OK, first off, let me just say I don’t normally share “new” stuff right away as I don’t usually like anyone to see my raw work…however, I’m making an exception for this past trip….So please forgive all the technical errors with the pictures and try to just go with the excitement I feel when I look at them…It truly was a once in a lifetime experience & I’m still flying high!
I checked in Thursday night & found out I was going to “have” to fly business class as there were no more seats in coach. Dang…it was hard…not… brought back a lot of good memories from when I used to be “da man for XLC & Thomson. Had 2 rum & cokes & a small nap. They even had XM radio in flight. Got into Orlando right on time, had a bit of trouble hooking up with EE as I guess there were 3 levels where he could pick me up, we are each on a different one. But after a quick phone call that was quickly fixed. It was about a 60 minute or so drive to New Smyrna from there & it was late (10:50ish when the plane landed) and it just felt so good to be able to see him again & talk in person. We got to the hotel OK & he actually had a suite, which was really nice, made for some more space, plus a kitchenette. And now I’m very nervous because I know what I want to do with him but not sure it’s the right thing & the test results & everything are just really driving me crazy. I tell him what I found out. He doesn’t seem to mind because the next thing I know, well, we’re doing what I want to do. Holy cow! But now the rum & coke are getting in the way because we can’t get mission completion. Oh, well, I guess there will always be next time…. Honestly, the most amazing thing is to just fall asleep next to this man & see him next to me when we wake up.
We found out that the early flight got pushed back so we don’t have to be at the airport until like 9 so that’s cool, I get some sleep & so does he. More important for him since he’s the one flying. And I’m so nervous because I want to go up every single time but I don’t want to seem overly-eager. And there are a lot fewer pilots this year, which is disappointing to the guys. We are there with 2 of his friends, who will call Weenie Man (huge story behind this about going to Hooters & then ordering hot dogs…) and Lead. They are completely amazing men too & I’m honored to have met them. There are 2 new pilots, so EE goes up with Iowa to train & I get to ride with Weenie Man. Lead doesn’t have a chute yet for his back seat (the chick is there to pack them) so he’s not an option. And it is the most incredible experience ever. I so need to take lessons…
EE (back) with Iowa. Isn’t his plane absolutely beautiful? It’s like a frakkin’ show car!
Backseat controls of Weenie Man’s plane. He’s done A LOT of updating on it.
Lead is in PA, 2 other veterans are in 638. This is during formation training out over the ocean, you can see the beach in the background. Many people have asked me what all we did, and the answer is just basic maneuvering. Crossovers, echelons, breaks mostly. We were 5 birds this day, so we were either heavy left, or heavy right depending on Lead’s call. They do all of these moves without verbal communication, it is all done with hand-signals. In fact, the wingmen don’t even watch where they are flying, they constantly have their eyes fixed on Lead. So all their flying is done by touch & not sight. Kinda crazy. This shot really doesn’t show just how close they fly, but I could swear there are times when I could have reached over & touched one. The planes are rated for +6 to -3 G most of what we did was in the 2-3 range, we didn’t do any loops or aerobatics, which they can do. One of the FAA “fixes” (fallout from about 4 accidents a few years ago) is a cable that goes from one wing to the other (I’m not sure how far out to the tip it goes) that pre-loads the wing to a -1G. It causes it to be a lot more rigid, but is supposed to make it more stable. Basically, the FAA would prefer the birds to be grounded as they are “too old”. None of us agree, they are fine birds, and are so very easy & fun to fly.
It was very similar to riding a roller coaster, and in fact at times more calm than that. It is all open above you, you can see for so far, it’s not too hot & the headphones drown out much of the engine noise. They are just beautiful, graceful machines. It was amazing to get to do this. Probably as close as I will ever get to doing it myself.
This is the back of Weenie Man’s head, with Lead in front, we are in a trail pattern. Check out the noise canceling headphones! He’s got XM in it so when he’s just flying by himself he can listen to anything. Totally cool!
The hotel just aft of the wing is ours, the Holiday Inn. You can see the tide coming out…
This is Lead landing at the end. They went back up for round 2, I gave up my seat to one of the other women who was there, who had lost her husband, he had been a pilot too. I didn’t really want to, but it was the right thing, and worth it. All of these shots were taken with my normal 55-70m lens.
When they went back up I took some shots on the ground & played around. I was still feeling very uncomfortable as I knew NO ONE down there. And then one of the other pilots & his daughter show up & she’s got crazy camera equipment & I’m now feeling very inadequate…
This is Lead & Weenie Man smoking. You can really see all the dirt here… L and I think I have a scratch either on my mirror or debris on my image sensor. I spent the better part of Sunday morning cleaning everything very thoroughly but that weird distortion on the top will NOT go away. I’m going to have to send the body out, I think.
Curtis also got most of the work done to the 319, except for the damage to the alternator. There’s some discussion on how serious it is (small oil leak do to faulty seal) and se we decide to take herup for a test flight & see how she runs. I went up with him. It did great so we’re going to take it out tomorrow & do some longer runs to watch oil consumption.
Saturday night we went out to the SoNapa grill & I had way too much wine & Lead & I were having a ton of fun flirting & bantering around. He’s a crazy old man, love him! But don’t worry, I wasn’t ignoring EE either… From there we went back to the bar across the hotel & had another glass of wine & then EE & I went for a walk along the beach & I’m way too drunk for it. We do go back to the room, I’m sitting on the edge of the tub washing my feet & I start getting sick. Lovely. Apparently I was really quiet because I found out later he didn’t hear.
Sunday morning I’m so not feeling well. I get up, take a shower & then toss my cookies some more. I go out to the couch wrapped up in a towel & curl up. He’s laughing a bit at me but taking it well. He decides to go to the airport for briefing & then come back & get me. Weenie Man comes over to get him & I realize my hinnie is hanging out of the towel. Great…. I feel better, finish getting ready, eat some cereal, clean the camera & then he’s back. We’re going to fly up to Flagler for the airshow & I so don’t want to miss it. I had no troubles Saturday with getting sick in the plane, but I’m a bit nervous as I’m already a bit unsteady.
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Playing around with the fisheye/wide angle at the hotel. It is cool, but I’m not sure I like the fuzzy edges….
We get there, and I find out my callsign is now Cookies. Great, very funny guys! I get quite a bit of ribbing, but it’s OK I can take it. We get in & take off. It’s about a 20 minute flight…
This is the backseat of the 319. I’ve got the wide angle on, so you can see my shoes…. You can also see how the instrumentation is much more simple than in Weenie Man’s… Saturday at Flagler, they lost a pilot, Wild Bill, so there are no aerobatics, just flyovers, but we’re still gonna go & check things out…
Getting ready to launch at New Smyrna, EE’s head here… I so loved being able to look into that mirror of his & seeing his eye. That’s all you get… totally cool. They use it to check out the planes in the rear of the formation. That is Weenie Man in front of us.
There were a few jets there (I think these are T6’s but I’m not sure on that…) and they did some fly overs. There were also some bi-wings – very awesome.
Me, in front of the “other woman”. She’s a good girl, did great, no major oil issues. You can see my pockets are STUFFED with gear. Doesn’t look great, so don’t look there… And yes, I got sooo sunburnt! We walked around quite a bit, took a tour through a Chinook, and had lunch in the pilot/exhibitor tent. It was so good. Wraps & sandwiches & really soft cookies. We decided to leave shortly after.
Iowa is there in the blue, with Orland in the back (it is such a pretty plane!), Weenie Man, Russ, and then us. Lead was in front of Iowa, I think.
Here is Weenie Man, he led on the way back…
I thought this shot of my shadow was totally cool, but would have been better if I could have gotten his shadow in it too, but it wasn’t showing up. We went up & down the coast again, more training for Iowa & just skill brushing for the guys.
Coming back in, they decide to turn on the smokers. It was really cool to see the planes through that. Now I should mention, the pilot’s vision isn’t actually obscured by the smoke, it is actually between me & him. He’s got a clear line of site. This is the “other” Russ.
So Sunday night Ginny & George (the hosts & owner of the airstrip) took the whole group out to supper. We were next to one of the retired USAF pilots & his wife. Very lovely couple & found out they were from Anderson, IN so we had all kinds of crazy things to talk about. She was delightful company. Less wine this night as I so did not want to drive the porcelain bus again. From there we went to Peanuts & hooked up with some of the other guys. They decided to induct Iowa into the Hooligans, they were very impressed with his skills, how he took direction, and how fast he learned. He was a very sweet man.
Later that night we finally made up for the lack of completion Friday night, of which I was very grateful. Pent-up comes to mind for describing how I was feeling. Between being around him (all I gotta do is see him & I have an instantaneous reaction!), joking around with Lead, and FLYING (holy cow, major turn on!) I was on the edge all the time!
I gotta run, so the return trip details will come later…
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