Looking for Mermaids …in 100 MPH winds

One of the first request from our passengers was …I want to see Mermaids. That would be an easy request to fulfill

...if we weren’t in a 1950’s vintage aircraft island skipping over the Caribbean towards Nassau, Bahamas while hurricanes tried to form around us.

Several errors were made when querying the grandchildren as to where they’d like to go. The first error:  Planning a stop and beach time in an area and time of year when and where tropical storms are starting to develop. It does not demonstrate good foresight. That is a bad thing for a pilot.

The second error was not explaining  to the gb’s that our rock is split into two different worlds, one above the equator and one below.

Winter on top, summer on the bottom with a nice warm ring around the middle.

The final mistake was not giving them the meaning of the acronym SNOW, Stuff-Nobody-Wants …especially Connie drivers.

We flew @ 3K from Brownsville to Cozumel, Mexico. Then off to Cayman Brac. From there we hopped to Kingston JA.

We waited out the passing storms in Kingston for a small weather window that would allow us to head North, over Cuba, into Nassau.

Now that we’re safely parked in Nassau we can get down the business of looking for Mermaids.

Sandcastles in the Sky

Connie in Brownsville TX

Texas. That’s where grandbaby girl Z wanted to go. The concept of a virtual vacation is …a little weird at best for an adult yet alone a child. Her mom said, Thailand, no wait …Yellowstone. ahh, baby girl ...we can land a Lockheed Constellation at KYWS but ...

I had to explain: This blog, adventure, is about discovery. Imagine you could go anywhere in the world to see or do something you've always wanted to. Where and what is that is the question I had my daughters ask our grandchildren.

Their answers will be reveled on this trip.

The last trip took 4 months in a Learjet flying in real time, real weather …at 0.7 Mach.

This bird … she makes 225 MPH tops.

We left KLAS flying over the Grand Canyon into KABQ. From Albuquerque we flew to Brownsville Texas. (5hrs 38min total KLAS_KBRO)

Climb out over Lake Mead

Grand Canyon from Drivers Seat

Grandpa Dude's office

Sunrise departure from KABQ

Have kiddos keep a eye out for aliens over Roswell, NM

Final Approach Brownsville, TX KBRO

Why Texas, because gbg Z has a great idea.

allamericansandcastle.com/lessons.html

We are all gathered now. From here we head towards the Bahamas. There we'll sit on a beach to plan our trip, plus use our new skills …on the beach …because there’ll be no Sandcastles in the Sky.

Why?

Load up a Big Bus with pre-teen's and you're going to be answering a lot of "why" questions.
Load them into a 1950's vintage airliner and those questions become more meaningful than any question they’ve ever ask before.

Grandpa Dude ( I’m grandpa dude to my grandchildren) why is there smoke and flames coming from the engine when it starts?

Grandpa Dude, why does Big Bird fly?

Grandpa Dude …are we there yet, what's that do, why do you click that all the time, what's that sound …can I drive? Grandpa Dude, why do you keep the door to your “office” closed when your driving Big Bird?

This trip is about our grandchildren. Linda and I learned a great deal about this rock on our last trip.
This year we want to share it with our family so …the kiddo’s are driving. They are picking places they’d like to see and things they’d like to do. The planet is theirs to choose from.

We are going to virtually gather in this Constellation, our big RV, and explore their ideas and curiosities of our rock.

We’re looking for mermaids, the lion king, Budapest, Europe, New Zealand, water slides on Hawaii  …oh yeah, and Texas.
Actually, that’s where the party starts …Texas.
My children and  grandchildren are driving. We’ll gather all up, hit a beach in the Bahamas and form a flight plan …after Texas. Texas is gonna rock! Gbg-Z’s plan.

Stay tuned. We’re about to depart KLAS for KABQ …take a little flight over the Grand Canyon into New Mexico then off for KBRO.

Learning links for kiddos:
nasa.gov/StudentSite/educationallinks.html
sciencekidsathome.com/science_topics/flight.html

Gonna need a bigger bus

To those who are new, welcome aboard. For those returning …welcome back.

In November of 2015 while watching the cold  Pacific Northwest wind & rain dancing outside of my cabin’s window an idea to light
…go someplace warm.

Here's the issue: I've been told over the past four decades by the love of my life, Linda, that I’m “High Maintenance”. Well, I set out to not only find someplace warm and relaxing but to also prove her assessment of me being high maintenance as wrong.

We're both well aware of the pragmatic demands placed upon us by our physical world, she more than I. In the planning of this adventure it was important for me to convey to her my simple tastes and desires. Something she’s obviously missed over the past 43 years.  My mission, create our dream vacation. A vacation unencumbered by momentary restraints; one that could only happen virtually.

So …we needed a ride to the beach, to game reserves to see “critters” and places of simple beauty to behold and smile. Nothing “High Maintenance” about that …well, we did need a 1993 Gates Lear35A to get there, at a virtual average cost of $1800 an hour to fly …oh yeah, small detail, those beaches and reserves are on the other side of the planet from us. High Maintenance, yeah right. 

The story: https://fsxinsider.com/a-virtual-vacation-inside-fsxse/

We are off once again. This time …our dream is to have our family with us. That is a boat load of adults and kiddos. This trip, we're gonna need a bigger bus.

Meet Connie, aka “Big Bird”. She's a 1959 Lockheed Martin L-049SP.

We are going old school. We've updated her with a modern Garmin GTN 750 to help with navigation duties (she originally took a crew of 3 to fly ...I need the help) 

We flew in last night from KMWH.

Here she is in Vegas, KLAS, picking up our next batch of family. Next stop New Mexico KABQ, pack up Jenny Bean ...I need a flight engineer bg.

Welcome Aboard.