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Road trip - Calgary to Santa Monica
I'm on the road to visit my daughter and grand-daughter in Santa Monica. I'll also have the opportunity to see piperboy84's new Maule. ;)
It's a long trip - about 1600 miles direct, but 2200 for me due to a detour to see the Grand Canyon. I thought I would stop and photograph road-side aircraft on the way, to make the trip more interesting. First stop was the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, south of Calgary: https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4846e40bd.jpeg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....424dd9cf5.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d56e53629.jpeg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3a9cfab16.jpeg Ten days ago, I was ferrying a glider towplane past Nanton and I was pleased to see that they had the Lancaster outside, because it was a holiday weekend. That certainly slows down the traffic! The only other aircraft I saw was a Huey on a pole at Helena's airport. I wasn't able to stop, so here's a photo from the web: http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townn...review-620.jpg Non-aviation aside: It is many years since I drove across Montana and I had forgotten how big and empty it is. It's nearly twice the area of the UK but has a population of only one million. I drove about 400 miles on Interstate 15 from north to south and that's the narrow dimension! During my drive I could frequently see about two miles of the highway behind and in front of me and often there were only one or two vehicles visible and sometimes none! I probably saw less than 300 vehicles while crossing the state! I drove 670 miles today to Idaho Falls, so I'm a bit knackered! However, tomorrow is an easy day - three hours to Ogden, Utah and the Hill AFB museum. I'm also meeting someone to view a very rare glider. So stay tuned. ;) |
Road trip - Calgary to Santa Monica
You lucky bugger. I've just moved back to the UK after 3.5 years in Alberta and road trips through the States is one of the things I'll miss most. Montana was one of my favourites if not the favourite of all the states I visited.
Happy driving. BV |
Day 2
BV,
I'm old enough to remember when the day time speed limit in Montana was "reasonable and prudent". Fun times with a fast sports car! Leaving Idaho Falls, I saw an Ag Wagon at low-level. The first time I've seen an operational crop-duster for many years. No roadside aircraft on I15 until Hill AFB. Before reaching Hill, I was driving through Ogden, when I saw a steam locomotive, which caused me to screech to a halt at what turned out to be a railroad museum at the old Union Station. I know there are quite a few railway enthusiasts here, so I thought I would post a couple of pictures: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....cbac9a2dc.jpeg UP Northern class 4-8-4. Six-foot drivers and a top speed of over 100 mph. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....26e52759f.jpeg A slight aeronautical connection. This is UP X-26, a gas turbine-electric locomotive, with an 8500 HP GE turbine, driving a generator. Designed to replace the Big Boy locomotives, it had a tractive effort of 212,000 lb. Further down the road, after coming off I15, the Hill Museum is hard to miss: https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a45816b33.jpeg It is an extremely good museum, with a lot of exhibits, both inside and outside. I decided to photograph only aircraft I had not seen before. I'll post them on the museum thread, but here are my three favourites: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7fb717563.jpeg Douglas C-124 Globemaster II https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6c27a4c23.jpeg Northrop F-89 Scorpion https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....decdb50e6.jpeg Martin RB-57A After the museum, I drove to Morgan County Airport, in the mountains, east of Ogden. I had an appointment to follow up on something I had spotted on Google Earth - the unmistakeable outline of a Slingsby T-53. It's languishing de-rigged in a hangar and has been sold. My guide had flown it and said its handling was somewhat reminiscent of a Blanik L-13, but with poor ergonomics, particularly the front rudder pedals. He showed me a repair of the spar carry-through structure, required by an AD. A previous owner had merely stop-drilled the cracks! https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....95bf1577f.jpeg I was then given a tour of some of the hangars and saw many interesting aeroplanes. The highlight was an immaculate 3/4 scale Fiesler Storch: https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1e1252812.jpeg I then drove to Heber, Utah via the Park City ski area. Off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow. |
Fantastic trip!
Remind me, did the Yorkshire Sailplanes YS-53 begat the T-53 or was it the other way round? Never seen one, somehow seems odd to come across one in the USA! Keep the reports coming... |
treaders,
The T-53 begat the YS-53. There's an existing thread here, started by the previous owner of the one I saw at Morgan County Airport: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...gsby-t53b.html On the driving side, I've now done about 1000 miles, mostly on Interstate highways. Since crossing the border from Canada, I have not seen a single accident or any police cars! Everyone seems to drive 5-10 mph faster than the limit, which has mostly been 65 (UT), 70 (MT) or 80 (ID). The traffic only started to become heavier in northern Utah and the number of lanes each way correspondingly increased from two to three or four. |
I42
Two personal recommendations; Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, California. PLANES OF FAME - Chino, CA Location The fish and chips at Ye Olde Kings Head Pub, Santa Monica. Dave |
Thanks for the link I42, needs a proper read on Sunday! The Sigma, forgotten about that, first pic I've seen of it on the ground, bit ungainly!
Chino, PoF is superb, so too the Yanks Museum if they are still there. Have fun you lucky so and so... |
Day 3 - Heber City to Moab
No aeronautical sights today, so TAPs can skip to the end.
After looking at the map, I decided to change my itinerary. Instead of going directly to the Grand Canyon, I made a detour to the southeast, heading for Meteor Crater, east of Flagstaff. This allowed me to drive through Moab, which has some spectacular scenery and geology, which was a bonus for me, since I'm a geologist. I took Highway 40 to Duschene and then south on 191 through spectacular mountains to Carbonville (a coal mining town - no surprise there) and then on to Green River, passing the spectacular Book Cliffs on the way (not my photo): https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=...228573.jpg&f=1 A short drive along I70 and then back onto 191 to Moab. Before entering Moab, I went into Arches National Park. Absolutely stunning scenery: https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fb888ac4a.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6f9bfd84f.jpeg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fb40a5a26.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....78b5e103d.jpeg To get to Delicate Arch (last two photos), I had to hike 1.5 miles each way, with a height gain of 500'. The hike is described somewhat euphemistically by the Parks Service as "moderately strenuous". There was a Ranger at the trailhead, making sure that everyone had water - the temperature was about 30° C - and I suspect she was also assessing the ability of the candidates. Apparently I passed and I made it up and back in one piece, but I was so tired, I decided to check into a motel in Moab, rather than continue. Moab is a nice, tourist oriented town. I chose a Mexican restaurant that came highly recommended in Tripadvisor. The food was very good, but this was the first Mexican restaurant I have been to that did not serve alcohol. Only in Utah! What did not surprise me is that when I opened the desk drawer in my room, there was not only the ubiquitous Gideon Bible, but also the Book of Mormon. So today's trip was almost a local jaunt compared to days one and two - only 300 miles. One piece of advice for anyone driving in the US, particularly in the west. Always fill your tank before setting off in the morning. It is much better to have half a tank left when you've got about 100 miles to go, rather than having the low-fuel light come on in the middle of nowhere. ;) Airclues, I replied to your post but apparently it didn't get posted. Chino is on my to-do list for when I am in Santa Monica. Concerning the King's Head, my wife and I had Sunday lunch there once and it was awful. However, I'll go back and try the fish and chips. treaders, I'm trying to get hold of a write up of what Dave Marsden did to the Sigma and what happened to it subsequently. He put full-span slotted flaps on it, based on his experience with his side-by-side Gemini. There is some information about Dave here: Ken Armstrong Articles July 04 I was surprised by the construction of the T-53. Reminiscent of the HP-14, which is to be expected, but the build-quality and detail design was very amateurish. Also, as has often been commented on, there are way too many ribs - the spacing looked about a foot to me. You need a large crew to rig and derig, because of the weight of the wings. This is one of those gliders you want to leave in the hangar, fully rigged! 340 miles and 5:30 to Meteor Crater tomorrow. I had better get to bed. |
Great photos sir, and :ok:for the Uncle Roger reference. It gave me a chuckle. Enjoy your trip and stay safe.
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Day 4 - Moab UT to Winslow AZ
Phan54,
Glad you like the pictures. Your name reminded me that I've got a couple of photos from the Hill AFB Museum that I must post on Phantom Friday. I'm also pleased you got the Roger Bacon reference. ;) Another non-aeronautical day, but bear with me - I'll make up for it on Saturday. 380 miles today, slightly longer than the direct route, due to a couple of detours. I think driving in the West alters your sense of scale. Shortly after leaving Moab, I reached this sign: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f9e90c38e.jpeg "Hmm, only 44 miles there and back to Needles Overlook. Just a short detour!" It was worth it. This is the Colorado River valley, BEFORE it becomes the Grand Canyon: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....21461cdc1.jpeg Once I had left Utah and was in Arizona, driving through the Navajo Nation, I realized I was going to pass very near Canyon de Chelly, so I drove in to have a look. Spectacular: https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4b78ab8d4.jpeg My detours meant I didn't make it to Meteor Crater, so I stopped for the night in Winslow, a town that is dying on its feet. I got a good motel room for $39! https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....30305807a.jpeg Well if you ever plan to motor west Travel my way, take the highway that's the best Get your kicks on Route 66. |
FWIW, Kingman AZ has a pretty good airliner bone yard and a small museum of sorts. Drive from Kingman to Las Vegas. Get a good look at Hoover Damn and catch some of the action around Nellis AFB and then Interstate 15 all the way into LAX. About a five hour drive from LAS.
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I42:
I always knew you were a man of taste (you like Chipmunks after all); now you've confirmed this with your appreciation of steam locomotives! I'm really enjoying this thread - more please. Cheers! |
I am enjoying your travelogue Simon, and you are clearly a man of good taste, but these Alberta-based pedestal mounts mustn't have been on your road-side route whilst southbound from Calgary:
http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...calgarycf5.jpg Calgary - Canadair CF-5 Freedom Fighter http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...claresholm.jpg Claresholm - Canadian Car & Foundry Harvard http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...lethbridge.jpg Lethbridge - Canadair CT-133 Silver Star http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...t/warner_1.jpg Warner - Canadair CT-133 Silver Star When in Santa Monica, I highly recommend "The Lobster" restaurant on Ocean Ave. Reservations recommended. |
Day 5 - Winslow to Grand Canyon
Dora 9,
I'm glad you liked the locomotive pictures. They were acquired at significant personal cost and inconvenience. I tripped and skinned my knee quite badly and then while recovering from the shock, I discovered I had locked my keys in the car. Luckily the AAA came to my rescue very quickly. bri, I didn't think of photographing road-side aircraft until after I had driven past the CF-5 in Calgary; I decided the Claresholm Harvard was too far off the road; I didn't know about the Silver Stars in Lethbridge and Warner. However, thanks for adding them to my travelogue. Spooky 2, Thanks for the suggestion. Las Vegas is too far north. I've decided to drive via Edwards and Lancaster. Plenty of aircraft today, plus some more geology. I left Winslow earlier than I planned, because I was still on Mountain Daylight Time and I hadn't realized that Arizona stays on Standard Time. I drove a short distance west on I40 and turned off on a road which must be unique in terms of its name and speed limit: https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....87a090088.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b95aa46dd.jpeg The crater rim is on the skyline and looks like a small ridge at this distance. It's a lot different when you get there: https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c9e0d3701.jpeg Three-quarters of a mile wide and 560' deep (originally deeper), created 50,000 years ago by a 50 m wide nickel-iron meteorite. Estimated impact energy 10 megatons. There are two aeronautical connections, one I knew about and one I was surprised by. In the courtyard of the visitor center is an Apollo "boiler plate" module, which was used for flotation and recovery tests. It is there to commemorate the use of the crater by Gene Shoemaker to teach crater geology to Apollo astronauts: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....12c6d4ca1.jpeg In August 1964, a C-150 pilot tried to orbit within the crater and got done-in by the density altitude. The elevation is 5700'. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....29a6c9e57.jpeg Most of the wreckage has been removed, but one wing and the rear fuselage are still there. No one is allowed on the crater floor anymore. I left the crater and continued west on I40, which follows the course of the old Route 66, through Winona and then Flagstaff, where I turned northwards for the Grand Canyon. On the way I stopped off at the Planes of Fame museum at Valle. I spent MUCH more time there than I had planned. Here's a selection of pictures. Grumman F-11-F1 Tiger (looks like a Gnat on steroids): https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5cd6a8b46.jpeg Siemens-Schuckert D IV https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....02642c9d9.jpeg A very sad Vampire https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....34d57019e.jpeg A Constellation being returned to the air after 20 years https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....e81d3a6e7.jpeg While I was there, the crew mounted the last engine. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1cfd7cf93.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c968f29b1.jpeg It took them about twenty minutes to get it bolted on. Not a hard-hat, safety glasses, steel-toed boot or fluorescent jacket in sight! If restoring an essentially complete aircraft doesn't appeal and you've got plenty of money, how about this? Take the wing of a KC-97 (and engines): https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0cff18233.jpeg and mate them with the rear fuselage of a B-50: https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a310b69b2.jpeg and the front fuselage stored at Chino and turn it into an airworthy B-50. Not just any B-50 - this fuselage is 46-0010 Lucky Lady II, which flew around the world non-stop in 1949. Anyone know what this is? https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....55a2a0e65.jpeg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a6ee557c2.jpeg To be continued. |
I42,
I'm so envious but I'd like to echo Dora-9's earlier comment - keep it coming! |
Anyone know what this is? T'other one might be a Douglas Skyknight F3D Wonderful thread. What's your wheels Simon ? .......... LFH |
LFH,
I thought it looked a bit Gnat-like, but I was put off by the nose cone and the circular object in the intake. That makes it the 4th Ajeet I've seen - in my defence, the other three were from a distance while driving. I hadn't thought about the other aircraft. I'm driving a 2007 Jetta. No time to finish yesterday's writeup yet. I'm off to raft down the Colorado from Lake Powell to Lee's Ferry! �� |
The nose cone probably encloses the gunsight radar ranging.
The circular object in the intake is associated with (ie it's a housing rather than the gun muzzle per se.) the 30mm ADEN cannon - one each side. I think it was 60 rounds per gun. I hate to think what firing did to disrupt the intake airflow, but if there was a problem I guess it was made to work a la Hunter and Swift (not.) Apparently it is difficult to distinguish between the Folland or HAL-built Gnat F.1 and the HAL-built improved Gnat that they called the Ajeet. It could be either. Scuttlebutt says the Yanks wanted 500 but when Folland heard they were to be used as targets they threw a wobbly and declined the order |
Day 5 - continued
There are so many interesting aircraft at the Planes of Fame Museum at Valle, I felt I should post a few more.
Martin MGM-1 Matador - the USAF's first cruise missile https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....742b01a60.jpeg Bf-109G-10 (airworthy, except for the prop) https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....10724cb21.jpeg Hispano Ha. 200 Saeta https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c2b0872ef.jpeg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....01db932c0.jpeg Convair L-13A Grasshopper https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....692adf696.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2ef69c9d3.jpeg Grumman F-3F-2 https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f728bd9eb.jpeg Standard J-1 https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....83be88f96.jpeg Aichi D3A Val Replica (made from a BT-15) - Tora Tora Tora movie https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....56b49d75d.jpeg Another BT-15 https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2ab0214b7.jpeg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....26ec2ca80.jpeg 2022 - Go to the Planes of Fame website to see their amazing collection. Sort by Location to see the Chino collection first and then Valle. https://planesoffame.org/aircraft?planespagelimit=10000 After I left the museum, I drove north to the Grand Canyon Airport and went for a tour of the canyon in an EC-120: https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....080f806a6.jpeg Don't even think about trying to set QFE here - the elevation is 6600' ! I took a video which I'll edit into something usable. In the meantime, here are three of my "sunset" pictures. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....966a1635c.jpeg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2a8b2c9e1.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3635f8ede.jpeg It's hard to get a sense of scale - the river is 5000' down and the cliffs on the far side - the North Rim - are 12 miles away! This is one of those places where pictures are no substitute for being there. |
SPOT tracker
I meant to post this earlier but forgot. I bought a SPOT satellite tracker before leaving Calgary and have been testing it during my trip.
If anyone is interested, you can follow my progress here (there are currently 13 pages): SPOT Shared Page I'm very impressed with the SPOT. Besides the tracking mode, there are three buttons for sending text messages to family and friends. You set up the text of the messages online in advance. So on this trip, I send an "I'm here" message to my family at the end of the day. I had a message yesterday from my daughter who said "Dad, I see you are travelling down the Colorado River. I hope that is on a raft and not in your car." There is also a guarded SOS switch which will send a position to the appropriate SAR authority. |
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