beatle, please say hello to the C-124 Globemaster II for me. It’s one of my favorite airplanes. And take a close look at one of the women mannequins in their relatively new Berlin Airlift exhibit. I was there a few years ago for a conference and someone had told me that they re-used a Jackie Kennedy mannequin in that exhibit. When I took a look at it, I thought, “Well, damn, look at that!” Have a ball there!
OK! I’m trimmed out on the itinerary. I’ll be in Dayton all day Thursday (I get in the night before) and Friday, and I fly out Saturday afternoon. Amazingly, round trip from Houston to Dayton and back was only $221! A Houston-Dallas trip was $160 last time I did it. I’ve never flown Airtran before - are they full service or is it bring your own 'chute?
I’m looking forward to visiting with some Midwest Dopers!
BTW Blackclaw, you gave me the inspiration in The Air & Space Museum Rocks! Thanks.
Sorry I missed you, Narile.
I’ll check’er out dubs.
Ah man, now I feel all pressured. I’m going there this weekend to straighten the place up a little before you arrive.
(In the area where they have the Gulf War era aircraft, be sure to peek into the Paveway Laser Guided Bomb’s glass nose. Someone left a prank inside there. At least I hope it’s still there.)
Good chuckle, there, Blackclaw.
Land o’ goshen! I just checked out the Online World Map of Dopers - USA Map and came to realize that the contemplated gathering will occur in the backyards of both Rue DeDay and Krispy Original.
Well, we’ll see what that might bear…
Airtran=Valuejet
Remember the Fla. jokes?
Crock1: I love this airline food! etc.
I’m only sorry you won’t be there for Sat. night. Only time I could get there.
Its an OP that takes me down memory lane.
Yes, folks, I was raised in Dayton, Oh. Actually a god-forsaken burg called West Carrolton. It’s a beautiful place in the spring and fall, but I pity you going in the summer. IIRC, there was a good time to be had canoeing down the Little Miami river(especially if under the influence of mind-altering chemicals). You might want to jolt down to Cincy and take in a ball game!
Say hi to old place for me.
Hmm…, glad I asked.
Welp, just did the 6 hour tour of the USAF Museum today, and wish that I could go back tommorow for a more liesurely exploration and also check out the annex again. Six hours was waaaay to little time to really take it all in is all I can say.
Want to know something scary…they are adding a third hangar…and they will easily fill that.
Now a few notes…
The first hangar is well laid out, taking you through the history of flight up to about the 1970’s. The tour feels very packed in, with airplanes and displays filling every inch it can. But the second hangar is much more open, not nearly as closed in feeling. It is supposed to be modern aircraft, but there are a few WWII and Korean planes there as well. The Valkyrie is a beautiful plane.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame should be renamed to the Aviation Hall of Fame and non-American’s should be inducted. People like Yuri Gagirin(sp) should be a part of this as well.
All said, it was well worth the time to go there, and I will make a point to do it again next time I visit home.
Oh, Blackclaw, thanks…
GM’s have to have a sense of humor…look at who we deal with. 
Yes, folks, I was raised in Dayton, Oh. Actually a god-forsaken burg called West Carrolton.
Ah, the 'burg. Where you’ll find every 19 year old kid tuning his dragster at 3:00 in the morning.
You might want to jolt down to Cincy and take in a ball game!
No need, spooje. We now have our own ML team!
Anticipating…
FWIW, I flew AirTran from Jax to Moline in May - it was not a terrible experience. The last leg of the trip was delayed due to mechanical probs and they had to put us on another plane, but stuff happens. I had no complaints beyond being 4 hours late getting home.
Oh, and I’m jealous - I’d love to wander thru that museum…
So…what’s the plan here folks?
Dunno the final details, TS. I had to bail; too much work. I can e-mail you with beatle’s hotel info if you like. You could call there and leave a message if you wish.
Well, I’ll be in Dayton around 3 this afternoon. If anyone wants to meet-up, post here or drop me an email before noon (when I leave work and make the drive up there.)
If you just want to meet up somewhere, I can almost guarantee that I’ll be at the Dublin Pub in the Oregon District tonight. Probably the only guy with a Marine hair-cut in a hawaiian shirt.
Okay, beatle, Crafter_Man and I are meeting in the foyer of the WPAFMuseum at 4 pm this afternoon.
In case ayone wants to do a Mini-Dayton Dopefest, that is.
Again, Dublin Pub will be the place to be.
And a fine time have was had by all, but I’ll have to add to this later as the funky-doo terminal I’m posting from here at the Dayton airport keeps rebooting. Here’s hoping AirTran’s dispatch system has gotten over the virus that made Wednesday’s trip up here a memorable one.
AirTran STOP
AirTran may be worthy of a thread unto itself (not necessarily in this forum). Suffice to say I’m alive and back in Houston.
Got to meet Crafter_Man, and Ms. Crafter_Man and the Crafterettes who did some of the Museum with me. After that we met thinksnow and the three of us adjourned to the Dublin Pub. Very enjoyable evening - I like both of those fellows.
A thought that occurred - I think one could muster a few Dopers almost anywhere; well, let’s just say a lot of places. Any vacations I take in the future are subject to the issuance of the call; and I bet I’ll come up with some.
The Museum is too big a subject to really try to address. It is chock full of stuff that will appeal to historians, av-buffs and, really, just about anyone who’s at all curious.
It seemed funny that the Trabant on display (the 2 cyl. 2-stroke plastic and cloth bodied East German Republic’s People’s Dogmobile) actually had defrosting wires embedded in the backlight.
A truly neat thing about the displayed aircraft; I’ve seen many historical types restored and displayed, and often enough what you read about the particular airplane shown is that it was used for training or some such (it does make sense that those would be the ones most likely to be available relatively intact compared to their war zone bretheren). But many of the Museum’s displayed aircraft actually participated in historic events; e.g., any aircraft museum dealing with, amongst other things, WW II would want to include a B-29 Stratofortress - well, the AF Museum’s example is Bockscar!
OK, well, back in my bocks…
Next, AirTran.
It was a pleasure meeting thinksnow and beatle. (Both of whom appeared to be quite knowledgeable about military aircraft, much more so than myself…) The Dublin Pub was great, though I was feeling a little bit queasy as the night went on. I’m not sure if I was dehydrated, tired, or what, so I left a little bit early. (Didn’t want to!) Anyway, it was a great meeting you both, and hope to see you again in the near future.
Great to meet you both. Quick note: beatle, drop me an email and I’ll bounce the picture back to you.
Even though I was thrown after trying to tell you that the B-1 was actually the XB-70, it was nice to see the WPAFM again. I’m gonna have to do the tour again sometime, now that they’ve moved everything around.
I’ll also second the sentiment that beatle knows a ton about them’thar aeroplanes…and dialects.
T’was a good time and after talking about everyone else, we had a good little discussion about teaching, learning and the Aha! moment. Good stuff, all around.