Monday, July 28, 2008

Saturday in Long Island








We had a very busy Saturday this past weekend. Tracy and I drove up to Kings Point to visit with Lucas for the day. He needed us to take some of his gear home since he will be off campus until November. We left at 4 am and got there at 7:30. Lucas had a final exam that day so we couldn't meet up with him until 11. Tracy and I explored Jones Beach that morning and we arrived at the campus just as Lucas finished his test. After a lunch we drove to Sagamore Hill, Teddy Roosevelt's home which is about 20 minutes East of the academy.

What a wonderful house! It is filled with Teddy's stuff and our tour guide did a great job explaining the history behind everything. Teddy knew how to live! The water shots are taken at his private beach behind his house.

After the house tour we drove to a theater to watch the new Batman movie, then back to Great Neck for a sushi dinner. We dropped Lucas off at 10:30 and hit the road for home. Nothing like driving through bumper to bumper traffic on the Long Island expressway at 11:30 pm going 70 mph!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Air Force trip










Here are some shots from my trip last week to Pueblo Colorado and the Air Force flight screening facility. This is where all potential new pilots for the Air Force get their first experience piloting a plane. It is a 6 week program. If you fail, you wash out and get a some other position. If you pass, you move on to learn how to fly the expensive stuff.

Got a chance to fly with a flight evaluator and he took me out over the CO desert where I couldn't hit anything if I crashed. The warm air created lots of thermals for our little plane which made for a bumpy ride. It was a blast. Now I have to create a piece of art work that will go into the air force art collection. This is a program that has been around awhile where they invite illustrators associated with the Society of Illustrators to document the various missions around the world. I was invited by fellow society member and Syracuse friend, Scott Bakal. He shot the video during his flight.

The B-29 named "Peachy" is located in the air museum next to the flight facility. Great nose art! Don't think you could do that stuff today though.

Hope to do it again some time soon!