glass in the Rolls-Royce factory in Nightingale Rd in Derby.

Air Force Museum of New Zealand

The decision to visit the Air Force Museum was a very good one indeed. I really enjoyed the couple of hours I spent there, moving slowly from one exhibit to the next.

Antarctic Program

I took this photo during a lunch break, from the top of the car park at the airport. It is interesting to note some of the modifications of this C-130 (click photo for bigger version), such as the skis on the landing gear and the exhaust nozzles for the rocket assisted take-off.


The one day I could have visited the Antarctic Centre, I decided against it and went to the Air Force Museum. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to come back...

   

Bangkok - Waiting area

One the joys of travelling, waiting areas!

Bangkok

Changing flights so often is a bit of a pain. On the other hand, it is the perfect excuse to stretch the legs and take a photo here and there.

Dubai

The airport at Dubai is the busiest one I have ever seen. Even the lounge was packed with people. I got a glimpse of Burj Khalifa during approach and then again from the lounge while waiting for the next flight. Not easy to spot through the glasses, but it is there in the background.

Full Moon over Baghdad

This photo has as much noise as you can ask for. And more. But there it is, I don´t fly over Irak every other day.

Inside the Intrepid

Los Angeles

Although only in transit, we had to go through inmigration and we were actually able to leave the airport terminal building. Unfortunately we only had a few hours available and I tried to catch up a bit with my sleep trying to readjust to my time zone.

Korean Air - A380

OK, this photo is not particularly artistic, therefore no vignette, no frame, no signature. But travelling is not only being somewhere, it is also getting there...