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Showing posts from May 20, 2007

Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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I had another productive flying lesson tonight. The weather was perfect. No wind, 10 miles + visibility and low winds aloft up to 6000 ft. That means that the pilot is the one creating the turbulence, if any. I had some excellent landings and some excellent takeoffs. I also had to abort one of my landings and I bounced quite a bit on another one (which freaked me out a bit). My instructor said when I turned final on my last landing, "That is a beautiful sight". It really is. When everything is lined up, the green of the runway, the trees, the sun thinking about going down. It really is quite a picture. To know that you are the one that is transitioning the aircraft to become a land vehicle, is satisfying. The camera is not practical at this stage, but hopefully, you get the idea. The plane goes in for its FAA required annual inspection in a couple of weeks. I will be helping with that. It is fun learning at Greene 4N7. The annual is done right there since we have a great me...
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Looking back to the Antarctica experience, concentrating on flying lessons

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Another week begins. I had another great flying lesson Friday. I have another Tuesday. Landings are becoming a lot less intimidating, but I have a long way to go. There is so much to learn. We have been getting the red (1997 Chevy diesel) truck ready for sale and working on farm work. My tractor tire seems to finally be holding air after years of cursing and attempted repairs. I hope I just didn't jinx it. Bonnie and I went to the scrap yard and the dump Saturday. Then we were off to breakfast with the net proceeds. The barn is in a lot better shape now. Scrap prices sure are up. If I were headed back to Antarctica this year I would be in Wilderness Survial school this summer as well as Microwave Landing System (MLS) school. Both would have been fun. This is a picture of me in the 1956 Beaver seaplane out in Idaho.
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