Fantasy of Flight

I recently paid another visit to Fantasy of Flight located over in Polk City, FL. If you are an aviation buff this place is a "must see" and even if you aren't all that crazy about aircraft you'll probably appreciate the history and the quality of the overall experience. Fantasy of Flight is a privately owned collection of aircraft that all belong to Kermit Weeks. You can get more of the story behind Fantasy of Flight on their official website by clicking here, and Mr. Weeks's blog offers addition insight here. And for the official Wikipedia take on Kermit Weeks, click here.

Okay, up to speed yet? Good. Let's move on to the photos from my visit.

Here's the official sign located outside the entrance to the main building:



And just before entering the building you are greeted by this message from Kermit Weeks:



Just across the field from the main entrance was this sight that would make any aviation history buff's heart skip a beat:



Once inside the museum you begin your experience by walking through a few set pieces depicting significant milestones in aviation history. Among the first is a World War I diorama featuring combat soldiers and a swooping fighter plane of the period:





World War II is next on your travels through history and that war is represented by this B-17, which is parked in the recreation of an airbase of the time. One side of the B-17 is "battle ready" while the other side represents a B-17 recently returned from battle and undergoing repairs. You get to walk through this aircraft at your leisure to examine the crew spaces and components:



Here's a shot of the control panel in the B-17. I am always fascinated with these old panels, the technology they represent, and the skills the pilots had to possess to deal with these complex machines:



Coming out of the historical displays you enter the civil aircraft hanger where you are greeted by an almost overwhelming array of aircraft of all shapes and sizes:



Further along you enter the warbird hanger where an equally dizzying array of fighter planes and other military aircraft await your perusal:



This is one of two P-51 Mustangs on display. This one is marked up to represent the Tuskegee Airmen's squadron. Click here for more on their story:



Out on the tarmac sat this sexy Supermarine Spitfire. This is only about the second time I have ever seen one of these planes up close and personal like this:



Each day they fly one of the planes in the collection. During one of my previous visits it was that Tuskegee Airmen Mustang. This time it was this German artillery observation plane:





When they landed the plane you were able to get a very close look at it. I noticed that planes don't appear to need as much tread for cornering as motorcycles:



Part of the experience was a tour that takes you behind the scenes to the working areas of the Fantasy of Flight operation. The first stop was the restoration shop where they are actively working on several planes to bring them back to flying condition:



You can see in this shot that these planes don't start out in the most pristine of conditions, but the restoration shop works pure magic to return these hulks to the skies where they belong...with Kermit Weeks (no, that's not him in the photo) at the controls, of course:



Sitting over in one corner of the restoration shop was this hulk. That's a complete, albeit slightly disassembled, P-38 Lightning that Weeks will have his restoration shop return to flying condition:



The next stop on the tour was the engine warehouse. Everything you see in this photo -- and a whole lot more you can't see -- is an aircraft engine of some sort or description. This was a fascinating stop on the tour, especially once you heard what the guide had to say about this diverse collection of engines:



The next stop was for a glimpse inside one of many storage bays, each one, like this one, crammed full of aircraft awaiting restoration:



The final stop on the tour was the maintenance hanger, which was chock full of more incredible vintage planes; all of them in flying condition and ready to go at Kermit Weeks's whim:



Leaving the maintenance hanger I shot this view across the field toward the main display building:



Okay, that's enough to give you an idea of what a visit to Fantasy of Flight holds in store. But let me caution you that I have only scratched the surface here; you really must pay this place a visit for yourself. You will not regret the time you spend and I assure you that the price of admission is well worth it for the opportunity to see this much aviation history in one place.

Stayed in a Beautiful Hotel and Got Me Some Edumacation!

I recently attended a job-related conference a few cities over from my home base. Luckily for me the conference organizers had the foresight to book their event into the Gaylord Palms Hotel. This is one large, beautiful, and luxurious hotel. I highly recommend booking a stay at this great hotel if you find yourself in the area...or perhaps just need an excuse to come to Central Florida. You know, if the whole Disney, Sea World, Universal, Busch Gardens, beaches, sunshine, etc., didn't do it for you; now you can use the Gaylord Palms as your motivation. On to the photos:

This was the view outside my room from my private balcony:



This is a steakhouse restaurant inside the hotel:



This fountain was located outside the Italian restaurant, which you can kind of see in the background to the left:



Every detail of the hotel is tricked out to the max. This is the ceiling of the entry rotunda in the conference center:



This is the entry way to the St. Augustine area, complete with a mockup of the old Spanish fort:



Evening strolls were a treat to the senses with scenes like this waterfall around every turn:



And then there was the pool full of live turtles and alligators!:



This guy comes by three times each week to feed the alligators. Looks like he might have missed a meal given the way these gators are ready to climb up on the bank with him:



The hotel has two pools; one for adults and this one for kids and families. Notice the attached water park on the right side of the frame:



As you can see from this small sampling of images (believe me, there is much more to see) the Gaylord Palms is a really nice hotel. Any reason to stay at the Gaylord Palms will certainly give rise to a memorable experience.

Club Ride - April 3, 2010 - Leesburg, Baby!!!

Okay, so Leesburg isn't really exciting enough to warrant three exclamation points. In fact, it probably doesn't merit even one exclamation point, but at least it go you to read this far, didn't it?

The day started out as per our usual with a hearty breakfast and loads of sarcasm for all. After breakfast, five of us headed out for a scenic and twisting ride up to Leesburg where we would visit Champions motorcycle shop. Gunny really did a good job of taking us around our elbow to find our fanny as it took us about three hours to ride to Leesburg, which is a trip that normally requires a bit less than an hour.  That's okay, though, because we rode through some nice countryside and took in our fair share of curvy roads along the way.

Our first stop was at the one-lane bridge on Green Pond Road where we encountered some people fishing in the swollen creek.

"Sir, I think you need a bigger bike," said Gunny to the passing motorcyclist:

Creek!!!:

No matter how nicely I asked, Mr. Sarcasm just wouldn't fall in the creek for the sake of me getting a good photo...and Lloyd wouldn't push him in, either...dammit!:

Some Lake County curve action:

One gorgeous bike parked in front of Champions:

Champions is a huge dealership with multiple brands and plenty of new bikes for sale:

Leaving Champion, we rode down to Tavares for lunch at Mary's Kountry Kitchen restaurant where Gunny ordered this breakfast monstrosity for his mid-day meal:

Here's a detail shot of the innards of that monstrosity:

Mr. Sarcasm does not appear overly happy with his Consolation Chowder. Maybe next time he should try the tomato bisque soup:

Bellies full and ready to ride some more, we hit the road and headed southward for home. Of course we took the most circuitous route possible, including a reverse-course pass of Green Pond Road for giggles:

Nearing home base, here's a shot of Lloyd putting his Wing through some back-roads curves we always enjoy:

It was another full day of riding with me getting home at about 4 pm with some 200 miles on the odometer. The weather is changing rapidly in our part of the world and today we saw a high of 86 degrees. It won't be long before it'll be time to put away the ST (shhhhhh, don't tell her) in favor of the V-Strom, which is a lot cooler ride in the warm months.

Note from the author/photographer/editor/publisher: My apologies if this post ends up looking crappy on your screen. I had to write it in Blogger's very limited editing window and the spacing was giving me fits. Why would I do that you ask? Well, because Firefox's editor -- ScribeFire -- is on the fritz...AGAIN!!! Dammit!!!