Well, it’s been 8 years, but I finally logged another 2.6 hours of time flying. On Saturday I got to do a little cross-country flight to Gaston’s White River Resort in Lakeview, AR. A few weeks back, I got an e-mail newsletter from CubCrafters listing that their network of dealers will be hosting “Demo Days” throughout the month of June. These are demo sessions across the country promoting LSA and CubCrafters’ Carbon Cub SS. I’ve not seen many LSA, and the Carbon Cub SS is a development I’ve followed, so I took a list of Demo Days events and looked where the closest one might be — it was in Lakeview, AR. That was just close enough to entice me, but still too far. It’s a 4.5 hour drive and at this point I’d have to do the visit in a day trip. That’s just not happening, so I decided to look into air-taxi as I’d seen one advertised before by Downtown Aviation. It wasn’t going to be cheap, so I actively recruited other aviation buffs to join me and help defray costs. I only had one taker, but every bit helps. Downtown Aviation was willing to structure the flight as a training flight to help save us some money. I really appreciate that. So, come Saturday, we loaded up in a Cessna 182 and made a cross-country training flight out to Lakeview and it was a blast.

(more…)

After all these years, I finally got around to getting the negative scanned.  I’ve posted them up.  For all those that thought I was pulling their leg here’s the proof.  These are from December (I forget the exact date) 2000 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Actually, it may technically be Henderson, Nevada, but I don’t know where the exact boundaries are.
http://www.boontheekul.org/dustin/photogallery/?folder=Misc/Sky_Diving_December_2000

So, we went to the air show in Little Rock (well, technically Jacksonville, but it was at “Little Rock Air Force Base”) on Saturday.  You know it’s a sign of things to come when you don’t even set your alarm correctly.  The plan was to get up at 5:30am and be ready to hit the road at 6:30am so we could get there a little after the gates opened.  I actually woke up around 5am, but stayed in bed waiting for my alarm to go off.  After a while I start to wonder, because I saw the faint light of daylight coming through the window.  I check the time and it’s just past 6am.  So much for my alarm.  As we’re getting ready it goes off.  I had set it for 6:30am, not 5:30am.  We rush to get ready to go, which means we’ll forget something.  Camera? Check.  Cash? Check.  Extra Battery? Check.  Ear Plugs? Check.  Directions? Check.  Okay, we must be ready to go.  Then, out of habit, we get on I-40 East instead of West.

After we get turned back around it’s smooth sailing–until an hour later when I remember that we forgot our folding chairs.  When we get to the exit for the show, things are working fairly well.  The police are manually directing traffic instead of letting the street lights get things backed up.  We enter the base’s main entrance in a very long line of cars.  As we come up through one of several points where armed soldiers are directing traffic we get randomly selected to go through the security check line.  That was pretty painless, actually.  It just feels funny seeing uniformed soldiers with M4′s, M9′s, and German Shepards going through cars.
After that, we just follow the huge line of cars down the road.  I don’t know how big Air Force bases tend to be, but this one felt pretty large to me.  Most of the driving down the “entrance” felt like normal roads with few signs of being a military installation.  Eventually we get to the parking area, which is actually just a very large section of tarmac roped and blockaded off for parking.  It was quite organized.

We got parked, hydrated, suited up (still a little cold) and headed toward the entrance. They had security screening there with metal detectors (not really set very high) and bag searches.  That went quickly.  And then we were inside.  Notice nothing about tickets?  There were none.  That was a pleasant surprise.  Programs were handed out for free too.  Not that the schedule was accurate, but it was a good gesture, and the programs were of very good quality otherwise.

The static displays were outstanding.  Directly by the entrance was a C-5 Galaxy from Altus (there were several aircraft from Oklahoma Air Force bases) setup almost like a gateway in that you could choose to walk right through it.  The static displays consisted mainly of current Air Force aircraft, but there were several from the Navy, Marines, Army, Coast Guard, and private groups.  The military aircraft were a very nice cross section of currently deployed machines.  I was particularly happy to see the F-22 (I had never see one in person), the F-117, and the B-52.  Being the “Home of the Herk” (C-130′s), they had several varations of the C-130 on display and to me it was educating.  It marks the first time I had seen the J model with the new engines and props.  It is quite odd looking to me, but the benefits sound quite good.  I noticed that the V-22 wasn’t there.  The website for the show indicated it would be.  I didn’t see any UAV’s either.  An interesting aircraft I saw was the AN-26 with the question mark on the tail.  I take it that it’s a private carrier, because it had nearly no markings.  A google on the N number shows it’s owned by a “SRX Transcontinental Inc.” since June 2005 from the Russian Air Force for $72,500 (which seems insanely cheap to me).  This one makes me feel funny.  Probably best not to ask too many questions about it as it’s supposedly the only AN-26 in U.S. registration.

The show portion of the show was pretty good too.  I have a general preference for high performance prop planes doing extreme aerobatics, so the show was a little lacking to me (only 2 such acts).  Seeing the Red Baron team do their thing is impressive.  They really have some amazing skills to do what they do, but it just doesn’t get my heart pumping like watching the late Eric Beard do some pretty gyroscopic stuff in his Yak-54.  The two acts that fell into this category were quite good.  I forget their names right now, but the one in the pink SU-26 was an outstanding performer.  I just assume he didn’t have the low level waiver, because it seemed like he was so far back from the line (both up and away).  The quality of the routine was outstanding, but it just felt less engaging due to the distance.  The pilot in the Pitts was certainly more engaging with a lower and closer act.  He really got my attention.  The Canadian CF-18 demo was good.  The Viper West demo was alright (fairly routine).  The F-15 demo was interesting.  I don’t recall seeing that one before.  The E-2 was interesting simply in how low they flew it in 90 degree banks.  The C-130 cargo and troop drops were cool in the scope of their demo.  The flights were huge and were so cool to watch.  Shockwave was okay.  It felt rushed, because I’ve seen him do longer acts at other shows.  The “other” F-16 demo was good.  The heritage flight was good.  I really loved the F-86 — it was beautiful.  Fat Albert’s JATO launch was the same as before.  The Blue Angels were flawless yet again.  They truly are a precision demonstration team.  If only I had a chair for the 6.5 hours of flying.

Pics are up:

http://www.boontheekul.org/dustin/photogallery/?folder=Events/Airshows/Air_Power_Arkansas_2006

Just a note to any aviation fans in the region, the Little Rock AFB Airshow is this coming weekend.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to make it.  It’s about a 2 hour drive each way, which will make for a long day, but it’s all about the big picture.  From what I see listed on the website I may need some more memory sticks.

http://www.littlerock.af.mil/airshow/

We went to Sky Fest 2006 in Jackson, TN on Saturday. It was a blast. The turnout was quite good. This is definitely one of the smaller shows I’ve been to, but it wasn’t bad in the slightest. There was a bit more of a carnival atmosphiere (ferris wheel, petting zoo, etc), but the show itself was top notch. There were a few more static displays at the Tunica Air Races last year. I think space may have had something to do with it, as the airport isn’t very large. I’m not complaining, though. The size also presented some more comforts I’m not used to from larger shows. The announcer stated that there had been a 3 year hiatus since the last show, so I hope this sticks around for the future. Check out the multitude of pics:

http://www.boontheekul.org/dustin/photogallery/?folder=Events/Airshows/Sky_Fest_2006

It seems the president is following me around. I kidd…I kidd… Still, President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi are here (or very nearly here) now. Airspace has been shut down over the city, which I’m sure FedEx is quite unhappy about. There isn’t a time during the day you look up and don’t see a FedEx plane.

Here’s the TFR for the President’s flight: http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html#6/1294

Here’s a news story about the visit: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201683,00.html

I found a link to this article a few days back discussing education vs median income rates for the USA.  It’s quite interesting.  I’m particularly horrified at how low median income levels are everywhere, but it’s feels funny to move from Oklahoma to Tennessee and see that the rate right next to eachother.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/elearning/?article=mosteducatedstates

Urinary tract infections are a bad deal.  Both Grandma and Daisy got them.  As of yesterday, the doc said Daisy is clean.  We got her stitches out and they did a urine and blood test.  Grandma, on the other hand, is in pretty bad shape.  I got the call on Friday that Grandma was in the hospital.  Everyone seemed to think it was just a bad stomach bug and everything was okay.  I was concerned, but figured when I called the next day things would be sort of worked out.  I called back Saturday and found out she’d been moved to the ICU and that things were really bad.  On the phone they tried to keep us from worrying, but talking to Grandpa he made it sound like the end of the world is here and that Grandma was going to die.  So, we gave the pets everything we could and took off for OKC.  Turned out Grandma was in pretty bad shape, but not quite to the verge of death.  The hospital had/has a handle on things.  After a few days there we had to come back to take care of things here.  Things were looking up and Grandpa was much more upbeat, but when I called yesterday he was worried once again.  I really ought to be there (especially without a job yet), but it’s hard to take care of the pets here (and I can’t bring them along) and be there.  Not to mention it’s not cheap to do that drive.  We’ll see what I wind up doing.

Okay, it’s been a while since my last post. A lot has happened, but my web presence has been pretty limited. Two words: Moving sucks.

Let’s see what all has happened…

Well, I graduated. I really wondered about my grade in my Theoretical Foundations of Computing class, but I did manage to pull it off. It was a little stressful waiting for the grades to get posted, but all was well.

Graduation Day was interesting. We got lucky in that the weather was cloudy and cool. I’ve been to plenty of graduations out in the sun and that sucks. Heck, it even rained on us, but they gave us rain ponchos as we walked out onto the field. President Bush made quite an entrance with the helicopters flying over the stadium. They (“they” being the President and his entourage, filling 4 or 5 helicopters) landed on the practice football field just east of Gallagher-Iba. President Bush’s speech was a good one. It was short at about 20 minutes, but that’s not such a bad thing. Many keynote speakers drone on forever. It was pretty much non-partisan and very much a graduation speech; not a political speech. It really made those protesters seem stupid. In effect, despite what many of them claimed, they were protesting our graduation and not the government’s policies. I didn’t walk down to the protesting area, but from the signs I read, and the stuff I heard from their PA system, they were pretty pathetic. They assumed the speech would be political and wound up making fools of themselves. The media gave them a heck of a lot of coverage, though.

After the preliminary speeches were done, everyone left for lunch and got ready for the 2 graduation walk ceremonies in the afternoon. We went to Pat’s apartment for a little gathering Pat and Mom put together. They did a real good job. Pat’s apartment is pretty small, but we managed to just fit.

For the walk part, we were inside Gallagher-Iba. I was far from the last person to line up for the procession from the A&S gathering site to the arena, but lots of people pushed forward so as not to look like they were late and I wound up at basically the end of the entire walking process. It took so long I think I might have fallen asleep waiting for my name. I’m sure glad that is over.

The next day was a moving day for me. I intended to move out before noon, but it wound up taking until nearly 21:00 for me to get done. That was a long day. I then spent the week with Pat.

The next weekend was for moving my stuff out to Memphis. That was one heck of a drive. I hate driving. Have I mentioned that? I hate driving.

My next week consisted of me catching up on a season worth of TV shows. Except for Survivor and Grey’s Anatomy, I had Beyond TV recording everything I wanted to watch for the semester. Wow was that a lot of shows, but I did get caught up.

When Shinta got back to Memphis, we went to see Mission: Impossible III. It’s a fun action film. I don’t get all the negative press over it. I thought it was about as good as the second film. I particularly enjoyed the action. It was constantly moving forward. They had it cram packed with HK weapons too. I also noted that some of the mercs in the bridge scene were carrying Krinkovs. Gotta give props to the great AKS-74U.

The next day (Saturday) we caught Over the Hedge. It’s a really funny film. I enjoyed it. I didn’t exactly enjoy the little kids and the huge mess they made in the theater, but it was a good film. I recommend it. As intended, it’s good for all ages.
Then, Sunday, was Marrina’s graduation. So, I made the long drive back to OKC for that. While there I picked up the grandparents so that they could spend the week with us in Memphis. It was a wonderful week. It has been a long time since I’ve been around them for such a period of time and it was great. We took them to the Wat Buddhasamakeedham for the yearly memorial of my dad’s death and Uncle O took them back to OKC with him. I hope it wasn’t the last time they stay with us.

When we got back to Memphis, we went to see The Da Vinci Code. It’s a good thriller. I never read the book, but the story was really good. Most of the twists I didn’t expect and they were interesting. I don’t understand why the critics didn’t like this one either, but I did. Maybe it’s because I didn’t read the book, but it was good.
Last night we went to see X-Men: The Last Stand. That was a good film too. At least in the summer blockbuster sense. It thought it was about as good as the first film (the second was the best of the three). It was well done and I think well written. The special effects were mostly good. There were a few things that the special effects could have improved on, but for the most part it was fairly seemless. No spoilers here, but there were a couple of interesting twists I didn’t expect.

I think that catches things back up.

I saw an aweful lot of OHP on the highway today.  The interesting thing is that I saw 2 separate incidents (about 20 miles apart) of troopers changing tires for people on the side of the road.  Pretty cool.  I hadn’t seen it before and really didn’t expect them to do it.  Way to go OHP.