London Sky

March 7th, 2010

I had a day off in London and took the opportunity to wander around. The day was crisp and cool with a clear sky. I started at the Wellington Arch right acress from the Intercontinental Hotel where I was staying . I paid the 4.50 shillings and climbed to the top of the arch where the angel of peace perpetually rides the chariot of war down from the sky. I took a picture of the bronze horses from the only angle I could and noted the beautiful blue sky above the sculpture.

From here I caught the underground from Hyde Park to Leicester and found my way to Trafalgar Square where I was forced to look up to see Lord Nelson mounted on his column 50 meters in the air. It was then I noticed the blue sky was streaked with jet trails. The more I looked the more white trails I saw. The one thing I love about coming into the Heathrow Airport is the fact that we often fly right over downtown London. Now I was seeing the jets from below. There were so many jets passing over head London that the sky was streaked with crisscrossing contrails going in every direction.

London Sky

Christmas in Orlando

December 29th, 2009

Holly and I decided to take a couple of weeks off in and around Orlando Florida. I wanted to put in a few helicopter flying hours at the Bristow Academy to keep my license active and then take Logan up for a flight. He hadn’t been flying in a helicopter with me as yet. I also wanted to visit the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral which I had missed on previous trips to Titusville.

I did three hours of flying with Jens, the former Chief Pilot, on the 300CBi after which he signed me off for my bi-annual review even though it had only been a year since I flew last. Jens spent the summer before flying an AS350 in Alaska and had some amazing images that he promised to send me. (Which he still hasn’t.)

That night I went over to Orlando to pick up Logan and the next day we did the tour of the launch sites and the space center with the highlight being the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The pictures don’t do justice to the feeling of seeing these monsters up close. The strange part was that the tour guides and tourists were obsessed with sighting alligators. The moon reaching rockets were almost secondary. I guess that shows the power of 165,000,000 years of evolution compared to the miniscule 50 year history of space travel. The fear of ancient reptiles is bred into us while the fear of burning up in the atmosphere is rather a new concept we have yet to grasp.

We spent Christmas day at the Epcot Center in Disney World. It was cold a dreary but we managed to have a great day out together. It didn’t really feel like Christmas but then again what does. At least Disney had a Christmas tree, old St. Nick and a rosy cheeked blond elf from Norway. (See the pictures.)

On Boxing Day I took Logan up flying with the doors off. We chased a few alligators along the St. John’s River and landed the 300CBi in a cow pasture along the Beach Line Rd before heading back toward the coast where we could see the Space Coast Airport and the Kennedy Space Center prep site from a distance. I had hoped to fly a circuit around the Daytona Racetrack but it was too damn cold to make it that far with the doors off. It was 16 degrees Celsius but with the wind chill that amounted to near hypothermia. My fingers were turning blue when we landed back at Space Coast.

The last day of our little holiday we spent at Universal Studios with lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and a beer at Jimmy Buffet’s bar underneath the Grumman Mallard. We all flew back together on Air Canada to Winnipeg. It was freezing cold so I volunteered to take the shuttle to the car park and retrieve Holly’s Honda Civic Logan had left there only five days before. As per expectations of a normal post teenager (actually 20) he left the lights on. I thought modern cars had circuitry that dealt with that little human foible but apparently not. The battery was dead and but CAA had no compassion for my plight. They said it would take 3 hours for a boost. Honda managed to send a tow truck in only 2 hours.

Mo matter because the driver couldn’t jump start the battery so we had to have it towed to the Honda dealer. Of course it was a Saturday so we couldn’t retrieve the car until Monday. I booked a night in the Four Points Sheraton and rented a car for the next day to drive home. Naturally the fu*#*@ rental wasn’t plugged in and it was -32 Celsius the next morning and it wouldn’t start. I had to ask for another vehicle. It was just as frozen but it still managed to start. Needless to say the past week’s stress relief was all negated cause “someone” forgot to use two fingers to switch the lights off. ha-ha

Christmas in Florida 2009

Visit to AugustaWestland in Milano Italy

November 14th, 2009

Milano Italy

It is difficult to write of a visit to this part of the world without thinking about food and fashion. Milan, however, is the home of Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland. Not that I didn’t have a change to try out the fine city restaurants as the manufacture’s reps knew all the best places for pasta lunches and antipasto platters. But I was there to talk to the service and support group and if possible to take an AW139 for a ride.

Agusta Westland Factory Visit Milano Italy

The first part of the journey was a red eye flight with Lufthansa from Lagos to Frankfurt and then, after clearing EU passport control, I reversed direction and crossed the Alps over Switzerland to Northern Italy. The morning was clear so I managed to get a few good pictures of the snow covered Alps as we passed west of the Dolomites and east of Lake Como before our descent into Milano.

Our approach into Milan gave me a great view of the surrounding Italian landscape and the Italian Alps to the north. I was met by an AugustaWestland driver and he whisked me off to the head office buried deep inside a grandiose forest of hedges and old trees. After the meet and greet and exchange of business cards we moved over to the main factory building.

I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside the factory, but the tour was very impressive. The Italians know how to run a factory manufacturing line with a mixture of professionalism and relaxed controls. The line was a collection of every different configuration imaginable from VIP to SAR.

The best part for me, of course, was the chance to get behind the controls of a factory new AW139. Test Pilot Antonio gave me the choice of seats, left or right, but since there is really no difference I took the left seat.

Antonio fired the AW139 up with a simple checklist sequence and then moved it over from beside the hanger to the heliport. He showed me the trim assist controls for the collective and the cyclic and I brought her up into a hover. The helicopter is so powerful and the lift off was so smooth that it felt like we were floating in a mill pond. I pushed her into the departure configuration and she flew off with an excessive climb and a slightly left kilter. I gave her a little right tail-rotor pedal and pushed forward harder on the stick. I felt like I was going to run out of forward cyclic control before she started gaining airspeed as quickly as she wanted to climb.

Antonio had me level off at 1000 feet initially and we cruised over the roof tops of Milan as we headed toward the lakes and foot hills of the mountains. The Terrain Alert kept barking at me as the terrain got higher and finally Antonio told me to bring her up to 1500 feet.

From there we cruised around the lakes, over the sail boats, past the castles and down the winding river back to the AugustaWestland heliport. I slowed down early and managed to come in right over the [H] at about 35 feet. Then I slowly and gently let her sink to touchdown. Only on touchdown did Antonio gave my cyclic a slight forward nudge to allow the wheels to roll on. The procedure was to wheel her on with forward cyclic and a touch of brakes. Cool.

When Nigel got a chance to fly he did things a little different for the landing. He came is lower and hotter and in an attempt to stop over the [H] he pulled the nose up higher and higher until we ended up in a very nose-high tail-low configuration. The test pilot later explained that the earlier helicopters, such as the one we were flying, experienced a high angle of attack from an aft CofG problem. The later AW139s have resolved the aft CofG issues with a longer nose section with more avionics in the front allowing for a more level quick stop.

Nigel’s flight allowed me to check out the Gold Plated seat belt buckles and take a few pictures of our round the lakes flight.

After the flight we got to go for a great lunch down by the river Fiume Ticino.

And after a visit to the training facility we had an after work beer and a little antipasto snack.

Get the picture?

Last evening in Milano.

Two Brothers Racing Exhaust System

May 12th, 2009

Installing the Two Brothers Racing Full Exhaust System onto my GSX1300R Hayabusa

GSX1300R Hayabusa - Installing Two Brothers Racing Exhaust

We had a long wet and cold spring which was great for yard work but not so great for sport bike riding. At 1350cc and 592lbs, however, the GSX1300R could hardly be classified as a sporty “sport bike” and in fact is often classified as a hyper- bike with more power and weight than a sensible rider knows what to do with. I haven’t as yet even put 1000kms on my Hayabusa before I realized that I needed to do something about the weight. (Of the bike not me.)

The weight wasn’t noticeable when riding but I found it awkward to handle when maneuvering in and out of the garage. To me it seemed like the 15lb exhaust canisters on each side were causing an over-center problem. When I leaned the bike over even slightly it felt like it wanted to go. The kickstand wasn’t helping in that it barely went over center and was easily knocked back when I needed it the most. I nearly dropped my beauty when the kickstand gave way and I was caught off guard. At first I thought that maybe I am just getting too old but that thought quickly dissapated.

Hmmm… What was I saying? Oh yeah.

I did some research on the net and found some useful advice from sites such as www.busanation.com and www.hayabusa.org. For one thing I wasn’t the only one having these problems. I started by putting the bike up on my new Pit Bull and filing a notch in the kickstand stop to allow for a better over-center locking. As for shedding the lbs I decided to go for the Two Brothers Racing Full Exhaust System. With the expectation of decreasing over all weight by 35 lbs and increasing the horse power by 12.3hp and the torque by 12ft-lbs how could I resist?

The most daunting part was removing the cowlings. Luckily I found a few excellent descriptions on the web by those in-the-know that helped me avoid breaking off fasteners and clips. Then I removed the horn and unbolted the radiator which was terribly awkward but pretty straight forward.

When I finally got around to removing the OM exhaust it was so unbelievably heavy I knew right away this was going to make a difference. Bolting on the TBR system took time and patience but was manageable using a variety of tools for reaching in through different angles. I tie wrapped the radiator out of the way and placed soft cloths in places where I might get chaffing or scratches to make it easier. The trick was to not tighten anything until the system was entirely in position.

I did this all in about two days but took my time especially when trying to refit the cowling.

After all that I started it up while Logan recorded a video to capture the sound. I let it warm up and then checked to see if the cowling was overheating at any place where the pipes were running close.

I liked the sound of the original exhaust but I love the sound of the TBR exhaust. It is not super loud or annoying. Just a purr and a rumble as you accelerate out of the gate and down the road. The system looks and sounds great.

The real test was in wheeling the new sport bike in and out of the garage. What a difference. It now feels like a sport bike.

Two Brothers Racing Website

SIEM Marlin Intervention Vessel Helideck Inspection Onne Port Nigeria

April 3rd, 2009
SIEM MARLIN MP Intervention Vessel

Bristow S76 Night Medevac Training Flight Offshore Nigeria

March 10th, 2009
Bristow S76 Night Medevac Training Agbami FPSO

Bristow S92 Helicopter Flight to Agbami FPSO Offshore Nigeria

March 10th, 2009
Bristow S92 to the Agbami FPSO Helideck

Winter Break in Cancun Mexico

February 28th, 2009
Family Fun in Cancun Mexico Feb 2009

Two weeks in a Mexican prison with red wine, howler monkeys, and an unlimited buffet. What more can you ask for?

Where were you the day…?

January 20th, 2009

Where were you?

Nick, the Chevron Nigeria Marine Advisor, asked several of us a question that, at first, appeared to be difficult to answer. When did you first fly (as a passenger) and what type of aircraft? The answer for me was easy because, for one, my father was a pilot, and secondly my mother retains the memory of the occasion with a picture of me in the cockpit. I was one year old and we were flying in a Norseman up to Norway House in Canada.

Nick, of course remembered, but surprisingly the other two guys at the lunch table remembered as well although they flew much later in life. They even remembered the type of aircraft they were passengers on including a Comet and a B707.

This memory jogging exercise reminded me of the other thought provoking question. Where were you the day President Kennedy was assassinated? That again was easy for me. I was 8 years old in a Grade 3 classroom in Lac du Bonnet. The spillover class, a result of the post baby-boomer bulge in the demographics that followed us through grade school, was held in the cold and drafty Anglican church next to the old school. Our teacher, Mr. Ketchur, was a young upstart with somewhat cavalier and wholly unorthodox methods of discipline such as nailing Billy Casper’s socks to the wooden floor to prevent him from “kicking” Lori Arseniuk sitting in front of him, throwing bits of chaulk at John Enright’s head to wake him up, and making me sit on the toilet with the closet door locked for long periods of time for bleeding (nose bleeds) in class.

I remember John Enright running in late for class and out of breath. He was often late, but usually excused, because his dad ran the local hotel and pub and often kept John working until the last minute after lunch. This time John burst in to announce that the American President had just been shot. Ketchur found a radio and we crowded around the live broadcast in the drafty church to hear the awful news. I have to admit that I don’t remember if I even knew who President Kennedy was at the time, but I certainly knew after that infamous day Nov 22 1963 in Dallas Texas.

BBC
Since then almost every aspect of the assassination has been disputed - it is not even clear how many shots were fired - but there is one thing most people are certain of; where they were when they heard the President was dead

We’ve had many such moment in our lives:

The day Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston. Feb 25, 1964. Again crowded around the radio, this time with my dad in my parents bedroom. There were no chairs so we sat on the cold floor. My dad was thrilled that Cassius Clay had beaten the bear Sonny Liston but was upset when a week later Cassius Clay changed his name to Mohammad Ali.

The day Martin Luther was assassinated. April 4, 1968. In the confusion of the ’60s I loosely associated his death with the Black Panther movement, communists, and religious zealots. I was coming in from recess at our new Centennial School when a fellow student made the announcement to our homeroom teacher Mrs. Hunchuck.

The day man landed on the moon. July 20, 1969. The summer of ’69. I was at home watching the event on our black and white TV. Dad bought us a color TV later that year but I will always remember the moon landing as being a “black and white” event. I was surprised to later see the National Geographic Magazine pictures in color.

The day John Lennon was murdered. Dec 8, 1980. Sorry, but I don’t remember where I was except Holly strongly remembers it happened one day before her birthday.

The day Ronald Reagan bombed Libya. April 15, 1986. I was in Port Harcourt Nigeria and the local university students demonstrated against the bombing of their “African Brothers” by the American tyrants. The students marched down the road to our camp all dressed in black and hanging an effigy of Ronald Reagan by the neck. Later they burnt him. I was “trapped” and hiding in a dusty run down book store where the Nigerian owner took the opportunity to let me know “If I wasn’t buying any books he would have to ask me to leave.” Needless to say I kept buying books, actually Shakespeare’s King Lear and The Tempest, until the crowd disbursed and I could escape back to the fenced-in protection of our compound.

The day the Berlin Wall came down. Nov 1989. I was back in Nigeria after the birth of my son in April, but I don’t remember any particular day. I guess because it came down piece by piece I remember it as an event rather than a moment.

The day Nelson Mandela was freed from Robben Island. Feb 11, 1990. Again, I was in Port Harcourt Nigeria. The university students demonstrated against the “white” American company I worked for not understanding that most American’s had opposed Apartheid. Ironically, we were locked into the camp like prisoners and spent the day in the bar commiserating our lack of freedom.

The day hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. I think this day of infamy is only second to the President Kennedy assassination. Sept 11 , 2001. I was in my hotel bedroom in Bali Indonesia. I was on a term contract training Indonesian pilots in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Although many of the Indonesians gloated over the attack the local Balinese sympathized with the victims. That was befitting as they too later became the victims. Holly was booked to come and join me in Bali and ended up flying out of Vancouver just days after the FAA flying ban was lifted. At the time of the attack I was watching a NBC business channel, as this hotel did not have CNN or BBC, when one of their reporters, in a building just across from the Twin Towers, reported an unusual explosion. The live feed showed the first building burning and I watched live as the second aircraft slammed into the tower. I phone Holly to see if she was watching and she then turned the TV on. We knew this moment was historic and horrific as the same time.

The day of the Bali Bombings. Oct 12th, 2002. Only a day and a month and a year after the Sept 11th attack on the World Trade Center. That fact I will always remember. Holly, Logan and I were at home in Seminyak Bali watching TV when we heard a huge explosion that shook our house, blew open a window, and rattled our main door. Holly had lived through the 12 curb and car bombings of Lagos Nigeria 1996-1997 bombing campaign as the militants had fought over political control of Nigeria and she knew by the sound of this blast that this was definitely a bomb. But, we had moved to one of the most peaceful areas of the entire world. We must have been mistaken. It must have been a gas depot explosion. The night air filled with sirens and the sky lit up with the glow of a raging fire. We decided to stay home and early the next morning I was called out to evacuate Americans from the island. I flew all day evacuating scared and confused expats to “safe” havens.

The day Barack Obama got elected President of the United States of America. Nov 4, 2008.

And now today. The day Barack Obama is to be inaugurated as President of the United States of America. In fact, only five minutes from now.

Today should go down in history, but hopefully for the right reasons. I can only say that the odds are against him as the march of destiny is filled with memories of the disturbing and painful. Let this particular memory-for-life be a good one.

YouTube Video of EC725

December 21st, 2008