Day 249 - Flying Machines

black ops?

I was rudely awoken this morning to the sound of a large helicopter throbbing away somewhere in the locality...but it wasn't this one!

As I drifted through that strange world between asleep and awake, so the sound of the helicopter grew, then faded, then grew again.  After this had gone on for some 20 minutes, curiosity dragged me out of bed, and I looked out of the window only to find...nothing at all!

I could still hear the pulsing sound, but there was no sign of any obvious source.

Taking the camera, I went out into the garden to see if I could spy it off in the distance somewhere, and maybe grab a photo of the day...but after a few minutes scouring the skies, and peering through various foliage off in the direction of the test track up on the ridge behind us, I eventually got a brief glance of a large, pale chopper right up on the horizon, perhaps over the test track.

It was only a fleeting glimpse though, before it went behind a tree and I lost sight of it, never to see it again...I could still hear it though, so kept trying a variety of vantage points hoping for a photo opp, but none came.

Then, just as I was about to give up, by odd coincidence there came from the south the sound of another, smaller helicopter...turning round I saw this sleek black Agusta A109 Power Elite (you can easily find these things out on the internet just using the serial number - who knew?!) approaching.

Trying to focus on a single small object in the sky is no mean feat, especially when it's travelling at speed.  It took a few moments to find it in the viewfinder before I could finally focus and rattle off a few shots as it passed overhead.

I have no idea why the activity of course, but here's another odd coincidence...we were talking cars at work today, and I was enthusing about the MkIV Supra 3.0tt that I owned for a few years from 1998...I had it for 5 years and did 100,000 miles in it, and it was the best car I've ever owned, by about a bazillion miles.

It looked pretty much like this, only with stock wheels rather than the upgrades this one is wearing:

beauty of the beast

For me, it's just about the most aesthetically pleasing car ever made...I just love it. 

3.0l straight 6 with twin turbo's, pulling 326bhp - the thing was an absolute beast.  It was limited to 165mph, although it was geared to do over 200mph. 

Sure enough, on the one occasion I tested this (on an empty motorway in the middle of the night, I hasten to add), it accelerated all the way to the rev limiter, and sat there comfortably at 165mph for as long as I dared keep my foot down. 

Utterly gorgeous machine, my dream car, and I have no regrets, despite the enormous amount of money it consumed, both to buy and to keep on the road...it was totally reliable in true Toyota style, but the rear tyres cost a few hundred pounds each and only did about 12,000 miles...and I only got around 300 miles from a full tank of fuel - I seemed to be filling it up every few days for those five years.

So just now, I wondered if there was something on up at the Heritage Motor Museum (next door to the test track) which could explain this morning's events...

There's no sign of anything that might involve a helicopter...but the next event on there is this Sunday...

It's the MkIV Supra Owners Club meet!

I wonder if, to round this little story off, I might get a glimpse of my old friend, that beautiful black Supra?

Apparently I'm still very fond of my old beast!

I guess the chances of it being there, and then of me seeing it passing by (I won't be attending) are slim to nothing...but as I said last night - I can dream!

B-)