You’ve just won the lottery and are looking for something to spend all that money on. Sure you could buy an airplane but why not make a real statement. Buy a big one! Boeing even gives you this friendly price list so you can make your decision from the comfort of your own home.
Click pic to read.
Very interesting dinner last night at Runway 34 Restaurant just off the Zurich Airport property.
You sit near, around or under a Russian IL14 turboprop. Servers are flight attendants and all the dishes have aviation related names.
Surprisingly, the food was very good and we had an enjoyable time.
Etihad Airlines is now short one airplane. Last night, engineers were testing the engines of their newest Airbus A340-600 when the plane suddenly jumped the chocks and crashed into a jet blast barrier. The tests were being conducted at the Airbus factory in Toulouse France before delivery to the airline.
10 people were on board and 5 sustained minor injuries. The aircraft, however, looks like it might be a write-off.
AP Photo
One of the last things on our to-do list was to arrange for the large green ash in our front yard to get a trim.
The before shot shows the guys from Diamond Tree Care getting ready to climb up into the tree. 20 years of neglect left us with a monster that was spreading off in all directions, lots of dead branches and some dangerous limbs just waiting to fall on the cars if a big wind or snow load came along.
Diamond spent about 3 hours up in the tree cutting here, shaping there and created an incredible amount of work for their shredder.
The shredder sounds like a WW1 airplane when it spools up to full speed and you certainly wouldn’t want any body part that you’re fond of to get anywhere near the intake. Some branches must have been 6 inches around and this monster ate them like they were toothpicks.
The guys worked like dogs without a break and it was fun watching them sway in the branches as a heavy wind came up. Didn’t seem to faze them in the least.
At the end of the process, the tree looks a little naked but so much cleaner. The fall leaf pickup should be half of last year’s and I expect that the canopy will fill in next spring now that nutrients won’t be wasted on the lower garbage that has now been taken away.
While they were working on the ash, I was doing some work on the computer so I couldn’t devote much time to making sure they were doing things right. No fear, our fearless forecat Sarah kept her eyes on things.
Thanks Sarah, and thanks Diamond Tree Care. A job well done!
Where??? Naugatuck Connecticut is a sleepy little burg about an hour from the capital of Hartford. It just happens that the US head office of the division I work for is located there. We fly out early Tuesday morning and come back late Thursday night.
Naugatuck was first settled in the early 1700′s. Charles Goodyear discovered the process of the vulcanization of rubber in 1839. If the “Nauga” sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Naugahyde was once made there.
Today, it’s the home of the Peter Paul division of Hershey Foods. Peter Paul makes Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars. Other than that, not much in the way of a claim to fame. Rubber production dwindled out in the 1980′s and Naugatuck today is more of bedroom community for New Haven and Fairfield County.
The trip will include my first flights in and out of Hartford’s Bradley International Airport since early this decade. Air Canada Jazz handles the route with their old Dash 8 -100 series and it will be a treat to fly the airplane again as I’m looking at doing some work on the original cockpit mock-up that we have at the museum.
Though I concentrate on airline ashtrays, I couldn’t pass this one up. Vernon Kilns made millions of pieces of dinnerware and commemorative plates in the 30′s, 40′s and 50′s. There’s nothing very special about most of them and lots be easily found on eBay or specialty china websites. Aircraft commemoratives are a different story.
This one, of course, is interesting to me because of what it depicts. Boeing was incorporated in 1916 as the “Pacific Aero Products Co.” The first aircraft was the “B&W” seaplane which can be seen at the 10 o’clock position on the plate.
In 1917, the company name changed to the “Boeing Airplane Company”. The history continues with depiction of the B-1 seaplane from 1919, the 1938 314 “Clipper” which opened up transoceanic travel for passengers, the 307 “Stratorliner” from 1939 which was the first pressurized-cabin transport aircraft and the B-15 bomber from 1957.
Front and center is the B-17-E “Flying Fortress” which was produced in great numbers and was one of the workhorses of the Second World War. The Memphis Belle is probably the most famous of all the 17s made.
The back of the plate contains some Boeing history along with “Designed Exclusively for Frederick & Nelson Seattle by Vernon Kilns U.S.A”. Frederick & Nelson was a department store chain that became part of Marshall Field. Vernon Kilns went out of business in 1958.
The plate is in beautiful shape and I’ve got my eye out for others. It appears that there are a total of 9 plates that were made commemorating aircraft manufacturers including Douglas and Curtis-Wright.
Uploaded some more pictures of recent eBay purchases. This one came earlier this week and is now the highlight of the collection. A commemorative saucer for the British Airways Concorde made by Wedgewood. Absolutely beautiful reminder of the glory that was Concorde.
A little perspective for those of us stuck at work tyring to get Friday to move a little faster.
ATLANTA (AP) — A body was found in an airplane wheel well after a Delta Air Lines flight from Africa landed in Atlanta on Friday morning, airline spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.
The flight had left Dakar, Senegal, more than nine hours earlier. It landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
No additional details were available pending an investigation by federal and local law enforcement.
How bad do you think this guy’s life was if stowing away in the well of an aircraft that is going to fly at 37,000 feet in subzero temperatures seemed like a good idea?
I like Jimmy Buffett. Heck, I’d even say I’m a honorary Parrot Head. One of the best concerts I ever saw was Jimmy in the Amphitheatre at Ontario Place.
Why oh why did you decide to jump into the polluted Christmas Music pool? Did your airplane need an engine overhaul or something? Perhaps the Corona supply was running low.
Jimmy was born on Christmas Day (way back in ’46) so I guess he’s felt entitled. Whatever. You can still find it at Amazon.
I’ve had my first picture approved for inclusion on theairliners.net website. The link is http://www1.airliners.net/open.file/1149328/M/
Airliners.net is a great spot for aviation buffs and their photo acceptance policy is very strict.
The photo shows the flight deck of the Tracker anti-submarine airplane on display at the Toronto Aerospace Museum.
For those who don’t wish to click the link (though you really should) here’s the photo.
(click to big)
Bad Behavior has blocked 823 access attempts in the last 7 days.
SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline