erratic blogging

Hi, I am shocked to see that it is almost 3 weeks since I last posted, I don't know where my life is rushing off to, but I feel like I am trailing behind! One thing that has been happening is the arrival of our son, his fiance and their daughter from Sudan, along with friends and family from around the world, and they are getting married on Friday. So we are having a great time getting to know the visitors and showing them around, and of course it is wonderful to see the kids again.

It is SOOO great getting to know our granddaughter, who was a pink blob the last time we saw her, and is now an amazing little person with a strong will and delightful nature.


On Saturday we went off to the much anticipated airshow, and had a great day of ooohing and aaahing over the aerial antics, while simultaneously keeping an eye on energetic grandchildren at ground level, and getting pretty sunburnt and wind buffetted into the bargain.

Last week I went out with the plein air painting group, and had a fabulous time ferretting around in a steam train graveyard, I took enough photos to fill a blog for months! So as usual, I emerge from the whirlwind, wondering where to start when it comes to posting photos.
Perhaps I should start with one or two of each of these events, and then if time permits, I will enlarge on them later.

The airshow was great fun. Even the little Miss Millie was fascinated by the helicopter display. Since she lives near a runway in a war zone, I guess this is par for the course as far as she is concerned!

There is something very bizarre about watching 3 large noisy machines, decked out in camouflage colours, dancing gracefully together through the sky, to the strains of Bolero.... really cool!
This year's airshow included a real action packed mock hijacking display, with fake baddies attacking a fake tourist bus, holding hostages, firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades at the special task teams and dog units sent in to catch them. A sniper in a police helicopter mopped up and the medical rescue helicopter airlifted the "casualties" to hospital. The crowd loved it, but as a tourist, Miss Millie's mom found it a bit un-nerving that the South African audience were watching this as if it is an everyday occurence.... which it practically is in some areas!
What none of us realised at the time was that a real life drama was going on during one of the displays, and one of the helicopters was diverted to track down some thieves who had been spotted breaking into a home, and were being pursued by the home owner, before taking cover in thick bush. One of them was arrested, while the other two got away!

Even with all this excitement going on, little boys have a short attention span, but boredom and impending nagging to go home were skillfully dealt with by grandpa, who bought a toy helicopter in the nick of time, and bought us a few extra hours of enjoyment in the process!


For me, the highlight of any airshow is always the formation flying. I adore the artistry and skill of aerobatics, but when it is combined with the precision and teamwork of flying close together at high speed, it makes for breathtaking displays.

The Apple Express is narrow gauge steam train and a very popular tourist attraction in PE. In its heyday, it was run by the railways, and had a few pristine engines to choose from. Sadly it was allowed to get into a sad state, and was eventually rescued and taken over by a private enterprise. These enthusiasts struggle along, trying to keep it viable, whilst working hard to keep the high maintenance trains going. In the old Apple Express yard, all is now ruin and decay. the buildings are falling apart..........

and several old trains are rusting away on a siding.

Whilst this is a great shame, it also gives rise to wonderful photo opportunities, and I will do a post sometime on some of the images I took while we were sketching the trains.

reflections on flying

On one of his visits to PE, our son chartered a Cessna 172 and took us for a flip down the coast to go whale watching. We didn't see any whales, but it was still really beautiful up there. I love this shot of the sea reflected under the plane's wing.

We also got some interesting angles on the lighthouse at Cape Recife, which was obviously a delight for my little inner child who still squeals with excitement when spotting cool stuff like that! (If you want to see more of the lighthouse, I have been featuring it in a series of posts on Port Elizabeth Daily Photo.) And best of all, it is only the second time I have been up in a light aircraft that I didn't disgrace myself by puking my heart out. (Although I must confess we didn't land a minute too soon.....) Motion sickness is a dreadful pain for someone who is a travel/speed freak who adores flying and aerial photography!

Skywatch Friday : Aerobatics

The freedom of using the sky as your playground.... now there's a buzz! Mr Farty and I adore air shows and try not to miss one if possible. The next one in PE is scheculed for late October.......can't wait!

another treat for plane addicts

Yesterday we went to the South African Airforce Museum. Unfortunately only the small hangar was open so we saw a small portion of what is there,

Here are the three planes in there (there were also a couple of helicopters.)

Anyway, I was happy because I have always adored the Mirage, I think it is a stunning plane, and was glad to get up close and personal with this F-1CZ!

The wee E loved it too!

Another fascinating old plane there was the De Havilland Vampire, with its bubble like front end, and twin fuselages and tails joined by a crossbar.

The other plane was the Impala, a familiar sight in South African skies for 3 decades, the fighter jet was a backbone of the SAAF for decades, until replaced recently by the Pilatus Astra.

The cockpits were not built for comfort, left to right are the vampire, impala and mirage. (Note to self... remember to ask pilot friend if the big funnel like tube in the mirage is like a built in barf bag!?)

And finally, another slide show... details of some planes taken in P.E.

Ok cheers for now, gotta fly! (I wish!!!)

grounded

This is an emblem that is seen daily in the South African skies....Until last week, that is. It is the logo of Nationwide Airlines, one of the new budget airlines that have proliferated here recently as competiton to SAA. But it seems that cutting costs involves cutting corners...

A couple of weeks ago, in a scary incident, in which thankfully no-one was hurt, an engine literally dropped off one of their planes as it took off from Capetown International Airport!! They have repeatedly failed to supply the Civil Aviation Authority with satisfactory answers to questions about their aircraft maintenance, and finally the CAA grounded their entire fleet.

You can imagine the chaos for their poor passengers, whose flights were cancelled with no notice. At this time of the year, with all flights bulging at the seams, it has been impossible to find alternative connecting flights. Toadd insult to injury, today it was announced that refunds will only be processed in 6 weeks time!!

On the pilot's chat site PPrune, there was the usual wild speculation and conspiracy theories, but the conscensus, with which I tend to agree, is that things must have been seriously bad for the CAA to take such drastic action, and stick to their guns despite frantic lobbying and appeals from Nationwide. And, if they are so cavalier with the lives of their passengers in order to make a quick buck, I frankly think they deserve what they are getting.

And on a completely different subject, I have just read Sheila's blog. Those who wanted to do something to join the anti-materialistic Christmas revolution, check out the BRILLIANT post from Sheila in Canada and see what she and her daughter are doing....... Well done girls!

Skywatch Friday #4

Silver Falcons Aerobatics team in formation turn

.....And now for something completely different.

One night I had been working in Cape St Francis, and only finished at about 10pm. As I was driving back to Port Elizabrth (about an hour away) I looked up and saw the most wonderful sky. I didn't have a camera with me, so I looked and looked and tried to remember as much detail and atmosphere as I could. When I got home, I was so inspired that my tiredness evaporated, and I rushed to paint it as I remembered it. The stars really did look as if they were sprinkled on purple velvet, in the gap between the clouds.

This is one of my favourite paintings, sadly it went missing from a gallery where it was being exhibited. To this day, we don't know if it was stolen from the gallery, or fell off the back of the bakkie (truck) when my assistant collected my paintings.