February 2020 Visit to Pacific Air Museum (3)

The last of the three blog series. A favorite of all time, an F-4 Phantom. This prized gem is kept inside of a hanger. Protected from the elements, it will look good for many years to come. It is a F-4C model, so it is an earlier model than the F-4J/S that would have been in my personal history.

This F-4C has its own storied and impressive history. Lots of folks worked on and flew this great airframe. It's always a treat to see one of these.

Editors Note: This is the last in this blog series. I had trouble with the blog editor again. On (2) drag and drop worked fine. On (1) and (3) drag and drop did not work. So in closing, these blogs do not do justice to Pacific Air Museum web site and visual experience. I was very fortunate to have made this day trip to O'ahu. I hope to be able to make it there again some time soon. 

February 2020 Visit to Pacific Air Museum (2)

Second blog in a series of three of a February 2020 visit to Pacific Air Museum. Outside of the exhibition halls and hangers, the good stuff has been staged for clean up and eventual display. These particular aircraft are of interest. Either I had worked on a similar type of aircraft, had served in a unit of these particular type of aircraft or the aircraft has unique tail art.

This is a Bell AH-1G. Presumably an obsolete US Army bird. Not quite the AH-1J and AH-1W (both also now obsolete) that I have history with. The Shark mouth paint nose art is very cool. Many squadrons who can put this kind of nose art on an aircraft, well, it can be a unique and motivating signature item.

I found the many of the latches and crew access handles functional. Brought back 1990's memories of working on 'J' Model Cobra's. The gun in the nose was not quite the 20mm used to seeing, more like a 7.62 mini gun (GAU) of some sort. Heck, it would get the job done.

The story on this, Sikorsky S-58, UH-34. No personal history on this. Quite a unique aircraft. This model would have had a radial piston engine. Wait, a "radial engine", that's right. And steel rotor and tail blades.

Other than seeing these as a youngster flying around, there is no personal history. Thinking back many years and watching YouTube videos of a S-58, hearing a piston engine powering a helicopter is strange. No offense is intended to people fond of this aircraft. It is way cool. 

Let's not forget the CH-46. Serving in a CH-46 squadron and being in Marine Aviation for many years, in the 1980's, 1990's, 2000's. CH-46 was a big part of everyday lift. As a youngster, from time to time, it would be quite a treat to see one of these, obviously "in flight". It was way different than the UH-34 above.

One of the main things that made this different than the UH-34 would have been the sound. Jet turbine's and not a rotary piston engine. And the obvious it looks different. Very mentally stimulating for a small kid to see one of these and be puzzled of fore and aft rotor blades.

And this SH-60 wins the cool tail art contest. The Hawaiian Warrior with his spear projected going down the leading edge of the tail, the islands painted on the tail boom and geometric ribbon art wrapping. The colors are so unique and are fitting to the vibe. 

SH-60's are still in the production line. Only now with more power, performance and overall lethality or in humanitarian roles. No personal history with the SH-60. So we do have 3 helicopters here, all by Sikorsky. The top is a classic Bell.

Editors note: Since February 2020, it is certain that each of these have been cleaned up and might be in one of the hangers for protection from the elements. The cell phone camera may have been in wide angle mode. This blog does not do ample justice for each of these planes. See the Pacific Air Museum for a much better online experience.

February 2020 Visit to Pacific Air Museum (1)

This has been a very empty year for blogging. Pretty much there has been no air travel at all. It is the year 2020 so the reason for zero travel and zero fun is assumed. So, the thought is to do a blog entry of a past Kaua'i trip, Pepeluali (February) 2020. It was preplanned that I'd fly to O'ahu and visit Pacific Air Museum. This is the first of three blogs to extend my travel experience.

The flight over to O'ahu went very well. It might have been the first flight that day, not really sure. It was different flight experience flying on a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 going to O'ahu for a visit instead of getting on an Airbus or Boeing 767, 737 for a 6 hour flight to LAX. I took no carry on's, just what I was wearing and a cell phone. Lucky thing I had hikers on my feet. The exciting story of how I got to Pacific Air Museum will be the subject of another yet exciting blog entry. 

Here are just four photos of this trip. USS Missouri and USS Arizona photos were taken from the tour bus to and from the main-side visitors center to the museum on Ford Island. The bus ride is free. I was not really in a 'hurry' but since there was return air travel involved, it was important that time was managed well. So these are the closest I could get. The bus does stop at USS Missouri and tours are available. 

USS Missouri looked very impressive. From the bus stops on Ford Island, there are a set of nice monuments and story boards leading up to the ships 'gangway'. To see USS Missouri in action, recommend the movie "Battleship".   

Lots has been written on USS Arizona. It was very nice to see USS Arizona. Throughout this whole visit, I wanted to put myself in the shoes in the past and try to envision what it would have been like on that Sunday morning.  

                                                                                         

Here is the Ford Island iconic tower. There are a few other buildings in the area, but for the most part this tower stands alone. It is being maintained very well and often. So well, it looks as if it is in operation. This is one of the places where I tried to put myself back in time. 

Basically, if someone was to be standing here, on this cement aircraft apron area, basically, there is no cover, no place to hid. If your not being shot at by bad guys, your likely to be hit by friendly fire, shrapnel or other debris. Putting yourself back in time during the attack, from any location on this aircraft apron, you are fully exposed to everything.  

Very different experience than the views of the harbor, blue water, green mountains, cool trade winds, warm sun. Imagine choking smoke, intense heat, loud unnerving sounds, confusion.

This last picture is a P-40 Warhawk. Very famous and popular aircraft. It is in the main museum exhibit room. The shark mouth on the intake is what really makes this stand out and is so loved by all aircrews and what make this so famous. 

From time to time, airshows will have a P-40. It is a fantastic airframe. It basically sounds like a Harley Davidson with 12 cylinders. Pretty decent sized and very mission capable. Imagine 12 of these doing a flyover.

Inside of the main museum exhibit room are several life sized dioramas with story boards, videos, real equipment and hardware. It is a really class act and is a great way to preserve the history.

In closing, the museum visit was a very rewarding experience. Time management was good. As a self guided tour I was not rushed through any exhibits, and I did not rush myself through. There was plenty of time to allow the experience to be absorbed. Lots to see. The museum staff is great.

This experience was not interpreted as a tourist attraction. Rather, trying to put myself back in time at the time of the great battle, was a humbling experience. Hanger windows, doors, outside walls show evidence of taking fire. Very historical, moving and again humbling. 

Editor notes: I had trouble formatting this blog and really did not want to delete it and start over. These are cell phone pictures. I did study how to use the camera(s) as there is a wide angle and a standard lens. So not to sure how well the overall product has turned out.

 

Garmin GPS Replacement

Just a short post showing a replacement Garmin GPS unit. My trusty Yellow etrex Cx is on the left, etrex 30x is on the right. It had been quite awhile since I messed with the trusty yellow etrex. Pretty much, opened the battery compartment and found old batteries that started to erode the shiny silver battery terminals. Did the best to clean the terminals and installed new batteries.

The unit powered up fine, but the date was not correct and would not correct itself. The date was something like April 2000. Figured I could live with that. But the (cleaned) corroded battery terminals made the power source connection rather intermittent. That became rather bothersome. So I got the new one on the right. Works pretty well, boots up quick, acquires satellites quickly too. Loaded up some geocaches and hope to take it geocaching soon.

Sure a cell phone with the geocaching app will also work. Having a rugged handheld gps unit is kind of nice to have around. Batteries last longer and if it is dropped it will still work. So, my trusty yellow one will go to ewaste, sorry to say. It got me out of a really bad jam once and I am thankful for that.

Sleeping Giant Hike

One of the more challenging hikes is Sleeping Giant. I had not hiked this trail in a few years. Instead I'd been focusing on hiking familiar trails up Koke'e, and further up the road, Kuilau Trail. One of the main things that makes this hike impressive are these Cook Pine trees.

                                  
Where else can you pretty much take your time and be in the middle of these very tall pine trees, hear the song birds chat back and forth, watch the trees sway back and forth and get rained on all at the same time.

The song birds are awesome.

While on the trail, I had met up with (passed and got passed a few times) by a nice European couple. The Gentleman was nice enough to snap this photo of your truly next to a glorious Cook Pine. In the case hiking to the top is not in the plan, consider getting into the middle of the Cook Pine grove and just hanging out for awhile.

During the climb up, thought to snap a photo of the .75 mile marker. The photo does not really show the full extent of the mud. But a little mud does not bother anyone.

Surprisingly, despite not having done Sleeping Giant or any steep hike in quite a long time, at the .75 mile marker, I did not feel really physically stressed. A little tired of course but never felt the need to turn around.

Reaching the top (where the covered picnic tables are), of course had to snap a shot of the traditional rooster in all his glorious plumage. You have to love these guys.

And finally, a snap shot of the trail while on the way done. Overall, the trail remains in very good condition. It was overcast and rainy which was totally fine with me.

I look forward to doing this trail again.