Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Okay, I can understand not wanting to fly. I get more than 15 feet or so off the ground and I freeze up. Goes back to when I was 6.

When I drove cross country, going 75-80, I would still average 55 or so because of gas and food stops. Then there were the big cities.... At the end of the day total miles/total hours on the road would average the 55 or so MPH. Just allow the time. We all want to see you there!

Joey,

Nope. I'm not sure what my issue is.....all I can think of is that the father of a good friend of mine growing up was a pilot for Pan Am and I used to see him leaving for and coming home from work and he was NEVER sober. Maybe that scarred me for life.....who knows?

My wife jokes all of the time that I ride a motorcycle, speed in my car, have chased murderers and drug dealers into pitch black buildings, been in some hairy car chases and have fought with some pretty huge thugs but I am too much of a sissy to get on a plane.....I think she even called me a "Sally" once or twice. We all have issues I suppose.

John, I am a happy militant driving on long trips......I stop for gas and bathroom only and eat on the fly. Luckily my wife is the same. I think we averaged close to 70 on our last trip to SC. Our pit stops are F1 style and usually are no longer than 5 minutes with a long one being 10. We'll take however long it takes to arrive safely.....we just spend as much time as possible on the road. Plus we usually drive at night and, if possible, try to skirt around big cities or at least try to plan to miss their rush hours. My car is wonderful for long trips and I just have a blast driving.

I have also built jet aircraft at McDonnell Douglas and would fly any (US owned) Douglas built plane in service on any given day. Having said that there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane.

Hey Brian, I'll be thinking of you and your long road trip as I spend 14 hours sitting in cattle-class on a Jumbo jet.

I leave Melbourne at 10.30am August 22 and arrive at 7.30am the same day in LA!



I'm amazed at how much effort so many forum members are going to for the sake of the 75th bash. Roll on August!

I'm only going 'cos you're buying the drinks and Melissa's taking us all out for dinner

Jared, McDonnell Douglas didn't "go under" but was bought or "absorbed" by Boeing, just as industry giant Douglas was absorbed by McDonnell back in the 1960s. Aviation industry mergers have happened throughout its short (100-year) history. Nowadays it's Boeing (which gained McDonnell Douglas and Rockwell/North American), Lockheed/Martin (which absorbed General Dynamics aircraft which in turn used to be Convair which used to be Consolidated), and Northrop/Grumman. So going under is not exactly an accurate description. Still, it is sad to see such classics as the DC-3 being described in company literature as "Boeing DC-3."

Jared said:

no wonder they went under!

Oh, you've met my brother in law?!?! LOL

Brian, that sounds like a pretty cool roadie to me! At least we wouldn't be arguing over the radio
Let me see how my plans work...if I am going solo, I might just have to take you up on that. I might be able to come down and meet you there so you don't have to come up to the D.
And just so you know, I did the Detroit to Ft. Lauderdale run in just over 19 hours, so I like to "get there quickly" as well.

Steve....my wife is still on the fence as well but she'll know in the next week or so if she's going.

As requested, the "official" hotel, the Doubletree Club Hotel, has opened up the discounted booking rate to apply from Wed. August 24th through Monday August 28th. However, Wednesday is still a bit more expensive than the rest of the period due to high demand, but given that their normal rate is $189, it's still quite a good deal.

They've also reserved an additional block of rooms for us. The hotel has only 167 rooms and there's serious competition for rooms that weekend due to some team sporting events. However, there's another Doubletree only about 300 feet further down the road and they're making plans to use that for overflow capacity. It's actually more upscale but does not have a pool.

As of today, there's an event scheduled for Saturday evening, as we've previously noted. However, we've set Sunday afternnon, August 27th, for the really BIG event. But the reason we haven't announced any of this officially is the very difficult scheduling that locking in this weekend has caused and at this point I can't promise anything. I do hope we can resolve this soon.

John, thanks so much for the update. That really helps me with my planning! What day / time are you thinking for the factory tour?

I stand corrected!

Thanks for the info!

Which event is invite only, and (long shot) will Forum members be invited? I would like to get my plane tickets nailed down as soon as I can. Thanks!

Steve, I believe J.H. said RIC tours would be Friday morning and afternoon earlier in the thread.

OK. I just extended my stay from Thursday-Monday. Melibee's still treating all of us right?