Busy Six Weeks comin!!

Bring it on! The next month and a half are probably going to be my photographically busiest of the year. Here's what I'll be up to ;)

Possible Miami trip for Spring Break
TICO Air/Car show March 13
MacDill Airfest March 20-21 Blue Angels
WASP Symposium at FOF March 26
Grand Prix of St Petersburg (IndyCar) March 28 w Mouse
Splash in at FOF April 15
Mustang Meet April 17
Sun N Fun Thunderbirds April 18


Oh, yeah. T-Birds AND Blues this year within a month :) and cars, bars, beaches, and fun. Yep. Love this time of year!

G.O.A.T.

Nope, Not a Mohammed Ali or LL Cool J reference (Though, with me, the latter is MUCH more likely). Today, I wanna talk about cars. Yep, that's right, four wheeled conveyances that, along with my friends, aircraft, books, music, and photography, are among my passions in life. I've gotten a little sick of a lot of car enthusiast sites publishing their "50 Best Car" lists and leaving off a few of my favorites. These are all street-legal cars, for the record. This is based on NOTHING but personal preference for that car, but, here goes. Also, organized to be presented in chronological order, not order of preference ;). Let me know what you think and what YOU think should be on such a list!!

1. 1934 Packard Series 1101
2. 1936 Cord Model 810 Phaeton
3. 1937 Studebaker Coupe Express Pickup
4. 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible
5. 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
6. 1956 Ford F-100
7. 1957 BMW 507 TS
8. 1958 Aston Martin DB2-4 Mark III
9. 1961 Jaguar XK-E E-Type Series II
10. 1963 Aston Martin DB5
11. 1963 Chevrolet Corvette C2 Convertible
12. 1964 Shelby AC 427 Cobra
13. 1967 Ford Shelby Mustang GT350
14. 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS Convertible
15. 1969 AMC Rebel SST
16. 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 RS
17. 1969 Dodge Charger R/T SE (All-time fave)
18. 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge
19. 1969 Pontiac Trans Am Ram Air
20. 1970 Plymouth Barracuda AAR
21. 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird
22. 1971 Dodge Charger R/T
23. 1971 Dodge Demon
24. 1972 deTomaso Pantera
25. 1975 Bricklin SV-1
26. 1976 Dodge Warlock
27. 1982 DeLorean DMC-12
28. 1983 Ford Crown Victoria LTD
29. 1984 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet
30. 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
31. 1986 Chevrolet Suburban 1500
32. 1986 Ford Mustang 5.0 SSP
33. 1986 Porsche 959
34. 1987 Ferrari F40
35. 1987 Jeep WJ Wrangler
36. 1988 Lamborghini Countach 5000QV
37. 1988 Triumph Tiger
38. 1989 Pontiac Trans Am GTA
39. 1990 Chevrolet Corvette C4 ZR-1
40. 1991 Ferrari 512TR
41. 1993 Jaguar XJ220
42. 1994 Lamborghini Diablo SE
43. 1995 Dodge Ram 3500
44. 1996 Dodge Viper GTS
45. 1996 Ferrari 550 Maranello
46. 1997 Plymouth Prowler
47. 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster
48. 2006 Mercedes-Benz McClaren SLR
49. 2008 Ford Mustang GT500KR
50. 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible (I know it's not out yet, but I already love it. Should be out around November ;) )

The Aviation Geek returns

On today's Episode: I've loved aircraft since before I could say the word plane. By five i could tell the difference between an F-111 and an F-4 by SOUND. 

Since then I have never looked back. 

I'm one of those guys that you show a historical or current military aircraft photo to and I can tell you the manufacturer, type, model, wingspan, first flight, and a long list of trivia about it. 

Don't believe me? 

Next time you see me, try me, lol. 

Those who know me know for I'm probably understating the case, if anything. 

So I've always been a military aviation fanatic (I'm not so great on the GenAv side) and love going to museums and airshows. 

 Most of you know I had a pretty serious surgery back in Dec, and it kinda curtailed my being active for a while, in fact, after the surgery it took a long while to even be able to stand for any length of time without getting woozy or sick. 

However the test trip to Oregon went well, and, since airshow season is coming up (My first season with a digital camera), I decided to do a run out to Fantasy of Flight and make sure my timing and focus are still there. 

Yeah, I know I shot hundreds of photos in Oregon, but shooting static objects like the Tillamook and Evergreen collections is cake, any schloob with a $5 disposable can do it. (True, there CAN be artistry in the framing of the shots and angles. I've been told my shots give a vehicle a sense of life many don't. I'm ok with that ;) ) 

So I wanted to shoot on some aircraft in motion, preferably pretty fast motion. (Little known fact. Most cameras can't auto focus on an aircraft in flight. They don't work that fast. Another reason I always use manual. That and I feel auto focus is being lazy, and, in a way, cheating. Probably why i drive a stick shift vehicle, too, lol.) 

 To say I'm a regular at Fantasy of Flight would be like saying it snows at the Winter Olympics (except in Canada, apparently). 

It's one of the few places in Florida where I'm on a first name basis with the staff, and actually like them all. (I'm a picky person, we all know this, and not all that sociable, lol) 

That, and they always have an Aerial Demonstration of the day, means it is one of my favorite places to be. 

And today, I knew, they were going to have a symposium on the Tuskegee airmen and some of the surviving members, and an open cockpit day. 

Well, half of that didn't pan out after all. 

So I drove on over, and the first thing I noticed was that the TBM Avenger was sitting out on the maintenance side of the field. 

Bonus. 

So I would take the backlot tour and go over there to shoot her, one of the few birds at FOF I don't have a lot of good shots of. 

The second thing I noticed was that the parking lot was packed. Not quite Mustang Meet full, but full enough. 

 I popped into the gift shop, flashed my annual pass, got my ticket and armband (necessary to get in the Open Cockpit planes and free to annual passholders), and headed on in to start shooting. 

Every time I go to FOF, the birds are arranged differently, so I always get to shoot different aircraft in different lighting (closer to the hangar doors, ect), except obviously for the four suspended from the ceiling and the Shorts Sunderland, which rarely gets moved because of it's size. Only the North hangar was open when I got there, as they were working in the South hangar, re-setting from an event yesterday. 

So I shot the North hangar, since the Bucker Bestmann (anyone seen The Great Escape?) was at the front and in great light, and the new DH-4 had just arrived. 

After shooting in there for a few minutes, and waiting for the South hangar to open, I joined the backlot tour, only to discover there were about sixty people on it and, therefore, they weren't taking the trams across the way.

Well, Nuts. 

Since there were so many people, and, as Jill later said, I could probably give that tour, I wandered over to the Waldo Wright's Flying Service area and shot their fleet for a little bit, until Rob took up a customer in the Stearman. 

Rob and Jill, the owners of WW's, are my favorite people at FOF. 

Although, to be fair, I end up talking to Jill a lot more than I do Rob, since he's usually airborne flying customers. 

So, while I'm shooting the New Standard D-25, I see Jill come up out of the corner of my eye, and we got to talking for a few minutes, and I shot Rob going overhead in the Stearman.

If you look in the back cockpit on the shot below, Rob is looking right at me!

Somewhere in the conversation we were talking about the TBM and how I was sad the tram wasn't going over there today. 

Jill offered to run me over in their bobtail since she had nothing to do until Rob landed, so we headed over and I got some spectacular shots of the unpainted torpedo bomber.

We got back and the Restoration Tour was ready to start up. I love that tour, so I told Jill I'd pop back by before leaving and headed off. 

The Resto tour only had about fifteen people on it, with Dave and Scott running the tour. 

You know they know me too well when, in the middle of talking about the Seversky P-35, Dave points out that there are only 2 in the US, then asks me about the one in the AF Museum in Dayton, which he knows I had seen. 

I'm also not allowed to answer questions the guys pose on the tour, lol.

The work is coming along well on the Stinson L-1, and I can't wait to see her flying near the end of summer. 

That tour done, and I noticed that the P-51C and TP-40N were on the tarmac now, so I knew I'd get to shoot one of them in action. 

Those are two of my favorite fighters to see fly.

Turns out it was the P-51C, see? ;)

On the first pass I didn't get the focus just right, but on the rest I had him down, as you can judge for yourself ;)

Takeoff!!

Look at the dirt kickup on landing!

And a liiiitle bounce....

After the Tuskegee painted P-51C Mustang landed, there was supposed to be a meet and greet with the surviving Tuskegee Airmen, but that didn't happen. 

However, they DID pull the P-51D and Spitfire Mk.XVI out for the Open Cockpit days. 

Another Bonus. 

I'd never been in the Spitfire, so I shot all around her while they were setting up then hopped in. 

BTW, I'm WAY taller than the average 5'6"-5'8" pilot from WWII, and I whanged my head on the Supermarine Spitfire's canopy frame but good getting out. 

 

Once I had fiddled around with both fighters' controls and taken photos of both for a bit, I wandered back over to WW's, missed Rob again as he had taken a family up in the D-25, said a quick goodbye to Jill, who was swamped with customers, joked with Dave and Paul in the North hangar for a bit, then headed out to head home. 

All in all, it was a good day. 

Oh, yeah. 

Did I mention I don't like taking pictures?? 

I took a couple more than I put on here. see them HERE: Fantasy Of Flight Open Cockpit Day Photos.

BRING ON AIRSHOW SEASON!!!!

HAAALP!!!

Ok, we all know when it comes to military aircraft, there's none better at telling what they are with a glance. But I'm not so good on the ground vehicles, especially what appear to be the Eastern Bloc ground vehicles. I'll throw up some pictures of the six pack atop the hill at Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.....can someone help me put some names to these vehicles??

From the left, vehs (1) through (6), of which you can see only the rear....

Group Shots. See the 6 tracked vehicles?? I think two repeat.... I think (1) and (6) are the same model and (2) and (4) are the same......but if I was sure what they were, I wouldn't be asking for help, lol.


(1)Soviet T-34

(1) rear

(2, turret of 4, 5+6)

(1, 2, 5, 6)

(3)Soviet T-55

(3+4)

(4)Hungarian PZSH-IV (Thanks to Shawn)



(5) Soviet PT-76

(6)Soviet T-34

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks to you, too, Kasey and/or anyone at Evergreen, if you looked!

And, yes, it was as muddy as it looked. I sank up to the top of my boots, but squelching through mud has never stopped ME from getting the shots I wanted......

Oregon Trip Travel Day and Home

Wow. Now that I've caught up on sleep, I can finally wrap up my travelblog on my Oregon trip.

Monday morning, I woke up around seven, got everything packed and broke down the spare room at my cousin's by around 0745. She, Matt, and I left the house and ended up at Starbucks, big surprise, driving through a rather nice fog to get there. Once we had our caffeine fixes ready, we headed off different directions, they to work, me to the interstate to head up to Portland.

The whole trip up I-5 was shrouded in fog, in most places so thick I could barely see past the nose of the car. It finally started thinning out around Aurora, and was sunny by the time I reached the rental counter and dropped the Aveo off.

I also shot the mandatory Logging truck on the road, just north of Aurora where it was starting to get less foggy.

I was almost exactly the TSA mandated 2hrs before my flight, so, after getting through security and being escorted out to the ticketing desk to check my bag that had alcohol in it, then going BACK through security, I had some time to kill. So I pulled open the laptop and tried to log into PDX's wifi. No-go. My terminal was on the very edge of the wifi signal and was intermittent. Meh. So I edited photos for over an hour until the waited area started filling up, iPod in and pretty much ignoring the world. A bald guy with a goatee sat down next to me and opened up a high-end Alienware gaming laptop and started talking loudly on the phone at about 1030. I groaned, figuring I was going to be stuck with him the whole flight. Sometimes I have a sense for these things. I was both right and wrong on this one.

After a while the gate attendant showed up, and I powered the laptop down and wandered over to her, seeing if we had a full flight and if it would be possible to trade for an exit row for legroom. She assured me that we had a full flight. Ugh. I was going to be on the window seat like a sardine, and I was SURE those 3 kids would be behind me and that family who didn't seem to know English would be in front of me. In other words, hell.

I went back and grabbed another seat as someone had stole mine next to the power outlet, sat don, and stuffed my nose in my book, a Kathy Reichs novel called "Death Du Jour". I read and people watched until they called boarding for the flight.

I managed to be a little less than my normally clumsy self getting on the plane, and didn't dent my forehead on the entry door, as this time I remembered to duck. I had a 737 for the flight down to Houston, so I could walk normally down the isle, unlike on some flights where I have to bend almost double to get to anywhere.

Scanning row numbers I came to my row, 21. There was already someone in the middle, E, seat, a beautiful brunette who grinned when I stowed my backpack in the overhead and apologized for having to move past her for the F seat on the window.

I figured for sure she was just in the wrong row. It happens a lot on flights.

But we both settled and buckled in. I pulled my book out of my pocket and turned the iPod on, she went and started studying note cards.

A couple minutes later, the bald guy chatting away loudly on his cell phone wandered over, stowed his gear, and plonked down on the aisle seat of our row, D seat.

The brunette leaned over and whispered in my ear that she was sure he was going to talk the whole flight.

I whispered back I bet the FA was going to have to tell him to shut his phone off.

She laughed and went back to her cards.

Maybe I wouldn't kill myself on this flight after all.
Looking out the window, the day had turned quite pretty, so i snapped a pic with the cellphone, since all my camera gear was in the backpack overhead.

Sure enough, we pushed back from the gate, the announcement about portable electronics came on, and I pulled my headphones out and switched off the iPod.

As I did so, the woman next to me, we'll call her Jane, 'cause that's not her name, leaned over again, stating she was kicking herself for forgetting hers, because with it she could tune out the world and get some studying done.
i agreed, commenting that normally I would just ignore the world, listen to my music, and read on these flights, since I seemed to have terrible luck with people sitting beside me, and indicated our bald companion still yammering away on the phone though the plane was moving.

She arched an eyebrow at me, as if deciding whether I meant her, too, then laughed and said she was afraid she was going to be sandwiched between the kids and the people four rows up that didn't speak English.

I kinda snorted when I laughed.

Right then, the flight attendant came through and told our seatmate he needed to hang up the phone.

In an aside to Jane I muttered "I'm taking this and you can get it back after the flight" in a schoolteacher voice.

She cracked up.

Then we were on the runway and rolling.

Once we leveled out, and the announcement came to be able to use electronic devices, I went to turn the iPod back on, but instead unclipped it from my belt and asked her what kind of music she liked.

For the rest of the flight, I didn't read any of my book, and she didn't get any studying done, since we were pretty much chatting the entire time, about any and everything that came up. With her craning over me to look out the window, I shot a couple pics of the Rockies north of Denver (We pulled out the map in the magazine and I used my Aviation Geek Knowledge to plot our average flight speed and time aloft to determine where we were), and, later, sunset over western Texas.

A few minutes outside Houston, the First Officer came over the intercom and told us that, due to storms, we were going to have to divert to Austin to refuel and wait until Houston re-opened, and the plane banked around to begin descent into Austin.

We landed and taxiid to the middle of the tarmac, away from the terminal, and I pointed out during descent and landing the lights of other aircraft doing the same. We soon had about five aircraft out the window beside us on the tarmac, where we sat for about an hour and a half.

They let people off the plane who wanted to stay in Austin or make other arrangements after a while, and, no sooner had those twenty people or so gotten out the door, the announcement came to get back into our seats because we were cleared to go. That was around 8:10 central time...my flight to Tampa was supposed to have left the gate at 7:27. But I was sure it would still be there since the airport had shut down.

We did the little hop from Austin to Houston, where Jane and I split to hit our respective flights to different parts of Florida. Of course, we'd already exchanged info on the plane.

My flight to Tampa ended up leaving at about quarter to eleven, central, and I didn't land in Tampa until a bit after 0230, then had to collect my checked bag, get a shuttle to where my truck was parked, and drive home. Oh, and hit a McDonalds on the way because I hadn't had anything but coffee and beer all day.

I didn't get home until a bit after 0330, where I was attacked by the Great White Hype......though I'm not sure if it was because he missed me or he wanted my cheeseburgers. I'm gonna go with a bit of both.

Oregon Days 2 and 3...plus trip wrapup

Yeah, I know I haven't posted in a couple of days, so sue me, lmao.


On Friday I went exploring the area a bit, hit a couple parks and found some walking trails, as well as spending an hour or so at Borders, and did a bit of reading. It was pretty much a rest day for me, since I needed to catch up on my lack of sleep from the two days prior. But here are some of the photo highlights:

Yesterday, we headed out to the coast to let the dogs go batshit crazy in the ocean. We had amazing timing, since it was drizzling all the way up, and the sun came out right when we got there (see rainbow in marina pic). So we grabbed lunch at Rogue Brewery then hit the sand. Literally. The dogs got soaked, and the humans weren't exactly dry as some of those waves came rolling in damned fast. One moment the surf line is 100 yards away, the next your legs are soaked to mid calf, all in the time it took to run off a photo or two. After drying off the dogs and getting home so the humans could change, we went out for dinner, then Nellie and I and a friend of hers went to the theater to catch "The Book of Eli". It was pretty good but not at all what was expecting from the previews. However, that being said, it was MUCH better than the previews made it look.

Photo recaps of Sat:

And today, Sunday, Day 4, is mainly going to be watching the Superbowl. I don't care for or about either the Saints or the Colts, but think the Colts will take it. We'll see.

Tomorrow, I'll leave here around 8am to head out for Portland to catch my flight, connect through Houston, and should be back in Tampa around midnight or so.

First FULL day in Oregon

Oregon, Full Day 1.
I “woke up” this morning around 6am. I put woke up in quotes because I never really fell asleep for very long. The hotel itself was fine, but, what you can’t tell ahead of time, is that it is right next door to a 24-hr Subway restaurant with a drive thru, the speaker for which was only 50 feet from my room’s window. Groovy.

So, I woke up kinda blah, and it was still raining. It would continue to be in the 50s and rainy all day. Not great weather to be wandering around outside in, but great indoor photography weather. I hauled my non-conformist non-creed-specific carcass out of bed and shuffled my way through a shower and the normal morning routine, then sat around editing photos and reading till about 7:45, when I headed out for Starbucks. (Happy, Mike? ;) )

With caffeine in hand, I proceeded to drive the three miles over to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, the home of the legendary Hughes H-4 Hercules flying boat.

I parked the little Aveo at the Evergreen museum by 8:15, and, coffee and camera in hand, proceeded to photograph all the birds on display OUTSIDE the museum. That took me the 45 minutes until the museum opened for business at nine, and, while I was behind the museum shooting the P-80, MiG-15UTI and others in the back lot, I noticed some muzzles on the hill above me. I squelched my way up the muddy hill and found some old armor atop the hill, which, of course, I shot. Maybe some of you can tell me what is what from the photos over at Picasa, and the muddy one below. ;)

So, once the museum opened, I got my admission and told the young lady at the desk that Kasey in PR had set me up for a tour of the massive Flying Boat. Somewhat surprised that she knew who I was, she set me up to tour the Hercules at 11, which gave me two hours to roam around the museum.

It wasn’t enough time for me to shoot half the aircraft in the main building, but part of that was because I would stop and talk to the extremely friendly and knowledgeable docents who came up to me every once in a while.

It seemed, almost immediately, to become 11. I had worked my way around the exhibits under the Hercules’ right wing, and, at one point from beside the replica of the Wright Flyer, I texted myself this message in shorthand. (I text to my email when I want to remember notes on something).

I am, right now, standing in the shadow of history. When you know the numbers, she sounds big. 218ft in length, 319ft, 11inch wingspan. Numbers don’t tell you the story. Nothing you’ve seen compares. She is said to have been able to accommodate 700 troops. I can tell you without having to measure that the Statue of Liberty, WITH torch, could lay down inside her comfortably. (She’s 151 feet tall. Weight will be withheld to protect Liberty’s modesty, but it is barely within capability of lift for this girl here). She’s THAT massive. Of course, as you’ve seen from the photo above, I’m talking about the Hughes H-4 Hercules flying boat. She only flew once, for about a mile. Let’s put that into perspective. Her wingspan is 320 feet. Over 100 yards. That’s 1/16th of a mile. So she flew just over 16 times her wingspan. Back in 1903, the Wright Flyer had a wingspan of 40 ft 4 in, and its longest flight on Dec 17th, 1903 was 852ft, or, about 21 times its own wingspan. So, in perspective, the only flight of the Hughes Hercules seems insignificant. Until you meet her face to, well, really low part of the forward hull, in my 6’3” case. This is not an airplane. This is a building with wings. It makes the C-5 Galaxy and Boeing 747 look svelte. (There’s a 747 here outside. And a 1903 Flyer replica. I’ll get there in a minute, as all I have to do is turn around. But the grand lady has my attention at the moment.)

Do you remember when I told you yesterday to keep scale in mind? Yeah, here's why:

So, 11 o’clock. I entered the Hercules and met up with Gene, who was to be my personal tour guide through the massive bird. I’ve read quite a lot about Hughes and the H-4, so he and I were able to keep quite the conversation going as he pointed out points of the aircraft I had only ever read about.

After touring the hull, we ascended the spiral staircase to the massive flight deck. I even have a picture of me sitting in the Pilot’s seat, and, yes, Jim, I took plenty of cockpit photos for you. My tour inside the H-4 probably took a good 45 minutes.

Then, for the rest of the day up until about 4, I photographed the rest of the Aviation side of the museum, AND the Space side.

Then it was time to head down and meet up with Nellie, AND get the Aveo’s tire replaced. I went in to the Enterprise at Cor where Nellie lives, but they didn’t have a vehicle to trade me, so sent me over to Firestone to get the wheel replaced, on their dime, of course, which I did.

After that, I drove over to Nellie’s and we had dinner and caught up for a while until calling it a night. However, tired as I am, since I may have only gotten 3 hrs of sleep last night, I wanted to be sure and hit a post before bed. Tomorrow I plan to work on getting some of the photos up on Picasa, and a few to illustrate this blog as well.

photos on Picasa are UP!!

Thus endeth day 1. Tomorrow is probably going to be a rest day, but we’ll see ;)
Love to all!