Ain't No Sunshine
Here's my song for this week. Sniff sniff.
Monday came and went too fast...
...and just like that, she was gone :(
Thankfully, work has been challenging this week and I have had lots to do.
Friday was Fin Fest - an annual gathering of Tornado crews at the Knights Templar pub in London. I have missed it for the last four consecutive years now due to overseas assignments, but I always like to check in with a picture. The last few years, I have had the TLP graphics team to help me Photoshop myself into somewhere exotic or exciting, but I had to make do with a selfie this year:
The Tornado is known as "The Fin" on account of its huge tail fin which measures about 15 feet from the top of the fuselage. The Tornado community is pretty huge too - the aircraft has been in RAF service for over 30 years and at one point we had ten squadrons (not including Tornado F3 squadrons, which don't count and F3 crews would NOT be welcome at Fin Fest), so the pub is always absolutely heaving and there are lots of old mates there.
After work on Friday, I drove to Tucson to see Rivet who was a colleague of mine at TLP and also enjoys mountain biking. Rivet flew the A-10 in the USAF and left active duty (what we would call regular service) at the end of his time at TLP. He moved back to the US with his family and joined the USAF Reserves and he now flies the A-10 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base once again.
Tucson is normally two hours from Phoenix, but Friday night traffic is horrendous and it took me 1hr 45 just to cross Phoenix on the freeway! But, I arrived in time to go and see Rivet's son Avi compete in a local BMX race at Tucson BMX:
The BMX track is only about five minutes from Rivet's house and is open most weekday evenings for practice sessions and racing. Avi is only seven and has already won seven races this season.
This is Rivet's house:
From the garden, you can see Mount Lemmon which is 9,000' feet high and a 75 mile round trip from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base - I know this because I rode up and down when I was on detachment there about ten years ago! Zoe is Rivet and Kat's daughter, she is only nine, but has already written, illustrated and published her first book, available now on Amazon!
One of the most incredible sights I have ever seen is the Davis-Monthan boneyard:
There are around 4000 aircraft parked here and it is the largest storage and preservation facility in the world. In the 1990s, nearly 400 B-52 bombers were brought here and chopped into pieces as part of the agreements reached in the START I treaty signed between the USA and the USSR. Teams used a 13,000lb guillotine dropped from a crane to sever each wing and then cut the fuselage into 3 parts. The aircraft had to be left in situ for at least three months to enable Russian satellites to confirm that the aircraft were no longer serviceable and were unable to be brought back into an airworthy condition. Some of them are still there with their wings alongside. Mad stuff.
On Saturday, Rivet and I went up to Oro Valley for a mountain bike ride with a couple of his USAF mates. Rivet has entered a 24-hour mountain bike marathon which occurs there on 26 Feb and we went along to recce the course. It was great fun, but I am glad that I am not racing with them as the course was pretty gruelling through the desert; very hot, very dry, very rocky and too many cacti for my liking!
About 15 miles in, we came across another team of riders who had been out for a route recce too. They were sitting in their car drinking wine when we found them and invited us to join them for an impromptu party:
All in all, it was a great day out!
And to round off the week, I went out for an hour to practice my bike handling skills outside the hotel. There is a school next to where I practice and the children there have taken to waving at me from their playground and calling me "Mr Wheelie". Kids can be so cruel!
Here's how today's session went:
That's all for this week. Stay tuned for the next crazy instalment!
Monday came and went too fast...
 |
| Sky Harbor Airport |
...and just like that, she was gone :(
Thankfully, work has been challenging this week and I have had lots to do.
Friday was Fin Fest - an annual gathering of Tornado crews at the Knights Templar pub in London. I have missed it for the last four consecutive years now due to overseas assignments, but I always like to check in with a picture. The last few years, I have had the TLP graphics team to help me Photoshop myself into somewhere exotic or exciting, but I had to make do with a selfie this year:
 |
| Two-fin Fest! |
The Tornado is known as "The Fin" on account of its huge tail fin which measures about 15 feet from the top of the fuselage. The Tornado community is pretty huge too - the aircraft has been in RAF service for over 30 years and at one point we had ten squadrons (not including Tornado F3 squadrons, which don't count and F3 crews would NOT be welcome at Fin Fest), so the pub is always absolutely heaving and there are lots of old mates there.
After work on Friday, I drove to Tucson to see Rivet who was a colleague of mine at TLP and also enjoys mountain biking. Rivet flew the A-10 in the USAF and left active duty (what we would call regular service) at the end of his time at TLP. He moved back to the US with his family and joined the USAF Reserves and he now flies the A-10 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base once again.
Tucson is normally two hours from Phoenix, but Friday night traffic is horrendous and it took me 1hr 45 just to cross Phoenix on the freeway! But, I arrived in time to go and see Rivet's son Avi compete in a local BMX race at Tucson BMX:
 |
| Tucson BMX |
The BMX track is only about five minutes from Rivet's house and is open most weekday evenings for practice sessions and racing. Avi is only seven and has already won seven races this season.
This is Rivet's house:
 |
| Garden and pool |
 |
| Climbing frame! |
 |
| Zoe jumping into the pool. Mount Lemmon in the background. |
From the garden, you can see Mount Lemmon which is 9,000' feet high and a 75 mile round trip from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base - I know this because I rode up and down when I was on detachment there about ten years ago! Zoe is Rivet and Kat's daughter, she is only nine, but has already written, illustrated and published her first book, available now on Amazon!
One of the most incredible sights I have ever seen is the Davis-Monthan boneyard:
 |
| Boneyard |
There are around 4000 aircraft parked here and it is the largest storage and preservation facility in the world. In the 1990s, nearly 400 B-52 bombers were brought here and chopped into pieces as part of the agreements reached in the START I treaty signed between the USA and the USSR. Teams used a 13,000lb guillotine dropped from a crane to sever each wing and then cut the fuselage into 3 parts. The aircraft had to be left in situ for at least three months to enable Russian satellites to confirm that the aircraft were no longer serviceable and were unable to be brought back into an airworthy condition. Some of them are still there with their wings alongside. Mad stuff.
On Saturday, Rivet and I went up to Oro Valley for a mountain bike ride with a couple of his USAF mates. Rivet has entered a 24-hour mountain bike marathon which occurs there on 26 Feb and we went along to recce the course. It was great fun, but I am glad that I am not racing with them as the course was pretty gruelling through the desert; very hot, very dry, very rocky and too many cacti for my liking!
About 15 miles in, we came across another team of riders who had been out for a route recce too. They were sitting in their car drinking wine when we found them and invited us to join them for an impromptu party:
 |
| Drunk hippy |
All in all, it was a great day out!
And to round off the week, I went out for an hour to practice my bike handling skills outside the hotel. There is a school next to where I practice and the children there have taken to waving at me from their playground and calling me "Mr Wheelie". Kids can be so cruel!
Here's how today's session went:
That's all for this week. Stay tuned for the next crazy instalment!
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