Sentimental Journey - Summer Tour 2009

[Bubak]

MATT Supeeer!  Thanks for the updates!

[Matt Ottosen]

Well, the drought is over, I took over 200 photos today!

We moved to Fox Field this morning. I had arranged an air-to-air shoot during the move. We used a Piper Lance, and the great Bob Stambovsky from Stambo Aviation was our pilot. It was a lot of fun, and I think I got some great shots. Air-to-air is much harder than I thought it would be.

For those going to Miramar, Bob Stambovsky will be there with his Jet Provost T5. Go talk with him, tell him the photographer from the 17 crew sent you.

When we arrived at Fox Field today the High School kids had a ceremony for us. They sang, had a color guard, drill team, and presented us with gifts. They really put some work into their ceremony, and it was fun to be a part of it.

I flew one ride on SJ today as Loadmaster, it went really well and we all had a good time.

SJ is broken again. We have an oil leak on #1. We took off the cowls today and found an oil line with a crappy repair job had cracked. We'll need to weld what we have or fabricate a new one. We could be down for a day or so.

Fox Field is increasing the tanker traffic again. Another fire broke out today, and the tanker ops were in full force out here.

We were invited to another hangar party this evening. It's great to meet all these airport bums, they are so nice to us. They just love having our little piece of history at their airport.

I'm off to bed, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

[Joe Copalman]

If anyone is planning on being at Falcon Field this weekend for Sentimental Journey's arrival and needs ramp access for arrival photos, please let me know by tomorrow (Thursday) morning so I can get a list off to the CAF's Wing Leader.  Thanks!

-Joe

[Bubak]

 


Hi Joe I'm planning on being at Falcon Field this weekend for Sentimental Journey's arrival.

[Jay Beckman]

Saturday Morning?

I'd like to come play as well please...

[redsox223]

You can put me down as well assuming that I dont over sleep or anything like that.

[Rob Silliman]

Joe,

Please put me down JIC (a strong maybe), and it will depend on what the estimated arrival time is.

Rob

[Chris V]

Joe please put me down also. Will you be sending an itinerary out for this? I have never been to Falcon yet 

[Joe Copalman]

Chris, either Matt or I will post something more specific on the day of.  I just received an email from Matt saying the crew is concerned about heat and density altitude at Shafter, which is the last stop on the tour.  As such, they might be leaving really early on Sunday.  We'll definitely keep everyone posted.

The CAF Museum is at the northeast corner of McKellips and Greenfield.  Matt has worked it out with the wing leader that AzAP members can gain access to the CAF ramp without paying the museum's entrance fee, as long as we provide him with a list of names beforehand. 

[Jay Beckman]

So it's supposed to be Sunday morning?

[BillOz]

I'll be there Sat. or Sun.

Bill

[CJPalmer]

Put me down for for this as well.

[David Loera]

I'll be there

[Matt Ottosen]

Had an fairly uneventful day today. There wasn't any flying or photography.

We started our day by driving over the Honda Civic Musical Road. We all got quite a kick out of it, and we're hoping for an opportunity to drive it backwards.

We got our plane fixed! Some friends took the oil line to an aircraft welder early this morning. The oil line was repaired, installed, the engine was tested, and the work was signed off by an A&P before Noon. We're back in business, and we'll be flying at least one ride tomorrow.

I ran into photographer Tom Bunce this evening. Some of us shot with him at Valle earlier this year. He's the photographer who stitches many photos together to make huge photographs. He showed Joe C. his photo of the space shuttle after the show. I left him on the ramp to create one of his amazing photos of Sentimental Journey. You can see more of his work at: http://www.rivetingphotos.com

FYI, I don't have any idea on the exact day of SJ's return. Shafter has a short runway, and the emergency stopping distance is what has our PIC worried. He has calculated that if there's an emergency just before takeoff that he'll only have 1300' of runway remaining. He says that he needs 2000'+ to stop SJ. Right now he's thinking departing Saturday around 11am with a light fuel load, and stopping in Mojave for fuel. This would require a return trip of approx 3.5 hours. I still plan to do a photo brief before I leave on Friday morning, I'll know more then.

[Joe Copalman]

Okay guys - two points of good news from Matt.

1. According to CAF Maintenance guys, Sentimental Journey MUST return to Falcon Field on Saturday.

2. Matt is back on the plane for the return trip, so we'll be getting in-flight notification so we can be certain of the ETA.

I'm sending the list of photographers that will be attending to the wing leader right now.  If you have not replied to this thread or via email and would still like to attend, please let me know and I will forward your name on.

-Joe