Hurricane Visitors to Wright-Patterson (August 31,2019)

Interesting visitors to the area due to the hurricane coming to Florida over Labor Day. This one I have seen before, which is a Boeing E-4. It is one of four I believe and is designed as an aerial command post. It also has the nickname of "The Doomsday Plane" as it is made to survive nuclear attack.   

 The plane to the left is a C-130. One of the oldest transports in the Air Force, this four engine turboprop aircraft has a long and distinguished history in aviation. It has been involved in a number of roles and has served well over
60 years with the first models dating to 1956. It has been in production most of those years.

Planes at left is a pair of P-8 Poseidon aircraft. The P-8 is based on the Boeing 737 and is the replacement for the P-4 Orion. It was designed with the primary role of Anti-Submarine Warfare.

Unlike the P-3 which had four turboprop engines, the P-8 has two jet engines. The plane type first flew in 2009 and entered service in 2013.
Over the years it has replaced virtually all of the P-3 Orion aircraft which were in Navy service though some P-3's still serve in a limited role. These were the first P-8s I had actually seen.   

Carriage Hill Park (August 30, 2019)

One of my favorite places to visit, and best of all its the park closest in Dayton to my home is Carriage Hill Park. In a city filled with amazing parks, this is one of my favorites. For one thing there are a number of farm animals and for another the farm dates to the late 1800's. It has been kept as it was..and some of the photos can be seen directly below.
The park also has a nice visitor area to see some more items from that period and as you can see in the last photo a very nice lake can be found there. The park is well kept and is well worth a visit as I have found on many past occasions. I will be returning here in the future. 

Walking Rising Sun (August 18-22, 2019)

 Took these photos of Rising Sun during our visit from the 18th to the 22nd. Some familiar sights as well as some new ones. It is an interesting town to explore and I like walking its streets along the Ohio River and seeing the sights there.
During this trip though the heat and humidity were very high so the walks were either early in the morning or near or at dark. Think that is why when the heat and humidity got less that my motorcycle rides in Ohio on August 24 and 25 (seen on my Racing with the Wind page) were so wonderful. Well...one of the reasons anyhow. At any case enjoy these images! 

Miami County Fair (August 9 and 11, 2019)

Debbie and me made a two day trip to the Miami County Fair, with a day off in the middle. The fair actually ran a week, and held in the city of Troy, Ohio at the Fairgrounds there. It was a remarkable experience and we had a great time. Second year in a row I have been to a fair after not going to quite a few years. Last year was at the Virginia State Fair which is also to be found on this page. At any case enjoyed the food, the sights and sounds and the animals. Special big shout out to the bunnies, which I am a huge fan of from my days in Richmond, VA. The visit on the 11th was for the Draft Horse Show and some photos from that can be seen here below.     

Welcome to 1928 (August 8, 2019)

 An amazing and interesting day at the Dayton-Wright Airport which is located in an area known as Austin Landing. Got to take a flight on a 1928 Ford Tri-Motor which was flown in by the EAA. It is one of very few (I think the number is six) still flying from the era. The Ford was one of the first real airliners and had a number of firsts in its history. Flying on it was quite remarkable and a real experience. Easily the oldest plane I had ever been on, it was quite a ride. The engines made it quite noisy and the ride was also very bouncy (probably due to weather) though read both of them were common to the plane back in the day. 

No air conditioning of course, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless. As the pilot said just before takeoff "Welcome to 1928" .
The flight lasted some 15 minutes as we flew over the area. I really enjoyed the experience and feel thankful and grateful to have done it.
Wandered around before the flight. My wife Debbie and I explored the other planes visiting there from the Collings Foundation. The brought the B-17, The B-24, The B-25, the P-40 and the P-51 to see (for a small fee) or to fly on (for a larger one ) and those photos as well as of the Tri-Motor and the P-51 in the air are among the photos below.

Ford Tri-Motor

B-17

P-40

P-51

B-24

B-25

Tri-Motor in Flight

P-51 in Flight

Inside the Tri-Motor

Tri-Motor cockpit

 

A look at Dayton Tornado Damage (August 3, 2019)

 Picked a nail up in my rear motorcycle tire and took it to Joe's Cycle Shop in Dayton on the 2nd. While I had seen some of the damage on tv and from the highway of the Memorial Day storms , this was my first up close look at just a fraction of the damage. The tornadoes damaged some 1000 buildings (businesses and houses). This is just some of the damage on North Dixie Drive where the shop is located.
I took these photos wandering around the area of the motorcycle shop which amazingly (as were a very few other buildings was "largely" untouched. The bike shop I was told did get some roof damage.   

Young's Dairy( July 28, 2019)

Nice Sunday motorcycle ride. Had been down these roads before with my wife Debbie in the car, but thought they would be fun to explore with the motorcycle. I was totally correct in that guess.
While the spring was very, very rainy, corn is growing. They grow a lot of it here in Ohio, and this is just a small sample. Rode from Enon to Young's Dairy Farm. Fun place and a favorite of Debbie and me. Visited with the goats and the cows in a short visit. Back over the same roads to Enon again, and once again visited the Indian Mound. Ride covered some 35 miles and was a fantastic time.