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Air Power - Log day 6



Day 6-Nov 10th.
As Forest Gump so eloquently stated, "weather is like a box of chocolates. Ya never know what you're gonna get." Each morning we receive a wx forecast from a wx routing service, covering the next couple of days. We keep expecting some force-full winds that will send us skipping across the waves to our final destination. We're still waiting. Makes you want to light the fire under one of those engines and get this train moving.

So far, the only animal or marine life we have seen since crossing the stream is one flying fish. They are not very big, so unless there are an entire school of them, you'll probably miss them. The setting sun must have hit it just right. We're still wondering what possessed it to leave the water. Hmmmm. We had some fairly large swells coming from the NE, but they were topped with wind blown waves out of the west. It's kind of confusing to the eye but nothing compared to the confusion of learning to use a new piece of electronic gear.

Jill decided to try out our new sat phone, by calling her mother. She thought it would be fun to call from the inside of the Bermuda Triangle. I'm not sure if you buy into any of that Triangle story, with airplanes mysteriously dropping off radar and what not, but I see Bermuda as the center of our galaxy. First we started north east of it, then ended up west of it, now we're south east of it, and finally we're headed south of it. I find it somewhat ominous, that all the issues the boats in our fleet have experienced, all happened within the Triangle. Maybe if we just sailed to Bermuda, there would be no problems. However, it does remind me of my visit there some 23 years ago. I was returning from a temporay duty (TDY) assignment in Northern Africa, supporting a Space Shuttle launch. The C-130 I was attached to, left to continue on with other missions. They dropped us off in Rota, Spain. Back in those days, if your TDY orders allowed you to fly as an additional aircrew member, you could basically stick out your thumb and hitch hike to where ever the the Air Force flew. In this case, we were headed for Florida. After refueling and spending a night in the Azores, we flew for a couple of hours when we experienced a problem with one of the engines. The pilot feathered the prop and shut the engine down. We still had 3 more engines, firing on all cylinders. The crew then discussed whether to turn back to the Azores, or continue on to Bermuda. Bermuda it was. We spent two days there waiting for parts to fix the plane. Ever since then, I've always wanted to go back. I can feel the gravitational pull now.

This morning's radio check-in had a tremendous amount of static. It took a lot of imagination to make out what was being said.

Only 750 mile to go. No worries, plenty of fuel, water and Cheetos.

That is all news from Air Power for today.--Dave & Jill


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