If You Need More Fireworks After Last Night

Tons of fireworks shows around here last night in preparation for Independence Day. People may have run out already.

If you need more, before you go out to buy some, understandthat  you can get all sorts of different color fireworks, as seen below, based on the wonders of chemistry: 

 

 

Have a good one, be safe, soak all fired firework tubes in water for at least 24 hours before throwing them in the trash.  Don't burn your house down, and may you end up with the same number of fingers you started out with as you celebrate our Independence Day in the traditional manner.

Flying Friday: Independence Day Flight To KAZO

For Independence Day I flew to a suitably patriotic site:  The Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Flew VFR with flight following. Pontiac airport was rather quiet at even at 9:00 am they still were using the ASOS rather than the ATIS. Called up ground and got flight following. I decided to fly to KAZO via the HAAKK waypoint so it kept me away from Battle Creek where there was a TFR for an airshow there and would otherwise be directly in the route.

 

So I flew there and it was quire a nice day. Very smooth conditions.

 

Some haze and a layer at around 5,500  that stopped me from climbing to 6,500 as I had planned.

Flew by Battle Creek, safely outside the TFR.

Got clearance to land on Runway 17, and was told to enter a left base and did so and then did a nice landing. Stopped lined up right for the taxiway to go right to the Air Zoo, which was fortuitous and rather perfect for arrival. Did the very short taxi and parked the plane and got let in through the back of the museum and signed in. We were in the second building, the Flight Discovery Center, where they do the restorations and had the place to ourselves in the morning.

Grumman F-11 Tiger in Blue Angels Livery

F-104 Starfighter

 

F-117 Nighthawk - the only one on display outside of a government museum.

There is also an F-86 Sabre and a MiG-15 on display:

 Lots of cool things to see in the building, including their work restoring a SBD-1 Dauntless recovered from Lake Michigan. The plane went down in 1942, killing the trainee pilot and was recovered in 1994, 52 years later.

The restoration is coming along, per the status board:

 Very cool and it is not far from being restored to display condition, even as it doesn't look it.  Unfortunately, it will not be restored to flying condition, only display. When complete, will be shipped off to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Museum.

We then went to the main building, the Flight Innovation Center, which had more people there.

And lots more aircraft to see.

 

SR-71

V-1 Missile

XP-55 The Only One Left In The World.

P-47

Buchon, the Spanish copy of the ME BF-109

A Pink P-40

F-14 Tomcat of Top Gun fame

 We also got in line and tried the full motion  simulators.

Yes, you can do a full 360 degree roll in them.

 

 Much fun.

Then we walked back to the  Flight Discovery Center and saw more aircraft on display outside.

F-4 Phantom II

MiG-21

S-3 Viking

 

A decent cloud layer was in place.  Time to fly back VFR and play dodge cloud.

Did a weather brief, and pre-flight, and called Kalamazoo Ground for flight following back to Pontiac via HAAKK, and to taxi.

Got all that done and did a nice takeoff.

On connection to Great Lakes Approach, they asked me if I had put the HAAKK waypoint in myself.  I said I had. The controller then said nice job putting it in to avoid the Battle Creek TFR.

Quite a few clouds about.  I was at 3,500 and couldn't get above for awhile. 

 

 

Then I got a break in the clouds and climbed to 7,500.

But I soon had to descend as the clouds further ahead were going up higher than I could climb. So I descended to 5,500 to make a clear way through and maintain VFR.

I got handed overt to Detroit Approach and they noted a large area of heavy (and unforecast precipitation) between me and Pontiac. I could actually see the area of heavy rain. Heavy enough that it blocked out all visibility, and the rain shadow was visible for a good distance.

So, I diverted south to avoid it, and then once past it and with sufficient distance away, I resumed heading back to Pontiac.  I got the weather at Pontiac, and got handed off to Tower, and entered the downwind for Runway 27L, but was then switched to 27R and made a nice landing.

That's 1.4 there and 1.2 back and two very nice landings, and a great time in Kalamazoo.

Happy Independence Day!

249 Years Ago, a group of brave American men declared our independence from Great Britain. This declaration would become, after years of toil and effort, the first successful Brexit, and the first step to the formation of the independent and free Republic of the United States of America.

 Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

The Declaration of Independence was passed by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

You can learn more about the history of Independence Day, including that it was only made a Federal holiday in 1941, here.

May you celebrate our Nation's continued independence with the appropriate beverage and vittles of your choice.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

I hope you are all out and celebrating appropriately.

I began the celebrations this morning by heading to the range and making joyful independence noises.

250 rounds of focused practice flew by:  B8s, 1 Dot Torture run,  lots of Bill Drills,  lots of single shots timed, 3x2 drills, and a multiple target array on the clock. All good practice and a lot of fun to do.  I can see some improvement but certainly need more improvement - I really need to work on more dry fire for starters.

After that I headed to the airport and acted as a safety pilot for another pilot.

Sadly not in this:

'Merica!

 

 

 

An L-29 Delfin in rather patriotic paint scheme. Instead, I got to hop in a Diamond DA-40 which was a rather nice plane for the flight.  I haven't been in a DA-40 in years.

Absolutely gorgeous day for it, if a bit bumpy.

Flew from Pontiac to Lansing and acted as safety pilot as Jason did approaches there, and more at Pontiac to get him current.  It's good to pay the safety pilot stuff forward.  He flew them quite well, better than I did I would say, so certainly an example to be emulated and to encourage me to get out and fly approaches more.

Lansing Airport t- he view after a missed and getting vectored for the RNAV 24

Now, I'm about to head off to the elder daughter's place by her university and have a dinner celebration.

Certainly a very full and fun Independence Day.

Happy Independence Day!

Fireworks have been going off around here in increasing frequency, with tons going off last night with many more expected shortly.

It's been a great family day here, commemorating the passage of the Declaration of independence.

I hope you and your families have also had a fantastic Independence Day celebration.

Happy Independence Day!

May all of you have and enjoy a Happy Independence Day celebration and the birth of the United States of America.

May this nation long remain a shining beacon of liberty, freedom, and opportunity for all its citizens and a model to the nations.

 

 

Oh, and for numismatic content, to celebrate this momentous day in history, The Royal Mint is offering free shipping on its coins to the United States today.

 But, being British and still a little miffed, they're calling it Thank You Day rather than our Independence Day.

Still, rather nice of them, wot?

Independence Day In Ohio

For Independence Day we drove to Vermillion, Ohio to enjoy small town America, and to take the kids to Lake Erie for the first time.

Vermillion is on the shores of Lake Erie, A nice picturesque town where people from Cleveland come to go boating with their yachts, and there's some darn nice yachts there.

The town wasn't very crowded, and many people wore masks walking around, but most did not when outside. Stores had signs limiting guest to 5 at a time with masks on in the stores stores, so we checked out the various art galleries and other shops for a bit. Ohio tends to be less uptight about masks, etc., than Michigan and has opened up quicker and been les dictatorial about it throughout.

They also have a nice park with a couple naval guns on display:

They're 32-pounder smooth-bore Dahlgren guns from the US Civil War era with anchors signifying naval usage.

We had lunch in the park, doing takeout from the Main Street Soda Grill - burgers, fries, onion rings, milkshakes and ice cream floats. Everything was great.

Then on to Lake Erie:

We had a nice swim and relaxed on the beach.

Now the only Great Lake they haven't at least dipped their toes into is Lake Superior - and we'll fix that.

Then, home in time to watch fireworks and have dinner. It was a great Independence Day.

Happy Independence Day!

A Very Happy Independence Day to all of my fellow American readers and friends!

Happy Independence Day!

243 Years Ago, the Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence that the thirteen colonies were no longer subject to Britain but were united independent states.

Since then, while our country hasn't always lived up to the promise of the Declaration, nor been perfect, we've done pretty darn well, and America remains the greatest country on earth and, for all its faults, an example to the rest of the world.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

Wishing all my fellow Americans a joyous 4th of July to celebrate our independence.

A nice relaxing day with a festive diner meal of fresh hamburgers made here and done on the grill, along with roasted corn on the cob, and all the fixings, followed by a great finish of homemade ice cream pie. This feast was accompanied with adult beverages for those of suitable age and sparkling juice for those yet to be so legal.

Following dinner we adjourned to the driveway and our fireworks show followed, my show was met with oohs and aahs from the audience. A decent display of Roman Candles, Mortars, and sparklers if I do say so myself. Many bombs were a-burstin' in air this evening.

Now we're kicking back and watching the amateur and more professional shows that can be seen from the house and enjoying the evening.

Hope you all had a wonderful and joyous Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

So far Independence Day 2017 is going great.

After coffee I made breakfast for the family and taking a page from Tam's blog after wishing them Happy Independence Day had to ask the kids: "On a scale of one to bald eagle how American are you feeling today?" I got back two happy enthusiastic yells of "Bald Eagle!".
Kids raised right are a beautiful thing.

Thence to build a small bonfire in the fire pit with the kids help and make them smores, because 'Merica!

Then we grilled hot dogs over the fire in preparation for lunch and because you never waste a good bonfire.

Now to relax and enjoy the day.

The day shall end in fireworks, patriotism, and happiness.

Happy Independence Day to you and yours!

Happy Independence Day!

240 Years ago, our nation's founders declared their independence from Great Britain and began an experiment in the creation of a republic and for liberty that has been the source of pride and good fortune for many and envy and disdain for others.

This year you could say we did a Brexit long before the Brexit was cool.

Happy Independence Day!

Baby You're A Firework

Yesterday we met up with some friends and went with them on their boat to watch the fireworks.

First there was a beautiful sunset on the water like something out of a Monet painting - Still life with Pontoons.

Then as the sun went down, the fireworks went up.

In addition to the lake communities putting on their displays, it seemed like every lakefront property owner was trying to out do the other in converting money into flashes and explosions. Everywhere you looked along the shore would explode into flashes of light and sound.

In short, it was one heckuva show.

After the main event, we headed back to our friend's house and put on our own display - Roman candles, cakes, fountains, and mortar shells went screaming into the air one after another in quick and joyous succession.

 It was a great way to end the 4th of July.

Happy Independence Day!

Celebrate the day we declared our independence from Great Britain and its dynastic monarchy.

Then reflect on the fact that the two contenders put forth for the presidency are named Bush and Clinton.

Go forth, celebrate with family and friends, and make a lot of fireworks go boom in a happy-making fashion.

As you do remember the struggles and bravery of our founders that put everything on the line for our independence.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth Of July!

Yesterday we got an invite to go on a friend's boat and do the pre-July 4 fireworks preview on Pontiac Lake as many municipalities hold their shows on the 3rd.

Waiting for darkness to fall, we passed by this Cessna for sale:

Learning to fly is certainly on my bucket list, and an amphibian could be right handy, especially for the trip up to the parental unit's cottage.

A few people let of some fireworks as we passed by:

Then in the distance we saw quite a few, but the iPhone is not the right tool for catching the action:

It was a nice, relaxing lake cruise with good friends, and we're preparing to have some friends over today for a proper July 4 BBQ.

Have a great and safe Independence Day!

Independence Day Doings

After the kids let us sleep in for once, we awoke made coffee and I made an omelet so we would all have energy for the day.

We then got in the car and headed to the Oakland County Fair.

The fair featured a real circus complete with elephants.

Considering that elephants are Abby's favorite animal, she was thrilled.

There were also Lions and Tigers, but no bears.

But they did have camels:

There were also some acrobatics as well.

After the show, Abby was more thrilled when we paid for her to take a ride on an elephant. Leah, for her part, took a ride on a pony.

Next we saw a farm animal show that included a goat miking demonstration, baby lambs and pigs and a border collie that could flip around in the air and catch freebees with joy.

Next, we went into the miracle of birth exhibit and in addition to baby pigs, chicks, and goats, we saw some Obama voters:

Then we went to the exhibit hall to see all the county fair winners. There were lots of interesting crafts on display from canned goods to quilts and fabric art as well as 4H student science experiments:

When you have an award-winning exhibit titled "Bacon vs. Bacon", everybody wins.

After the fair we came home, and Abby and Leah worked hard to make appropriately themed desserts for our Independence Day BBQ. While I was grilling chicken and vegetable kabobs, they made these:

Now we're waiting for dusk and some fireworks. A great day.