The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: billt on January 29, 2015, 01:00:18 PM
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I'm just 2 miles from the University Of Phoenix Stadium, where the Super Bowl is being held. Both the Goodyear and Direct TV Blimps have been flying back and forth over my house all week. They most likely will continue until after the game on Sunday. I'm not going anywhere Sunday, as it will be a circus everywhere around here.
Cabela's is right across the street from the stadium, and they'll be towing cars left and right. Luke Air Force Base is about 5 miles to the west, and they've had F-16's in the air all week as well. Armed to the teeth. There is so much crap hanging off the wings, I don't see how they can fly!
I was reading on the Goodyear blimp. They're going to be building a new one at a cost of $21,000,000.00, ($21 million). They only give rides by invitation only. Usually big wigs, or else customers who work for Goodyear dealerships and the like. You have to request a ride well in advance, and I don't know how long of one you get. They're keeping it at the Glendale Airport, about 4 miles from here. That place will be overrun with private jets on Saturday and Sunday. All coming in for the game. I'll be glad when it's all over. I just hope nothing bad happens. It's a "target rich" environment.
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/Super20Bowl20Blimps20009_zpsc2amhmsn_1_1.jpg) (http://s812.photobucket.com/user/billt460/media/Super20Bowl20Blimps20009_zpsc2amhmsn_1_1.jpg.html)
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/Super20Bowl20Blimps20004_zps2uwbroxa_1_1.jpg) (http://s812.photobucket.com/user/billt460/media/Super20Bowl20Blimps20004_zps2uwbroxa_1_1.jpg.html)
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If you are into plane spotting it sounds like a great place to be. Any war birds fly out of there ?
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I've had 2, P-51 Mustangs fly over before and during the Glendale Air Show. You can hear them before you see them. V-12 Merlin's make a very distinctive sound. Last year there was an ungodly roar coming from Luke around twilight. About a minute later a B1-B Lancer flew over with all 4 burners lit. It rattled my Arcadia glass door, and drove the dog crazy.
I read the B1-B Lancer is the biggest gas hog in the inventory. At takeoff with all 4 burners lit, it consumes over 200,000 pounds of fuel per hour. It doesn't stay in afterburner very long as it's fuel capacity is just 265,000 pounds.
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Never seen a B-1, but they had a B-2 do a fly over at one of the Air shows at the former SAC base near Portsmouth. Back when it was open f/b 111 were a daily event, KC 135 tankers still are since it still has ANG. B-52's and F-16's were not uncommon.
Used to see P-51's now and then when I lived near Hayward airport in Ca. Saw a LOT of cool stuff out there, Migs, F86, Gee Bee race plane, U-2.
Every few years some one brings around a B-17, B-24, and a B25, there is a guy in Rochester who has a Corsair, and down in Hampton there are 2 reproduction Fokker Triplanes.
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BillT,
I am 5 miles S of Cabellas, did you see the pair of V-22s that flew over last week ?
As far as Warbirds in the area, there are a number of them. I flew the C-119 that was at Glendale for a while, as well as the C-47, C-1. There is a B-17 and B-25 based in Mesa, a couple of 51s at different places around the valley, a number of T-6s around.
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BillT,
I am 5 miles S of Cabellas, did you see the pair of V-22s that flew over last week ?
As far as Warbirds in the area, there are a number of them. I flew the C-119 that was at Glendale for a while, as well as the C-47, C-1. There is a B-17 and B-25 based in Mesa, a couple of 51s at different places around the valley, a number of T-6s around.
Yes, I saw one of the Osprey's pass just north of my place. God those props are big! It looked like it was headed for Luke because it was turning west, so I didn't get to see it transition to the vertical. It's a lot bigger of an aircraft than I thought.
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A third blimp showed up this afternoon, MetLife. It just went over in the rain. They better watch it, they're liable to have a mid air collision with these three elephants.
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All that security is in place to keep an eye on the Patriot's ball boy.
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Believe it or not, our county's little fart of an airport is a regular stopover for several blimps.
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A third blimp showed up this afternoon, MetLife.
That one is covering the Phx Open golf tourney.
I missed the V-22s. That would have been nice!
I saw a couple of the blimps in the distance from the 101 when I was on my way to Shooters World Peoria this afternoon but I never got south far enough to really get a good look. Seen one blimp, seen them all...
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Believe it or not, our county's little fart of an airport is a regular stopover for several blimps.
Must be on blimp's great circle route from Miami to Dallas.
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You guys have fun watching the airborne stuff. Scanner buffs should have a field day with just the FAA radio traffic.
At one of my part time jobs I worked for concessions vendor for the Atlanta Braves. (I was just a cook.) When they hosted the World Series ions ago, I could always tell when it was 5:55 because the blimps and helos would start buzzing the stadium for their 6pm live shots for the nightly news.
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actually the scanner buffs will have very little to listen to as the airspace around the stadium is off limits to all but a few aircraft. One of the selling points of the stadiums location was how close it is from a airport, less than 2 miles, yet during events the airport is shut down due to airspace restrictions. The airport should be packed with jets, yet most go to Scottsdale, DeerValley, Goodyear.
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In September of 1971, I enlisted in the Coast Guard, and went to boot camp in Alameda, California. Alameda was also the winter home of the Goodyear blimps. They were always buzzing around.
Late one day, we are out learning to march, and one of the blimps made a really, REALLY low pass
right over the grinder. Our company commander, Chief Quartermaster Reed, must have gotten
tired of yelling "Eyes FRONT!" whenever the blimps were around. He halted us, and shouts "Eyes UP! Now look at the Goddamned thing!"
He gave us about a minute, and then it was "Eyes FRONT!" again and back to work........
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actually the scanner buffs will have very little to listen to as the airspace around the stadium is off limits to all but a few aircraft.
Ah, but those "few" (?) aircraft will include the Blimps, possibly some other news helos, and all manner of LEO craft patrolling the area. And since FAA traffic is not encrypted, listening to them keep out of each other's way will make for good listening.
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Ah, but those "few" (?) aircraft will include the Blimps, possibly some other news helos, and all manner of LEO craft patrolling the area. And since FAA traffic is not encrypted, listening to them keep out of each other's way will make for good listening.
Don't forget all of the banner aircraft. They've been everywhere the past few days. They fly so damn slow, they look like they're about ready to fall out of the sky.
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We live about 15 min. from the blimp hangers near Akron. See them all the time! High, low, far and near. One of the schools for special needs kids holds an auction once a year at which time they have a lot of neat stuff to action. One is a blimp ride. My wife has bid on it for me but since it's for charity she can't come close to affording it.....until she hits the lottery! LOL
Richard
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been busy the last hour, 3 passes by the thunderchickens, now the Goodyear blimp, 3 banner tow planes and something I had not seen before, a helicopter towing a banner.
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They're really out in force considering the crummy weather.
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http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KGEU (http://flightaware.com/live/airport/KGEU)
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nothing is flying this morning, heavy fog with about 500ft visibility.
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Thickest fog I've seen here in over 10 years. It's finally broken up, and the Sun is out.
I just ran down to the corner Home Depot to get some pool acid and some weed killer. The place is swarming with cops and security. I saw at least 15 squad cars from Glendale, Phoenix, El Mirage, Surprise, name it. You'd need the 3rd Army to hold up Starbucks!
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5 banner aircraft now doing laps around the stadium.
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Annnnnnnd, IT IS AN ENCLOSED ARENA!!!
Even if the retractable roof is open there will be no useful play coverage from the aircraft, and advertising carried by the aircraft will be virtually unnoticed by attendees.
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and here is why I don't watch pro sports, the stadium was built with taxpayer money, and the NFL has a tax exemption from the feds.
so, look at all the BILLIONS that will be made by the NFL and they will pay NO TAXES on it.
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Annnnnnnd, IT IS AN ENCLOSED ARENA!!!
Even if the retractable roof is open there will be no useful play coverage from the aircraft, and advertising carried by the aircraft will be virtually unnoticed by attendees.
Most of the people were outside until about 20 minutes before game time. They had a ton of concerts, and stuff going on all over the whole grounds.
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Congrats to the Pats ! ;D
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Congrats to the Pats ! ;D
What was Carroll thinking?
Oh, well...it made it interesting! I had the honor to watch the game with a 90 year old Ranger who helped rebuild the Burma Road from 43-45, Mountain Artillery.
I'm glad his team won... ;)
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What was Carroll thinking?
3 downs and 26 seconds to move the ball 2 yards......... And they throw?? And they throw into a bunch of white jerseys??????......... I think Carroll's head set was connected to the Oval Office, not the upstairs booth.
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I think Carroll's head set was connected to the Oval Office, not the upstairs booth.
If that was the case, they would have apologized for being successful then punted. ;)
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Maybe he was thinking, "There's no way my QB can RUN through all those big ba*tards".
My question is, in that situation what do the rules say about having 2 of the linemen throw the ball carrier ? ;D
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My question is, in that situation what do the rules say about having 2 of the linemen throw the ball carrier ? ;D
Back in 85 William Perry, ("The Refrigerator"), Tried to carry Walter Payton several yards on a running play through the defense. (I forget who the Bears were playing). The ref's spotted the ball where he picked him up. Payton was laughing so hard after the play he had to stop and bend over and put his hands on his knees.
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That was the greatest Super Bowl game I could ever imagine with two teams I hate! BONUS! One team didn't beat the other....Seattle beat themselves! Awesome.
While I don't like the teams I admire Marshawn Lynch...the guy is a tank. The fact that they didn't give him the ball on the 1/2 yard line is possibly the dumbest football move ever.
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If I was Paul Allen I would have been furious with Carroll. This is the exact reason why owners try to coach their teams through the head coach. They themselves bring on the exact kind of stuff Jerry Jones does all the time, with stupid calls like that. You expect those kind of screwed up plays at the high school level, but certainly not in the NFL. And during the biggest game of the season, no less.
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F*ck it, seemed like a good idea at the time, didn't work.
Better luck next year. NOT ! ;D
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I like you guys, and I enjoy bantering, but I will tell you the same thing I tell all Monday morning quarterbacks and the like: "If you are so good and know all the right things ahead of time, why aren't you making a million dollars a year coaching?" Easy to rip in hind sight, but we all live and die without that knowledge.
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What I think is funny, is no one is pissed because Wilson thru the interception. But rather because of the play being called to begin with. If the pass would have been completed, and they would have scored, people would be saying what a gutsy call it was.
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I like you guys, and I enjoy bantering, but I will tell you the same thing I tell all Monday morning quarterbacks and the like: "If you are so good and know all the right things ahead of time, why aren't you making a million dollars a year coaching?" Easy to rip in hind sight, but we all live and die without that knowledge.
I'm just glad I don't have to hear anymore about Belichick's balls!
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What I think is funny, is no one is pissed because Wilson thru the interception. But rather because of the play being called to begin with. If the pass would have been completed, and they would have scored, people would be saying what a gutsy call it was.
EXACTLY!!!
And it was calls like that that got them to those last seconds of Sunday evening.
Now you guys have gone and done it. I have gotten more into this stupid game than I intended. I told the boss man, yesterday morning, I thought I was over New England's cheating, or possible cheating, and the NFL's lack of integrity, but when that interception happened I wasn't excited, happy or sad, I was pissed that the cheaters won.
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I got into a discussion with a co-worker who's been a fan of the Patriots since their inception into the AFL as the Boston Patriots in 1960.
He was wondering why everyone else in the country hated the Pats. Being a Midwesterner trapped here in the NE, I informed him that it wasn't the Pats they hated but nearly everything about Massachusetts!
I hate every sports team in the northeast, period! But, I was still happy my pal the WWII Vet got to see his team win again! He may not see another...
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Moving away from the bad call, and actually back to the "buzzing" part of this thread. One of the Helos was for halftime camera shots. From my friends in the stagecraft business, here's what it took to put on the half time show.
24 Cameras
5 Chapman Sideline Carts
2 Jibs
2 Steadi-Cams
1 Helicopter
90 26k Projectors
384 LED Tiles
582 Feet of Blades
765 Lighting Instruments
8 D3 Servers
10 Flame Cannons & A Lot of Pyro
25,000 amps of Power
1/2 Mile of Truss
18 Audio Field Carts w/ 108 Speakers
24 Stage Carts
1 24' Long x 12' High Lion Puppet
1 18,000 Square Foot Projection Surface
48 Golf Carts
1 Flying by Foy Rig
More than 850 Costumes
24,000 Sq Feet of Tenting
145,000 Flashlights
1,000 FM Radios
600 LED Orbs
11 12' Long x 6' Cloud Balloons
3,650 Hotel Room Nights
1,366 Pizzas
7,620 Boxed Lunches
750 Cast members
480 Field Team Members
400 Staff & Crew
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...and a couple of nice taters!!
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How much did Katy Perry make?
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I didn't see the performance, so maybe that is why I don't know this....but what is meant by "582 Feet of Blades"?
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From m58
I like you guys, and I enjoy bantering, but I will tell you the same thing I tell all Monday morning quarterbacks and the like: "If you are so good and know all the right things ahead of time, why aren't you making a million dollars a year coaching?" Easy to rip in hind sight, but we all live and die without that knowledge.
Another thing no one has mentioned was that that was one hell of a catch.
As for hating New England, just remember, with out us you'd all still be singing "God save the Queen", we've got chairs older than your states, and half of New England has the least restrictive gun laws in the country.
Should us Yankee's form out opinions of the West based on Boulder, Seattle and Oakland ?
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Here is what we woke up to on Sunday morning. There was a high power rifle match the same morning that was to start at 7am, they were delayed 3 hours because of the fog.
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Another thing no one has mentioned was that that was one hell of a catch.
No argument from me on that one, Tom! He knocked the receiver off his feet and stole the ball right out of his hands...
I don't hate New England, Tom... Just it's sports teams! After all, both my ladies (wife and daughter) are New Englanders... I WOULD like to see MA in my rearview mirror someday but that's probably a dream after 33 years.
:D
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I think New England is beautiful, the people wonderful, and the fight for independence much appreciated.
However St Augustine, FL might have sand older than the fictitious Massachusetts rock.
Plus NE has that nasty thing called, W I N T E R.
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Plus NE has that nasty thing called, W I N T E R.
Bingo! After 38 years in Chicago, I never want to see another snowflake!
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Plus NE has that nasty thing called, W I N T E R.
I have to say the coldest I have ever been has been the winters of coastal New England. The temperature may only be in the teens but when the winds pick up from a storm it's absolutely brutal.
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It was 4 degrees this morning, (10 AM) and we have gotten about 2 feet of snow over the last 2 weeks.
Just got to be tough. ;D
I was in Ca for 2 years and came back, so I can't bitch to much.
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It was 4 degrees this morning, (10 AM) and we have gotten about 2 feet of snow over the last 2 weeks.
Just got to be tough. ;D
I was in Ca for 2 years and came back, so I can't bitch to much.
Tom, how far do you live from Weir's Beach, (spelling?). The one they always show on the biker rally programs? They had it on "Airplane Repo" as well.
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About 3 miles, It's the other side of town. ;D
And you did spell Weirs correctly.
They build the Lake amphibian here High wing single pusher engine mounted on top.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Aircraft
They say the factory is in Sanford Me. but the vendors who make the parts are all located here in Laconia.
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It was 4 degrees this morning, (10 AM) and we have gotten about 2 feet of snow over the last 2 weeks.
Just got to be tough. ;D
I was in Ca for 2 years and came back, so I can't bitch to much.
We've had 36" and 24" dropped over 7 days here, looking at another 12" from Saturday through Monday morning. Nothing to worry about! Just no where to put the stuff in the urban areas.
Six ft in two weeks is a record but it still doesn't faze a guy whose lived in the north all but three years of his life. Brushmore made a comment about cold... The coldest I've seen was in Iceland and winters there make January in New England seem like June! Snow falls sideways in Iceland and 100 mph winds define "wind chill"!
The US Navy would write you up if you went outside without protective gear... We would take an Icelandic taxi to go 1/4 down the road to the Enlisted Club on the base.
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They were working like hell to clear the sidewalks and parking lots downtown, getting ready for the next one.