IGUANA ON SOUTH BEACH

Here's a sight you don't see very often............an iguana heading out to the beach for some R and R. With the cold spell we experienced here a couple of months ago, quite a few iguanas died as a result of the "continuous low temperatures" which finally take their toll. I read where three or four days of cold weather destroys their ability to stay warm, and makes them susceptible to a quick death. Quite a few Floridians were happy at the result since iguanas tend to destroy plant life and make a mess in many of their habitats. The iguanas were also getting very aggressive and taking over quite a few parks in south eastern Florida. At any rate, here's a shot of a "handsome young fellow" out enjoying a nice day at the beach.

GOING GREEN

Continental was been selected to be one of the "guinea pigs" for testing "green fuel" or "bio fuel". This particular aircraft was flown using the oil from the jatropha bean. Apparently this will save us a lot of money, and burns much more efficiently than the jet fuel we currently use. However, since this type of plant and the testing of it's abilities is still in its infancy, we may be waiting for jet fuel from this plant for a long, long, time. At least it's a start.............and the green wingtips sure are an attention getter too!

HENNA TATTOO ANYONE???

South Beach in Miami, Florida (MIA), is loaded with "regulars" selling their wares. Here's another one that I see each time I go to the beach. His voice is a little, high-pitched "squeak", that catches your attention. So far I've never seen anyone buy any of his products, but he must sell something since he's still around. Henna tattoo from the man in purple? Not me.....LOL

CLOUD FLYBY

Last week during our flight to Las Vegas (LAS), we flew around several thunderstorms. Here's a shot I took at 40,000 feet of a jet passing in front of a 41,000 foot thunderstorm. It's hard to believe how small a large jet is when passing by one of these monster cells. I wish I'd have been a bit closer, but the shot is still pretty cool. Now that my camera is in the shop to have a "tuneup", I'll have to use a few of my older shots for this blog. Off to Newark (EWR) tomorrow for five days of work.......ugh!!! ;-)

AHHHH........THE MEMORIES

Yesterday while relaxing at South Beach, I heard a couple of small helicopters approaching the beach. It turns out they were Hughes 300's. When I went to military helicopter pilot training for the Air Force back in 1981, this was the little guy we learned how to fly in. They called it the "Mattel Messerschmidt" since the bubble canopy was made by Mattel. It was powered by a Volkswagen engine and five washing machine belts!!! Learning how to hover this helicopter was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. If you wanted to see a 40 acre field in three seconds or less, learning to hover the Hughes 300 was a good way to do it.......LOL I would equate it to trying to keep a pat of butter in the center of a red hot skillet. You could literally fly an entire traffic pattern and never move the cyclic (the control stick in front of you which is used for pitch), more than the diameter of a nickel. I guess that's where all my smoothness in flying comes from......... ;-) Thanks for the memories little guy!