A very enjoyable day out for the fifth American Air Day to be held at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford even if the bus was delayed by traffic trying to get in. The sun was shining and with the prospect of a very nice, warm day in the offing, there were a lot of people who had turned out for the event. This was not an air show but there were elements of flying in it and unlike last year, there were no mixed formation flypasts by the USAFE and no HH-60 helicopter from Lakenheath. They were apparently otherwise busy in a lot warmer climate. The Hercules appeared to be having mechanical problems at Mildenhall and eventually arrived about 2 hours late but well worth waiting for to watch it reverse into its parking space in a big cloud of exhaust fumes. Although the majority of A-10 Thunderbolts that had been on deployment at Lakenheath for the last couple of weeks had returned home the day before, the enthusiasts were speculating at to whether or not the two that had remained behind were earmarked for an appearance at Duxford. If they were, then they didn’t turn up. There was plenty of flying from the Duxford based aircraft during the day with aircraft taking part in the show or departing to other air shows on over the weekend. The grassed area between the control tower and crash gate C was packed with American muscle cars and motorbikes. There were various other ground attractions and USAFE squadrons selling t-shirts and badges. During the afternoon the war bird flying was split into two half hour segments and photography wise, the clouds always seemed to roll in just as the flying started. A full report and picture to follow in the Air Show section of the DUXFORDfotoGALLERY.

I had taken delivery of a new Sony Alpha A35 SLT (Single Lens Translucent) camera two day before. The unique feature of this camera is that the mirror that usually flicks up and down in a normal DSLR to allow light access to the sensor but at the same time cuts off access to the Auto Focus sensor, is fixed in the A35 SLT. In theory this gives you continuous Auto Focus which would be handy when rapid shooting panning shots of aircraft flying past. I didn’t get much use out of it as I only had the battery that came with the camera, more are on order, and it had only been charged once and didn’t last that long. They need to be charged and used several times for them to retain a full charge. Unlike other DSLR’s that have optical view finders, the A35 has an Electronic View Finder which is a bit unusual to the eye to start with but as my first few digital cameras had EVF’s it’s not totally alien to me. I though the image quality from the A580 was very good, but the shots I took with the A35 on Friday seem to be a great leap forward in quality and sharpness. With two air shows coming up soon, I’ll write a proper user report on the camera after them.

Brian

(aka Pen Pusher)

I’ve now travelled ‘The Busway’ twice since it opened last weekend. First off the journey from St Ives into Cambridge is now about ten minutes longer. The A14, the old route, is basically a straight line with no bus stops along the way. ‘The Busway’ follows the old St Ives to Cambridge rail track that closed in the early 1960s. The Victorians tended to follow the line of fields or Parish boundaries rather than straight lines, so adding to the distance travelled, and there is also the slowing down and accelerating away from bus stops along ‘The Busway’. Once the bus is in the guided track, it’s a bit like travelling on a train though. There are rural roads cutting across the bus route but the traffic lights seem to be triggered by the approaching bus so there is no waiting for them to change. The bus stops don’t have their names prominently displayed at them. There is an electronic timetable in the shelters but at a right angle to the bus and with small electronic letters that are difficult to see. A lot of passengers had no idea where they were or if they were at the right stop to get off. On a road system there are landmarks in the shape of familiar buildings so you know your location. Along ‘The Busway’, one field or tree looks very much like any other. Built along an abandoned rail route, there are still remnants of the Second World War to be spotted like pillboxes hiding in the undergrowth. Going past the former RAF Oakington there are still three rather large low level mushroom topped concrete pillboxes and air raid shelters along the airfield boundary. The bus turns off at Oak Park, a large new build housing suburb, to enter Cambridge and follows a separate track way, that’s not guided, until it rejoins normal roads. At the moment travelling into Cambridge is not a problem as the colleges and schools are closed for the summer so not much traffic on the road. When parents start the school runs in their 4x4s the journey from Oak Park into Central Cambridge is going to double in time, as it did on the old route from Girton into Cambridge. The two return journeys I’ve made from Cambridge have been interesting though. There had been a separate bus serving Oak Park but now its part of ‘The Busway’ route and there are more people trying to catch the bus from the centre of Cambridge than there are seats on the double decker busses available. Both times I’ve had to wait till the next bus to get on. A small penalty to pay as the buses run every twenty minutes and the big pay off will be when the A14 is closed due to a road traffic accident, and we are not sitting in the traffic jam going no where for several hours.

Brian

(aka Pen Pusher)