223

223 - that's the number of days since the last post.  Sorry readers, we've been busy.  In fact, if it were not for Lola this morning, I probably wouldn't have remembered to blog at all...

This trips starts on Friday with a mid-day flight to Wichita.  Flights were routine and through Denver.  Weather in Denver was cool and on the verge of snowing.  In Wichita, overcast and on the verge of raining - expecting a full day of rain on Saturday.

Rain over Kansas

Upon arrival at the hotel, I immediately made my way across the street to the restaurant/bar which likely had the two things I wanted:

1. The Jets vs Wild game on TV
2. Beer

The pub did not disappoint - the beer was good and they put the Jets game on the TV so I could watch.  And what a finish it was!

Saturday was supposed to be a test day for us but when I arrived in Wichita on Friday, the aircraft was on stand-by as they were trouble shooting some issues that arose during the day's flights.  Saturday morning was relatively relaxed - I got up at 7 to read the emails outlining the issues from the previous day; breakfast and then made my way to the hangar to see what was going on.  There were two other guys from Montreal here, one at the same hotel as I and the other near the airport. 

Shortly before noon, we had a briefing on the activities for the day - no flight testing but at least we could get the ground tests done.  And, like all test days, it was long - we stepped on the airplane at around 3pm and stepped off at around 7:30.  Tests went well.

Afterwards, we went for dinner and then to the hotel for some sleep.  Naturally I couldn't fall asleep - too wound up from the busy day.  Eventually, though, sleep was had.

Sunday was a rest day for us.  There was some work for the airplane (measuring gaps) but that's not for me (thankfully...).  Instead, I had the day off and decided to take the advice of one of the guys from Montreal who said to go to the space museum about an hour away.  It did not disappoint!

No, I was not at the Speakeasy - this is the hotel parking lot

All ready to go

Just outside Wichita - the Winnipeg of the South

Hutchinson, KS

The Destination

I still do not understand why such an impressive space museum is in Hutchinson, KS - it baffles me.  With two rockets outside and several space modules inside (two early Russian capsules, the Liberty 7 (Mercury), a Gemini and Apollo 13 capsules), it was very impressive.  Plus, there was a German V2 rocket and much space memorabilia to be seen.  It was quite the museum, well worth the drive and admission.

The entrance to the Museum - did not expect to be going down:

This is a tire from the SR-71 Blackbird (fastest airplane ever built).  The tire rubber has powered aluminum to raise the auto-ignition temperature of the rubber to be able to accommodate the high speeds which the airplane landed at.

Replica Bell X-1 rocket plane used in early rocket development in the late 1940's:

 

This is one of 5 metallic spheres the Russians built to launch on rockets towards the moon (called the "Luna Sphere"). The first one missed, the second and third hit the moon (being the first objects sent from Earth to the moon).  Numbers 4 and 5 were never launched and were held a Senior Russian official until they were both "found" in the US - one here and the other at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, both in Kansas.

Glass windows used at the rocket launch (blast) bunker at Cape Canaveral which consisted of 14 pieces of glass 1/4" thick resulting in a 4.5" thick window.

The view through the window.

The replica Liberty Bell 7 (originally lost in the Atlantic Ocean when the main hatch opened prematurely when the aircraft landed on the water; later found and restored; currently on loan to another museum).  In the background in a replica Voskhod capsule with Volga airlock (Russian).

Inside the Gemini X capsule.  Hope they weren't claustrophobic...

THE Apollo 13 capsule:

Me with my buddies:

One of the first moon rocks collected by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11.  Much larger than the moon rocks I've seen in Tucson, Florida and Texas:

A replica lunar lander:

Ah, those Russians!  Vodka in space - used when there was a fire on-board the MIR space stating in the 90's to help "calm nerves" (oh really, that's what Vodka is used for?):

This one's for Lola:

I didn't get many pictures of the V2 / WWII exhibit but it was quite amazing how much influence WWII had on the space race.  Most notably was that the Germans spent $3 billion in 1945 currency to develop the V2 rocket, more than double what the US spent to develop the atomic bomb.  Also interesting - it cost $550 for VW to build the V1 rockets.  My memory fails me but the build time for each rocket was equally astounding (assembly time maybe 6 hrs?).

After spending 2+ hours at the museum, I made my way back to Wichita with a short stop at the Learjet 35 on static display outside the Learjet / Bombardier hangars:

Then it was back to the hotel, a short workout at the gym and then dinner down the street.  Now, time for bed - tomorrow sounds like it will be a full day with meetings and testing.  Hopefully we get everything done that we want to tomorrow so I can get out of here on Tuesday to go to Montreal for the rest of the week.

Hawaii 2017 - Day 10-11

As alluded to by Lola yesterday, here is a better recap of our last day in Hawaii and the status of our current travel day.

Thursday was an early morning for us, we got up at 6 so that we could get on the road for around 6:45 and make our way to the airport on Maui.  We ate a quick breakfast and finished packing before saying goodbye to our condo. 

The drive to the airport was routine and not much traffic.  Getting through security was also a non-issue as our flight was departing at a slow time for the airport - not much airline traffic at 9am.  The lady working at the Hawaiian Airlines check-in counter was very chatty, even Lola thought so. 

Once through security, we got some happy juice from Starbucks (tea for Lola and coffee for AA) and made our way to the gate. 

As we were sitting at the gate, a guy nearby received a phone call, from someone he was meeting in Hilo, saying that the city/town was under a flash flood warning and some streets were already flooded and closed.  Well I guess it wouldn't be a Hawaiian vacation for Lola and AA without some sort of natural disaster now would it?

The flight to Hilo was on-time and uneventful.  It was cloudy so you couldn't see much of the ocean or the island.  Once on the ground in Hilo, we could see what the guy on the phone had been saying - there was lots of standing water on the airfield and runway/taxiways and it kept coming down. 

We had a short 5 mins wait for our bags (we were two of maybe 10 who actually checked bags) and then made our way to the rental car.  The wait at the rental car was equally short (thanks to AA's preferred membership) so after about 5 mins we were in our car and on our way. 

We had our route figured out - travel north on the island to Waimea and then stop for lunch.  What to do after lunch, we weren't too sure yet.

The drive out of Hilo was interesting.  At one point, we were driving in a parking lot near to the ocean front as the road was about 3 feet under water.  The rest of the drive was uneventful (from a weather standpoint, from a view standpoint that is different).

The last time we drove this route, we were going the opposite direction (to Hilo, not from Hilo) and we had stopped at Akaka Falls which is about 15 mins outside of Hilo.  We decided to do the same on this trip since it was on the way.  Also, with the rain, we were sure that the falls would be energized.  And we were not wrong.

The drive from the Falls to Waimea was about an hour and took us from 600 feet elevation to over 2,500 feet into the clouds (interesting thought - when driving in the clouds, do you consider this clouds or fog?).

Lola found a spot for lunch - Big Island Brewhaus.  AA was excited.  The ambiance was very small town and the food was an interesting take on Mexican and seafood which was very delicious.  The beer was also pretty good.

After lunch we made our way towards Kona, enjoying the sites as we drove.  We had one stop to make for Lola's sister (who we will call HyDro) to get something for her husband.  At the place that I cannot mention due to non-disclosure agreements in place until Big J's birthday, we took in the view overlooking the side of Mauna Loa towards Kona - it was pretty cool.

After our short stop, we then made our way to Kona to do some shopping at (of all places) Costco.  Then, to Target before making our way downtown to some of the local gift shops.

Things you expect to see in Target - live geckos?

Loaded with snacks and drinks

Once we were done with shopping, AA found a beach to go to and enjoy their last sunset on Hawaii, and the sunset did not disappoint.

Then, it was time for dinner at Bubba Gump so that Lola could have some crab legs.  AA enjoyed the fish and chips.

After dinner and after a short walk around Kona (and checking out a beach volleyball game), we made our way back to the car and decided to drive 30 mins to the shops that were near our first hotel on the Big Island - nothing else to really do other than kill time before we boarded our 12:45am flight back home. 

We spent about an hour at the shops and then drove back to fill up the car with gas and return the rental car.  And wait at the airport.  And wait some more.

Finally, the inbound flight arrived and we boarded our flight back to Vancouver.

AA had a good sleep on the plane, Lola had more of a nap.

Once in Vancouver, we hustled through customs (thanks to our Nexus cards) and then through domestic security.  Although our flight had been changed to go through Calgary, we were hoping that perhaps we could catch the Winnipeg direct flight.  Unfortunately we could not, even though we did get to the gate before boarding was complete however the checked bags were an issue.  We then went to the airline guest services counter to see if we could catch an earlier flight through Calgary but the flight that was delayed to 9:30 (from 9am) wouldn't allow for the Winnipeg connection to work.  So, instead we were given a $30 food voucher and went to get something to eat before going to the lounge to enjoy more coffee, tea and comfier chairs.

A little tired

New tables and chairs from when we were here last, 10-11 days ago

Hopefully the remainder of our flights on this 14 hrs travel day (up from what would have been 10 hrs) goes off without a hitch.  Time will tell.

AA

Hawai‘i 2017 - day 10 (part 1)

So we are currently sitting at the Kona airport waiting for our red eye home, using the last of the paid cellular data Lola has left on her phone to give a little update.  The flight is delayed 1 hour and 5 minutes. That means missing our planned connection in Vancouver. Which means we now have to fly through Calgary after Vancouver.... going to be a long night and day.

We had a great last day. But you will have to wait till we get back to Canada to hear about it becuase the pictures help explain our day and Lola doesn’t have enough data or cellphone battery to upload photos right now.

So it will have to wait.... mahalo