WW2 War Planes - B-17, B-25, P-51

Ed and Nancy were staying with us for a couple of days on their way home from Michigan.

I took a vacation day and we went to see the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom display.

A B17, B-24 and P-51 were on display.

This shot is looking into the nose of the B-17. This is where the bombsight is located along with some machine guns.

This is the cockpit.

The bomb bay held fewer bombs than I expected.

This is the belly gun. An airman would climb into the ball and sort of hang below the plane.

Here is a waist gun.

No insulation. Must have been very noisy and cold when flying at altitude.

Looking toward the back of the plane. Notice the cables along the ceiling. These are the flight controls. No fly by wire or hydraulic systems.

Here is Ed in front of the B-24.

Tail guns on the B-24

Margot is manning one of the waist guns.

This shot is looking toward the cockpit. I think these are the radio man and navigator stations in the foreground.

Wheel and wheelwell. That is a turbocharger on the engine at the top of the picture.

Me.

Nancy and Margot. The shade under the wing was a popular location.

Note the windshield wiper on the bombardier's window.

The B-24.

P-51

Here is some info on the Collings Foundation.

http://www.collingsfoundation.org/menu.htm

P-51 again. They had this one roped off. You couldn't get very close. For $2200 you can take a 1/2 hour flight.

Lama Temple in Beijing

I spent a week in China right after the reunion/birthday party.

Over the weekend I visited the Lama Temple.

It is an old Buddhist temple. Really a series of temples.

Notice the incense smoke in the lower right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonghe_Temple

Not sure who this is.

This is a Tibetan Buddhist temple.

It is over 300 years old.








Many people were there offering prayers and burning incense.

 A pile of incense sticks after prayers.

This guy was in a shop outside the temple. I think he was offering to tell your fortune or maybe be a spiritual guide.

Here is a fruit market in the hutong near the temple.

The next week we had a series of meetings in Tianjin.

After a nice dinner we went for a cruise on the Hai He.

There are a number of bridges as you might guess for a city bisected by a river.

They all  have interesting designs.

Tianjin has a completely different feel than Beijing.

Lots of interesting architecture - much more modern.

I don't think this building is finished, yet.

We drifted in the river for 20 minutes after the boat ran out of gas.

We continued the cruise after a speedboat showed up with a spare tank.

Family Reunion and Birthday Party

Recently spent 6 days in Arkansas to celebrate my father's 80th birthday.

Here he blows out the candles.

It was also a family reunion. Here are Lauren and Emily.

Lauren, Emily and Mike.

Margot and me.

Friend, Mom, friend and Dad.

Uncle Jay, Sidne and Scott

Me, Nancy, Bill, Theresa, Sue and Martin. All cousins to each other.

Aunt Janet (Dad's sister) and Uncle Chip and extended family.

Tom, Theresa, Sue, Sidne and Scott - more cousins.

Uncle Jay and his extended family.

Mom and Dad and their extended family.

Aunt Janet and Uncle Chip.

Greg, Melanie and Emily.










Greg and Theresa pulled their boat down from Illinois. They arrived late after dealing with 2 blown out tires.

That's Courtney and Martin enjoying a leisurely cruise.

Some of the boating was a little more active. That is Tom being ejected from the tube.

That's me water skiing. It had been awhile for me. Pretty worn out after just a few minutes.

That's Mike flying through the air over the tube that is flying through the air over the water.

Tom and Misheil seem to be having fun.












Here is Mike taking a spill.

Even Jacques went for a boat ride.



These carp were looking for a handout at the boat dock.

Emily enjoyed her first boat ride.