USS CONSTELLATION

SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS

Milestone: First Nonstop Solo Transatlantic Flight
Date of Milestone: May 21, 1927
Aircraft: Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis"
Pilot: Charles A. Lindbergh
Aircraft Location: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, Milestones of Flight Gallery
On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in history, flying his Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" 5,810 kilometers (3,610 miles) between Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, and Paris, France, in 33 hours, 30 minutes. With this flight, Lindbergh won the $25,000 prize offered by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first aviator to fly an aircraft directly across the Atlantic between New York and Paris. When he landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris, Lindbergh became a world hero who would remain in the public eye for decades.

P51 MUSTANG

BELL COBRA

The AH-1 Cobra is an attack helicopter manufactured by Bell. It shares a common engine, transmission and rotor system with the older UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey"). The AH-1 is also sometimes referred to as the "HueyCobra" or "Snake".
The AH-1 was once the backbone of the United States Army's attack helicopter fleet, but has been replaced by the AH-64 Apache in Army service. Upgraded versions continue to fly with several other users. The AH-1 twin engine versions remain in service with United States Marine Corps as the service's primary attack helicopter.

APOLLO 9

Apollo 9 was the third manned mission in the Apollo program, a ten day Earth-orbital mission launched 3 March 1969. It was the second manned flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle and the first manned flight of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM).

A12 BLACKBIRD

Paul visited the Aerospace museum during our visit to Balboa Park. He was especially interested in this plane, known as the fastest and highest flying spy plane ever.

A-12 Specifications
Manufacturer:
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Construction:
Titanium Monococque with some super-high-temperature plastics.
Width:
55 feet, 7 inches
Length:
102 feet, 3 inches
Height:
18 feet, 6 inches
Landing Weight:
52,000 pounds
Maximum Speed:
Mach 3.3
Maximum Ceiling:
Above 75,000 feet
Powerplant:
2 Pratt & Whitney JT11D-20A (J58) with 32,500 pounds of thrust. (Excluding #06927)

PAUL'S BALBOA PARK PIX

Sorry to everyone for so many pix of me. Between Paul and Z I couldn't escape.

I'm still awestruck by the beautiful architecture at this park.

THE CACTUS GARDEN

Over a pretty overpass from Balboa Park is the most spectacular garden ever. It is a 100 year old Cactus garden. Winding paths take you through its beauty, just incredible.

Some of the Cacti are so huge, they are as big as trees. Brightly colored flowers blanket the ground below the cacti, and stone walls line the paths.

SAN DIEGO'S BALBOA PARK

I can't believe our Wednesday walk at Balboa park is over already. I have looked forward to it for such a long time.
We had such a wonderful walk, and time just flew by. I actually recognized our meeting place (the fountain) from Z’s pictures in the past.

Z’s Papillon friends were absolutely lovely folks. Jule and Harry with their boy Pap, Louis Vuitton. Louis was in his glory, surrounded by beautiful girlie dogs. Jule and Harry are warm and welcoming.

Marilyn has a perpetual huge, sincere smile, and I felt immediately as if I had known her always. Her Pap girl, Penny, is just lovely, a retired champion.

Balboa Park is too beautiful to describe. The architecture, landscaping, fountains, etc. just took my breath away. San Diego is “hands down” the most beautiful city I have ever visited. People here are friendly, and courteous as well.

And as always there is Z, the fountain of knowledge, leading us merrily through the park.

We stopped at the tea house for a cup of lovely tea. The dogs all sat in their own chairs (now there’s something I’ve never seen in Maine, lol) and were perfect little guests.

Paul was enjoying himself at the Aerospace Museum, and Automobile museum. He joined us for lunch at the Sculpture Garden, where the Belles again acted as if they sat in chairs to dine every day of the week, lol. Lunch was delicious, as seems to be the norm in San Diego.
Here is beautiful Berry: Her face and eyes (especially those expressive eyes) are gorgeous.

We did have a big scare when Bella hopped up on a concrete wall, only to tumble over the other side where there was a huge drop off! I leapt to grab her leash and harness plus a handful of hair and skin! I hauled her back up, with my heart in my throat. Bella was just fine, tho shaking a bit. I must have squashed Breezey in the process, but she didn't seem to mind, lol.

SAN DIEGO ZOO

We finally rented a nice car, and got my new Garmin GPS up and working. With a whole free day before us, Paul and I decided to visit the world renowned San Diego Zoo! This is a positively amazing zoo, with fabulous animal species to see: from reptiles to elephants, gorillas to giant turtles.

But also it has breathtakingly beautiful flora: Palm trees, lush rain forest foliage, and flowers everywhere. Many of the animal environments have their own waterfalls. Most of the animals here seem very happy, enjoying a natural environment with others of their own kind. This zoo actually manages to breed endangered species and returns them to the wild.

There are walk through aviaries with stunning brightly colored birds of all sizes. My favorite was the Hummingbird aviary.

The reptile houses were fascinating, with the 10' long, 350 pound Komodo Dragon (Monitor) as its crowning glory. What an amazing creature! But he was also cautious about showing himself to us, so my photos aren't very impressive.

Polar bears rolled and played in obvious contentment. Sea otters played and showed off for us observers. The Pandas are a favorite to the visitors. We had a special treat seeing a silly Panda that had fallen asleep high in a tree! Very cute. We even got to see Meerkats (who had been born in the zoo and recently came from the nursery) up close.

Waterfowl was everywhere. Paul had to drag me away from the aviary that housed the Harlequin ducks in the coolest "waist level" pond. We could literally reach out and touch these birds (tho we didn't)

We rode high above the Zoo in a tram, and got a better feeling for how huge an area this zoo really encompases.