On the Ramp Right Now!

Way to go Kim!!!!

You made it man, time to reap the rewards of all that hard work.

Ron

What a great sendoff. Lotsa pizza pies too. What did you eat off of the cake first?
Congratulations, we're looking forward to your retirement.
Rusty

Enjoy your retirement Kim. You will have less spare time than before.

Congrats Kim, you lucky dog! Looks like you're loved down there/

Happy for you Kim, enjoy.     
Bob

Enjoy your retirement Kim, you've earned it.  

Congratulations Kim! It's "Mud Dabber II" time!!! and then some!  

Kim,went back and read PMs we had (I saved all of them)I thought this guy wont talk to me when I didn't have half a clue of what I was asking.You answered everything in detail and then some-I always thought a lot of that.rat

rat9000 wrote:Kim,went back and read PMs we had (I saved all of them)I thought this guy wont talk to me when I didn't have half a clue of what I was asking.You answered everything in detail and then some-I always thought a lot of that.rat

Yeah man, Kim's a cool dude. He's just another ol' redneck like the rest of us.  

Don't neglect to archive PMs you want to keep, because after a certain number they disappear off the bottom of the stack.
Rusty

Just thinking about you Kim. I'm working on the BOT tonight and wish you were here to help me maiden it tomorrow. Hey, since you're not doing anything, come on over  

Thank you SO much guys!   This Forum is my OTHER great place along with my airport.

I intend to chill out for a couple weeks with some short-range bike trips, increase my visit time with my Uncle Wayne, and try to get a reasonable exercise program going while I get things sorted out in my head.  

THEN, I'll assault my storage shed, The Skunk Works, and the backroom in my house...they've all become a wasteland of stored and stacked and teetering items that are victims of my recent months of "I'll get back to it" syndrome.  I'd probably qualify as a Horder (and may still) if not for the fact that much of this stuff is new equipment, still in the box and waiting to be opened, charged, and fooled-with.  

Yeah, Roddie, I can almost hear Mud Dabber II yell at me every time I walk past the shop...so it will FINALLY get it's gear installed and set up.

There is also a BIG Focke Wulf 190 ARF over in Illinois, waiting for my attentions.  It was started by one of the best guys in the world, my friend Neal.  He died of lung cancer before finishing it, and his son, Eric has asked me to complete the big dog, and fly it, if possible at a family gathering later this year.  The thing might as well be a spaceship---it's so far out of my league---but I'm gonna tap into some resources around here for some help on finishing it.

Those are my Front-Line Items, and there's plenty of other stuff lurking around that will spring itself on me...but with a little R&R, I should be able to knock them off as they show up.  I'll also still be on a part-time-emergency-call-out status with the airport after a few weeks, and will still be available for School Tours if I'm close-by.  Love blabbing about airplanes and such stuff...especially with the little ones who will buy my stories !!!

Thanks again for all the great comments and support...it IS truly appreciated !  Time to get this show rolling again!

Kim

Congrats, Kim!! Let us know how retirement works out -- I've got one more year to go.
I'm going to miss the "On the Ramp Right Now!!" pics, however.

andrew

Hey Andrew,

I may have been a bit misleading with the current title, as I've carefully developed a network of dedicated spies who are sworn to notify me of any special metal, bodacious wood and fabric, or fancy plastic that arrives at the airport.  

This, along with a tower monitor that's always on through the day, should insure many more incidents like "The Sea Fury Affair"...where a "cool airplane alert" caused me to spill coffee all the way from my computer to the kitchen as I tried to wake up, get dressed, gather camera gear, and chug Folgers all at the same time.

With my new-found flexibility, "The Ramp" will extend to other airports and strips also...so...the thread will continue, hopefully enjoying the cool participation of forum members as before!

Your last post put a big smile on me. This thread is one of many must read on this forum. I bailed two years ago and as you will soon find out...you actually get busier than when you "worked"

But the one new thing is, YOU decide what has to be done NOW, and what can wait a few hours,days,weeks....this relieves a lot of stress

Fred discounts the fact than as ones ages "busyness" is often a lack of engergy that one had in earlier years.

Me personally I'm "busy" just keeping multiple doctor appointmests for age related conditions.

  

SD

'Tis true...as I lamented to a friend the other day:  For most of us, when we're young, health is only an issue when we get sick enough to drop in our tracks, or break something that hurts us enough to make us notice.  

Later in life, "Health" becomes a project...it's got to be maintained, serviced, and repaired...all without the assistance of motorcycle wrecks, inflight-grapevine-failures, or the occasional damage from an errant bottlerocket or cherry bomb.

I'm heavily counting on the 'mental rest' from my job.  As much as I liked it and the people, all the politics-based canoodling of a city-run business can start to bug a guy pretty badly after a while.

I'm still in pretty good shape, and with the stern urging of my doctor, need the direct, specific exercise that working the line won't bring.  This will be my new taskmaster, as I intend to run this old carcass out to the full extent of it's useful life.

And Thank You Fred, for the compliment on this rambling, multi-subject thread !!!!

This Grumman C-1 "Trader" was on static display for the Cape Girardeau Air Festival a couple weekends ago.  

The plane was originally designed for anti-submarine work, but cargo variant's were also developed to haul mail and other supplies to carriers at sea....much like the Grumman "Hawkeye" and "Greyhound" designs.

I've always thought that these planes and their pilots were shorted on the credit they deserve.  The fighters and attack aircraft ARE the reason for the carrier to exist, of course, but they would have a lot rougher time of it were it not for the supplies brought to them by the men and women flying these long-winged monsters onto the same tiny strip of pitching steel.

The wings' hinges are set at angles to allow them to miss each other when stowed, and rotate almost completely to the horizontal .  Looking at them from above, they resemble a persons folded arms.



A crewman watches the Trader's wing folding mechanism and signals it's status to the copilot.  They cycled the wings a couple of times, bringing them up to 30 degrees or so, then lowering them again, before fully extending them up  and over the top.  

Don't know if this is a standard operating procedure or not...perhaps one of our members might comment.

Now that you'r retired there is more time for hunting and fishing, have a happy!

crankbndr wrote:Now that you'r retired there is more time for hunting and fishing, have a happy!

Thanks Crank!  
Afraid I'm not much of a fisherman, but AM gonna turn my attentions toward 'Ole Yeller here shortly...

DURN DIAL-UP !!!

Got the text WAY before the image! Thank you for the positive vibes...but I got feeling THAT version is way out of my league (and budget) !

Kim wrote:Hey Andrew,

I may have been a bit misleading with the current title, as I've carefully developed a network of dedicated spies who are sworn to notify me of any special metal, bodacious wood and fabric, or fancy plastic that arrives at the airport.  

This, along with a tower monitor that's always on through the day, should insure many more incidents like "The Sea Fury Affair"...where a "cool airplane alert" caused me to spill coffee all the way from my computer to the kitchen as I tried to wake up, get dressed, gather camera gear, and chug Folgers all at the same time.

With my new-found flexibility, "The Ramp" will extend to other airports and strips also...so...the thread will continue, hopefully enjoying the cool participation of forum members as before!

Bravo! keeping the plane spotting hobby alive.

I happened to cross paths with this cute little DA-2 last Sunday. At first thinking it was "Oshkosh Traffic", I found out that the plane is actually based at a field East of St.Louis (about 100 miles North), and that it's pilot was just out knocking about.

This is serial #1, completed by the designer, Leon Davis, and was finished in May of 1966. It's carries a pilot and passenger at 110 mph, and has a range of 450 miles.

Designed during that heady time for homebuilts (late 50's/early 60's), it was of the era that gave us such fantastic planes as the Fly Baby, Thorpe T-18, Bushby Mustang, and a bunch of others. We always called the Davis a "Baby Bonanza" for it's resemblance to Beechcraft's famous V-Tail.

That's cool, never seen or heard of one before...