September 6th, Thursday – Marti Has His Interview; Tennessee Museum of Aviation

Another hot, sticky, restless night made even worse by the fact that the mask for my CPAP machine is unusable so I don’t really ever get to sleep.  By 3 am I was up walking the living room floor – all six feet of it!  First thing tomorrow I’m going to order a new mask and pull the old one out of the closet.  Need to get some real sleep before we go out and about on Friday.  Ah well so I woke up tired and with a few aches and pains, as I’ve said before at least I wake up!

Today Marti had his interview.  We’re leaving for Georgia on Sunday for a funeral and will not be back until late Monday night.  Really didn’t want to take the little man with us, too much stress for him and for us.  So Barbara made a few phone calls and found  a great place for him to stay for two nights.  It’s only about 15 minutes from the house and

it is Ravenwood Boarding Kennels.  The owner, Cheri, asked us to bring him by today so she could get to know him and give him a chance to scope out the kennel before we drop him off on Sunday morning.  So, this morning we took him over and left him there for a couple of hours.  When we returned Cheri said he was absolutely no problem and she would have no issues with him staying.  A win-win for Marti and us.

Time now to finish up yesterday’s travels.  But before I do that let me share with you a an interesting item from our visit to the Bush Beans Museum.  To begin with if you have cans then of course you need a way to open them.  Enter  the can opener . . .

In 1870 William Lyman patented the first rotating wheel can opener.  Then the Star Can Opener Company in 1925 improved on his earlier design by adding a second, serrated feed wheel  to help advance the can through the cutting wheel.

Then came the electric can opener, this one from Sunbeam in the 1950’s

Time now to move on to another spot we made on Wednesday’s sight seeing tour.

We stopped to explore the Tennessee Museum of Aviation located at the Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge Airport.  The unique location of this Museum helps to bring aviation history to life as vintage aircraft are sometimes seen performing unscheduled flight demonstrations. The museums’ collection of military vehicles, aircraft engines, aviation exhibits, trainers, fighters, helicopters, jets and amphibious aircraft makes this a must stop if you are in the area.

When you first enter the facility and before entering the hanger where the vintage aircraft reside you make your way down a hall entitled Did You Know?  Here is a sample of some of the interesting facts you learn during your walk down this hall.

We moved from the hall into the main exhibition section of the Museum.  There are a number of displays in this section, everything from the way flight suits have changed over the years, to an exhibit about the Wright Brothers, Aviation in WWII and Vietnam and so much more.

 

This is where I met another of God’s beautiful people, Donald Campbell, a retired Air Force pilot who served in Vietnam.  He is now a volunteer at the Museum. We must have spent an hour jawing about our experiences in country.  He’s quite a remarkable gentleman.

At the Vietnam display case he pointed out a number of his personal items that he used in Vietnam and afterward had donated to the Museum.   This is his actual flight jacket.

A picture of him beside the plane he flew in Vietnam.

This was his actual flight helmet bag.

His squadron was known as the Buzzards of Bien Ho and here are several items with their inscription and insignia on them.

Now for the main attraction, the hanger itself wherein reside the vintage war birds and so much more.

As you enter the Aircraft Hangar, the bright well-lit interior creates an impressive atmosphere.  The 35,000 sq ft hangar features aircraft engines and cockpits, military

 

vehicles, and magnificently restored vintage Warbirds.  Speaking of engines, anyone need more power in their RV?  If so check this out, here is an engine second to none.  In particular check out the hp, 3,500 at 2.700 rpm!

Among the number of aircraft within the hangar there are two Republic P-47 Thunderbolts.  Today there are less than a dozen of these World War II fighters remaining in the world, and the Tennessee Museum of Aviation has two airworthy P-47 Thunderbolts in their collection.  Regarding the P-47

This is one of the P-47 Thunderbolt’s on display which is airworthy and flown on a regular basis.

This is the second P-47 Thunderbolt on display which is also air worthy and flown on a regular basis.  It is called Wicked Wabbit.

Another outstanding aircraft is the airworthy Douglas A-1H Skyraider known as Lieutenant America, complete with battle scars received from its service during Vietnam.

This is another air worthy war bird a North American P-51D Mustang “Ain’t Misbehavin”

There is also a full scale replica of a North American P-51 Mustang called Frenest.  During WWII the actual aircraft was flown by Lt. Col. Hayes, commander of the 364th Fighter Squardon.  He named his aircraft after a popular song of the day of the same name.

I just had to include this one, why?  Because I spent a lot of hours in a plane like this in Vietnam doing aerial reconnaissance.   A lot of good, and not so good memories stirred up by seeing this type of plane again.  But even more a reminder of just how blessed my life has been and continues to be.

Last one, I promise.  This one is huge, it’s wings stretching from one side of the hanger to the other.

Now we are up to date on our Wednesday.  What a fascinating day.  A day of discovery.  A day full of new experiences.  A day in which we learned so much.  Who could ask for anything more.  These are the kind of days we just love.

Once again thanks for joining us on The Road of Retirement.  We hope you enjoyed your journey with us on what was a truly fascinating day.  Time now to call it a wrap and get ready to go sight seeing again tomorrow.  Tomorrow we’re going to the secret city of Tennessee – can you guess what it is?  And why it was at one time such a secret.  Tune in tomorrow and we’ll fill you in.

Before I say good night let me leave each of us with this thought to ponder upon as we go through our day tomorrow:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before