Nostalgia

My dad, 1st Lieutenant Paul F. Chessare, Navigator, began his first missions in Europe in a B-24 Liberator, Snafuperman. The B-24s were also known as the flying gas tank, as they tended to explode when switching fuel tanks. Dad transitioned into B-17s when they came on-line. 31 missions later, 8 bombers shot out from under him, ditching twice in the English Channel, he finished the war without a scratch, physically.

I spliced 3 pics together to make this pic (large download). Notice under the wing the chubby guy on the left is doubled.

Because I was shooting with my telephoto lens at a long distance, I was using a very fast shutter speed. I inadvertently froze the props which were actually spinning at a high rate, only the blade which is pointing directly at the camera shows a little blurred movement.

Nine-O-Nine nose art



Here are a few pictures of Sentimental Journey when she came to Albany airport in '03.

Firing up No. 3

There nothing, nothing as beautiful as the sound of 4 radial, Wright R Cyclones.

Gear coming down.

Sentimental Journey nose art


On the enlarged picture you can see the listed crew weight of 1200 lbs. Men were smaller back in the forties, the B-17 had a crew of 10 guys, that's just 120 lbs a piece.

Adirondack Balloon Festival

Spinning, we turn towards the sun. Dawn breaks.



Climbing into the sunlight.

Sunrise.

Still more to take off.


During the week I'll get plenty more of the 250+ pictures I took, posted on General Atomic.

Things of Togaville

Sneakers

Hardhat

Bronze

Pouring Honey

Pouring honey.



A corner of the Country Corner.

Canon 50mm

More shots with my new Canon 50mm lens. What is it about the MINI that makes them so photogenic?

Pictured are MINI Moo, Mellow Moo and Scott's Checkmate S.

New Canon Lens

My precious old friend,
Withered skin reveals time's toll;
May I piss on thee?


Poetry courtesy of Dave the Hinder.

I got my first non-zoom lens, a Canon 50mm, f1.8 and it is sweet. Nice shallow depth of field. The autofocus is a little funky but that's not a problem. At $75, who's complaining?

Couch 2

What's up with the couch dumping going on around the office lately? I know this thing had a sister around here somewhere, now whered'it get to?

Say friend

Come on over and set a spell. Take a load off and contemplate what's in the big blue boxes, treasures I'm sure. Relax and let the dampening field of the blue boxes soothe your agitated aura, change it from red to purple, to green to blue. That's better, relax and stay as long as you want, we like you.

Hidden Togaville

Exploring the nooks and crannies of Togaville.

Road Trip

The Red Top Tavern sign somewhere out by Dresden and a red wall in Fort Ann.
This labor day weekend we put 100 miles on MINI Moo exploring the NY canals and locks, antique shops and yard sales out around the Whitehall area.