On the Ramp Right Now!

So, last December or January, I was approached with a request to volunteer at the upcoming Air Festival in May.

"Why Sure!", sez I, "That ought to be a hoot!" (with enthusiasm helped along by visions of blue skys and green grass dancing around in my winter brain).  

Then, I blinked, and Airshow Weekend was in my face like a freight train.  The Blue Angels were coming to town, and I heard myself ADDITIONALLY volunteering away my Friday to help set things up for a reception and dinner next to the courthouse in town.

I paid dearly the next morning after helping haul chairs and tables out of a box truck, then putting it all back in late in the night.  The dawn was rough...in addition to the normal back-popping and groaning as assorted vertebra broke loose for the day, neck muscles and ankles had me knocking down ibuprofen with my Folgers.  It's no wonder that roadies are dopers...

But enough whining.  Following is an assortment of photos...I KNOW the banquet tent photos are boring, but please look at them anyways, as they happened at considerable cost to my old carcass!

Many of the others are "standard airshow photos", but a few are fairly nice.  I raided my Mad Money Account to buy a ride in the two-seat P-40, but felt like crap and didn't want to take a chance of puking on the inside of it's beautiful canopy.  Maybe next time.  My buddy Fran got a ride in the Warhawk, and I'm surely gonna hear all about it.











The Mustang had problems and didn't fly in the show.


















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The DC-3 was used by Eleanore Roosevelt during WWII.

























The Baby Hornet suffered a "gear failure" and didn't participate in the airshow.

:flyplane:Kim, are you sure you’re not a professional photographer? Those are some super great shots you taken. The Jet Truck blasting flames with the inverted Bipe  laying down chem trails awesome, also the slinky vapor trails off the P40 is one to be framed and hung on the wall. I feel your pain in the back after seeing those tents, tables and chairs. You don’t know the work that goes into a set-up like that until you’ve done it yourself, with friends and family. “Many hands make the load lighter” is a nice saying but still my back aches nowdays at even a little  lite lifting. Too bad you missed the P40, but you’re correct in your decision to not go up sick. That would’ve made a bad memory......remember the time I sprayed chunks all over in inside of a rare WarBird! Boy, I bet that pilot remembers me! HA! Thanks for having the intestinal fortitude to stay and take pictures of a wonderful day at the Airshow!  I enjoyed them very much.

Rene ( .remember the time I sprayed chunks all over in inside of a rare WarBird! Boy, I bet that pilot remembers me! )) Kim I feel your pain ,but everything really looks GREAT !! Those photos are great too and my eyes Thank You for going to the trouble to take them ,be there and post so wee could see what you did . If you would have brought some Noise with them would bee even Better

rsv1cox wrote:Loved the sequence Kim.

That's the way I want to leave............just fly me off into the mist.



Bob

Well here's a cheap way to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8vgqT5FnZo

Thanks guys! It was a good time, and now, the prep begins for S.M.A.L.L. Hopefully, this load-out won't have me popping pills!

It's been a while since I've posted to this thread, caused somewhat by my retirement from line service, and also that my "airport spies" have moved on, so I don't get phone tips anymore.  

Yesterday, we headed to the airport for Sunday dinner, and Beth spotted two Black Hawks parked on the South Ramp.  She got some photos before dinner then, as we headed to the line shack for a visit, spotted a crewman checking on the helicopters after their overnight stay.

To say that it was a Big Day for her would be an understatement.

I thought I'd post her Facebook Page comments and photos for a fresh perspective:
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"I was very honored today to meet one of the crew members of this Blackhawk on it’s journey home from Afghanistan. There were 2 that were here. They are headed to NY for a 2 year overhaul & then back out.

This young man has been in the Army for 17 Yrs. He has done multiple tours over his career. During all the excitement, I hate to say, I didn’t ask his name.

I thanked him for his service, & I am still in awe of being able to meet him, along with his showing me the ends and outs of this Blackhawk.

He did let me know, that all of his fellow solders that were deployed, made it back SAFELY.

Thank you again for your service,

Beth"















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That is absolutely wonderful! Great photos too! I am very pleased for her and wish to congratulate her and for the sake of that young man and the many others who have served. Well done!!

Jim Carter

From my Facebook Page:
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We lost a friend this weekend. The Canadian Snowbirds visited our airport several times with their large, 9-plane formation flight of Canadair Tutors.

They're great guys, who love to fly, and possess none of the egos and attitudes of many airshow performers. They're well-liked by our airport crews, and apparently felt the same as they even scheduled an impromptu, mid week flight demo, during a transition from one show to another.

While leaving an airport in Canada, one of the Tutors suffered apparent engine failure on takeoff, prompting a low-altitude ejection by both pilots. Sadly, one pilot was lost while the other survives in serious condition.

Thoughts and prayers for both, the recovery of the surviving pilot, and the families and fellow Snowbird crew.

Kim wrote:From my Facebook Page:
___________________________________________

We lost a friend this weekend. The Canadian Snowbirds visited our airport several times with their large, 9-plane formation flight of Canadair Tutors.

They're great guys, who love to fly, and possess none of the egos and attitudes of many airshow performers. They're well-liked by our airport crews, and apparently felt the same as they even scheduled an impromptu, mid week flight demo, during a transition from one show to another.

While leaving an airport in Canada, one of the Tutors suffered apparent engine failure on takeoff, prompting a low-altitude ejection by both pilots. Sadly, one pilot was lost while the other survives in serious condition.

Thoughts and prayers for both, the recovery of the surviving pilot, and the families and fellow Snowbird crew.


]

I'm shaken to hear this. Richard Bong, Ace of Aces left us the same way.

Condolences to the family.

That is heartbreaking news. Sounds like you had a lot of fun with those pilots. This has to be your most famous non-flying builds, as a momento:

Yes, another terrible loss for the Snowbirds. And yet they were doing a cross country tour for the frontline workers. And they also had another jet go down late last year as well, but no casualties in it.

My condolences to the family and friends , This is very sad news .

Got an "Alert Call" from my bud Fran that a Mustang was headed for KCGI...and here it is----shiny-as-a-new-dime----"Swamp Fox" !!!!









OK...since the pilot/owner seemed to be a great "normal dude that happened to be flying a Mustang", he was assailed by nerd question from Fran and me.

Such as:
1.  "What is that hole in the lower right side of the fuselage (under the "a")"?  I'd seen it trailing what looked like exhaust in many Mustang photos.  
Well, it's the Merlin's crankcase breather!  Nerd mystery solved.

2.  Are the stainless steel cuffs around the exhaust pipes missing because of some rework?
No, many Mustangs run without them to help vent the forward pipes with fresh air that can be trapped inside the cuff (whose purpose was a bit of added streamlining).  This mod WAS used in WWll combat theaters when conditions warranted.

A lot of post-war A.N.G. Mustangs appear with the tailwheel extended when the mains are retracted.  Was it locked down to simplify maintenance in the field?
He wasn't sure, but believed this to be true, and was gonna ask a fellow pilot about it.

The poor guy probably breathed a sigh of relief as he climbed away from the "Nerd Swamp"!


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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgHEx2_I85s&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR19i9TkXTPABNktaOA0Tzzg3HVzzxgEjYr8avRX-tFwhJB8wDySM1AzpQI

Beautiful Mustang !! I would think the gent appreciates the interest in his plane instead of nerdy questions . Heck it not like you ask for a ride ; Did ya ?

I want one!!

getback wrote:Beautiful Mustang !! I would think the gent appreciates the interest in his plane instead of nerdy questions . Heck it not like you ask for a ride ; Did ya ?

Well, a lot of the guys are good types, though their egos can be pretty huge. We had an airshow pilot snap his fingers at a couple of my buds, summoning them to help him push his T-6 around. You ASK politely...you NEVER snap your fingers or get snarky with your linemen!!! It's akin to abusing your waiter or waitress before you eat in a restaurant...NOT a good idea!

Nope, I didn't ask for a ride, though if I'd thought there'd been a chance, I'd have hitch-hiked back home after a ride to Concord, Tn.

Still a great time though...I'd been wondering about that hole in the fuse for a few decades!!! "Things Nerds Wonder About"

Kim, there's a small local airport/museum near my house. The museum is a helicopter museum. Center floor is a Pitcairn autogyro which is quite remarkable. Very interesting as I was unaware of their importance to mail delivery and also Amelia Earhart who set numerous records in them. This hasn't happened in several years but they featured a fly in called October Rotorfest. Boeing stopped by with a Osprey and there were just several vintage planes. One in particular was a Beechcraft Staggerwing. I have built a few control line Staggerwing planes. This caught my eye and the owner was probably looking for the "Off" switch to shut me up. He explained on how to walk the wing walk. He just had his wings repaired and painted. He was very concerned as he led my feet up the walk. DO NOT step onto the fabric. I pretty much understood that. I told him I build model airplanes and dope them all the time. I completely get the concept.

Yeah, there's always another side to each story...and after being neck-deep in numerous airshows, I'd have to allow the pilots a certain amount of due paranoia!

There was one story told to me about a fly-in at Wynkoop Field outside of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where a fellow showed up selling rides in a Ford Tri-motor. According to the guy telling me this, the plane had it's own sound system that would repeat:

"Don't touch the Tri-motor!!!...FAA Regulations prohibit spectators from touching the Tri-Motor!!!"

A local pilot finally got tired of this, taxied over his Eircoupe, and stood on it's wingwalk shouting, "EVERYBODY!!! COME TOUCH THE EIRCOUPE!!!!"

He made the front page of the local paper, with his little plane ringed by smiling kids.

So headed myself down to the airport restaurant for Thanksgiving Dinner, and found this beautiful "Aerostar" tied to the ramp.  They're kinda rare these days, in my world at least, and it's coolness made the King Air parked next to it sort of disappear.

Designed by Ted Smith in the 1960's, it was eventually bought out by Piper which, as is their custom, decided to hang an American Indian tag on it: The "Sequoia".  Concerning the name change, I remember reading an article in Flying Magazine where the author wrote, "That low turbine hum you hear is Ted Smith, turning over in his grave."

Anyway, the design has a had it's share of problems, maybe most notably cracks in it's wing attach fittings, but many are also very high-time airframes.

There was also a "sub rudder" mod (skillfully simulated with my Paint Program), that added a bit of control when a high angle of attack caused aerodynamic blocking of it's rudder.  This Aerostar didn't have the mod, like most others I've seen at the airport.

There's also a Tom Cruise movie called "American Made", featuring a wealth of Aerostar flying scenes.  Though with an ending to be expected of the job security when dealing with dope runners, it's got some really hilarious moments:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEBIJRAkujM

Wow!, I couldn't believe my email. It lives. Congrats!.

Lets get right to the nuts and bolts as Bob Hoover would say.

Loose the winglets,,shave a couple off the ends,, lighten the fuel load,, wider 3 blades. Now!!, we can get to town like a Pimp in a Straw Hat!!.

Happy Turkey Day folks.

American Made. Excellent movie. Watch that autopilot!!.

If you work a few years at an airport, you will meet a lot of truly great people, and assorted characters, and dedicated aviation addicts...all of them fun to know and talk to.

But of course, you'll ALSO have the "Chuck Yeager Wanna-Be's, Shoulda' Been's, Woulda Been's, and Actually Are's".

The one thing that should NEVER happen though...no matter how large and fancy the plane might be---is to allow a bloated ego to TOTALLY cancel out Common Sense by making an enemy of someone you just met.

People You Don't Mess With or Insult or Threaten:
The servers who bring you your food in a restaurant.
The dentist who's holding a drill in your mouth.
And MOST of all: The Guy Who Fuels Your Airplane.

I had some great fun with the pilot of this King Air and his threatening fuel placard...personally taking the fuel card to the office instead of calling it in on my radio.

I repeated and confirmed the fuel order to him as I handed the card to the receptionist.  When he thanked me, I responded, "Well, I was extra careful...I don't want my genitals removed."

A look of terror swept across his face, and with one hand on his chest and the other extended toward me, he replied,
"NO!  LOOK...that's not us!!!  We just bought the plane!  It's on it's way to the paint shop!  I'm sorry!"

I had a good laugh over the whole thing, but at a different FBO, the fuel guy might not be as sweet and good-natured as myself!

Good one

Interesting, Kim, I'm not sure why someone would put such a statement at the fuel access, regarding affecting someone's ability to uh, procreate if they err?

Speaking of erring, that reminds me,
seems this younger generation are being taught methods in math that are hard to understand as well as carry through the rest of their lives.

Like: https://www.quora.com/Why-is-New-Math-so-confusing

Scroll down halfway, until you see: Chris Everett, Works with a bunch of cops.

He's got a common sense explanation of the old math versus the new, shows this example:



Maybe this is why some out of frustration dealing with the newer generation of millennials have seemingly lost their patience? If they are taught this way, then how can it be expected to know how to bill, let alone how to handle a fuel nozzle?

And mind you, I'm not criticizing the millennials but the educators who have lost their common sense as teachers.