It's a hard thing to resist, photographing beautiful young girls. Sorry, know it's not appropriate to say that in some circles, but there you have it.
Here's a group of people who were playing at Golden Gardens one Labor Day, and whom I finally contacted through one of the players when I met him at Alki another day. He's not stupid...
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Off Motorcycling
Going to be doing a bit of a ride in the next few days/week or so. Have decided that, given my incident of last weekend, and given that I'd already booked next week off, I'm going to jump on the old Goldwing and head down the Oregon coast.
I think I'm going to pack a tent, some camping gear, a few nice cameras, and maybe this laptop, plus a full selection of Prism kites, and then head for the beaches. Top that off with some suntan lotion, a few pairs of shorts and a bathing suit, and I think I'll be set for the week.
Will probably do a loop, heading inland in Southern Oregon and then coming up the two states inside the mountains, in the high desert country. That will give me an opportunity to stop off in the Horse Heaven Hills and photograph the Mustang II, talk to the farmer who might deliver it over to Seattle for me, and do some measuring and analysis.
Can't wait, and will try to make some postings enroute.
I think I'm going to pack a tent, some camping gear, a few nice cameras, and maybe this laptop, plus a full selection of Prism kites, and then head for the beaches. Top that off with some suntan lotion, a few pairs of shorts and a bathing suit, and I think I'll be set for the week.
Will probably do a loop, heading inland in Southern Oregon and then coming up the two states inside the mountains, in the high desert country. That will give me an opportunity to stop off in the Horse Heaven Hills and photograph the Mustang II, talk to the farmer who might deliver it over to Seattle for me, and do some measuring and analysis.
Can't wait, and will try to make some postings enroute.
It Had To Happen Some Day
Well, it finally happened. I bent some aluminum.
As always, with any accident/incident, there's a number of causes. Fortunately, it did NOT happen in the air, nor did it happen with an engine running, or the aircraft moving. It happened when my foot slipped, and I slammed to the ground while mounting/dismounting an aircraft on display at the Museum of Flight.
It was last Saturday, and I'd been there all day, working at the Aerobatics day. Getting off the right wing of the Zlin 242 I slipped, and slammed down full body weight on the right flap, tin canning it immediately.
Our sheet metal guys tell me that it's not damage that can't be repaired. And, there's some issues with re-rigging the flap, so on balance I got off pretty lucky. And of course, there's insurance, so I won't, fortunately, have to write a massive check. But I'm still mortified, and have replayed the incident over and over and over again in my mind.
Wish I could say that it hadn't happened, but it did, and that's that. And thank you to all the people who immediately asked me how I was, whether I'd been hurt myself. No, just my pride.
As always, with any accident/incident, there's a number of causes. Fortunately, it did NOT happen in the air, nor did it happen with an engine running, or the aircraft moving. It happened when my foot slipped, and I slammed to the ground while mounting/dismounting an aircraft on display at the Museum of Flight.
It was last Saturday, and I'd been there all day, working at the Aerobatics day. Getting off the right wing of the Zlin 242 I slipped, and slammed down full body weight on the right flap, tin canning it immediately.
Our sheet metal guys tell me that it's not damage that can't be repaired. And, there's some issues with re-rigging the flap, so on balance I got off pretty lucky. And of course, there's insurance, so I won't, fortunately, have to write a massive check. But I'm still mortified, and have replayed the incident over and over and over again in my mind.
Wish I could say that it hadn't happened, but it did, and that's that. And thank you to all the people who immediately asked me how I was, whether I'd been hurt myself. No, just my pride.
Monday, August 07, 2006
In The Pits
What a weekend, starting with hanging out with the Blue Angels for a morning breakfast Friday,
through working in our company booth, taking part in a flyby, and watching the hydroplane races and air shows from the top of the control tower, a place so secure you have to have about seventeen different levels of pass, plus a degree of chutzpah, just to get to.
I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves, as writing about this is not nearly as good as just seeing what it was.
Suffice to say that I'm not really happy with my photo skills, but some of them came out well, so that's progress.
through working in our company booth, taking part in a flyby, and watching the hydroplane races and air shows from the top of the control tower, a place so secure you have to have about seventeen different levels of pass, plus a degree of chutzpah, just to get to.
I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves, as writing about this is not nearly as good as just seeing what it was.
Suffice to say that I'm not really happy with my photo skills, but some of them came out well, so that's progress.
Speaking of Angels
Thanks to Karen Santa of Windermere Real Estate for arranging a pit pass for me Sunday at the hydroplane races. She's a sponsor of a boat, and graciously allowed me to do some photography that I otherwise would not have been able to get. And, in return, I took these photos of her.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
The Deep Blue Sky, Full Of Angels
OK, they're here, at Boeing Field, for the next four days. The US Navy Blue Angels, and what can be more exciting to a pilot than to be able to watch those guys from close up.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Take A Deep Breath and Plunge In...
Through the immense generosity of a group of aviation friends, I have come to begin a new stage in my flying career, that of "aircraft builder".
With luck, persistence, and cash, lots of cash, I should at some time in the future have a hand in completing a kit-built Mustang II. The project is currently sitting abandoned in a barn in Eastern Washington, where we left it two years ago when I first saw it. At that time I took some cellphone photos of it, and as soon as I track down the hard drive they reside on I'll forward them on to this blog. However, here's a link to some photos I took of a Mustang II a few weeks ago at the Arlington EAA airshow. This is what my pile of airplane parts might look like after I put a lot of sweat and a lot of cash into the mixture, liberally dosed with a lot of time.
In the meantime, the plan is as follows:
Do the documentation with the current owner, releasing he and his heirs and successors from any and all liability pertaining to my further messing with the project.
(Addendum) Went to my local EAA meeting last night, found a resource, a gentleman who had a copy of a presentation given a few years ago by an aviation liability lawyer. My source also has copies of the contracts the lawyer drew up for him when he sold (that is, when my source sold) his own plane (sorry, collection of aircraft parts...)
(Addendum) Found the hard drive tucked away, and bought an external cover for it, powered it up, and found the cellphone photos from so many years ago. Here they are. Each needs some comments. The workmanship on the cowl is so poor that it's a full reject. So too will be some of the other cosmetic work, but the basic assembly workmanship is at least passable, at best good.
Haul the aircraft, the parts, the plans, and the dust, over from the dryland farm country to a storage area as yet to be determined. I hope that storage area is somewhere near my place of employment.
Start with a clean sheet or two of paper, an A&P or two, an afternoon or twenty, and review the work that has been completed so far. This analysis will lead me to one of two decisions, which are, of course, proceed or abandon.
If proceed, then I'll be making myself MUCH more active in my local EAA chapter, of which I'm already a member (just in case this project came to pass....).
And, I'll be scrambling for the cash of course....which is sparse to say the least....
But, over the horizon and out there somewhere, God willing and weather permitting, an airplane, a sweet little two seat semi-aerobatic ride, will be mine for the asking....and what's not to like about that?
With luck, persistence, and cash, lots of cash, I should at some time in the future have a hand in completing a kit-built Mustang II. The project is currently sitting abandoned in a barn in Eastern Washington, where we left it two years ago when I first saw it. At that time I took some cellphone photos of it, and as soon as I track down the hard drive they reside on I'll forward them on to this blog. However, here's a link to some photos I took of a Mustang II a few weeks ago at the Arlington EAA airshow. This is what my pile of airplane parts might look like after I put a lot of sweat and a lot of cash into the mixture, liberally dosed with a lot of time.
In the meantime, the plan is as follows:
Do the documentation with the current owner, releasing he and his heirs and successors from any and all liability pertaining to my further messing with the project.
(Addendum) Went to my local EAA meeting last night, found a resource, a gentleman who had a copy of a presentation given a few years ago by an aviation liability lawyer. My source also has copies of the contracts the lawyer drew up for him when he sold (that is, when my source sold) his own plane (sorry, collection of aircraft parts...)
(Addendum) Found the hard drive tucked away, and bought an external cover for it, powered it up, and found the cellphone photos from so many years ago. Here they are. Each needs some comments. The workmanship on the cowl is so poor that it's a full reject. So too will be some of the other cosmetic work, but the basic assembly workmanship is at least passable, at best good.
Haul the aircraft, the parts, the plans, and the dust, over from the dryland farm country to a storage area as yet to be determined. I hope that storage area is somewhere near my place of employment.
Start with a clean sheet or two of paper, an A&P or two, an afternoon or twenty, and review the work that has been completed so far. This analysis will lead me to one of two decisions, which are, of course, proceed or abandon.
If proceed, then I'll be making myself MUCH more active in my local EAA chapter, of which I'm already a member (just in case this project came to pass....).
And, I'll be scrambling for the cash of course....which is sparse to say the least....
But, over the horizon and out there somewhere, God willing and weather permitting, an airplane, a sweet little two seat semi-aerobatic ride, will be mine for the asking....and what's not to like about that?
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