Pictures while using frequent flyer miles

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 079, Fall 2014, Lebanon

277 - Had a month off, then back on the road with a Mediterranean run on the front half, and an Afghanistan run on the back half. Been to Spain for a gas stop many times now, but never realized it is an Atlantic Ocean sunset.



278/280 - More playtime with the Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8







281 - Ready to ride to fun in the sun.



282 – Pilot hero shot.



283 – Mountains or clouds?



284 – Perpetual new copilots always riding along.



285 – Decent check into Beirut.



286/287 – Beirut.





288 - Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport



289 – Field trip to see a helo. Well, check this unit out!



290/295 – Loadmaster hero shots.













296 – Someone has got to make this jet look good.



(post break 20)

297 - Bossman kickin' back, on his final mission at Dover before he moves on to a new assignment. I've flown with many aircraft commanders now, and always liked workin' for this one every time.



298 – Copilot hero shot.



299 - Only failure this trip was the pilot side HUD acting stupid. With a little avionics magic, and heavy-handed persuasion, she came back online.



300/301 - Requested toolbox pictures. I've been a Craftsman guy forever, but the Snap On stuff isn't really that bad.





302 - Our next Afghanistan stop wasn't going to have fuel available, so fill 'er up now. Not quite full, but not much more will fit with high level being 249,000 lbs or 36,000 gallons.



303/304 - Somewhere in northern Afghanistan.





305 - Short final back home into Dover kickin' back once again I wonder, "They pay me to do this?" Best damn job I've ever had.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 080, Winter 2014, Finland

3-026 Copilot hero shot.



3-027 Crew chief hero shot.



3-028 Copilot hero shot.



3-029 “It is cold up here. Turn up the heat.”



3-030 Cloudy Finland day.



3-031 Cloudy Finland day.



3-032 Headin’ for the weather.



3-033 In the weather.



3-034 Finland boys!



3-035 “Thousand foot. Stable.”


3-036 Loadmasters and copilot hero shot.



3-037 Frommer's, "Here's a fun fact..."



3-038 Tourist mode engaged here in the cold Finland Christmas land.



3-039 Big ole Christmas unit.



3-040 Thumbs up fer Finland beer!



041 Not a speck of litter anywhere. Cleanest city I’ve ever been in.



042 I don’t know how to caption this one.



Next morning at 0dark30 we met in the hotel lobby for checkout to get back to the airport for a long flight back to Delaware. I had already packed the jet full of 36,000 gallons of fuel yesterday for the max endurance length we could fly without needing a tanker. The night clerk said we didn’t need to leave so early as the line for security would be very fast, and the first flight isn’t for 4 more hours. I explained no, we have our own airplane and will be departing as soon as a van could get us there. “Are you rockstars?!?” Sure why not!

[jimmy828]

great pics When you retire you will have some good memories!

[NM5K]

Kinda weird the way the wiper blades appear to park with the top tips off the glass..
What airport is that you were on short final to before the kindergarten picture? Looks awful familiar,
and seems I've maybe seen it on the sim, but I can't place it.

[adrianspeeder]

Right before they go to the stowed position they ride up a ramp to pull them off and away from the glass. Would melt I'd imagine sitting in the sun in the desert. I've measured 178 degrees on the top surfaces in the desert.

Adrianspeeder

[NM5K]

I guess the ramp is pretty smooth. My first thought was that the ride across the bump would tear the rubber up
pretty quick if they went to the park position a lot.. My artificial 737's park them down low, about the same as a
car, and they never leave the glass.

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 081, Winter 2014, Liberia

2-306 - Another tail of Dover’s finest. Let’s pull them belts up tight one more time and hand to the land of ‘bola.



2-307 - High speed fill up double pumping.



2-308 - Big kid adult juice box. Favorite part of stopping in Spain.



2-309 - Cue the Lion King music for an African sunrise in Ebola land.



2-310 - Ancient 737-200.



2-311 - Braving Ebola for a hero shot.



2-312 - Ebola survival stuff.



2-313 - Loadmaster hero shot.



2-314 - Money man for paying cash to these airfields where the credit card isn’t accepted.



2-315 - Copilot’s hero shot.



2-316 - Aircraft commander hero shot.



2-317 - Only the finest former Soviet Union radio gear.



2-318 - African safari land. Watch out for lions.



2-319 - African dirt superhighway to seaside beachfront property.



2-320 - Cool island.



2-321 - Dakar amusement park.



2-322 - Dakar runway 34 short final.



2-323 - Lt. planting ‘er down hard!



2-324 - Welcome to Dakar.



2-325 - Imagine that, an African airport that is nice.



(20 post break)

2-326/327 - Big ass statue thing.





2-328 - Low speed fill up single pumping in the African heat.



2-329/330 - Beach side Dakar.





2-331 - Goin’ fishin’.



2-332/334 - From 110 degrees to 12 degrees and requiring deice after gas stop in Germany.

[adrianspeeder]

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[adrianspeeder]

...

[Ranchero50]

Ya know, every time I see this thread update I think 'Where's Waldo at this time?'

Thanks for posting the pics.

[67mann]

Great pictures Live it up while ya got the chance....awesome job indeed

[Bumpside Collector]

Awesome photos every time. Kinda wish I had chosen that line of work but I was too much of a home boy back then.

[67mann]

"I don't know what this is, but it's a big ole unit."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Re ... e_Monument

[AZf100]

This is an awesome thread,

[adrianspeeder]

Trip 082, Winter 2015, Texas

335 - Kuwait's fancy C-17 paint job. I've been told instead of our $8 million gray paint job, the Qatar and Kuwait clear coat pretty paint jobs were $32 mil.



336 - Hammer down big time on Dover's runway 32.



337 - Washington Dulles International Airport.



338/339 - Pilot hero shot.





340 - Copilot hero shot.



341 - Cool lake.



342 - Tower of the Americas.



343 - San Antonio International Airport.



344 - Inbound runway 03.



345 - C-23 Sherpa.



346 - A Southwest 737 landed behind us and we ended up drag racing across runways 12L and 12R both heading to the terminal.



347 - "Southwest, give way to heavy C-17..." (heh heh heh)



348 - Bad gonkulator. So after 61 missions in a row with me not having a hard break, our overhead hydraulic control panel had a failure in the backup power supply. So while everyone else hit the town the next day, I had to meet a part that was overnighted to me to put the new one in.



349 - Well there's your problem... Not too hard though, four mounting screws, two connectors, and two avionics cooling ducts. Boeing built this jet to be easy.



350 - Only the finest refurbed overhead hydraulic control panel to get us home.



351 - Had plenty of time to hit up the Riverwalk where 8 years earlier I wandered around as a dopey brand new airman released after basic training. PTSD from the multi colored umbrellas.



352 - Keystone state capital represent!



353 - Piano bar good times.



354 – As soon as the boss leaves, we will follow.