On the road again...

[moose135]

Greetings from Pittsburgh! I'm on the road, heading to the Air Force Museum, among other places. Left Long Island this morning, and got into Pittsburgh this afternoon.

As everyone knows, Pittsburgh is at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers :) Across the river from downtown is Mount Washington. Going up the side of the mountain is the Duquesne Incline, a funicular railway. At the top of the railway, they have a viewing area overlooking Pittsburgh.

Here's a look up the funicular, as a car comes down the other track:


The Allegheny river is to the left, the Monongahela to the right.


The Ohio River, with a tug boat pushing a group of barges.




Heinz Field is on the left side along the river, home of the Steelers.




I'll add photos as the trip goes along. And no, I'm not using the glasses in the hotel :shock:

[jran225]

Some quality shots there Moose, thanks for sharing!

And no, I'm not using the glasses in the hotel

Hahaha! :D

Greets,
-Omar S.

[nikon50bigma]

Great job on the pics.
The water must be calm there since the reflections in the water are clear in the last one.

[PhilDernerJr]

Some interesting stuff! i can't say I've ever seen pics from Pittsburgh before. Nice representation.

[stuart schechter]

Nice photos. Those long exposures look great.

[AirtrafficController]

Those city night pictures are beautiful moose!

[T-Bird76]

Great shots Moose! Pittsburgh is an under estimated city as far as culture, things to do and restaurants.

[mirrodie]

Great shots so far John! Looking forward to more :D

[hiss srq]

Great shots, I have been to PIT quite a bit and it is a shame that it has taken such a downfall in recent times. I was there last mid summer.

[LGA777]

Moose, great job with the night shots. When PIT was a more important part of US's system I made quite a few trips their, including several upon Mt Washington where your shots where taken from. Had several nice meals at a few different Restraunts up their, by far my favorite part of Pittsburgh ! Have fun Moose !

Cheers

LGA777

[moose135]

This morning I left Pittsburgh, heading toward Dayton and the AF Museum. First big landmark along the way was Wheeling, WV. Never been through there before (that I remember, might have passed through driving between NY & Indiana in my AF days). The city is sort of between a mountain and the Ohio River - entering via I-70, you pass through a tunnel under the mountain and into the city.

Here is a waterfront park on the Ohio River, with two of the bridges crossing the Ohio.


Here's a look from up on the mountain overlooking the city - I followed a crazy twisting road (in a residential neighborhood) to the top. That's the same bridge as seen above.


On I-70 in Ohio. Sorry, Phil, but I saw no evidence of an airport there. :(


One really neat thing I saw on the way were a pair of 2008 Dodge Challenger developmental test cars ("test mules"). (I'm as big a Mopar guy as I am an airplane guy.) The new Challenger will be out next year, and these were on a road trip from Detroit for testing. Even though they were disguised to avoid detection, I knew what they were. Saw them in at a rest stop on I-70 in Ohio, and got to talk to one of the guys with the team (They had a 300C and Charger along as escort vehicles, about 8 people, and a ton of electronic gear aboard.)




Finally, the Air Force Museum! I haven't been there in at least 20 years, and I was amazed at the changes. They have greatly expanded the building (it's probably 4x the size as it originally was).




He arrived about the same time I did, although I don't know what he was doing there.


Outside, they have a memorial garden, with monuments to many people and units. This is a "missing man" formation of F-22s. In the background is a memorial to USAF Medal of Honor recipients.


As a proud SAC Warrior, I was thrilled to see the newest addition to the memorial garden.


French Spad XIII used by US Army Air Corp flyers in WW I.


German Me-262, first jet-powered fighter.


Last C-141 operated by the AF, this aircraft flew the first American POWs out of North Viet Nam, earning it the nickname "The Hanoi Taxi".



NKC-135A, used to test airborne laser system - it actually shot down several missiles with the laser during tests.


This big-nosed EC-135E "ARIA" aircraft was one of 8 used to track Apollo launches (there's a large dish antenna in the nose) and later was used to track missile launches, both American and Soviet.



German Ju-52 tri-motor transport.


I got to the museum around 1pm, and saw they were offering a guided tour starting at 1:30. Since I hadn't been there in ages, I thought that would be a good place to start, figuring it would be a quick look at some of the highlights. We ended up with about 8 guys (I was about the youngest, and almost all of us were veterans of one type or another). The tour guide was a 24 year AF vet, and after retiring from a civilian job, has spent 10 years volunteering at the museum. Three hours later :!: we had a thorough tour of the Wright Brothers through the end of WW II, plus a quick look at the more modern exhibits. The guide was outstanding! He really knew his stuff - even I learned some new stuff, although I did have a couple of interesting things to tell him as well.

I'm back out there in the morning - as it's Veterans' Day weekend, there are several events scheduled. I didn't take too many shots inside today - it's not brightly lit to protect the displays, and we were doing a lot of walking on the tour. After the weekend (I'll be out this way for a few days) I plan to return for a major photo shoot - they welcome photographers bringing tripods in, so I expect to give mine a workout.

[Bellucciman]

John,

GREAT STUFF!

[MarkLawrence]

Great shots Moose!!!

[Greg_NY]

Great shots John, and what a scoop on that Challenger!!

[moose135]

Just a couple of quick shots - I spent much of the day at the AF Museum, taking in the "experience", checking out some of the displays I wanted a closer look at.

Here's the NKC-135A again, showing the big hump on the top of the fuselage housing the laser equipment.


Outside one of the entrances to the base, these two billboards are posted about 30 feet apart:




One of the few shots from inside today. They retired the "Largest Gonads in the World" award after giving it to this guy. This display recreates the work of Capt. Joseph Kittinger, USAF. As head of Project Excelsior in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he made several high altitude parachute jumps from this balloon gondola to develop escape systems for high performance aircraft. His final jump, August 16, 1960, was from 102,800 feet (almost 20 miles above the Earth!) He had a 4 1/2 minute free fall until the parachute opened at 17,500 feet, and during this he reached a speed of 714 mph - faster than the speed of sound!



On a hilltop near the base is a park with this monument to the Wright Brothers.



From the hill behind the monument, you can see the main part of Wright-Patterson AFB (The museum is on a smaller section of the base in the opposite direction)

4 C-5s can bee seen on the ramp.

This would be a great place to spot from, the sun is at your back all day, and final approach is right in front of you, however I don't know how much traffic they get at WP - it's mainly an engineering and test base, and I don't know how much the C-5s get used.