8.28.2018

Oregon Coast Aquarium

I visited the Newport's aquarium yesterday. There were very nice exhibits showcasing the local marine life and habitat.

Beautiful corals

A guy with a real bite

Sunflower sea stars. 
One of the largest in the world.

Plumose Sea Anemones

Strawberry Anemone

The ever adorable Sea Otter

They got seals too

Beautiful carving

Enjoying total emersion


8.25.2018

Tillamook OR

I am meandering down the cool, smoke free,  Oregon coast.

Pacific City, OR

The morning's entertainment was watching the Dory Boats land. One hears a loud air horn that signals, look out, a boat is assaulting the beach.


Ling  cod are very tasty, but very very expensive. Fishing trip $250

Great calamari at the Pelican Brewery

and delicious beer battered onion rings.

Tillamook Air Museum

I have passed the Air Museum many times traveling the coast.

Today I visited with Mark, Charlie, Jane, Diana, and Adrienne

Stationed at NAS  Tillamook was Squadron ZP-33 with a complement of eight K-Class airships. The K-ships were 252 feet long, 80 feet in diameter, and filled with 425,000 cu. ft. of Helium. With a range of 2,000 miles and an ability  to stay aloft for three days, they were well suited for coastal patrol and convoy escort.



Blimp gondola's model

Dioramas of different WWII campaigns.



A Few of the Many Planes on Display




The HTK-1 was a trainer and utility helicopter. It incorporated a unique intermeshing rotor servo-flap control. I guess that is what kept the blades from crashing into each other.


The design of the MiG-17 was undertaken to correct the deficiencies that the earlier MiG-15 had at higher speeds. It was the first Soviet fighter to have an afterburning engine, the Klimov VK-1.
Although similar in appearance to the MiG-15, the MiG-17 had more sharply swept wings, an afterburner, better speed and handling characteristics and was about three feet longer. 
This MiG-17F is owned by Richard and Linda Melhoff of Newberg, Oregon. The Melhoffs restored the aircraft from November 1999 to November 2002.

 Mig 17


Lunch in Tillamook.

Antonette serves great sandwiches.

8.19.2018

Around Astoria

First stop the excellent, do not miss, Columbia River Maritime Museum.

The gang at anchor


Nancy and Elaine's new doo. They are in a hurricane simulation chamber

Pacific troller Darle


A 25 foot, 1914, Columbia River Gillnet Boat. She was fished for 34 years by Victor Carlson, then by members of the Haglund family until 1972.


Early sail powered gillnetter

Schrimshaw


 The late William E. Whitten used this suit for some 20 years to clear snags for the Columbia River Fishermen's Protective Union.



Interesting


Projection of global winds collected by NOAA satellites 

What a mesmerizing pattern

Coast Guard ship's honors. 
Each blue "snowflake" represents 2000 kg of cocaine seized.

Local dock squatters

8.15.2018

Trails End

Last April we headed west following the Lewis and Clark Trail It has been a wonderful and informative journey. We have finally reached Fort Clatsop where the mighty Columbia River meets the Pacific.  It took the Corps of Discovery 18.5 months to reach the Pacific.

The Corps toiled three weeks  constructing Fort Clatsop where they spent 106 wet miserable days preparing for their return trip.
There were 94 rainy days, 12 dry days, of which 6 were sunny.



One of three enlisted mens quarters

Lewis and Clarks quarters

William Clark's journal tells that when they encountered Native Americans he would demonstrate his air rifle.  I wondered how that was impressive. I found out. A replica was demonstrated at Fort Clapsop.

 The gun's air supply is stored in the stock. 
Unscrew the stock

Attach a handle and pump 1,500 times. 

I doubt that Clark pumped up his gun. As they say, "rank has its privilege". All that labor created a 600 - 700 psi reservoir. 
22 lead ball go into the magazine on the right side of the barrel 

This is a repeating rifle. One pushed the bar on the left over and a new lead ball dropped in. Releasing the bar then aligned the ball with the barrel. A fired lead ball exited the barrel at 1,000 ft/sec.
Push the bar again for repeated shots. The gun's air supply can fire 70 balls before having to be recharged.

Loading another ball into the breach

This is a fascinating rifle and I now understand why it was so impressive. One could silently emptying the entire 22 shot magazine in 30 seconds. It could fire lead balls clean through a 1 inch pine board at 100 yards.

William Clark's original rifle now resides in Dr. Robert Beeman's air gun collection.