Jim in Anchorage Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 You're a luck guy - very few folks get that ride. I'm not very fond of vomiting, but would love to go up for a thrill-ride with one of those aces (with a barf-bag, of course ). I don't know any Blue Angels or Thunderbird pilots personally, but have known a lot of Navy pilots over the years. It's kinda ridiculous to argue who's better when they're flying in precision formation 18 inches from their wing-man at 700 mph - they're all great Anyway, all those guys can pound some vodka - and I can attest to that I wish they would let them break the sound barrier at those shows-I want sonic booms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 The SR-71, I've heard, leaks jet fuel something awful on the ground, just because of how loosely it had to be put together to allow for expansion in the air due to friction. Yet another great plane that was designed strictly to do a single task well. Given the fact that, in a period of just 24 months, Kelly Johnson's Lockheed 'Skunk-Works' designed, prototyped, and built that thing, using just protractors and slide-rulers - before liquid-nitrogen-cooled supercomputers, CAD/CAM software, PC's, or even the most primitive HP engineering calculators, etc. ever existed - I consider it one of the greatest engineering marvels of all time... A defensive feature of the aircraft was its high speed and operating altitude, whereby, if a surface-to-air missile launch were detected, standard evasive action was simply to accelerate. "Incoming at 1500 mph...Roger that...Evade at Mach 3...." - and this was 1962, when (you kids won't understand) most folks didn't have colour TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Given the fact that, in a period of just 24 months, Kelly Johnson's Lockheed 'Skunk-Works' designed, prototyped, and built that thing, using just protractors and slide-rulers - before liquid-nitrogen-cooled supercomputers, CAD/CAM software, PC's, or even the most primitive HP engineering calculators, etc. ever existed - I consider it one of the greatest engineering marvels of all time... A defensive feature of the aircraft was its high speed and operating altitude, whereby, if a surface-to-air missile launch were detected, standard evasive action was simply to accelerate. "Incoming at 1500 mph...Roger that...Evade at Mach 3...." - and this was 1962, when (you kids won't understand) most folks didn't have color TV Even more remarkable, I saw a mid 60s film shot in the cockpit of a SR-71 on a mission and the pilot was determining his position with a sextant Now a trip to the store without GPS is imposable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 The Angels had to cancel their performance yesterday due to fog. you mother nature. One of them did zoom right past the Rincon Tower which is right next to our place and I was lucky enough to have been outside to see it scream by. I'll have to cross my fingers for today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 The Angels had to cancel their performance yesterday due to fog. you mother nature. One of them did zoom right past the Rincon Tower which is right next to our place and I was lucky enough to have been outside to see it scream by. I'll have to cross my fingers for today. Aha...so you & Mrs. Chef live in 'SOMA' - I'm jealous, as you're a spit from Pacific Bell Pa....,er, Southwestern Bell Par...er, uh AT&T Park . Beautiful building, that Rincon Ctr. A friend of mine had a temporary exec apt. there while on a 3-month consulting gig for BofA. And, of course, you & Mrs. Chef are right at the start line for this Spring's annual Bay-to-Breakers - supposedly the world's largest organized foot race - I ran it once, and will NEVER understand how a guy can run 12 miles w/out a strap, or a how a gal can w/out a bra... Bay To Breakers (definitely NSFW) All things must pass... Myself, I established Senatorial offices at 495 Market, then 444 Market. Do me a favor when you have a spare sec - stop at 'Dave's'- (on 3rd Street btwn 2nd & Mission) and tell Dave Supple that 'The Senator' says, "Hello - and GO RED SOX!!!!!" (Dave is originally from Methuen, MA and is a huge baseball and Red Sox fan - lie to him & say you know me - you'll get free drinks!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) Aha...so you & Mrs. Chef live in 'SOMA' - I'm jealous, as you're a spit from Pacific Bell Pa....,er, Southwestern Bell Par...er, uh AT&T Park . Beautiful building, that Rincon Ctr. A friend of mine had a temporary exec apt. there while on a 3-month consulting gig for BofA. And, of course, you & Mrs. Chef are right at the start line for this Spring's annual Bay-to-Breakers - supposedly the world's largest organized foot race - I ran it once, and will NEVER understand how a guy can run 12 miles w/out a strap, or a how a gal can w/out a bra... Bay To Breakers (definitely NSFW) All things must pass... Myself, I established Senatorial offices at 495 Market, then 444 Market. Do me a favor when you have a spare sec - stop at 'Dave's'- (on 3rd Street btwn 2nd & Mission) and tell Dave Supple that 'The Senator' says, "Hello - and GO RED SOX!!!!!" (Dave is originally from Methuen, MA and is a huge baseball and Red Sox fan - lie to him & say you know me - you'll get free drinks!) Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!! The weather sucks again today so looks like no show today either. But the Angels comeback really helped cheer me up. Found this on the Chronicle's website so looks like the show is on. I think low level flights would be better. Finishing our wine and then we're off. Edited October 11, 2009 by Chef Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 My wife works with people that have worked in the city for years and said they used to fly between the buildings of downtown. One person said they were so close you could see the pilots faces. We'll be heading up the Transamerica tower today to my wife's office to watch them. I live by Miramar, they fly over my house for the OCt. 2,3 and 4th show. I have actually seen their faces on occasion, they were that close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!! The weather sucks again today so looks like no show today either. But the Angels comeback really helped cheer me up. Found this on the Chronicle's website so looks like the show is on. I think low level flights would be better. Finishing our wine and then we're off. Nothin' quite like being an hour away from the Silverado Trail to 'turn that frown upside-down' ... IN VINO VERITAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 One of the most beautiful planes I've ever seen is the... SR-71 Blackbird Let's not forget the P-51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damj Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 One of the most beautiful planes I've ever seen is the... SR-71 Blackbird True ... they have one at the new Air and Space museum ... I damn near wet myself when I saw it. That plane flys faster than anything else we have and it was designed before computers, Kelly Johnson (lead engineer - Lockheed Skunkworks) was a forking genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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