Papal Visit – Part 2

September 27, 2015 by Howard Dale Posted in Events, People Leave a comment

This is the second of two posts on the Pope Francis’s visit to New York City in September, 2015. Part 1 can be found here.

So after four hours on line we finally got to security. I thought it would be something like airport security, but it was a bit simpler (e.g. didn’t have to remove shoes or belts) and didn’t take as long. After security we waited a further 15-20 minutes. And then there he was: the man himself in his Popemobile. He approached…and then he’d gone. I think we saw him for about a minute, just about long enough to grab a few pictures. After that we fought our way through the crowds, walked a bit to a somewhat more distant subway station and caught a train to Grand Central. Our train back home was leaving in less that 10 minutes and we were home by about 8:00pm. A round trip of around eight hours to see the Pope for one minute. Was it worth it? Well my wife certainly thought so and if I’m being honest so did I. He seems to be quite a remarkable human being and I’m glad I got to see him in person. And I like his smile.

Photographically I wished I’d taken a longer lens. The problem with a longer lens though was that it would also have meant a bigger and heavier camera and lens and I’m not sure that I would have wanted to carry that weight while waiting on line for four hours. So maybe I don’t wish I’d taken a longer lens. I like the depth in the first picture with the arm in the foreground, the Pope in the middle, and the woman in the tree in the background. I like his expression in the second one and in the third one he almost seems to be looking directly at me. Maybe not great pictures but nice souvenirs to share with friends and family.

NY Air Show – UH-72A Lakota

September 27, 2015 by Howard Dale Posted in Events Leave a comment

This was the aircraft from which the US Military Academy West Point Black Knights parachute team jumped. According to Wikipedia:

The Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota is a twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The UH-72 is a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145 and was built by American Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters, Inc.), a division of Airbus Group, Inc. Initially marketed as the UH-145, the helicopter was selected as the winner of the United States Army’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) program on 30 June 2006. In October 2006, American Eurocopter was awarded a production contract for 345 aircraft to replace aging UH-1H/V and OH-58A/C helicopters in the U.S. Army and Army National Guard fleets.

Papal Visit – Part 1

September 26, 2015 by Howard Dale Posted in Events Leave a comment

This is the first of two posts on the Pope Francis’s visit to New York City in September, 2015. Part 2 can be found here.

As soon as my wife heard that NY City was offering tickets by lottery to see Pope Francis in Central Park she put her name in. She wasn’t expecting much so it was a pleasant surprise for her when she received a email informing her that she was to receive two tickets. Not being all that religious at first I wasn’t going to go, but then I eventually decided that I couldn’t let her go alone – and I thought “who knows? It might be interesting”. So we took the train down to Grand Central, the Shuttle across to Times Square and the Broadway Local to Columbus Circle. All told this part of the journey took us about two hours.

When we came out of the subway at Columbus Circle we we directed North to 62nd street and then east. Things started to slow down as we reached Central Park West. The line went down to 60th, then turned up to 66th and then turned back down to 60th where we reached security. A solid mass of people spanning about fourteen blocks. This part of the journey took about four hours.

Our tickets said that if we weren’t at security by 3:30pm we weren’t going to get in. We reached that point about two and a quarter hours into our four hour wait. At that point I was wondering if this was the only Pope we were going to see. Thankfully the 3:30pm deadline seems to have been meaningless because we didn’t actually get there until around 5:00pm and there were still lots of people behind us.

NY Air Show – US Military Academy, West Point Black Knights

September 25, 2015 by Howard Dale Posted in Events Leave a comment

The US Military Academy, West Point Black Knights opened the show with a display of parachute jumping. The Air Show Website describes them as follows:

The West Point Parachute Team, The Black Knights, is the United States Military Academy’s Freefall demonstration and competition team. The Black Knights showcase the unique skills and opportunities available to the cadets by providing precision freefall demonstrations in support of Army Athletics, Cadet Reviews, and much more.

The all-cadet team also provides the chance for cadets to train their more junior Teammates as they progress from students to fully-licensed jumpers while operating in an in extremis context – the closest cadets will come to simulating the stress of combat at West Point. The Black Knights also compete in annual National Collegiate Parachuting Championships, representing West Point as they take on teams from the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and many others.

The mission of the West Point Parachute Team is to educate, train, and inspire cadets to develop leadership skills and build self-confidence in an in extremis context. We will accomplish this by providing cadets the opportunity to work towards three specific and challenging goals: train freefall students, conduct precision freefall demonstrations, and compete and win at the national level.

The West Point Parachute Team will kick off the New York Air Show each day jumping in the American Flag for the National Anthem. For more the latest updates on the team’s participation in the New York Air Show follow our Facebook page.

New York Air Show – Static Display

September 24, 2015 by Howard Dale Posted in Events Leave a comment

There were two static displays to supplement the flying portion of the airshow. I only managed to get to one of them, which was a pity because the other one apparently had an F-15 and F-16 and I would have liked to have seen them. It was just so hot that I didn’t feel like walking all the way in the sun. Above UH-1 HUEY Helicopter.