Doing some modeling

As most of you know, I'm an avid modeller, and have gotten to the point where I've gotten almost everything I want for my collection built or in my stash.

Two VERY noticeable exceptions to this rule are my Unicorns, things I would LOVE to own that would round off my extensive collection quite nicely.

The first is a truly historic aircraft that is near and dear to my heart, and would round off my Golden Age, Milestones in Flight, and Pioneers collections quite well.  She is a 1/72 Junkers W33 to represent the Bremen, the first aircraft to fly the Atlantic nonstop East to West.  There was only ever one made, by RT Models, and she is extremely rare to find these days.  A pic of this kit box is below.

The other, also in 1/72 scale, and which used to be on eBay quite a bit 5-7 years ago (and I didn't pick one up then, dammit), is one of the iconic TV aircraft of my youth, the highly modified Bell 222 known as Airwolf.  This was a limited-run kit made, I believe, in Korea (if anyone knows what language is on the box and can tell me the name of the company, I'd be obliged) but it's listed in some places as made by Union/MPC.  I have the Blue Thunder by the same company already, and getting Airwolf would finish off my Hollywoodland collection quite well.

If anyone knows of someone who has these kits, or is someone, I'd be greatly appreciative of being put in touch with them so I can get my hands on these last couple of models for my collection.

 Here is one of my most recent builds, a kitbash of the Revell B-17F and the Academy B-17F Flying Fortress.  By combining the two kits, I was able to come up with a historically accurate version of the Memphis Belle, an aircraft I had the honor of visiting at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and of which I met the pilot, Colonel Robert Morgan, at an airshow in Tampa the year before he passed.

Depressing news today, AKA a photographic love letter to my favorite place

I got an email this morning from +Fantasy of Flight, my absolute favorite place in Florida, my "Me" place, that they are closing their doors on April 6th.

If you know me at all, you know how depressed this news makes me.

I'd been worried about the attraction for a while, because they had been talking for years about plans for new hangars and a seaplane base out on Lake Agnes, but no construction on either was ever started. 

That, and the owner and founder, Kermit Weeks, had been getting......further and further out there in his speeches for the "future of the attraction", moving it away from the amazing Living Aviation Museum I loved and further towards the Disneyism of many "theme parks" that I have always hated. He even added characters to the environment. I remarked to friends that I would take there that I thought those kind of ideas spelled trouble. Any time you try to change what you are to become something you're not, trouble tends to follow.
Fantasy of flight, one of the WORLD CLASS Aviation destinations, started to try and become a theme park, and that was the start of the end. So, in memorium of my absolute favorite place in Florida, please enjoy a few of my fave shots taken over the last 12 years.

 I'm going to go mourn the loss of a place I truly loved.