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Geopolitics

Germany and rearmament.

Vladimir Putin claims that he feels trapped by NATO. To improve his strategic position, he invades Ukraine and destroys most of its important installations, both civilian and military, killing and starving thousands in the process.

The great powers, and especially the dictatorships, find it infinitely difficult to think out of the box when they know that they have access to a military solution. Soldiers and bombs will settle a long-standing dispute.

By adopting a pattern of thinking from the Middle Ages, Vladimir Putin has created a rebound effect. Many neighboring countries now live in fear of an unwarranted attack. Rather than diminishing the military capacity of neighboring countries as he would like, Putin has only succeeded in strengthening their will to unite and rearm.

For example, Germany was to develop, in partnership with other countries, the next fighter jet to fly in the European sky. This would, of course, take years to design, but little thought was given to it. The country had clearly been on the path of pacifism for decades. The invasion of Ukraine changed everything. The Germans are ramping up the pace so much that they are now ordering existing aircraft already on the market. To hell with research, delays and especially the fact that the aircraft will come from the United States.

The German government has chosen the American F-35. This military jet has the characteristic of being able to transport the nuclear weapon in a stealthy manner.

Russia will now have to redouble its efforts to monitor the skies over Europe for this powerful aircraft which is difficult to detect and capable of inflicting heavy losses in the event of a conflict.

It has also been noted that the majority of damage in Ukraine has come from air attacks. Because the Patriot missile defense system is only effective at short range, the Germans recently visited Israel to learn more about the Arrow 3. This defensive interceptor system is capable of destroying missiles at medium and long ranges, even those flying outside the earth’s atmosphere.

A nuclear-capable US stealth fighter for the German Air Force? A long-range missile defense system on German territory? The country was a long way from any of these discussions in early 2022. Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine have reignited the arms race for many countries.

Categories
Aviation photography

The RCAF flies by Québec City

The Snowbirds passing by Québec City in June 2021.
The Snowbirds passing by Québec City in June 2021.

The Snowbirds flew over Quebec City in June 2021, followed by many other jets and canadian military transport planes and helicopters. Until the last minute, a layer of low clouds and occasional showers worried event organizers.

A ferry crosses the St.Lawrence Seaway in front of Lévis in June 2021.
A ferry crosses the St.Lawrence Seaway in front of Lévis in June 2021.

Low clouds are visible over Lévis in the picture above taken from the Dufferin terrace in Québec City. On the St. Lawrence Seaway, the ferry bound to Lévis is approaching its destination.

Three canadian CF-18 fly by Québec City in June 2021.
Three canadian CF-18 fly by Québec City in June 2021.

The CF-18s initially flew in a formation of three. For photography enthusiasts, the full frame camera used to capture those photos was a Canon 5DSr equipped with an EF 70-200mm f / 2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. For the photo above, the shutter speed was set at 1/4000 and the focal length was 200mm. Given the CF-18’s fast fly-by, I opted for the AI ​​Servo autofocus which quickly adapts to changes in the position of the objects to be photographed. Since the original image size was 50.6 megapixels, this allowed me to crop it in order to enlarge the military jets without losing quality.

Four canadian CF-18 flying by Québec City in June 2021.
Four canadian CF-18 flying by Québec City in June 2021.

Above, four CF-18s were photographed with a shutter speed of 1/5000.

The bulk carrier Spar Taurus is arriving in the Québec City harbour in June 2021.
The bulk carrier Spar Taurus is arriving in the Québec City harbour in June 2021.

Between each fly-by of the various military jets, the maritime traffic continued as usual on the St. Lawrence River. Above, the Spar Taurus vessel , a bulk carrier built in 2005 and sailing under the flag of Norway, is heading towards the port of Quebec, accompanied by two Ocean company tugs. In the background, the Île d´Orléans bridge, which will be redone in a few years.

A canadian C-17 Globemaster III flies over the Dufferin terrace in Québec City in June 2021.
A canadian C-17 Globemaster III flies over the Dufferin terrace in Québec City in June 2021.

A C-17 Globemaster III, military transport aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas, flies over the Dufferin Terrace. Canada owns five of these aircrafts.

A canadian Bell CH-146 Griffon at Québec in June 2021
A canadian Bell CH-146 Griffon at Québec in June 2021

Above, a Canadian Bell CH-146 Griffon military helicopter , slowly flies near the Château Frontenac. A soldier seated behind takes a picture of the crowd gathered on the Dufferin Terrace. To photograph a helicopter, the shutter speed must be drastically reduced, so that the movement of the blades can be observed. For the photo above, I opted for 1/250, but I could have gone down to 1/125 without too much risk of the helicopter being out of focus.

There were other aircrafts that flew over the seaway, such as the CP-140 Aurora and the Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules, but the photos were not of sufficient quality to be published on the web.

Click on the link for other pictures of Québec City in summer on my blog.

Categories
Aviation photography

Aviation photography: Quebec’s CL- 415s heading towards Fort McMurray, Alberta

A Bombardier CL-415 water bomber, property of the Government of Quebec, is being prepared for its flight towards Fort McMurray, May 2016
A Bombardier CL-415 water bomber, property of the Government of Quebec, is being prepared for its flight towards Fort McMurray, May 2016

Quebec’s CL-415s helping out in Fort McMurray

On May 5th, 2016, according to what had been announced by the Government of Quebec, four CL-415s took off from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) heading to Fort McMurray, Alberta, to help in the fight against widespread forest fires in that province. It is the worst natural disaster that Canada has known in its history.

Preparing flight crews and aircrafts for such a long cross-country trip naturally demands much coordination from the SOPFEU (Society for the protection of forests against fires). Once they will have landed at the Fort McMurray airport, the pilots of those CL-415s will be under the direct command of the Albertan authorities in charge of fighting the wildfires, since the latter are best positioned to know exactly what the local needs are.

I figure that the flight service specialists (FSS) of the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Edmonton must have quite busy days with the increased aerial activity associated with the numerous fires…

Crew members are walking towards the Government of Quebec CL-415; they will soon be airborne and heading to Fort McMurray in Alberta, to fight the forest fires (2016)
Crew members are walking towards the Government of Quebec CL-415; they will soon be airborne and heading to Fort McMurray in Alberta, to fight the forest fires (2016)

The picture above shows crew members heading towards their assigned aircraft. Once they start working in the Fort McMurray region, they will not only have to directly fight the forest fires but also head to sectors that have not yet been touched by fire and water the area thoroughly to prevent new wildfires.

A Government of Quebec CL-415 number 245 is taxiing at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport to take-off towards Fort McMurray, in Alberta, to help fight the out of control forest fires in that province during May 2016.
A Government of Quebec CL-415 number 245 is taxiing at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport to take-off towards Fort McMurray, in Alberta, to help fight the out of control forest fires in that province during May 2016.

Taking pictures of propeller-driven aircrafts

A Bombardier CL-415 water bomber takes off from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport heading to Fort McMurray, in Alberta, to help fight the forest fires (2016)
A Bombardier CL-415 water bomber takes off from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport heading to Fort McMurray, in Alberta, to help fight the forest fires (2016)

It is a bit touchy to photograph propeller-driven aircrafts while making sure that there is a sensation of movement. In a natural reflex to want to avoid blurred pictures, the photographer uses a shutter speed that corresponds to the focal used for the shot. In the case of the picture above, the focal was 400mm. But if a shutter speed of 1/400 had been used, the propellers would have been totally immobilized and the aircraft would have looked like its climbing while not using its engines.

It was necessary to reduce the speed to 1/160, thus increasing the risk of obtaining a blurred picture. In order to get both image sharpness and moving propellers visual effect, the photographer has to follow exactly the movement of the aircraft with the camera so that it looks totally immobile in the viewfinder. This asks for a bit of practice but allows for more realistic photos.

The CL-415 in a black and white photo

Black and white photo of a Bombardier CL-415 (C-GQBG) flying over Quebec City in 2015
Black and white photo of a Bombardier CL-415 (C-GQBG) flying over Quebec City in 2015

The government of Canada helping out Alberta’s citizens

The government of Canada, under Justin Trudeau, has promised to match the amounts of money offered by all Canadians to the Red Cross society toward helping the Fort McMurray population.

Obviously, its contribution will not stop there (in fact, far from it), but the message is for the whole Canadian population to contribute generously to support the efforts of the Red Cross. It is already estimated that the material damages will reach at least nine billion dollars and that numerous years will be required to rebuild everything. The Liberal Party of Canada had built its political campaign around the need to invest for the renewal of infrastructures. With the Fort McMurray fires, there will be plenty of new unplanned expenses ahead.

More than 1,400 firemen are fighting the wildfires. So few, there has been very few lives lost, although “very few” is always too much. The crisis is, according to everyone, well managed by the government of Alberta.

At the time of writing, there was still no rain forecasted for days to come and the drought was also extending to the southern half of Saskatchewan and part of Manitoba. The winds were expected to increase, which would mean that even more resources would be needed in the near future to bring those wildfires under control.

It seems to me that the government of many Canadian provinces would benefit in acquiring new water bombers like the CL-415 to give them an increased margin of manoeuver that would allow them to react more quickly, if we take into account the tendency for the ever growing number and size of forest fires. In the picture below, the government of Quebec CL-415 number 247 is just airborne from Quebec to Fort McMurray.

A Bombardier CL-415 C-GQBK airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport heading to Fort McMurray, Alberta, in May 2016
A Bombardier CL-415 C-GQBK airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport heading to Fort McMurray, Alberta, in May 2016

The CL-215s will not head to Fort McMurray

While several CL-415s are leaving for Alberta, few water bombers, like the two Canadair CL-215s shown below, stay at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in case of forest fires in the province and also to be used for the seasonal rehearsal needed for every pilot before they are dispatched across the province of Quebec.

Two Canadair CL-215 water bombers parked at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in May 2016.
Two Canadair CL-215 water bombers parked at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in May 2016.

Global warming

Some people can say that global warming is not responsible for the increasing number of extended wildfires. They might be right, but I prefer to adopt a wider view than only what is going on in Alberta. Heat transfer between the north and south are now more extreme in order to equalize the temperatures around the globe. All means to reduce the difference in temperatures between the equator and the poles are at work and this causes increasing problems to particular regions.

The Kamloops region in British-Columbia, when numerous forest fires were raging 2014.
The Kamloops region in British-Columbia, when numerous forest fires were raging 2014.

A powerful El Nino phenomenon, repetitive Omega blocks, the air circulation in different cells (Hadley, Ferrell, polar, Walker) all participate in the heat exchange. At a more reduced scale, we also regularly hear of cold and warm fronts in the meteorological forecasts.

It is certainly not local warm fronts that are responsible for the fact that a thinner layer of permafrost is unable to ensure the stability of Arctic runways anymore. Nor are fronts responsible for the fact that houses on stilts do not have a stable foundation anymore. Many heat records have been established these past years in northern Canada. There will certainly be large amounts of money to spend to rebuild the Nordic infrastructures.

Brush fires as soon as April in Alberta

This year, as soon as April, there were widespread brush fires in a region as north as Fort McMurray in Alberta because winter has not brought much snow to humidify the land during Spring. I thus wondered what would happen once in July. Albertans did not need to wait that long to get the answer.

Western Canada forest after a fire (2014)
Western Canada forest after a fire (2014)

The modelization of climatic changes indicates that, in the Fort McMurray region, the forest fire season is already fifteen days longer that it used to be. More heat might favor more droughts. But an increase in temperature also favors the development of thunderstorms and with them comes lighting that will start up new fires.

One thing is sure: insurance companies will not lose time with the different theories on global warming. The reinsurers (those who insure the insurance companies) have the obligation to limit their losses to stay afloat and premiums will quickly increase to answer to the thousands of claims following an increasing number of natural disasters.

Photos of the local air traffic in Quebec, just after the CL-415s departed to Fort McMurray

FedEx ATR 72-202F C-FTAR and Air Canada Express Bombardier DHC-8-Q-402NG (C-GIJZ) at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in May 2016
FedEx ATR 72-202F C-FTAR and Air Canada Express Bombardier DHC-8-Q-402NG (C-GIJZ) at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in May 2016

At the Quebec airport, between the take offs of the four Bombardier CL-415 towards Fort McMurray, I was able to take few pictures of the local air traffic. In the photo above, it is possible to see a FedEx ATR 72 (C-FTAR) taxiing toward the ramp after a landing runway 06. An Air Canada Express Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q-400) (C-GIJZ) was also being towed for is imminent departure.

ATAC’s Hawker Hunter N339AX

Being in luck, I was able to capture a Hawker Hunter (N339AX) belonging to the American company  ATAC, just airborne from Quebec. As for any military jet, it is difficult to ignore them on take-off: the reactor’s noise is there to remind you of their presence…

A Hawker Hunter belonging to the american company ATAC is airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB), May 2016
A Hawker Hunter belonging to the american company ATAC is airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB), May 2016

A Hawker Hunter, from the american company ATAC, is airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) in May 2016
A Hawker Hunter, from the american company ATAC, is airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) in May 2016

The pictures above have been taken with a Canon 5D MKII camera, equipped with a telephoto lens Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM with a polarizing filter and a Canon Extender EF 2X III which brought the focal length to 400 mm. Even then, more cropping was necessary to enlarge the aircraft since I was quite far away from the runway.

Wishing to ensure that the image was sharp (a blurred picture is more probable with a 400 mm focal length while the photographer attempts to follow a fast flying jet), I adjusted the shutter speed to 1/1600 and made sure that the automatic focus was set on AI servo.

I now realized that a slower speed could have worked a bit better since it would have allowed showing a blurred forest in the background while keeping the aircraft sharp. But it is not often that you have the opportunity to see a Hawker Hunter in flight these days and I played safe with the shutter speed. The ideal shot will be for another day…

CL-415s and CL-215s together in Quebec (2012 photo)

CL-415 and CL-215 water bombers belonging to the Gouvernment of Quebec. Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) 2012
CL-415 and CL-215 water bombers belonging to the Gouvernment of Quebec. Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) 2012

A last picture, taken few years ago, during autumn 2012, shows numerous water bombers CL-415 and CL-215 parked at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB). During the off- season, the water bombers are brought back to Quebec City from the different bases were they have been in operation during summertime.

For other articles on aviation and photography, click on the following link: Aviation photography