John & Anne Wiley

2012/07/09

Cub Scouting

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 04:03

We saw in Edhat that there was a gathering of Piper Cub pilots and fans at Lompoc airport this weekend, so we used it as an excuse to fly over for a look. As we taxied in from landing I saw several vintage planes parked outside or in hangars with the doors uncharacteristically left open. Since we seldom see open hangars or more than a couple of planes parked outside, I’m guessing the owners wanted to show off their spiffy planes. I hadn’t realized how popular vintage planes are at Lompoc. The large above-ground aircraft fuel tank even has a Cub logo on it.

1220 Cartoon Cub

1220 Cartoon Cub

But we had missed all the flying and other activities of the three day event. By the time we got there, only these two Cubs were still parked near the main hangar with no people in sight.

1195 Cub Companions

1195 Cub Companions

It’s fun to watch these little planes landing, because they fly so slowly compared with Tripp. That means they don’t need much runway to stop. I knew a guy with one on floats that he claimed could land on a damp sponge. But behind that one in front was a pleasant surprise for me.

1201 '46 Luscombe 8A Silvaire

1201 ’46 Luscombe 8A Silvaire

This is probably very similar or identical to the plane my Dad took his solo flight in when I was a toddler. That one didn’t have the yellow paint, but instead sported a flashy polished aluminum look. I don’t remember much from that age, but seeing him climb into that big silver bird and fly away is a vivid image. I was awestruck, and wanted to fly from that moment on. I sure wish Dad had lived to share the joy of flight with me, and am glad to have done so with Anne’s Dad. Anne walked over to look inside, and her expression says to me she’s happy for the luxurious extra space inside Tripp. 🙂

1203 Coach Seating

1203 Coach Seating

We’ve seen skydiving on several flights to Lompoc, but never from the ground. So when we noticed a bunch of them landing next to the airport I snapped this.

1213 Shorter Flight

1213 Shorter Flight

Taking off just before another group was getting ready to jump, Anne asked if I’m interested in doing it. I used to think about it sometimes, but since starting flying everything has changed. I’m not the least bit scared to do it, and in fact the thrill would be the main attraction now. It’s just the thought of trading several hours of flying together in Tripp, for the solo rush of a couple of minutes hanging in front of someone I don’t know. As with so many choices now my answer is, “I’d rather be flying.” Maybe someday in a Cub or Luscombe though. 🙂

2012/07/02

Vertical Therapy

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 08:13

As I mentioned before, flying has a powerful soothing and healing effect for us. Any mood before takeoff magically transforms into a calm, happy, relaxed and generally blissed out state after we land. So we were scared a week ago. That’s when Tripp went in for her thorough annual checkup. It can be very expensive to ensure she remains safe and sound, especially when we add all the upgrades on our wish list. But the big scary issue is that it can keep us grounded for a long time while she’s all opened up. Last year: two months! So in the days before, we took several short flights to store up our bliss.

0898 Bliss Accumulation

0898 Bliss Accumulation

The pic above is UCSB’s Campus Point from our last flight before work started, using the excuse of warming up the engine for one of the tests. I mean, why sit on the tarmac with engine roaring and brakes set when you can be flying instead, right? Well, I’m very happy to report that Tripp sailed thru her checkup with flying colors and we took some short flights to celebrate. 🙂

0922 UCSB Greeting

0922 UCSB Greeting

As if to bracket our fear of grounding, UCSB both comforted our last takeoff before work started and our first takeoff after it was completed. So now we’re confident Tripp’s tip top for another year, and her excellent report card saved us enough money to fly more. Today we flew again, tomorrow looks good, we’re looking for a Tuesday excuse, and we might fly past the July 4th fireworks Wednesday. Lifting off today before we turned toward the East I snapped this familiar view of Goleta Beach, opposite the view of Campus Point a week ago.

1039 Tripp's New Year

1039 Tripp’s New Year

2012/04/19

Scale

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 06:01

We returned from our very emotional and tiring trip to San Diego just before sunset, with our hearts full of appreciation for family and friends. We were well ready for rest and recuperation. It was a surprise then, as we taxied Tripp to her parking spot, to see this USAF plane that looks far to large for moving under its own power, much less flying. Yet fly it does, and pretty fast, with lots of big and heavy things inside. Take a long look at this pic for a sense of the scale of this thing.

1806 Big Bird Butt

1806 Big Bird Butt

Not just the people standing next to it. Check out the large jet at the left, that itself dwarfs our 4-passenger Tripp. Or the line of large tanker trucks on the right. At the same time, giving it a human scale is this other pic.

1807 Family Size

1807 Family Size

This big scary machine is operated by caring and warm-hearted people supported by their families and friends. It seems the crew, rarely landing at SBA where military planes from any service are unusual but USAF planes even more so, got permission to show off their bird. It was so sweet to see them all ogling it and looking in awe at what their loved ones operate. Seems to fit perfectly with our reaffirmation the last few days, of the value family and friends have in creating and sustaining a meaningful life.

May your family and friends always be the wind beneath your wings.

2012/03/10

Bouncing Bettys

Filed under: Aviation,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,People,Random,Relationships — John @ 05:47

As a kid I loved movies that had airplanes in them. I liked jets of course, but the WWII prop planes were my faves. Well imagine my delight in learning soon after we met that Anne’s Dad is a real-life hero pilot for 1942-44 actions in the Pacific. Lately we’ve been scanning stuff saved from that period, and I came across this official Navy photo of him being presented the Distinguished Flying Cross 6/8/45 while then working as a test pilot at Patuxent River, MD.

45-6-8 John F. Humphrey DFC

45-6-8 John F. Humphrey DFC

One of the actions that won him the medal was using his PB4Y-1 (B-24) heavy bomber to chase and shoot down a smaller Japanese “Betty” thought too fast for him to catch. After his success, other bombers of the type he flew managed to shoot down Bettys, but he held the record after bagging several more. Another one, though badly shot up and almost certainly unable to reach base, managed to escape despite literally impacting the ocean surface twice. This highly improbable incident led to a later book about the war having a chapter titled “Bouncing Bettys.” Here’s a fuzzy photo from a book about the squadron, of his bouncing Betty taken by one of his gunners.

2/14/44 Bouncing Betty

2/14/44 Bouncing Betty

Here’s one from a book written by his commanding officer in the Pacific, with his crew in front of their plane that was later destroyed (he obviously did manage to fly the battered bomber back to base).

43 VP-104 crew 12

43 VP-104 crew 12 – John Humphrey top 2nd from right

Before that he flew the beautiful PBY Catalina amphibious search & rescue aircraft, and of course was also commended for heroic deeds in that. Here’s a pic of him with that VP-71 Squadron.

40 VP-71 Squadron

40 VP-71 Squadron – John Humphrey bottom 2nd from right

I love how young and bright he looks, presumably happy to have earned command of his own PBY and crew, and freshly assigned to the squadron. After the war this adventurous and courageous guy raised a family, moved them from CT to CA, started a very successful packaging company, and even briefly produced skateboards in the 1960s. He named it the Humco Surfer, and at age 92 he’s being considered for inclusion (hopefully with correct spelling) in a skateboard documentary. Here’s a pic they took of him last year holding one of his boards.

2011 Humco Skateboard

2011 Humco Skateboard

Interestingly, he married two different women named Betty and outlived them both. Quite an amazing life, eh?

Update – after his passing we created a memorial website for him here:
http://humco.wordpress.com/

2012/01/16

Slices

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 19:35

Most flights in the Santa Barbara region provide a bounty of panoramas. Sadly, few photos capture even a slice of this overwhelming beauty. Even so, I like these slices more than many I’ve snapped. Taking off from runway 15L, if air traffic is light sometimes I request a left crosswind shoreline departure that provides the panorama hinted at by this slice.

9529 Shoreline Departure

9529 Shoreline Departure

On this day ATC changed their mind and had me fly North toward the mountains, turning our side window panorama and providing this slice that crosses the first one.

9531 Turned Slice

9531 Turned Slice

Reaching the 101 freeway, ATC turned us again to fly East until the freeway winds toward the South. That offers yet another slice of paradise beyond the friendly municipal golf course.

9539 Paradise Slice

9539 Paradise Slice

As you probably know, having landed in every state and province North of Mexico, we still find our region the most beautiful and diverse. Even a few minutes aloft in this area provides a heart full of soul soothing scenes that these pix only hint at with serene slices.

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Blog at WordPress.com.