The City of Angels

Fortunately we are able to avoid having to go through security this morning as many of us are carrying contraband. The American Airlines people pick us up in vans and bring us through the employee gate. There is still some security there and we are rather amazed when they look under the hood of the van. They then open the back, take one look at the mountain of luggage and slam it shut. Thank goodness!
The pilots are off to attend to the plane and the escort of the ladies takes us on a little tour of the tower, this is an American Airlines tower, where they monitor the traffic on the ramp area. He then takes us to the Admiral's Club for awhile. We are waiting for a 777 to leave for Japan so that the Flagship can be brought up to that gate. In the Admiral's club we enjoy refreshments and chat. We have a good vantage point looking down on "our" gate and see the Japan plane leave and the Flagship arrive right behind it. We then go down to the gate and get escorted to the plane (we always have to have an escort to go out on the ramp and to return to the building from the ramp) Our escorts are very nice and very patient people.
For the next few hours we enjoy having the American employees tour the plane, they are very excited about it. This makes it so much fun for us. There is one American employee who has her father's log book and shows us an entry where he flew this very plane in 1945. WOW! Once the dignitaries have arrived, we close the plane and go back to the terminal to observe.
The whole gate area is decorated with flowers, balloons and Japanese lanterns, the dignitaries are making speeches in English and Chinese, and there is Chinese musical entertainment taking place. There is also a buffet set up and a view of the Flagship just beyond it. The gate area is crowded with passengers, onlookers and the press. Zane and Peggy are getting a lot of attention in their vintage-style uniforms. People in the crowd approach to ask us if they can tour the plane (they know us by our Flagship shirts), so we go down and open it up again. Suddenly a little after 2PM we are given a hurry up signal to get ready for departure as we will taxi our behind the 777 to Shanghai which leaves at 3. So we all start readying while still touring people through. One group of handsome fellows are the Los Angeles Firefighters who will form an arch of water over the 777 as it taxis out. Steve Jacobson has spent a lot of hours on flight planning and done an excellent job for this leg and the one preceding it. Zane Lemon is on the phone constantly as a liaison between us and the American Airlines people. American is paying for our hotel rooms and gas for the plane to have us here.
Then, off we go again...out to wait departure between two jumbo jets. As we pull out, we notice the two gate balconies crowded with AA employees waving and clapping for us. As we go down the taxi way, it is lined with ramp vehicles all stopped while the drivers are cheering us and taking pictures. We are really feeling so good about L.A. These folks have made us welcome and appreciated this ship we love.
The trip north along the coast is a breathtaking one. Dave Buffington is from Santa Barbara and he plays tour guide, telling us where we are. There are three tiers of mountain ranges on the land side, so green, so beautiful. There are homes nestled in the hills. This is our most scenic leg of the journey to date. The wonderful thing about flying the DC-3 is that we are low and slow, affording one a great view of the ground below. When we get to the San Francisco area, traffic is stacked up and we circle several times over the bay, but do not see the Golden Gate.
We taxied to the old terminal where we were met by our guide, Sailesh Narain, who has proved to be invaluable. We had been leaving some luggage and merchandise on board, but this time we had to completely empty the airplane. But now we have four females and the task goes more quickly...we form a bucket brigade and pass things down the aisle. The men then pick it up at the door and load it. Sailesh suggests that he take the luggage through to the baggage carousel but the former American people do not trust that system. The wind is whipping like a gale and cutting through our thin clothes. Just as we think we are leaving the area, the gas truck comes and the men start fueling the plane. The women beg to be taken somewhere out of the wind and we are led on a lengthy walk with all the luggage in tow that ends in the baggage claim area where we are finally warm and out of the wind. After the men come, we all gather luggage again and go out the front of the terminal into the cold wind to await a shuttle to our hotel. The wait seems awfully long, but right at 8PM it shows and ferries us to the Hilton. Buff remarks that this is our last "bag drag" for four days, we cheer. We have been receiving texts since we landed from David Gorrell, who has arrived with his wife, Jane, from Utah. Jane is still working as a flight attendant, but also has a vintage style uniform in blue that she made. When we go into the hotel lobby, the Gorrells are there to greet us. Due to the late hour and the cold wind, we decide to eat in the hotel. There are ten of us now. After the meal, Zane presents Mary with her Lifetime Membership plaque and there are toasts and much laughter. There is always at least one toast at each meal we share. And I might note here, that like a close family, there is usually sharing of food and drink with folks sampling each other's fare. The food on this trip has been wonderful! We have a 7AM departure so no one lingers long after dinner.

On to L. A.

No need to hurry this morning, so we meet at 9AM for the shuttle to the airport. But for some reason we take a looooong time to get in the air, it is 11 before we blast off. In the meantime, it is the loveliest of mornings. Clear blue sky, cool temps, the wind has stopped. As we are running the engines up, three fighter jets taxi by after landing. As they pass, each young pilot swivels in his seat and salutes our grand old lady....Peggy and I tear up.
I will pause here to say that Peggy is my new best friend. We each know the other's life story and we have parallels, a man we loved and left to marry the secure one which did not work out, a reunion with the first man, a much younger sibling and others too numerous to name. We are thinking the same thoughts, one starts to say something and the other finishes or the first one just stops mid sentence as she knows the other one understands already. We have a level of understanding that is uncanny for the short time we have known one another.
After take off, she and I are instantly hungry and get into the snacks. Gene comes back to check on us and gets into the food too. We never know when our next meal will be and sure enough it is nine hours later. We are going to fly high today to check our engine performance at high altitude and so we nestle in under our blankets. The terrain is different today. The color scheme is beige, taupe and black with occasional white salt deposits. Once I saw an area of blue tinge. Again very dry and more mountains. And even fewer signs of human habitation.
When we get into California, there is a lot more green, even on the mountains. We go over Palm Springs and see many golf courses. There are also snow capped mountains. Then we are in wall to wall humanity. Ick~ sure wouldn't want to live here. Zane offers one of us a seat in the cockpit for landing and I send Peggy. Dave Buffington is in the left seat.
Then the fun begins. Steve calls L.A. a logic free zone. There are a series of odd maneuvers that I do not understand. Steep descents, climbs and a circle over the ocean before finally landing. I find out that air traffic control brought us in way, way too high and a missed approach was declared. They again demanded the same altitude but the plane was unable to get that high that quickly before the next approach and so we go in 1000 feet lower, but still too high. It is a strain on the old plane and on the engines. We taxi to the old American Airlines hanger where the plane will be kept overnight.
And the guys are hot and bothered. They are really upset, buzzing around like hornets. Meanwhile there is quite a contingent of American managerial types and ground crew around the plane. And after some finagling, we get backed partially into a hanger. We have been assigned a TSA agent to watch us...we are told that if one of us goes to the bathroom, then all must go as we all must be within her sight at all times. (Peggy and I have already gone to the bathroom unescorted before the agent arrived) Ya'll this is what the Land of the Free has become, a bureaucratic nightmare. Then the baggage is unloaded and the cleaning begins. Peggy and I work on the interior, stowing things out of sight, putting the display pictures out and generally spiffing, while the men seriously work on the outside. They are all over the plane, cleaning, buffing and polishing. We are told that the Chancellor of China will be on hand tomorrow, maybe the CEO of American, the mayor, maybe the governor.
We then load up again and are driven to a gate where we enter and then exit the terminal and catch a bus to our hotel. On the way we stop at the Southwest gate and pick up Zane's wife, DeAnne, and her sister, Mary who will continue on to San Francisco with us. American Airlines is putting us up at the Embassy Suites where they overnight their crews. The hotel is mission style, beautifully landscaped on the exterior. The entrance is all tile and decor and flowers. The atrium is the same but with the addition of falling water and fish ponds filled with fish, turtles and ducks. Our rooms are true suites with living and sleeping areas. A sink and vanity in the room as well as the bath. A door to the atrium and a balcony on the other side. Really, nice.
The gang meets for happy hour and then for dinner in the restaurant. Today is our 13th wedding anniversary and Steve orders champagne for the occasion. We have a very, very good meal with excellent service and much laughter and several toasts. We know we are getting road weary as when DeAnne and Mary ask questions about the trip, we cannot remember. Where are we, how did we get here, what day is it? Somehow the subject of the Seven Dwarfs come up and we can only name six, in spite of singing the song.
Zane finally nails it: Bashful.
At the meal's end we are surprised that Steve and Peggy have ordered a molten chocolate cake with ice cream for us. We pass it around for all to have bites. Steve has also insisted on paying for our dinner. He is a great guy and a new good friend also.
Pick up is not until 10 on Tuesday. We have been needing to wash clothes and so I rise at 6 and get it done as the next days in S.F. will be hectic from what we have been told. The tension of the day is whether we will have to go through airport security to get back to the plane as we all have non regulation things in our bags. We are told that it will be handled and hope this is correct. So now it is SHOWTIME.

Did I say Phoenix?

Well, I meant to say Tuscon. That was today's destination. Out again early, blast off at 8AM for a little over a four hour flight. The land at Midland is flat and desolate and dry and that is the way the scenery starts out, then it starts to get bumps, not unlike skin eruptions, then it turns to billowing hills and finally there are jagged mountains. But most of all, there are few, very few roads and towns and even individual dwellings. It is mostly a vast wasteland. All of a sudden you will see a very green field which looks so out of place in this yellow ochre land.

At one point, we all crowd into the cockpit to see El Paso/Juarez. This is a huge built up area and the only town of any size we have seen all day. Finally we pass over a mountain ridge and there in the next valley is Tuscon. The first thing I notice is acres and acres of airplanes. Found out later that this is where old airplanes go to die.

When we emerged from the plane in Tuscon, the first thing I noticed is that all my hair had blown into my face, there was a stiff wind. Second thing was that is was very temperate, the temperature was quite pleasant. There is a lot of military action here and the first thing I see flying by is a GIANT helicopter with two rotors not lined up from to back but on goal post like arms to the sides. Next four military jets swoop in so very gracefully one after the other, very loudly too, I might mention. The ground crew was out there in numbers and so very helpful, so we were handing out hats and giving tours. Two, obviously wealthy, men from a near by jet also tour and are complimentary also.

Upon returning from the necessary visit to the facilities, Gene is in animated conversation with what I thought was a member of the ground crew as if he knows him. Turns out it is Eric Gorrell, Fred's son who works at another FBO and saw us come over. He calls his Dad and his uncle Dave to tell them who he is with. Turns out Gene was telling him about flying with the two of them the week before. Dave and his wife will join us in S.F.

The ground crew ferried us and our luggage to the FBO where we were picked up by a hotel shuttle. That shuttle also delivered us to the Pima Air and Space Museum, which is the reason for selecting this particular destination. The photos in shown here are of our fellow travelers pictured with the planes they flew in combat in Viet Nam. Makes you take a step back, stop and think about what these happy go lucky guys have been through in their lives. Gene tells me that my cousin Betty's Ken has three Distinguished Flying Crosses from that conflict. Good grief!!

The museum is huge, several hangers and a lot of planes outside. It is very well done. The guys are in heaven. They also have a cafe, to our relief, as the one in the hotel is only open in the evening. They have cleverly positioned the planes, some big ones on stands of about three feet so smaller ones will nestle under their wings, some hanging above. Outside, the wind continues, sometimes steady, sometimes like a sandstorm.

Peggy's brother lives here and he has joined us at the museum. She then leaves with him to spend the evening with his family. The remaining 5 meet later in the hotel restaurant for food, drinks, and, you guess it, more flying stories. After awhile I leave and am soon asleep. The extra two hours added by time change has made this a very long day. I think it was around 8 when I crashed. The good news is that we do not meet tomorrow until 9AM. Good thing as we will be on a tight schedule after that.

No Vittles in Midland

Yep, we were at the airport early. The "essential" luggage nearly filled the back of the SUV we hired to get us to the airport. Once at Alliance, we were treated like royalty rather than terrorists and another SUV drove us out to the plane where they guys immediately started preflight and Peggy and I packed ourselves into nests with all our needs within reach.

We blasted off just before 8AM and at 9:15 landed in Sweetwater, chosen for its cheap gas. They are so happy to see us! We give tours and free hats and koozies. We are on a goodwill tour now. The WASP museum is on the other side of the airport and they call people until they find someone to open it for us, the local bank president, who is a delightful fellow. Too much to tell, but look up the Women's Airforce Service Pilots to learn about these brave and unappreciated young women who served in WWII. Dave bought a book about them which I have been reading all afternoon.

The cockpit picture here is called, Four Captains. The one of Gene pushing the prop is pre-flight prep, and lying on the pavement is just him resting in Sweetwater where it was pleasant when we arrived, but hot when we left.

The museum tour puts us a bit behind schedule but off we go again, headed for Midland. The land below us is desolate and flat and we don't see much except oil wells and wind farms. The flight gets bumpier and bumpier. We are soon in Midland, hungry, and the wind is blowing a gale. The FBO (terminal for private aviation) restaurant is closed on the weekend, the terminal restaurant is closed on the weekend and our motel restaurant is, you guessed it, closed on the weekend. There is almost no one around and we get no help with parking the plane, no help with the luggage, so there are no tours, no free hats. But the FBO is spacious and well decorated and features some marvelous metal sculptures of oil and ranch life.

Oh, never mind, we need to see the Commemorative Air Force Museum. I really am hungry as I had opted to skip supper the night before and only ate a handful of grapes. Today a pack of crackers. But this museum is very professionally done and tells its stories with modern media of video, photo, and audio. Notably, they have a collection of bomber nose art, those pin-up girls that were painted on many of the WWII planes. They also told the stories of the men who painted them and showed the inspiration pieces they copied. Most of them were pretty racy and the quality of the art varies widely, but it was very interesting. There was a hanger of planes and a large and nicely appointed memorial water conservation garden. When we finished we were talking about where to eat and a girl from the visitors bureau came up to us who was in a tour and gave us a map of the city with all the restaurants on it. We opted for the Texas Roadhouse and arrived about 3PM and were surprised to see it in full swing.

We had an excellent meal, with much laughter and tale telling. A real meal was welcome after 25 hours. Today the topic was the inner workings of the airline industry. Returning to the hotel, Gene laid down across the bed and I curled up next to him and we slept for two hours. I never do that! But it sure felt good. Now he is off to meet the boys for more airplane tales. How many are there? An infinite number, I guess. We opted for an early start again tomorrow as hot air is bumpy air. It was 92 here but did not feel that hot with the wind. Tomorrow's destination is Phoenix, where again, it will be quite warm.

Still Hangin in there

Time is passing slowly at Camp Noknowhengo. Steve is such a sport to have taken us on for 8, count them, EIGHT DAYS, in his 1400 sq ft. condo. But, amazingly, we all seem to be having a good time with one another. Us girls keep waiting to see if the guys run out of flying stories, so far, NO. On Wednesday, Peggy and I go to a yoga class at the Y, an intense yoga class, but we enjoy it. Then all go our separate ways for the rest of the day, Gene and I had lunch then took a long walk around town to gardens and so forth. Supposed to have warmed up, but didn't. Thursday Peggy and I again go to the gym. We are well paired in our needs and wants. The sun has FINALLY come out and the temp has risen. After lunch we drop the guys at Meacham Field to fly Steve's award winning 170 and we do more shopping, not wonderful shopping, but WalMart where there are things we still need for the trip. We are eating some great meals here, hoping that I am counteracting the calories with the exercise. Fingers crossed. Yesterday just after noon, the airwaves come alive with texts, calls and emails. The big Sun and Fun Fly In in Lakeland, FL has been hit with horrific storms and winds which left a whole bunch of damaged airplanes in its wake. Steve would have had his plane there if not for this trip, and there is a good chance the flagship would have been there also. Many of Gene's pilot friends are usually there, but we check and find out that his closest friend, Jim, did not go this year as he just closed on a new house. Luck is holding. So far, we have not heard of anyone we know who was there. Today is our last day at camp. They guys left early for Alliance with Steve's car packed with our luggage, everyone keeping just what we need for the next day. Only the two of them can fit. They will meet two or three others there to do an inspection on the plane and ready it for departure early tomorrow. Steve has hired a car to take us to Alliance in the morning. Peggy and I clean the condo and she is about to get her hair done. The leisure part of this trip is about done. For the next week we will be on a pretty tight schedule. but we are ready.

Work Day

This morning we are up and out early for our work day on the airplane. The brief respite of sunshine is gone and it is again cold and damp. This is beginning to seem like we did go to Seattle! We plan to eat breakfast at the employees cafeteria at Alliance Airport. At the American Airlines maintenance facility everyone is on the security list except yours truly but a couple of phone calls takes care of that.

Since we had skipped supper the night before, we are ready for a hearty breakfast, but, alas, we have arrived perxactkly in that no man's land between breakfast and lunch. There are all sorts of tasty foods on display, but they will not serve them. The salad bar is open so that is what we get and it is well above average so we are happy and fed.

Then it is off to the hanger where our freshly washed, buffed and vacuumed plane sits next to some huge 7something being repaired. The Flagship people are so grateful to the chairman of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey, for becoming a sponsor. The previous chairman threw George out of his office, saying he was running an airline, not a museum. The employees here can volunteer time to work on the plane and they do. They take great pride in it. The guys who built the galley come by to admire their work and see what we think of it. Our fellow member Jeff had gotten off work at 10 the previous night but returned at 7AM to tow the plane back from the wash rack. Gene and Steve start chores like loading a tow bar, rearranging the cargo room, adding oil, and who knows what else. Peggy and I get into unloading things we will not need on this trip including the tent and merchandise. We have a storage room and we get in there and sort things out. We will take two bins of hats and a bin of assorted t-shirts to give as gifts on the trip. Also we want the antique suitcase with the sticker and the boom box to play 40's music which was missing on the Columbus trip. We work until after 3PM, while also giving tours to employees and visitors who express and interest. Sorry about the sideways photo of Gene, the software has a mind of its own and keeps flipping it so I have given up.

Airplanes and more airplanes

On Sunday we visited a vintage aircraft museum located at Meacham Field. The folks had done a very good job with it. They highlighted the roles of minorities in WWII, meaning females and blacks. They had segments on the Tuskegee airmen and Rosie the rivitor as well as the women who flew the new planes from the factories to the war zones. There were lots of photos and gosh, the women of the 1940's had to be the most glamourous of all. Out there in a factory building aircraft and looking like a million dollars.

Steve keeps his Cessna 170 at Meacham and so next stop was his hanger. This plane had belonged to his father and Steve hunted it down, locating it in Florida. He flew it home, although discovered later that he should not have as the condition was worse than he thought. He meticulously restored it to its former glory. It is shiny, shiny silver with red trim. He took it to Oshkosh (fly in) in 2007 and won the Grand Lindy, which means that his plane won the top prize. This is huge in the flying world. The trophy is a statue of Lindburgh, hence the name.

We are on a tight schedule and hurry to a grocery store to get some essentials, then home to stow them and fluff up a bit before heading out to Cousin Betty's for dinner. Betty and Ken downsized about 5 years ago and now live in a small gated community arouund a little lake and next to a golf course. Their daughter lives down the street. The golfer, Jason Day, is a neighbor and I told Steve and Gene, "If you were golfers, I would impress you by telling you I saw Jason Day playing ping pong in his garage." They said in unison, "Who???"

We had a great dinner, got introduced to their two dogs, a chocolate lab and a Golden Retriever. And we went down the street to meet her daughter, who I had never met.

By Monday, we are all bored and anxious for the beginning of our journey. So the plan is to have lunch at a BBQ place near Alliance airport, then go to the hanger and work on the plane. As we arrive at the restaurant, we get a call telling us that the plane has gone to the washing rack to be cleaned and we cannot have access. Well, that was a wasted trip! No, not really, we had a great brisket meal. We recover and do some clothes shopping so we will meet the dress code for San Francisco. Then we have time to spare, and amazingly, the cold and damp has receded and the sun is out. So we went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards and learned a lot about the old days there. We went into a famous bar called The White Elephant which was very authentic old west. We were glad that almost no one was there, because even empty, it reeked of smoke. The walls and ceilings were covered with cowboy hats with names next to them. See photo of the ceiling above our table. Then we went to a nearby shop with VERY high prices but lovely things. Instead of a bench for husbands, they had a bar with free beer for waiting husbands.

The two meat companies, Swift and Armour, had a lot to do with the development of this area and the old processing plants are still up on a hill moldering and for sale. I am posting several pictures of that area.