Operation MMNM - Louisiana

Just made it to the Louisiana border.

Thunderstorms, driving rain, howling beasts in the back, nothing can stop us.

Under 40 miles to go to get Murph n Mutts to their new home.

Atlanta Operation MMNM Hits A Slow Spot

And we're stuck in traffic in Atlanta. Murph (the man) is going out of his mind. So is Murphy the dog for that matter.

We were delayed in north Georgia due to having to find a place that could print and fax, and finding one was not easy. This was due to some last minute real estate issues that had to be dealt with ASAP.

So now we are all sorts of stuck in Atlanta's stop n go traffic, mainly stop and less go.

The dogs are crying, Murph is losing it and other than that we can look forward to unloading thousands of pounds of stuff in the dark. Yipee.

Departing NC Off To NOLA

A great night with a most gracious host.

Keads made us feel very welcome and put on quite the spread for us.

Now we're about to head out.

Keads helping add air to the trailer tires, as they surely need some.

We're all loaded up and ready to head out. New Orleans here we come and the chance of Murph having yet another tantrum in traffic is assured.

Arrived Safe In NC

We've arrived safe at our most gracious host here in North Carolina.

Not a bad trip, and yes the trailer did actually make it all this way.

We met up with Keads with no problems and had some fun I'll blog about later.  Now it's time for some food.

Up early tomorrow to head to New Orleans.

Operation MMNM Departing

Watching Murph pack is rather entertaining, shoving in last minute stuff into the trailer willy-nilly.

Dogs are ready to go big time.

Finally all is loaded and we're about to go.

Happy Birthday To The Best

Today is Natasha's birthday, and I'm off in the wilds of West Virginia helping Murph move.

That she's permitted this shows yet again why she's the finest woman and wife I could ask for. Not to mention she puts up with me which is worthy of an award all by itself.

Happy Birthday darling, and thanks for being as wonderful as you are, and I look forward to spending a lot more birthdays in the future with you.

Operation MMNM Day 2

The trailer currently looks like this:

All I have to say is that without the massive help from Stretch with moving the ammo, and Proud Hillbilie loading rifles (the ones subsequently lost in the inevitable kayak accident when Murph demanded going down the Mississippi to get to New Orleans), it could not have been done.  Bruce, Rebecca, and Murphy's neighbor the other Aaron also came to help load and were an immeasurable help. 

After loading we did some touch up painting around the Lair.

Amazingly there's still stuff that needs to be loaded before we go.  Will it all fit? Will the trailer actually move with all this stuff in it? Stay tuned.

Operation MMNM - Ammo Loaded

Ammo is now in the trailer and vehicle. That was some heavy stuff to haul downstairs and into the trailer.

I've finished bringing all of the rifles down for preloading and they're going in next. 

The junk on a bunk display would be epic.

Staring to load the rifles now.

Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs....

It's Day One of Operation Move Murph N Mutts - The Loadening

Murph is off getting the trailer and doing some last minute stuff about town.

I'm moving the armory. From the top floor to the basement to position it for loading in the trailer when it arrives.

I half expect it to not all fit.

Lugging boxes and wrapped rifles and crates of ammo down stairs and repeating ad infinitum sure counts as a workout. 

Hmm, this one weighs quite a bit, must be a Garand....here's one with a bolt and an Enfield outline...

You can never have too many guns or too much ammo except when you're moving.

 I have not yet had coffee as there's none to be found in the house. That's a serious workplace violation I tell you. This could get serious.

The stairclimbing continues.

Arrived At Lagniappe's Lair

Good flight to DC. Delta had a nice regional jet and it was a very smooth flight indeed.

So I'm officially here and Operation Move Murphy n' Mutts is underway.

Another Of The Greats Are Gone

Sadly, I just heard the news that Todd Louis Green has died from cancer. I was hoping that it was just a stupid pre-April fools joke, but it's for real.

Todd was one heckuva great firearms instructor and a really good guy.  His professionalism, teaching ability and all-around good nature will be badly missed.

RIP Todd, and thanks for all the wisdom and knowledge you've passed on to all your students and I wish you had longer with us to teach us more. We're all the lesser for your passing.

Destination NOLA By Way Of WV

Since Op Sec on Operation Move Murph N' Mutts has been formally blown, I can finally comment on it here.

Yes, I will be heading to WV to help him get to New Orleans on time. Prayers are appreciated in advance.

Mainly I'm there to keep him on course and get him back on track every time he says "Hey look, squirrel!". Otherwise, we're going to end up hitting every museum, historical site, and dive bar on the way down. Not that that is bad mind you, but he needs to get there on time. Oh, yeah I'm helping to pack and unpack as well.

Thankfully, we will be staying at a secure and gracious location on the way down. Friends are good to have.

Yes, I will bring my infernal naviguessing device to make sure we get there. My bet is he's forgotten to put the maps in the vehicle so we're going to rely on tech to the routing rescue.

I'm currently trying to slam a week of work into two days so I can make this happen, so it's a little hectic right now.

Expect updates on the progress of Operation Move Murph N' Mutts as we go.

Flying Lesson #43 - Spring Is In The Air

What a difference a few days make.

No more scrapping the snow and ice off the plane or being cold while doing the preflight.

Today I had planned a dual cross-country to Jackson KJXN.

I would be flying with Will in 755PR. I hadn't flown in PR in awhile and it does handle differently from N73455 and 757MK - the controls are a lot stiffer, and the Radios are setup kinda weird in that aircraft, with COM 1 not being able to send at the moment. Then again, it's a plane so I can fly it.

So I got to the field a bit early, did the preflight, got everything setup and called for a weather brief. The briefer was very friendly and helpful and gave lots of good info. In short, it would be a very pleasant flight with generally calm to low winds, great visibility, and no issues or TFRs to get in the way.

Will arrived and said we would fly my plan to Jackson by pilotage but then extend over to Marshall by use of the plane's GPS and then back to Pontiac. He was pretty impressed that I had taken the initiative to get a weather brief and was fully ready to go as soon as he arrived.

So I started 755PR up and happily the engine immediately caught which is a treat for this aircraft. Then I called for taxi clearance. I then played musical clearances as Ground kept giving a clearance to taxi to 73455 which had already left a few minutes before us and I can't go moving around an airport and crossing runways without an actual clearance matching my tail number. We got that sorted out and we were off.

KPTK was already getting pretty busy, and we had to extend our outbound leg on the runway heading until we had exited KPTK's Class D airspace instead of turning on course after takeoff. No big deal.

Then I got us to Jackson, flying at 4,500 feet and contacted their tower and got a landing clearance I haven't heard before: "Straight in for Runway 24, report when over the prison".

So over the prison I went, reported y position, and did a nice straight in approach and landing. Jacksin has a nice big prison on the flight path. Jackson was also pretty busy with a few planes in the pattern, a few coming in, including one dipstick who was inbound in a Cessna but never identified his tail number in his transmission which had the tower getting annoyed with him.

We then taxied on back to takeoff and headed to Marshall. Jackson tower asked if we wanted flight following and Will said I might as well do it for the experience. He got us a takeoff clearance and then hoked us up with flight following in the air with Lansing. Very short hop to Marshall so we had a squawk code for a bit and some helpful traffic advisories as it seemed everyone was out flying today with the first hint of spring.

I quickly arrived at Marshall and there was no activity. Meanwhile the CTAF was almost unusable as everyone on the frequency from a variety of airports was stepping on each other like idiots. They really need to separate the CTAF frequencies a bit more as the sheer amount of useless info from airfields way outside the area of flight was crazy.

So I overflew the airport, noted the lack of traffic and did a teardrop entry into the downwind, trying to get a radio call in edgewise with all the cross-talk just to follow proper procedure and just in case someone was also out there and about to land on Runway 28.

On the first approach I told Will I was going to do a go-round, and then I did a go-round as I had been a bit too tight on the downwind and had lost the field in the base turn so the final approach was overshot as a result. Will was happy that I would do a go-round and not try to force it in and thought I showed good judgment in doing so. On the next pattern I then landed very nicely.

Then we headed back to KPTK which was crazy busy.

Per Will's suggestion, I angled in my approach path so that at 12 miles out we would be in from the northwest to make the Tower's life a bit easier so they could put us on 27R, which would also make our life easier for taxing back after landing.

Tower had us fly a close downwind then instructed us do an expedited close base and land.

So we basically did a power-off 180 from the downwind onto the runway and Will said I did a nice job of it.

Will is going to be signing me off for solo cross-country, so the next stage of fun will begin shortly. Unfortunately, Thursday night's night flight was cancelled due to weather, so I have to wait to get a start on my night flying experience.

That's 2.3 hours and 3 full-stop landings in the book, and a great cross-country flight done.

To Life! Holocaust Survivor Is World's Oldest Man

Simply amazing, Israel Kristal has lived and persevered through some of the most inhumane conditions known to man, suffered unspeakable losses, experienced all that history, and has still go on into a ripe old age with his faculties intact.

The Detroit News: Israel Holocaust survivor, 112, world’s oldest man

Guinness World Records says a 112-year-old Israeli who lived through both World Wars and survived the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz is the world’s oldest man.

Guinness awarded Israel Kristal a certificate at his home in Haifa on Friday.

Congrats to Mr. Kristal, and as the saying goes, "May he live to be 120!". Adjusted for his lifespan, in his case it should probably be may he live to be 140!

Getting Gas In Detroit? Still Not A Good Idea

Oakland County Exec Brooks Patterson's warning to not stop for gas in Detroit keeps getting proven true time and time again.

The Detroit News: Suspect sought in Detroit gas station shooting

Note that this time the shooting took place during the daytime, at 2 pm.

Whether it was a crime of opportunity given that its a pretty high-crime area and the victim's gold necklace was stolen, or from an ongoing dispute is not explained.

Kent County Michigan Cops Shoot The Bull

In this case they shot the bull quite literally and repeatedly.

The Detroit Free Press: Police fire 33 rounds to stop bull that killed farmer

After a bull mortally injured its owner, it had to be dispatched so they could try to recover the man.

The deputies fired 33 rounds with their cruiser rifles, striking the animal each time — it eventually dropped to the ground.

Assuming those cruiser rifles were AR15s, it looks like enough rounds of 5.56 will indeed eventually stop a raging bull.

Some Light Civic Duty Done

Just got back from voting after work. Michigan had its primary today for this year's Presidential Race and Clown Show.

Not a huge turnout nor long lines at the precinct, and rather well organized if a bit slow to process people through.

Interestingly enough there were more Republican ballots (about 1600) being used than Democrats (about 1080 based on the ballot stub numbers) and this in quite a Democrat area.

It'll be interesting to see how many of those were cross-overs bent on playing in the Republican primary or if e really did get a larger Republican-leaning turnout.

Hopefully my guy wins, and now we'll wait and see what the results will be.

CAIR: He's Such a Good Yet Misunderstood Lad, So Let's Ignore All Those Terrorist Threats, Ok?

Yet another local jihadee-wannabee makes the news in the Detroit/Dearborn area, and CAIR is in full cover-up mode.

The Detroit News: Jihadist or FBI victim? Dearborn case stirs debate

It seems that Khalil Abu-Rayyan in addition to posting pro-ISIS stuff on social media and proclaiming his desire to kill people and illegally carryign a concealed weapon was just a poor misunderstood mrijuana user who couldn't find romance.

Yet Abu-Rayyan’s defense lawyer says his client is no terrorist. Rather, he is a socially awkward pizzeria worker who lives with his parents, smokes marijuana and has no romantic experience with women.

Abu-Rayyan was bragging of jihad and martyrdom to impress a woman, who turned out to be an undercover agent, his lawyer says, adding that black Heritage .22- caliber revolver he was caught carrying illegally is recommended for Boy Scout target shooting, not acts of terrorism.

And he never carried out any of the violent acts he vowed to commit.

Well good on the FBI for not waiting until he did, right?

In addition to illegal CCW, they also have him dead to rights on falsifying a 4473, which in this case is a slam dunk conviction if there ever was one:

Evidence against him includes Abu-Rayyan’s own admissions to police that he used marijuana and an ATF form 4473 that asks: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?” Abu-Rayyan checked “no” and signed the form before he purchased the .22.

So CAIR of course thinks this fellow, who has made multiple threats of violence including, per the article, threatening to kill a police officer and burn people alive, should have been handled as a social services issue:

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on Islamic Relations, said he has been monitoring the court case and has spoken to Abu-Rayyan’s family.

“It is evident to me in speaking to the family that the young man has substance abuse issues and rather than take the route of intervention and social services, they (the government) instead used a young lady as a means of trying to get him to do something,” Walid said.

This is an unfortunate pattern of the FBI, Walid said, when it comes to investigating a person making threats of terrorism.

Let's see, substance abuse, troubles with romance, member of the ISIS fan club, and a basic loser with dreams of grandeur and delusions of adequacy certainly checks an awful lot of the boxes for a likely terrorist "known wolf" profile, now doesn't it?

Good on the FBI for interdicting this loser before he carried out his threats and fantasies.

Ben Carson Bows Out

Dr. Ben Carson did both the smart and honorable thing by bowing out of the race (or is it a clown show? Frankly this year I'm not sure which) for President.

While Ben Carson is a very smart, if not in fact brilliant man, he lacked any political experience, and a lack of national name recognition whatsoever before throwing his hat in the ring and running for President. Some political experience and seasoning is badly needed and there is a chance that he can get some.

There's an effort to draft him to run for Senator in Michigan. From Right MI.

Considering the Michigan Republicans have been running completely lackluster candidates and campaigns for the Michigan US Senate seats since Spencer Abraham was senator in 2001 and haven't had a Republican senator since, we certainty wouldn't do any worse if Dr. Carson ran. He has a chance to peel off some of the solid blue Detroit electorate with his rather compelling story and oratory, not to mention his roots in Detroit.

I would happily endorse an effort for Dr. Carson to run for this year's contested US Senate seat for Michigan.

We certainly could put up worse candidates for the seat, and probably will.

Flying Lesson #42 - The Long Cool Complex Cross Country

Today was a perfect morning for the long dual cross country. The route: KPTK to KBAX to Y31 to KPTK. At each airport we would make a full stop landing.

Why complex? Well, N73455 was in the shop for its hundred hour inspection, so I got to log some complex time in the Cessna Cutlass C-172RG.

This time after the preflight and chipping all the ice off the wings, I got to adjust the constant speed propeller, raise and lower the gear and everything under Will's supervision.

Flying up to Bad Axe was beautiful. Wind calm and some nice clouds above and at 6,500 feet you had excellent visibility.

You know you're near Bad Axe when you can see the windmill farms.

We landed on Runway 17 at Bad Axe, taxied back and then took off.

From Bad Axe, we flew over Saginaw Bay at 6,500 feet to Y31, West Branch airport. The bay was nice and iced over.

We crossed the bay and then landed at West Branch with no problems, and again did a back taxi, this time on Runway 9.

Here's the view of West Branch Airport's hangers from the Alpha taxiway by runway 9. It's a small airport and was a nice spot to land.

On the way back from West Branch the overcast layer had lowered so instead of flying at 5,500 we flew at 3,500. We passed by Bay City.

Hey, What's that down there at the docks by Bay City?

It's the USS Edson, DD-946, a Forrest Sherman class destroyer. One of the ships of DESRON 23, the Famed Squadron first named "The Little Beavers" in World War 2. The ship has an honorable history with service in the Vietnam War. USS Edson was the last all-gun destroyer in the US Navy. Now a museum ship, I'm going to need to go visit her more closely someday soon. Neat the stuff you can see from above.

3.0 hours and 3 landings and a total of 261 nautical miles for a great long cross country flight.

Here's a recording of the flight route from Foreflight: