Seal Beach’s Red Baron & son off to Oshkosh

Jerry and Tyler Rootlieb left Seal Beach on July 9th for Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Why, you may ask?  Who would want to fly to Wisconsin when its in the 100’s with a dew point to match? Well I think they thought it would cool off between then and now…but they really had no choice.  It was preordained.

Well, each year up to 10,000 visiting aircraft – of all shapes, sizes and varieties – make Oshkosh the busiest airport in the world!(for a couple of weeks.)

There are many, many direct flights to Oshkosh, Wisconsin…..AS LONG AS YOU ARE FLYING YOUR OWN AIRPLANE!

This father and son team are flying in the plane that Jerry bought (started buying?) when he was 15 years old. It was his Father’s plane before he got it and his sons will inherit when he gives it up…probably in 20 or 30 years!.

Its a 1938 Piper Cub. I’ve flown with my pal up and down the coast….and out over the ocean whale watching…and it is a unique experience.  Lower altitudes, slower going and just kind of restful.  I remember noting to Jerry that the trucks on PCH were going faster than we were and he said that was because we had a head wind of 15 mph!  He pointed out that without that head wind the Cub could go as fast as 65 mph!  (I was too polite to express my skepticism.) 

When you fly cross country in an airplane this small your flight plan is a little different than Jet Blue’s.  Usually you want to stop every few hours for bodily as well as airplane needs.  Sometimes at road side gas stations.  To that end this California Piper followed roadways that I remember as a kid coming across country…including Route 66…which is harder to find today than it was 50 years ago…but not for experienced pilots like Tyler and Jerry.  They left on July 9th and today they have been in the small town of Hartford, Wisconsin for two days of R&R.

Tomorrow, July 22,  they will be part of a flight of 200 piper cubs from all over the U.S. that will fly into  Oshkosh in a Yellow Rainbow (Yellow was the manufacturer’s color on all Piper Cubs) that will likely take several hours to land at Oshkosh.  I’m sure it is the trip of a lifetime for the Rootlieb’s to make and one that will be told throughout the family for years to come.

I followed their flight from California to Wisconsin and here is their stops:  (not including unplanned day-time stops)

Overnight at:
Bermuda Dunes
Phoenix
Tucson
Deming
El Paso
Carlsbad Caverns
Lubbock
Oklahoma City
Wichita (tonight)
Kansas City, Mo
Iowa City
Hartford WI ( for two days)
……….and then the mass Cub fly-in to Oshkosh, Sunday morning.

Here are some of the planes that will make appearances at Oshkosh this year:
B-29 Superfortress FIFI   (July 26-27), DC-3 Flabob Express  (July 23-29),,ORBIS DC-10 “Flying Eye Hospital” (July 23-29), Junkers JU 52 (July 23-29),,F-16 (July 23-29),KC-135 (July 24-29), T-2C Buckeye (July 25-28), Southwest B-737 (July 28) JetBlue A-320 (July 25), E-2C Hawkeye (July 26-29), F-4D Phantom (July 23-26) MiG (July 25-26),P-51 Tuskegee Airmen  (July 23-29), T-38 Beale (July 26-29), T-6 Texan II (July 26-29), C-17 (July 24-25), C-5 (July 27-29), B-17 Yankee Lady (July 26-29), F-4 (July 25-26), Piaggio Avanti (July 23-24), FedEx (July 26), RV Aircraft Display (July 23), T-45C (July 26-29), Blue Angel #1 F/A-18 (July 24) F/A-18 F Super Hornet (July 27-29).

Take a short flight in a Cub right now!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18130bpbiM8

Good News for the “Bird Farm”

The C-17 is still Flying and it looks like there will be more to come for this almost endangered species!

The Administration had been sending mixed signals to us on the fate of our “Big Bird.”
-In March the President supported continued production for the Boeing C-17.
-In April Secretary Gates wanted to cut production and spoke strongly that
would happen.

Now it looks like congress, and Californian solons have spoken and the chances are pretty good we’ll keep making the C-17 going at the Long Beach Boeing plant. That means a total of 5,000 jobs one third of which are Orange County residents.
We usually are not supporters of “pork barrel” projects. (Nobody likes “pork” unless it is their “pork”) but  there was no doubt that additional aircraft were needed https://www.whatsupinsealbeach.com/index.php?s=c-17 but Gates wanted to increase production of the Lockheed C-5,  a 40 year old design that did not compare with the phenomenal results our medical personnel have been having in removing battlefield casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan using the C-17s.

We hope they won’t change their mind again.  This plane has come along to go to  the battlefields just in time.  We shouldn’t change horses when we have a winner!
For complete info go to OCR at  http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/13/boeing-deal-would-extend-jobs-for-1500-oc-workers/36095/

More Layoffs Pending for Long Beach ?

The administration has been sending mixed signals on the future of the C-17.

In March the President supported continued production for the Boeing C-17 “Globemaster” made in Long Beach. The plane, which has been a standout freighter and “hospital” aircraft for US and allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, became operational in the mid ‘90s and was originally scheduled for a production of 120 planes. Last month Secretary Gates said he wanted to cut production of the C-17 and increase production of the Lockheed C-5, a plane that became operational in 1969.

The U.S. now have the lowest mortality rate of injured servicemen and women while being moved from the battlefield to hospitals in our history.  One of the key reasons are Globemasters that are equipped for Medevac transportation; where the wounded are routinely given delicate surgery while being transferred to hospitals in Europe and the U.S.

During normal testing, C-17s set 22 world records, including payload to altitude time-to-climb and the short takeoff and landing mark. The C-17 is one of the very few airplanes in the world that can “routinely” back up under its own power. A great asset when landing at remote air strips with minimum ground assistance available.  (Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV1L-EkK0VY )

The plan to scrap the contract is a decision that ultimately will be decided by congress and if it should be passed it means another 5,000 workers will join the local unemployed ranks that are already suffering, including thousands of dock workers at the ports of Long Beach and L.A..

Reps. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, are part of a small group of Congressional representatives that say if the  program is cut  short  it will be a mistake and will jeopardize national security.

There are pending orders for additional planes from at least two friendly governments; Finland and Sweden.  Local pundits say the proposed cuts reflect “party politics” more than necessary cuts. 

Replacing a 1995 airplane with a 1969 aircraft doesn’t seem to make sense.