Just Some Assorted Fun Stuff

I'm back! Finally Summer is HERE! I am on my second day off of three, and sunshine and the outdoors beckons! However I just wanted to post a short blog and post a few pics taken on some recent activities.

Last week, in celebration of yet another annual anniversary of my entry into this world over half a century ago, my long time freind Debra gave me the gift of this really KEWL bicycle statue! Although I'm not REALLY sure if it was in celebration of my birthday, OR a congratulatory reminder of my 40 plus milestone ride a couple of months ago! Either way it was thoughtful as usual, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of you. I also found it interesting that it bears a striking resemblance to the three statues on the Green River Trail up in Kent! ( see earlier posts)As a further birthday celebration I was treated to a visit to the McMinneville Aviation Museum in McMinneville, Oregon last week. The main attraction there is the Spruce Goose flying boat built by Howard Hughes that was moved up to this museum from its former resting place in Long Beach, California a number of years ago. I tried to get a picture of it, but frankly it was SO huge and imposing that it filled the entire building and there was no place I could find to fit the entire craft in one frame! So, it just sort of fits in on pictures of the other aircraft surrounding it in the hanger. Frankly, I just wasn't all that impressed with it. It was BIG, and I suppose that was impressive in and of itself, but I found far greater interest in the other exhibits that surrounded it.

That picture above gives a good hint at the size of this monster. As you can see, sitting under the starboard wing is an F-105. Now I can tell you that the F-105 is a BIG airplane. The people standing on the ladder shows that fact. So, then compare that to that huge wing towering overhead!

Then I had fun walking around this F-4 Phantom reminiscing about my younger days when I was based for two years in England. Occasionally I was "drafted" to the Security Police unit to walk fence lines in the dark, or wander around a cold, wet, windy hardstand. To make a long story short the upside down "V" of the F-4 tail design provided a wonderfully dry "roof" and as soon as the maintenance guys showed up and started the thing up, it made a great HEATER while running at idle! I do recall even after more than thirty years, that when you're on a windy airfield a short three miles inland from the cold North Sea in December, that you found your heat wherever you could find it! You know, dumb young kids don't think about stuff like this, but I'm really glad those guys never decided to "goose" the throttles back then! HAA!

I was rather impressed with two of my favorites displayed together. Here are a few shots of the 'Two Mustangs'.

A number of years ago I read the biography of Lee Iaccoca, who was the mastermind behind Ford building the Mustang in 1964. As it turns out the automobile was inspired and directly fashioned after the P-51 Mustang. The story related the design features that made the Ford Mustang what it was. A long nose ( hood), a forward slanting trailing edge on the shorter tail (trunk and rear panel), the fastback roof line, and, when one looks at the lower air intake on the airplane, the Ford Mustangs distinctive grill is clearly evident. As a side note, one might also find interest that the tailfin fad of the 1950's actually began with a very subtle "hump" on the tail of the 1948 Cadillac, based on the twin boom design of the P-38.

So there you have some aviation inspired automotive trivia for those who care.

I found this Spitfire interesting in that this particular airplane was posted at a Royal Air Force airfield, just down the road from the village where, and at the same time, my British born mother was about to marry my father and leave home to begin her life in this country!

This was a rather interesting display. It is the partial remains of a Japanese "Zero" that was discovered on a remote Pacific Island, obviously cleaned up a bit, but displayed in "as is" condition.



This was my 'artsy' contribution to the list, it is just the polished propeller hub on the B-25

One thing you find in these museums, is a collection of old codgers telling "war stories". Listening to one, I learned some trivia you can share at your next get together. I learned the origins of the common phrase, "The whole nine yards". As it turns out, World War Two aircrews, when preparing for a mission, would draw ammunition belts for their .50 caliber guns. Sometimes, when the trip was expected to be of short duration, with little expected enemy opposition, they would take a smaller amount. However, if a long trip, with heavy opposition was expected they would draw a full load. As it turns out, a full length belt of .50 caliber ammunition, on a typical Flying Fortress bomber was twenty seven feet long. 27 feet divided by 3 feet to a yard, hence the term, "Gimmie the whole nine yards!" So there is your trivia tidbit for the day.

(After some thought, I want to make this addition. I love these old airplanes. There is something about the look, feel, smell, and sound of these old birds that strikes a nerve in me. Maybe its childhood dreams and imaginations, maybe its just a guy thing. Then again, maybe it is understanding the very short timeline involved in the technological advances of these craft. Less than forty short years prior to some of these machines, aircraft were only a dream. Less than thirty years later, man was walking on the moon! However there is one thing that should be remembered. These machines are not motor vehicles, they are not coffee grinders or washing machines. Some of them were designed and built for the sole purpose of breaking things and killing people. We need to remember the millions of people, in and out of uniform, whose lives have ended over the bickering's of nations and politics. Just my opinion.)

I took many other photos that I have yet to post. Possibly I will edit this and add those later. In addition to the hanger that housed these aircraft and many others, there was also a separate building devoted to Space. That building contained several other interesting displays, such as the X-15 rocket plane, examples of Mercury and Apollo spacecraft, and other various and assorted gadgets and doohickeys related to mankind's exploration of space. Outside this hanger was an example of the SR-71 Blackbird. A record setting high speed reconnaissance aircraft, one of which set a speed record from New York to London in less than two hours!
As enjoyable as the day was, which included a drive through some beautiful scenery of the hilly, rural, west side of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. It did involve my 4 hour drive down, and the 4 hour drive home back here to Tacoma which made for a very long and tiring day. When I got back to the boat, I don't remember my head hitting the pillow!

In addition to the airplane stuff, the last week included yet another Wednesday night boat race, where this time we actually had enough breeze to almost stick the deck in the water! Its funny, when I was driving a truck cross country all month, where trucks are not supposed to tip over, then coming home to sail for a day or two, how the normal heeling action on a sailboat gave me the creeps!

This one is a fun shot, knowing that it was taken as a sideways shot across the boat. Heeling over quite a bit, it didn't capture a horizon, or distant beach, but rather the water which as one can see was actually on the SIDE of the boat instead of below!

OK, that's about it for now. I have a summery day to get out and enjoy!

Trusting in Good Health, Safety and Smiles for my readers!