I'll bet many of you reading my title finished that sentence, didn't you?
I bet also that you finished it by singing it to yourself!
"4-0-9".....
Not one of my favorite Beach Boys tunes.
It was catchy and fun.
You still hear it now and then,
not because it was a great song, but because it was done by a great group.
"The Beach Boys" were, and are, one of my favorite groups.
I think they're underrated by many.........
Not the Beatles, who were motivated to produce "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" after hearing "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys.
During turbulent times growing up, the Beach Boys took what was in my head and put it on the radio.
Brian Wilson, Beach Boy #1, was a genius.
The harmonies he molded, using his brothers, a cousin, and a friend, were fabulous. Combined with a simple but well written verse, you've got music that will stand up for years.
Go back now and listen to "In My Room".
What a great song:
"In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears,
In my room."
Did your room ever feel like sanctuary when you were growing up?
Mine sure did. And the harmonies on the song are breathtaking. Brian put my thoughts to simple, wonderful, words and music.
A couple posts ago I wrote about the "Oldies" DJ I used to listen to on Monday nights. One of the love songs I used to request and dedicate to Sara Jean was "God Only Knows":
"If you should ever leave me,
My life would still go on, believe me.
The world could show nothing to me,
So what good would living do me?
God only knows what I'd be without you!"
Wow.
All my adult life I've envied Brian Wilson's ability to not only write those words, but put them to music that brings tears to my eyes.
On a more upbeat note, musically, there's
"Wouldn't it be nice?"
I think these words illustrate the huge change that has taken place in our attitude towards sex, marriage, and relationships:
"Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through?"
A catchy, upbeat tune........ but as a young man with hormones beginning to rage, I could easily identify with the accompanying words!
Part of my attraction to the song is the fact that it sprang in what seemed to be a simpler, more structured time, when there were unwritten rules about what was, (AND WAS NOT) supposed to happen when "Boy meets Girl."
Music from the mid-60's through the mid-70's tells much of the story and mood of our time. I think some of it is truly classic, and will still be getting airtime when many of us are motivating from point A to point B on our "hover-rounds".
Late 60's Beach Boys stuff, when Brian began to experiment with drugs, confuses me. No longer simple, the music is strange....more complex, and doesn't stay in my head. But the early stuff, when he was still thinking like a teenager and writing for them/us, is unforgettable!
10 June 2006
07 June 2006
8 Jun 69
Morning...Hot.
Humid.
Sticky.
We had electric fans hung on the walls over our heads, and they were the only thing that made sleeping possible when the Monsoons ended in Viet Nam.
I was the standby pilot.
Being on standby meant you likely would not fly, but had to be ready at a moment's notice.
Whether I was scheduled to fly or on standby, I always got up early and hit the mess hall to get my fair share of reconstituted eggs.
YUCK!
Sitting on the edge of my bed, wiping sleep out of my eyes, I heard a strange sound......
shyoo... shyoo... shyoo, shyoo... shyoo, shyoo, shyoo, shyoo, shyoo, ... shyoo!
The sound was a little like popping the top on a can of soda, only from far away.
Puzzled, I looked over at "Snag". He was scheduled to fly and was also getting dressed for his fair share of eggs.
"What the heck was that?"
"I dunno."
WHOOMP!
WHOOMP, WHOOMP, WHOOMP!
Without question, these were the loudest explosions I had EVER heard,
close enough to suck the air from your lungs.
I sprang from the bed, still undressed, and ran for the back door of the hooch hoping to reach the safety of our bunker, just in time to see a bright orange explosion hit the South China Sea.
The explosion sent a spray of water 100' into the air.
I laid down just inside the back door, covered my head, and waited for the fireworks to stop.
I have no way of knowing how many 122 mm. Katusa rockets they launched at us that day...
Too many, whatever the number.
When they quit falling we surveyed the local damage:
Slight schrapnel damage to three helicopters,
A jeep gas tank ruptured, which promptly caught fire.
Our flightline latrine knocked off it's foundation and onto it's side, carrying Specialist Carmichael along with it.
Miraculously, he is shaken but unhurt.
We later get the news:
The 312th Evac Hospital took a direct hit.
Two are dead there... one is a Nurse.
The picture you see above is Lt. Sharon Ann Lane.
Trying to bring comfort and healing, she is the ONLY woman killed due to enemy fire in the Viet Nam war.There is a nice tribute to Lt. Lane
at this site.
Go and read it.
Nurses... all of 'em... are Angels.
8 June 1969...
The most terrifying day of my life.
06 June 2006
The End is Near!
Are you upset about Global warming?
Take a look at this:
"To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world’s weather. The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth’s climate seems to be cooling down."
Huh?
That was in April, 1975! You can read the whole article about how scientists were sure Floridians would be breaking icicles off their roofs here:
http://denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm
The long and the short of it?
Don't worry, Be happy!
Take a look at this:
"To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world’s weather. The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth’s climate seems to be cooling down."
Huh?
That was in April, 1975! You can read the whole article about how scientists were sure Floridians would be breaking icicles off their roofs here:
http://denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm
The long and the short of it?
Don't worry, Be happy!
02 June 2006
WOLD
"I am the morning DJ, on WOLD!"
Harry Chapin was one of my favorites.
He's the subject for a whole 'nother post......at another time.
But I do want to talk about radio......
Big Bubba is a DJ at the local radio station.
We are literally close enough to go out in the back yard and see the top of the antenna, about a mile away.
It used to be an AM/FM station.
The ownership is sucking it dry.....they sold off the FM frequency to a Christian broadcasting outfit. The station is beginning to look rundown. They're not putting money back into the business, and I can't imagine the doors still being open in 10 years.
And what a shame!
A few years ago, they lost one of the things I loved most about this little town.......
For several years there was a guy that worked part-time as a DJ at dances and special events. He had an Oldies program on this station from 7 P.M. to 11 P.M. on Monday nights. He'd arrive at the station and back his Van up to the front door so he had easy access to his incredible collection of "Oldies". He concentrated on music from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, and he took requests.
The hour from 10 to 11 P.M. was always devoted to love songs.
(Sometime during that hour, I always called and dedicated "The Air That I Breathe" by "The Hollies" to Sarah Jean.)
During the Summer, I planned my Monday nights around sitting on the patio with the radio turned up loud, beer on ice, and cordless phone within easy reach.
I'd pop the top on the first beer at 7.
Each hour, I allowed myself one beer and one request.
In mid-Summer you'd be facing two hours of daylight at the start of the show, so Beach Boys music was in order.
Mood, weather, and current events would affect my requests,
but he never failed me:
Johnny Rivers,
The Buckinghams,
The Electric Prunes,
The Association,
The Easybeats,
Beatles, Rolling Stones, Moody Blues.
I'd request it.......he'd play it within two songs......like clockwork!
By the time 11 P.M. rolled around, I was always melancholy-happy.
ALWAYS!
In this little town, it was like having a personal DJ who could play every song you ever wanted to hear.
Unbelievable.
Oldies stations still abound......
That's no problem. But for the most part they have a "playlist" they follow.
If I call and request a tune, they don't always have it.......
and even if they do, it may take them half an hour or more to play it.
No more lookin' forward to Monday nights......
They're just a fond memory now,
like "Too Much Talk, and Not Enough Action"
by "Paul Revere and the Raiders"!
Harry Chapin was one of my favorites.
He's the subject for a whole 'nother post......at another time.
But I do want to talk about radio......
Big Bubba is a DJ at the local radio station.
We are literally close enough to go out in the back yard and see the top of the antenna, about a mile away.
It used to be an AM/FM station.
The ownership is sucking it dry.....they sold off the FM frequency to a Christian broadcasting outfit. The station is beginning to look rundown. They're not putting money back into the business, and I can't imagine the doors still being open in 10 years.
And what a shame!
A few years ago, they lost one of the things I loved most about this little town.......
For several years there was a guy that worked part-time as a DJ at dances and special events. He had an Oldies program on this station from 7 P.M. to 11 P.M. on Monday nights. He'd arrive at the station and back his Van up to the front door so he had easy access to his incredible collection of "Oldies". He concentrated on music from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, and he took requests.
The hour from 10 to 11 P.M. was always devoted to love songs.
(Sometime during that hour, I always called and dedicated "The Air That I Breathe" by "The Hollies" to Sarah Jean.)
During the Summer, I planned my Monday nights around sitting on the patio with the radio turned up loud, beer on ice, and cordless phone within easy reach.
I'd pop the top on the first beer at 7.
Each hour, I allowed myself one beer and one request.
In mid-Summer you'd be facing two hours of daylight at the start of the show, so Beach Boys music was in order.
Mood, weather, and current events would affect my requests,
but he never failed me:
Johnny Rivers,
The Buckinghams,
The Electric Prunes,
The Association,
The Easybeats,
Beatles, Rolling Stones, Moody Blues.
I'd request it.......he'd play it within two songs......like clockwork!
By the time 11 P.M. rolled around, I was always melancholy-happy.
ALWAYS!
In this little town, it was like having a personal DJ who could play every song you ever wanted to hear.
Unbelievable.
Oldies stations still abound......
That's no problem. But for the most part they have a "playlist" they follow.
If I call and request a tune, they don't always have it.......
and even if they do, it may take them half an hour or more to play it.
No more lookin' forward to Monday nights......
They're just a fond memory now,
like "Too Much Talk, and Not Enough Action"
by "Paul Revere and the Raiders"!
31 May 2006
The Aerodynamic Brick
We had a little discussion about rotors in the comments to my post, "When Bad Things Happen", concerning the fatal helicopter crash near Blythe, California.
Let me take a stab at explaining what MAY have happened in that accident to cause that aircraft to crash. (Ya gotta visualize with me now!)
When you fly a helicopter, you are not flying the whole helicopter. You control the rotor, and the rest of the helicopter comes along for the ride because it is supported by the Main Rotor.
The subject helicopter had a Semi-Rigid rotor system. I've discussed the fact that many helicopters have this type rotor........the Huey, JetRanger, LongRanger, Bell 47, Hiller, Robinson......most, if not all, helicopters with two rotor blades have this type rotor system. It is simple, relatively inexpensive, and takes up little space when parked in a hangar.
But it MUST be flown within a certain envelope!
Imagine I have a pail filled with water.
To the handle on the pail, I attach a 4' length of rope. If I lift the rope, I pick up the pail. If I move the rope, the pail hesitates momentarily due to inertia, then follows along. If I stop the movement of the rope, the pail will actually continue to move because of inertia, and will finally settle beneath my hand, holding the rope.
You can compare my hand to the point where the rotor attaches to the helicopter at the Main Rotor Mast. The helicopter itself can be compared to the pail of water.
Now, find yourself a ladder, and, still hanging on to the rope/pail of water, climb 3' up the ladder. Now quickly move your hand downward, and while there is slack in your rope, move your hand left, right, then back to center before the descending, (weightless), pail takes the slack out of the rope. Obviously, under these conditions you did not have control of the pail......there was no direct connection between your hand and the pail while there was slack in the rope.
The same is true with Semi-rigid rotor systems on helicopters. You are in complete control so long as the helicopter is suspended beneath the rotor. But if allow the helicopter to get into a regime where it is near-weightless, you are courting disaster.
Helicopters are complex, wonderful machines. Many parts move and turn on them. When something moves or turns, there is a corresponding and opposite reaction to that action.
Remember that thing at the rear of all the above mentioned helicopters?
That little rotor on the back? Even when the helicopter is weightless, it is still working. When the helicopter is weightless, or near-weightless, the tail rotor has very little mass to contend with, so it becomes super effective. Because it is moving air from one side of the machine to another, it can induce a roll in the helicopter.
The pilot normally stops unwanted movement around the "roll" axis by moving the Main Rotor in the opposite direction by applying opposite cyclic stick.
But here is where he is in danger:
This roll is not being caused by the Main Rotor, and cannot be stopped by moving the rotor in the opposite direction. This movement is being caused by the tail rotor thrust acting on a helicopter that weighs very little in this scenario.
There is a finite amount of space between the Main Rotor and the Main Rotor mast. Most of these machines have what is called a "droop stop" or "static stop" that is a reinforced part of the Main Rotor hub that bumps the rotor mast while the rotor is turning slowly or stopped. Most of us have seen a Huey or JetRanger at rest on the ground, rotor untied, slight breeze turning the rotor into a "teeter-totter". This is normal. This slight bumping causes no damage.
But the rotor system is not designed for that "static stop" to make contact with the mast at normal rotor operating speeds.
Remember the pail beneath my hand?
Under normal circumstances, the rotor moves, and the helicopter follows along. The distance between the static stop and the main rotor mast is never compromised.
In a near weightless condition, the helicopter fuselage (pail), will not follow along beneath the Main Rotor attachment (my hand). So the rotor can use up all the space between it and the mast......and the static stop can make contact with the rotor mast with tremendous force. This force can sever the main rotor mast, causing the main rotor to depart the machine.
When the main rotor departs, it can (and has), cut off the tail cone, or cut the cockpit in half.
Instructors have been aware of this phenomenon for almost 40 years.
It's one of the things we teach our students to avoid.
That's why it was such a puzzle to me that a pilot with the amount of experience this gentleman had would crash and die under conditions that he should have been able to control.
I'll keep an eye on the investigation and let you know how it progresses.
Let me take a stab at explaining what MAY have happened in that accident to cause that aircraft to crash. (Ya gotta visualize with me now!)
When you fly a helicopter, you are not flying the whole helicopter. You control the rotor, and the rest of the helicopter comes along for the ride because it is supported by the Main Rotor.
The subject helicopter had a Semi-Rigid rotor system. I've discussed the fact that many helicopters have this type rotor........the Huey, JetRanger, LongRanger, Bell 47, Hiller, Robinson......most, if not all, helicopters with two rotor blades have this type rotor system. It is simple, relatively inexpensive, and takes up little space when parked in a hangar.
But it MUST be flown within a certain envelope!
Imagine I have a pail filled with water.
To the handle on the pail, I attach a 4' length of rope. If I lift the rope, I pick up the pail. If I move the rope, the pail hesitates momentarily due to inertia, then follows along. If I stop the movement of the rope, the pail will actually continue to move because of inertia, and will finally settle beneath my hand, holding the rope.
You can compare my hand to the point where the rotor attaches to the helicopter at the Main Rotor Mast. The helicopter itself can be compared to the pail of water.
Now, find yourself a ladder, and, still hanging on to the rope/pail of water, climb 3' up the ladder. Now quickly move your hand downward, and while there is slack in your rope, move your hand left, right, then back to center before the descending, (weightless), pail takes the slack out of the rope. Obviously, under these conditions you did not have control of the pail......there was no direct connection between your hand and the pail while there was slack in the rope.
The same is true with Semi-rigid rotor systems on helicopters. You are in complete control so long as the helicopter is suspended beneath the rotor. But if allow the helicopter to get into a regime where it is near-weightless, you are courting disaster.
Helicopters are complex, wonderful machines. Many parts move and turn on them. When something moves or turns, there is a corresponding and opposite reaction to that action.
Remember that thing at the rear of all the above mentioned helicopters?
That little rotor on the back? Even when the helicopter is weightless, it is still working. When the helicopter is weightless, or near-weightless, the tail rotor has very little mass to contend with, so it becomes super effective. Because it is moving air from one side of the machine to another, it can induce a roll in the helicopter.
The pilot normally stops unwanted movement around the "roll" axis by moving the Main Rotor in the opposite direction by applying opposite cyclic stick.
But here is where he is in danger:
This roll is not being caused by the Main Rotor, and cannot be stopped by moving the rotor in the opposite direction. This movement is being caused by the tail rotor thrust acting on a helicopter that weighs very little in this scenario.
There is a finite amount of space between the Main Rotor and the Main Rotor mast. Most of these machines have what is called a "droop stop" or "static stop" that is a reinforced part of the Main Rotor hub that bumps the rotor mast while the rotor is turning slowly or stopped. Most of us have seen a Huey or JetRanger at rest on the ground, rotor untied, slight breeze turning the rotor into a "teeter-totter". This is normal. This slight bumping causes no damage.
But the rotor system is not designed for that "static stop" to make contact with the mast at normal rotor operating speeds.
Remember the pail beneath my hand?
Under normal circumstances, the rotor moves, and the helicopter follows along. The distance between the static stop and the main rotor mast is never compromised.
In a near weightless condition, the helicopter fuselage (pail), will not follow along beneath the Main Rotor attachment (my hand). So the rotor can use up all the space between it and the mast......and the static stop can make contact with the rotor mast with tremendous force. This force can sever the main rotor mast, causing the main rotor to depart the machine.
When the main rotor departs, it can (and has), cut off the tail cone, or cut the cockpit in half.
Instructors have been aware of this phenomenon for almost 40 years.
It's one of the things we teach our students to avoid.
That's why it was such a puzzle to me that a pilot with the amount of experience this gentleman had would crash and die under conditions that he should have been able to control.
I'll keep an eye on the investigation and let you know how it progresses.
30 May 2006
Google This!
I started Googling a long time ago.....
of course, "a long time ago" in computer language could mean yesterday.
But literally, I think it was 6 or 7 years ago, I gave up Netscape and switched to Google as my search engine.
No more!
If you are a Google user, you know how clever they are with their logo....
Valentine's day, the two "O's" in Google were changed to hearts.
Other holidays, the logo was modified to bring attention to the fact that the day was special....
Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday was celebrated, with Sherlock Holmes incorporated into the logo, peering through a magnifying glass.
But Memorial day? One of the 5 designated Federal Holidays?
The day set aside to honor the heroes that died so that Google can conduct business in a free and unfettered fashion?
Nada. Zip. Goose Egg!
No special logo for our fallen troops.
News that Google was a major contributor to George Soros' organization "Moveon.org" caused me considerable discomfort.........
but Google is so efficient, inertia was difficult to overcome.
Ignoring our dead heroes on Memorial Day is a deal killer.
Agree with my concerns about Google?
Then do what I just did.....
Go to:
http://www.dogpile.com/
and make it your search engine.
Or, alternatively, use Yahoo.com, or Netscape.com......
anything but Google.
We've got to quit putting money into the pockets of people and organizations that would love to make our country the "U.S.S.A.", "The United Soviet States of America."
of course, "a long time ago" in computer language could mean yesterday.
But literally, I think it was 6 or 7 years ago, I gave up Netscape and switched to Google as my search engine.
No more!
If you are a Google user, you know how clever they are with their logo....
Valentine's day, the two "O's" in Google were changed to hearts.
Other holidays, the logo was modified to bring attention to the fact that the day was special....
Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday was celebrated, with Sherlock Holmes incorporated into the logo, peering through a magnifying glass.
But Memorial day? One of the 5 designated Federal Holidays?
The day set aside to honor the heroes that died so that Google can conduct business in a free and unfettered fashion?
Nada. Zip. Goose Egg!
No special logo for our fallen troops.
News that Google was a major contributor to George Soros' organization "Moveon.org" caused me considerable discomfort.........
but Google is so efficient, inertia was difficult to overcome.
Ignoring our dead heroes on Memorial Day is a deal killer.
Agree with my concerns about Google?
Then do what I just did.....
Go to:
http://www.dogpile.com/
and make it your search engine.
Or, alternatively, use Yahoo.com, or Netscape.com......
anything but Google.
We've got to quit putting money into the pockets of people and organizations that would love to make our country the "U.S.S.A.", "The United Soviet States of America."
28 May 2006
Rules
While I was in Roswell, N.M., Mrs. O.P.D. said something that surprised me:
It's against the law to plant a Mulberry tree in Roswell.
Huh?
That's right.
It has something to do with pollen and allergies.
Ohhhhhhhkay!
It set me to thinking about the laws we pass and the rules we make.
Let me tell you one of my favorite stories......
"American Caesar" by William Manchester,
is a Biography of General Douglas MacArthur.
In it, Manchester relates this anecdote about the General:
After Japan signed the surrender documents ending WWII,
Gen. MacArthur became Governor of the country.
One of his aides came to him saying, "General, the Japanese men are up in arms! G.I.'s are dating the Japanese women, and the Japanese men cannot compete with them.
Don't you think we should establish a regulation forbidding soldiers from dating the Japanese women?"
The General's answer?
"No".
"Why, General? Don't you think it's a good idea?"
"I don't want to establish a regulation that our men will ignore. If the men get accustomed to ignoring that regulation, it will make them scofflaws.......and make it easier to ignore other, more important regulations. Besides, it would be unenforceable!"
It was like I had been hit in the face with a 2X4!
That is wisdom, folks!
All these little towns that have passed laws forbidding people from using their cell phones while driving.......how will they enforce them, particularly at night when they cannot even SEE people breaking the law?
And if I want to plant a Mulberry tree in my back yard in Roswell, N.M.,
well..........catch me if you can!!
(It was already there?!!)
It's against the law to plant a Mulberry tree in Roswell.
Huh?
That's right.
It has something to do with pollen and allergies.
Ohhhhhhhkay!
It set me to thinking about the laws we pass and the rules we make.
Let me tell you one of my favorite stories......
"American Caesar" by William Manchester,
is a Biography of General Douglas MacArthur.
In it, Manchester relates this anecdote about the General:
After Japan signed the surrender documents ending WWII,
Gen. MacArthur became Governor of the country.
One of his aides came to him saying, "General, the Japanese men are up in arms! G.I.'s are dating the Japanese women, and the Japanese men cannot compete with them.
Don't you think we should establish a regulation forbidding soldiers from dating the Japanese women?"
The General's answer?
"No".
"Why, General? Don't you think it's a good idea?"
"I don't want to establish a regulation that our men will ignore. If the men get accustomed to ignoring that regulation, it will make them scofflaws.......and make it easier to ignore other, more important regulations. Besides, it would be unenforceable!"
It was like I had been hit in the face with a 2X4!
That is wisdom, folks!
All these little towns that have passed laws forbidding people from using their cell phones while driving.......how will they enforce them, particularly at night when they cannot even SEE people breaking the law?
And if I want to plant a Mulberry tree in my back yard in Roswell, N.M.,
well..........catch me if you can!!
(It was already there?!!)
25 May 2006
When Bad Things Happen........
He was 64.
His passenger was a member of his extended family.
In an article for the local newspaper, his daughter called him "The Best Pilot".
This is why ferrying a helicopter East from California comes with a certain amount of stress.
This pilot apparently had 7500 hours in his logbook.......1200 of those were in the type aircraft mentioned in the report.
It's a puzzle why this would happen to an experienced pilot, flying an aircraft in which he should have been very comfortable.
His passenger was a member of his extended family.
In an article for the local newspaper, his daughter called him "The Best Pilot".
This is why ferrying a helicopter East from California comes with a certain amount of stress.
This pilot apparently had 7500 hours in his logbook.......1200 of those were in the type aircraft mentioned in the report.
It's a puzzle why this would happen to an experienced pilot, flying an aircraft in which he should have been very comfortable.
23 May 2006
23 May 66
"Greetings!"
I wish I had saved the notice.
I can't even remember the exact wording now. It was something to the effect that "your Uncle Sam sends you greetings and invites you to come on down and join the Army!"
Times bein' what they were, I knew it was coming.
Too proud to run to Canada,
too healthy to fail the physical,
too poor to go to college,
too smart to rush into marriage.
It was inevitable.
The notice had arrived about two months before, giving me plenty of time to notify my employer of my impending change of employment.
It was nice to have the two months to try to soak up as much "status quo" as possible.
But 23 May 66 dawned bright and clear, and I woke up knowing that my life would be changed drastically, and permanently.
Ya gotta remember.......
all this was colored through the lens of the fact that there was a rumbling in the distance.......
a place we were hearing about in the news more and more.....
Viet Nam.
Talk of Viet Nam, and the draft notice in my hand, gave life a sharp edge.
I was 19 and scared to death.
Events were about to be set in motion that would change my life more dramatically than I could imagine.
I look around me at friends and loved ones that took a different route than I was forced into.....
those that went to college or got married, and see their different outlook on life.....
Not altogether wrong.......but certainly different.
The course I took eventually resulted in bullets striking my aircraft more than a few times.
There is something about looking at a hole in your windshield,
realizing the projectile missed your face by about six inches, that will focus things in your life more than you might imagine........
There are people in the world that won't listen to reason, no matter how hard you try.
They will kill you.
They will rape your wife.
They will molest or mutilate your children.
They will kill thousands.......millions.......or more.
Nothing matters but the attainment of their goal.
Someone has to step into the breach and stop them from succeeding.
I thank God that in these "all volunteer military" days, we still have brave women and men willing to take on that task.
I was confused in 1966.
As a nation, we are still confused about whether we should have gone to Viet Nam in the first place, and what should have happened once we were committed there.
Do you have any idea how many people died because of our disastrous withdrawal from Viet Nam?
No, you don't. Because there is NO WAY to know.
How many people got into tiny, bathtub sized boats and committed their lives to the sea in scant hope of making it to a U.S. Navy ship, just over the horizon, rather than be subjected to the coming tyranny?
How many of them failed in that effort?
It shames me to think about it.
And then there is the story of our betrayal of the Montagnards.....
I can't even go there.
There is a book here, if I could just organize my thoughts.
One day I may try to write it.
And it will all start with a date 40 years ago today.....
23 May 66.
I wish I had saved the notice.
I can't even remember the exact wording now. It was something to the effect that "your Uncle Sam sends you greetings and invites you to come on down and join the Army!"
Times bein' what they were, I knew it was coming.
Too proud to run to Canada,
too healthy to fail the physical,
too poor to go to college,
too smart to rush into marriage.
It was inevitable.
The notice had arrived about two months before, giving me plenty of time to notify my employer of my impending change of employment.
It was nice to have the two months to try to soak up as much "status quo" as possible.
But 23 May 66 dawned bright and clear, and I woke up knowing that my life would be changed drastically, and permanently.
Ya gotta remember.......
all this was colored through the lens of the fact that there was a rumbling in the distance.......
a place we were hearing about in the news more and more.....
Viet Nam.
Talk of Viet Nam, and the draft notice in my hand, gave life a sharp edge.
I was 19 and scared to death.
Events were about to be set in motion that would change my life more dramatically than I could imagine.
I look around me at friends and loved ones that took a different route than I was forced into.....
those that went to college or got married, and see their different outlook on life.....
Not altogether wrong.......but certainly different.
The course I took eventually resulted in bullets striking my aircraft more than a few times.
There is something about looking at a hole in your windshield,
realizing the projectile missed your face by about six inches, that will focus things in your life more than you might imagine........
There are people in the world that won't listen to reason, no matter how hard you try.
They will kill you.
They will rape your wife.
They will molest or mutilate your children.
They will kill thousands.......millions.......or more.
Nothing matters but the attainment of their goal.
Someone has to step into the breach and stop them from succeeding.
I thank God that in these "all volunteer military" days, we still have brave women and men willing to take on that task.
I was confused in 1966.
As a nation, we are still confused about whether we should have gone to Viet Nam in the first place, and what should have happened once we were committed there.
Do you have any idea how many people died because of our disastrous withdrawal from Viet Nam?
No, you don't. Because there is NO WAY to know.
How many people got into tiny, bathtub sized boats and committed their lives to the sea in scant hope of making it to a U.S. Navy ship, just over the horizon, rather than be subjected to the coming tyranny?
How many of them failed in that effort?
It shames me to think about it.
And then there is the story of our betrayal of the Montagnards.....
I can't even go there.
There is a book here, if I could just organize my thoughts.
One day I may try to write it.
And it will all start with a date 40 years ago today.....
23 May 66.
20 May 2006
Dateline: Roswell, N.M.
I'm safely in Roswell. Tonight I accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Ole Prairie Dog to a Mexican Restaurant, where we had a great meal cooked by real Mexican folks.
Some thoughts on today's flight, 7.7 hours flight time:
1. It was 104 degrees when I landed at Blythe, CA. last night. It was 91 degrees at 7 A.M.. I don't care what the humidity is, when it's 104 degrees, it's damned uncomfortable.
2. Somewhere over Quartzite, AZ. I spotted a white bird in my path that appeared to be hovering at 1,000 feet above the ground. I was curious......birds don't normally hover in that realm. When I got closer, I found it was a plastic grocery bag....I think that's the highest I've ever seen one carried by the currents.
3. Why is it Saguaro Cactuses only grow in Arizona? The ground on the California side looks exactly the same, but almost immediately upon crossing the Colorado river you start seeing these magnificent 30 foot tall cacti.
What's the difference between California and Arizona?
4. Mountains are beautiful. The desert is interesting. I was raised in the Midwest. I don't want to live here. Ole Prairie Dog would live nowhere else.
5. Traveling by helicopter has to be just about the neatest way to see the country. At 500 feet above the ground, I can still see the interstate signs telling me I'm 90 miles from Phoenix, and I know I'll be there in less than an hour! Today I saw wild pigs, deer, and jackrabbits. Ya can't see that from a Boeing 737!
6. Gasoline in Blythe was $2.96 per gallon. I hear in some towns in California, it's $3.15. Be glad you don't live there.
7. I refueled the helicopter at 11 A.M. local time at Casa Grande, Arizona. Walking back to the machine after paying for the fuel, I looked up and saw the moon! This is definitely a first for me.
Is this something else that's normal for the desert?
8. Avgas at Cutter Aviation at El Paso cost me $5.17 including taxes. I had to buy 20 gallons. Zowie!
It's been a great trip so far......
I had a 10-20 knot tailwind all day today.....Thank you Lord!
We are planning a trip to the UFO museum here in Roswell tomorrow.
(And yes, I believe in UFO's, so I'm really looking forward to it!)
So......stay tuned folks!
Some thoughts on today's flight, 7.7 hours flight time:
1. It was 104 degrees when I landed at Blythe, CA. last night. It was 91 degrees at 7 A.M.. I don't care what the humidity is, when it's 104 degrees, it's damned uncomfortable.
2. Somewhere over Quartzite, AZ. I spotted a white bird in my path that appeared to be hovering at 1,000 feet above the ground. I was curious......birds don't normally hover in that realm. When I got closer, I found it was a plastic grocery bag....I think that's the highest I've ever seen one carried by the currents.
3. Why is it Saguaro Cactuses only grow in Arizona? The ground on the California side looks exactly the same, but almost immediately upon crossing the Colorado river you start seeing these magnificent 30 foot tall cacti.
What's the difference between California and Arizona?
4. Mountains are beautiful. The desert is interesting. I was raised in the Midwest. I don't want to live here. Ole Prairie Dog would live nowhere else.
5. Traveling by helicopter has to be just about the neatest way to see the country. At 500 feet above the ground, I can still see the interstate signs telling me I'm 90 miles from Phoenix, and I know I'll be there in less than an hour! Today I saw wild pigs, deer, and jackrabbits. Ya can't see that from a Boeing 737!
6. Gasoline in Blythe was $2.96 per gallon. I hear in some towns in California, it's $3.15. Be glad you don't live there.
7. I refueled the helicopter at 11 A.M. local time at Casa Grande, Arizona. Walking back to the machine after paying for the fuel, I looked up and saw the moon! This is definitely a first for me.
Is this something else that's normal for the desert?
8. Avgas at Cutter Aviation at El Paso cost me $5.17 including taxes. I had to buy 20 gallons. Zowie!
It's been a great trip so far......
I had a 10-20 knot tailwind all day today.....Thank you Lord!
We are planning a trip to the UFO museum here in Roswell tomorrow.
(And yes, I believe in UFO's, so I'm really looking forward to it!)
So......stay tuned folks!
19 May 2006
The Real Magic Carpet
It's amazing.
I awoke this morning in the Midwest.
At 1 P.M. I was laying my hands on a brand new helicopter in Torrance, California. I had hoped to spend the night in Tucson, Arizona, but reality got in the way of that plan. More on that in a sec.
I'm still amazed at the technology that can take us from one city and plop us in another, 2000+ miles away, in less than five hours! Think about it:
Our forebears crossed the same country I just flew over in Wagons......at all of 2 miles per hour!
If it rained, they got wet. If it snowed, they were in huge trouble. Instead, I ate my peanuts and drank my diet soda......then took a nap. I stayed warm and dry. How would "the 49-ers" react if they could know how easily we travel?
Back to "the best laid plans".......
I'm hoping to spend tomorrow night in Roswell, New Mexico with "Ole Prairie Dog".
I had hoped to make it to Tucson tonight so the travel day tomorrow wouldn't be so brutal.
But when I checked the engine oil on my preflight on this new helicopter, the oil dipstick, (a self-locking threaded apparatus on this machine), was cross-threaded.
"No Sweat!" says the delivery guy, and promptly brings out the mechanic to remedy the problem. Great!
But when he puts in the new filler tube, it too is boogered up. Drat!
He had to cannibalize a filler tube off another aircraft to get me on my way, and by the time the work was done, I was already two hours behind schedule.
Fifteen minutes out of Blythe, my eyes were getting bleary from fatigue.
I landed at 5:30 P.M. local time, and the gas jockey had already bugged out! His phone number posted on the wall......would have cost half the amount my motel room cost, just to get him to return to the airport.
Lots and lots of accidents happen because a pilot's reach exceeds his grasp...
Something pilots call "get-home-itis". It has caused a lot of bent, expensive metal, and many, many fatalities. I am VERY aware of it.
The gas guy bein' gone was the straw that broke the camels back. I called the motel courtesy car, and here I am, in air-conditioned comfort, while the outside temperature is still right at 100 degrees.
I'll be up bright and early in the A.M., and, after a great night's rest and a full breakfast, try to make up some lost time.
So, O.P.D., you may see me later than you wanted tomorrow night, but at least you'll be looking at someone with a body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit!
More later, folks. I got some sleepin' to do! (Sorry for the disjointed post.....remember, I AM DOG-TIRED!)
I awoke this morning in the Midwest.
At 1 P.M. I was laying my hands on a brand new helicopter in Torrance, California. I had hoped to spend the night in Tucson, Arizona, but reality got in the way of that plan. More on that in a sec.
I'm still amazed at the technology that can take us from one city and plop us in another, 2000+ miles away, in less than five hours! Think about it:
Our forebears crossed the same country I just flew over in Wagons......at all of 2 miles per hour!
If it rained, they got wet. If it snowed, they were in huge trouble. Instead, I ate my peanuts and drank my diet soda......then took a nap. I stayed warm and dry. How would "the 49-ers" react if they could know how easily we travel?
Back to "the best laid plans".......
I'm hoping to spend tomorrow night in Roswell, New Mexico with "Ole Prairie Dog".
I had hoped to make it to Tucson tonight so the travel day tomorrow wouldn't be so brutal.
But when I checked the engine oil on my preflight on this new helicopter, the oil dipstick, (a self-locking threaded apparatus on this machine), was cross-threaded.
"No Sweat!" says the delivery guy, and promptly brings out the mechanic to remedy the problem. Great!
But when he puts in the new filler tube, it too is boogered up. Drat!
He had to cannibalize a filler tube off another aircraft to get me on my way, and by the time the work was done, I was already two hours behind schedule.
Fifteen minutes out of Blythe, my eyes were getting bleary from fatigue.
I landed at 5:30 P.M. local time, and the gas jockey had already bugged out! His phone number posted on the wall......would have cost half the amount my motel room cost, just to get him to return to the airport.
Lots and lots of accidents happen because a pilot's reach exceeds his grasp...
Something pilots call "get-home-itis". It has caused a lot of bent, expensive metal, and many, many fatalities. I am VERY aware of it.
The gas guy bein' gone was the straw that broke the camels back. I called the motel courtesy car, and here I am, in air-conditioned comfort, while the outside temperature is still right at 100 degrees.
I'll be up bright and early in the A.M., and, after a great night's rest and a full breakfast, try to make up some lost time.
So, O.P.D., you may see me later than you wanted tomorrow night, but at least you'll be looking at someone with a body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit!
More later, folks. I got some sleepin' to do! (Sorry for the disjointed post.....remember, I AM DOG-TIRED!)
14 May 2006
Got a Recipe?
Spring comes to Chateau Greybeard.......
the nights begin to be almost, not quite, warm.
One of the first true signs of Spring is when the Night Peepers begin to call to one another.
The temperature might still be cool, but their ardor is obvious......
they sing joyfully to one another for several hours after the Sun goes down.
About the 1st of May, the Bullfrogs announce their presence.
I know you've heard their love song........
Every second or so.........a deep, vibrant, honk.
There are four or more around the pond this Spring.
One will start the chorus, then the others join in by returning the challenge (and stake out their claim to a piece of Real Estate?)
It's a gorgeous sound.......Call, response, response, response........honk, honk, honk, honk!
Remember the scene in "Happy Days" where the night sounds keep Fonzie awake until he goes to the window and shouts and shuts all the critters up? At the time I saw that piece, I thought how stupid he was. The sounds of the night are a huge source of pleasure for me.
We have several Barred Owls in our neighborhood that frequently ask, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for y'aaaaaaaallllllll?"
They sometimes call from the tree immediately outside our bedroom window, and believe me, that'll get your attention at 3 A.M.!
But even that brings a smile to our faces.....God's wonderful diversity.
This morning, after sharing our favorite "Breakfast Pizza" with Big Bubba, as I slowed to pull into the drive, a 3' tall Great Blue Heron was stalking the North bank of our pond......
(hunting my beloved Bullfrogs?)
Herons are also magnificent creatures.......it's wonderful to watch them ply their trade.......SOOOOOOO ssssssllllllooooooowww in their stalking movement, it's impossible to watch them and not marvel at their technique.
But my Bullfrogs!
I'm reminded of the "Last act of defiance" posters!
Seen them?
I tried to find the one I wanted to show you, but could only find the poster showing the mouse giving the "single finger salute" to the owl on final approach, talons extended.
The one I'm thinking of shows a Heron swallowing a Bullfrog, but the Bullfrog's arms are stretched around the Heron's neck, attempting to strangle it.......
Never give up!
I love the sound of our Bullfrogs at night and don't want to lose them.
Do ya think I maybe need to even the score?
Anyone have a recipe for Great Blue Heron?
(Probably tough, but I bet it tastes like Chicken!)
UPDATE:
This is the image I was lookin' for!
the nights begin to be almost, not quite, warm.
One of the first true signs of Spring is when the Night Peepers begin to call to one another.
The temperature might still be cool, but their ardor is obvious......
they sing joyfully to one another for several hours after the Sun goes down.
About the 1st of May, the Bullfrogs announce their presence.
I know you've heard their love song........
Every second or so.........a deep, vibrant, honk.
There are four or more around the pond this Spring.
One will start the chorus, then the others join in by returning the challenge (and stake out their claim to a piece of Real Estate?)
It's a gorgeous sound.......Call, response, response, response........honk, honk, honk, honk!
Remember the scene in "Happy Days" where the night sounds keep Fonzie awake until he goes to the window and shouts and shuts all the critters up? At the time I saw that piece, I thought how stupid he was. The sounds of the night are a huge source of pleasure for me.
We have several Barred Owls in our neighborhood that frequently ask, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for y'aaaaaaaallllllll?"
They sometimes call from the tree immediately outside our bedroom window, and believe me, that'll get your attention at 3 A.M.!
But even that brings a smile to our faces.....God's wonderful diversity.
This morning, after sharing our favorite "Breakfast Pizza" with Big Bubba, as I slowed to pull into the drive, a 3' tall Great Blue Heron was stalking the North bank of our pond......
(hunting my beloved Bullfrogs?)
Herons are also magnificent creatures.......it's wonderful to watch them ply their trade.......SOOOOOOO ssssssllllllooooooowww in their stalking movement, it's impossible to watch them and not marvel at their technique.
But my Bullfrogs!
I'm reminded of the "Last act of defiance" posters!
Seen them?
I tried to find the one I wanted to show you, but could only find the poster showing the mouse giving the "single finger salute" to the owl on final approach, talons extended.
The one I'm thinking of shows a Heron swallowing a Bullfrog, but the Bullfrog's arms are stretched around the Heron's neck, attempting to strangle it.......
Never give up!
I love the sound of our Bullfrogs at night and don't want to lose them.
Do ya think I maybe need to even the score?
Anyone have a recipe for Great Blue Heron?
(Probably tough, but I bet it tastes like Chicken!)
UPDATE:This is the image I was lookin' for!
11 May 2006
Trip #17
Next Friday I'll be headed back to California to ferry home another helicopter.
This time, it will be an R22......the smaller of the two helicopters I bring back East.
This will be my 17th trip back from L.A..
I thought it might be fun to see if any of you have ideas about things to see along the route.
Take a look at a map......
I'll be taking off from Torrance, California, then following I-10 Eastbound past Banning and Palm Springs/Palm Desert to Blythe......Then across the Colorado river to Phoenix, then South to Tucson. Continuing on I-10 all the way to El Paso.
From El Paso, I can go pretty much any way I want......North and East, toward Tulsa, Oklahoma.
If you can suggest anything along that route that might be interesting to see, I'll consider flying by and using my new digital camera to get a picture to share with you.
So folks, your mission, (should you decide to accept), is to get out your maps and use your imagination.
I'll get my nose in the instruction manual for the camera, and maybe we can work as a team to do something neat! You guide me, and I'll go take a look, and record what I see, then report to you.
I look forward to your comments.
This time, it will be an R22......the smaller of the two helicopters I bring back East.
This will be my 17th trip back from L.A..
I thought it might be fun to see if any of you have ideas about things to see along the route.
Take a look at a map......
I'll be taking off from Torrance, California, then following I-10 Eastbound past Banning and Palm Springs/Palm Desert to Blythe......Then across the Colorado river to Phoenix, then South to Tucson. Continuing on I-10 all the way to El Paso.
From El Paso, I can go pretty much any way I want......North and East, toward Tulsa, Oklahoma.
If you can suggest anything along that route that might be interesting to see, I'll consider flying by and using my new digital camera to get a picture to share with you.
So folks, your mission, (should you decide to accept), is to get out your maps and use your imagination.
I'll get my nose in the instruction manual for the camera, and maybe we can work as a team to do something neat! You guide me, and I'll go take a look, and record what I see, then report to you.
I look forward to your comments.
09 May 2006
Sympathy For the Devil
I'm not happy with George Bush.
He spends money like Ted Kennedy.
The U.S. deficit is out of control, and no remedies appear forthcoming.
I admit to voting for Bush twice,
and, knowing what I know now,
given the choices we had in '04,
I'd vote for him again!
Let me bounce some names off ya.....
The Dixie Chicks,
Sean Penn,
Tim Robbins,
Susan Sarandon,
George Clooney,
etc.,
etc.,
etc..
Flashback to my war.......Viet Nam in 1968-'69.
A Vietnamese General by the name of Vo Nguyen Giap wrote in his memoirs that the North Vietnamese were ready to surrender to U.S. and South Vietnamese forces until they began to receive aid and comfort from the likes of John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and Walter Cronkite.
When those celebrities comments about the war turned negative, leaders in North Viet Nam decided to watch public opinion in America.
And we know what happened, don't we?
A war we were winning.......
had it in our pocket if we had just had the discipline to finish it,
slipped from our grasp.
How many Americans were killed between the '68 Tet offensive and the withdrawal of our troops in 1973?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I personally knew a few of those guys,
and I know the answer would make me sick to my stomach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I call your attention to those cowards that won't appear on videotape without wearing a tribal scarf across their faces........do they scare you?
Why?
They're afraid to show their faces for a reason!
News reports are now saying that captured internal memos indicate Al Qaeda is in a panic and desperate.....
They know they are getting their posteriors handed to them.
The locals are tired of the bombs going off in the streets........
Residents realize the cause of their problems does not originate with coalition forces.
If I had a son or daughter in Iraq risking his/her life so that some ditzy blonde singer could stand on a stage in Great Britain and use her freedom of speech to say stupid things about our President, I'd be pretty furious.
I'm just one voice, and a small one at that. All I can do is make my thoughts known on my piddly little blog.
But I can also keep my Dollars in my pocket.
No purchase of Dixie Chicks music for me......
No George Clooney movies either.
(Actually, they're so bad I have no desire......)
There has to be a price to pay for aiding and abetting the enemy.
Zarqawi, Zawahiri, and Bin Laden are finely tuned to our Mainstream Media......
every word spoken against our effort in Iraq is EXACTLY equivalent to the words JFK Lite and Jane Fonda provided to encourage our enemy in Viet Nam.
We have to be Marathoners, folks, not Sprinters......
There are 58,000 names carved in a black gash in Washington, D.C........
I would hope that at least we can say their deaths taught us a lesson;
"Don't throw in the towel when you have knocked your opponent down and the referree has reached the count of 9!"
Support your troops by supporting our leaders.
And.........vote with your bucks!
I think I'll see if my son can download "Earl Had to Die" free, off the internet......
That song cracks me up!
UPDATE:
Interesting details HERE!
He spends money like Ted Kennedy.
The U.S. deficit is out of control, and no remedies appear forthcoming.
I admit to voting for Bush twice,
and, knowing what I know now,
given the choices we had in '04,
I'd vote for him again!
Let me bounce some names off ya.....
The Dixie Chicks,
Sean Penn,
Tim Robbins,
Susan Sarandon,
George Clooney,
etc.,
etc.,
etc..
Flashback to my war.......Viet Nam in 1968-'69.
A Vietnamese General by the name of Vo Nguyen Giap wrote in his memoirs that the North Vietnamese were ready to surrender to U.S. and South Vietnamese forces until they began to receive aid and comfort from the likes of John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and Walter Cronkite.
When those celebrities comments about the war turned negative, leaders in North Viet Nam decided to watch public opinion in America.
And we know what happened, don't we?
A war we were winning.......
had it in our pocket if we had just had the discipline to finish it,
slipped from our grasp.
How many Americans were killed between the '68 Tet offensive and the withdrawal of our troops in 1973?
I don't know the answer to that question, but I personally knew a few of those guys,
and I know the answer would make me sick to my stomach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I call your attention to those cowards that won't appear on videotape without wearing a tribal scarf across their faces........do they scare you?
Why?
They're afraid to show their faces for a reason!
News reports are now saying that captured internal memos indicate Al Qaeda is in a panic and desperate.....
They know they are getting their posteriors handed to them.
The locals are tired of the bombs going off in the streets........
Residents realize the cause of their problems does not originate with coalition forces.
If I had a son or daughter in Iraq risking his/her life so that some ditzy blonde singer could stand on a stage in Great Britain and use her freedom of speech to say stupid things about our President, I'd be pretty furious.
I'm just one voice, and a small one at that. All I can do is make my thoughts known on my piddly little blog.
But I can also keep my Dollars in my pocket.
No purchase of Dixie Chicks music for me......
No George Clooney movies either.
(Actually, they're so bad I have no desire......)
There has to be a price to pay for aiding and abetting the enemy.
Zarqawi, Zawahiri, and Bin Laden are finely tuned to our Mainstream Media......
every word spoken against our effort in Iraq is EXACTLY equivalent to the words JFK Lite and Jane Fonda provided to encourage our enemy in Viet Nam.
We have to be Marathoners, folks, not Sprinters......
There are 58,000 names carved in a black gash in Washington, D.C........
I would hope that at least we can say their deaths taught us a lesson;
"Don't throw in the towel when you have knocked your opponent down and the referree has reached the count of 9!"
Support your troops by supporting our leaders.
And.........vote with your bucks!
I think I'll see if my son can download "Earl Had to Die" free, off the internet......
That song cracks me up!
UPDATE:
Interesting details HERE!
07 May 2006
Grass! (The Kind You Mow.)
In previous posts I've mentioned our property......
We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath log home on 2 1/2 acres with lots of trees.
A five acre pond adjoins our property at the rear.
It really is a lovely place......people passing in cars frequently slow, point, and come to a stop to admire the view.
We bought and moved into this home on Halloween of 1992.
Spring of '93 arrived wet........
Remember the floods of '93?
I can safely vouch for the fact that grass absolutely loves rain and 92 degree temperatures!
When the grass started threatening I realized I had overlooked something:
Our previous property was about 1/2 acre,
and I mowed that with a 21 inch push mower.
That mower wasn't gonna make a dent in this big lot with the rain coming down and grass growing like a nightmare.
I've been mowing grass for a Spinster neighbor for many years.
She owned a 38" riding mower.
She came up with this proposal: Mow her lawn for free and I could use her mower to mow our property all summer.
I was glad for the offer.....I didn't have much choice.
I had used up most of my "liquid" assets putting a down payment on the house and buying new furniture and carpeting.
Mowing this property with her mower took 5 hours!
That's a long, long time to drone along on a riding mower, circling every tree two or three times to keep from having to come back with a trimmer.
Pretty quickly I realized I was wearing her mower out. There are many trees with exposed roots on our property that were bending the mower deck on her mower. More and more nickel and dime things would break on it, and I began to be fearful something big would explode....then I'd feel obligated to buy her a new mower, and I'd have nothing to show for it.
At the end of mowing season I discussed the problem with Sara Jean:
We needed a new mower, and we needed something much bigger than a 38" garden tractor.
I started comparison shopping.
Pretty quickly I settled on the idea of spending "dinero largo" on something that would do a good job and would take the punishment this big yard could dish out.
I ended up buying a Grasshopper Commercial Mower.
I paid more for this machine than I have paid for many cars I have purchased.
But it mows the lawn and does a great job at 7.5 miles per hour......it turned a dreaded five hour task into a relatively enjoyable 2 hour experience......I love driving the thing.......I call it my "lunar lander".
We're now in our 13th season mowing with this machine. It has had a few glitches in that time, but the things that have broken have been readily replaced at a reasonable price.
It reinforced a lesson I learned some time back.......if you can afford it, go 1st class.
"Getting by" saves you money up front, but can cost you in more ways than you might imagine later.
Going 1st class with the Grasshopper has saved me time and money over 13 years, and it is still going strong!
We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath log home on 2 1/2 acres with lots of trees.
A five acre pond adjoins our property at the rear.
It really is a lovely place......people passing in cars frequently slow, point, and come to a stop to admire the view.
We bought and moved into this home on Halloween of 1992.
Spring of '93 arrived wet........
Remember the floods of '93?
I can safely vouch for the fact that grass absolutely loves rain and 92 degree temperatures!
When the grass started threatening I realized I had overlooked something:
Our previous property was about 1/2 acre,
and I mowed that with a 21 inch push mower.
That mower wasn't gonna make a dent in this big lot with the rain coming down and grass growing like a nightmare.
I've been mowing grass for a Spinster neighbor for many years.
She owned a 38" riding mower.
She came up with this proposal: Mow her lawn for free and I could use her mower to mow our property all summer.
I was glad for the offer.....I didn't have much choice.
I had used up most of my "liquid" assets putting a down payment on the house and buying new furniture and carpeting.
Mowing this property with her mower took 5 hours!
That's a long, long time to drone along on a riding mower, circling every tree two or three times to keep from having to come back with a trimmer.
Pretty quickly I realized I was wearing her mower out. There are many trees with exposed roots on our property that were bending the mower deck on her mower. More and more nickel and dime things would break on it, and I began to be fearful something big would explode....then I'd feel obligated to buy her a new mower, and I'd have nothing to show for it.
At the end of mowing season I discussed the problem with Sara Jean:
We needed a new mower, and we needed something much bigger than a 38" garden tractor.
I started comparison shopping.
Pretty quickly I settled on the idea of spending "dinero largo" on something that would do a good job and would take the punishment this big yard could dish out.
I ended up buying a Grasshopper Commercial Mower.
I paid more for this machine than I have paid for many cars I have purchased.
But it mows the lawn and does a great job at 7.5 miles per hour......it turned a dreaded five hour task into a relatively enjoyable 2 hour experience......I love driving the thing.......I call it my "lunar lander".
We're now in our 13th season mowing with this machine. It has had a few glitches in that time, but the things that have broken have been readily replaced at a reasonable price.
It reinforced a lesson I learned some time back.......if you can afford it, go 1st class.
"Getting by" saves you money up front, but can cost you in more ways than you might imagine later.
Going 1st class with the Grasshopper has saved me time and money over 13 years, and it is still going strong!
04 May 2006
Stanley Hiller, 1924-2006
The ugly thing you see on the right is a Hiller helicopter.
When I got my Civilian Flight Instructor Certificate, it's the first machine I used to train students. They're relatively big, noisy, obviously ugly, and built like tanks.... heavy. A great trainer.
Mr. Hiller is gone.........
ThirdWaveDave forwarded me the New York Times Obituary....
(they couldn't even get that right.....said this machine was used in the TV series MASH. That was a Bell 47, which I also have a bunch of time in!)
Thanks for thinking of me Dave!
I have a soft spot for this old bird........I've flown this machine in it's "B", "C", and "D" versions, and probably have 500 hours in the various iterations. It was terribly underpowered, but was forgiving in it's flight characteristics. It was slow, slow, slow........when the wind was blowing 20 knots on your nose, it was obvious that cars and trucks on roads beneath you were making better time to their destinations.
Stanley Hiller was born in 1924. When he was 8 years old, he invented a toy car with an engine that would propel it to 60 miles per hour, and sold a bunch of 'em.......made $100,000 on them in one year. Do the math with me: 1924 plus 8 years equals 1932.
$100K in the heart of the depression made 8 year old Stanley the envy of 99% of the U.S. population!
He was brilliant. It's hard to tell looking at the above picture, but his control system for the helicopter was unique: The Pilot's control inputs actually flew a set of paddles located 90 degrees ahead of the rotors. This control system negated the effects of gyroscopic precession and gave the Hiller it's slow, forgiving control quality.
Hiller, along with Arthur Young of Bell Helicopter, made the helicopter industry of today possible.
Igor Sikorsky invented the first practical helicopter, but Bell and Hiller made them dependable and (somewhat) affordable.
Thank you Mr. Hiller.
Rest in Peace.
03 May 2006
Juan Valdez, Drug Pusher
Coffee and caffeine......
Good for you/Bad for you.
You don't have to look far to find statistics backing up whichever position you take on this issue.
Like many, our home coffee maker has a timer. Our first gentle nudge toward wakefulness is the initial gurgle of near-boiling water being spritzed over fresh ground coffee downstairs in the kitchen.
My Old Man drank tons of it. He'd brew a pot in the morning, drink two cups before leaving for work, then put the rest of the pot in a quart thermos. The thermos would be empty by Noon, so he'd order a cup or two with lunch at one of his favorite restaurants, then ask them to refill the thermos as he paid for his meal. That quart would be gone by the time he got home, so he'd brew yet another pot to share with Mom during and after supper. I don't know how he did it..........he still slept like a baby.
I once attended an Army school where they had a "coffee club".
For $10 a week you could drink all the coffee you wanted during breaks between classes.
I joined.
I found that 8 cups in 8 hours made my hands shake like a palsy victim and kept me tossing and turning most of the night.
I guess I'm not my Father's son.
I like my coffee strong and black. I've found I can drink two cups in the morning before going to bed with little adverse effect.
I drink a cup when I wake in the afternoon, then grab another as I go out the door to work. I'll normally drink another cup or two sometime during the evening if it's available in whatever E.R. we get dispatched to.
Six cups, spread out over an 18 hour period, seems to be my comfort level.
I've found that if I skip my morning cuppa prior to hitting the sack,
I wake with a slight headache that will only go away about two or so hours after I've had a cup of Juan Valdez's magic potion.
One more thing..........
I like Arabica, and I brew it myself.
I'm too doggone cheap to pay $4.00 or more per cup to satisfy my drug habit!
Good for you/Bad for you.
You don't have to look far to find statistics backing up whichever position you take on this issue.
Like many, our home coffee maker has a timer. Our first gentle nudge toward wakefulness is the initial gurgle of near-boiling water being spritzed over fresh ground coffee downstairs in the kitchen.
My Old Man drank tons of it. He'd brew a pot in the morning, drink two cups before leaving for work, then put the rest of the pot in a quart thermos. The thermos would be empty by Noon, so he'd order a cup or two with lunch at one of his favorite restaurants, then ask them to refill the thermos as he paid for his meal. That quart would be gone by the time he got home, so he'd brew yet another pot to share with Mom during and after supper. I don't know how he did it..........he still slept like a baby.
I once attended an Army school where they had a "coffee club".
For $10 a week you could drink all the coffee you wanted during breaks between classes.
I joined.
I found that 8 cups in 8 hours made my hands shake like a palsy victim and kept me tossing and turning most of the night.
I guess I'm not my Father's son.
I like my coffee strong and black. I've found I can drink two cups in the morning before going to bed with little adverse effect.
I drink a cup when I wake in the afternoon, then grab another as I go out the door to work. I'll normally drink another cup or two sometime during the evening if it's available in whatever E.R. we get dispatched to.
Six cups, spread out over an 18 hour period, seems to be my comfort level.
I've found that if I skip my morning cuppa prior to hitting the sack,
I wake with a slight headache that will only go away about two or so hours after I've had a cup of Juan Valdez's magic potion.
One more thing..........
I like Arabica, and I brew it myself.
I'm too doggone cheap to pay $4.00 or more per cup to satisfy my drug habit!
01 May 2006
Vacation/Recreation
Just got back from 9 days of vacation.
I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
We drive the better part of twelve hours to get to our destination. Driving that distance takes a physical and mental toll.
We've learned to stop often and stretch our legs.....grab a bite to eat every four hours or so. Still, I can't go to sleep right away upon arriving, and I feel the effects of the drive for a couple days.
While on vacation, you want to "suck the last ounce of enjoyment" out of every day. There's stress involved there too........places to go, people to meet, stuff to see.
More driving.
Sure, all of this is enjoyable, but you're still tired when the day is done.
We had a High School reunion to attend on our way home, so we detoured from our normal route to head to my old stomping grounds and meet with my classmates. We had an absolutely wonderful time, but I have to admit I found myself in tears more than once during this meeting, so there's emotional stress involved there too.
Back home last night after almost 2,000 miles crossed in the 9 days. Many experiences and memories to recall.....most of them wonderful. I'm due to start my shift back at work tonight. Getting back into my normal routine will be less stressful than the "re-creation" I have experienced during the last week+.
Back to the normal routine..........but it will take a day or two to get back to "normal".
I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
We drive the better part of twelve hours to get to our destination. Driving that distance takes a physical and mental toll.
We've learned to stop often and stretch our legs.....grab a bite to eat every four hours or so. Still, I can't go to sleep right away upon arriving, and I feel the effects of the drive for a couple days.
While on vacation, you want to "suck the last ounce of enjoyment" out of every day. There's stress involved there too........places to go, people to meet, stuff to see.
More driving.
Sure, all of this is enjoyable, but you're still tired when the day is done.
We had a High School reunion to attend on our way home, so we detoured from our normal route to head to my old stomping grounds and meet with my classmates. We had an absolutely wonderful time, but I have to admit I found myself in tears more than once during this meeting, so there's emotional stress involved there too.
Back home last night after almost 2,000 miles crossed in the 9 days. Many experiences and memories to recall.....most of them wonderful. I'm due to start my shift back at work tonight. Getting back into my normal routine will be less stressful than the "re-creation" I have experienced during the last week+.
Back to the normal routine..........but it will take a day or two to get back to "normal".
25 April 2006
Happy Anniversary, "Pitchpull"
Exactly a year ago, at this same table, on this same laptop,
I published my first post.
The passage of a year........
a year not so significant as some in the past, thank Heaven.
My writing style has changed a little, and I've modified the way I compose my posts. Blogging has forced me to focus on writing to avoid misunderstanding. I hope my writing and style have both improved.
As I figured at the start, I've blogged about my flying experiences, but not exclusively. The Aviation Industry exposes me to many interesting people and subjects, and I've enjoyed sharing some of those experiences with all of you. I've also had to do some research in order to publish some posts I knew little about, and that has been educational and satisfying.
But what I appreciate most of all is the support and constructive criticism I have received from fellow bloggers and passers-by. Many have become "virtual friends". What a wonderful community!
I've told many of the most important stories of my life in the past year.
I'm considering going back and re-publishing some of them for readers that have just found "Pitchpull", so they don't have to slog through the rest of the crap to find the "pearls". Of course, what I consider a pearl may be a lump of coal to others. For those folks, the archive awaits.
My sitemeter now says more than 40 folks per day are stopping by. That's a number I would not have expected if you had asked a year ago. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, for criticizing when I need it, and for helping keep me out of trouble.
Let's all look forward to the year ahead!
I published my first post.
The passage of a year........
a year not so significant as some in the past, thank Heaven.
My writing style has changed a little, and I've modified the way I compose my posts. Blogging has forced me to focus on writing to avoid misunderstanding. I hope my writing and style have both improved.
As I figured at the start, I've blogged about my flying experiences, but not exclusively. The Aviation Industry exposes me to many interesting people and subjects, and I've enjoyed sharing some of those experiences with all of you. I've also had to do some research in order to publish some posts I knew little about, and that has been educational and satisfying.
But what I appreciate most of all is the support and constructive criticism I have received from fellow bloggers and passers-by. Many have become "virtual friends". What a wonderful community!
I've told many of the most important stories of my life in the past year.
I'm considering going back and re-publishing some of them for readers that have just found "Pitchpull", so they don't have to slog through the rest of the crap to find the "pearls". Of course, what I consider a pearl may be a lump of coal to others. For those folks, the archive awaits.
My sitemeter now says more than 40 folks per day are stopping by. That's a number I would not have expected if you had asked a year ago. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts, for criticizing when I need it, and for helping keep me out of trouble.
Let's all look forward to the year ahead!
Nearly Heaven
Coffee in hand, still trying to clear the morning cobwebs, I saw this very picture unfold in real time this morning, minus the surfer.
A pod of 12 or so dolphins were grazing in my front yard. Wonderful.
We are midway through our one-week stay in our little slice of paradise. Spring breakers all gone, traffic flows normally and there are no lines at our favorite eateries.
Construction is going on everywhere. Having seen how bad traffic is during Spring Break, or during the summer when vacationers are here, I can't imagine how bad it will be when they fill the condos that are now under construction here. They can't widen the roads enough to handle that number of cars.
The water is a magnet for humans. What was once a sleepy little place is undergoing a traumatic change, and from what I hear, it's happening near the coast almost everywhere. This, at a time when fewer insurance companies will consider writing a policy to cover hurricane damage. It will be interesting to see what happens when the political power that comes with the money involved here begins to flex it's muscle.
We're fortunate to be able to come at times we choose. The idea of coming during the "peak" season is less and less attractive.
20 April 2006
"The Sniffer" and "The Snatch"
What a title!
Bet this post doesn't go the way you imagine!
My Viet Nam Unit was one-of-a-kind.
I was in "The Aeroscout Company", Americal Division.
Our main mission was reconnaissance.
We accomplished our recon. mission by launching four helicopters:
An OH-6 Scout,
A UH1-C "Charley Model" Gunship,
An AH1-G Cobra Gunship,
and,
A UH1-H "Slick"
The little OH-6 Scout would fly low enough to part the tops of trees with his rotorwash and look underneath to see if any enemy activity was going on down there. I think the guys flying this mission had the most dangerous flying job in Viet Nam. No OH-6 in our unit accrued 300 total flight hours before being shot down during my year there.
I followed the Scout in the "Charley Model" Huey, flying 50 feet above and about 1/8th mile behind, to cover the OH-6 in case he began to receive fire.
This low altitude and airspeed also left me considerably exposed,
SO......
The "Snake", (Cobra), followed behind me at 1000' altitude and 1/2 mile behind in case I got shot at.
The "Slick" carried a squad of Infantry,
(we called our grunts "Animals"),
and followed along high enough to be out of the range of small arms fire.
One of the special missions our unit performed was "The Snatch".
If the little Scout saw a military-age male acting suspiciously in the area we were to recon, he would call for the Slick to land and the "Animals" would pick this suspect up for questioning.
Obviously, this was a dangerous mission......on more than one occasion we landed the Slick, only to find we had inserted our troops into a hornet's nest. We'd then use the two Gunships to provide fire and protection for the Slick as we extricated our "Animals" from harms way.
However, we were frequently successful at snatching suspicious young males who provided good information to our Division Intelligence folks.
We used this same basic team to do another type of recon mission: "The Sniffer".
The little Scout would pick up a specialty team with a special machine......
The Sniffer.
It fit in the rear of the OH-6, and had a sensor on a cord that was lowered 30 feet below the aircraft. We would then go out into bad-guy territory and fly just over the triple canopy jungle with the sensor just above the tops of the trees. We would start working a grid pattern downwind....the sensor would give you erroneous readings if it picked up the exhaust from the helicopters....and we would fly a grid that was designated by our Division Intel. people.
The Sniffer picked up human perspiration. If it sensed perspiration, the technician operating the machine would call out "HOT" over the radio, and the Co-Pilot in the Slick would make a mark on his map showing where that "Hot" reading was taken. We would fly along for several minutes with the technician saying "HOT", "HOT", "HOT", "HOT", "HOT"every two seconds, then we'd do a 180 degree turn, move 1000' upwind, and sweep another path......
"HOT", "HOT", "HOT", "HOT"....
Keep in mind, the Scout and I are flying at near treetop level over triple-canopy jungle, in single engine helicopters, over what was probably a North Vietnamese Army Division.
My fear: What are we gonna do if the engine fails? This job was tense....gave me a "pucker factor" of 9 out of 10!
We flew Sniffer missions about once a week, but I don't remember ever being shot at during one of these flights.
The bad guys were moving their troops to attack us and didn't want us to know they were down there. Shooting at us would have unquestionably exposed them and their position.
By flying this mission weekly, we were able to plot the movement of large enemy units.
Imagine how you would feel, flying along hearing "HOT"...."HOT"...."HOT"..... over the radio, thinking of (thousands?) of men below you, and all the possibilities that COULD happen!
Bet this post doesn't go the way you imagine!
My Viet Nam Unit was one-of-a-kind.
I was in "The Aeroscout Company", Americal Division.
Our main mission was reconnaissance.
We accomplished our recon. mission by launching four helicopters:
and,
The little OH-6 Scout would fly low enough to part the tops of trees with his rotorwash and look underneath to see if any enemy activity was going on down there. I think the guys flying this mission had the most dangerous flying job in Viet Nam. No OH-6 in our unit accrued 300 total flight hours before being shot down during my year there.
I followed the Scout in the "Charley Model" Huey, flying 50 feet above and about 1/8th mile behind, to cover the OH-6 in case he began to receive fire.
This low altitude and airspeed also left me considerably exposed,
SO......
The "Snake", (Cobra), followed behind me at 1000' altitude and 1/2 mile behind in case I got shot at.
The "Slick" carried a squad of Infantry,
(we called our grunts "Animals"),
and followed along high enough to be out of the range of small arms fire.
One of the special missions our unit performed was "The Snatch".
If the little Scout saw a military-age male acting suspiciously in the area we were to recon, he would call for the Slick to land and the "Animals" would pick this suspect up for questioning.
Obviously, this was a dangerous mission......on more than one occasion we landed the Slick, only to find we had inserted our troops into a hornet's nest. We'd then use the two Gunships to provide fire and protection for the Slick as we extricated our "Animals" from harms way.
However, we were frequently successful at snatching suspicious young males who provided good information to our Division Intelligence folks.
We used this same basic team to do another type of recon mission: "The Sniffer".
The little Scout would pick up a specialty team with a special machine......
The Sniffer.
It fit in the rear of the OH-6, and had a sensor on a cord that was lowered 30 feet below the aircraft. We would then go out into bad-guy territory and fly just over the triple canopy jungle with the sensor just above the tops of the trees. We would start working a grid pattern downwind....the sensor would give you erroneous readings if it picked up the exhaust from the helicopters....and we would fly a grid that was designated by our Division Intel. people.
The Sniffer picked up human perspiration. If it sensed perspiration, the technician operating the machine would call out "HOT" over the radio, and the Co-Pilot in the Slick would make a mark on his map showing where that "Hot" reading was taken. We would fly along for several minutes with the technician saying "HOT", "HOT", "HOT", "HOT", "HOT"every two seconds, then we'd do a 180 degree turn, move 1000' upwind, and sweep another path......
"HOT", "HOT", "HOT", "HOT"....
Keep in mind, the Scout and I are flying at near treetop level over triple-canopy jungle, in single engine helicopters, over what was probably a North Vietnamese Army Division.
My fear: What are we gonna do if the engine fails? This job was tense....gave me a "pucker factor" of 9 out of 10!
We flew Sniffer missions about once a week, but I don't remember ever being shot at during one of these flights.
The bad guys were moving their troops to attack us and didn't want us to know they were down there. Shooting at us would have unquestionably exposed them and their position.
By flying this mission weekly, we were able to plot the movement of large enemy units.
Imagine how you would feel, flying along hearing "HOT"...."HOT"...."HOT"..... over the radio, thinking of (thousands?) of men below you, and all the possibilities that COULD happen!
18 April 2006
Drive!
I'm on thin ice here........making bold, declarative statements,
but I'm doing so because I want your feedback........
How do you feel when you board an airliner?
I've been airborne more than two full years. I'm certainly not afraid of flying,
and I get to fly commercially two or three times a year.
But as I board I still wonder, "What sort of crew is at the controls of this machine?"
Flying an airliner is "safe as houses", whatever that means.
But you still read about the now-and-then stupid decision......
like the VERY seasoned KLM Captain at Tenerife that started his 747 on takeoff roll in thick fog while another 747 was taxiing on the same runway, resulting in the single worst aviation disaster in history.
I have survived flying helicopters 38 years, including acting as a target for one of those years, partly because I don't take risks while I'm at the controls.
My crews know this, and frequently commend me for it.
When I get aboard an airliner, I hope the folks at the controls have that same attitude toward risk-taking. I'd be very comfortable if they would invite me to come sit up front and observe.......maybe even take the controls and fly the airplane a little. I like to be in control.
Almost by definition, Pilots have to be conceited.....
taking the lives of others into their hands.
Drive........1
I like to drive. When I go somewhere in a car, I like to be the one behind the steering wheel.
I know my skills. I know I am in great health. When I'm at the wheel, I control the risks that are taken between Point A and Point B.
Control is the Big Kahuna........I don't like NOT being in control.
Drive.......2
Ambition.
Motivation.
The desire to make something happen.
I'm not easily bored.
When I begin to be bored, I try to make somethin' happen.
If I don't like what's goin' on around me, I try to change it.
Lotsa folks, including some of my loved ones, get irritated with me because I push. I admit I have a problem with being confident that I'm right, and sometimes what is right for me might not be right for someone else.
But I truly believe in the old Army adage: "Do something, even if it's wrong."
By putting a plan in motion, even if you fail, you learn something.......
what NOT to do next time.
And you know, there is GREAT value learning what doesn't work!
See......we're back to the control thing, aren't we?
By deciding on a plan and trying to make it work, you have control over your circumstances.
Would you call me a "Type A" personality?
Some do. I don't know.......I think I'm pretty laid back most of the time.
But I have never fully understood the "Type B's"......
those folks that mostly sit back and allow life to happen to them......
hoping that what comes their way is good......
being afraid to make a decision because it might fail........
accepting mental or physical abuse as if they deserve it, because it was what "life" handed them.
I've been discussing Co-Dependency with a friend.
I understand the concept, but the self-centered blockhead in me cannot figure out why anyone would allow life to pass by, taking actions that reinforce behaviors that make life worse for both.
Me, I'd be shouting, "I don't like the way this is turning out. Let's do something else!"
I know......it's 'way more complex than that.
So you see, I am trying to understand.
I know it is addictive behavior, and I think we all have some of that.
But.......wouldn't it be better to identify things in your life that are not making your life better, and try something else?
The one that best knows what is best for you, is YOU!
In other words, take control of the wheel of your life and DRIVE!
but I'm doing so because I want your feedback........
How do you feel when you board an airliner?
I've been airborne more than two full years. I'm certainly not afraid of flying,
and I get to fly commercially two or three times a year.
But as I board I still wonder, "What sort of crew is at the controls of this machine?"
Flying an airliner is "safe as houses", whatever that means.
But you still read about the now-and-then stupid decision......
like the VERY seasoned KLM Captain at Tenerife that started his 747 on takeoff roll in thick fog while another 747 was taxiing on the same runway, resulting in the single worst aviation disaster in history.
I have survived flying helicopters 38 years, including acting as a target for one of those years, partly because I don't take risks while I'm at the controls.
My crews know this, and frequently commend me for it.
When I get aboard an airliner, I hope the folks at the controls have that same attitude toward risk-taking. I'd be very comfortable if they would invite me to come sit up front and observe.......maybe even take the controls and fly the airplane a little. I like to be in control.
Almost by definition, Pilots have to be conceited.....
taking the lives of others into their hands.
Drive........1
I like to drive. When I go somewhere in a car, I like to be the one behind the steering wheel.
I know my skills. I know I am in great health. When I'm at the wheel, I control the risks that are taken between Point A and Point B.
Control is the Big Kahuna........I don't like NOT being in control.
Drive.......2
Ambition.
Motivation.
The desire to make something happen.
I'm not easily bored.
When I begin to be bored, I try to make somethin' happen.
If I don't like what's goin' on around me, I try to change it.
Lotsa folks, including some of my loved ones, get irritated with me because I push. I admit I have a problem with being confident that I'm right, and sometimes what is right for me might not be right for someone else.
But I truly believe in the old Army adage: "Do something, even if it's wrong."
By putting a plan in motion, even if you fail, you learn something.......
what NOT to do next time.
And you know, there is GREAT value learning what doesn't work!
See......we're back to the control thing, aren't we?
By deciding on a plan and trying to make it work, you have control over your circumstances.
Would you call me a "Type A" personality?
Some do. I don't know.......I think I'm pretty laid back most of the time.
But I have never fully understood the "Type B's"......
those folks that mostly sit back and allow life to happen to them......
hoping that what comes their way is good......
being afraid to make a decision because it might fail........
accepting mental or physical abuse as if they deserve it, because it was what "life" handed them.
I've been discussing Co-Dependency with a friend.
I understand the concept, but the self-centered blockhead in me cannot figure out why anyone would allow life to pass by, taking actions that reinforce behaviors that make life worse for both.
Me, I'd be shouting, "I don't like the way this is turning out. Let's do something else!"
I know......it's 'way more complex than that.
So you see, I am trying to understand.
I know it is addictive behavior, and I think we all have some of that.
But.......wouldn't it be better to identify things in your life that are not making your life better, and try something else?
The one that best knows what is best for you, is YOU!
In other words, take control of the wheel of your life and DRIVE!
17 April 2006
Talkin' 'Bout My Generation
Flush the toilet in our Master Bedroom.
As the water tank reaches the end of it's fill cycle
and the fill valve begins to close,
the toilet makes a sound EXACTLY like the distorted guitar chord that begins the tune "I Feel Fine" by The Beatles!
I'm SO proud of my talented house!
Now, that set me to thinking......
If you go back through the almost year of posts on this journal,
quite a few of the posts themselves are music related.
Many of the titles to posts.......
"Magic Carpet Ride"......
"Time in a Bottle",
are ripped from songs popular during the late '60's and early '70's.
Music is at the very core of the fabric of our lives.
In an early morning discussion today I found myself using Bob Seger's phrase, "I used her, she used me, and neither one cared.........we were gettin' our share."
And it was comfortable........it fit well into our discussion.
In another post on another blog I discussed how "Rhapsody In Blue" will stop me dead in my tracks.....it's too beautiful to let pass without devoting full attention to it.
I wonder........does everyone feel this way?
Did previous generations feel this way?
In closing, let me just say something I've wanted to use here for a long time:
"Ya can't always get what ya want,
But if you try sometimes, ya just might find.......
Ya get what ya need!"
So......NEVER QUIT TRYIN' !
As the water tank reaches the end of it's fill cycle
and the fill valve begins to close,
the toilet makes a sound EXACTLY like the distorted guitar chord that begins the tune "I Feel Fine" by The Beatles!
I'm SO proud of my talented house!
Now, that set me to thinking......
If you go back through the almost year of posts on this journal,
quite a few of the posts themselves are music related.
Many of the titles to posts.......
"Magic Carpet Ride"......
"Time in a Bottle",
are ripped from songs popular during the late '60's and early '70's.
Music is at the very core of the fabric of our lives.
In an early morning discussion today I found myself using Bob Seger's phrase, "I used her, she used me, and neither one cared.........we were gettin' our share."
And it was comfortable........it fit well into our discussion.
In another post on another blog I discussed how "Rhapsody In Blue" will stop me dead in my tracks.....it's too beautiful to let pass without devoting full attention to it.
I wonder........does everyone feel this way?
Did previous generations feel this way?
In closing, let me just say something I've wanted to use here for a long time:
"Ya can't always get what ya want,
But if you try sometimes, ya just might find.......
Ya get what ya need!"
So......NEVER QUIT TRYIN' !
16 April 2006
Horse Sense
Just started my shift....
I saw something on my way to work that I wanted to share.
I passed a pasture that had six horses standing in the corner.
Two of the horses were spectating, as the other four
had formed a square formation,
nose to tail-nose to tail, all around.
Each of the horses was nibbling on his teammates rump.......
obviously scratchin' an itch that needed scratchin'!
It looked highly satisfying for all concerned, but I wondered......
what's wrong with a hexagon, so that all six could share?
For me, seeing it on this wonderful day put a smile on my face.
Happy Easter, everyone!
I saw something on my way to work that I wanted to share.
I passed a pasture that had six horses standing in the corner.
Two of the horses were spectating, as the other four
had formed a square formation,
nose to tail-nose to tail, all around.
Each of the horses was nibbling on his teammates rump.......
obviously scratchin' an itch that needed scratchin'!
It looked highly satisfying for all concerned, but I wondered......
what's wrong with a hexagon, so that all six could share?
For me, seeing it on this wonderful day put a smile on my face.
Happy Easter, everyone!
14 April 2006
The Shroud
Good Friday.
Another great time to discuss Jesus Christ.
Lotsa documentaries and conversation lately about The Shroud of Turin.....
What's your opinion.....is that the image of Jesus in that cloth?
Let me quote the Gospel written by John, Chapter 19, verse 40:
(New Intl. translation)
"Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices,
in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs."
"Strips"?
Now I'll ask again:
What's your opinion?
Another great time to discuss Jesus Christ.
Lotsa documentaries and conversation lately about The Shroud of Turin.....
What's your opinion.....is that the image of Jesus in that cloth?
Let me quote the Gospel written by John, Chapter 19, verse 40:
(New Intl. translation)
"Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices,
in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs."
"Strips"?
Now I'll ask again:
What's your opinion?
13 April 2006
Rotorcraft
Just 'cause it flies and has a rotor, doesn't mean it's a helicopter.
Yesterday, my student showed up for his helicopter lesson in his "Magni" Autogyro.
I was thrilled to get a chance to fly with him in this machine......
I have always wanted to fly one with someone I knew was not certifiably insane!
The aircraft I flew in is the same type you see here.
(Kind of a flying motorcycle!)
I had to buy a disposable camera to get a photo of the aircraft I rode in......
when the film is developed, I'll share that pic with you.
Sara Jean threw a fit when she found out,
but my attitude has always been that life is a series of calculated risks,
and this is just another of those "things I always wanted to do" that I can now check off my list!
11 April 2006
On Second Thought-
I just did something I've never done before.........
I took down a post I thought was timely and well written.
Those of you that saw the post before I put it in storage.......Good for you!
Someone with whom I have had a "virtual" relationship for a while......
someone I respect, emailed and cautioned me that under certain circumstances I could find myself in hot water from about six directions if I wasn't careful.
I published the post when I was angry about innocent kids being hurt because of the carelessness of their parents.
My friend pointed out that I could be in trouble with my company, or the parents involved, if the post became public knowledge.
In it, I had been judge, jury, and almost executioner.
Of course he's right.
Now, here's the deal........(being devious)......
Time is the thing here.
If I wait and let water flow beneath this bridge for about a month or two, it'll be more difficult to connect the story with the actual event.
My counselor agreed that everything I said was "spot on".
(Don'cha love an appreciative audience?)
I also love the fact that the guy was playing "point man" for me......coverin' my backside.
SO.........
I'll let that particular post simmer a while........
get better and better while it rests.....
and one night when I have writer's block........
BINGO!
I'll have a "spot on" rant to share with you!
Freedom of speech.
Ain't it wonderful?
I took down a post I thought was timely and well written.
Those of you that saw the post before I put it in storage.......Good for you!
Someone with whom I have had a "virtual" relationship for a while......
someone I respect, emailed and cautioned me that under certain circumstances I could find myself in hot water from about six directions if I wasn't careful.
I published the post when I was angry about innocent kids being hurt because of the carelessness of their parents.
My friend pointed out that I could be in trouble with my company, or the parents involved, if the post became public knowledge.
In it, I had been judge, jury, and almost executioner.
Of course he's right.
Now, here's the deal........(being devious)......
Time is the thing here.
If I wait and let water flow beneath this bridge for about a month or two, it'll be more difficult to connect the story with the actual event.
My counselor agreed that everything I said was "spot on".
(Don'cha love an appreciative audience?)
I also love the fact that the guy was playing "point man" for me......coverin' my backside.
SO.........
I'll let that particular post simmer a while........
get better and better while it rests.....
and one night when I have writer's block........
BINGO!
I'll have a "spot on" rant to share with you!
Freedom of speech.
Ain't it wonderful?
09 April 2006
Why Don't Ya Come With Me Little Girl?
On a Magic Carpet Ride!
A Navy F18 takes us for a cool spin,
accompanied by John Kay and Steppenwolf....
(This song was popular during my tour in Viet Nam....
one of my faves!)
Volume WAY up!
( 3 1/2 minute video, so long download).
Thanks to Grouchymedia!
A Navy F18 takes us for a cool spin,
accompanied by John Kay and Steppenwolf....
(This song was popular during my tour in Viet Nam....
one of my faves!)
Volume WAY up!
( 3 1/2 minute video, so long download).
Thanks to Grouchymedia!
06 April 2006
A Smooth Segway.....
I've commented before that one of the neatest things about working in the Aviation industry is the people you get to rub elbows with.
I find people attracted to flying are more likely to be interesting than those that sit at home watching "As The Stomach Turns" on TV.
I also think folks that like helicopters take that thought one step farther.
Helicopter fliers, rightly or wrongly, are perceived to be just a little crazier than fixed-wing folks.
One of my students owns a business here in town, and wanted me to come look at an area where he hopes to land the helicopter once he has his license.
I surveyed his landing area and was surprised at how large it is... normally students seriously underestimate the area they will need to land safely, at least at first, when their skills are still developing.
He invited me into his business to meet his employees, and then we visited his office. Over in the corner of his office it sat...
calling to me...
the "Segway".
I've been fascinated with the Segway since I first saw reports about them. How hard would it be to ride? Would riding it be "instinctive"? How fast would it go?
Here was my chance to find out!
For those not familiar with this machine, here is a picture of one.
(You may remember seeing pictures of President Bush taking a tumble while riding one about two years ago.)
I can report that it wasn't as easy as I thought.
It has two speeds... a slower one for novices, and a "scoot" speed once you get acclimated. On the higher speed, you'd have to run at a pretty good clip to keep up with the Segway.
Basically, you lean forward to move forward... aft to move in reverse.
A twist grip on the left handlebar is twisted forward to turn left, rearward to turn right.
Starting out at the slower speed, I was amazed at how little pressure it took to get it to move.
You don't actually have to lean to put it in motion... simply put pressure on your toes and it will start moving forward. Similar to flying a helicopter, it almost moves just because you thought about moving!
Very slight aft pressure on the handlebars is all that is necessary to slow the Segway to a gentle stop. Panic stops can be accomplished by pulling the handlebars against your body.
I was reasonably comfortable with it after 5 minutes, so my student changed the skill level to the more expert, higher speed setting.
Wow... I immediately realized wearing a helmet would be a great idea on this thing!
Big Boys and expensive toys...
Aviation people are wonderful, and, like the Lamborghini Countach I got to test drive several years ago, frequently they own some pretty neat playthings.
It was great to have the chance to check "riding the Segway" off my list of things I wanted to do!
I find people attracted to flying are more likely to be interesting than those that sit at home watching "As The Stomach Turns" on TV.
I also think folks that like helicopters take that thought one step farther.
Helicopter fliers, rightly or wrongly, are perceived to be just a little crazier than fixed-wing folks.
One of my students owns a business here in town, and wanted me to come look at an area where he hopes to land the helicopter once he has his license.
I surveyed his landing area and was surprised at how large it is... normally students seriously underestimate the area they will need to land safely, at least at first, when their skills are still developing.
He invited me into his business to meet his employees, and then we visited his office. Over in the corner of his office it sat...
calling to me...
the "Segway".
I've been fascinated with the Segway since I first saw reports about them. How hard would it be to ride? Would riding it be "instinctive"? How fast would it go?
Here was my chance to find out!
For those not familiar with this machine, here is a picture of one.
(You may remember seeing pictures of President Bush taking a tumble while riding one about two years ago.)
I can report that it wasn't as easy as I thought.
It has two speeds... a slower one for novices, and a "scoot" speed once you get acclimated. On the higher speed, you'd have to run at a pretty good clip to keep up with the Segway.
Basically, you lean forward to move forward... aft to move in reverse.
A twist grip on the left handlebar is twisted forward to turn left, rearward to turn right.
Starting out at the slower speed, I was amazed at how little pressure it took to get it to move.
You don't actually have to lean to put it in motion... simply put pressure on your toes and it will start moving forward. Similar to flying a helicopter, it almost moves just because you thought about moving!
Very slight aft pressure on the handlebars is all that is necessary to slow the Segway to a gentle stop. Panic stops can be accomplished by pulling the handlebars against your body.
I was reasonably comfortable with it after 5 minutes, so my student changed the skill level to the more expert, higher speed setting.
Wow... I immediately realized wearing a helmet would be a great idea on this thing!
Big Boys and expensive toys...
Aviation people are wonderful, and, like the Lamborghini Countach I got to test drive several years ago, frequently they own some pretty neat playthings.
It was great to have the chance to check "riding the Segway" off my list of things I wanted to do!
04 April 2006
Bullet Hose
The "Charley Model" Huey Gunship I flew in Viet Nam was armed with two 9-shot rocket pods and two .30 calibre miniguns.
The miniguns were each capable of firing 3,000 rounds a minute.
Continuous firing at that rate would literally melt the barrels on the guns, so there was a relay in the system that would only allow the guns to fire for three seconds, then the "interrupter" would shut the guns down.
To fire again, you had to release the trigger, then pull it once again.
This system worked well to keep excited Gunship Co-Pilots from turning the six barrels into the consistency of cooked spaghetti.
Normally the Co-Pilot would fire the mini-guns,
the Aircraft Commander would fire the rockets......a nine-rocket pod mounted on each side of the aircraft, next to the the miniguns.
I found a video on the minigun here that illustrates their awesome power.
As you watch, keep in mind that between each of the red tracer rounds that you see are three "ball" rounds that you cannot see.
Therefore, what you see leaving the gun is only 1/4th the actually rounds striking the target.
Another thing.......no helicopter would actually fly down a target line like you see here.
The video demonstrates the lethality of the gun, but in the real world the pilot would use whatever means necessary to avoid being brought down by surface to air missiles or small arms fire.
These new weapons systems can be computer assisted, making the manually adjusted system in the old "Charley" look pretty inaccurate. Still, I wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end of my attention in that old bird.
(Thanks to Compfused.com)
The miniguns were each capable of firing 3,000 rounds a minute.
Continuous firing at that rate would literally melt the barrels on the guns, so there was a relay in the system that would only allow the guns to fire for three seconds, then the "interrupter" would shut the guns down.
To fire again, you had to release the trigger, then pull it once again.
This system worked well to keep excited Gunship Co-Pilots from turning the six barrels into the consistency of cooked spaghetti.
Normally the Co-Pilot would fire the mini-guns,
the Aircraft Commander would fire the rockets......a nine-rocket pod mounted on each side of the aircraft, next to the the miniguns.
I found a video on the minigun here that illustrates their awesome power.
As you watch, keep in mind that between each of the red tracer rounds that you see are three "ball" rounds that you cannot see.
Therefore, what you see leaving the gun is only 1/4th the actually rounds striking the target.
Another thing.......no helicopter would actually fly down a target line like you see here.
The video demonstrates the lethality of the gun, but in the real world the pilot would use whatever means necessary to avoid being brought down by surface to air missiles or small arms fire.
These new weapons systems can be computer assisted, making the manually adjusted system in the old "Charley" look pretty inaccurate. Still, I wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end of my attention in that old bird.
(Thanks to Compfused.com)
01 April 2006
My Apology:
Six months ago I complained that in my 20 years of flying sick people, I seem always to get stuck when we change our clocks.......working the extra unpaid hour in Autumn.......
but being off in the Spring when an 11 hour shift pays for 12 hours work, and I suggested a way we could avoid all the confusion.
GUESS WHO IS AT WORK TONIGHT, GETTIN' AN EXTRA HOUR'S PAY?
HOORAY!
I hope this becomes the new routine!
So I'll be home with an hour's less sleep,
trying to search out every @#*&% clock in the house/garage/cars
in order to add the extra hour.
Spring is busting out all over around Greybeard and family. Our plum tree in the back yard is really showing off this year.......
vivid purple blossoms.
I Hope your season is as nice.
(Don't forget your clocks tonight!)
but being off in the Spring when an 11 hour shift pays for 12 hours work, and I suggested a way we could avoid all the confusion.
GUESS WHO IS AT WORK TONIGHT, GETTIN' AN EXTRA HOUR'S PAY?
HOORAY!
I hope this becomes the new routine!
So I'll be home with an hour's less sleep,
trying to search out every @#*&% clock in the house/garage/cars
in order to add the extra hour.
Spring is busting out all over around Greybeard and family. Our plum tree in the back yard is really showing off this year.......
vivid purple blossoms.
I Hope your season is as nice.
(Don't forget your clocks tonight!)
30 March 2006
'Cause He's the Tax Man!
Someone kick my butt!
I hate this time of year.
I throw all my tax information into a box and wait until the last minute to sort it out and take it to my tax preparer.
Inevitably there is something missing and I have to scramble to find it.
Last year I waited until the 14th of April to begin my tax information gathering. I'm proud of myself this year for beginning before "the midnight hour."
I normally get a small refund, and so long as that is true
the 15th really isn't a deadline.
I've also heard there is less likelihood of being audited if you wait until the last minute.......
Yeah, that's the ticket! Less chance of being audited!
What's your excuse?
I hate this time of year.
I throw all my tax information into a box and wait until the last minute to sort it out and take it to my tax preparer.
Inevitably there is something missing and I have to scramble to find it.
Last year I waited until the 14th of April to begin my tax information gathering. I'm proud of myself this year for beginning before "the midnight hour."
I normally get a small refund, and so long as that is true
the 15th really isn't a deadline.
I've also heard there is less likelihood of being audited if you wait until the last minute.......
Yeah, that's the ticket! Less chance of being audited!
What's your excuse?
27 March 2006
Time In a Bottle
On my way to work Saturday night, the ceiling was overcast and gray except for a sliver of sky next to the horizon, perceivable as about an inch of blue.
As the Sun slowly made it's way Westward, it began to transform this piece of sky......
the color was like lava flowing down a volcano at first.....a brilliant red-orange.
Then the Sun itself popped from behind the overcast, and it was too brilliant to look at directly. But I knew I was in for something special once it began to hide behind the edge of the earth.
I also knew the beauty would be fleeting.
Sure enough, as it dipped below the horizon, the sky turned the color of lava once again, only this time the edges of cloud were tinged with a brilliant silvery-yellow hue.
Slowly the underside of the overcast was illuminated, and the entire sky above me turned the color of molten lava. As the Sun continued it's journey, that color changed to purple, then magenta, then reddish-gray, and finally the Sun gave up the stage and dusk prepared the world for the coming darkness.
This whole scenario unfolded in less than ten minutes.
If I could have stopped time.....
captured that moment so I could savor it fully, I would have.
I was in Baltimore, Maryland when I found out my Dad was dying.
The company had purchased a BK117 in Italy and had shipped it to Baltimore. I was there to inspect the aircraft, and finding it as advertised, with the help of a mechanic, mount the main and tail rotors on it and ferry it back to the Midwest.
As luck would have it, the trip took me right over the town where my Dad was hospitalized. I got to stop and see him.
In my 20 years of EMS flying, much medical information has found it's way into this thick skull. From what I had heard I knew Dad was in big trouble.
Dialogue with my sister, Mommanurse , filled in the blanks........
It was just a question of time.
Again, if I could have stopped time right then, I would have.
Dad had been a lifelong smoker. He resented our attempts to get him to quit.
Now his habit had caught up with him.......he tried to put on the "Brave face", but everyone could see through it........he was obviously frightened about what the future held for him. We were all frightened for him.
Over the next months, Sis and I took turns giving Mom as much relief as we could in taking care of Dad. It was a painful process to watch, knowing that he was in pain and uncomfortable, because we knew the next day would only be worse, and the next worse than that. He was on the downhill slide.
I didn't want Dad to die, but I didn't want him suffering, either.
Time, time, time........
It just marches along, oblivious to our wishes.
I'm not old, but I'm no longer young.
Very soon I will be old.
My memories are overwhelmingly good......
I've said before that my life has been blessed......
I've had a Guardian Angel on my shoulder watching out for me, guiding most of my decisions.
But as I age, I find it SO easy to be melancholy.
I see beauty in so many things......Sunsets and Sunrises, family, other relationships.
I'm upset that these moments of beauty slip away so quickly.
Jim Croce wrote "Time In a Bottle", and then his flame went out.
The lyrics to that song are worthy of your attention.
If they don't make you melancholy, you and I are not on the same planet.
Try as hard as we might, we cannot stop time.......the inevitable is just over the horizon.
I don't want to waste these moments........I want to enjoy them to the fullest.
Being melancholy is bittersweet.......
It comes only when we know we are experiencing something beautiful that we want not to end so quickly.
P.S.
I read this post to Sara Jean and she said, "Gosh Greybeard, you're gonna have everyone depressed and considering suicide!"
I think some men go through their own form of "Change of Life", and maybe that is what I am experiencing when I'm melancholy.
It was not my intent to depress you, but to share my thoughts and see if others have had similar experiences.
As the Sun slowly made it's way Westward, it began to transform this piece of sky......
the color was like lava flowing down a volcano at first.....a brilliant red-orange.
Then the Sun itself popped from behind the overcast, and it was too brilliant to look at directly. But I knew I was in for something special once it began to hide behind the edge of the earth.
I also knew the beauty would be fleeting.
Sure enough, as it dipped below the horizon, the sky turned the color of lava once again, only this time the edges of cloud were tinged with a brilliant silvery-yellow hue.
Slowly the underside of the overcast was illuminated, and the entire sky above me turned the color of molten lava. As the Sun continued it's journey, that color changed to purple, then magenta, then reddish-gray, and finally the Sun gave up the stage and dusk prepared the world for the coming darkness.
This whole scenario unfolded in less than ten minutes.
If I could have stopped time.....
captured that moment so I could savor it fully, I would have.
I was in Baltimore, Maryland when I found out my Dad was dying.
The company had purchased a BK117 in Italy and had shipped it to Baltimore. I was there to inspect the aircraft, and finding it as advertised, with the help of a mechanic, mount the main and tail rotors on it and ferry it back to the Midwest.
As luck would have it, the trip took me right over the town where my Dad was hospitalized. I got to stop and see him.
In my 20 years of EMS flying, much medical information has found it's way into this thick skull. From what I had heard I knew Dad was in big trouble.
Dialogue with my sister, Mommanurse , filled in the blanks........
It was just a question of time.
Again, if I could have stopped time right then, I would have.
Dad had been a lifelong smoker. He resented our attempts to get him to quit.
Now his habit had caught up with him.......he tried to put on the "Brave face", but everyone could see through it........he was obviously frightened about what the future held for him. We were all frightened for him.
Over the next months, Sis and I took turns giving Mom as much relief as we could in taking care of Dad. It was a painful process to watch, knowing that he was in pain and uncomfortable, because we knew the next day would only be worse, and the next worse than that. He was on the downhill slide.
I didn't want Dad to die, but I didn't want him suffering, either.
Time, time, time........
It just marches along, oblivious to our wishes.
I'm not old, but I'm no longer young.
Very soon I will be old.
My memories are overwhelmingly good......
I've said before that my life has been blessed......
I've had a Guardian Angel on my shoulder watching out for me, guiding most of my decisions.
But as I age, I find it SO easy to be melancholy.
I see beauty in so many things......Sunsets and Sunrises, family, other relationships.
I'm upset that these moments of beauty slip away so quickly.
Jim Croce wrote "Time In a Bottle", and then his flame went out.
The lyrics to that song are worthy of your attention.
If they don't make you melancholy, you and I are not on the same planet.
Try as hard as we might, we cannot stop time.......the inevitable is just over the horizon.
I don't want to waste these moments........I want to enjoy them to the fullest.
Being melancholy is bittersweet.......
It comes only when we know we are experiencing something beautiful that we want not to end so quickly.
P.S.
I read this post to Sara Jean and she said, "Gosh Greybeard, you're gonna have everyone depressed and considering suicide!"
I think some men go through their own form of "Change of Life", and maybe that is what I am experiencing when I'm melancholy.
It was not my intent to depress you, but to share my thoughts and see if others have had similar experiences.
24 March 2006
Wop, Wop, Wop......
Our EMS company gives out helicopter lapel pins as an advertising promo.
Some years ago my Mom was wearing one I had given her as she stood in line at a grocery store. The guy in line behind her noticed the pin and asked her about it. When she told him what I did for a living, he asked her how I became a helicopter pilot.
She told him I was Army trained and a Viet Nam veteran, and he said "I was a grunt. You tell him the sound of that Huey headed our way to pull us out of the field was the most wonderful sound in the world!"
And what a sound!
Distinctive.
Loud.
In some ways, like a heartbeat.
I have 3,000 hours beneath the rotor of various models of the UH-1.
The rotor on the UH-1H model Huey was 48 feet 3 inches in diameter.
Each time that two-bladed rotor swung around, 24 feet of it was takin' a huge bite out of the air.
The red-line on the airspeed indicator was 120 knots/138 miles per hour. The rotor itself was turning at over 400 miles per hour at the tip. When it came around on the advancing side, it was going fast enough under some conditions to begin to build up a pressure wave, associated with the speed of sound.
That's what gave the Huey it's distinctive sound signature.
One of the reasons helicopters are not so noisy today is that rotor diameter has been reduced, lessening the speed at the tip. Most manufacturers are making multi-bladed systems, which decrease the amount of work the individual blade needs to do, therefore lowering sound levels.
When you hear a helicopter flying by, in most cases the loudest noise you hear is the tail rotor. It turns at 6-7 times the R.P.M. of the main rotor, and makes a high-pitched hum.
The main rotor is generally the second loudest thing on the helicopter. In most machines it is a lower pitch buzzing sound.
On top of all this you add the noise of the engine. In the case of a turbine, it is barely noticeable on top of rotor noise. In helicopters powered with reciprocating engines you can identify the engine sound, but it generally is not objectionable..........more like the sound of your neighbor mowing his lawn at a distance.
I was always aware of the noise footprint of the Huey. It was such a noisy machine, when I flew over cities or late at night, I tried to fly at altititudes that would dissipate the noise.
When I hear one now.......no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I'll stop to watch it pass.....
everything comes to a stop until the aircraft is out of sight and out of earshot.
The Old Huey is a sweetheart, and I'll love her 'til my dying day.
Some years ago my Mom was wearing one I had given her as she stood in line at a grocery store. The guy in line behind her noticed the pin and asked her about it. When she told him what I did for a living, he asked her how I became a helicopter pilot.
She told him I was Army trained and a Viet Nam veteran, and he said "I was a grunt. You tell him the sound of that Huey headed our way to pull us out of the field was the most wonderful sound in the world!"
And what a sound!
Distinctive.
Loud.
In some ways, like a heartbeat.
I have 3,000 hours beneath the rotor of various models of the UH-1.
The rotor on the UH-1H model Huey was 48 feet 3 inches in diameter.
Each time that two-bladed rotor swung around, 24 feet of it was takin' a huge bite out of the air.
The red-line on the airspeed indicator was 120 knots/138 miles per hour. The rotor itself was turning at over 400 miles per hour at the tip. When it came around on the advancing side, it was going fast enough under some conditions to begin to build up a pressure wave, associated with the speed of sound.
That's what gave the Huey it's distinctive sound signature.
One of the reasons helicopters are not so noisy today is that rotor diameter has been reduced, lessening the speed at the tip. Most manufacturers are making multi-bladed systems, which decrease the amount of work the individual blade needs to do, therefore lowering sound levels.
When you hear a helicopter flying by, in most cases the loudest noise you hear is the tail rotor. It turns at 6-7 times the R.P.M. of the main rotor, and makes a high-pitched hum.
The main rotor is generally the second loudest thing on the helicopter. In most machines it is a lower pitch buzzing sound.
On top of all this you add the noise of the engine. In the case of a turbine, it is barely noticeable on top of rotor noise. In helicopters powered with reciprocating engines you can identify the engine sound, but it generally is not objectionable..........more like the sound of your neighbor mowing his lawn at a distance.
I was always aware of the noise footprint of the Huey. It was such a noisy machine, when I flew over cities or late at night, I tried to fly at altititudes that would dissipate the noise.
When I hear one now.......no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I'll stop to watch it pass.....
everything comes to a stop until the aircraft is out of sight and out of earshot.
The Old Huey is a sweetheart, and I'll love her 'til my dying day.
22 March 2006
Galveston Wrap-Up
Just a few quick thoughts on the fishing trip:
The round-trip ticket on Southwest Airlines cost $187.
A one-way drive down would have taken 13 hours.
On the Interstate, I normally average 60 m.p.h., considering rest stops, gas stops, etc.. Our car gets 27 m.p.g. at this rate.
By my figures, that means the trip would have been something near 1560 miles, and if I had driven, I would have used 58 gallons of petrol. At an average $2.50 per gallon, cost of gasoline alone would have been $140+.
The flight was an extraordinary bargain.
Southwest Airlines has the security check downpat.
I showed up with my "online boarding pass" in hand, so I was able to walk directly to my gate. Going through security took all of 15 minutes.
I've flown a couple other airlines in the past year, and none of them come close.
Southwest used to be known for having "peanut fares" because they were one of the first lines to discontinue serving meals on their flights........
they give you snacks only.
On the package of peanuts they gave me was this warning:
"Warning: Machinery used to package this product may have come in contact with peanuts."
(I'm sure!)
Old friendships are special.
I've had only passing contact with the three High School classmates that were on this fishing attempt, and we were back perfectly comfortable with one another in less than an hour. The comfort level was such that we are planning a bigger/better "Fiasco" in the future.
Galveston is nicer than I expected. I've spent a lot of time on the Florida Gulf Coast lately, and it is very, very commercial there. Galveston is more "Ma and Pa" than that.........less stressful.
The beaches are not as pretty, but the comfort level may be a fair tradeoff.
Being near water.....anything larger than a puddle, is relaxing.
A friendly dog is a wonderful thing, even if he slobbers.
I've fully adopted the saying, "fishing was good, catching.....not so good."
We all commented before the trip that getting line wet was the goal..........if we caught fish, that would be a plus.
Starting off with that attitude was a good thing........
ounce per dollar spent, that one fish was unbelievably expensive!
I'm still conflicted about catching/killing my own food.
I felt sorry for that beautiful Speckled Trout when we put him in the box. Seems mighty stupid, since I ate a great fresh Red Snapper dinner at the restaurant that evening!
Returning from my vacation, I need a vacation.
It was good I had a one day cushion before I had to go back to work.
You don't forget how to play Euchre, even after 30 years.
And finally:
Being away from your home and wife makes you appreciate them both all the more.
I recommend the short separation.........your routine sure seems like a wonderful thing when it is interrupted for a short while!
Thanks for your comments, Pitchpullers.
I appreciate your kind thoughts.
The round-trip ticket on Southwest Airlines cost $187.
A one-way drive down would have taken 13 hours.
On the Interstate, I normally average 60 m.p.h., considering rest stops, gas stops, etc.. Our car gets 27 m.p.g. at this rate.
By my figures, that means the trip would have been something near 1560 miles, and if I had driven, I would have used 58 gallons of petrol. At an average $2.50 per gallon, cost of gasoline alone would have been $140+.
The flight was an extraordinary bargain.
Southwest Airlines has the security check downpat.
I showed up with my "online boarding pass" in hand, so I was able to walk directly to my gate. Going through security took all of 15 minutes.
I've flown a couple other airlines in the past year, and none of them come close.
Southwest used to be known for having "peanut fares" because they were one of the first lines to discontinue serving meals on their flights........
they give you snacks only.
On the package of peanuts they gave me was this warning:
"Warning: Machinery used to package this product may have come in contact with peanuts."
(I'm sure!)
Old friendships are special.
I've had only passing contact with the three High School classmates that were on this fishing attempt, and we were back perfectly comfortable with one another in less than an hour. The comfort level was such that we are planning a bigger/better "Fiasco" in the future.
Galveston is nicer than I expected. I've spent a lot of time on the Florida Gulf Coast lately, and it is very, very commercial there. Galveston is more "Ma and Pa" than that.........less stressful.
The beaches are not as pretty, but the comfort level may be a fair tradeoff.
Being near water.....anything larger than a puddle, is relaxing.
A friendly dog is a wonderful thing, even if he slobbers.
I've fully adopted the saying, "fishing was good, catching.....not so good."
We all commented before the trip that getting line wet was the goal..........if we caught fish, that would be a plus.
Starting off with that attitude was a good thing........
ounce per dollar spent, that one fish was unbelievably expensive!
I'm still conflicted about catching/killing my own food.
I felt sorry for that beautiful Speckled Trout when we put him in the box. Seems mighty stupid, since I ate a great fresh Red Snapper dinner at the restaurant that evening!
Returning from my vacation, I need a vacation.
It was good I had a one day cushion before I had to go back to work.
You don't forget how to play Euchre, even after 30 years.
And finally:
Being away from your home and wife makes you appreciate them both all the more.
I recommend the short separation.........your routine sure seems like a wonderful thing when it is interrupted for a short while!
Thanks for your comments, Pitchpullers.
I appreciate your kind thoughts.
19 March 2006
That's Why They Call It "Fishing"
A quickie update on our adventures.......
Friday:
Not a nibble.
We spent 3 hours on the water in the morning, and a little over two in the afternoon, tempting fish to no avail.
We're told that's why they call it "fishing", not "catching".
Saturday:
Cloudy weather......forecast winds of 10-15 knots.
John caught one Speckled Trout about 16 inches long.
The wind picked up and put white-caps on all the waves.
We Northerners weren't too concerned, but Captain Tom was fidgety. He convinced us to put the equipment away.
As we were headed for home, the wind increased to 25 knots. Swells were 4 feet or so.
We pounded along for half an hour getting soaked by the spray.
A lure somehow found a way to hook itself to John's sweatshirt. I tried to detach it, but the ride was too rough, and Cap'n Tom sure as heck wasn't gonna stop to remove it under those conditions!
We were glad to make it back to protected waters.
No mas!
Thank goodness the restaurants serve fresh seafood dinners, because we're not doin' a very good job of putting the goods on the table ourselves.
One thing I can enjoy that the other guys don't give a whit about: There are plenty of helicopters flying around. Petroleum helicopters has a base here serving oil rigs just over the horizon with a Bell 407.
Yesterday we saw a BK117 headed Northeast up Galveston Island, then a short time later we watched a Bell 47 (the helicopter in the M.A.S.H. TV series) struggling against the wind Northeast bound, then return Southwest bound half an hour or so later. I don't often see a 47 fly these days, so it was a good memory prod.
Forecast today is for winds of 15-25 knots with small craft warnings. We are considering a trip to NASA to tour their facility.
I'll update you later.
Thanks for stopping by.
Friday:
Not a nibble.
We spent 3 hours on the water in the morning, and a little over two in the afternoon, tempting fish to no avail.
We're told that's why they call it "fishing", not "catching".
Saturday:
Cloudy weather......forecast winds of 10-15 knots.
John caught one Speckled Trout about 16 inches long.
The wind picked up and put white-caps on all the waves.
We Northerners weren't too concerned, but Captain Tom was fidgety. He convinced us to put the equipment away.
As we were headed for home, the wind increased to 25 knots. Swells were 4 feet or so.
We pounded along for half an hour getting soaked by the spray.
A lure somehow found a way to hook itself to John's sweatshirt. I tried to detach it, but the ride was too rough, and Cap'n Tom sure as heck wasn't gonna stop to remove it under those conditions!
We were glad to make it back to protected waters.
No mas!
Thank goodness the restaurants serve fresh seafood dinners, because we're not doin' a very good job of putting the goods on the table ourselves.
One thing I can enjoy that the other guys don't give a whit about: There are plenty of helicopters flying around. Petroleum helicopters has a base here serving oil rigs just over the horizon with a Bell 407.
Yesterday we saw a BK117 headed Northeast up Galveston Island, then a short time later we watched a Bell 47 (the helicopter in the M.A.S.H. TV series) struggling against the wind Northeast bound, then return Southwest bound half an hour or so later. I don't often see a 47 fly these days, so it was a good memory prod.
Forecast today is for winds of 15-25 knots with small craft warnings. We are considering a trip to NASA to tour their facility.
I'll update you later.
Thanks for stopping by.
15 March 2006
The Grand Galveston Fishing Fiasco
I've been fishing three times in all my life.
I've never been able to figure out what the attraction is.
Most of the time, it looks like a great excuse
to drink beer and take a nap.
It's time to devote serious study to the subject.
I'm leaving this morning to meet several High School
classmates in Galveston, Texas.
We are going out in a good-size boat to drink beer, feed bait to the fish, and probably nap.
(One classmate has even threatened to smoke a cigar or two.)
We hope this will be the first of many "G.G.F.F.'s".
No way to know what the computer situation will be once the study begins, but if something blogworthy happens, I'll try to keep you updated.
In the meantime, as Mike Myers would say.........
"Discuss among yourselves!"
I've never been able to figure out what the attraction is.
Most of the time, it looks like a great excuse
to drink beer and take a nap.
It's time to devote serious study to the subject.
I'm leaving this morning to meet several High School
classmates in Galveston, Texas.
We are going out in a good-size boat to drink beer, feed bait to the fish, and probably nap.
(One classmate has even threatened to smoke a cigar or two.)
We hope this will be the first of many "G.G.F.F.'s".
No way to know what the computer situation will be once the study begins, but if something blogworthy happens, I'll try to keep you updated.
In the meantime, as Mike Myers would say.........
"Discuss among yourselves!"
14 March 2006
Aviation Surprises
In order for an aircraft to fly in the U.S., it must at least be inspected annually to insure it is "airworthy". Aircraft flown commercially undergo a much more rigorous inspection process.
Obviously this is a good thing for many reasons. It not only keeps aircraft from falling out of the sky at alarming rates......the system fosters confidence in the flying fleet within the aviation community, and more importantly, in the civilian community as well.
If a problem is found in a certain make and model of aircraft, the FAA considers whether this problem is an isolated incident, or if there is a likelihood it is a problem that will crop up in more of this same type aircraft.
The R22 I use to train students has a rotor blade made of aluminum (Aviatrix....that's aluminium), and stainless steel. In very damp climates, particularly those close to salt water, many R22's have been found to have what is called "dissimilar metal" corrosion. Different metals, when damp, begin to act as a battery, and the electrolysis process eats into the joint where they meet, weakening it. The FAA rightfully issued a service bulletin for the problem.
The Robinson factory agreed to replace the rotors on those machines still under warranty, and will pro-rate the replacement of all rotors, depending on their total time.
The trainer I use is hangared continually and is not subject to a great deal of moisture.
Still, I'm glad to put on new rotor blades, because the aircraft could be sold to a new owner that lives in say, Miami, Florida, where the problem could be serious. This helicopter is new enough that the blades will be replaced free of charge. Replacement will take about 3 weeks.
We started the process last week by cutting off the rotor blades. We measured two feet out from the main rotor hub and took a saws-all to these $10,000 rotor blades. We then sent the rotor cuff and blade root to the factory where they will inspect the blade spindle for damage, and finding it undamaged, will fit the new rotor to our old spindles.
Taking a saw to what appears to be a perfectly good rotor blade is an emotional experience.
Add to that the fact that it grounds the trainer for at least 3 weeks, and you begin to see the economic impact that is caused in this little segment of the aviation industry.
Think of the impact of a major change to a large number of aircraft........rudder improvements to the Boeing 737, for instance, and you can see why aviation will always be an expensive, risky business in which to make a living.
I've got four students sitting on their hands, wondering how much proficiency they will lose while this aircraft is grounded.
But we'll all be more comfortable knowing the rotor over our head is likely to remain in one piece, thanks to a diligent inspection process.
Obviously this is a good thing for many reasons. It not only keeps aircraft from falling out of the sky at alarming rates......the system fosters confidence in the flying fleet within the aviation community, and more importantly, in the civilian community as well.
If a problem is found in a certain make and model of aircraft, the FAA considers whether this problem is an isolated incident, or if there is a likelihood it is a problem that will crop up in more of this same type aircraft.
The R22 I use to train students has a rotor blade made of aluminum (Aviatrix....that's aluminium), and stainless steel. In very damp climates, particularly those close to salt water, many R22's have been found to have what is called "dissimilar metal" corrosion. Different metals, when damp, begin to act as a battery, and the electrolysis process eats into the joint where they meet, weakening it. The FAA rightfully issued a service bulletin for the problem.
The Robinson factory agreed to replace the rotors on those machines still under warranty, and will pro-rate the replacement of all rotors, depending on their total time.
The trainer I use is hangared continually and is not subject to a great deal of moisture.
Still, I'm glad to put on new rotor blades, because the aircraft could be sold to a new owner that lives in say, Miami, Florida, where the problem could be serious. This helicopter is new enough that the blades will be replaced free of charge. Replacement will take about 3 weeks.
We started the process last week by cutting off the rotor blades. We measured two feet out from the main rotor hub and took a saws-all to these $10,000 rotor blades. We then sent the rotor cuff and blade root to the factory where they will inspect the blade spindle for damage, and finding it undamaged, will fit the new rotor to our old spindles.
Taking a saw to what appears to be a perfectly good rotor blade is an emotional experience.
Add to that the fact that it grounds the trainer for at least 3 weeks, and you begin to see the economic impact that is caused in this little segment of the aviation industry.
Think of the impact of a major change to a large number of aircraft........rudder improvements to the Boeing 737, for instance, and you can see why aviation will always be an expensive, risky business in which to make a living.
I've got four students sitting on their hands, wondering how much proficiency they will lose while this aircraft is grounded.
But we'll all be more comfortable knowing the rotor over our head is likely to remain in one piece, thanks to a diligent inspection process.
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