Celebration of Flight (October 29, 2011)

On a chilly brisk Saturday at Concord Regional Airport, went by to check out the "Celebration of Flight at the airport. It was free except for a $5 charge for parking, but that also paid for the shuttle buses so it was cool. Plus, one of the food booths had very good, and free coffee, so it was well worth it. Got to see some really neat aircraft such as this private plane. I liked this photo, and many of the other planes I saw of this type. They had a good variety of aircraft though, and some that people just don't often get to see up close and personal. They also had some interesting fly-by's planned, but I did not get to see those this trip, had a full weekend planned.
Plane seen here with Tony Stewart's car is actually Tony Stewart's plane of a sort..it is the team plane of Stewart-Haas Racing. While the cars are hauled by truck to the races, the team members are flown. Also at the event was the team plane of Joe Gibbs racing, and being held in the home of Nascar teams (most are based in the region, and have been to many of the race shops which you can see in previous posts here) there were also a number of team's cars here. Of course they build quite a few during the season, though some of these at the airport may have been raced during the season. In fact many of the drivers in the series also are pilots.
As far as interesting planes, this one was sort of special. This P-51 Mustang is owned by Jack Roush, who is a team owner in NASCAR (and a quite successful one). He is also a pilot, and had a close call in a plane (though not this one) a few years ago. The P-51 was the best fighter plane of WWII on the American side, and really changed the war for the good when it came out. This is not the original "Old Crow" but is based on the one which was flown by Bud Anderson. He also owns the P-51 "Gentleman Jim" which was also flown in for the event. Seeing these planes alone was in my opinion worth the parking fee and the cool weather.
Also very cool was this plane at left, which is an L-39 Albatros. It was built by the Aero Vodochody company which is located in Czechoslovakia. The plane was used both as a trainer and as a light attack aircraft. Of course it was used by the air forces of the Warsaw Pact, but it also was sold to a number of Western Nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has now been flown by some 30+ nations. Many of them have been sold to private individuals in the US, such as this one. In fact the type even did a demo race at the Reno Air Races a few years ago. It is said to be a rugged and relatively easy to fly plane.
Finally, the US Army flew in this AH-64 Apache, the current state of the art attack helicopter used by the US Army. The Apache is still in use, and has seen action in all of the battles and wars of the past few years. A North Carolina C-130 was also at the event. I will post a few more photos on my photo page.
The event was really nice, Concord has had air shows in the past, but while this was more of an open house with some fly-by's, it was really a nice event with some good variety. It is a great way to see some interesting aircraft, meet some pilots, and to see the great variety of planes that can use the local airports.

More from October 22, 2011

Had some problems with the previous post, so here are some more photos. I mentioned Aluminaut at the Virginia Science Center, here you can see it. One of the great deep diving submarines, it was used to explore the deeper parts of the oceans. This display is open at one end so you can look inside the submarine. As I noted in the previous post, it is a very fine museum, and is located on Broad Street. As I also noted went there to see the Air And Space Museum (in Washington, DC) space suit display, and that you can see a photo of on my previous post. I had a good time there on a very fine fall day in Richmond, but there was more.
I went to the Chesterfield County Airport to see the planes from the Collins Foundation. Not often you can see history fly, and these were some rare and flying aircraft. There was a P-51C fighter, a Consolidated B-24 and a Boeing B-17. Those planes were some of the major planes for the United States during WWII against Germany, and in fact the types were also used against Japan. Very few flying examples exist today out of the many thousands that were built during the war years. Most of them were scrapped at the end of the war, and in fact propeller planes were obsolete due to the jets which came on scene near the end of the war.
In previous post I mentioned the car/bike show I came across on West Broad Street, here you can see one of the cars there. I have a few more photos on my Photo Page, of what turned out to be a very interesting day. Often I find out about events in the area via the Richmond Times web site, or Richmond.com but in this case I was driving and just came across this event. Glad I did there were some remarkable things to see. I also made a visit during the day to the Virginia War Memorial which now has a very interesting museum (opened last year I am told) with some really unique items to check out there. It was a very fun day, and I enjoyed it a great deal!

Exploring Richmond on an October day (October 22, 2011)

An interesting day in Richmond, one of many I have had here, just got out to see a few things. One of the events I came across was the Car/bike show on West Broad Street. I was heading out that way to see some motorcycles, did not expect to see ones like this. Did not know the show was going on...saw it happening and turned in to check it out. Have another photo (of one of the cars) below, and also more photos on my Photo Page from sights seen during the day. This is a very unique sort of custom; some are built for looks and some are built for speed-this bike is built for both, and I really enjoyed this and some other motorcycles I saw there.
At the Virginia Science Center they have a display of space suits which is part of a display from the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. These were training suits, but if you wanted to take a walk on the moon, this is what you would want to wear. Good photos there of some other suits worn over the years of US Spaceflight, and many other related items to check out.
The museum was years ago the Broad Street Train Station, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. Lots of displays to check out there, and I enjoyed my second visit to the museum. They do charge admission, but there is a lot to see and do there:many of the displays are interactive and they cover a lot of areas. There is also a train there to see, and the research submarine "Aluminaut" which was used to explore the deepest parts of the ocean. Well worth checking out the Virginia Science Center-one of the fine museums in this city. The space suit exhibit runs through the end of December.

Views from the Motorcycle (October 16, 2011)

Well, the photo from left was part of the motorcycle ride, it is the Union County Courthouse in Monroe, NC. I had not been on the motorcycle (other than a short ride to bring it home from the shop three weeks ago) and this was my first real ride on a warm Sunny Sunday this October 16. Like riding to Monroe, its a neat Carolina city-something like 32,000 live there. An old downtown with some really neat houses, and there will be an air show there November 4-6 at the Monroe Airport. The courthouse seen here was built in 1886 and is a very beautiful building. I enjoy seeing these old places, and to be honest there are very few places that old in Charlotte-or even near that old. Some of the outlying towns and cities though have kept and restored some of the old historic buildings and even re-use a great many of them for other purposes. Textile Mills seems to be very popular as office buildings and condos for instance. Concord has a fairly old racetrack, which got a lot of activity this weekend- the Bank of America 500 was run this weekend, watched that on tv, but could hear the cars from my back deck at the house.
As for this sight, this was prior to the ride, took this photo of the Dinwiddie County Airport. I was told fuel was cheaper in Dinwiddie than in Richmond (and it was!) and before heading back down the road, I stopped for a quick visit at the airport (though I have been there before). A while back there was a C-130 there, but that now has been moved to its new home at Ft. Lee. Nice airport though-this terminal I learned (from the web site) was built in 2002. The airport was started around World War II and I suppose the site was given to the county at the end of the war, It has been greatly improved since then. The airport is located at I-85 and Rt 460 in Dinwiddie.
In addition to the ride to Monroe, I also rode to Charlotte. I love going to Charlotte, there is a great deal to see and do there. In fact I will be back over the Halloween weekend-On Saturday October 29, a number of Charlotte Museums and other places of interest will be free to explore. It is part of the Wells Fargo Community Day in Charlotte, NC, and there will be other events as well. Of course also going on is Occupy Charlotte-as that is the home to many banks including Bank of America which has its Headquarters there (that is the big building in the center of this photo). Politics aside (though the Democratic National Convention will be held in Charlotte, next year), the city has a lot to offer and is a very interesting place. My ride today covered some 80 miles over 2.5 hours and also took me past North Davidson (the art district of Charlotte, aka "NoDa") and into University City (the home of UNCC). I enjoyed it a great deal, it felt good to have my "knees in the breeze" once again after a long down period to get the motorcycle repaired, and also due to some rainy weather. Neither was a problem today.
After a great weekend at home, back in Richmond as I write this, and looking forward to an interesting week. Missed (again) the Richmond Folk Festival, but will get that in hopefully in the next year. Have enjoyed many fun musical events the last few weeks in Richmond, and I am sure there will be more to come. Blessed to get to spend time in two very interesting states with a number of very interesting cities.

Taste of India/OystoberFest (October 8, 2011)

Interesting sort of day in the RVA, hit a couple of small festivals starting with the Festival of India 2011 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. While I was there, saw this car, which was last owned by one John Dillinger. He was of course a famous Indiana Depression era outlaw, and had quite a colorful history. He had this car for a long time, finally crashing it in (I believe) 1934. Later he became quite fond of Ford's (this is not one, I can't remember the brand but it is no longer made) and wrote a letter to Henry Ford. He died right after watching a movie in Chicago on July 22, 1934. He has a very interesting story, and was one of the more colorful gangsters of the day.
Festival of India was held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. I believe it is one of the oldest festivals of its time, celebrated 30 years this year. It was a cool thing, while in the USN never made it to India, but enjoyed the colorful clothing worn, the smells of the good food on hand (tis quite the food festival) and some very interesting dancing as seen here at right. A very interesting culture, and a fine and friendly people. I liked both that, and the first visit to the Greater Richmond Convention Center which is an interesting and massive place. Nice to visit this event, as a man who did a lot of flying around much of the world-we are not that far apart.
Finally, the Orderlies are seen here at OystoberFest which was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Ginter Park. It was a first time for me both for the festival and for that area of Richmond. Had a good time, marvel both at the skill of musicians in the area, and also the fine beer selections at the festivals. Lots of good stuff besides "Miller and Bud" which is pretty cool. I also am a big fan of oysters, and the theme of this event was pretty cool. As always, nice people here and had a great time at this event.
Seeing some hints of fall here in the RVA, won't be long until this area is a blaze of color and I am looking forward to it. Hope to bring some of that in my next post here. Thanks for visiting this page!

Richmond, A Fine Fall Day Part 2 (October 1, 2011)

I had a GREAT time in one of my favorite areas of Richmond (Church Hill) at Libby Hill Park, where I went to Hogtober held there on October 1. It was a nice (and free admission) event with bands, good food and as they called them "golden beverages". Nice selection of those golden beverages too. Barbeque was there from Halligan Bar and Grill, Alamo Barbeque, Buz and Ned's and Extra Billy's. It was a good chance to check out some different places to eat in Richmond. I had the Extra Billy's and it was really good and my first time to have it. I got there early before the crowd really rolled in, though not long after this it was packed, and the music cranked up.
I had a lot planned for the day (see Part 1 of this post for the rest of the day) but I did check out the entire set by "Rosie Soul and the Rock and Roll Cowboys". I had seen them (and learned of the event, which was put on by Style Magazine by the way) on tv the day before and thought they were pretty good. They were pretty good, and greatly enjoyed the music. Richmond has some really good and creative bands, and have been lucky to see a number of them. They had a full day of music there, unfortunately I did not have a full day to check them all out, but I had a great time with this band. It was a really fun event!
Libby Hill Park has some remarkable views. This one is especially notable. Founder of Richmond named the city for this view which reminded him of an area named Richmond in the London, England area. The James River is a major part of the city of Richmond, and the center of much of the city activities. There are some great and interesting things to see and do along the James River and over the past few years I have seen and done many of them...but there is still much to do and much to see in this very interesting town. I do have a good time here, and enjoy what Richmond has to offer, it is a fun town with fine people.
This view is also from Libby Hill Park, looking toward nearby Shockoe Bottom, and downtown Richmond, VA. Many of the old tobacco factories (which the Lucky Strike building was one of) have been converted to apartments and condos. Richmond does not bulldoze the past, they tend to re-cycle it as seen here. Of course, there is a lot of new in Richmond. I have a few more photos from the day out on my Photo Page and there is a link to it on this page if you would like to see a few more. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoyed the photos here!

Richmond, A Fine Fall Day Part 1 (October 1, 2011)

Had a full day in Richmond, VA on October 1. Went to downtown following a great time at Hogtober (the Part 2 of this post) in Church Hill, but also went by Octoberfest. While walking to that, wandered by the Capital of Virginia. The building was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and is quite an impressive sight Entrance is right in front of it, have to go through security to walk through it. Worth that, cause there is a lot of history in that building, and it is quite a sight to check out inside. In fact older posts of this site have some photos from inside. The Governor of Virginia also lives on the grounds of this area, and has a very nice house there.
Took this photo at Octoberfest at the Capital Ale House. Was quite an adventure to get to it, due to the fact that section of Main Street was closed, and as you can see from the crowd parking was quite a job, so I got a little walk in. Walking in Richmond though is pretty cool, and I got some good photos while I was out, so no problem. Actually, did not get any beer there, I did however get a collectable beer stein there, which was pretty cool. Always fun being downtown, and they also had some German food, German bands, and people in ethnic German clothing. Crowd seemed to be having a good time, and it was nice being there.
Earlier I went (actually the start of the day) to Drewery's Bluff (aka Ft. Darling) where a group of Civil War Re-enactors were set up. They had a lot of displays of period items from the Civil War, and there was also a park service ranger there to give details on the Naval Battle on the James River there. Basically, during the Civil War, a Union fleet came up the James River (which included the famous Ironclad USS Monitor, and was driven off from guns based on the fort above the James River. Some of those guns were from the scuttled Confederate Ironclad CSA Virginia (formerly the Union ship USS Merrimack) I enjoyed seeing these displays at the fort.
Finally, the day ended at Mulligans Sports Bar, where I watched with a friend from work the University of Louisville vs Marshall University football game (Louisville lost). We had a good time though, and that is really nice place. I liked the upper deck and got a photo of it when I checked it out. It was a very good time, and win or lose Mulligans was a nice place to watch the game. I have a few more photos on my photo page and there is a link to that on this page. Saw a lot of interesting things in what is a fun and interesting city....Richmond, Virginia, USA.