other, stories

..to take off from a small airstrip in a small town in the largest state on a beautiful springtime day.

Sitting in the pilot’s seat (left): shana, the coolest girl in the whole world.

Sitting in the co-pilot seat (right): heidi, an astoundingly incredible pilot & flight instructor

Sitting in the back seat and enjoying the ride: yours truly

photography, stories

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rob & 65 quebec. he flew me out to nondalton, along with 300 pounds of groceries. rob and darla continue to be some of my favorite people in the world.
diomede, other, stories

More rocket building! She is almost ready to fly. I skipped a step involving putting glue into a spot I firmly believe there is no way to get to without some specialized tool (super narrow and long glue syringe?), which I don’t have. The glue was to firmly connect the fins to the body tube, so I figured I’d just make some mega epoxy filets on the outside. Same thing, right? Actually no, because epoxy is way heavier then CA glue, so she’ll need a CP/CG check once everything else is done. Basically: if the center of gravity (CG) is too far aft (i.e., behind this rockety thing called the “center of pressure,” or CP) the rocket naturally goes into a turn–not a spin, a turn–as soon as it’s in flight. Turning rockets are bad juju. Speak of bad juju, I will add–at risk of jinxing this whole thing–that I am a wee bit worried that the fin mount rings aren’t well-enough secured to the motor tube. If that concern bears fruit (weird way to say it? yup), then the motor and motor tube will blast through the rocket and fly god-knows-where, spinning and turning and corkscrewing at speeds extraordinarily unbecoming for such behavior. Exciting! I believe I will wear scientist goggles and hide behind a piece of plywood for the launch.

:)

Checking the fin mounts for alignment in the body tube
Checking the fin mounts for alignment in the body tube
Fins mounted!
Fins secured!
Final motor mount centering ring epoxied in and fin root filets done. She's close!
Final motor mount centering ring epoxied in, launch lugs mounted, and fin root filets done. She’s close!
Thanks to willis for storing his tripod in my classroom, for without it this selfie would not have been possible!
Thanks to willis for storing his tripod in my classroom, for without it this selfie would not have been possible!
diomede, stories

No, actually, literally, Russian dogs. From the Russian military base across the dateline. They showed up last week and wandered around, staying clear of the village. Then yesterday three of the four took off straight out to the edge of the sea ice, skirted north around the open water and then made tracks straight back to Big Diomede. They left one behind, which was shot late last night.

Seriously, I’m not making this stuff up!

The second photo is a very, very very cropped version of the first.

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photography

The sun’s an angel and the other day she donned her halo for us.

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photography

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This is the view from standing place. Weather in the winter is bad almost all the time and once in a while we get a nice clear beautiful day and today was one of those days. This is the view from Standing Place.