Airshow - 5/24/2009 ( Fat Albert)

BLUE ANGEL'S FAT ALBERT RIDE ALONG
5/24/2009

Hello Everyone !! Last week I was asked if I wanted to ride with the Blue Angels' Fat Albert. I thought about it for mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm a milisecond.. OF COURSE!!!!! So, today I drove over to NAS Patuxent River and was taken over to the hangar where Fat Albert was waiting.
Also saw Blue Angels #7, which I found out later is used for promotional work and it's a 2-seater plane for VIP's to do a ride along.

We did have to wait around for about an hour and a half, but I was not bored at all. Below are several pics of different things that were going on:

1st - They have "Blue Angel Official" cars. This one was my favorite:


2. A handful of the crew were running around moving things and I got some pics. I have come to the conclusion that one requirement of working for the Blue Angels is that you must be "easy on the eyes" and physically fit:




Finally we were told we were going to head towards Fat Albert. We would be given a chance to look around and get a briefing before going on board. Below is a short video and pics from inside the plane. :




After we had a look around the plane we had our briefing with the flight officers. And I was lucky enough to sit in the parachute seat, so I would have a window to look outside. We all get buckled in while the crew got everything ready to go:



Once we started, there was a lot of movement and once we took off it was the most amazing feeling. There were a lot of "stomach dropping" experiences and the views from my window when we banked to the left were amazing:



And some more vids:

List:

1. Getting ready to take off. The pilots and crew having some fun:



2. Taxi-ing the runway:





3. This last video... all I have to say is OMG!!! Just take a look: Screamed like a girl... wait.. I am a girl LOL:






These vids were from the inside, so how about what it looked like to the crowd. These vids were taken the day before at the Airshow.

Sorry about the fleck of dirt in the video.. not sure where that is coming from.. think it's time for a new camera ....

1. Take off:



2. Fly-by:




3. Fly-by at 300 mph:




This was a once in a lifetime experience and I will never forget it. Hope you enjoyed the pics/videos.

Come back soon:

Fort Mifflin - May 10, 2009

Fort Mifflin located in Philadelphia, PA, right behind the Philadelphia Int'l Airport is a historic site going back the the Revolutionary War. At one time it was held by the British and was attacked by the U.S. to give George Washington time to get to Valley Forge.



The site is beautiful. Once you cross over a bridge and enter the fort there are approximately 6 buildings. Officers Quarters, Soldiers, Barracks, Commandant's House, Blacksmith Shop, Amory and stables. Also located are a powder magazine and a torpedo magazine.. which is located in tunnels. There are also casemates, which were used to house prisoners.



If anyone has seen Ghost Hunters they did an episode here and found it to be haunted. One of the sites they checked out was an unearthed solitary confinement. We were able to check it out and it was very cool and pretty creepy. It supposedly held one prisoner William H. Howell.. he was arrested for murder, then escaped from the solitary, was recaptured and executed at the Fort. Supposedly he still haunts the place he was jailed in... It's called Casemate 11.