Photo Essay Part Whatever... Ohio phase 1

I have to start here because I still can't figure out how to post above my first picture, AND who knows when the funky underlining will start!

I must explain the significance of the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Every male in my family is completely and utterly fascinated with airplanes (except maybe my nephew Spencer, it was probably his quiet way of rebelling), my father and eldest brother, especially. When we lived in Richmond we OFTEN took day trips to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. Later, even after my immediate family no longer lived in Richmond, Bobby got a job in Dayton at NCR and lived there a few more years. Every visit to Bobby and Karen meant a trip to the museum. I knew my way around that place when I was about five years old and because I could read and was frequently an unsupervised child I would wander the museum and read all the cards of the displays that interested me. I read all about Glen Miller, the Wright brothers, wind tunnels, the things prisoners of war did for entertainment and survival, which celebrities served in the armed forces, how much a cargo plane could hold - all the things that interested ME. It was just like any old museum to me, but with a lot of cool airplanes. When Emily and Michael were little children I often took day trips with them - usually to state parks or historical sites, the zoo or children's museum on free days, things like that. One weekend when Michael was three or four I decided we would do the Air Force Museum for a day trip. We got there and I planned to check out my usual displays and Michael could see some cool airplanes. He was already pretty fascinated with them (the Pechin genes), as well as tractors (if you only knew how many times we read the page on "The Combine Harvester" in The Way Things Work... sigh....). Well when we got there we started out by walking the grounds and Michael kept saying, "Look at all the rockets!" I had to explain over and over again that they were not rockets, they were missiles. "What's a missile, Mommy?" "Well, Michael, it's kind of like a rocket, but it carries a BOMB in it to blow things up." It slapped me in the face that I had spent my childhood in this shrine to war and murder and never noticed until my little child pointed it out... I don't want to debate war or the need for a military. I am not into that kind of debate. I just realized that I had always chosen the things that interested and entertained me and never realized what this was - a government-sponsored site to promote the military.

On my trip to Ohio, after I finished the Richmond portion I still had plenty of time until dinnertime. I decided to go back to the Air Force Museum and see what it is like now. I hadn't been since that time Michael was little so 13-14 years ago. The first thing I noticed as I entered is that there are no longer countless missiles on the grounds pointed toward the sky. There is one big cargo plane (a C- 41, I think) that people can enter and see how big the hold is (I think - I did not go up to it.), and maybe one other plane. I also noticed as I parked that there is a new park-like feature on the grounds which carries various monuments to veterans and those who have served in different capacities. I did not walk the grounds to see because I was afraid the museum would close soon and I would miss the interior, in which I was most interested. The information above is based on signage and a cursory glance toward the interior of the park.

When I entered in I saw that there is now an IMAX theatre. Someday I would like to go back and see what they show. Then I entered the museum proper. Much of it is still the same - indeed the very same displays from 30 - 35 years ago. The first picture above is a bike from the Wright brothers' bike shop.
This is a detail of the chain guard on that same bike. Michael took my chain guard off my bike last year because my pedal kept hitting it. Now when I ride I get chain grease all over my leg. I told him I want one like this to replace it and he'd better get started!

This is not a full size airship, although there really is one hanging in the museum. It was too hard to take a picture of the real one. I took this picture because my family is also fascinated with blimps and airships. When she was a teenager my mother won a ride on the Goodyear blimp from the Wonderbread Company. I found a picture of her and her friend in front of it in the pictures I took from Mom and Dad's house. Often the Goodyear blimp would land at the Purdue airport if it came to film a football game or was on the way to Indy for the race, etc. One year when the children and I returned from Utah it was time for the Brickyard 400 and I looked out the window to see the Goodyear blimp not too far away from our plane! It almost scared me. Mom and Dad also have a few inflatable blimps hanging around their house. I think it looks stupid, but I guess I can't care as long as they stay UP and not where one of them will trip and break a hip! Also because Michael loves Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, this is a tribute to them and him.
This is a cool mixture of a helicopter/ airplane.
Same thing - only a little easier to see both sets of props.
This is a "Link Trainer." Supposedly, my Grandpa Pechin aided in its development when he worked for Duncan Electric or Rostone in Lafayette. He actually did invent many things and was a genious, although not a degreed engineer. I have done some MINOR research on the Link Trainer, however, and have yet to find his name nor the name of either company associated with its development. It is all credited to some guy from Binghamton, (I'm not spelling that correctly) New York. I kind of want to keep looking. I think maybe in all those pictures I plan to sort out I will find some photo documentation of him with a prototype. I am pretty sure someone said it exsists.
Some of the sign about the trainer. You can Wiki the information to read more completely.
This is a big part of how the museum has changed. The time I went with Emiliy and Michael there was an exhibit on Hiroshima and the horrors of the bombing. This time there was an exhibit on the violence of the holocaust during World War II. This was a piece of art that struck me deeply and painfully.
I thought the contrast between "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work makes you free), and "Hate makes You Captive" was striking.
This is one square of a "Peace Quilt" made by students. It is very large and varied in its contents. If I had taken a picture of every square that struck me, there would be a hundred additional pictures.
And this, this is trivia. On my way out I noticed this sign on the gift shop. I often use the word "collectibles" in ads. I prefer the spelling with an i. Apparently the government prefers the a. The dictionary says both are acceptable, but I always change it to an i if a customer uses the a. I guess that is one way I am an anarchist, or maybe anti- American. Not really. I am pro- America. I just want it to be MY kind of America! :)

So next time - the social part of the journey. We're getting there.

In other news - Michael arrived safely in Japan. The time there is 11 hours ahead of me, so currently it is 11:12 pm on Tuesday. He is on a train to Akihabara where he will probably walk the Gardens of the Imperial Palace. Later in the day he trains to Gotemba and sleeps at the Gotemba Station hotel.

Work was okay. Pam and Joyce did a good job on the counter customers and keeping things filed for me while I was gone. They said all the crazy people came in on Thursday and Friday and then they REALLY wanted me back! I felt calm today and managed to take a lunch, although very late. This evening I weeded and pruned for about two and a half hours and it felt great. Tomorrow I will probably not garden. I plan to go to the county Fair and eat a taco salad and at least take a "before" picture of my porch which I plan to start cleaning and making more attractive. I hope to find some nice porch chairs or a bench on clearance. It is about that time of year!