12. October 2009 by Ponch.

Chuck. 

All,

11^th again already.  Allot going on in the Estrada world these days.  As I reported last time, I’m in transition to a new job at Edwards AFB.  Transition is a good description.  As all of you know to well–With all things government and Air Force– there is a whole lot of hurry up and wait.  I was hired as a Global Hawk pilot last month… now I wait to get training.  The Air Force approved my training last week — one month – now they have to wade through a mile of paperwork to get me a slot at Beale AFB to do the initial qual.  So far the dates range from November to December to maybe I’ll stay here and do a local.  It would be better to go to Beale as the pilot shop here is very busy and short handed.  The best part of all this is I’m sort of on the ground floor of the start up of the group of test pilots here. Production of the Global Hawk is ramping up and they are expanding their pilot shop big time.  Draw back is there is no training path…they are making it up as we go along.  Sounds like they need a guy who knows training and building lesson plans, training folders, ect, ect…oh wait that’s me!  Life is good!  Also they are throwing flight time at me like crazy.  This is real familiar…just like the ACE program back in SAC.  We have to stay FAA current with our commercial instrument time.  Just like ACE there are folks who have to be chased and beat’n into getting there currencies.. and just like ACE there are those that can’t get enough flying time so the green light is on to use and abuse as much as possible.  So far I seem to be the only one who would fly everyday if I could, but you all knew that before I took this job;-).   Meanwhile I’m still working at Plant 42 on the B-2.  Go figure…they hired a new guy, and I’m the only qualified test director that functions as a test director on the program….long story I’ll relate on another day.  So my former manager…who was not too happy I got the flying job…long story again…worked a deal with the GB guys for me to switch hit and do B-2 stuff when they are busy testing.  This goes on at least till I can escape to Beale. The new guy I am training is an engineer….need I say more… and it’s all I can do to keep from dissolving him is a vat of sarcastic acid every day.  More and more I’m left with the impression that the folks we worked with in the Air Force..mostly aviators… were a special breed. Even the slowest students and EW’s I (sorry EW’s you know your own) were light years ahead in smarts and motivation compared to some of the folks I’ve worked with in the civilian word.  We truly lived and worked in a rarified atmosphere were only the best got to strap on military jets. So I bite my tongue every time I have to show the guy, over and over again..and over again, the basics of running test equipment, support equipment and the computers that support testing on the B-2.  Well on the other part of my life,  I think I mentioned my son and I built a very large alt/azimuth telescope.  We finished it a few months ago, and we are waiting for the primary mirror to be finished up in
Oregon.  We got a loaner mirror from the optician that is working on our mirror and we debuted our telescope at our monthly star party out in the San Louis Obispo area were we are members of the local astronomical society.  Well turns out that there are allot of important movers and shakers in the astronomy community that work and live in the area.  Some of them come to our meetings.  One in particular, Dr. Russ Genet PhD in astro physics ( he’s the guy with the gramps popeye beard in the pic) and director of several observatories took a special interest in our telescope.  He spent hours going over the design and workmanship taking notes and asking questions.  Finally he asked my son and I if we would help him construct a new telescope he has been planning.  We were totally blown away!!  WOW what an honor…especially for a armature hack like me.  Well we are a month or so into the project and we started cutting and welding on the mirror support cell this week end.  Turns out that the telescope project is a world wide effort with design and production support from a large group of engineers and scientist.  We are part of just one group.  My son and I are designing and producing the mirror cell, mirror box and altitude bearings.  The end project will be a fully transportable 1 meter research telescope designed to do planetary and close binary stellar data collection.   Dr. Genet’s thesis is that telescopes need not cost millions of dollars and occupy expensive observatory sites to contribute to meaningful research.  If successful , this design will be made available to colleges and Universities around the world to allow more access to and gather much more data then was though possible using the few large telescopes in use today.  Once complete we will participate in publishing a white paper on the results along with the design fundamentals and cost analyses.  Turns out that Dr. Genet started his career…go figure..in the Air Force. He worked in missile guidance and design in the early days of SAC and is the father of the networked simulator concept that is now part of the military mainstream training and war fighting process. Well I’ve blathered on more then I have time for…until next month.Cheers

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12. October 2009 by Andy.

Sorry for being a bit late…the 11 Oct was a bit rough; my daughter 23 was laid up in the hospital this weekend.  It started Saturday morning, got her to the emergency room by 5pm, and ran several tests to rule out kidney stones and appendicitis.  But it was her gall bladder that was the culprit – inflamed & infected.   So by 2am Sunday she was admitted to have an operation around 10am Sunday to remove it.  She doing well and should be released today.

In other news, Heather finished filming this weekend – and WOW does she have some stories to tell!  I told her she needs to write everything done, because they’re too many and too rich!  Things like an extra asking if he could sneeze when the director called “action” but was politely told “no” so he coughed instead.  When they said “cut”, Heather pipes up; “I’ve been upstaged by an extra” and everyone laughs because Heather is the one who should be coughing because it’s her character – in fact Heather dies in this film.  The director gave Heather great praise for bring her “A” game every time.  So much that she was given an actors dream – to improv (ad-libbing) a scene with her young (about 6-8) son to establish a relationship with him because there was nothing in the script.  The script did establish relationships with all her other “family” members before she dies, but not with the young son.  So without anything to go on or guidance/direction, she pulls it off to the point that when they finally call “cut”, there in not a dry eye in the place!  I wish I could tell you what the dialogue was because it would choke up anyone, I mean I’m getting choked up just thinking/writing about it – but because of movie confidentialities, I cannot – not until it’s released – sorry.  O’ and her death scene, when they finally finished filming, the director said she literally “died” on camera!  She dies from what we’ve gathered is tuberculoses.  She evens got to cough up blood as part of her sickness leading to her death – kind of what Val Kilmer does in “Tombstone” as Doc Holiday.

My son is heading off to St Louis later this month to record a demo-CD so his manager can “shop” it around in the music industry.  In the meantime he waits tables at a high-end restaurant that opened last month – good food!

Still working for Rockwell, but there is a great temptation to go over to Global Strike Command – they are throwing a lot of money around and sucking up all former B-52 crewdogs.  I had to put my German 88mm Flak gun, somewhere in North Africa 1941-43, on hold for the moment.  I needed the half-track that towed it but it’s still in production from Dragon/DML – it was supposed to be out last month but for some reason it was delayed until this month – we’ll see.  So I began work on an Army M1A1 used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

O’ BTW…I like the BoB Blogging…not much into Facebook yet.  Glad to hear about Chuck & oldest daughter!  And let me know when you do get published, I’d be first in line to buy your book(s)!

Until next time, fly safe!

Andy

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