That's OK as long as you don't have to hold their hand as you walk them to their first day at a new job.:D:D

So HOW WAS IT??? Any pics or video?


Funny ... I don't feel like I have abundant energy. Maybe it's because I use it all up every day. I'd like to have some left at the end of the day so I didn't feel beat down.:D

EDIT: Super Dark Roast coffee that is made so strong it pours like diesel oil is the secret. :D

Oh, apparently I've been making mine too weak . . . .

1. It was AWESOME! Big thumbs up! Crew of 3 with 10 passengers. Once the gear was up, you could "roam" thru the ship. They only had two rules:
1. Off limits were Ball Turret and Tail.
2. No talking to the pilot or co-pilot.
Oh, and don't touch the cables running thru the fuselage.;)

On take-off & landing, 5 of us were seated on the floor in the area of the waist guns. I was able to shoot video of take off (blindly by reaching up over my head and shooting backwards) and landing thru the gun windows. On landing, I sat on the landing stbdside so I could see what I was shooting. Got pretty good video of the tree line as we slowed down on the runway and scenes of us taxiing back to the loading area.

I spoke to the pilot before takeoff (and before I knew he was pilot) and he said the tour this year was pretty good, considering the economy. They only came with 3 planes. The B-17G, "Nine -0-Nine" the B-24 "Witchcraft" and the TP-51 Mustang (trainer). The B-24 blew an engine in Minneapolis we were told and was waiting for a new engine and would rejoin the tour in a few days.

He did tell me that the F-4 Phantom that the Collings Foundation owns is available for flights. You have to go to Houston though and it costs about $9,000 :eek::eek: They also have an A-4 McDonnel-Douglass Skyhawk (trainer) that you can ride in for about $7,000. Couple of WWII vets flew were in the flight. Must have been emotional for them. Caught a little comment by one of them during our landing on the video.

We flew at about 2,000 ft. Speed about 160 knots. Ceiling was about 5-8,000 ft. so visibility was very good. Got some good video (I think) when I was in the nose of the ship. It looked good on the camera at least.

We flew up the Coast from Cape May to about Ocean City, right along the beach & then back. I was in the nose for about 10 minutes on the southbound return leg. Three were able to fit in the nose at one time. Pretty roomy, as you will see when I get video up.

I'm kinda technically challenged and will need a little time to convert video to snapshots & get the video downloaded to the PC. The g/f took some pics too and she's going to email them to me so I can post those sooner.

My camera battery quit just as I was shooting the 17 taking the next group up. :(

Story in today's local paper.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/181/story/240260.html

All in all, worth the $425.00. EASY!:D;)

That's terrific, Jim. Glad you had a good time. I can't wait to see the video.

Pretty funny story along those lines. My youngest son is living in an addition I built on my home (it was originally supposed to be an audio/visual room). He is going to college, working and paying his own tuition, books, etc., but he can't drive due to a temporary medical problem. He woke up late Monday and my wife had to drive him to register. I thought I was going to fall over from laughing so hard when they told me. He's 6'2" or better, 180 lbs, and 25 years old. Of course I had to give him and her a ton of crap when I saw them. "Did you hold his hand and walk him to the door", "Did you remember to bring your lunch" and other witticisms in that vein.

Couches are not designed to sleep easily on but the discomfort was worth it!:D

My internet is out and Comcast (Ba$tards) says they won't come fix it til next week.

Any body have experience with Verizon for cable and internet service?

Tom

I can't stand Comcast. It's a long story that worked my patience for over a year and followed me from my old house. Anyway ... I have Verizon fiberoptic service for internet and LOVE it. I have DirecTV instead of cable, but may go for the Verizon fiberoptic TV service too in the future. Verizon has ALWAYS been easy to deal with the few times I've needed to and their installation guys were fast and courteous. (a very different scenario from Comcast)

I am ready to gvie them a try!

Tom

Good luck Tom, I doubt you'll be anything but happy with FIOS.:cool:

If you have Verizon for your home phone, cell phone, internet and TV, you can get Verizon "One Bill" and get discounted billing too.

Wednesday here again? Damn! Well, I'm off to sell laundry equipment. I hope everybody has a grand and wonderful day. The weather here in N VA is fabulous.

I'm at home ALL DAY today.:cool: The kids are doing well with minimal screaming and my daughter is ready to take her first steps ANY second now. She's doing the side step while holding on to things and has started letting go and standing without a prop.

I'm waiting to hear back from a prospective buyer for our Acura. He's trying to work out coming to see it tonight, but he lives 110 miles away so I think he's trying to get out of work early. I hope he can make it. He'll come this weekend if he can't make it tonight. Wish me luck ... if it sells, I'm going to pick up the 1985 300CD ASAP.:cool:

Good luck with making some sales Dee8go.

Tom W,

Are you staying with Comcast now?

The last of the garage junk will be out today! I discovered that I really have a $h!load of tools, nothing good or specialized. Just multiples of the usual sized wrenches, pliers, vise-grips, screwdrivers, hammers, chisels, etc. All stuff that I could never find when I needed them so I went and bought more. And repeated a couple times. :o I need to get some of those garage cabinet/storage systems now since everything has been whittled down but I still have it all in 6-8 boxes. Yearly bonus time is at the end of the month so I'll hold off until then.

The weather here has been unbelievable, too. It looks like we're going to get the remnants of Helena (I think?) Saturday and Sunday morning. I was going to keep the dumpster over the weekend but if it's going to rain I'm not sure.

Son #1 was supposed to have his first two fall baseball games this weekend so that may be put on hold.

Same old Same old till 5:00pm.

Then I'll have dinner with my sister & BIL who are in town for a few days. I will toast the 17th anniversary of my CABGX5. September 3, 1991, which fell the day after Labor Day. Got wheeled down to the Cardiac Cath Lab at 7:00 am. Last thing I remember was Dr. telling me "Jim, an angioplasty isn't going to do it. You need an operation"
(CABGX5 means quintuple by-pass (coronary artery bypass graft;))

Came around the next day with tubes & hoses sticking out of everywhere.!;):eek::D:D
Thank God for drugs
Life goes on.

Congratulations Jim. Glad to hear everything's holding up.:)
:beerchug: