NYTOM
Well Known Member
Now that's the kind of story I love to find on my PC when I sign on.
Great write up, great photos and just the kind of trip I dream about.
Very high on the motivation scale. Wow, talk about a magic carpet.
Great write up, great photos and just the kind of trip I dream about.
Very high on the motivation scale. Wow, talk about a magic carpet.
Flash Goes to P-Cola.....finally!
Date: May 15-17, 2009.
Route: 52F-0R4-82J-0R3-52F
(those are zeros, not capital O's)
Time: 3.5hrs there, 4.0hrs back.
Just because is all. For many years I've wanted to visit the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL. For the six and a half years my RV-6 has been flying, it's never landed in Florida. Now it has.
The opportunity came up to go to the museum with two of my ex-military friends, who now drive RVs. So on Friday morning, after pushing out the Fri/Sat/Sun edition of the website, we climbed in the planes and launched. My travel companions on this trip were Rick Freeman (RV-8), who flew helicopters for the Army and later Phantoms for the Navy and Ross Burgess (RV-6), who flew Phantoms and Tomcats for the Navy. They both spent time in P-Cola.
The trip down was no sweat. One stop in Louisiana at Concordia Parish (0R4) for $3.00 fuel. There was some Wx that we had to skirt around as we got near Mobile, AL, but the XM weather made finding a solution painless. We landed 3.5hrs later at Ferguson airport (82J), just north of the Pensacola NAS base. The rental car showed up about ten minutes later, as we were tying down the planes and getting our gear out.
After dropping the rental car guy back off at his place, we continued on to the base, where Ross and Rick pointed out all the places they did stuff. Dunk tank building, marching on this field, O club, etc. I enjoyed having the tour guides.
The Blues are based here, as you know. Ross pulled into the parking lot where they park - all empty spaces (on a trip this weekend at an airshow). I thought I'd get a picture of me in the Skipper's parking spot, so I got out of the car with Rick. There was a young man there at the locked fence who motioned us over and asked if we would like to tour the hangar. Yes. We had been on the base for about nine minutes and were getting a personal tour of the Blue Angels hangar. I like this place <g>. What a great guy.
After that we went to the museum for about an hour before they closed for the day. We were planning on spending all of Saturday at the museum. I'll just say it's as amazing as you might think.
I sat in the A-4, F-4 and F-14 'tourist cockpits' and got a quick summary of some of the operational aspects from two guys who flew 'em. "Move the throttles up until they stop, then outboard and up for AB. Swing that bar down and wrap your fingers around it to keep your hand from sliding back when you're shot off the boat. Feel that button on the outboard side of the throttle? That's to turn on the strobe with your pinky before you take the cat shot to let 'em know you're ready. You can't salute at night - they can't see you. That's how you know this is a Navy Phantom cockpit and not an Air Force one." That kind of stuff...
The F-4N that is on display in the museum is bureau #153915. When we got back, Ross looked through his logbook and found that he flew it twice. The F-4 in VF-111 livery in the painting in the thumbnail below had a bureau # on it from a plane that it turns out he flew a few dozen times also (in the reserves). The 'A' model Harrier in the museum above the F-4 was flown by fellow 52F RV-8 pilot Jerry Lawlor (his 10th Harrier flight as a Marine). Jerry and Ross flew these planes 35 years ago and now they fly RVs from the same airport today. Cool, huh?
After the museum closed for the day we went to Flounders for a seafood dinner and a quick trip to the beach (gotta get some seashells and sand for the kids), then off to the hotel where we each had our own rooms. Snore all you want, man!
The next morning we drove over to iHop. Ross recognized a gentleman he knew in another booth and went over to say hi. Jerry 'Devil' Houston.....MIG killer. Google him, you'll be impressed. So, Saturday was off to a good start <g>.
We pulled into the museum at 0900 and spent the next several hours there. Details in the pictures below. It's an amazing place. They have the NC-4 in the center of the room. First aircraft to fly across the Atlantic.
We ate lunch at the base's golf course restaurant and then went back to the museum. After that we went to the base exchange, then had dinner with Mr. Ed Miller and his wife. As Rick's skipper, Mr. Miller taught him how to stay alive flying helicopters in Vietnam. This is the 77th Aerial Rocket Artillery Unit we're talking about (link). Very humbling stuff, and you'll see both their names on the webpage if you go to the link in the previous sentence. What a privilege to get to eat dinner with Mr. Miller and his wife!
Sunday started with another trip to iHop, then out to the field for the trip back. There was Wx in the area and guaranteed wet later in the day, so we launched and stayed VFR with the help of XM weather. Had to deviate a little south for a bit, which added 30 minutes to the flight, but can't complain. XM WX helps us make smart (and safe) decisions. One fuel stop and lunch at Chili's in Abbeville, LA (0R3). Back home safe on the ramp 52F around 2:30pm local.
I flew my RV-6 seven and a half hours this weekend. Saw some amazing hardware, shook hands with bona fide war heroes, ate some swell fish and checked another state off the list.
It's 0705 local as I finish typing this up, and an RV-8 just flew over my neighborhood. Saw it out the dang window. Ain't that cool? dr
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/VansAirForce/PCola_2009
Date: May 15-17, 2009.
Route: 52F-0R4-82J-0R3-52F
(those are zeros, not capital O's)
Time: 3.5hrs there, 4.0hrs back.
Just because is all. For many years I've wanted to visit the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL. For the six and a half years my RV-6 has been flying, it's never landed in Florida. Now it has.
The opportunity came up to go to the museum with two of my ex-military friends, who now drive RVs. So on Friday morning, after pushing out the Fri/Sat/Sun edition of the website, we climbed in the planes and launched. My travel companions on this trip were Rick Freeman (RV-8), who flew helicopters for the Army and later Phantoms for the Navy and Ross Burgess (RV-6), who flew Phantoms and Tomcats for the Navy. They both spent time in P-Cola.
The trip down was no sweat. One stop in Louisiana at Concordia Parish (0R4) for $3.00 fuel. There was some Wx that we had to skirt around as we got near Mobile, AL, but the XM weather made finding a solution painless. We landed 3.5hrs later at Ferguson airport (82J), just north of the Pensacola NAS base. The rental car showed up about ten minutes later, as we were tying down the planes and getting our gear out.
After dropping the rental car guy back off at his place, we continued on to the base, where Ross and Rick pointed out all the places they did stuff. Dunk tank building, marching on this field, O club, etc. I enjoyed having the tour guides.
The Blues are based here, as you know. Ross pulled into the parking lot where they park - all empty spaces (on a trip this weekend at an airshow). I thought I'd get a picture of me in the Skipper's parking spot, so I got out of the car with Rick. There was a young man there at the locked fence who motioned us over and asked if we would like to tour the hangar. Yes. We had been on the base for about nine minutes and were getting a personal tour of the Blue Angels hangar. I like this place <g>. What a great guy.
After that we went to the museum for about an hour before they closed for the day. We were planning on spending all of Saturday at the museum. I'll just say it's as amazing as you might think.
I sat in the A-4, F-4 and F-14 'tourist cockpits' and got a quick summary of some of the operational aspects from two guys who flew 'em. "Move the throttles up until they stop, then outboard and up for AB. Swing that bar down and wrap your fingers around it to keep your hand from sliding back when you're shot off the boat. Feel that button on the outboard side of the throttle? That's to turn on the strobe with your pinky before you take the cat shot to let 'em know you're ready. You can't salute at night - they can't see you. That's how you know this is a Navy Phantom cockpit and not an Air Force one." That kind of stuff...
The F-4N that is on display in the museum is bureau #153915. When we got back, Ross looked through his logbook and found that he flew it twice. The F-4 in VF-111 livery in the painting in the thumbnail below had a bureau # on it from a plane that it turns out he flew a few dozen times also (in the reserves). The 'A' model Harrier in the museum above the F-4 was flown by fellow 52F RV-8 pilot Jerry Lawlor (his 10th Harrier flight as a Marine). Jerry and Ross flew these planes 35 years ago and now they fly RVs from the same airport today. Cool, huh?
After the museum closed for the day we went to Flounders for a seafood dinner and a quick trip to the beach (gotta get some seashells and sand for the kids), then off to the hotel where we each had our own rooms. Snore all you want, man!
The next morning we drove over to iHop. Ross recognized a gentleman he knew in another booth and went over to say hi. Jerry 'Devil' Houston.....MIG killer. Google him, you'll be impressed. So, Saturday was off to a good start <g>.
We pulled into the museum at 0900 and spent the next several hours there. Details in the pictures below. It's an amazing place. They have the NC-4 in the center of the room. First aircraft to fly across the Atlantic.
We ate lunch at the base's golf course restaurant and then went back to the museum. After that we went to the base exchange, then had dinner with Mr. Ed Miller and his wife. As Rick's skipper, Mr. Miller taught him how to stay alive flying helicopters in Vietnam. This is the 77th Aerial Rocket Artillery Unit we're talking about (link). Very humbling stuff, and you'll see both their names on the webpage if you go to the link in the previous sentence. What a privilege to get to eat dinner with Mr. Miller and his wife!
Sunday started with another trip to iHop, then out to the field for the trip back. There was Wx in the area and guaranteed wet later in the day, so we launched and stayed VFR with the help of XM weather. Had to deviate a little south for a bit, which added 30 minutes to the flight, but can't complain. XM WX helps us make smart (and safe) decisions. One fuel stop and lunch at Chili's in Abbeville, LA (0R3). Back home safe on the ramp 52F around 2:30pm local.
I flew my RV-6 seven and a half hours this weekend. Saw some amazing hardware, shook hands with bona fide war heroes, ate some swell fish and checked another state off the list.
It's 0705 local as I finish typing this up, and an RV-8 just flew over my neighborhood. Saw it out the dang window. Ain't that cool? dr
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/VansAirForce/PCola_2009
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