An old man with a Corvette problem

I have a Corvette problem.  That I assume is part of the 12 step program.  Therefore I'm on step 6, as I've had six Corvettes so far.

Pictured here are four of them, with the silver metallic one pictured with my very tolerant wife.  That was a 2008 sixth generation Coupe, which I had traded my 2004 Lemans Blue Coupe on here in Florida.

The 2008 was purchased in 2009, and two years later was traded for the 2011 new Cyber Gray Coupe.  I'm pictured with the obscenely tall trophy won at a car show in Illinois, which I attended during a visit to St Louis.

The other picture of the 2011 was taken in the driveway of our home on Winding Oaks Drive on Longboat Key.  This would be my fourth Corvette, starting with the 2001 Midnight Blue (almost purple), which I purchased used from a St Louis Dodge dealership.  All up to this had been Coupes, except for that first 2001, which was a manually operated top Convertible.  So, the 2001 begat the 2004, which then begat the 2008 and ultimately the 2011 Coupe.

Then everything changed.......I had the 2011 in for servicing and I spotted a red convertible, on the used car lot.  It had an automatic top, and I was hooked.

Should have kept her - automatic transmission

It had lots of options too, installed by the prior
owner, including window tinting and special wheels.  It also had a large CORVETTE decal across the top of the windshield.  Wife said "why", commenting that there was nothing like a corvette, so why proclaim the obvious.

She (the car) was very sweet looking, with a gray top and gray fender badging.  She was also a Grand Sport, with those big tires on the rear sitting inside those flared out fenders.  And she was fast.  Six speed auto with paddle shifters.

She was also a trophy winner too (see below).  I actually had this car long enough that I actually had to spend money on new tires....not cheap.

It"s a winner!

2010, 2014, 2004 (l to r)

Radio Controlled

Well, after winning class C6B (sixth generation Corvettes came out in 2005), and class B would indicate a model newer the 2008 when the newer engine LS-3 was installed.  Winning this class in 2013, I started looking at the newest Corvette C-7.  The model changed in 2014, after nine years of the sixth generation style.  My dear wife even bought one for me, with a smaller version thrown in for good measure.  Radio Controlled cars, no matter how nice a Christmas gift in 2014, left me unfulfilled.  So, it was only a matter of time before I graduated to a seventh generation Corvette.  And of course, it had to be red.  I'd started out with 5th generation blue Corvettes, but after that first red one, I was hooked.  The current red is called Torch Red, but like prior generations, they're all "Re-Sale Red".  On one of our Corvette Club trips, I shot the picture of the three red cars parked dockside, with a C-6 (mine at that point) a C-7 and a C-5 parked left to right.

This is my current Corvette, a 2015, which turned 5.001 miles today as I pulled into our garage.

This car is awesome, but that stick shift ultimately proved detrimental during "season" which on Longboat Key refers to the time when the northerners come down and clog the roads.  During season,  one can literally take one hour to get off the island and onto a two lane road.  The trick, therefore, is to leave early before people headed to the beach clog the roads.  And to come back pretty much near dusk.  Don't even think about going out for dinner during the months of January through April.

And with that advice, I end this epistle - yesterday was Corvettes on the circle - a C-7 from our club (one of three) won the class I shared - it was yellow, while our other club members car was also red.
Guess we both slipped on a banana peel, eh?

Night lights and night flights of fancy

new lighting in our courtyard

I recently become aware of a brand new blog, being written by a pilot friend, and it reminded me that I'd probably not written much since the big Kiwanis fundraiser in early December.

But what topic would be appropriate?  I decided to put together two events from the past week, night lights and last night's first night flight.   So, I've cobbled together the appropriate pictures, and here it goes.....

A glorious sunset.....thank you, Lord

That picture at the bottom shows the aircraft prior to being used.  You'll note there is a nice warm plane cover on her (she being 817 Sierra Papa), which of course would have to be removed prior to flight - as I discovered, night flying has SOME visibility, while flying with the windshield totally covered does not.  Back to the story.

I left the house for my first lesson in the required ten takeoff-and-full-stop landings requirement for a private pilots license around 2230 Zulu (or 6:30 PM CST for those who have yet to master this GMT stuff).  The landscape lights were NOT on, as they are now on a photo cell and it wasn't dark enough.  They would greet me upon my return however.

The sky looks magnificent at nautical twilight, and sunsets in Florida are just magnificent anyway - last night was no different than the night I had snapped the photo chosen.  Oh, nautical twilight is that period one hour following actual sunset, but does not count as night flying - it had to be actual night time for the required number of ten takeoffs and landings.  Last night I flew for exactly one hour, per the Hobbs meter in 7SP - its the device that measures time spent actually flying.  In the case of a flight school, it also measures "billable hours".

I could probably go into HOW it works, but then you'd not care, and its not on my test away.  The tachometer measure actually engine running time, so one knows when to change the oil and other important stuff.  I have to record both times in and out - I think of them as Calvin and Hobbs.  That of course was a wonderful comic strip, not longer written about a young boy and his anthropomorphic Tiger.  Perhaps Seven Sierra Papa will be my tiger.

And, once again I digress - back to last night and it was a very cold night, with some moonlight over Sarasota Bay as I flew six of my required minimum ten takeoffs and landings to a full stop within exactly one hour.  I would not have gotten six full stop landings into an hour during the day at SRQ, but a night it (sort of like Longboat Key) slows appreciably and by nine PM they're ready to roll up the runways.   So much so, that the tower was very gracious to offer me the opportunity to "back taxi" each time, thus saving time and fuel.  So, fuel cost would run about $55 for ten gallons used.

Had I done this with a school plane, I'd have to add in the $160 per hour rental fee, but owing my own aircraft negated that cost.  So the total cost was $65 for the flight instructor, who was a bit concerned about my approaches, but seemed to like my landings.  I was only concerned that every time I went for the flaps I'd end up brushing her knees and get distracted.  Maybe I should fly those last four with Sherman, my other instructor.  Sherman soloed me down in Venice, but Elina has yet to turn me loose at SRQ (Sarasota Bradenton International).  When she says I'm ready to do those solo cross-country trips (having done my three required with an instructor aboard), I'll be like Calvin in his final comic strip appearance after 3,150 episodes.  It showed he and Hobbes with his sled on a freshly fallen snow,  ready to face the wonder of what lay beyond.  Turning to his tiger, he simply said "It's a magical world, ol' buddy.......let;s go exploring."

My two vehicles for flights of fancy.  The license plate holder reads "too close for missiles, switching to guns."

Kiwanis Gourmet Lawn Party - get your tickets here

The Big Top Awaits

And, so it goes - the 33rd annual welcome back luncheon, now managed by Kiwanis of LBK, and known as the Gourmet Lawn Party, will be held on December 6th, 2014.

So, aside from posting these photos from prior year events, I'm busy selling raffle tickets - you have till December 5th to purchase one - win $20,000 with a one in less than 500 sold chance, for just a simple C note ($100) donated to our scholarship foundation,   Yep, fully deductible.

Guests decompress at the end

prior year advertisement

The Line Up 

Food vendors set up

The Band Played On

Finally I solo, now on to the next tests

Sherman Bilbo

This was the week that was, in terms of my finally reaching that point where Sherman turned me loose in Venice, Florida to do three landings without him in the aircraft.  Later that day, back in Sarastoa, I signed the wall - next to where my son signed when he completed his private pilot license.  He is currently working on his IFR (instrument flight rules) rating - he has a test to take and then has to fly with an FAA examiner to prove he understands all that is required to fly on instruments.  I think I 'll stick right now with VFR (visual flight rules) and be happy.  My next things will be cross country work.

signing the Wall of Fame (and lost Fortune) 

N817SP on day of solo

After I soloed I hitched a ride with CFI (Certificated Flight Instructor) Elina Lunin in her personal twin engined Piper Apache Geronimo, down to Punta Gorda.  She flew down to fuel up, but I suspect she just wanted to visit friends. Elina used to teach at a flight school 40 NM south of Sarasota (KSRQ), where she is the newest instructor at Universal Flight Training, my school.

So, after I soloed, Sherman asked me to work up a flight plan for my first cross country, which I had set for Lakeland (KLAL), via Wauchula (KCHN).  We had flown once to KCHN, and back, but that flight wasn't more than 50 miles, so I couldn't count it anyway.  At this point, with 70 plus hours, I'm going to try and make every mile count toward a requirement, lest I go broke before I fly directly to the poor house.  It helps to own your own plane, and on Saturday I figured I was ready, but needing a few extra miles, I chose to fly to Bartow, Florida rather than Lakeland.  Bartow has twin mains 27R and 27L, and we landed on 27Left, which is an east-west runway, with its reciprocal being 09 or 90 degrees on the compass (due east).  The other runway was a single strip, that being runway 23 (meaning 230 degrees or oriented SSW) and runway  05 (NNE heading).   I was supposed to fly on Saturday with Sherman, but when I got there Elina was available, and since she had given me a lift in her plane, I figured turnabout was fair play so she got to fly in my much smaller, less powerful Cessna 172.   There is a minimum requirement to obtain a Private Pilots license, calling for 20 hours of flight training from an authorized flight instructor including at least 3 hours of cross-country, i.e. to other airports.  So, that one trip ticked off 2/3rds of a minimum WITH an instructor - one more ought to do the trick.
                                                     

At the Bartow Air Base Museum

Back to Barlow however, where I had Elina take a picture of me standing in front of some Colonel's Air Force Blues.
In the late 60's, I wore this same uniform, in the enlisted variant of course.  My dad, the late Colonel Jack (called that behind his back) was a pilot, with several thousand hours including 132 missions flying cargo planes from India to China.  He flew C-46 Curtis Commandos and C-47 Douglas Skytrains, better known as Gooney Birds.  While my son wants to keep going I think I'll stick with fair weather flying.

Bartow airport is six miles north of the City of Bartow, carved out of 900 acres of former farmland.  Ground was broker on December 8, 1941 (the day after Pearl Harbor) and the field was operated as a P-51 Mustang Replacement Training Station, where graduates went on to Europe and Asia.  Deactivated in November 1945 and turned over to the City of Bartow, but reactivated for Korea in 1950 and finally closed by the Air Force in 1961 and the facilities were turned back over to the City.   The new terminal was completed in 2007.  The town may not be much, but the terminal is pretty nice - and the place where I made my first landing for a required cross country.  My next cross country trip is the one I should be working on tonight (instead of this blog) and will go to Sebring, Florida.  That's where Corvettes are raced for twelve hours once a year, a mini 24 hours of Lemans type endurance race.  I'm looking forward to flying there, although I know I could get there quicker in the Corvette.  I'll fly over to Sebring at Normal Cruise - 112 knots (129 MPH).  No cops.

Elina Lunin - checking the oil on her Piper PA-23

Patriot's Point, Charleston, SC

USS Yorktown (CVA 10) at Patriot's Point.

F4-J Phantom II fighter-bomber

The view approaching the USS Yorktown (CVA 10) showed a number of aircraft on the flight deck.  By and large, these were almost all  post World War II jets, plus one of the helicopters assigned to carry out air-sea rescue, including participating in recovery of the Apollo 8 astronauts in the Pacific following capsule splashdown.

For this blog entry I'd chosen to showcase the two aircraft forward (that's the front of the ship) where they both sit displayed as if awaiting a "cat shot" from the under deck mounted steam catapult.  The Tracer, on the left was the forerunner to the more well known Hawkeye (still active, therefore none on display)  The Tracer was built in 1954, and ultimately left the fleet sometime in the 1970's,  replaced by the somewhat quicker Hawkeye.  The Tracer had a top speed of 280 MPH at 4,000 feet, which meant the catapult operator could set the cat shot differently than when helping the Phantom aloft.

View from the CAGs chair midway up the island

I've shown the view from the CAG's seat, halfway up the "island" on the carrier.  I sat in his chair and took the pictures herein.  I've always been fond of the F-4, as it was also adopted by the USAF and the Marines.  Built in my adopted home town of St Louis, the F-4 was the predominant aircraft at Ubon Royal Thai Airbase, where the 8th Tac Fighter Wind (the Wolfpack) had three squadrons of Phantoms.  I'd hear them taking off over the sounds of records playing at AFTN 840 radio,where I worked from midnight till six AM.  A very powerful wake-up call for those not yet awake.

Early AWACS - the Grumman E-1B Tracer

Below is a good look at the Tracer, which also carried the nicknames Willie Fudd, and Sloof with a Roof.  The WF original Navy designation resulted in explaining Willie Fudd,  but the other nickname warrants knowing more about the S-2 Tracker.  Rather than tell you, I took a picture of the on-board placard (below).  Also, for more information, I'd direct you to the website for the Yorktown, found at www.PatriotsPoint.org.

SA-2 Tracker, aka Sloof

For more:  www.PatriotsPoint.org 

Those daring young men........

These pictures were taken on my recent cruise, where the Vision of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) had several "aerialist" acts.  On the left side, I've captured the performance, showing the colorful costuming.  The more revealing pictures show the rehearsal where the young men in black were preparing for their late evening performance.  I'd call it more musical bungee jumping than a true circus aerial act, but considering this was done on a cruise ship from decks four thru eight, there was sufficient elevation and "zooming up and down" to give the audience oohs and aahs.

The actual rigging was quite elaborate and to my memory I had never seen this type of platform structures on the eighth deck of a ship, allowing for a forty foot performance area, clearly greater than was available in the actual theatre part of Vision.  This ship will come to Tampa in December so we might see her again.  The men were not exactly on the flying trapeze, but they certainly did fly about the atrium on Vision of the Seas.

The CNN Studio Tour

This is the actual Humvee used by CNN during the first Gulf War

Earlier this month (July, 2014) my son flew our plane up to Atlanta to log his longest cross-country flight and to experience landing at an airfield whose elevation was 998 feet MSL.  Considering the all of his prior landings in Florida were at 30 feet MSL, he found it a different approach to say the least.

CNN World HQ - food court and flags

Allegedly, this is the longest indoor escalator going 8 stories high

This is where the "news" (at least as CNN sees it) comes in, and is massaged into the message they air to the world

Well, we made it (obviously) and he visited with friends from his college days, and I visited with my cousin Bill, my aunt Marg and Bill's wife Barb.

A highlight of the trip was on Sunday, when we ventured downtown to visit the HQ of CNN and to take the tour.  Typical of me, I asked the girl at the ticket stand if they had any special pricing, for seniors or veterans.  It turned out they did - FREE for vets with ID (which my VA card sufficed to prove) and.....get this...my son John Benjamin (JB) got three dollars off the regular $15 adult rate for accompanying me.  He at least didn't ask for a wheel chair, considering it would have been a bumpy ride up the eight story escalator, followed by walking down seven floors during which time we saw a lot.

While the escalator seemed tall, I'm not sure the one in Rosslyn, VA on the D.C. Metro isn't longer or the one at the National Zoo, but I digress.

This is one of three facilities where CNN does its live news feeds, the others being New York and Washington.  One of my fellow AFN veterans works for CNN in Washington, D.C., as a producer for Wolf Blitzer, on The Situation Room.  Wolf is paid $3 million, Anderson Cooper gets $11 million, my buddy as producer far less.  Clearly, Mr. Cooper has a better agent.  I included a picture (below) of a Satellite phone from the same period as the Humvee - that would be twenty year old technology now, so I'm sure today's is far more man portable.   Another digression: ManPads = a military term for Man Portable Air Defense Systems.  That would be something you shoot into the air, as opposed to a report you make to put "on the air".

Ultimately, technology of reporting has changed from my days in military, and later civilian television. Back in 1972 through 1975, I worked at Channel 13 in Indianapolis, as a weekend floor director.  I was the guy with the headset plugged into one of the two manned cameras in our news studio.  I was there to relay signals to the anchor John Lindsey and the sports guy Jerry Harkness, and the weekend weatherman Dave Letterman (yeah, that's the same guy).  Boy, have things changed.

Yes, they still have anchors, but the studio cameras are not operated by camera people in the studio - they're robotic and operated with a joystick from the control room.  No more "floor directors" either, instead the anchors wear earbuds that can hear the director's cues from the control room.  No more "chromakey", but now a "green screen" for weather maps.  The world changes, while mankind seeming refuses to evolve.  We still have wars at least to report on, and television like the military continues to go into harms way.   Oh, do I watch CNN?  Not much, I think the women on Fox(y) News Channel are far easier on these old eyes.

Satellite Phone -E.T. Call Home
Anybody want to lug this around?