FastCargo 412 Posted August 25, 2007 Hey guys, have pictures I'll be posting from my vacation in California, Vancouver, and Seattle. But first, can anyone guess what happened here? FastCargo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eraser_tr 29 Posted August 25, 2007 You tripped and fell backwards trying to take a picture and your son was looking down in your face? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Saganuay82 Posted August 25, 2007 "Took all this work to trip and fall down trying to get a shot of the tower boy, now can you move please?" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaSpungie 1 Posted August 25, 2007 caption: get up dad your embarssing us this is not the first ever sunny clear sky day in Seattle Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FalconC45 158 Posted August 25, 2007 Hey guys, have pictures I'll be posting from my vacation in California, Vancouver, and Seattle. But first, can anyone guess what happened here? FastCargo caption: "Well Dad? Like my new karate move I just learned?" Falcon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted August 28, 2007 "Just because we're in Seattle, you don't need to drink like Pearl Jam..." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastCargo 412 Posted August 29, 2007 Hey guys, pics are going to have to wait for a bit. I'm stuck in the Laughlin AFB TLF...and they don't have high speed...DOH! And, I'm just damn tired...down at Laughlin for re-blue. I'm too friggin old to trip turn sorties... I'll tell ya later. FastCargo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastCargo 412 Posted September 4, 2007 Okay folks, picture time! I'm going to use thumbnails you can click on so I don't bog everyone down. At the beginning of August, we went on a vacation (if you can call it that) for 3 weeks. Starting in California to attend a wedding: Clean up pretty good I'd say... Partial view from the house a few of us rented...couldn't get the panoramic to post. Anyway, awesome view...great place to get together. If it hadn't been so hectic, it would have been a perfect place just to hang out, grill stuff and drink beer. Pool table, bocce court, pool, hot tub, wireless internet, etc. After California, we then flew up to Vancouver, BC, Canada (actually, flew to Seattle, then drove) to visit the in laws, relatives and friends. Included hanging out at a park just off the runway of Vancouver Intl Airport. My son running around looking at the FedEx ramp at the airport. 747 owned by Oasis Airlines of Hong Kong. Airbus A310 owned by FedEx. Boeing 727 painted by FedEx but flown by Canadian aircrew. You'll notice it actually has a Canadian tail number. That's because foreign airlines can't fly within Canada (ie FedEx can't fly from Toronto to Vancouver directly), but if the aircraft is actually owned and flown by a Canadian company... We have similar rules in the US...most countries do. Mostly for job protection. In fact, DHL uses this rule to fly in the US. If you looked really closely at a DHL aircraft, you would see the text 'Operated by ABX Air'. Saw this while visiting Point Roberts, Washington state. Basically, it's a small part of the US, that you can't get to any other part of the US except by a boat or driving through Canada. We are thinking about buying some land up there. Anyway, this was caused by a Virgin Airways 747 right at the cloud level...cool eh? This plane was driving me NUTS! I was in my inlaws back yard, watching the kid play around, and I keep hearing what sounds like an airliner high overhead. But all I see is this plane doing a slow banked turn...several times orbiting something. But, damn it, it SOUNDS like a turbine powered airliner. I finally decide to take pictures of it so I can read the tail number (had the long lens nearby). It had it on the wing as well, so I looked it up. C-FDGM is a basic Cessna converted to turboprop power, owned and operated by the RCMP...hmmm. Recon, anyone? I think what was happening is that there were some condos nearby, and the sound was bouncing in such a way that the 'prop' part of the sound was getting canceled out, leaving only the 'jet' noise. Drove down to Seattle, and passed by the Peace Arch. Because the line at the border is so long, there's usually time to get out and run around, perfect for the kid (big arch ain't it kiddo)! Continued... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SayethWhaaaa 245 Posted September 4, 2007 "Are we clear Dad? That's the last time you bad mouth the Wiggles!" Hehehe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastCargo 412 Posted September 4, 2007 Spent the last couple of days in Seattle, hit the Science Fiction Hall of Fame Museum, Museum of Flight, and the Pacific Science Center. Pacific Science Center was cool for the kid...recognize this shot? I was lying on the grass, looking up to take this pic (the sun was directly behind the needle) when the munchkin decided to check on me...made for a funny pic at the beginning of the thread. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Museum was okay, but they wouldn't let us take pics in there...kind of a bummer. I'm always surprised how bad props actually look up close. They had displays of actual costumes of some various shows, mostly Star Trek. Had one of Jeri Ryan's jumpsuits...either she's really small, or that thing was TIGHT. She's quoted as saying she couldn't wear panties or a bra because the lines would show through. I'm just not going there... Anyway, they had a BSG (new) flight suit...I know what I want for Christmas... Hit the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. Flown into Boeing Field plenty of times, but never had the chance to check out the Museum. They were offering biplane rides that day...I was REALLY, REALLY tempted... 10 points to whoever recognizes the cockpit! :) Yep, the Concorde...definitely smaller inside than I thought it would be. Just can't stop being an instructor pilot..."Right stick, RIGHT STICK!...woahhhhhh!" 747 number 1 - undergoing renovation. Air Force 1 - based on the 707. 737 number 1. F-5 number 1, actually called N-156. Note the vertical tail is differently shaped than production F-5s. Also, it had dual sets of navigation lights on the wings...and a HUGE landing light. For you Sag! License built F-86. And for you Paul. Sorry about the vertical poles...couldn't find a way to take a better pic without them in the way. Lockheed A-12 with D-21 drone. Personal jet powered pulpit anyone? ALCM. Yep, the REAL flying car. Speaking of which...it's the 21st century, where are my flying cars? I was promised flying cars! Noticed this odd Learjet taking off. Had a pod slung underneath a wing...a pod that looked a LOT like the early USN version of LANTIRN. On closer inspection of the picture, it looked like the pod was carrying a small, finned object...like a towed target. Caproni (sp?) Ca20. According to the description, this may have been the very first fighter plane EVER. Anyone smart on WWI aviation can confirm or deny? Would be fascinating if true. More to come... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastCargo 412 Posted September 4, 2007 Well, we fly home, but the very NEXT day, I have to drive 3 hours to Del Rio, TX for re-blue. What's that you say? Well, I'm a T-38C Instructor Pilot (IP). But, I don't train Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) students. I train pilots (in Pilot Instructor Training - PIT) to become T-38C IPs who then teach UPT students. Anyway, after doing this for 3 years, the command mandates that you travel to a UPT base (in this case, Laughlin AFB, TX) to spend a week down there and fly with UPT students. Basically, it refocuses your 'picture' to make sure you are giving your students (ie future T-38C IPs) good info so they can be more effective instructors. So I spend a week on the line. First thing that hits me is I've forgotten how tiring 3 sorties a day is...I was a hunk o' junk by Wednesday night. Definitely was a lot easier when I was younger... A few pics: T-6A solo student in the overhead. T-38Cs up initial for the break. A IFF (Intro to Fighter Fundamentals - post UPT course for future fighter pilots) T-38C taxiing in. The USAF has decided to split IFF among all the UPT bases and break up Moody AFB, where it was all consolidated. This of course, was after all the IFF training was consolidated at Moody AFB 5 years ago. Who's running this railroad? Oh, and don't let the paint job fool ya...it's the same exact aircraft I fly now, they just use it differently. Ahhh...memories. This bird is my old tail number from when I was an active duty T-38A UPT IP at Laughlin AFB in 96-99. We even have our wedding day pictures by this bird...my buds from the squadron flew a 4 ship down to Tampa to attend, and this jet was one of the birds they used. So we got permission from MacDill AFB Base Ops to run out to the flight line to get wedding day photos. Of course, back then it was an 'A' model in white, not the 2-tone grey 'C' model it is now. I tell ya, if you ever want to get a real idea of how much we (the USAF) train...visit a UPT base. Planes fly from sunup to sundown, all 3 runways get a constant workout. An average UPT base will have more aircraft movement than ANY (and I mean ANY) major airport. It's sort of an intangible 'This is why I'm here' kind of feeling at a UPT base. After that, I drove back Friday night to San Antonio...and caught a jumpseat to Memphis Saturday to operate a A300 to Manchester, NH. Did I mention I'm tired? :) Okay, I'm done for now... FastCargo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GASCAN39 7 Posted September 4, 2007 Great pictures! I have been using Flickr to post some pics on the web from "over here". Looks like the vacation was a blast, would love to see that part of the world. That Boeing museum could make a vacation for me in itself! Coincidentally, on the IFF program - I had recently found info on the original program at Holloman in the early 70s. My dad was like the fourth IP to check in 1973, (465th TFTS back then). They flew three times a day, six days a week....sometimes hungover! Originally designed to be 8 weeks, they pumped out a class at one point every three weeks. Lots of class graduation parties, resulting in the 465th from being banned from the O'club for foodfights and the like! I found this big write up on an Air Force history site, and forwarded it to him, gave him some memories of the glory days! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastCargo 412 Posted September 6, 2007 Isn't that neat when you find stuff like that? My dad gave me a couple of patches back when he was enlisted. Found out about 5 years ago that both squadrons still exist...one of them at Randolph AFB as a IFF squadron no less. Neat stuff. I could spend all day at an aircraft muesum...and spend even more money on books I buy at the aircraft muesums...:). FastCargo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GASCAN39 7 Posted September 7, 2007 oh, yeah, books...... I have a nice collection myself. The museum at Wright-Pat has an outstanding book store, I could have spent a small fortune there. (Actually did 5 years ago when I went - A book on the B-1, one on the F-14, another on the B-57) Back at Christmas I was there again, picked up some hard bound books on the Stearman, and one on the T-38. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted September 10, 2007 I don't think that's an A-12. That looks like an SR-71 to me. A-12 was single-seat, had kinks in the chines around the nose, and had a folding fin under the tail a la MiG-23. I also think the SR-71 was the only one used in the D-21 program. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastCargo 412 Posted September 10, 2007 Actually, you're thinking of the YF-12 interceptor, of which 3 models of the A-12 were converted to. The notch in the chines were due to the installation of a large radar and 2 primitive IRSTs. 2 A-12s were modified to carry the D-21 drone. Both modifications (YF-12 and D-21 drone launcher) involved the installation of a second seat. Reference: http://www.unrealaircraft.com/gravity/sr71.php The biggest difference between the A-12 and the SR-71 (other than the second seat and paint scheme) is that the SR-71 forward chines are more 'rounded'. If you look closely at some A-12 pics, you can see the chines are straighter at the nose area. FastCargo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest 531_Ghost Posted September 10, 2007 Neat pix there FastCargo! This is a picture of the A12 I worked with... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DWCAce 19 Posted September 10, 2007 Love the Concorde pit pic! FC, next time you hit up KMHT, give me some notice.... I might be fueling you when I get back to work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
