Reno Airshow Eyewitness Report

One of the guys I used to work with was at the airshow when the accident happened.

Here's the email he sent us today:

Take a look at the last second of the attached video I took during the F18 demo. This shows how close we were to where the plane hit, impact was directly in front of us. Picture attached is what I think is us hitting the deck, circled. Link is to a video of the plane going down from the other side of the field. The pilot made an adjustment a split second before he hit us. You can see the correction in the video, I don’t even think he was more than 100 feet above us when he did it. Nothing in our minds thought we were getting out of that. I truly have no idea how we survived. Had the pilot, and I believe he did, not made that last quarter second correction we would have took a propeller on the chin and a lot more people would have died. We were also lucky to have hit the ground as fast as we did, people behind us got hurt by flying debris. We were hit with debris and covered in fuel but somehow there was not a fireball. Why that didn't happen I will never know. Had there been, that also could have been a game ender. Really hard to get my head wrapped around how we lived. Really makes you appreciate who, and what, you have in your life.

Mike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaWB_7RGTQ4

Current Position.....

We're at 5.5* N, 147.5* W, and Motoring along at about 10kts.

Looks like the launch will get pushed back to the 24th, but no "official" word yet.

Nighty-night, all!

Where's Waldo, Part Deux

We're now at 6.5* N, 146.5* W, and chugging along at 9.4 kts.

Or as one of my friends called it, "Groundhog Day, Part 3".

We were supposed to get to the launch site on Wednesday about 1700, but the platform had a turbocharger failure on one of their big Diesels that runs the generators (it has a Diesel-Electric propulsion system), and they were dead-in-the-water for about 4 hours while they fixed it.

I'd post more pictures, but everything has to be approved by Security and the Export people, so I'll see if I can get some approvals for simple things like the helo.

In the meantime, here's the latest Enhanced IR picture from the weather guys.

The little green square is where we are.

Where's Waldo??

No, not my middle name.
Right now we're at 10* 47' N, 142* 47' W, right smack dab in the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and man, is it raining!
We're chugging along at around 12 kts, thanks to "Fair Winds and Following Seas".

Bad Crash at Reno Air Races

Just talked to my wife on the phone, and she said there was a crash at the Reno Air Races.
Our satcom system is acting up tonight, so all I can get posted is this link to Google.

Helo Flight!

Well, today I had my first flight in a Huey. It was a Twin Huey, in excellent condition, and we flew with both doors open so we wouldn't have any windows impeding our photography.
Now I haven't flown in an aircraft with the door(s) off in about 30 years, so it was quite an experience. The other photographer is an old pro at this, and has flown in the back seat of various chase planes for numerous aircraft tests, and done more than his share of hanging out of helos snapping pictures.
As long as I kept my eye glued to the viewfinder, and kept the job-at-hand firmly in mind, I was OK.
The first time I dropped the viewfinder down so I could orient myself with the ships, I about lost my lunch.
I was two feet from the open door (SOLIDLY hooked up in my harness!), and we were in about a 30* bank to get a better angle for the other photog, at about 500' ASL.
Caught me totally off-guard, and I popped the camera back up to my eye again.
And we get to do it again next week when the launch vehicle is erect on the pad.
I think I'll skip lunch that day.............

Life At Sea.......

Well, we're about 1200 miles off the coast and headed to the Launch Site at 20 kts. We're supposed to catch the Launch Platform around midnight, and then we'll slow down to about 9 kts and travel in formation with them the rest of the way.
Tomorrow afternoon I get to go up in the helicopter with the "Official" photographer, who'll be shooting video, while I get some 'beauty shots' of the two ships travelling in formation.
We used to have a Bell 230 helo, but now we have a Bell 212. The 212 is better suited to our needs, as it can carry more people and cargo. It also has two huge sliding doors, so heavy cargo that used to have be transported over hanging on a sling can now be stowed inside the helo.
The weather has been pretty good so far, with smooth seas. That will change when we enter the Intertropical Convergence Zone, where we go through some rain and it's usually overcast this time of year.
I was feeling a bit under-the-weather yesterday, probably from eating too much and a lack of physical activity. Even though I'm running around all day, at this point it's shuttling things between offices, helping people set up their PC's, and checking equipment, so it's pretty light duty. I'll have to start my daily walk around the ship, starting on the first bridge deck at the stern, working my way up to the bow on the fifth bridge deck using all the ladders, (stairs on ships are called "ladders"), and then back down again.
I finally got the big screen TV, DVD player, audio system, Wii, and X-Box in our "Lounge Area" all connected together and operating last night. Had a couple of bad cables that were driving me nuts, but was able to fix them. And connecting my laptop with a Blu-Ray player to the big TV with an HDMI cable makes for some pretty good viewing. I watched Steve McQueen in "Le Mans" last night, and it was very enjoyable.

ALWAYS Remember

Other will write for better than I can about what happened 10 years ago today.

Remember

Prepare

Be Ready

As the little boy said at the end of the first Terminator movie....."There's a storm coming".

HAMCON 2011 in Torrance, CA

One of the benefits of the one-day delay we had in the launch schedule was that I'll be able to go to HAMCON at the Marriott in Torrance. I've been going every year since 1995 as long as it was "local" here in California, and I was kind of bummed about not being able to go.
I won't be able to make the Saturday night banquet as I have to get up early, but at least I'll be able "spread some wealth" Saturday from all the overtime I worked.
I'm going to 'upgrade' the handie-talkie I use for the FM satellites from a Kenwood TH-D7 to the new Kenwood TH-D72.
It's really neat, and has a built-in GPS to use with the APRS network.

I'm still 'working' on the YF to get approval for what will most likely be my "Last, New. BIG HF Radio", a Yaesu FTDX-5000MP.
My big ol' Kenwood TS-950SDX has served me well these years, but it's starting to have some problems, and parts are getting hard to come by for it. The ONLY place I'd trust to work on it is AVVID down in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and shipping this beast back will cost about $100, plus the repair charges.

Or maybe I can convince her I *really* need an Elecraft K3!

Getting Ready To Go.....

We spent most of the day securing our systems on the LP and stowing equipment for transit. We had antennas to lock down, feeds to stow, cables to pull back into the Comm Shack, and rented test equipment to get back to the shipping-receiving guys. It's kind of a drag having to work out in the 95* heat we've been having, especially after not leaving work until 2300 the night before.
The LP is leaving Thursday at 0800, and we'll follow Sunday morning around 1000.
They brought in FIVE tankers full of liquid nitrogen, and as the last of those were leaving, SIX tankers of liquid oxygen were waiting to come into the lot. The LN2 is used to chill the RP1, a kerosene-based fuel, so that it's denser and provides a bigger bang, and the LOX is used as the oxidizer.
We stocked our private "Goodie Freezer" today with an assortment of ice cream and frozen foods, and the "dry goods" will get loaded tomorrow. The food on the ship is usually quite good, but there are times when you have to work through meals. The galley is very accommodating if there's a major operation going on, and they'll bring us buffet plates to make sandwiches from, and provide us with mid-rats if we request.
I took about 30 DVDs and my laptop onboard today, and tomorrow I'll drag all my camera gear up to my office cube. I'll haul my sea bag in on Friday, and that eliminates having to drag all that stuff from my car to the ship the morning we leave.
I've been doing this long enough to appreciate the convenience of having all my stuff onboard well prior to departure!
So things are on-schedule, and we're looking forward to heading back to 154*W, 0*N for a launch!

ILV Is Up.....