On the Ramp Right Now!

That van is too cool!! Most of my mobile camping has been in the back of a pickup with a topper.

Yo Kim! I had to put on a sweater.. after seeing that iced-up rolling man-cave! I'd love to see anything associated with the Wright Brothers. I hope you get the chance. Get yourself a big thermos of chicken stew.. and keep warm!

Cribbs74 wrote:Kim,

I was stationed at Wright Patterson from 1998-2005.

The museum is a great place to visit, the Wright Brothers hanger is located on area A-C in huffman prairie.

At one point it was only accesible from on base, but I believe you can just drive out to it now without getting a pass.

It's right off highway 444

Cool,
This has always been a great place for me to visit. I came here for the first time in 1974, and was simply blown away by the place. It's contnued to get bigger and bigger. I was surely glad to see them get the Vakerye inside !!!!

getback wrote:New ASSULAT Van !?!?!  nice , Where the funk are you doing man roar trip   Sounds cold , is here Good to hear from YOU !! Eric

Hey Eric!

I just bolted out of town for a few days (maybe early onset of cabin fever), and decided to head to Dayton, Ohio and visit the Air Force Museum and some other spots there.

The "Assault Van" thing started a long time ago when I'd load up my much smaller vans for our shooting parties we called "Gun Days". Someone asked me what I was packing in my assault van at one of our shoots, and suddenly, EVERYTHING got prefaced with 'Assault'.

This is sort of a shake down cruise for this van I got back in March, and everything is working out great. Compared to my other vans, this thing is like packing my own hotel room with me, but is much more functional at hauling stuff than one of the smaller RV's.

Anyway, gonna get some breakfast and hit the Museum again.

More photos to follow !

andrew wrote:That van is too cool!!  Most of my mobile camping has been in the back of a pickup with a topper.

Thanks Andrew!! Yeah...I'm afraid that I've spoiled myself rotten!

Used to be a Starfighter stuck on this pole.  Figured they decided it had better use than as a lightning rod...



















Never noticed that the Marauder had two, differently designed sets of bombay doors:

Treated myself to a night in the Comfort Inn here next to the Air Force Museum.  Gonna hit the place at opening to sign for a bus trip over to the R&D and Presidential Hangars.

Got a fantastic guided tour yesterday, by a retired Air Force Veteran/volunteer, who had a BUNCH of inside stories on some of the exhibits.  Nearly makes me dizzy trying to imagine all the cool stories there are, with most that I'll never hear.

Also checked out a beam that was on it's way to the new hangar...after being autographed by the group of volunteers who are involved with it and the other museums projects.

The "Cold War Hangar" wasn't open the last time I visited about 10 years ago, and I was too spent to do it justice with photos, so that's on the schedule after today's tour.  The more I hike this place, the more awestruck I become, just TRYING to imagine the millions of behind-the-scene engineers, machinists, physicists, mechanics and other workers that made all this stuff happen.

More Coffee !!!

The National Museum of the USAF is my favorite aviation attraction - that and WNC Air Museum in Hendersonville. The tour guides are great, the exhibits increasingly interesting, and the sheer amount of aircraft present is breathtaking. I've been several times and it never gets old.

The Starfighter was always there when I visited, wonder what happened to it...

Probably needed freshened up.

Made it back home with 1170 miles on the odometer. Already thinking about another run.


















WACO's at the museum in Troy, Ohio:





The Skylancer at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio:





Pointing the Man Cave West:

One of our local aviators, Bob Russel, died Saturday in a crash in a Turbine Legend.He and his dog were the only casualties. He was 84 years old and had built the plane. Wayne was telling me about the plane and sent me a video from which I screen shot this pic.

So, is it, or isn't it our own Kimby?




The Kimlike apparition is at 3:38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5CrI33jjjY

BUMP

Wow, Thanks for the bump Rusty. How did I ever miss this thread. The V-22 Osprey and the late model P-38 on page one is worth the price of admission alone. Also love the "wannabe". They were testing the Osprey when I was at Patuxent River back in the '90's.

It's going to take me time to work through all 19 pages.

RknRusty wrote:One of our local aviators, Bob Russel, died Saturday in a crash in a Turbine Legend.He and his dog were the only casualties. He was 84 years old and had built the plane. Wayne was telling me about the plane and sent me a video from which I screen shot this pic.

Sorry for missing this over the past week or so!
Nope, it's not me...just some other super-handsome dude !!!!

Kim wrote:

RknRusty wrote:One of our local aviators, Bob Russel, died Saturday in a crash in a Turbine Legend.He and his dog were the only casualties. He was 84 years old and had built the plane. Wayne was telling me about the plane and sent me a video from which I screen shot this pic.

Sorry for missing this over the past week or so!
Nope, it's not me...just some other super-handsome dude !!!!

Hahaha!

So...there I was...MINDING my own business...slumped in a lawn chair and gathering my Mojo for another lawnmower pass around the yard in the summer heat.  Suddenly, I receive a communique from one my vast net of airport spies, whose report makes me slap the phone shut and grab my camera gear.

A Mustang and a --------SPITFIRE!!!!!------------had taken a weather diversion, stopping for fuel at Cape !!!  The two pilots were having lunch, and I was 25 minutes away, so time was critical.

Calling Beth and catching her as came out of the gym, we negotiated an action plan that was bargained down to my picking her up at a Shell station rather than the shoulder of the Interstate.  We got there as they were finishing fueling the fighters, and starting their preflights.

Anyway...here we go:

Kim, absolutely cool stuff. My son and I attended WWII weekend in Reading, Pa which had many B-25's, B-17, FiFi the B-29 made several low fly by and circles overhead. We got some up close radial knowledge as the oil tanks needed topping off with the 25/60 W. 35 gallons a engine on the B-25's. In addition, the P-47 T-bolt was spectacular. I never witnessed one up close. https://www.facebook.com/PhillyFliersCL/videos/vb.513140418756097/866673903402745/?type=2&theater I loved it and my son and I had a great time just walking about.

Lovely, They don't make them as pretty as that anymore. What beautiful aircraft.

Ken Cook wrote:             Kim, absolutely cool stuff. My son and I attended  WWII weekend in Reading, Pa which had many B-25's, B-17, FiFi the B-29 made several low fly by and circles overhead. We got some up close radial knowledge as the oil tanks needed topping off with the 25/60 W. 35 gallons a engine on the B-25's. In addition, the P-47 T-bolt was spectacular. I never witnessed one up close. https://www.facebook.com/PhillyFliersCL/videos/vb.513140418756097/866673903402745/?type=2&theater          I loved it and my son and I had a great time just walking about.

I ran the short videos Ken. Great stuff especially last one, elbows in speed flyer. I got dizzy just watching him.

Well, I resisted for a year, and that's saying something, but the recent near-miss photo-op with the Mustang and Spitfire (a GRIFFIN Spitfire, no less), along with a request from our airport manager to help during a lineman shortage at my local airport, has me once again donning my red  line service shirt, and start sling fuel.

I missed a lot of Oshkosh traffic, but figure to make up for it by working Sundays and emergency on-call until a replacement can be hired and trained.



So, cameras charged and SD cards emptied...let the good times roll !!!

Yay.   Lots more pics of nice planes to drool over.
I look forward with great anticipation.

Rod.

what he said ! get 'em Kim You always have good stuff for us less fortunate Thanks up front . Eric

Kim wrote:Well, I resisted for a year, and that's saying something, but the recent near-miss photo-op with the Mustang and Spitfire (a GRIFFIN Spitfire, no less), along with a request from our airport manager to help during a lineman shortage at my local airport, has me once again donning my red  line service shirt, and start sling fuel.

I missed a lot of Oshkosh traffic, but figure to make up for it by working Sundays and emergency on-call until a replacement can be hired and trained.



So, cameras charged and SD cards emptied...let the good times roll !!!

Spitfire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!