Howdy Folks,

This must be chapter two. I'll call it, "Contrasts".

I have had to wait for an instructor to free up his schedule to fit my needs and the weather has not been flyable for several days out of the week I've been here. I'm being patient.

There is an old aviation adage about "Get-there-itis". It basically has to do with feeling that it's necessary to be somewhere by a certain or special time. Probably the most recent example that we have all heard is John Kennedy Jr. trying to make it to his cousins wedding. It's a good example of "Get-there-itis" with a typical outcome.

I have allotted three weeks of flying for my trip. I've lost a week to weather and other circumstances. I still have three weeks of flying allotted. This first week doesn't count. I'm being patient.

So far it's been a wonderful and frustrating trip. To make my time waiting seem to have some value I have been looking at contrasts along the way. There have been some fun one's and frustrating one's all mixed together in some strange miasma of time warp and reality.

I love the picture of the sign on the lobby restroom door of the Ramada Inn where I am staying. I kinda did expect a banquet hall when I went in there. At least an exit into a banquet hall. It's just a restroom with no other entrance or exit. I was going to point it out to the management and then thought better of it. I like the sign just as it is. Some things are better left alone.

My wonderful wife commented on my first email saying that it was nice that I didn't spend much time discussing machinery. She felt that it would make the subject of my trip more interesting to women. Testosterone and Estrogen. I don't even know what to say about that contrast. I'm being patient.

The following four pictures are of a 1931 airplane engine and a 2006 airplane engine. I like the blue and black one complimented with the wood propeller accent. It has kind of an early, folksy Americana feel to it. The white and stainless steel engine is very sheik and modern and probably goes well with a good white wine.

For you guys. The 1931 biplane engine is a Kinner R-55 with 165 horsepower. It's maximum RPM is 1,850. The jet is about 3,000 horsepower and spins about 30,000 RPM. The biplane goes about 85 Miles per hour and burns about 8 gallons of gas an hour or about 10 miles per gallon. The jet flies around Mach .9, (about 580 Miles per hour) and they measure their fuel burn in pounds per hour....  lots of pounds per hour. I'd have to guess about half a ton per

hour.

Here are a couple of close-up pictures of both engines.

There isn't much of a contrast in the last two pictures. The first picture is an old airplane. The second picture is an old airplane with an old guy standing next to it. If you haven't seen me in a few years...  here's a chance to upgrade your memory of what I look like.

Sam Dodge