Kaptured Chat

vorticity · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 39

WIlma came through Collier County with a bad case of PMS.....

126mph sustained from 5:01am- 5:46am.... incredible; could not hear yourself think, the wind roared.

Marco Island was lucky considering wind/surge.... hardly a tree or pool screen enclosure left standing, many boats sunk or stacked atop one another.

I was on the dirty side and given Wilma was a cat 3 and add the ground speed of the forward track we had some very ligitimate cat 4 gusts.

No power, water phone and cell service comes and goes.

Our local electric company rushed the island "up" and had all the power on by Tues, night, however, the next day transformers started exploding all over the island... it seems they are all loaded with salt. after more than 100 explotions they shut the island off again... now the Fire Dept. is using high pressure water to flush all the transformers.... that will only take weeks Sad

One last thought... ponder the irony of seeing Bentleys, and 600 series Benz's in a FEMA line for handouts... well seemed funny at the time

As long as my generator kepps running I'll be around waiting for Artist to resurface when he and his community regain balance.

Have some great storm video... looking for a way to post for all to enjoy

Jeff · Joined: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 1099

This place has free hosting, and unlimited storage/bandwidth. If this is the "way" your talking about to post it! I live in Rockledge, I didn't even hear the wind howl at all. There was a few tornados in the area though and flooding in nearby Cocoa.

http://hosted.filefront.com/caps321

Dutchman · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 9064 Location: Hooterville

Vorticity, I was wondering how you came through this.

Do you have a local or community run electric utility? Checking and flushing the transformers seems basic with a storm blowing sea spray all over the place.

But you know what they say about hindsight being 20/20.

I hope that everything gets back to normal for you. I visited Marco about 25 years ago and it was a very pretty place.

Mr. 'Holica · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:

Glad you're okay! Hopefully it won't take WEEKS to get electricity back and I really hope you have access to enough fuel to keep the generator running.

I visited Marco, too, probably about 20-25 years ago. I don't remember exactly when. We actually were there only for a few minutes, flying around South Florida in different airplanes just to fly the planes. Naples was another stop, too. Unfortunately, the DC-3 we were scheduled to fly had mechanical problems so we ended up in a weed eater.

vorticity · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 39

I am an old Embry Riddle Grad (class of 85) 2 degrees; BS in Aeronautical Science and a supporting AS in synoptic climatology have about 6000hrs mostly turbine..... Three years ago caught a nasty little tumor that turned out to be cancer.... so a nice career and $104,000.00 in education went poof

But I'm still kickin (so far)

vorticity · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 39

Usually a hurricane is followed by rain so the de-salting would happen naturally... as this was an unprecidented structured warm core low with the trailing cold front we had no rain.

It is very wierd to see CFP (cold frontal passage) on a surface prog with a hurricane.

Dutchman · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 9064 Location: Hooterville

I visited Marco myself to get some photos of a Marco Island Airways Martin 404.

Two heart attacks grounded me. The cancer hit 8 years later.
_________________
"Ah, but the strawberries! That's, that's where I had them."

Mr. 'Holica · Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 4:31 am Post subject:

We did get to ride the 404 for MIA. PBA ran the DC-3 that ended up being a plane I can pronounce, but have no idea how to spell. Bandareni? We were staying with family in Orlando when my dad and I took a flight to Miami, basically so he could shoot pictures, then I THINK we took the Martin from Miami to Marco Island, drove to Naples(or did we go Miami to Naples, then drive to Marco?) and took the Not A DC-3 to Tampa and somehow got to Orlando, although I don't remember how. I don't remember driving, but those towns seem awfully close to have flown. To this day, my dad plans flights around the plane he'll ride and not the quickest route. I've seen him fly several hundred miles out of the way to ride an airplane he's never been on before.

Dutchman · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 9064 Location: Hooterville

The Embraer Bandeirante (means "Pioneer"). Nice sturdy Brazilian built feederliner. It was really popular among commuter airlines in the early-mid '80s.

I remember when the Southern Division of the late PBA was known as Naples Airlines. In the winter, a DC-3 came down from Massachusetts for the tourist trade. Year around, they had an old Lockheed 10. The original Electra from the mid '30s.

Florida used to be great for plane spotting.

By the way, here is a site that some of you might be interested in; http://oldterminals.topcities.com/
A lot of pictures of old airport terminals from around the country. The new page link on the title page leads to terminal maps.

vorticity · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Posts: 39

Having two accidents for not removing the gust lock pretty much took care of PBA

C-43's or 404's don't do very well with little or no pitch control.

Good preflight acrion (not) and to have it happen twice

I have a couple of hundred hours in a Merlin 3B was sweet but s beech King Air is my sentimental fav. .... and very forgiving too

GoldFinger · Joined: 07 Aug 2005 Posts: 240

Since you two are talking old airplanes, I'll add one. In 1966 I had to fly from Boston to Burlington, VT on Northeast Airlines to see IBM. The flight was on a DC 3. I had flown on one before and seen many pictures but this looked a bit different. The under carriage did not look the same. When we made an intermediate stop at some small field, a ground crew member climbs on the wing and shoves a yardstick in a wing tank (probably oil). As we landed at Burlington the pilot came on the P.A. and said we had the privilege of riding in DC 3 Serial No. 4 or 5 ( I don't remember the exact number). I've also ridden on a Mitsubishi YS-11 (turboprop), Nord (French commuter plane),and DeH Viscount turboprops.

Dutchman · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 9064 Location: Hooterville

I imagine that the DC-3 mod that you are talking about were the landing gear doors that covered the partially retracted main gear. Ozark had them as well. It reduced drag and increased the cruising speed (slightly), along with reducing fuel burn. The guy with the stick might have been checking fuel.

I've flown on the YS-11 (Piedmont), Nord 262 (Lake Central), and Viscount (United), as well.

cymbalo(The Jen-uine one) · Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:45 am Post subject:

Dutchman,....how ya doin'?!You go to Marco Island---in FL??My parents go there in winter.You are an old geezer,yes??Lol... Wink

Dutchman · Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 9064 Location: Hooterville

Good to hear from ya, Cymbalo.

I don't see myself as a geezer. More as an old fart. Razz

I haven't been to Marco in 25 years. We were on leave visiting my grandpa in St. Pete and drove down just to get some pictures of old planes at Marco and Naples.

Mr. 'Holica · Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:07 am Post subject:

I've flown the YS-11, too, for an old airline named Pinehurst. Had a wire that ran from above the cockpit to the top of the tail.