Last chance to see...

[RedRick Esq.]

Someone once said thatthe BMW X6 was for bigger wankers than X5 drivers

As with all BMW drives well but christ they are hideous ( and fairly pointless)

Dont care that you are no longer on a Bike this is brilliant stuff so please keep going

 

[Hairnet600]

imagine the bag of trailmix and oreos you could haul round in that

party size caramel m and ms got brought home (1kg)

customs didnt even care

 

[MikeO]

28th September 2023

I sleep pretty well - for some reason, not turning off the light until just before midnight, despite being tired. I wake and see it's 0830 - and decide to have a slow start to the day, and so hit snooze. I'm not going far and want to avoid rush hour traffic...

The shower here is great - and I luxuriate under it for a long time, before completing my ablutions and getting dressed.

I'm out of the door at 0945 - to find that rush hour is far from over. Never mind, Waze does its stuff and I'm soon on the bewildering network of highways which, 20 minutes later, deposits me at the oddly-named East Marginal Way...

...which is home to...

The Boeing Corporation, and...

...The Museum of Flight...

Fair warning - if you're not interested in aeroplanes, you might want to skip this episode, and have a cup of tea instead...

Outside the entrance is one of the most graceful-looking airliners ever designed - the Lockheed Constellation...

Right from the outset, and throughout the visit, I'm struck by the efforts to engage young people with the museum - and there are plenty of youngsters here - as well as a ton of old farts like me...

Hanging from the ceiling in the foyer are a number of reproductions of kites and gliders that preceded the first powered flight...

Stacey, one of the guides, gives me a rundown on where everything is. They do free guided tours, but I decide to wander at my own pace...

Straight away, there's a reproduction of the Wright Flyer - the first successful powered aircraft...

As well as aircraft, the museum houses ephemera from the early days of aviation - this is a wind tunnel the Wright brothers used to test designs...

This is a DeHavilland DH-4B - an early US Air Mail aircraft used in the 1920s...

The US Postal Service was instrumental in 'normalising' the concept of commercial air traffic...

This is a great space - light and airy, with exhibits everywhere you look...

The weird vertical thing is the Gossamer Albatross - the first man-powered aircraft, which captured the Kremer prize in 1977 by flying a one-mile figure of eight course purely powered by human effort. The Gossamer Albatross Two then won a further Kremer prize in 1979 by crossing the English Channel, emulating Louis Blériot's 1909 feat.

Interesting aircraft here. Not strictly a Blackbird (the YF-12A), but a predecessor - the A-11 - a single seater, designed initially as a fighter (though never deployed as such). It has a drone mounted on a dorsal pylon between the engines...

This place started out as the Boeing Museum, before expanding, so a lot of the exhibits are Boeing-centric...

...so they display this Boeing 80-A1, which was a contemporary of the more famous Ford Tri-Motor...

Boeing Model 100, from 1928...

Beautiful Stearman C-3B from 1927...

Overhead, in plenty of illustrious company, is a Beaver floatplane, used by 'bush' pilots the world over...

This is a reproduction of a Stinson Model O, from 1933 - unbelievably clean - like it had been polished this morning...

The Lockheed Electra - another great design. Most famous, sadly...

...for being Amelia Earhart's aircraft when she went missing in the Pacific in 1937. Her statue waits on a park bench...

Taking a slight leap forward, this is the MiG 15 - the jet fighter that surprised the UN forces in Korea when it appeared...

...and, next to it, the F86 Sabre (this one's a CF-86 - built for Canada) from the same era. The opposing aircraft were surprisingly well-matched...

In a similar juxtaposition on the floor below, is a MiG-21, in Czech markings, and behind it...

...the F-4 Phantom - two opponents that met in the Vietnam war...

This is an experimental version of the Vought F-8 Crusader - like its production version, it has a system that allows the front of the wing to decouple from the fuselage to allow for higher angle of attack flight, during take-off and landing...

UH-1 Huey Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) helicopter. Used in their hundreds during the Vietnam conflict, they struggled to rescue aircrew who had ejected over jungle terrain (most of the land surface). The boffins designed this bit of kit...

By attaching this to the end of the winch cable, they could penetrate the tree cover, then the downed pilot could pull a lever, extending the fibreglass 'petals' to deploy and protect him from branches whilst being winched aboard...

There are a couple of cockpits which you can sit in - a Blackbird and an F-18E - and a queue of kids (of all ages ) waiting to give this a go...

I don't think I have been close to an SR-71 with its gear down before - what small wheels and odd-looking tyres...

The Taylor Aerocar...

For decades, entrepreneurs have been attempting to come up with a design for a flying car. Unfortunately - just like Taylor's (many) efforts, what you end up with is a poor car and a poor aircraft. The very nature of the two vehicles means that you are forever carting around whole systems that you don't need if you are flying, or don't need if you're driving...

Two cruise missiles - the V1 and the AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile, generations apart in technology, but less than 40 years difference in age...
https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/alcm/

In a side display, there is a Project Mercury capsule - it's tiny...

Nearby, the USSR's first capsule - Vostok...



...and next to it, a model of Sputnik One, which triggered the Space Race...

I leave the greenhouse gallery and make my way to the Red Barn, which represents Boeing's first workshop and factory...

...which is laid out with displays of how Boeing engineers started building aeroplanes as a start-up...

I'm reminded of the workshops over at Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre in New Zealand - these techniques and skills are still in use in the building and restoration of vintage and replica aircraft...

OK - that's the end of part one, otherwise I'll get told off for having too many pics per post...

More later...

 

[Tinytim]

20th September 2023



I have done nothing for the past 48 hours here at Tonopah, except sleep and thought about what to do next......

Well well. Tonopah eh. I've only ever heard of this place in a song by Little Feat, "Willin' "......never knew where it was but now you too have mentioned it as well as Lowell George it's made me "go" find the place ( on T'Interweb of course ) Thanks

"....... And I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made......"

 

[MikeO]

I didn't have breakfast this morning, so pop into the café for an Americano and a cookie...

I like the roof trusses.

I notice all the chairs have different aircraft depicted on their backs - fittingly...

...mine was a 747...

Time to visit the WWII display, which has a Bf109E...

Bearing down on a Spitfire...

There's a map nearby, to remind you just how frighteningly isolated we were in 1940...

There's a Link Trainer here Many's the hour I have flown one - or spent hours fixing one. It uses pneumatics and electrical systems to allow you to simulate instrument flying, with full motion...

A Kittyhawk, in the markings of The Flying Tigers - a volunteer group of USAAF personnel fighting alongside the Chinese, opposing the Japanese invasion...

The P-38 Lightning can't be mistaken for any other aircraft - it was responsible for more kills in combat than any other aircraft type...

From the Axis side - The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon)...

The unmistakable gull-wing shape of the Vought Corsair. An odd-looking design, the US used them almost exclusively from land bases in the Far East - if you would like to read an excellent book about them being flown from RN carriers, by the Fleet Air Arm, I can thoroughly recommend Carrier Pilot, by Norman Hanson.

The Wildcat (in RN use it was called the Martlet) was the initial carrier fighter in the Pacific campaign. Under-engined and under-gunned, it was not well suited. The Hellcat that replaced it got it right...

One of the quirks of the aircraft was having to manually wind down the spindly undercarriage when on final approach for a deck landing - a time when you have quite a lot to do already...

Now we're talking - P-47 Thunderbolt...

Hugely successful fighter and ground attack aircraft, used in all theatres...

This is a P-47D - recognisable by not having the teardrop canopy of the later models...

The Yak 9U - small, but effective Soviet fighter...

...and in the centre of the display, the P-51 Mustang.

OK, that's the WWII section done, let's pop upstairs to see WWI, eh?

Once again, exhibits are everywhere, but well placed and lit, so you can get a good look at them - and take pics, allowing for a bit of JJ Abrams lens flare...

This Curtiss Jenny - stripped to her underthings -

...is fascinating to examine - just a layer of 'doped' fabric covered the formers and spars and people flew her into war...

The Spad - made famous by US Ace Eddie Rickenbacker...

The Nieuport Type 28...

And, as all Biggles fans will recognise...

...the Sopwith Camel.

On the other side of no-man's-land, there's the Aviatik D1...

...and, amongst some Teutonic hubris...

...the famous Fokker DR1 Triplane - made famous by von Richthofen, who painted his bright red...

OK.

The SE5a - an excellent fighter - probably the RFC's best during WWI.

Sopwith made a lesser-known triplane...

As elsewhere, the ephemera of the time is preserved as well - like this collection of aircraft and personal armaments...

Should really give that a good clean...

More later...

 

[MikeO]

So - still with me?

Time to cross the Sky Bridge - or, as we call it in the UK, the footbridge - over to the other side of the road, where the large aircraft are displayed...

OK - it is quite an elegant design...

This...

...is the training shuttle - a sort of simulator that allowed shuttle crews to familiarise themselves with everything they would need to do on a mission...

It seemed like these launched every other week at one time...

...can you believe it's over 12 years since the last launch?

I walk outside into the cool air and am immediately greeted by a familiar sight - a B-17F. This example was used as a training transition aircraft in the USA, then as a fire-fighter, before coming here. It has appeared in a few films, including Tora Tora Tora, and Memphis Belle.

They have a Concorde here - G-BOAG. Difficult to get a good shot...

The B-29 Superfortress project was the most expensive of WWII. The Manhattan Project (which I thought held that title) cost two billion dollars. The B-29 project cost three billion.

And that was when a billion dollars was a lot of money.

I chat with a couple of the volunteers who are manning the stand near the aircraft. One of them turns out to have been a Ground Controlled Intercept (GCI) controller in the USAF - the same role I had in the RAF and occasionally in the RN...
His experience was mostly in Vietnam, during the war - and he didn't work in air defence, but tanker joins. Although, he said, they can be a bit hairy if you have a flak-damaged B-52 losing fuel that needs to get home. Hairy indeed.

We discuss the B-29 - it had a defect which caused them to lose a lot of aircraft. The cooling shutters on the huge radial engines, if operated in flight in the wrong configuration, could render the aircraft unflyable. It's estimated that this defect was the cause of more than 50% of B-29 losses...

I say my goodbyes - really nice folks...

This is Boeing's Model 247D...

The B-47 opposite has my attention, though. What an elegant warplane...

Right opposite is a C-47, or DC-3, or Dakota. Probably the most successful transport aircraft of the 20th century. Still in use all over the world, it was an excellent design and just worked...

They have one of the old Air Force Ones here - Nixon's by the look of it...

You know I was saying that the DC-3 was probably the most successful commercial aircraft of the last century? Hold that thought - this is the Boeing 747 - only just out of production, Boeing built them from 1968 and delivered over 1500 of them...

I rather think that the pilot may have said something inappropriate to that member of the cabin staff...

Just ahead of them, the hi-tech shape of a 787 is displayed...

This A-4 hails from a time when the Blue Angels had a smaller budget - I bet they were no less impressive to watch...

This Grumman Intruder is set up with a deck crewman (his designation is The Shooter) ready to launch on the catapult...

AV-8C Harrier - the most recently that the US has bought a combat jet from the UK, I think...

EA-6B Prowler - Electronic Warfare platform. I worked against one of these when I was on Ark Royal - what a pain in the arse - they were really good at their job...

For no apparent reason, there's an Antonov AN-2 Colt here.

Back to the US Navy - the F-14 Tomcat is a massive aircraft - dogfighting with one of these must be like doing handbrake turns in a London bus...

Out of service for 17 years, already...

The pilot is showing how he could have got that MiG 28 if he'd closed the throttle and let him fly right by - his REO has got bored and gone to find a bacon sandwich...

At the rear end of the Boeing 727 on display is a mannequin and placard commemorating DB Cooper, who famously parachuted out of the rear of a 727 somewhere over southwestern Washington in 1971, with $200,000 in cash and was never seen again...

You can almost get a shot of Concorde from here, but I always feel that, when photographing aircraft, you should be able to see the cockpit windshield - just as you must always get a person's eyes in a shot...

I remember my father (who worked on the Concorde Project) that, in an aircraft with lots of complex design and innovation, by far the most complex part were the intakes. They had to get supersonic air subsonic by the time it got to the engines...

I bid the B-17 farewell, and start walking back to the bridge...

There's an excellent interactive demonstration of the effect of gravity wells...

Time to exit via the gift shop.

After picking up a couple of things for folks back home, natch...

The day is clearing up nicely...

My ugly duckling hasn't turned into a swan.

Nobody even wants to park next to it...

Waze finds the hotel for me and I upload the 250+ pics from today. I write the first chapter of the journal, then, feeling a bit peckish, go out in search of a late lunch...

This looks suitably disreputable (it was)...

They have an alligator set into the bar. The place is not busy, but the few people in there are getting pretty plastered...

I order my usual to drink...

...and the lunch special - steak sandwich...

I don't hang around - one of the drunks is getting noisy (it's 1500, for chrissakes). Waze takes me back to the hotel, where I finish the last parts of today's journal.

Where to tomorrow?

 

[Arsey]

Great pictures. Mike.
I’ve been flying in and out of Seattle for over 25 years in B747,777 and now the 787 and in all those years I’ve never been to the museum .
No need to go now as I’ve seen all the exhibits

 

[Paul G (BHT)]

So - still with me?

Abso-fuggin-lutely.... it's a MikeO report so always interesting

 

[EVskiy]

Abso-fuggin-lutely.... it's a MikeO report so always interesting

Dito!

 

[Posh Pete]

Wow ... fantastic memories of a visit to the Boeing museum some 20 years ago. Many thanks for posting.

Time to exit via the gift shop.

At the end of our visit, I was in the gift shop browsing and fell into a conversation with an old timer, then in his 80s, I'd guess. I'll never forget his parting words ...

"I was a waist gunner in a B17 ... (pause) ... now it all seems like a dream."

A major lump in the throat moment. I knew exactly what dreams and nightmares he must have had and could say nothing but wish him well and shake his hand.

 

[SBD]

Enjoyed that, thanks for posting.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

The SR71 Blackbird is an amazing and beautiful thing

As for the Mercury capsule they are indeed tiny and as an aside i sat in one of the Gemini capsules which are not much bigger and the thought of spending a week or more in one was quite a horrible one

 

[Headtester]

It's like reading a good book - you can't put it down - when's the next installment please.

 

[Tinytim]

It's like reading a good book - you can't put it down - when's the next installment please.

This and yes I'm another that's still here with you so don't slacken

 

[MikeO]

29th September 2023

I sleep pretty well and don't set an alarm as I have an easy day ahead...

I have a shower and generally make myself presentable, pack my bags, and carry them out to the Ugly Duckling.
Inez, one of the girls, whose unfortunate lot is to clean rooms after people like me says, "I love your car - it looks great".
I tell her it's a rental, but internally think that - if she thinks it looks great - she should take a Covid test, as I hear that loss of taste is a symptom...

It's a beautiful day, with blue skies and a smattering of mid-level cumulus clouds. I leave the hotel around 1020 and join my old mate Interstate 5 South. I'm going south for about 40 miles in order to come back north on a scenic route - it'll make sense eventually. I expect.

Waze is still in charge of navigation, and Killing Thatcher is still on Audible, approaching the point where the primary bomber is going to be arrested...

The BMW has all sorts of little touches that I'm unused to. After I put on my seatbelt and move off, I feel the seatbelt tighten and then slacken again. When crossing a lane marker without indicating (it IS a BMW after all ), there's a nudge on the steering wheel to get your attention. When in reverse, the rearview camera comes on, but the passenger door mirror also motors down so that you can see the edge of the rear wheel.
There are undoubtedly a thousand other things that I haven't noticed too - but I must say the cabin is a very civilised place to be...

I'm a little confused by the left lane here - it's a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, but it also has an LED board with a price displayed - can you pay extra and use it?

I know better than to drink the coffee supplied in hotel rooms, so look out for somewhere to get some breakfast...

That'll do nicely...

I peruse the menu and decide on the Meat Lover's Skillet - with pancakes rather than toast...

All the healthy vegetables are hidden under the eggs...

That - and some excellent coffee - will keep me going for a while.
Shari's is famous for its pies...

Another time, perhaps...

Onward!

I am not in the market for a 'cruiser', but thought this Honda looked pretty cool - with a distinct lack of chrome bullshit...

Waze, the navigation app that Jorge introduced me to is excellent. Used in conjunction with Apple AirPlay, it effectively turns the huge dashboard screen into your phone screen, and regularly alerts you to stopped vehicles, police, etc. You then get an opportunity to update it with a single touch. You can just as easily report the presence of similar hazards.
They're just about to arrest the Brighton bomber...

I'm soon near my junction and turn off to join Highway 101 north...

The road follows the west shore of the Hood Canal - a long seawater inlet...

It's a great road, and I stop regularly to take pictures...

Halloween is clearly important in this part of the world...

Although some seem to have their celebrations muddled...

At last! I found an old car...

...any guesses as to make/model/year?

There's little traffic - it's a very pleasant drive...

It reminds me slightly of driving up the A82 on the western shore of Loch Ness in Scotland. Except for the blue sky. And the dry roads...

Why is it, though, that people find the need to drop litter? Everywhere I stopped was the same...

Wait a sec - what's this?

Somebody has spent a lot of time and love building this - any ideas as to what it started life as?

It's just beautiful here...

Quiet and peaceful - although I should imagine it probably gets crowded in high season...

...as there are lots of signs telling the drivers of slower vehicles to use pull-outs to let following traffic pass...

But now, except for the occasional passing vehicle, there's just the sound of the breeze in the trees and the water lapping at the shore...

Onward!

The bomber has just been sentenced to Life imprisonment - but is destined to be released under the terms of the Good Friday agreement. The author is wrapping the book up now...

Time for a stop - at the Geoduck - a bar and restaurant overlooking the foreshore...

Tina (in blue, with her back to the camera) brings me ice-cold lemonade...

...and a very tasty chef's salad...

There is some salad under all that meat - honest...

More later...

 

[MikeO]

*too many images to do it in one post

Not far to go now. But I catch sight of something which makes me do a U-turn...

More old cars...

I fear this second one has passed its event horizon and is returning to the earth - look at the weight of moss on it...

I spot a juke-box fifties monster hiding beside the garage, but there isn't anyone about and I don't want to enter without permission. I'm going to guess a Ford Edsel for the last one, but points are available for make/model/year on the first two...

I am held up for three minutes and 34 seconds at temporary traffic lights. I know this because they have a countdown clock next to the red light...

About 10 minutes out now - but there's always time for...

...another elderly gentleman at the roadside...

...any ideas?

I arrive at my destination - The Sundowner Motel at Sequim...

...to find it's a pleasant mom-and-pop style place. I ring the bell outside the office and the door is opened within seconds by Jimmy...

... who runs the place - with a sense of humour and a great attitude. He quickly assigns me a room opposite the office and I park the Ugly Duckling outside...

He then takes Lucky - a 14-year-old Labrador he inherited when the previous owner died - for a walk...

I unpack...

...as I'm going to be here two nights, then start uploading pics on the (fairly slow) broadband link...

I set the laptop etc on the kitchen table. As I wait for things to upload, I take a wander around the hotel...

Right next door is a traditional-style American diner.

Actually, I could eat some dinner...:hmmmmm

It's great inside - there's a really good vibe to the place...

So I order Nachos...

They were brilliant...

As I walk back to my room, a gorgeous orange moon is rising...

Good day

 

[Tinytim]

*too many images to do it in one post

Not far to go now. But I catch sight of something which makes me do a U-turn...

More old cars...

I fear this second one has passed its event horizon and is returning to the earth - look at the weight of moss on it...

I spot a juke-box fifties monster hiding beside the garage, but there isn't anyone about and I don't want to enter without permission. I'm going to guess a Ford Edsel for the last one, but points are available for make/model/year on the first two...

I am held up for three minutes and 34 seconds at temporary traffic lights. I know this because they have a countdown clock next to the red light...

About 10 minutes out now - but there's always time for...

...another elderly gentleman at the roadside...

...any ideas?

I arrive at my destination - The Sundowner Motel at Sequim...

...to find it's a pleasant mom-and-pop style place. I ring the bell outside the office and the door is opened within seconds by Jimmy...

... who runs the place - with a sense of humour and a great attitude. He quickly assigns me a room opposite the office and I park the Ugly Duckling outside...

He then takes Lucky - a 14-year-old Labrador he inherited when the previous owner died - for a walk...

I unpack...

...as I'm going to be here two nights, then start uploading pics on the (fairly slow) broadband link...

I set the laptop etc on the kitchen table. As I wait for things to upload, I take a wander around the hotel...

Right next door is a traditional-style American diner.

Actually, I could eat some dinner...:hmmmmm

It's great inside - there's a really good vibe to the place...

So I order Nachos...

They were brilliant...

As I walk back to my room, a gorgeous orange moon is rising...

Good day

Excellent

 

[ahebron]

Who said you need to be riding a motorbike to write a great ride report.
As always well done MikeO.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Awesome report Mike I think you have found "a new way about" in a more self supportive way

You could also just take less poop with you when you ride a GSA

Fantastic stuff you are back doing what we all wish we could do "If" we had time and all that schit !

THANK YOU!! Keep on doing what you Do please


1959 Cadillac Sedan De Ville ?

1950s Chevrolet 4 Door Deluxe ?

I gave up on this one as I have stuff to do I am usually good at twigging an era and maker but this one is a mish mash of 60s and 70s maybe even parts I thought Austin Healey when I saw the grill and then T bird when I saw the rear fins

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Do the Americans only eat 1 meal a day?
Looking at the breakfast menu at Shari's there are enough calories in just one of their breakfasts, for an adult male's daily calorie intake in just one sitting