Flyin' around the sandbox.

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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Trip 021, Winter 2014, Maryland

076 – Bravo alert! Launch the jet for an important task! Through the entire process, no one other than one guy that did get the message that the trip isn’t needed knew we never should have taken off. We as a crew started to notice things were off when calling into the first airport stopping point, and they didn’t know who we were or where we should park. “Who are you guys again???” I put the jet to bed, as there was no user waiting to load up, and met with the rest of the crew at command post. By then it was figured out that the trip was scrubbed before any of us were even initially called to fly. Dover command poster from the previous shift wrote it on a sticky note, but not in the logs. “You gotta be shitting me!” Also, “Hey, could you guys bring the jet back to Dover tonight?” The pilot then turns to me, “Hey chief, you still always fly with an emergency six pack of Coors Light?” “Sure do on the bus! Let’s all have a drink heading too the hotel.”

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077/078 - Shortest mission I had with a .9 hours of flight. Not a lot of time for pictures.

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Put together a quick video crossin' the ocean again.



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Last edited by adrianspeeder on September 2, 2021, 7:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Trip 022, Spring 2014, Poland

078 - Dover’s swamp.

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079 - Always like getting gas on a USAF installation from a pit with an R12 pump truck since two big honkin' high volume and pressure lines fill with authority.

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080 - Atlantic sunset.

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081 - Crazy Polish gas truck. Pumpin' at the speed of slow. Friendly guy and nice views around Warsaw Chopin Airport otherwise.

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082 - Angle of the dangle outta there to the next stop.

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083 - Lithuania countryside.



084 - Vilnius International Airport Lithuania

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085 - Vilnius TV Tower

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086 - Nobody beats the Wizz.

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087 - Headin' back home through Poland, needed a near full load of 230k lbs of gas. Five trucks and 3 trailers usin' every drop from I could get.

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088 - And lastly another first for me of seeing the northern lights. Normally don't cross the ocean at this higher latitude up from Iceland to Greenland.

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Last edited by adrianspeeder on September 6, 2021, 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Trip 023, Spring 2014, Djibouti

001 The shadow looked more impressive in person.

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002 Atlantic dawn

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003 Atlantic sunrise

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004 Four flowin’, turnin’, and burnin’.

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005 Italy bound

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006 Mount Etna on the east coast of Sicily.

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007 Good morning Sicily.

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008 Nice beer for breakfast.

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009 I forgot what they called this, but it was great.

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010 Plaid shirts are what the cool aircrew members wear.

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011 Full tourist mode in the Elephant Square.

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012 Heads will roll.

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013 Mo beer!

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014 Big man on campus.

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015 Beautiful Mediterranean

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016 Hammer down big time at .77 Mach.

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017 Angle of the dangle diving at the ground.

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018 Angle of the dangle diving at the ground.

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019 Speed brakes! Whoaa back!

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020 “Gear down, before landing check.”

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021 Runway headin’ short final into Djibouti.

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022 Fill ‘er up chief!

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023 Ghost town ‘round here.

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024 Gas stop at the next stop with the biggest fuel truck I’ve ever seen.

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025 We figured the dark spot with no lights are where the three Great Pyramids are at.

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Last edited by adrianspeeder on September 11, 2021, 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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grump
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by grump »

Once again Adrian, great photos and very interesting. Look forward to seeing your posts.
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Trip 024, Spring 2014, New York

089 - Another trip finds a beautiful Delmarvalous day for flyin'.

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090 - Airfield fire department asked if they could use a few minutes of our time to familiarize themselves with the C-17. Gave a full aircraft tour of opening and all exits, danger areas, crew seating, engine shutdown, battery disconnection, and any other situation I could think of so I don't die in a fire.

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091 - They do have some pretty bad ass rigs as well, but didn't have enough time to check out their toys.

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092 – Loaded up, blast off, and climb for a short trip up to NYC.

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093 - Washington Monument down there.

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094 – Customer had us take a quick hop up to NYC. Never been there before, so this will be fun.

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095 - Lots of stuff flyiin' on the fish finder here. Controller was non stop talkin'.

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096 - New York City

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097 - JFK. Make a hole. Inbound fat, dumb, and happy.

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098 - Third biggest airport I've ever seen. Very balanced takeoffs and landings with the same crews on the same routes over and over to be as smooth as can be. Then we show up, need escorted, stopped all kinds of traffic, had our pictures taken a thousand times from paxs, ground crews, and other flight crews on other jets.

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099 - Tower came back on and said we were lookin' good.

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100 - I think this was the jet that asked us to pause for a picture, and said welcome to New York.

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101 - Our captain said to watch out, Red Sox in town for the night. Might have to check that out.

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102/103 – Walk around check.

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104 - Normally the customer is usually all business with a quickness, but their boss asked if we would like to take pictures with the jet.

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105 – Hero shot.

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106 – Dover doin’ work ole son!

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107 – 40th floor hotel. Pretty sure I’ve never been in a taller building.

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108 – Times Square.

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109 – Times Square.

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110/111/112 – On the next day off we braved the subway to roll to a Yankees game.

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113 - Great New York breakfast. At NYC prices... 43 bucks!

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114 - So one of the most interesting things I've gotten to see in my life is the WTC complex.

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115/117 - Standing at the South Tower pool, I mentioned to my crew that here is the reason we do what we do.

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118 – North Tower pool.

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119 - This tree survived the attack and was replanted among the new trees at the memorial. I was really moved by this whole visit, and for sure suggest everyone take the time to see it in person. The sons of *****es that caused all this destruction had the nerve to come into our house, hurt our people, and for what? I really don't know, but I'll be glad to do my part to keep them fighting far away.

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120 – Wandered over to Wall Street.

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121/122 - Lit up ready to ride!

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Last edited by adrianspeeder on October 17, 2021, 9:02 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Hoofbeat Racer
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by Hoofbeat Racer »

Like grump said, thanks so much for posting. I too look forward to your updates and pictures. Its men and women like you working together doing infinitely different tasks in different parts of the world every day that help give us that breath of freedom. Thank you for that.
Mark


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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

123 – Time for another trip to the land of sand. This jet is a recent addition to the Dover fleet as a used hand me down from McChord. Got 7 more hard years of use than even our oldest factory delivered jet. Let’s go!

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124/125 – First stop in Spain.

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126 - All was good until until, "Chief, I think you have a fuel leak." You think? That is one of those things in life there is or isn't.

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127 - The main tanks hold gas until 178k lbs, then that’s when the two extended range tanks start filling up to a possible 249k lbs. Hadn't been leaking before on any of the stops, but we weren't using the ER up to that point. Took a few tries at removing underwing panels, but got it narrowed down to a vent line tank connection. Gonna take a day to get that part in, so let’s hit the town.

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128/129/130 - At which point we saw one of the stranger events I've ever witnessed. Didn't have a clue what was going on, but got filled in that before Easter, the Spanish celebrate a whole Holy Week with parades and such.

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Video!

https://youtu.be/KgjnkWG2i40

131/132 - Next day part patched in, so we topped off on the gas.

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133/134 – Because of timing, the next stop ended up being an overnight in everyone’s favorite German town.

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135 - Pointy end of the stick.

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136 - The pilots and maintainers of this heavy hardware were pretty cool wanting pictures back and forth, and all parties had big smiles about each other’s aircraft. The gunship pilots thought our big bird was the most amazing thing around, when I had to stop and ask, "Wait, you fly a gunship with a 30mm point by turning your head chain gun, and this C-17 is cooler?"

"Yup. It can fly us home."

Fair enough.

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137/142 – Night line in the desert.

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(post break 20)

143 – Night line in the desert.

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144/149 - Gets boring crossing the ocean with no inflight movies, so ya find things to entertain ya. Like airliners that fly higher and faster. Spot 'em on the fish finder, then find 'em in the sky.

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(post break 25)

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150 – Pilot hero shot.

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151 – Oh Canada…

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152 - Tough to watch Lt's try to read maps upside down.

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153 – Quick splash of gas to make it across the country.

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154 – Our fearless copilot’s father flew out of Bangor Maine back in the day. Like father like son takin' off from the same runway the ole man ran on.

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155 – Positive rate from Bangor ME!

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Trip 026, Spring 2014, Iraq

156 - One thing that never gets old for me is the home one day, havin' good dinner at a Spanish gas stop, gettin the job done in some of the not friendliest places in the world, to havin' a drink the next day in Spain one more time before goin' home.

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157 – Atlantic sunrise.

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158 – Iraqi river deltas from long ago.

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159 – Birthplace of civilization.

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160 – New co-pilot doing some desert learning on this trip.

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161 – Cap’m keeping it steady.

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162 - Euphrates River.

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163/165 – Baghdad International Airport

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166/167 - Always a kickass ride after unloading to an empty cargo, motors wound up max, light on fuel, and a requirement to GTFU quick as can be. We may be fat and round, but she'll angle and dangle.

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168 – Mountain top cloud surfing.

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169 – Big ass storm gets a wide circle around.

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170 – Decent checklist please.

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171 – A little buddy!

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172 - Rock of Gibraltar.

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173/176 – Spanish party time.

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(post break 20)

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177 - one more traded patch for the board.

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Last edited by adrianspeeder on October 27, 2021, 8:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Trip 027, Spring 2014, Iraq

178 - On the first stop of this trip, after landing the boss goes to start the APU so we can shut down the engines. "Chief! It won't start." Damn, time to work. Anyway, first checked the controller that gives me a "no flame" fault. Usually not a big deal, and I even carry a spare ignitior for such situations. Alas, the new spark plug wouldn't light 'er off either, so it's probably gonna be a failure of the exciter. Checked to make sure power was getting to the exciter before I make the call for a new one, but it ends up our next stop has one in supply. All I have to do is get the engines started once, and we do that with a combo of a power cart and huffer cart.

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179 - Not rocket science, but a PITA to get a power cart that is strong enough after years of abuse to run the sixty amp hydraulic pump for the system of the starting engine, so it doesn't starve the engine driven hydraulic pumps on startup. Took me three tries to get a cart that could do it. Then the second battle is the huffer cart. Basically a mini apu on a trailer with a worn out hose and connection for the 300 degree 35psi bleed air to get one engine cranked. Usually pick the other wings number two engine being closest, and not be working around a running 3 or 4 engine to pack up all the equipment. Once motor is started, wind it up, and use that motors bleed air to crank the other 3.

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180 - Trip was a little bit special for one of our crew members fini flight as she gets ready to move on from her Air Force days. Hung a flag up for her to then fly forever.

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181 - Met some friendly Iraqi dudes that wanted a propaganda photo, so I took one too.

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182 - No matter how many times we do it, backing up out of parking always creates a fun show. Loadmasters sit back on the ramp callin' out the turn.

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183/185 - Allegedly the largest mosque in the world.

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186 - Dinner time was good. Menu said chicken but there were a lot of cats runnin' around.

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187 - Cruzin' high at flight level 400.

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188 – A French canal.

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189/191 – New pin in the map touching down in France a little south of Paris.

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192 - Beefarony butcher?

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193/194 – Mega church

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195 - Time to head back down to the land of aids, malaria, and burning fields.

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196/197 – Hero shots.

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(post break 20)

198 – Roll ‘em out!

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199 – Best security to watch my back while inspecting in less-than-ideal locations.

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200 - You can see the mosquitoes breeding from up here...

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201 - Next stop I made the comment of, "Nothin' like $212 mil sittin' on the ramp to class the joint up."

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202 - Wouldn't be Africa without an abandoned 727 missing a #1 motor, flat tires, and covered in moss. I asked our airport ramp agent what the story was with that unit. “It is out of service.” That checks.

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(post break 25)

203 – Dinner time Africa style.

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204 – Time to go!

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205 – Fearless cap’m.

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206 - Ever a time we needed to get out of a not good spot heavyweight, it's now. Push 'em up and let the P&W's scream.

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207 – Let the Sun shine.

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208/211 - African views.

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211 – Another trip done. Headin’ home.

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Bonus video from France.

https://youtu.be/fJKzXcyBDMk


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foodstick
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by foodstick »

Every time I click this link and look at the pics I am blown away at what you have been up to...
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Thanks friend!

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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

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Trip 028, Summer 2014, Djibouti

212 – Next trip across the pond.

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213 – In thrust we trust.

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214 – Winding down to a little bit left in the tanks, time to land.

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215 – The two switches on for a smooth ride.

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216 – Engine shut off switches.

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217 - Pleasant non raining German morning.

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218 - Desert sandy sunrise, and hot already.

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219/223 - Not an often occurrence with my crew rest in Italy.

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224 – Chainsaw store. German saw. Never ran one before.

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225 – German beer in Italy. They didn’t have Coors Light.

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226/227 - Didn't look like much at first, but instant made from scratch by an Italian guy goin', "Bibbbity boopy" that was quite good.

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228 - Aight ya old 01 McChord handme down, keep it together and lets go home.

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229 - Shadow on the Italian farmlands.

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230 – Alps.

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231 - Had to stop in Maine for a splash of gas to make it to the left coast before home, and small world seven years to the day of joining the USAF, bumped into a good friend from my basic training flight.

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Alan Mclennan
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by Alan Mclennan »

Small world aye!, well in your line of work it is! :D
Honey, If I say I`ll fix something I will, there`s no need to remind me every 6 months!!
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LM14
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by LM14 »

Thanks for posting these. You're getting a great look at our world that so few ever get to see. Always amazing and you seem to have a great outlook on everything.

Thank you, even more, for your service. Can't say that enough.

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More toys, I need more toys!!!
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Welcome!

Trip 029, Summer 2014, New York

232 – Wherever the sun rises, you call, we haul.

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233 - "Looks like it'll fit. Load 'er up!"

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234 - "The noise makers are good to go boss!"

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235 – Angle of the dangle.

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236 - Gotta love cloggin' up an international airport comin' in fat, slow, and happy. Delayed half the airport with a domino effect across the country within the hour.

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Last edited by adrianspeeder on November 24, 2021, 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

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Trip 030, Summer 2014, Spain

237 – Bravo alert to go rescue some stranded cargo in Spain that was stuck on a broke C5.

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238 – Easy money on this jet.

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239 – Two ocean crossings in one day, and we timed out in Virginia. Quick nap, then a quick flight tomorrow for home.

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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

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Trip 031, Summer 2014, Jordan

240 – Second production jet ever bolted together. 1988 model.

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241/244 – Holding short for a McGuire bird to go play ahead of us.

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245 – The Germans!

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246 - Thought this was a volcano at first the way the cloud lined up.

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247 – Egypt

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248 - Boats linin' up to use the Suez Canal.

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249/250 - Actually have no idea what they are digging or workin' on here, but that has gotta be over 50 ft deep holes and piles.

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251 – Let’s eat!

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252 - This translation guide story had us all laughin'.

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253 – Italian spaghetti.

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254 – Fresh fish.

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255 – Walkabout

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256 - So we all decide to pay 5 Euro to see these "ancient ruins" with the ticket stub lookin' like the Roman Coliseum.

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257 - We've been hosed Tommy, we've been hosed...

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258 - Italy is great! Ice cream and beer!

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259 - The end of the trip had us stopping for gas in Bangor ME, but it was weathered in, so the divert was to a place called Goose Bay Newfoundland. Four hundred miles out we were cleared in number one for landing. No kiddin'. Not a damn thing else around.

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260 - Only other bird on the ramp was this nifty lookin' boat thinger.

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261 - Always good to get home one more time.

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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

Got around to smashing a video together from the trip.



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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

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Trip 032, Summer 2014, Missouri

262 - Next load was to take the Prez out to St Louis. Never been there before, so let’s load up and get 'er done.

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263 – No home game today.

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264 – Not far from the arch.

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265 - "Sir, we have many fine craft beers..." Naa, I'll take some Colorado koolaid.

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266/267/268 – Next day we are just waiting for the motorcade to load up and then we can roll. Jet is good to go.

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269/276 - "So I'm just sittin' out here watchin' airplanes..."

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foodstick
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by foodstick »

Every time you post I think "Where in the world is Adrianspeeder ?"
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adrianspeeder
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Re: Flyin' around the sandbox.

Post by adrianspeeder »

One month deployed down, one night off, and with 100.4 flying hours on the books, it's been non stop action.



Lots of bits and pieces come together to get bleed air from the APU, a ground equipment huffer cart, or cross bleeding from another motor wound up at power reverse to spin the starter to spin the motor to life. Sometimes that doesn't all come together, but Pratt & Whitney thought of everything, so all ya need is a speed handle to manually move the starter control valve, and let 'er eat!

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