Bulking up

Last year I was able to secure the new "gusseted" bulkhead parts and over the last month I've gradually installed them. The bulkhead weakness was something I knew about going in and waited for the new version to come out.

This is the old version. In some condition the vertical tubes allowed play in the bulkhead. (the image is from last year when I was working on improving the amount of overcenter in the gear.)

The new version adds a bit of weight but it's worth it.

Where the Clippers sailed

My 50th birthday was last week and I spent a few days with Mom in-between trips.  Heading down to SFO for my flight back to work traffic was light and I had some extra time so I decided to take a trip down memory lane. I grew up in Alameda and as a Navy brat used to hang out at the Naval Air Station. It's still a bit unreal to me to go by these places where I used to dream of being a pilot while I'm on the way to my job as a Boeing 777 First Officer.
 
They were dredging the lagoon at Alameda and I could not get a decent image of the ramps but they're still there. There's also a museum in the terminal building but I didn't have time to stop. http://www.alamedanavalairmuseum.org/

Captain Edward Musick. Master of Flying Boats.

Captain Musick leads his crew down the ramp at Alameda for the first scheduled Clipper to Hawai'i.

I was also finally was able to stop by Treasure Island where the Clippers were eventually based.

Clipper Cove is far too quiet now.

If I set my head just so I could still hear the echos of the big radials....

At SFO I made a mad dash into the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum.

The trip was a much needed break, a moment for reflection as this "pilot looked at 50".

"But yesterdays are over my shoulder,

So I can't look back for too long.

There's just too much to see waiting in front of me,

And I don't think that I can go wrong."