All posts by DWMack

Family Skydiving

June 30: Today was a “Blue Sky” day, so for those that know me, that means its time to check the TFR’s, Notams, the weather and get the little bird out of the nest and get a little airtime. Most people also know that my favorite location to fly to is the Michigan City Airport (KMGC) because they usually have the least expensive self-service Avgas, the drop zone “Skydive Windy City”, and a local Hacienda.

Well today I did fly to Michigan City for all of the above, but it was also a good time to clean house and to drop off some used skydiving gear I was no longer using. I figured that Tom (my rigger) would find the stuff a good home. In addition though, I dropped off my jump rig which was overdue for an inspection and reserve parachute repack which is required every 6 months. With the reserve repacked I will be ready for the upcoming “Dink Dink Boogie” being held in August by the raw dogs in Grand Haven, MI. Boogie details can be found at rawdogscrw.com/dinkdinkboogie so give it a looksee!

Now that the para-gear was dropped off it was time to get my jump & flying buddy Dave and head out to Hacienda for chips, salsa and iced tea.

Upon our return we dropped by the DZ to see how busy they were. I was interested because I always like to take pictures of the tandem landings to show how much fun people are having and today was no exception.

I took some random pictures of two tandem loads then decided it was time to head home, so I stopped shooting and got the bird pre-flighted.

As I finished up, I noticed another tandem load had just taken off, so I decided to get in a few more pictures of their landings. As I was taking pictures Dave checked the radar weather and noticed a fast moving storm from coming across the lake from Chicago and suggested that I “kick the tires, light the fires, and get a move on back to Benton Harbor before the winds picked up.

Since its ALWAYS better to be on the ground wishing you were up there flying than being up there flying wishing you were on the ground, I took his council.

Had a smooth flight back home and even took a few shoreline pictures of the various beaches on the way home. A Good day, Good flying, and looking forward to the 4^th and more good flying weather.

Steak Fry Afternoon & Metal Detecting Dive Day

2019-06-29: Saturday was a blue-sky morning that lasted all day. This was a very good thing as it was the biggest event day of the “July 4X4 Watervliet Independence Celebration & Carnival” that had been going. As part of the celebration there was a “Fly In” & “Steak Fry” at the Watervliet Airport (40C) which I attended.

With all the rain we have been having here in SW Michigan there were no war-birds showing up as the grass field was a bit on the wet mushy side and was only suitable for light aircraft like the Piper Cub or Cessna 150’s. As always “Fly In’s” are great meet and greet events, an opportunity to show off your plane, swap flying tales, and hopefully get some non-flyers interested in aviation.

And afterward, if you wanted to cool off on this hot & muggy day, you could do so at Forrest Beach park. Though Big Paw Paw lake is getting to be very weedy and has rather heavy boat traffic towing water toys on holiday weekend like this, it was still a good day to get in a scuba dive.

Since I anticipated the heavy boat traffic I decided to stay in the shallows and do a bit of metal detecting. Now with that said, the water was warm and I kept my diving to less than 15 feet deep. Since the water in the shallows were warm there was no need to have a wet suit hood or gloves. Having garden gloves or something to protect the hands when grubbing thru the bottom muck is highly recommended though.

Finds for the day did not include any coins or rings but a lot of rusty can’s, nails, and a varied assortment of rusted metal junk including one old fashion plow tip. I was only out about an hour and by the time I finished my dive the park was packed, and the parking lot filled and spilling over.

Its summer people so get out there and enjoy it!

Forrest Beach Park just before the crowds enveloped it.

Lest We Forget

2019-06-23: Have you ever felt that history, particularly military history, isn’t being taught in our schools like it was in the “good old” times?

Why is it that many of our high school graduates, some say a majority, don’t know who we fought in WWII, who bombed us at Pearl Harbor or worst yet, believe that the holocaust never happened? Our children are not being taught the basic principles that have made this country great!

“Lest We Forget” was started by a group of veterans who felt that patriotism was too important of a subject to be given the short shrift that it presently receives in our schools and community. Our operating principle is “To brighten the future we must illuminate the past.”

**Re-Enactment – Pacific Theater of Operation**

**Nasty beast the flame thrower- life expectancy of the individual carrying it in combat was 10 minutes**

**Water Buffalo (it has a big bite when necessary)**

**Higgins Boat or LCVP (landing craft, vehicle, personnel)**

**MI Chapter – Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association**

**Today’s Area of Operation was “‘Upton LZ” or “Whitwam LZ” if you prefer.**

**Army (Huey) UH-1H – Originally the Iroquois helicopter was designated HU-1 (Helicopter Utility) hence the Huey nickname.**

**Medivac Inbound** (Huey or Slick – UH-1H)

**Lest We Forget** -> WW-1, WW-2, Korea, Vietnam, Cold War, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, Kuwait, Serbia, Afghanistan and the dozens upon dozens of other areas that involved placing our troops in harm’s way.

Benton Harbor Michigan & the St. Joseph River

June 20, 2019WalkaboutBenton Harbor, MI, Saitn Joseph RiverDWMack

2019-06-20: As the pictures show, the St. Joseph river is quite high and overflowing its banks especially around Fisherman’s Park and the nearby boat docks. It is also pushing back up the drains and creating a bit of street flooding by the Whirlpool Campus on Main street.

Almost a floating boardwalk (Fisherman’s Park) – Benton Harbor, MI

The old boat house in the park- the dock-pier is under water. (Fisherman’s Park, Benton Harbor, MI)

The sign says it all. Still some people are driving thru it way too fast. (Main Street Benton Harbor – By Whirlpool Campus)

At least your car’s under carriage gets a nice wash.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

June 18, 2019Miscellaneous RamblingsMiscellaneous Thoughts, RamblingsDWMack

2019-06-18: Is it True or False?

(Is) Fact-Checking Snopes: Website’s Political ‘Fact-Checker’ Is Just A Failed Liberal Blogger

Snopes’ main political fact-checker is a writer named Kim Lacapria. Before writing for Snopes, Lacapria wrote for Inquisitr, a blog that — oddly enough — is known for publishing fake quotes and even downright hoaxes as much as anything else.

While at Inquisitr, the future “fact-checker” consistently displayed clear partisanship (RELATED: Snopes Caught Lying About Lack of American Flags at Democratic Convention)

She described herself as “openly left-leaning” and a liberal. She trashed the Tea Party as “teahadists.” She called Bill Clinton “one of our greatest” presidents. She claimed that conservatives only criticized Lena Dunham’s comparison of voting to sex because they “fear female agency.”

She once wrote: “Like many GOP ideas about the poor, the panic about using food stamps for alcohol, pornography or guns seems to have been cut from whole cloth–or more likely, the ideas many have about the fantasy of poverty.” (A simple fact-check would show that food stamp fraud does occur and costs taxpayers’ tens of millions.)

https://dailycaller.com/2016/06/17/fact-checking-snopes-websites-political-fact-checker-is-just-a-failed-liberal-blogger

Miscellaneous Ramblings

June 17, 2019Miscellaneous RamblingsDWMack

2019-06-17: Two interesting items I learned about today

In January of this year (2019), it was announced that a rock sample from Apollo 14 collected in 1971 looks very much like it has a piece of rock from Earth within it! This would make it an Earth meteorite which struck the Moon and became emplaced in some of the lunar rock.

This would have happened like a game of Solar System pinball, as it would take a large meteorite striking Earth to knock some terrestrial matter free and all the way to the Moon.

Radiometric dating puts them at about 4.1 billion years old, so very early in Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history but importantly not as old as the Theia-Earth impact event which formed the Moon itself, so there was a distinct subsequent event which led to this lunar oddity. https://eos.org/articles/apollo-may-have-found-an-earth-meteorite-on-the-moon

AND

Worried about rising sea level due to global warming or all the rain we have been having? Just remember that Mount Everest, the highest point on earth, used to be the seabed before the Indian subcontinent collided with Eurasia.

https://eos.org/articles/apollo-may-have-found-an-earth-meteorite-on-the-moon

Pirates & Mermaids

2019-06-16: Pirates & Mermaids invade South Haven Shores.

Because the water was a bit rough the mermaids could not gather on the piers this year but a goodly number did come ashore on the South Haven beach to spend a little time with landlubbers. See you there next year maybe?