Beware of jet blast…

I was going to blog while out in Virginia Beach, but I was too caught up with hanging out with retired fighter pilots and relaxing in the jacuzzi in the hotel room to thing about it. The trip was awesome and I came away with some good contacts and friends. I even got free stuff from one of the guys as he worked on the Tomcat Sunset to commemorate the last deployment and flight of the F-14. If you look at the wikipedia page and go down to the list of aircraft, the last one in that list is the one I saw yesterday morning and took two pictures of. There is a memorial at NAS Oceana dedicated to the aircraft, it’s aircrew, and the ones who died flying the jet. It was definitely hard working with the F/A-18’s flying around; I also saw a pair of F-22’s on final approach as we headed to work one morning.

I was able to shoot all 30 shots on the roll of 220 film I took with me before landing in Detroit on the way back home. I wanted to get shots of some jets on final at Oceana, but I didn’t have time due to driving around the base.

If you do find yourself in Virginia Beach, definitely hit up G.F. Keagans. They have good food and you may find some retired pilots and back-seaters reliving the old days on the patio.

Now that I’m back in Cedar Rapids, the regular work schedule, consisting of long days, will resume.

Today is a photo shoot for the rebel photo club, we’re doing stop motion. Good thing I have good quality 800 speed film, I can get sweet shots, really fast with fast shutter speeds since the camera will flash sync to 1/500. I need to get batteries on the way to the shoot today, this is my reminder.

How many clubs should I join?

This is the burning question in my mind right now, mainly due to the announcement by the Cedar Amateur Astronomers that their new observatory is completed and a grand opening will be had this Saturday from 1-4pm.  The reason I would consider joining is the ability to use the facility to take star rotation pictures, the place is out near Mount Vernon, Iowa and is surrounded by trees.  This would keep me from worrying like I did taking the two pictures Sunday night right on the side of a road north of town.  I was planning on going to their open house and working out a deal where I could take pictures whenever I wanted, but I read through their site and figured that they’d probably want me to join ($20).

I have yet to pay my dues and license fees for the model airplane club, yet I’m still the webmaster.  The club is cool, but there is no dedicated flying field and I don’t have a plane to fly or money to fix the one I have.  That’s $20 for the club and another $58 for the AMA insurance.

There is the Linn Area Photo Club that would be cool to join, since it’s a big club and they do lots of stuff together, but that’s another $20 initially and then $15 every year after that.  I think this club would be beneficial due to the ability to learn from a lot of other photographers.

I haven’t forgotten about the work photo club, but their website is ancient.  The regulars in the work photography newsgroup aren’t even in the club yet.  We have made up our mind and decided to go to a meeting, but that’s another $16 dollars.  The one plus about the work photo club is the ability to use a dark room for the 3 rolls of non C-41 black and white film I have.

If I joined, or refreshed my membership) all the clubs, I’d be spending $125 a year at worst case.  That’s almost double what it costs Erica for her service sorority; then again I’d try to get her into the photography clubs also because she would probably enjoy them.

Decisions, decisions…

Why Airlines should use new aircraft…

With the announcement by American Airlines of more cancelled flights today, one has to reflect on why they and other airlines are operating old, outdated aircraft.  The MD-80 is an aircraft based on 60’s technology, granted that’s good for certain muscle cars, but for an airliner it’s no good.  I don’t particularly like flying on them, but since most airlines in the US use them for short haul flights, it’s unavoidable.  At least Smash Lab is destroying two DC-9’s that were at the aircraft graveyard.

Although it’s a very successful aircraft, the 737-800’s are probably a better aircraft to use if you want to choose a US manufacturer.  The Airbus’ are nice aircraft, all variants have an almost identical cockpit and performance characteristics allowing for quick pilot transition into the aircraft if he/she has flown another Airbus.

Granted, new planes are expensive, but the end savings of an efficient, easy to maintain aircraft outweigh the initial cost of purchasing the aircraft and training the pilots and mechanics.

Once the 787 starts flying, I think things will be on the rise for airlines and their short haul flights.  

Then again, I’m not a big airliner buff; yes I know what they are, but I won’t be able to tell you all their cool information like I could with most fighter jets.  I just know that I want to fly on something that is reliable.