Sorry for the short report for yesterday, delayed until today. My HP laptop got to acting up so I had to type that on HER Nexus 10 which SHE let me bring along. It's a great little tablet, but trying to type on a piece of glass STINKS! Especially on a rough NM interstate.
The HP quit completely this evening so I had to pull the ThinkPad I usually use only for EFI monitoring and update it for general use. That's what I'm on now.
Let's see, what did we do yesterday? Left Holloman AFB mid-morning and stopped at the White Sands Missile Port It was very worthwhile stop; lots of well-presented history and logically arranged with lots of historical hardware to see & touch. Better than the previous days' stop.
The drive on into Las Cruces was not very exciting but did present the first necessity to downshift to Super; the Cad couldn't quite maintain 50 mph in Drive.
We reached Hal Kading's place early in the afternoon and enjoyed a very pleasant visit with him, talking GMC's and airplanes. Dennis really enjoyed getting up-close and inside looks at the O-2 and Harvard in Hal's hanger.
Hal carried us to a great old Mexican restaurant, in business since 1939, in what was originally the stage depot for the Butterfield Stage. Great food! And atmosphere -- including a cage full of colorful parrots of several varieties. And an aquarium with a Piranha!
Parked at the far side of the hanger from the office with the wifi hotspot, we couldn't use it, even with my Alfa. And the Mellenicom/Verizon JetPack didn't get enough signal to let us get on the net. So we just slept.
Today was probably the best of the trip for Dennis: Hal's brother Bruce, a retired Continental pilot, came out and gave Dennis his first pilot training lesson in Hal's Piper Archer. I watched/listened as Bruce led Dennis through the pre-flight, explaining what and why he was looking at each item, and explaining the aerodynamics of the control surfaces. It was obvious then that it would be a GREAT experience for the budding aviator. I didn't join them to avoid any distractions, so Dennis got the "Whole Monte", from takeoff to landing. :-) He'll remember it forever. He doesn't say much, but he catches and retains everything. THANKS, Hal and Bruce!
Dan, I didn't get your photo of Hal. Seems when I laid on the creeper to look under Hal's Buskirk stretch, the camera didn't like being in my pocket. The only thing the screen will display now is abstract art! Maybe I can sell some of that to buy HER a replacement.
After Dennis' thrill, we came on to Albuquerque and moved into the FamCamp at Kirtland AFB. I have fond memories of the several days SHE, the 3 kids, and I spent here on the way to Hawaii in '65 -- our guest house was a fully furnished 3 BR home! A very pleasant respite after the trip from Indianapolis in a '60 Opel station wagon. :-)
Too bad the balloon festival's not going on -- we enjoyed the Western States rally here for that a few years back too.
Enough rambling. Good night.
Ken & Dennis
Dennis' experience reminds me of when I first learned to fly. Back then I didn't say much, either. But soak is up -- for sure. Of course, there was no such thing as an Archer, just a Colt 108 which was a two-seat version of the Tri-Pacer complete with fabric wings. Great memories!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm enjoying the blog. Fond memories of Cloudcroft, too. So, why did you bypass Walker and Roswell. While in NM you should get the "whole" experience.
Good report. Can feel your pain on the camera screen. You now have a great excuse for no photos. I have to carry a spare camera as I am too hard on them.We have the same jetpack now for internet. Love that it has external antenna jack that we do use in the GMC.
ReplyDeleteSounds like life is good for you and Dennis. Keep us posted.
Dan