peejman

Thanks all for the comments. Flying the Stearman was a dream come true for me. Unfortunately a mortgage, 2 kids, one income, and $90/hr rental rates just aren't conducive to flying lessons at this point. 300 missions, Wow! That's got to be nearing the top. Uncle Bob didn't enter until late in the war and I believe he transferred to something else after he'd fulfilled his requirement. He never talked about it much. He and both his brothers were all in the European theater at the same time. Amazingly, all 3 came home alive. Like many others, they're gone now. Next time you're in the vicinity of Savannah, go here: Mighty 8th Museum | Savannah, GA They have a really nice library and are maintaining a database of 8th Air Force personnel.

Admit it, you were trying out your mall ninja Halloween costume, weren't you?

In addition to simply talking to the owner, get video evidence. Have indisputable proof. Also recommend a bark collar. They're about $30 at walmart and they work. Some might consider them inhumane, but they're better than having you pets taken away. My wife went to court in defense of a neighbor whose dogs barked. They didn't bark constantly, but they barked. Another neighbor had filed a complain about it. Turns out, the dogs were barking at the complaint filer's cat who would prance up and down the fence.

They perform a flight demonstration daily. During my visit, the demonstration was with a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, which is a plane used by the Luftwaffe as a spotting, reconnaissance and ferry. It’s most famous for it’s short take-off and landing ability (STOL) which was put to use during a famous WWII rescue of Mussolini from a rough mountaintop while surrounded. The demonstration pilot highlighted this capability by getting the plane airborne in less than the length of a modern jumbo jet. He also demonstrated this by showing how slowly the plane could fly. Turned into the 15-20mph wind, the plane appeared to nearly hover overhead at about 15 mph ground speed. The tour of the restoration work areas highlights Flight of Fantasy’s mission… keep them flying. They employ a handful of highly skilled A&P’s who restore these aircraft by hand. The warehouse areas highlight a staggering collection of parts of every sort and particularly engines. There’s an entire shelf full of complete, new-in-the-box, straight out of their 1940’s shipping crates, Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12’s. In the back, there’s a stack of shipping containers that hold new-in-the-box Pratt & Whitney R2800’s. There’s shipping crates stacked up outside containing various aircraft awaiting restoration. This is as artsy as I get. Imagine its 1944… Anyone Autogyro? Count the tally marks on this nose… Speaking of noses, nice artwork They even have a few for the kiddies… A fascinating little helicopter. You may notice the lack of an engine. It’s got two very small pulse jet engines, one on each rotor tip to make the rotor spin. Per the notes, they have flown it but it’s so horrendously loud that the locals nearby called 911. The website recommends 4 hours to tour the shop. We were there for 7, including about an hour for my Stearman ride, and I felt rushed at the end. There’s so much to see, every plane has a story. Next time you’re near Orlando, make time. It’s worth it.

The Fantasy of Flight attraction is a must-see for any airplane enthusiast. It’s located near Polk City, FL, about 20 miles southwest on I-4 from Orlando. It’s easy to find with signs from the interstate. The eclectic collection of aircraft, most of which are airworthy, is amazing. It seems like you can’t turn around with finding a one-of-a-kind, or last-of-its-kind airplane. A few examples… the only 2 seat, dual control P-40 Warhawk trainer that still flies, the only un-restored, exactly as it was in 1945 B-24 Liberator that still flies, the only B-26 Marauder that still flies… the list goes on. Note the oil pans under these planes. That doesn’t mean they’re Harley’s, these old engines leak when they sit. An oil pan means it’s got oil in it and could be made ready to fly in short order. The number of flight ready aircraft here is simply amazing. Air car anyone? The Gee Bees. While you don’t need poofy hair and a falsetto singing voice to fly one, you might have that afterwards… They have a neat diorama set up with a walk-through of a B-17, several flight simulators, and an area for kids. Speaking of B-17’s; they also have a ball turret from a B-17 on a stand in the hanger. I found that personally very interesting as my great uncle Bob got to enjoy that unique view of the European countryside from one during WWII while he wasn’t shooting at Luftwaffe fighters and trying not to freeze to death. This was next the B-17 diorama… I didn’t ask, but I bet it runs too. Uncle Bob’s seat…

Over the next 20 minutes Rob had me complete a few turns both directions, with only verbal coaching… “a little more rudder… pull nose up a touch…â€. We quickly transitioned to lazy-8’s at ever increasing bank angles. I was having a ball and am quite sure an involuntary “Weeee!†escaped at least once. Then he showed me what “fast†and “slow†mean in a Stearman. I pulled the power back and airspeed dropped through 50 knots. “When you can smell the exhaust, you’re going slowâ€. The smell and heat from the engine quickly became apparent. I pushed the throttle forward to go fast. “When you can hear the tension wires sing, you’re going fastâ€. As airspeed increased past 110 knots, the wires began to sing. “It’s that simple, no need to look at the airspeed indicator.†After that it was time for stalls. I’ll admit to having a little anxiety about this part. Dad used to practice stalls when I flew with him. That’s been a long time ago and I recall it being quite a roller coaster ride. Per Rob’s direction, I pulled the power back about half way and pulled the nose up to maybe 30 deg. I began to smell the exhaust, then felt the heat as the airspeed dropped. A moment later, the controls began to feel dead and the nose gently dipped below the horizon. Cake. The next one was a little more dramatic, power back to flight idle, nose up hard… at least 45, maybe 60 deg. The smell and heat came quickly followed by a slight shudder in the controls and the nose dropped a little more dramatically, though still less than the roller coasters I’d ridden the day before at Disney. At this point, Rob says “Congratulations, you’ve completed your first 6 lessons. A prospective WWII pilot would have been expected to solo after 8-12 hours of instruction. I can tell from your ear-to-ear grin that you’re having fun. (There’s a mirror mounted to the top wing that allows eye contact. It’s original to the aircraft and short of shouting really loud, was the only way for an instructor to communicate with his student in 1942.) We’ve got about 10 minutes left, what do you want to do?†I paused, looked around, and just enjoyed the moment. I noticed a small herd of cows in the field below. Then I noticed there weren’t any houses nearby. I couldn’t resist the temptation… “Well… I’d really like to buzz those cows down there.†Rob – “Then push the nose over and let’s go.†“Sweet!†During our decent, Robs points out the green tank between my feet that’s labeled “Smoke Oilâ€. As we approach tree top height he says “Let me drive for a minute. Cows hate the smoke. This will be fun… “. We swoop down below the tree tops and send the cows scattering through the smoke like roaches when the light turns on. I’m grinning like the cat who ate the canary. I retake the airplane and we head back toward the airport. I fly it all the way in until just before touchdown. Once we’re on the ground, I taxi us back to the parking spot. I’m a little disappointed that it’s over already, but what a fantastic experience! Even now writing about it, I can’t suppress the grin. Fun stuff.

I know there's more than a few airplane people here, so I'll share my experience... My wife and I celebrated our 10th anniversary earlier this year. We concluded that mid-July wasn’t the best time for a get-away so we elected to wait until the fall. My anniversary gift to her was 3 days at Disney. Her gift to me was a ride in a Stearman. I’ve been somewhat of an airplane nut my whole life. My Dad is a pilot and used to take me up in rented Cessna 150’s as a kid. Even though I could barely see over the instrument panel and couldn’t reach the rudder pedals, he’d let me fly the plane some. I have great memories of that. We quit flying maybe 20 years ago because it just got too expensive. Minor things like time and money have kept me from pursuing getting a pilot’s license. While the FAA has changed a few things to make it less expensive, it’s still far from cheap. I’ve always loved the idea of flying an open cockpit biplane in the classic barnstormer fashion. Maybe it’s the romance of it, the freedom, the glorious sound of that radial engine, or watching “The Great Waldo Pepper” too many times as a kid. A Stearman in full PT-17 livery is one of the most beautiful planes in the world. If we win the lottery, I’ll probably end up in jail for doing silly things in the Stearman I’ll surely buy. So while searching for other things to do while in the Orlando area, my lovely wife found this place… Fantasy of Flight, World's Greatest Aircraft Collection and the associated Welcome to Waldo Wright's Flying Service and booked me a ride in the Stearman. The Fantasy of Flight attraction is absolutely fascinating by itself, but more on that later… I read the part about “hands on the controls” on the website and thought the same thing you did… Yeah, right. A little straight and level, maybe a turn or two, that’ll be about it. Reality: if the ride was 30 minutes long (I honestly have no idea, I was having way too much fun to think about looking at my watch), I flew for 29 of those 30 minutes. But I’m getting ahead of myself… The airplane I flew was originally built in 1942 and performed flight instruction duty during WWII. Rob Lock is the owner/pilot/mechanic. Rob’s father paid $500 for it as a clapped out crop duster in the 70’s. He spent the next 17 years restoring it to airworthy status. It spent the next several years in typical barnstormer livery. In 2008, it was restored it to authentic US Navy N2S-3 livery with a few modern upgrades (electric start, radio, disk brakes, etc.). I spent several minutes looking it over before we started (gotta do that pre-flight walk around) and it’s in fantastic shape. Rob got me set up in the front cockpit, started the engine, and taxied us to the end of the runway. While taxiing the length of the 5000 ft grass strip, Rob explained that over the next 30 minutes, I (who’d never really flown before) was going to complete the first 6 lessons a prospective pilot who enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 would have done. Um… ok. We reached the end of the runway, turned into the wind, and checked the gauges. Ready for take-off, Rob pushed the throttle forward and we were quickly airborne. A couple hundred feet up and before we’d cleared the end of the runway, Rob says “Take the stick and pedals and get a feel for it.” I do so and feel the airplane move around a little while I gingerly move the controls around. Neato! Rob says “Ok?” me - “Yep”. “Good, you have the plane. Continue this climb to about 1200 ft, turn left about 90 deg, and follow that road.” Um… ok. Off I go, into the wild blue yonder…

Excellent advice! A local camera store (not a big electronics store) should be able to recommend classes. Sometimes the local community college offers night classes in photography. Two friends who I consider good photographers are currently taking classes at UT and they've been very happy with all they've learned. I have no experience with that one, but I'm sure it's a good camera. The point/shoot cameras tend to be more "plug and play", but for the same money, you could get a very nice, used DSLR which is much more flexible and upgradeable. Don't be lured in by huge MegaPixels... that won't make bad pictures look good. All it does is take up space on your hard drive. 5-8MP is good enough for "photo quality" 8x10 prints. A single 10MP jpeg image can be 5+ MB in size. Do the math and you'll see it adds up quickly. 12+MP is needed only for poster sized prints. If you get fancy and start shooting in RAW format, the files can get positively huge. This is a good resource for comparisons... Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review, News, Reviews, Forums, FAQ Nice used stuff: Used Nikon D3000 SLR Digital Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens 25462 Used Canon EOS Rebel XSi SLR Digital Camera Kit 2756B003 B&H

Love my Yugo.

I know a few folks who live out in the boonies and use Hughes satellite internet service. They say it's a little pricey, but reasonably reliable. With no other options they'll take what they can get. I believe Dish and Direct simply partner with other web/phone providers and offer you a package deal. Who they partner with depends on what's available where you live (which in my case, is none). I have Dish and ATT DSL. The cost is competitive (which is still too much IMO) but the service has been good. My only other option is Charter and I've already stated my opinion on them.

$14k for that conversion van/RV? I don't think so.

The Pancake Pantry, Smoky Mtn Brewery, Calhoun's, Dixie Stampede if you like dinner & a show, Howard's Restaurant. I've been to the Copper Cellar, Park Grill, Peddler, Cherokee Grill, AppleWood, Bubba Gump, Hard Rock, etc. and found them all to be mediocre at best, especially for the price.

+1 Charter will get no more of my money.

Wow. Unless they're giving it away, I'd say keep looking. That's a lot of very expensive work to be done to correct everything.

Interesting. I'm not a turkey hunter, but listening to those I work with, you'd think nothing short of the 12 ga 3.5" super ultra mega magnum shoulder dislocater special will bring down a turkey.

What they said, and it's against the law to kill snakes... edit... Educate yourself on snakes, it likely wasn't even venomous. http://www.tn.gov/twra/pdfs/snakesposter.pdf

Thanks for the offer but we're already there and back again. We stayed on 192, a mile or two from the Disney entrance.

A 12ga. If he's recoil sensitive at first, you can load it light. I think hunting turkey with a 20ga wouldn't be easy.

Agreed, find a local range with rentals available. Try lots of guns. Try some you don't think you'll like. Carrying one is not something to be taken lightly. Be sure it's what you want to do.

Thanks for the Dixie Crossroads recommendation, it was excellent! We had a great trip and walked the requisite 900 miles around Disney. I was also able to knock one thing off my bucket list, but I'll post up about that later.

This may be a little late, but this guy did mine several years ago. I was happy with his work: Alan Chase Chase Home Inspections P.O. Box 18345 Knoxville, TN 37928 Chaseinspection@mindspring.com E-mail (865) 688-7638 Office (865) 688-7638 Fax

I can't imagine owning a rifle without iron sights. I know the newer rifles don't come with irons to save a few $$, but that's a few $$ well spent IMO. I presume your best bet is to find an older used rifle. It'd prolly widen your search if you're a little flexible on caliber.

It's been many years, but I've toured the Jack Daniels Distillery. At the time, I recall being shown the entire process from mash to barrel.

I think IDPA sounds like great fun as well, but I simply don't have the time. I've heard from others that they welcome spectators, though I can't point you toward the proper contact person. I feel sure there's a few ORSA IDPA'ers here. I have two little ones as well and I'm doing good if I get to shoot every couple months.

My experience with ORSA is limited, but all good. I'm not a member but would like to join when time allows.