Worktrip Thursday: full of aviation
1. All UK peeps should say hello to mahkara who is presently in London, for the next 3 months, slaving away at a business degree.
2. Loooong day yesterday, started at 4.00am! Ended 10.00pm! Still, it involved an awesome trip to Edwards AFB, and being such an aviation geek, I had to concentrate hard on my task of promoting electronics stewardship. After all, we're talking about the home of Skunk Works, Chuck Yeager, Murphy's Law, Dryden, and the Space Shuttle! The place simply oooozes coolness (and was very pretty with rain clouds over the sunny, chilly, Mojave).
Planes (and museum pieces) seen on the ground: CV-22 Osprey, F-16, X-3, X-15, SR-71, two Shuttle Carrier 747s (and crane to load the shuttle onto its back), B-52, C-5*, C-17, C-130, A-10, F-4 (two), P-51, F-101, F-102, F-104?, F-105, F-106, F-86, F-100?, A-4, A-5(?), A-6, A-3(?), A-7. Possibly an F-5 too. Oh, and some USAF personnel/passenger transport plane. Small. Oh, and a blended-wing model, Shuttle-replacement?.
The real prizes were the: the reverse-wing testplane - the same sort of wing that the Russians have been testing recently; and an X-31!
Sidenote: I drove to, then flew out and back from Oakland Aiport, surprisingly nice and efficient, if decidedly no-frills. The same can be said of Southwest Airlines - no frills, but surprisingly nice. The staff were considerably happier than I had seen on other US airlines, and the ground booking people at Burbank were quite helpful. Perhaps something to do with the union labour? Yes, I would fly Southwest again, and out of Oakland, especially now that I know their modus operandi. Yes, I am that disatisfied with United and American Airlines.
Oh, and Burbank airport is actually Bob Hope Airport, and it has a carrier-like landing experience, with a hard touchdown, and rapid deceleration. The short runway is nested in a hovel of suburbia. Thankfully, there were no golfers playing through.
*To be outfitted with more powerful engines and better avionics, modernisation.
Planes seen in flight: F-16s, a modified F-18? (or was it the F-16XL?), F-117 (now on the retirement roster, incidentally).
Planes not seen in flight: B-1B.
Planes not seen: F-22.
2. Loooong day yesterday, started at 4.00am! Ended 10.00pm! Still, it involved an awesome trip to Edwards AFB, and being such an aviation geek, I had to concentrate hard on my task of promoting electronics stewardship. After all, we're talking about the home of Skunk Works, Chuck Yeager, Murphy's Law, Dryden, and the Space Shuttle! The place simply oooozes coolness (and was very pretty with rain clouds over the sunny, chilly, Mojave).
Planes (and museum pieces) seen on the ground: CV-22 Osprey, F-16, X-3, X-15, SR-71, two Shuttle Carrier 747s (and crane to load the shuttle onto its back), B-52, C-5*, C-17, C-130, A-10, F-4 (two), P-51, F-101, F-102, F-104?, F-105, F-106, F-86, F-100?, A-4, A-5(?), A-6, A-3(?), A-7. Possibly an F-5 too. Oh, and some USAF personnel/passenger transport plane. Small. Oh, and a blended-wing model, Shuttle-replacement?.
The real prizes were the: the reverse-wing testplane - the same sort of wing that the Russians have been testing recently; and an X-31!
Sidenote: I drove to, then flew out and back from Oakland Aiport, surprisingly nice and efficient, if decidedly no-frills. The same can be said of Southwest Airlines - no frills, but surprisingly nice. The staff were considerably happier than I had seen on other US airlines, and the ground booking people at Burbank were quite helpful. Perhaps something to do with the union labour? Yes, I would fly Southwest again, and out of Oakland, especially now that I know their modus operandi. Yes, I am that disatisfied with United and American Airlines.
Oh, and Burbank airport is actually Bob Hope Airport, and it has a carrier-like landing experience, with a hard touchdown, and rapid deceleration. The short runway is nested in a hovel of suburbia. Thankfully, there were no golfers playing through.
*To be outfitted with more powerful engines and better avionics, modernisation.
Planes seen in flight: F-16s, a modified F-18? (or was it the F-16XL?), F-117 (now on the retirement roster, incidentally).
Planes not seen in flight: B-1B.
Planes not seen: F-22.