Loose_Grip/Pete's photos with the keyword: flying

Flying with the gulls over Calpe and the Playa de la Fossa!

The second time I visited was as a tourist with my wife & this time we flew from Jakarta to the Pulau Seribu (the aptly-named Thousand Islands) in the Java Sea by light aircraft. The Pulau Seribu are actually a string of 105 coral reef-fringed islands stretching 45 kilometres north into the Java Sea.

We lived in Yemen 1992-94. The office was in Sana'a in the mountains but the field area was a 3 hour flight to the east in the Hadramaut. Taken from the company de Havilland Twin Otter Wadi Hadramaut is seen in the distance running roughly east-west into which this north-south subsidiary connects.

Our De Haviland Twin Otter takes off from Aden airport (ex-RAF Khormaksar) en route to Sana'a with Crater in the distance. This view is looking south.

Airborne over Wadi Hadramaut in eastern Yemen. Because of the dramatic relief (up to 300m) between wadi & jebel we used helicopters on the seismic acquisition crew and all equipment was flown out to the line. This is the view as the aircraft tops the jebel. We had one ex-Vietnam vet pilot who used to delight in giving visiting newcomers a gentle take off from the jebel, fly slowly across the edge of the cliff & then immediately drop vertically down 500ft into the wadi. An exhilarating experience to say the least. Unfortunately he was later in an accident when the engines cut-out at about 100ft when he was long-lining & the helicopter fell to the ground. Amazingly he kept the aircraft upright & survived with minor cuts & bruises but shortly after he decided enough was enough & took retirement.

I lived and worked in Yemen in the early 1990s at a time when the country was not at war so we could travel everywhere. This is Shibam city from the air looking north, taken from the De Haviland Twin Otter on a company flight from Sana'a to the seismic base in Block 32. The pilot dropped down and circled the city so we could get a better look. Shibam, the Manhattan of the Desert, is a magical place from the air or on the ground. It must have been a breathtaking vision of civilisation for any desert traveller crossing the Empty Quarter to look over the high cliffs of Wadi Hadramaut and see this beautiful city rising from the wadi floor. It is a great shame that the country and its friendly people have been so damaged in the last years with no obvious end to their woes in sight.

Looking like a black & white negative in the morning mist these are the Qilian Shan mountains in Qinghai Province from 30,000 feet up. The city of Xining is just visible by the plume of steam centre left. The snow covered Amne Machin mountain range in the distance is on the Tibetan Plateau and are the eastern extent of the Kunlun Mountains. The river in view is the Huanshi River but the mist in the half distance outlines the horshoe curve of the Huang He, Yellow River, valley We were on KLM flight KL891, Amsterdam to Chengdu.

The 'Thank You NHS' Spitfire PR.XI PL983 flew over Leicester Royal Infirmary today to thank all the frontline healthcare staff who have worked so hard throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

We took an early morning Pilatus flight from Hassi Massouad to the Lasmo-operated El Ouar drilling permit, in south-central Algeria, 200km southeast of Hassi Massouad & approx. 800 km southeast of Algiers. Lots of sand dunes in the Sahara! I love the sharp line contrast between brightness and darkness at this time of day. A freeze frame from my video.

Sunrise over the Bagan plain. This was taken nearing the end of our 45 minute dawn flight as we descended to land in a field southeast of Bagan.

My first ballon flight - fantastic! Dawn over Bagan.

The star of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre's flying programme for me was the display by Duxford's rebuilt Bristol Blenheim F1 L6739. The aircraft was first restored in 1987 as a Mark IV aircraft but unfortunately, the Blenheim crash-landed in August 2003 at Duxford. While the aircraft suffered considerable damage, she wasn’t broken beyond repair and as a Mark 1 nose had been acquired already it was decided to rebuild it as the early version. It made it's maiden flight in this guise in November 2014.

Iconic Vulcan B2 XH588 overflying Bruntingthorpe Airfield. XH558 is in its final year of heritage flying, and touring the UK to give as many people as possible a chance to see this aircraft in the skies.

Handley Page Victor K2 tanker XM715 Teasin’ Tina on the main runway so it looked the part as Vulcan XH588 flew over.

Avro Vulcan XH588, the last flying V-bomber in the world seen over Nottinghamshire en route back to its Doncaster base after a northern circuit.

Waiting to board a Pilatus in the Sahara desert south of Hassi Massouad. We were en route to a seismic crew shooting a survey in the Lasmo-operated El Ouar drilling permit, Algeria. It was pretty cramped for the first stage of the journey from Hassi with a full complement of passengers in the small aircraft but after dropping off most of them at this wellsite the two of us flying on to El Ouar could spread out. It was said that El Ouar meant "the worst" in Arabic referring to the the sand dunes being the most impassable. They had a relief of up to 1000ft and were so dense that it was impossible to drive/walk around them. This meant some serious climbing was needed to progress through the area. While the dunes gradually increase in size & density from the north to the south the dune belt stops very abruptly along a southwest-northeast line. I have flown over the area since on the way to West Africa & from 30,000ft this change from sand to rocky desert is very clear & hence it is easy to locate yourself.

RAF Finningley Air Display, September 1972. Lightning formation flying.

Holland - flying to Ameland with Bert in his Cessna 182. About to take off to return to Rotterdam airport.