BansheeOne Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 Day 7: Moar battlefields and baseball On Thursday we took the tour around the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Wilderness and Chancellorsville. While I'm usually not big on details of the ACW, I remember a lot of those battles from "Gods and Generals", like the sunken road the Federals bashed their heads in on at Fredericksburg (looking at it, the movie scene was quite obviously not shot at the original site). The Union cemetery next to it actually was in active use well into the 20th century; I saw the tombstone of a female USN yeoman from 1929. Progressing, we also saw the salient so desperately defended by the Confederates at Spotsylvania, with the unobtrusive marker for the 55" tree that was felled by small arms fire, and the spot where "Stonewall" Jackson was mortally wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville (another occurrence I remember from the movie). In the evening we went to see the Potomac Nationals getting beaten into a bloody pulp by their guests at their home stadium. Now I like baseball, and we played it as kids with jury-rigged equipment and rules to the extent they could be gleaned off TV, movies and The Peanuts, but established that at least in Minor League, it's a game where lots of people go nowhere very fast. Harold assured that Major League is a whole other ballgame though. I was somewhat disappointed of what got sold as "jumbo" hotdogs, but was entirely fed by less than a full portion of funnel cake. I find the latter is descended of Strauben imported to the US by Southern German immigrants, which explains why I've never eaten it before. Burp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corinthian Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Great pix, thanks for sharing. Question: why are backpacks not allowed at the site? Was it explained why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BansheeOne Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 (edited) The usual security hysteria I'd guess. Can't have somebody have blow up visitors to a battlefield. Day 8: Udvar-Hazy - the Stars Finally on Thursday we went to the Udvar-Hazy annex of the National Air and Space Museum, really less than 15 minutes by car from the hotel. I shot about 250 pictures there alone, about a third of my total for the trip. Even a selection will take several posts. I'll just start with the obvious stars like the SR-71, Boeing 367-80, Boeing 307, Concorde, Enola Gay, and Shuttle Discovery. Edited September 4, 2016 by BansheeOne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BansheeOne Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 Day 8: Udavar-Hazy - the Fighters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BansheeOne Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 Day 8: Udvar-Hazy - Odds and Ends Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BansheeOne Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 Day 8: Udvar-Hazy - Missiles, Rockets and Spacecraft Discovery is not the only spacecraft at Udvar-Hazy of course. There is an array of unflown Mercury and Gemini capsules, some very much flown heatshields, a boilerplate Apollo and a conceptual design for a parawing-landing Gemini capsule, a further array of rocket models, a Redstone, Agena upper stage and Pegasus air-launched rocket as well as a sky full of probes and satellites, and Spacelab. There are some of Goddard's liquid fuel rocket designs and a collection of guided missiles and drones, ranging from the German PC 1400X, Hs 239 and much more obscure Rheintochter and Hs 117 SAMs to Nike-Ajax, PAC-2, SM-3, Talos and ASAT, Regulus, Matador and AGM-86 cruise missiles, Styx, Little John, Corporal and a Poseidon SLBM. At opposite ends of the spaceflight topic, there is the capsule from which Felix Baumgartner made his record jump and the mothership model from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", featuring the usual modelmaker jokes in detail invisible to the moviegoer, like R2D2, a graveyard and two TBM Avengers on a catapult. Despite the lengthy visit, a lot of the afternoon remained due to the short distance from the hotel, spent individually at the hotel pool since the weather had turned to tropical again. Rubberneck had intended to join us for dinner that evening, but apparently got pre-occupied with a sick kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BansheeOne Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 Day 9: USS Wisconsin and Monitor The last day of the program was another all-day tour down to Norfolk for USS Wisconsin, and Newport News for the USS Monitor Center at the Mariner's Museum. Along the way, we also saw a couple amphibious assault ships in port, one undergoing refit, plus some auxiliaries. Unlike New Jersey, which I saw last year and had her interior partly changed back to WW II style, Wisconsin was pretty much kept in the state she was decommissioned in. Another active service ceremony went down besides turret III while we were there. We also had a tour of the captain's and admiral's quarters, CDC and bridge by a Korean-era sailor. Afterwards we went on to Newport News, where a full-scale replica of USS Monitor sits outside the Mariner's Museum. Inside, bits of her including the turret are undergoing desalination while others like her screw, part of the driveshaft and unique four-bladed anchor are already on display. Full-scale models also show the state of the turret as found, and its working mechanisms. The recreation of her staterooms was a bit of a surprise for me; unlike her bleak industrial exterior, they had all the class and comfort of the era. The museum has really quite a bit more on maritime history, but there was only time for a fast-paced walkthrough of the rest before it closed. We had a lengthy drive back ahead of us anyway, dining en route and returning to the hotel just before water was cut off at 2200 due to some sort of exterior works, as announced the previous day. Allan left early the next morning and Harold somewhat later. Sunday and I checked out at 1130 and took the shuttle to the airport, where we had lunch at an Italian grill before boarding the flight for Frankfurt, where we then went our separate ways. I managed to get home by 0930 local on Sunday without missing any check-ins or wallets this time, though overcoming jetlag has been as hard as last year. I really need to put on a couple of extra free days for those six-hour timeshifts after any future excursions to the US East Coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Anybody going to the VMMV open house 24-25th Sept? I am pretty much set on being there on Saturday and even managed to enlist my coworker here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 I can't, I have work stuff. I was supposed to be in PA for New Oxford and a Michaux Woods event but that's been scuppered. While you're there, talk to my 15 Recce Crew. Dave Page will likely have his amazingly pristine and perfect dingo there. If he can, get him to give you a ride. He has it so properly tuned that it runs like a slowly turning top (~500 rpm) and is very quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Thanks I'll keep it in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT96 Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm sorely tempted, but stuff keeps getting put onto my schedule for that weekend against my will. In other news, full link to my I&I Photo Album on Photobuckethttp://s1169.photobucket.com/user/CTM_VT_2K/library/2016%20I%20and%20I?sort=3&page=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunday Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 (edited) Thank you! Nice to see that hands-off pic with ONTOS went to be of good quality. And this one represents very well the good time we had at the NVVM: Edited September 13, 2016 by sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm sorely tempted, but stuff keeps getting put onto my schedule for that weekend against my will. Pff, people and their lives.... my local friend was going to come but he bailed out because he's getting married next month... most pathetic excuse ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunday Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 (edited) I'm sorely tempted, but stuff keeps getting put onto my schedule for that weekend against my will. Pff, people and their lives.... my local friend was going to come but he bailed out because he's getting married next month... most pathetic excuse ever. Hah! Let's see what do you say when it is your turn Edited September 13, 2016 by sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 Properly chosen, the lady types can and will come along and enjoy things. I managed to get the wife to the Reading airshow. She rather enjoyed herself. She was as trooper managing to do all her lady like things in the officer's tent. Though I think I tried her patience when she asked for a mirror and I gave her a polished steel British army shaving mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 I'm sorely tempted, but stuff keeps getting put onto my schedule for that weekend against my will. Pff, people and their lives.... my local friend was going to come but he bailed out because he's getting married next month... most pathetic excuse ever. Hah! Let's see what do you say when it is your turn Very little chance of anything like that happening to me anytime soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
On the way Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 wow, sounds like you guys had a great time, Wish I could have been there for this one the Berlin I & I the year before. Any thoughts for the one next year? does it move back and forth between Europe and North America? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Jones Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 They sort of happen when and where someone volunteers to set one up. There isn't a formal structure, it's usually "hey guys lets meet up at x location or y event" Something tank related is kind of a must but it can be just about anything. We've toured museums, private collections, attended Tank Fest, Czech Army days, tank gunnery at Ft Knox and various and sundry other things. Getting behind the scenes access is cool but not required. Besides the tanks other activities depend on location and people's interest. Battlefield visits, ship tours, other types of museums, castles, bunkers, sporting events, it's all good. The only other requirement is decent hotel with a bar or at least one that is near a bar. There is also the mini I&I which is mostly just announcing that you will be visiting such and such a city and asking if there are any tanknetters around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Niehorster Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 However, many of us do not want "experiences" when visiting museums and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Jones Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 However, many of us do not want "experiences" when visiting museums and such. Only the grumpy elder denizens of Tanknet object to experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan W Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I thought the flight deck "experience" at the Fleet Air Arm museum in Yovelton was rather good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunday Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I thought the flight deck "experience" at the Fleet Air Arm museum in Yovelton was rather good. Every rule has exceptions! Yeovilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritz Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 The VMMV open house was fantastic, the I&I should've been done to coincide with it. I took 20gb of photos and videos, I'll post some when I have time next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunday Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 I can not wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmgill Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 What did they have out for specific mention this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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