Bart Bear's Blog

Yikes! It is 3 months since my last post and some of my readers have asked if I am still here.... Well, what with the cold, foggy, wet Canberra winter weather it has not been a good time to do much exploring outside, so the Oldies and I have been busy in our craft rooms. Craft rooms are strange places, usually with a large desk and lots of shelves. The actual useful space on a craft desk is usually just a couple of square metres/feet and most of the desk is covered by tools, plans and materials needed for the current project. The top row shows you some of Mum's craft room. It is fall of stamps, dies, card stock and paper. Finding the item that you actually need can be a major exercise. The bottom row is part of Dad's craft room. The shelves here are full of plastic and paper models of planes, ships, trains, lighthouses and special buildings. Today I am supervising the painting of a Spitfire in Dad's room and water colours in Mum's. I like water colours as I can usually manage to get a bit wet; long-time readers will know that Mum will not let me get wet, so I enjoy this game. So, lots of crafting going on but no travel. This is due to change in early November, we are all paid up and ready to go, watch this space.

Labels: aircraft, boats, card making, card models, models, train

At long last, COVID restrictions have been eased, state borders are open and airlines are almost back in full business. The first trip that we just had to make was a quick one up to the Gold Coast to meet family that we hadn't been able to see for over 6 years. My second-oldest brother, Tim (with his family), was on a posting to Ireland when overseas flights paused and when they finally were able to return home to Queensland their borders were closed to the rest of Australia. So it was great to see them again. The Gold Coast has grown a lot since we were last there, I will post some images soon. And guess what? This afternoon I heard the Oldies talking to a Virgin lady about a longer holiday soon. It is fantastic to get back into traveling, this small bear has a lot of the country (and hopefully the world) yet to see.

Labels: aircraft, family, Gold Coast

 

Labels: aircraft, airshow, balloons, Canberra

 75 years ago the war in the Pacific ended. It is a wet and cold day here in Canberra and the big ceremony that would have taken place on the parade ground in front of the Australian War Memorial was instead a much smaller one held in the Aircraft Hall, so we stayed home and watched it on TV. The highlight of military ceremonies for this small bear is the flypast. Today it was by 2 aircraft that were in service with the RAAF throughout WW2, a Lockheed Hudson bomber and a CAC Wirraway trainer. We saw them in the distance from our bedroom window, but you have to look hard to see them :) So here's some photos that I took at their home base at Temora a few years ago. For more photos you can search Temora on my blog. The great thing about the finish of the war (for me) is that my grandfathers and their brothers all came home safe.

Labels: aircraft, Temora

Mum retired from work last week. Yay!!! That means that we will have lots more time to do interesting stuff. One of the things that I am keen on is getting the Oldies into better shape so that they will be really fit for our next big adventure (coming in a couple of months, just watch this space...). Walking around the lakes is a good way to do this, and our walk around Lake Burley Griffin on Wednesday had a fantastic added bonus. While we were walking, the new Chief of Air Force was being sworn in and there was a flypast of the new aircraft types that gone into RAAF service during the term of the previous Chief. So we picked a spot on the lake shore under the flightpath  and got a look at aircraft we had not seen before. We had to depend on Mum's iPhone for photos; Dad's camera is great for zoom but lousy on fast imaging. Here are  what we saw. The P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine maritime surveillance aircraft; the EA-18 Growler, the electronic warfare version of the FA-18 Super Hornet; the brand-new F-35 Lightning II strike fighter; and the Pilatus PC-21 trainers of the RAAF's aerobatic team, the Roulettes. Now I have the task of getting the Oldies to an airshow where I can get closer looks at these new aircraft, and the old stuff that Dad is so hooked on.

Labels: aircraft, Canberra

This post is a few weeks late. We have had a busy time with getting Mum's legs and feet working properly. She had to have big needles in her feet; it made Dad queasy looking at the monitor during the injections. However, she should be back walking OK very soon now. Just as well because the Oldies have been planning our next overseas adventure and we are all counting down the days until we board the aeroplane. So, April 25 is ANZAC Day, commemorating the service and sacrifice of Australian servicemen and women. We always go to the Australian War Memorial (AWM) to pay our respects on this day. This year the Oldies were not well enough to go to the Dawn Service, so we went in the early afternoon. We started the visit by watching a flypast by 3 RAAF FA-18s, and then found the names of family members on the Wall of Remembrance. I love the way that people put poppies in the wall next to the soldier/sailor/airman they are remembering. For a small bear some of the interesting bits are the vehicles and artillery on display outside the memorial. This year there were 5 that I hadn't seen before. There are also many memorial plaques and sculptures in the gardens. The AWM is something that all Australians should visit.

Where are we traveling to next? This small photo should give you a clue...

Labels: aircraft, Canberra, cars and trucks

Labels: aircraft, Canberra

Easter weekend was busy. We had a visit by our grandkids (not sure just what relation an Oldies grandchild is to the Oldies bear), Mum's craft meeting, Sunday lunch with Bro Trent's in-laws, and best of all a morning full of bling and aeroplanes. On Friday an exhibition of jewellery by Cartier opened at the National Gallery. Mum and I are hooked on bling so we just had to be among the first in the door. What a collection. I saw lots of necklaces, tiaras and brooches, including ones worn by royalty and actresses. My favourites were the ones in the shape of animals and birds. The alligators are actually a necklace which hinges at the back and swings around the neck. Naturally, Dad and I were really impressed by the models of the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer, made in silver, and the Lunar Excursion Module, made in gold and enamel. You really should see this exhibition if it comes to a city near you. Just to finish the morning out we parked near the airport where we could see aircraft taking off. The Boeing 777 in the photo is the Singapore Airlines Canberra to Wellington (NZ) flight. I like Wellington, so maybe the Oldies will use this flight sometime soon.

Labels: aircraft, Canberra

As some of you noticed, I have been away for a couple of weeks; thanks for your emails asking if I was OK. Nothing bad had happened, I was in Western Australia. The Oldies decided to see a bit of Australia that was new to them, the south-western bit of WA. Naturally, this corner of the continent has many wineries and some lighthouses. That seems to be the way that the Oldies plan itineraries these days. It takes 4 hours to fly to Perth (I used to call it Perf when I was younger) so the Oldies decided to use all our frequent flyer points and go business class. We had great flights over and back in this aeroplane. For a couple of days at the start and end of the trip we stayed at Crown Towers in Perth. Big brother Trent managed to get us a special deal there and we stayed on the second floor from the top. We had great views over the city, but the weather turned bad for most of our stay and I couldn't try out the pools; I guess Mum wouldn't let me anyhow, she has this thing about me getting wet. Despite the rain and wind, we saw 3 amazing lighthouses and visited some superb wineries.

Labels: aircraft, Perth, Western Australia

Just east of Wagga Wagga is the Forest Hill RAAF base. This is the site of the RAAF College and the recruit training school. All of the recruits for non-flying areas of the RAAF learn their trades here. The RAAF doesn't use the airfield any more, it is now the Wagga Wagga airport. At the entry to the base there is a Heritage Museum and a paddock with several preserved jet aircraft on display. The aircraft have been treated for outside display. They have the canopies blacked out, the engine intake and exhaust areas closed, and armament removed. That means that the visitor can get right up to the aircraft, with the exception of the F-111. Naturally, we had to stop here. Mum really likes aircraft that look like they going supersonic even when they are on the ground, so she enjoyed "close encounters" with the F-111 and Mirage III. Dad is more into the older classics, so he spent ages checking every little bit of the Sabre, Meteor and Canberra. This small bear likes all of them and you can find me in 3 of the photos.

Labels: aircraft, history, New South Wales

I am just back from an exciting fortnight traveling in Tasmania. Dad and I had never been to Tassie, so Mum organized our travels around Australia's island state. We drove over 2,500 kilometers and I have to say that some of the roads that Tasmania calls highways are not what the rest of the world would; frankly, some of them are really third-class roads. Anyhow, here I am in the first picture waiting for our aircraft to be readied for the flight from Melbourne across Bass Strait to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. We made Hobart our base for exploring, with a couple of nights in other places, but most days we came back to this view over the Hobart docks. There is always something happening in docklands and I spent hours at the window watching boats of all sizes from cruise ships to fishing boats. The bottom images show me helping with navigating the car on one of our longer drives, and relaxing on a cruise in a World Heritage area. Dad has the photos all downloaded, so over the next few weeks I will show you some of the best parts of Tassie (that Aussie-speak for Tasmania).

Labels: aircraft, Tasmania, trips

Flying with Virgin on long-haul flights is usually fun. It is a 4-hour flight to Fiji and the Oldies splurged and booked us into business class. I managed to get a quick look into the flight deck before we left. Passengers are not allowed in there, but small bears can sometimes take a peek from the cabin door. The flight crew were well into their pre-flight checks, but I couldn't stop and listen because of all the passengers coming on board. The cabin crew were magnificent. I made a new friend, the cabin crew boss lady, Kara. She is a very nice lady and loads of fun. Notice how she and Dad are photo-bombing what should have been a serious photo of Mum. I am now her number one boyfriend! The photo of a Boeing 737 like the one we flew in was taken on arrival at Nadi International Airport. The first thing you notice when you arrive here is the heat (around 30º C), next the humidity (always nearly 100%), then the superb sound of Fijians singing their welcome song. Unfortunately, this was the best weather of our whole trip - more about that later.

Labels: aircraft, Fiji

When our Wellington guide, Robbie, found out that we were very interested in military history, he added a special extra to our tour. The Dominion Museum is holding a special Great War Exhibition, telling the story of New Zealand in World War One. The exhibition was created by Sir Peter Jackson, so naturally it is spectacular and very moving. The museum is next to Wellington's cenotaph and the two are linked by a series of two-dimensional soldiers lining the entry ramp. Sir Peter's crew have really brought exhibits to life. Two that really impressed this small bear are the tank crossing a trench full of German soldiers, and a mounted troop hauling artillery to the front while a French aircraft passes overhead. The exhibit that is the most impressive that I have ever seen took up a whole room. It is a diorama of the battle of Chunuk Bair at Gallipoli. This battle has the same significance to New Zealand as the Lone Pine battle (which took place at the same time) has to Australia. The diorama contains literally thousands of small figures of New Zealand and Ottoman Turk soldiers, nearly all different. You can identify NZ Major-general Godley and his staff, NZ soldier Cyril Bassett who earned the VC for his effort laying telephone cable, and there is even a combat cameraman. Robbie told us that Sir Peter had modeled this little guy on himself. Of course, Sir Peter wasn't at Gallipoli; he was born in 1961 😜. We really enjoyed our day with Robbie. If you are ever visiting Wellington, look him up on the "Tours by Locals" web page, you won't do better. The exhibition will be open until the end of 2018.

Labels: aircraft, models, New Zealand

If you love aircraft, particularly early ones, then Omaka aerodrome near Blenheim in the South Island of New Zealand is a place that you MUST visit. The Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre houses part of Sir Peter Jackson's collection of WW1 aircraft and memorabilia. The aircraft, original or replica, are not just parked on display. Many are set into sensational dioramas. Peter Jackson's movie director's skill has produced a museum that blew this small bear and his Dad away. Here are just 4 of the dioramas. Top left is an Etrich Taube being pursued by a French scout. Top right is an AIRCO dH-2, one of the first British fighters. I really love these old pusher aircraft with their maze of struts and wires. In fact, if you look carefully, you can me checking one of the struts and wires on the lower wing. The pilot is looking at a Fokker E.III Eindekker that is coming in on his left side. Bottom left is the wreck of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.1 Triplane. A group of Australian soldiers is removing the body and stripping bits of the aircraft for souvenirs. Bottom right is an RAF SE-5a that is about to crash after colliding with another aircraft. The pilot, Keith Caldwell, managed to climb out of the cockpit, balance the tumbling aircraft, fly it (standing on the wing) long enough to get back over the lines, and jump clear before it finally crashed. My visit to Omaka was far too short and I will be back. Sir Peter has the remainder of his collection at Hood aerodrome, near Masterton on the North Island, so I will definitely be dragging the Oldies back to NZ.

Labels: aircraft, New Zealand

Yesterday afternoon we made a special trip down to the lake shore. Mum read on Facebook that there was a flypast by six RAAF C-130J Hercules' due at 3pm.  I've seen lots of C-130s at airshows, but never 5 in the air at one time, so we just had to see them. The flightpath was shown on the RAAF FB page, so we gave ourselves plenty of time and drove to a spot on the lakeside nearly under the track. Right on time they came, flying low for over a city (about 500ft I reckon). The Oldies used their iPhones to take dozens of pictures. Here are some of the best of them; click on the picture for a bigger image. You can see 5 aircraft in the first picture. The Hercs were in line astern and passed over us at around 5 second intervals. I was hoping they would come back for another pass, but they were on a training exercise and headed straight for their next "target" in western Sydney before returning to base at Richmond. There should be more aircraft flying low where small bears can get a good look at them.

Labels: aircraft, Canberra

When you visit Pearl Harbour, make sure that you go to the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island. You can get a combined ticket to this, the USS Missouri and the USS Bowfin. Mind you, you need a full day to see all these and the USS Arizona Memorial as well. Ford Island is in the middle of Pearl Harbour and civilians can only get there by shuttle bus from the visitors centre. It was a military airfield from 1918 until 1999 and you can see it in many of the movies that include the attack on Pearl Harbour. Tora Tora Tora is the best and most accurate of the bunch in my opinion. The hangars now house a collection of aircraft that have been based in Hawaii and the Pacific. The top photos are full-size dioramas featuring the main opponents in the early Pacific war, the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero and the Grumman F4F Wildcat. There are lots of other aircraft in the museum and you can even see some of them being restored. The bottom photos show two things that are in every Pearl Harbour movie. They are the 1940's control tower and one of the fire engines. There is a petition active at present to save the tower from demolition. It has been signed by both Oldies and one small bear. Historic sites like this should be preserved so that we never forget.

Labels: aircraft, Hawaii

Only two days now until we head off to Hawaii, and I am making a list of things that I want to make sure the Oldies take me to see. Volcanoes of course. Mum has been wanting to get close to one for as long as I can remember, and the active one in Hawaii is easiest to get to. Pearl Harbour because we are history nuts. The Arizona memorial, the chance to walk on the submarine "Bowfin" and the mighty battleship "Missouri", and an aviation museum that has some aircraft types that we have never seen. Mauna Kea Observatory; Dad never managed to get there while he was a working astronomer but Mum and he have this one on the top of their list. It is really high, over 14,000 ft, and the Oldies may have problems with altitude sickness. Small bears never do. And after a week of checking these places out, touring around Oahu, and the inevitable shopping, it will be great to board our ship and settle in for the 18-day cruise back to Sydney via Tahiti, Fiji and New Caledonia. Only two more sleeps!!! So hooroo (that's farewell in Australian) until I get back, or as they say in Hawaii, "A hui hou kakou".

What's this????? I just found on the web that there is a place called Teddy Bear World! Now that just has to be on my list.

Labels: aircraft, astronomy, boats, cruising, Hawaii

Dad & I have just finished that big job of dusting, repairing and shelving 1300+ model aircraft. It is amazing how many small bits get broken, eaten or otherwise lost when models are left sitting for years. Anyhow, it is done and they are all stored on view, behind clear plastic sheeting. I found 2 models there that I really liked, because they are of an aircraft named after the city I live in. They are models of the English Electric Canberra and the US version, the B-57. If you look carefully at the middle picture you will see some obvious changes that the Americans made when they produced their licence-built version (that's the black model). It mainly shows in the area of the cockpit canopy and nose. The other model is the Australian version; yes, we built them in Melbourne. The model is of a Canberra that I have seen flying at the Temora Aviation Museum. You can see the real 'plane in the top and bottom pictures. I have been allowed to see into the cockpit of the real one, but not to run around in there. The other aeroplane in the bottom picture is a De Havilland Vampire, and yes, we have models of several versions of that as well. I love aeroplanes and it's great building models of ones that I've seen. It's also very special to have an aircraft named after the city you live in. There have many ships named after Australian cities, but not many 'planes.

Our next big job is getting ready for our next big trip. Dad is the Enrichment Speaker on "Celebrity Millenium", sailing from Hawaii to Sydney in November, talking Astronomy of course.

Labels: aircraft, Canberra, models, Temora

I have finally got my Christmas present built. It is a model of the "helicopter" designed by my engineering hero, Leonardo Da Vinci, way back in the 15th century. Actually, Leo called it an "aerial screw" and there is no record of his having built it. Leo was an ideas man. I had a bit of trouble building this model, all my fault, because I was in a hurry and didn't read the instructions carefully. I ended up with the holes for the drive shafts 180 degrees out of alignment and had to carefully pull lots of things apart and reassemble them right way round. Leo's plan was to have men pushing on a windlass to get the screw up to speed, when it would lift off and fly. I suspect that it would have been a short and wobbly flight. Mine is driven by a small bear winding a crankhandle. I can get the rotor up to a speed where it is blowing quite a down-draft but not fast enough to lift off. Cranking is hard work, so I had to take a bear-nap after the first trials and Mum took a picture of me. She thinks it is funny that I look so flat.

Labels: aircraft, heroes, models

At last! Dad and I have been busy, whenever we have been able to find time, building the models in the big stash we have collected over the years. The problem with having lots of model kits to build is that there comes a time when there aren't any new ones being produced that you haven't already got an example of in your stash. So it's great to finally see stuff being made that you've just gotta have. I keep an eye on the model sites on the web and finally found a batch that Dad was willing to buy. They arrived in the post yesterday. I can't wait to get them out of the boxes, fondle the plastic, and get busy cutting, gluing, sanding, painting,etc. I am a very lucky small bear to have Oldies that let me help with interesting craft and hobbies.

Labels: aircraft, models