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Old 19th Aug 2015, 05:52
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India Four Two
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Manchester MAN
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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:













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:



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.

Last edited by India Four Two; 21st Feb 2022 at 10:13. Reason: Removed Photobucket logos
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