Life’s been a bit busy and tiring as usual, but I wanted to finally get a couple of posts published for a change

The Road Runners Internationale are a special group of people.  They’re the men who built the base at Groom Dry Lake, the reconnaissance aircraft that gave the U.S. the edge in the Cold War, the pilots who flew them, and the families who supported them.  Some of the programs were more tightly held secrets than the atomic bomb was in WWII and have only recently begun to be declassified.

I met T.D. Barnes and first learned about the Road Runners  at Aviation Nation 2004 – my first trip to Nellis Air Force Base for an airshow.  Over time we chatted via email and I was honored to be invited to join as an associate member.  Reunions are held every two years and I sadly missed the last one.  I wasn’t going to miss this one

5 October 2011 - Yours truly at the Black Mailbox

5 October 2011 - Roadrunners and friends at the Black Mailbox

5 October 2011 - About to mail a letter to the aliens

5 October 2011 - Panorama - Mailbox Road

5 October 2011 - Panorama - The Black Mailbox on the Extraterrestrial Highway

 Every reunion, the Road Runners have a field trip somewhere nearby.  This is the first time I’ve managed to clear time to go on one   Past field trips have gone to the Nevada Test Site where T.D. used to help test nuclear weapons and to Creech Air Force Base where the U.S. Air Force bases most of the Predator and Reaper UAVs which have been so effective in the wars overseas.  This year was a bit different.

We all got together in a convoy and headed north from Las Vegas, then onto Highway 93 north, and then west on the Extraterrestrial Highway.  We made a couple of stops along the way including the one in the pictures above at the Black Mailbox.  Long time readers will likely remember seeing pictures of this place before from back when I first got my HHR.  It was along again due to the need to help carry people to our destination for the day.  Yes, even in the cold and rain, I’d rather have been on my bike – just as long as I had the right gear   Still, the trip was well worth it especially with a couple of Canadians and a couple of Russians along as passengers

5 October 2011 - Down at the Little A'Le'Inn

5 October 2011 - A small view inside the Little A'Le'Inn

The 2011 Road Runners field trip was to the closest bit of civilization you can find near Groom Dry Lake.  That place is Rachel, NV and it is very small, indeed.  The largest business in Rachel is the Little A’Le’Inn    OK, I’ve never seen any UFOs out there, but the place is pretty cool

5 October 2011 - Panorama - Looking southeast from the Little A'Le'Inn

5 October 2011 - Panorama - Looking east from the Little A'Le'Inn

 As you can see from these pictures, the Little A’Le’Inn is rather remote and in that sense is similar to Groom Dry Lake.

5 October 2011 - Mining history in the Groom Lake area

 There were prior attempts at making use of the area before the Air Force showed up in the early 1950′s, but they didn’t quite pan out.  I can only imagine the tough life that those early miners lead out in the southern Nevada desert.

5 October 2011 - The Roadrunners Internationale and friends at the Little A'Le'Inn

 Inside the Little A’Le’Inn, people were packed in like sardines in a tin. Everyone enjoyed the great camaraderie, delicious food, and superb hospitality of the owners and staff

It’s amazing to me that this event even happened.  T.D. and several of the Road Runners also commented that even a few years ago, they never could have imagined that they would be at a place like the Little A’Le’Inn which is so close to Groom Dry Lake, packed in with friends, family, and news media, accompanied by the Central Intelligence Agency’s gift shop staff.  The novelty still remains when telling the stories about some of their formerly secret projects.  I still can’t believe I get to be in the middle of it all and I get to talk to the people who developed the planes I never thought I’d be allowed to know much about.  This was a truly great day

5 October 2011 - Joerg Arnu at the podium in the Road Runners' command post!

 Joerg Arnu is the webmaster for Dreamland Resort and the Road Runners’ websites.  Originally from Germany, Joerg knows more about the Nellis Range than I’ve ever thought to ask.  This trip was his doing and I commend him for managing to organize such a great day   He’s also one of those strange people who thinks that the best way to go down a road on a beautiful day involves two cylinders, two wheels, and leaning in corners   Yeah, we’ll probably go for a ride together sometime before too long

5 October 2011 - Panorama - Groom Lake Road in the diffused storm light

I took the photos that became this panorama on the way back to Las Vegas from the Little A’Le’Inn.  That road you see off in the distance is Groom Lake Road.  That is the road that leads to a place I’d love to visit someday, but which I will likely never reach.  It’s the road to Paradaise Ranch, AKA Watertown, AKA Dreamland, AKA Area 51.  It’s the place where the U-2, A-12, SR-71, and many other very special aircraft were developed.  Work still continues to this day on aircraft development and flight test out at Groom Dry Lake.

I don’t know what’s going on at that secret spot in the desert and I know it’s for the best that I don’t as I don’t have the need to know.  In the end, I’m just glad I’ve had the chance to meet the people who made history there in the past and that’s enough for me

Thank you, Road Runners, for all you’ve done for your country in the past and for all you continue to do to educate the rest of us today

The All New U-2 Spy Plane! Brought to you by Hobby People.

I know it looks like normal styrofoam here, but you’re going to be a bit farther away from it than this when it’s flying.  I really haven’t seen any other radio control U-2 scale models with much if any resemblance to the real airplane.  This one does the job admirably!

We had a chance to see Hobby People’s new Phase 3 U2 EDF spy plane fly at Prado Air Park this weekend during the Pomona Valley Model Airplane Club’s Toys for Tots Fun Fly. Tim Johnson give us a little interview on how the model flies and we were impressed at this model’s scale repesentation of a U2 spy plane.

Enjoy!

PlaneVideoArt Productions

This U-2 model comes in three versions.  You can get one for about $240 that’s pretty much ready to fly including the transmitter and charger.  If you’ve already got a 2.4 G Hz radio and a charger, you can save $40 with the i-bind version.  If you’d rather source your own radio equipment, batteries, and other equipment or you’d like a different paint scheme, you can also get this model as a kit which is bare white foam for $120.

Again I’m just joking about asking for even this for Christmas   I’ll be happy to have my brother in town and to have good friends and family.  But yes, the Roadrunner in me really would love to have one of these – especially if I could get it signed and donate it to the organization

18 October 2010 - Cool car on my lunch break

I don’t see as many classic cars around Vegas as I did back in San Diego.  This one was pretty cool

18 October 2010 - I wouldn't want to drive this one on the freeway at night

I don’t care if this Smart car has marker lights, I don’t want to drive it on the freeway at night.  It would blend right in.

18 October 2010 - A pink elephant on the Las Vegas Strip

Just a bit of classic Vegas

18 October 2010 - I wonder what a KC-135 was doing at McCarren

Now, just how would a KC-135 end up so close to so many Las Vegas attractions ???

18 October 2010 - Southwest Airlines terminal across the airport

Here’s a picture for my friends at Southwest Airlines

18 October 2010 - A different view of the Strip

Here’s a view of the Strip that most tourists never see.  This was taken from the same place as the pics of the KC-135 and SWA terminal.

18 October 2010 - I want to know what it is and where I can get one!

This thing just looks like fun

18 October 2010 - Five helicopters with their rotors turning

There were five helicopters with their rotors turning at this tour company.  The economy is down, but these guys are still paying the bills.

18 October 2010 - The JANET terminal - Your gateway to a whole different world 8)

JANET – Just Another Non Existent Terminal – I’ll leave you to guess where and who they fly

18 October 2010 - Southwest Airlines on landing at McCarran

Southwest is my favorite airline   Low prices, good attitude, and lots of great destinations

18 October 2010 - Luxor Las Vegas

Avid fans of CSI Crime Scene Investigation on CBS will recognize this parking lot from an episode last season.

18 October 2010 - Is it just me or does this guy look like Jack Nicholson?

I couldn’t help but take this picture – the resemblance was striking!

18 October 2010 - 1932 Ford hot rod by my dentist office

18 October 2010 - 1932 Ford hot rod by my dentist office

18 October 2010 - 1932 Ford hot rod by my dentist office

18 October 2010 - 1932 Ford hot rod by my dentist office

My actual reason for being down in the southern part of the valley was a dentist appointment wherein I had more Novocaine than I can recall.  I’ll spare you the details.  At least I got to see a cool car

18 October 2010 - Down on the Strip on a Monday night

18 October 2010 - Panorama - Margaritaville Las Vegas

18 October 2010 - Caesers Palace

18 October 2010 - Pirate ship at Treasure Island

18 October 2010 - Panorama - World's largest gift shop on the Las Vegas Strip

To get decent pictures, especially at night, you need to take a lot of pictures   I’d say I had to take 20 to 30 pictures just to get what you see here.  You’re going to get camera shake in most of ‘em, so it’s best to take as many as you can and hope for the best

That’s it for now – I just worked an 11 hour day and I have 10 more hours to go tomorrow.  Have a great Wednesday

Normal Temp for a day this time of year

Guess Who?

Doing a preflight

My friend Dan and the Pilot, Maj. Rogerson, Canadian Forces doing the walkaround prior to flight

Just a few of a regular day at my corner of the world here at Edwards AFB. The thermometers are a recent addition. And I know how much Jeff wanted to see the temp during a normal day out here in the Mojave/Antelope Valley.

26 July 2010 - Hogjaw, Area 51, Road Runners Internationale, and former black projects

And then I remembered all the space I have on the walls of my cubicle at work   Yep, I’ve got just about all my patches up on the walls at work

Some of these patches are rather rare.  For example, you can only get one of those CIA patches from the CIA gift shop.  Thankfully, I’m an associate member of the Road Runners Internationale and the CIA is rather close to our group due to the history of the Road Runners’ projects like the U-2 and A-12.  The CIA is so kind as to bring their gift shop to our reunions which means I get to shop where very few can

The rest of the patches on this wall have something to do with the CIA, the Road Runners, or black projects in Nevada.  Take the 547th Intelligence Squadron patch – these are the men and women who exploit foreign technology that’s been “acquired” by various means.  The Road Runner feature prominently – check out their website for some really interesting Cold War secrets   And there’s a couple of special, very limited edition Area 51 patches as well

26 July 2010 - Jimmy Buffett, NASA, Cape Hatteras, and the USAF represented here

It’s not just Road Runners and CIA that I’ve got on display.  There’s plenty of NASA and USAF patches here, too.  I may have to pick up a few more when I get the chance to fill in the wall a bit more   Still, there’s the stickers Kath sent me along with a couple of Raptor patches & T-Bird patches which I think all works well together.

Let’s not forget that I’m still a Parrothead and you’re probably going to find some Jimmy Buffett items around

26 July 2010 - Thanks for the OBX stickers, Kath

Gotta love the bumper stickers   “The Weather is Here” is a favorite of many Buffett fans while I’d love to see someone in office who actually has a clue as well.  I don’t agree with Jimmy’s politics for the most part, but he seems to understand what the average Joe is going through – he’s been broke and sleeping on a friend’s couch with only a bicycle for transportation before.  And of course, you’ve gotta love the OBX sticker and the Cape Hatteras lighthouse postcard

26 July 2010 - Road Runners Internationale - In God We Trust - All Others We Monitor

Ah, the good ol’ Road Runners 8)  This is key tag is pretty appropriate when you consider that they were responsible for the U-2, A-12, SR-71, M-21, and D-21   If you don’t know what those were or are, just put ‘em into a Google search and you’ll find out

26 July 2010 - Who here can pick out the most black projects and symbols in this patch?

I paid quite a bit more for this patch than I normally would for most.  It’s a very limited edition and very cool – if you know your Groom Lake history   I’ll tell you that the bird down on the bottom is for the Road Runners and the silver plane at the top is for the U-2, but each of the symbols on the patch refers to a program or group that’s been declassified.  How many can you understand?  I’m only missing a couple

Anywho, that’s about it for now.  Have a great day