October-November doings
In late October we were invited to a wedding in Tucson, so we took the
opportunity to visit Phoenix and Tucson, as well as the grandchildren in
Benicia. First things first. We flew from Sacramento to Phoenix, via
SFO, then drove to Tucson. In Tucson, we stayed at the Star Pass Golf Resort.
Of course, it was set in the
cactus part of
Arizona (isn't it all?).
Pima Air and Space Museum
The next morning, I headed out to the
Pima Air and Space
Museum. It is a fabulous aircraft museum, with more than 250 aircraft
on display. For those not interested in airplanes, just page on down past
the rest of these paragraphs, while for those interested, I shot a few pictures
on site, with only a modest number surviving the cut. Prominent in the
outdoor display are several aircraft associated with high government and
military. Here is the
Columbine 1 used by
Eisenhower in Europe. It was also used during the Berlin airlift. This DC-6
(with military designation VC-118A) was
Air Force One during
the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations. The
presidential seal
is just to the rear of the door. Several years before
it was retired, the 707 (VC-137) jet aircraft was acquired,
though. Similar (but never Air Force One) is this
VC-137B that has
an illustrious history. It was used by Kissinger during his shuttle dipomacy,
was used to return the Iranian hostages in 1980, and to "bring home"
some other folks I seem to have forgotten the details about.
The T-28C trainer was
used by the Air Force and Navy, not only for training, but also in combat.
This
B-25 bomber is of the
type used by Doolittle and his group in the 1942 surprise bombing of Japan.
The B-29
Sentimental Journey
is the type of bomber that carried the first atomic weapons.
Moving on to fighter row, here is the first of the "century fighters", the
F-100 Super Sabre,
this particular one was
designated Discovery when it was christened by Lady Churchill in 1957 in
commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.
Century designates that the craft was able to sustain supersonic speed. My
favorite is embodied in these
F-4 Phantoms,
multiservice fighters that are definitely wicked looking with their upturned
wings and drooping tails. Another Phantom (Navy) is shown in this picture
with an
F-11A Tiger in the
background that was used in 1967-1968 as a Blue Angel aircraft . An almost
one-of-a kind (one of three built, two surviving) is this
F-107A built by
North American. It lost the competition to the
F-105 Thunderchief
built by Republic. Now, moving over to MIG row, there are
five MIGS, two 15s,
two 17s, and a 21.
Just behind us as we looked at MIG row is bomber row, with three
B-52s. One of these
(designated NB-52A)
was used to carry the X-15 hypersonic aircraft aloft
for launching, and the closeup shows the more-than-100 symbols designating
the launches, with upward designating a flight for altitude, and level a
flight for speed. There is one symbol headed backward for (??? forgot -
but aborted flight, I suppose). It's near the front of the second row.
There is a mockup of the X-15, but I didn't see it in my limited time
at the museum. Alongside the B-52s is a
B-47, a
beautiful aircraft and the first of the near-sonic nuclear bombers.
One of the many decomissioned
SR-71A Blackbird
aircraft is on display. It can fly at over 2000 mph and photograph in high
resolution thousands of square miles of area in one mission. It actually
grows in length nearly a foot due to high temperatures created by friction
with the atmosphere at 80,000 feet (where there almost isn't any atmosphere).
Until the aircraft heats up, it oozes fuel from all seams.
Special low-volatility fuel and high temperature lubricants had to be
developed. And this type of aircraft first flew more than 40 years ago.
Incredible!
Another interesting craft of a different sort is this
Super Guppy,
designed to carry large aircraft and missle components. The
size of
the cargo bay
is hinted at in this picture with people in the foreground. Under the right
wing is a
Beechcraft Bonanza
owned by Marion Rice Hart. She learned to fly at age 54, at age 74
made a solo crossing of the Atlantic, and at age 84 flew the plane to the
Pima Museum. She made flights over the Pacific as well, and took a 3 year
around the world cruise in a 72 foot ketch.
Finally, the museum also has a replica of the
Wright Flyer, the
centennial of its first flight coming up real soon now.
The Wedding
Ah, yes, the real reason for the trip. Here is a shot of
Tracy and Alan
during the ceremony.
Shots going home and in Benicia
Return flights were a reverse of those going.
After taking off from SFO we headed more or less directly toward Sacramento.
Thus, we passed just to the south of Benicia, the Bencia bridge in the
lower left, part of the mothball fleet in the lower right, and
Evan's and Laura's house
just below and to the left of the small looking water tank just to the left
of center and nearly centered in the vertical. A little further along I
shot the
runways at Travis Air
Force Base, with an airplane apparently shooting a touch-and-go. See it?
The shadow is most prominent, between the runway and the taxiway near the
right end. Yeh, looks like it's landing, but it didn't. Later I took a few
grandkid pictures. Fiona loves to
swing and do
acrobatics. Ian
was recently "Unique of the Week" at his school, and this
poster gave some
highlights. At a park, Fiona practiced her
acrobatic skills, and
later we did a
slide together.
At home, Ian and Fiona mixed it up on the
trampoline.
The next day we stopped by while Ian's class took a trip to a pumpkin
farm, and Ian, Fiona, and their friend Kyle showed off their
pumpkins.
More shots from airplanes
This shot of
Walker Lake in
Nevada was taken between SFO and Houston in early
November. As we were landing in Houston I noticed this
parallel flight also
coming in. On the way out, we circled back over
Houston Bush International
Airport.
Back home
When we returned home we had company. Hailey, her friend James, James'
daughter Madison, and their new Chocolate Lab puppy, Tater, were there.
Tater hailed in from Klamath Falls. Couldn't resist a few shots of the
latter two. Here's
Tater hanging out under
the kitchen table. He wasn't all that shy, however, and here
Madison and Tater
are getting to know each other. True friendship is finally achieved when
Madison is allowed to share
Tater's space.