Wings of Dreams, Part Two

Now let's talk planes. Actually, let's talk planes that flew in World War II for the United States. These have been renovated and prettied up with shiny new paint - but they all flew in WWII.

The Stearman Bi-Plane. I've actually flown in one of these in Jacksonville at Herlong Field - a loooong time ago. We toured the parking lot, did a little loop-de-loop stuff and puked in a paper sack. Yeah, that was a load of fun! Well, I didn't actually puke in a paper sack, but I was as close as you could get without actually doing it - lol!

Beautiful detail work.



This particular aircraft is the Vanguard, a US Navy fighting chopper. I'm sure it has an official name, but there wasn't a display board with it. Sorry.

The Vanguard specialized in being big and scarey looking.

Powerful!

It could hold a lot of equipment and a lot of soldiers.

I guess this "Beware of Blast" has more to do with the "Jet Intake" stuff than it does actual guns and shooting.


This is a P-51C Mustang. I believe those are little guns sticking out along the nose-side.

The P-51C Mustang was built in 1940. Of all the ones used in WWII, the Betty Jane is the only one still in existence.

Dwight Eisenhower rode in one of these Mustangs over the beaches of Normandy after the invasion on D-Day. Notice the swastikas over the wing.

The B-24J Liberator.

The Witchcraft - notice the "bombs" painted on the side of the nose.

The Liberator was built in 1944. It carried a crew of ten soldiers and was armed with ten .50 cal. machine guns.


Here's a shot of the rear guns.

The B-17G, also known as the Flying Fortress, was built in 1945. This particular one was used to test the effects of three nuclear explosions.

Plenty of firepower on this craft!




There's another gunport.

I don't know anything about this plane, except it flew in while I was there and was on display. US Air Force.


No display board with this one either. It reminded me of M*A*S*H for some reason :).

That's a big gun!

I liked the way this shot turned out. Stilled blades on top and in the tail. Cool!

If you get the opportunity to check out the Wings of Dreams/Wings of Freedom Air Show - by all means go! You'll get a rich history lesson for WWII. Not only the aircraft and ground vehicles and soldiers, but there were also tents set up with displays from that time frame.

I am so thankful for all the military men and women that protect our country. And so thankful for their families that make the sacrifice to allow that to be. If you ever get an email from me you will notice my signature also carries a thank you salute to the military. I grew up a military-kid. Career Navy family. "God bless the USA" means something to me. Maybe more so than to others, but I was raised that way and it's what I still believe. The Wings of Freedom really brought that home to me.Please visit them if you get the chance!

Wings of Dreams/Wings of Freedom Tour, 2010

The Wings of Dreams/Wings of Freedom Tour, 2010, came to our community this weekend. World War II vintage planes and vehicles were on display, with pilots and personnel in uniform. It was quite spectacular!

These particular motorcycles were made by Harley Davidson in 1942, Model XA - Experimental Army. One thousand of these bikes were made. These are originals from that batch of 1,000.

Authentic radios, helmets, grenades and ammo.

Motorcycles with sidecars, guns, and ammo.

An ambulance, stocked and ready to roll.

Women played a big role, both overseas and here at home.

There was also a German re-enactment, so to speak. Complete with uniforms, guns, and tanks.

And here is the young man I showed a sneak peek of earlier. Total stealth photography.

I also took a bunch of photos of various World War II aircraft. I hope to post those tomorrow. If you live in this area, or if the tour comes to where you live, it's certainly worth the $5.00 admission to check out all the equipment and speak with some of the WWII pilots and some of the Womens Airforce Service Pilots. My dad fought in the United States Navy on an aircraft carrier. I'll show you some of those planes tomorrow.

Wings of Dreams Air Show Sneak Peak

This morning I went to the Wings of Dreams WWII Air Show which featured planes and vehicles from World War II. All authentic pieces. Really interesting to me as I recalled the theatres my dad fought in overseas. Here is one shot. I will post more when my editing is complete :).

My Profound Thought For Today

As I busily edit around 300+ photos from the past week's qualifier, I thought I'd leave you with this thought for today :).

Gotta love Garfield!

The Sunshine State Qualifier

Great news! Kali qualified with her Dramatic Interpretation of the Irish folk tale The Story of the Half Blanket. Also, Kali and her duo partner qualified with their Duo Interpretation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax! "Qualifying" constitutes an "invitation" to regional competition which will be held later in the spring. In debate, Kali got 14th place Speaker Points - a huge accomplishment for her. Pictures, pictures, and more pictures will follow soon! Heading back home today.

Headed to the Florida Qualifier, NCFCA

Tomorrow morning, Kali and I will be headed to the Florida Qualifier for the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association (NCFCA). Kali will be competing with about 185 other students in various categories of speech and debate. I will be judging rounds and helping wherever needed.

It takes a lot of parents and community judges to make a Qualifier work. Every student is obligated to provide one judge. We also seek scores of additional judges from the community. From this competition students will be referred on to regional competition. It is an extremely big deal.

A lot of friends will be there.

The cream of the crop actually.

This qualifier is open to students from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

On Saturday when the tournament closes, we will know which students will be moving onto regionals in debate.

We will also know which students will move on in various speech categories.

Many students will be able to continue from this qualifier.

There will be plenty of time to hang out with friends.

Some crazier than others. (Love you, guys!)

Did I mention it's a lot of fun?

And then every student gets their ballots. One ballot for every speech and every debate they gave at this qualifier. These ballots help them know what they are doing right, and what they need to improve.

So. Are we all packed? Are we ready to compete? Are we ready to do our best?

It's all good from here on out. On the road tomorrow morning. I'll try to post pictures along the way. If I can. You don't get much sleep at these things, but I'll give it a shot - lol!

Trying Something New

MCPActions just released a new action set today. You can use it to finish photos for your blog. You can make them look more complete with frames and borders, even change up the shape. Not the clearest or sharpest pictures I used here, but what do you think? These are some eagle shots I took at a neighbor's house recently. From the highway. And, yes, I still want that new lens for distance shots - lol!

i ♥ faces kisses

The challenge at i heart faces this week is kisses! I immediately thought of this picture I took of Sadie lightly kissing her new sister Adrianna. Looking at this picture always reminds me of a story my mom used to read to me when I was little. A story about the littlest Christmas angel. Sadie reminds me of the little angel in the book. Good memories! I thought this was the perfect shot for this week's challenge :). To check out all the other entries, head on over to iheartfaces.com.