There’s a Caravelle at Van Nuys, not being a civil aviation anorak I’m not sure if this is true or not but some geezer told me Caravelles used Comet pointy bits? Cockpit does look remarkably Comet like tho

Ok no need to rub it in lol,

Problem is I prefer piston engines & not “diesel fans” so I tend to ignore em most of the time. Get a few fire bombers out of another local field tho (Fox, Lancaster) DC6s, Trackers etc

I tend to avoid em, some bugger always hands me a wrench & says “Here, help me fix blah blah blah” 🙁

On the other hand, I live right under the flight path for AF Plant 42 & Edwards AFB is just up the road a bit so I get an airshow just about everyday.
In the past week I’ve had a B2 go over the house at 200ft, had my entire house & teeth rattled by a B1 taking off in full burner, had the **** scared out of me by a Raptor going like a bat out of hell & using the road I was riding along as a nav aid. Almost daily flybys by JSF’s & F117’s. There’s the daily 10.30am (ish) U2 flight & I saw the white (NASA) SR71 outside the other day. We also get *boomed* at least 2 or 3 times a week by the guys at Edwards.
I also get to play silly buggers with the security guys at Lockheed as my bank is there (my VISA card has a JSF on it) & I use the access road as a drag strip. They get a bit freaked by Kawasaki 1100’s screaming towards them at 130+ before braking like hell & turning into the parking lot next to the main gate :diablo:

Rich men spending as little of their capital as possible to get the best possible result.

We worked out that one of the guys I’ve worked for here in the US could stop *working* & spend $2M a year on his planes (instead of the current $1M) & he wouldn’t go broke for at least 500 years… 😮

& on a related subject:
I’ve discovered that, contrary to popular belief, the colonials can indeed brew something that tastes like beer instead equine urine.
The brew in question is RedHook ESB & it tastes EXACTLY like Gales HSB.

I was surprised to find out that my local filling station (Mojave Desert here) sells Old Peculier…. & some godawful Welsh stuff..

The standard by which costs etc are measured:
Make an estimate of time & $$$$ to return aircraft to the air.
Double the time, then triple the $$$$ & you’l be in the ball park. Then factor in that the last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time….

Always thought about starting a company called Ten Grand Aviation, owing to the fact that any modifications, service work, annuals etc on warbirds usually starts out with a $10K estimate. One owner used to be greeted with “Ten grand” every time he walked into a certain hangar where I used to work.. & that was often before he’d even opened his mouth :dev2:
It wasn’t so bad when it involved actual aircraft work, but he got a bit narked when we gave that as an estimate for what lunch was going to cost him on a few occassions… :diablo: :diablo: :diablo: :diablo:
*Ten Grand* is now a standard reply to any question about the cost of absolutely anything among a few guys at Van Nuys…. even the price of a box of donuts or a case of beer… 😀

Sith Happens…..

I’ll see if I can find a pole big enough… :diablo:
Later..

I seem to recall a few being employed as Stevedores in Felixstowe docks… :dev2: