A beautiful sight we witnessed at the Puy du Fou: geese flying in formation with their adoptive "mother".
Got some great pictures of gliders while hiking. They swoop in overhead, almost silent, skimming the mountain sides. I've always admired glider pilots: they have so little margin of error when landing. In the Cessna I rent, it's easy to use power to compensate for any issues with the approach, wind variations, unexpected traffic, etc. You don't have that luxury in a glider! Must be a real rush to fly one of these in the mountains. Gotta get an intro flight next time I'm here. If ever someone googles their glider's tail number: this one is HB-3427. Contact me if you want the full size pictures.
Helicopters, while very capable and versatile aircraft, aren't known for high speeds. Even a recently released twin engine Bell 429 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_429} cruises at "only" 150 knots. Yes, faster than the Cessna 172 four seater I fly, but slower than many other light single engine planes. Enter the Sikorsky X2. Still in prototype stage it's already reached 181 knots and is destined to cruise at 250 knots. Sikorsky uses counter rotating blades for increased efficiency at high speeds (as well as overall stability) and a pusher prop to give it that extra "oomph" :-)
Why focus on 250 knots? Because that's the FAA mandated maximum speed for aircraft under 10,000ft. It came about after this accident: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_553.
More details on the X2's flight: http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2010/100607sikorsky.htmlThomas is a Tiger. That is, he's in his first year of Cub Scouts and he and his friends are known as Tigers (go Pack 464!). This gets Thomas and I doing lots of interesting things: going on outtings, building cars, and... spending the night on an aircraft carrier!
Neither Thomas nor I had been on a military ship before, let alone an aircraft carrier. The Hornet was built over 60 years ago and refitted multiple times since then. It served in WWII and picked up the Apollo 11 crew upon their return to earth. Saved from the scrap heap 10 or so years ago, it's been renovated by a welcoming and dedicated group of people.
After orientation, setting up our bunks, muster, and chow, we spent the evening exploring the ship from top to bottom. Being able to roam around a floating city (3,500 crew members during WWII) was a lot fun. We got lost a few times but, as long as you know which way is up :-), it's easy to find your back to the hangar deck.
By far the best part of our stay was the fact that ex-crew members of the Hornet and its sister ships were giving us tours and answering our questions. It made all the difference in the world and gave us a window in the lives of the crew. We learned a ton:
- Frank, who worked on the flight deck on the Hornet in the 50s explained, with the help of a model and cardboard planes, how the carrier managed its fleet of 90 aircraft.
- He also told us of the time he was burnt by jet thrust and being blown 400ft down the flight deck. Thomas was very impressed.
- The Hornet's flight deck is made of teak (by far the most valuable part of the ship we were told!). Metal would make it too easy for sparks to fly and fuel to combust.
- Rich gave us a very detailed tour of the flight bridge and told us of his experiences working on deck: how planes were launched, how pilots lost their lives in the event of cold catapults (i.e. ones that didn't propel their jets from 0 to 120mph in 2sec flat), and of pulling pilots out of burning aircraft wearing an asbestos suit.
- Michael (?) gave Thomas and I a private tour of the CIC (Combat Information Center) and turned on all the green and blue "mood lighting" for us. Very cool.
