驾驭乌尼莫克----男人的尊严 第十六期 “U”与导弹

1234567i

第七期      古城堡囚牢


We left Joe and Judy's chalet and went to a place called Castle Chillon.  Chillon is right on Lake Geneva and is something out of a gothic movie.  The exception is that this is real.  The author Byron ( 作家：拜伦 )was held prisoner here in the dungeon.  I think that the photos speak for themselves.  Sadly, it was overcast and cloudy. The PhotosThe shots below are reduced from the output size of the digital camera to 700 pixels wide.

From the driveway of Joe's chalet.  There was so much snow overnight that we were not sure that we could get out.

Note the walls of snow on the road.

The elevated motorway on the mountainside.

A resturant across the street from Castle Chillon.

Lake Geneva and Castle Chillon.

Entrance to the castle.

The entrance and the moat.

Another view of the moat.  Castle is being restored, note the scaffolding.

Courtyard of the castle.

The entrance to the dungeon from the courtyard.

Stairway down to the dungeon.

Archways that support the structure over the dungeon.

View of Lake Geneva from the dungeon.  It was cold, dark and damp, just as you would expect in a dugeon.

The hanging timber used to support the actual rope for hangings.

Lord Byron was a prisoner here in the dungeon.  He carved his name in the rock and was chained to a post.

It was just as dark as it seems.  It would be dreadful to spend much time here.

Plaque commerating the fact that they imprisoned Byron.

One of the towers at the castle.

Another section of the courtyard.

Stairs to a second level.

The parapet walkway.

Crossbow on the wall.

Female armor.  Or else it is a guy with a fat ass.

Male armor. Guess that the cup gives it away.

Tools of war. Pikes and spears.

The motorway in the distance.

Artwork in the ceiling of the foyer.

Another view of the courtyard.

Roofline of the water side of Castle Chillon.

Roof line and the waterfront.

It was a great day at Castle Chillon.  Now we head to Lausanne to see the nuclear fusion reactor.

[ 本帖最后由 1234567i 于 2008-11-13 17:29 编辑 ]

chhsx1

S-P2888

精彩．．．

　　　　　　　 　　　　　　

1234567i

第八期    “ U”会

The Trip The 2006 edition of MogFest was held in beautiful Calico, CA. Calico is an old mining town turned ghost town turned tourist trap and campground. We have held several of our previous events there and the accommodations were more than reasonable given the remoteness of the area. Calico is about 20 miles past Barstow, about 1/2 way between LA and Las Vegas. To most folks, this is the "middle of nowhere". For us, it would be home for 3 days and nights. The photos below are what we saw.

.

Kathleen suggested the casual GQ pose would nicely compliment my truck. As you can see, I do have wimpy tires.

One of the mog guys showed up with his super clean model 421. Due to a story circulating on the news group, he decided to use the 3 point agriculture hitch to mount a set of "anti-rollover" wheels on the back of the vehicle to prevent any chance of the rig doing an endo backwards onto the cab. A very novel idea.

Kai admires John Wessell's new rig.

Mark Mitchell's Altar-proven 1300L.

A very nice 1300L with custom camper owned by Kurt, the same fellow that owns the MAN 8x8. The camper on the 1300 is very deluxe and it should be since Kurt manufactures custom campers.、

MAN-OH-MAN. This rig blew me away. The truck weighs 50,000 pounds and was a cruise missile launcher tow vehicle. Kurt bought this rig on eBay and got it for only $28K. But, he had to do a ton of actions to get it in the configuration you see here.

The mounted tire/rims are so big that there is a special lift device to raise them for stowage. These tires are 16.00R20 which are very tall.

An inside view of the 8x8 camper.

A detail view of the sink area of the 8x8 camper.

Wessell's new tow vehicle and his off-road VW Synchro. The VW took some pretty big hits on the second day.

This rig was so unusual it merited another photo.

This is a Halflinger. It sports 12" tires, which are not "man-co".

A good condition ex-military 1300L. The red wheels have got to go as it disrupts the "mystique".

.

A standard Pinzgauer model 710 if I am not mistaken. These are very capable and ride good. Plus, they can travel at full highway speed.

Kai Serrano's Altar-proven 416 doka.

Caid's Altar proven, winching proven 1300L.

Oh the shame of not having the baddest truck at the place. That MAN was indescribably huge. Note Kurt next to his truck on the left.

The MAN negotiates a hill.

Kai doing his trail boss act on his son's quad.

Getting the group together

The MAN negotiates a steep down grade. This was before his trailing arm linkage broke took out the air system.

Attempting to repair the MAN's air system. The trailing arm linkage seized due to the vehicle sitting in the military storage depot for so long. When the link broke, it allowed the axle to come forward, hitting the compressed air tanks and breaking the air lines.

Later that night, we got our custom MogFest tee shirts.

No camping trip is complete without gallons of "mogaritas". Here, one of the crew squeezes fresh limes with liquor visible in the background.

Mog central had power and we were playing mog videos. The camera caught the display in mid-refresh causing 1/2 to look blank. But, looking at the screen, you can see a truck at a steep roll angle.

1234567i

第九期:          瑞士洛桑

The Trip After touring the tokamak reactor, we spent the night at the Lab Director's house.  Very nice place and very nice people.  They showed us an abundance of goodwill and generosity  After a good nite's sleep, we set out to Lausanne to see the sights and generally check things out.  We went downtown for a little sightseeing and potentially shopping.  Then later in the day, we went to the main cathedral to go on a tour.
The PhotosThe shots below are reduced from the output size of the digital camera to 700 pixels wide.

The view from the lab directors house.  Very nice, modern place with a good view.

The city library in Lausanne.

Very cool gargoyle.  This is a griffen actually.  There were many gargoyles on the various buildings.

Not sure why this statue was in front of the store, but Kathleen was amused.

Narrow streets with shops and cobble stone streets.

A modern art gargoyle.

More narrow side streets with shops.  Note how steep the street is.

Lots of foot traffic, parking was nearly non-existent.

A nice building.

A very cool building.

Electric locomotive at the rail station.

One of the churches in town.

Our destination: the cathedral on the hill.

An office building.  Trolley wires were everywhere.

A rather unique dump truck.

Another public building.

Closer to the destination.

Outstanding carvings on the wall.

Impressive stained glass windows.

I think that these are the symbols for the Cantons.

Carvings on the wall of the cathedral.

Elegant stone work.

More excellent quality stained glass windows.

Note the battle shields.

Inside of one of the columns.  Note the stained glass windows.

The outside of the tower.

A different part of the cathedral.

It was a great day in town.  For dinner that night, the crew went for fondue.  Being overloaded on cheese, had the cheval (horse) steak instead.  Mr. Ed was tasty.

[ 本帖最后由 1234567i 于 2008-11-18 23:41 编辑 ]

昆仑山

太漂亮

毒入骨髓

1234567i

   第十期           慕尼黑

The Trip On our last day in Munich, we decided to head to the large church that is on the Marienplatz. The church has a very tall bell tower and for E1.5 you can hike the 350 steps to the top. The view from there was great, we should have done that on the first day. On exit, we also stuck our heads inside the chapel. The shots below are what we saw.

The most famous cathedral in Munich. Note the tall tower on the right on the skyline.

The town hall and the glockenspiel.

A television tower. Note the structures on the left. This is the Olympic stadium. Buildings on the right are the BMW headquarters.

Another view of the skyline. Note the the many cranes in the distance. There was a ton of construction in progress.

Another view of the skyline. Here is the roof of the church that has the bell tower.

Inside the church. The altar is very detailed and imposing.

A close up of the altar and the intricate details.

A close up of the organ.

The pulpit.

A box with bones in cloth bags. Very macabre.

Two of the locals on their way to work. To see what they do, see the next photo.

We were high up on the tower and heard what sounded like whips cracking in the distance. I looked down into the crowd and saw the locals in Bavarian costumes cracking whips in unison to the music. Here 4 of them perform. The crowd liked it.

The Glockenspiel. This is a big mechanical time piece that moves when the bell tolls. The figures in the center rotate and move while the bell is chiming. The thing only triggers a few times a day, so tourists gather to see it move.

A view of the towers of the main cathedral from near the Marienplatz. The towers are tall; in fact the city law states that no building in the city center can be taller. Here in the foreground, they set up a stage and beer service for later in the day when the waves of tourists will come after the world cup games are done for the day. FYI, the Augustiner beer is first rate.

Bikes are the preferred mode of travel in the city center. There is no parking and tons of pedestrians, so a car is a disadvantage.

We are currently doing a job for O2, so this shot is relevant. Note the cafe scene. It appears to be like this every day when the weather is nice.

One of the towers visible from the cafes in the Marienplatz.

The town hall complete with intricate stonework.

Inside the main cathedral.

I was working hard for those stained glass shots.

A view of one of the better stained glass windows in the cathedral.

A closeup of the stained glass.

A view of the interior of the cathedral and the high arched ceilings.

Another church close to the town center.

A statue of king Maxmillian. Note the construction crane: there is much building going on in the Munich area.

A nice end. I mean a nice ending to the day.

joney

这个人很MAN

1234567i

第十一期     古典香车

Balboa Park Auto MuseumA trip in time 20080226

1930's Cadillac V12 coupe. This is one stylin' ride.

The Experience One of the things that Kathleen and I have not done with any frequency is to do the "tourist thing" in our own town. San Diego has some world class tourist attractions (in addition to the beach) including the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park. But, one of the premier attractions is Balboa Park near the center of town. After returning to town from Seattle, we vowed to visit these attractions and take advantage of living in "America's Finest City".
Balboa Park is not far from our home and Kathleen discovered that the Auto Museum has a "free admission to locals on Tuesday" so we headed on down to check it out.
The photos below are what we saw. These were taken with my Leica M8 with a Leica 24mm lens. Since this was inside and no flash was used, high ISO settings were required resulting in sub-optimal photo quality. Also a very wide angle lens was required to the whole scene in the image. While 24 mm is "wide", the Leica has a 1.5X focal length multiplier, thus making the lens look like a 35mm in the images. In retrospect, I should have used the 21mm. Maybe next time.

At the entrance to the museum, the curators had positioned this old truck that was used by the local contracting firm R.E. Hazard. This thing was a gem from 1922. The wheels were solid cast iron with solid rubber tires and the final drive to the load-bearing wheels was a chain, like a bicycle, only on steroids. This was as basic as they come.

Nice custom work on this hot rod.

A very beautiful chopper, fully custom and clearly an award winner.

The Lambo Countach was a big draw for the crowd.

Red is the color of the week. This Ferrari was in great condition.

A vintage English touring car once owned by a maharaja from India. This is a fine automobile.

A nicely restored older Jag.

Another shot of the ever-popular Ferrari.

Another view of the Tucker. This car was very innovative for its time and employed features that are still common today. The vehicle had a rear engine and was powered by a modified helicopter engine.

This is very odd. A 2 cylinder motorcycle engine mounted on the front of a 3 wheel car.

A 1905 Tourist in great condition.

A Ford Model T, the car that started it all.

A very early Cadillac with a V8 motor.

Nicely restored, but I did not note the specifics.

Note the interesting truck.

A nice Ford Model A from the early 1930s.

1930s V12 Cadillac. This car was very fast for its day and was also offered in a V16 version. This was my personal favorite and would still turn heads today, or especially today.

More nicely restored vehicles.

A Buick with suicide doors.

A view of the door setup. This car had a "three on the tree" shifter.

Another classic left hand drive vehicle .

This 1955 Chevy reminds me of my '58 Chevy Bel Aire that I had when I was in college. Mine was a four door however.

Here is an older BMW motorcycle. Recently, the Russians have copied the design in their "Ural" bike. My buddy Kai has one, but with a side car.

A motorcycle with a rotary engine.

A very early HD motorcycle. Clearly, no restoration has been done.

An older Indian motorcycle with a side car.

One of the more interesting concept cars. Since it would not be in production, I did not note the designer. It looks like something from the movie "Tron".

[ 本帖最后由 1234567i 于 2008-12-2 15:13 编辑 ]

1234567i

第十二期    越野车改装


Several days earlier, we were at the local off-road store and became aware of an off-road equipment show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Since we were headed to north county anyway to attend a "mog gathering" of some of the local folks, we decided to stop by and check it out. The intent of the mog gathering was to get a number of the local truck owners together for a few beers and some lively conversation. And, since there were a bunch of able-bodied men available, we were to remove, and attach, a big-ass winch (BAW) to our host's truck.
The photos below are what we saw.

I have a couple of sand toys, quads to be specific. But, these rigs were over the top. I did not check the price tag on all of them, but the one in the photo above was $35K. Pretty steep for something that you will have to trailer to and from the play pen and will only use a few times a year. There were tons of these buggies.

More nice hardware. Note the trick tires on this one.

This one was bad ass. Note the big engine and gas shock system on the back. It seats 4 brave souls.

Disc brakes as an art form. I am used to seeing round rotors, not ones that look like flower petals.

Another trick rig.

In addition to a nice paint job, this one has a big engine as well.

These buggies come in many sizes, from small to large, this one being on the small end.

Note the complex geometry of the front suspension and steering.

Four wheelers like bumps, so Kathleen fit right in.

Speaking of bumps, several of the "Charger Girls" were working one of the booths. Needless to say, they were getting tons of attention from the mostly-male crowd. Look at the smile of that fellow in the rear. The blonde "gets" working a crowd, the other one less so.

Even though she wasn't smiling, she signed the calendar anyway. I wonder if those are aftermarket or original factory equipment?

We left the noise and commotion of the off road show and went to our Richard and Jackie's place in nearby Rancho Santa Fe. There were perhaps 20-30 folks that showed up including wives and family members. One of the group flew all the way from Seattle to attend. Toby drove all the way from LA with his family in his "Dino Hunter" 2450. This rig was in the movie Jurassic Park. But, according to him, the movie's art department did not do the truck any favors as it took many months to undo their handy work: paint and modifications.

To provide a sense of scale, that is a normal height person at the left. I am guessing that this rig is at least 2 feet taller than my truck, excluding the A/C box on the roof. My 1300 is in the back and you can see both the camper and the roof rack.

Kurt's massive MAN 8X8 off road motor home. Since the last MogFest, he has addressed the mechanical issues that he faced due to the truck being stored for so long. This rig is huge but highly capable. Both front axles steer.

A view of the entrance to the living area in the rear. Kurt built the cabin himself.

Normal trucks that belong to the San Diego crew. Here are 2 1300Ls and a U900 in the rear.

The second objective of the gathering was to amass sufficient manpower to remove a BAW from the front of John's 1450. To do that requires an engine hoist, but since it came in a box it had to be assembled. Here the crew applies collective wisdom to get the job done (that means one worker, 3 supervisors and several beer drinkers).

The BAW before removal. This fellow is big, perhaps 1,000 pounds including the cable and hoses. John brought the winch from Georgia from Sean Philyaw, a well-known and respected supplier of Unimogs.

The guys made short work of removing the BAW.

Kai and John move the BAW to the host's truck.

Mark removes the mounting hardware. Sadly, the dimensions of Richard's 2450L were not the same as the donor 1450L, so we could not attach the winch. The mounts will have to be modified to take into account the wider frame rails. This, I am sure, will turn into a big project. They always do!

A parting short of Kathleen next to the Dino Hunter. The top of her hat does not even come up to the middle of the door!

shijian

收藏...............................精彩!!!

cj1949

厉害了
这个哥们 绝对是 搞机械出身的

norther

太强大了，快闪

1234567i

第十三期    沙漠与U车

The Trip The objective of the day was to get from our dune camp to a more-northern camp that was closer to our planned exit from the dunes in anticipation of our trip to Guadalupe Canyon. Packing was old hat by now, so we loaded and left.

The big dunes dwarf the trucks.

We passed through some very big valleys.

Bill ascends a steep dune face.

Dan high centers on a small razor back requiring an assist. Dan had trouble since he could only run in 2WD due to the CV joint damage.

Graceful curves of the high dunes.

The sharp-edged razor backs add nice curves to the scene.

Large dunes loom to the northeast.

These dunes dwarf the big 1300s.

More beautiful razor back dunes.

Another sphincter tightening steep descent.

View from the bottom looking up.

High razor backs make the crossover very scary. Notice the bowl on the right? Sometimes due to flat lighting, these obstacles can be hard to see. If Kai had put a wheel over the edge, it would have caused big problems.

We discovered another wrecked and stripped jeep in a big, steep bowl. He was likely unable to escape the bowl. We refer to these as "death bowls". Like the Roach Motel, you check-in, but you do not check-out.

Getting out of the bowl was a challenge. These dunes are big and steep.

The big dunes dwarf our trucks.

A lunch break with DIY sandwiches and chips.

Clones, except for the hat and glasses (and about 15 years).

Roberto and Xavier pucker up before another steep descent.

Kai went into a "death bowl" and found that he could not come back out. So, we decided to winch him out with my truck. Here Larry stumbles attempting to pull the heavy winch cable over the crest of the razor back.

Stripping the cable from the drum was rather hard, even with the clutch disengaged.

Winching was easy once we got cabled up.

Nearly done.

Roberto gets sideways on a tough, loose crossing. Except for the first truck, every vehicle required an assist to make it over this obstacle.

Strapping up to pull the next truck in line.

Mark digs ditches getting Roberto over the crest of the dune.

Mike is definitely enjoying himself.

An unwelcome camp visitor. This sidewinder was quite small, so we just left him to his own devices and he wisely went the other direction. Note the horns on his head and his small button rattles.

Ah, dinner. Matt and Nancy cooked steaks and garlic bread.

This was a normal dune travel day. There were a few close calls and all of us got stuck at least once. One obstacle require each truck to help the one behind up the steep section of the dune.
In the morning, we would pack early, head to San Luis for breakfast and diesel and then on to Guadalupe Canyon and the hot springs.

[ 本帖最后由 1234567i 于 2008-12-5 11:57 编辑 ]

万能机器

1234567i

第十四期     U山玩水-a

The TrailThis set of photos are from Golden Spike Trail.  This trail is demanding, but once you are at the top of the mesa, you have outstanding views of the La Salle mountains, the Colorado River and the Anticline to the south.  As a bonus, you end up on a point that overlooks the Moab Valley and Arches National Park.
The Photos

Pinzgauer 710 M versus Unimog 1300L.  I can put him in my bed.

A custom 6x6 jeep seen on the trail.

Kai gets a little air with his 406.

I don't think that he intended to do this.

Four Wheeler Magazing featured my 1300.  Here the photographer gets the undercarriage.

A grave on the mesa top.

Kai ascends the Launching Pad obstacle.

Commanding views from the top of the mesa.  This is looking to the west.

Huge ledges on the trail.  Note size relative to person at extreme left of frame.

View from Eagle's Nest on east end of the mesa, looking north along the highway.  Note arcing sweep of mesa edges indicating the path of the anticline.

Rain approaches from the south. Note the Colorado River, right of center.

Double Whammy obstacle.  Very tough.

Pinz on "The Wall".  Note the angle of the body.

Damage to Kai's bed.  He nearly did an endo on the wall, causing all his cargo, including the 250 lb. spare tire, to dump onto the rocks.  The tire took off rolling down the hill, nearly hit my 1300 and did hit some stranger's jeep before crashing into a tree.  The tire could have been fatal due to its mass and intertia.  If it had not hit the tree (with extensive damage to the tree) it would have rolled into the canyon, never to be seen again.  The bottom line: secure your load when you wheel.

A nice sunset on the first evening in La Paz as seen from the Malecon.

Ready to fish on day 1.

Tons of high-priced Gringo hardware in the marina.

Buying bait from the bait man at Tecolote.

Our captain Juan Maldonado with the first dorado of the day.

Bill gets another dorado.

Another good sized dorado.

Kathleen got a good sized one too.

First day's catch.

On day 2, in the Cerralvo channel, I hooked a really big marlin.  Juan estimated it to be over 300 pounds.  Here, I got it close to the boat expecting to bring it in. Juan has his kevlar gloves on in anticipation of grabbing the leader line.  The fish had other ideas - it fought for 30 minutes before we got it close to the boat.  But when it sensed that the end was near, it bolted undoing all that hard work.

This fish was kicking my ass. He ran out about 100 meters and then started jumping it the air.

The marlin made many, many jumps in its attempt to get free.

Here the line is visible.  Isla Cerralvo is in the distance.  He is pissed and pulling hard.  I fought him all the way back up to the boat and we were prepared to grab the leader and beat his brains out with a baseball bat (the normal safety procedure).  But, when he got at the boat, Kathleen went to the same side of the boat as Juan and I were on.  The boat rolled under the combined weight and due to the intense pull of the fish, I slipped and fell.  When that happened, the line got jammed in the nose pulley of the rod.  With his next attempt to flee, the marlin broke the line and he was gone for good.

While the broken line was an unfortunate turn, luck was still with us.  Another marlin struck our line in a few minutes and it was Kathleen's turn. This is a big one too, although not as big as the first.

After a substantial battle lasting about 30 minutes, she got the marlin to the boat.  Juan gaffed it with the "flying gaff" and we beat it to death with the ball bat.  This is normal procedure because the last thing you want in your small boat is a big, strong, really mad fish with a pointed bill flopping around in the boat.  Here Juan hauls it over the side.

This was a big marlin, it filled the boat - it was about 11 feet long.  We had to walk over it for the balance of the day since floor space is at a premium in a small panga.

Kathleen was happy, but tired.  And, the rod holding cup bruised her groin.  But that was much better than not using the cup as there would have been no way to land the fish -- it was just too powerful.

[ 本帖最后由 1234567i 于 2008-12-9 02:09 编辑 ]

1234567i

第十四期    " U"山玩水-b

Road building.  Chain gang tasked with piling rocks to prevent a rollover on big ledge.

No sweat, although I did scrape my driveline a little.  I did not hit the steps into the cab as, I tore them off years ago on a trail in Big Bear, CA.

Bob Ragain's 404.

Chuck Presnail's passenger.  She was very popular.

A mog does the same obstacle with style and grace.  And  a  cute passenger.

Mogs and canyon scenery.

Traffic jam at Rocker Knocker.  This is a tough obstacle and takes time to do.  And some people take more time than others.  Note arch on the skyline.

Ron DePugh attemptedto drive around it, but in the end he took the winch cable.

Kai is spotting, the 1300 goes up with style and grace.

The ledges on Rocker Knocker are so big, Chuck needed an assist.

Human counterbalances. Chuck Presnail get plenty of help with his 'zuki.

Bob Ragain takes Rocker with his 404.

The Beehives in the distance.

Kai ascending an unusual line on the Rock Pile.  This is a really, really big ledge.

Rob tries the "big truck" route.

One of many, many jumps.  This one was a flyer!

Soon, they were "spy hopping" everywhere around us. You are looking the wrong way!

A mother-calf pair.

He came right up.  Note the barnacles.

Getting bolder and closer.

Came up for a really close look.

The other boat in our group.  Tina is cheering, arms upraised.

He got close, but would not let us touch him.

Dan is taking it all in.

Megan tries for a touch.

This one sprayed the other boat.

He went underneath us.

Shamus goes for the touch.

Kai tries for a touch.

An adult between our boats (and Mackenzie's head....).

A fluke event.

Megan going for a touch with a baby.  Note breathing holes on top of head.

Another spy hop to check us out.

Crossing behind the boat.

Back at camp, note the barren terrain.

[ 本帖最后由 1234567i 于 2008-12-10 00:58 编辑 ]

老狼

楼主辛苦啦,好贴一定要顶

1234567i

第十五期   “U”会“波音”

After breakfast was complete and most of the rigs were packed for the final trip to the border, we sent a team out to get Dan's wrecked quad. He rolled on the flank of one of the biggest dunes in the area. Below, you can see the crew as they return from the recovery site.

Russell is dug-in on the top of a razorback watching the team go by.

Hmmm. Roberto is stuck again. This time, we had to put a tail strap on him to prevent a roll.

Jay has likely broken his ankle and ripped apart his knee. Dan Johnson (red coat with blue hat) and Dick Lane (blue shirt, tan hat) are both orthopedic surgeons by trade and are administering first aid. They are using a splint from surplus ambulance equipment and ace bandages that Mike Nayoski brought as a forethought. Below, Jay clenches his fists in pain as they wrap the injured area.

Yet another de-beading. In this case, there were 3 at once and one required pulling the tire off the rim and repairing the sidewall. Below, Kai uses the air cannon to reseat the bead on Dan's truck as Dan watches.

The 3 tire dig-fest took a long time. While we were doing the tire service, Jose decided to put that dune face to good use. The balance of us used the time to load the quads in anticipation of leaving the dunes.

The Altar was not quite done with us yet. After the tires on Dan's truck were reseated, and we were ready to go, one of the team noted on the radio that his back right looked "low". True enough as it had a big rip in the sidewall as can be seen below. This required us to get the tire off the rim and install a patch, then reseat the tire. Tons 'o work. And it was getting dark. The wind was starting to blow, requiring Matt to use goggles while jacking the truck.

We got the tire off and prepared it for the patch job.

As if giving us a consolation prize, the Altar treated us to a great sunset as we completed the patch job.

After the patch was complete, it was fully dark. We did not get far before Roberto suffered yet another debeading. This forced most of the team to air up a bit for the balance of the trip. Gladly, we were not far from the blacktop

This was a great trip, by any metric and all of us had fun. Tire problems are something to be expected on the Altar, but I could have done without the injuries. We hope that medical science will be able to repair Jay's

Interesting bust at the entrance to the museum. Sadly, I did not note who it was.

The Concorde was much, much bigger than I thought it was going to be. Amazing that they got something this big going supersonic speeds, with passengers no less.

Concorde landing gear on the nose.

Concorde engine inlets.

The first 747 prototype.

Commo control panels aboard the presidential airplane.

Presidential plane cockpit area.

Plenty of stuff going on inside the main museum. Note the SR-71 with supersonic drone on top.

An old tri-motor.

Another view of the tri-motor. Note the motor cowling.

Another nice vintage plane.

Radial engine.

Another style radial engine.

SR-71 engine that runs on hydrazine fuel. This engine has variable geometry inlet design to handle Mach 3 flight.

Supersonic drone atop SR-71.

F-4 fighter that was the mainstay of the Viet Nam war.

British Spitfire fighter.

Car-airplane hybrid with removeable winds and tail.