Dornier Seastar : Amphibious Flying "Boat"

The Flying Boat returns! Dornier's Seastar CD2 is a fully certified all composite twin engine amphibious Seaplane. It is the first new design for an amphibious plane in 50 years and developed by a company that has been the leader in the aero-marine industry since the early 20th century.

 The Seastar is an FAA- and EASA-certified amphibian capable of landing on runways or water. A true seaplane that easily handles fresh or salt-water swells up to two and a half feet, the Seastar and its all-composite construction is virtually impervious to corrosion. Its powered by two reliable Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop engines that give it a high cruising speed of 180 ktas. The in-line design of the twin-engines provides an additional measure of safety during operation. Dornier's Image Gallery.  Image above from Airliners.net.

New Year Fireworks Around the World - Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year. May 2010 be so much better than this past year. Here are some images of celebrations throughout the World. We will update this post with current fireworks displays for 2010 beginning with Sydney who goes all out every time as being one of the first celebrants of the New Year. Usher on 2010!    By the way did you know that Fireworks were invented accidentally 2000 years ago by a chinese cook during the Song Dynasty and were fires used for New Years Celebrations to scare away evil spirits!

Sydney Australlia the 1st to go!

Taipei on Tallest Building in the World!




Hong Kong!




Dubai!





London!




New York City




Honolulu!

‘Blue Latitudes': Adventuring In The Pacific

http://www.tonyhorwitz.com/

Link to the Book on Amazon

How much do we really know about Captain Cook?  What school has taught us might be that
he was an English Explorer, or that he was killed in Hawaii.  Why should we care?  I was blissfully unaware of so many of
his contributions to the knowledge of the world and its peoples and his great
skills as a map maker, navigator, diplomat, envoy, explorer and sailor.  Three multi-year voyages throughout the
Pacifc Ocean and around the world tours bringing him home to England, one
starts to realize that this man, Captain James Cook, was nothing short of
extraordinary when reading Pulitzer Prize winning author Tony Horwitz's book.

After visiting Alaska and seeing his stamp on the
place,  Captain Cook, Hawaii, as
well as sailing through Tahiti on The Paul Gauguin, one realizes that to be the
first visitor to these locales in the 18^th century was an astounding
accomplishment.  I became
fascinated to learn more about him. 
What Tony Horwitz does in Blue Latitudes, is to retrace many of Cook’s
footsteps with an Australian sidekick and at times a historian or two,
interspersing the history with real time experiences, centuries later. 

Trying to piece together the life and voyages of one of the
greatest adventurers of all time, one realizes what an extraordinary impact
this man had on the world as we know it. 
Merely look at the styles and trends in art and design in the 18^th
century in England, their awareness of Polynesia, and tropical flora and
fauna….this all came from Cooks voyages

This humorous and entertaining read is chock full of
history, past and current cultural phenomenon and a big dose of reality that we
know so little about such an extraordinary and intrepid explorer.  Kudos to Tony Horwitz, this book was
just a joy to read.

Inadvertently, we have traced Cooks steps on three separate trips, one to Tahiti on The Paul Gauguin, in Hawaii snorkeling in the very bay where he was killed, and in Alaska where Cook had some of his greatest weather and navigational challenges.  We have been so lucky to see these places in our lifetime, it is just amazing to think what it must have been like to be the very first European visitor to most of the places Cook explored in the 1700's.  

Cook's Cove Moorea, Tahiti

The Paul Gauguin off of Moorea in the Tahitian Islands

The Big Island, Hawaii, Kealakekua Bay the place of Cook's Demise

We like the Four Season's Hualalai

The rocks where Cook was murdered

Anchorage, Alaska on the Cook Inlet

Winterlake and Winterlake Lodge  a short Float Plane Flight from Anchorage

The mode of transport around the environs of the Winterlake Lodge is Helicopter

The only way in to Winterlake Lodge is via Float Plane or Ski Plane 

Captain James Cook

Vintage Hawaiiana Up Next off to Hawaii Today!

We're off to Honolulu today to work on two Vintage 1930's Hawaiian homes we have there. Rental Seasons is upon us and we have some work to do. We will be posting this week about Hawaiiana and Hawaii, favorite places, hikes, shopping. Aloha and Mahalo!

SHARE THIS:

Sweating if off at Squaw Peak

Saturday morning I hiked Squaw Peak in Phoenix with friends who told me it would be a perfect morning cardio blast to sweat out the toxins after an evening out with them and their perfect cosmopolitans. After the hike I wanted to post about how terrific this hike is and found the photos of Robert Body



 

Robert not only captured the experience of  Squaw Peak beautifully he also is an incredibly creative and talented photographer. 

Squaw Peak, as it has been known to locals, is actually now renamed Piestewa Peak, I guess more politically correct. 

Flora in this area is typical of the lower Sonoran Desert and includes almost all varieties of Arizona cactus such as saguaro, barrel, hedgehog, pincushion, jumping cholla and prickly pear. Trees and colorful shrubbery include palo verde, mesquite, ironwood trees, creosote (dominate), ocotillo, brittle bush, desert lavender and giant sage shrubs.

Reptiles and wildlife that thrive in the preserve are gila monster, horned lizard and chuckwalla. Hikers also can encounter rattlesnakes. The mammal population includes coyote, jackrabbit, cottontail rabbit, ground squirrel and kit fox. There are more than 54 species of birds from the turkey vulture to mockingbirds, cactus wrens, gamble’s quail and several species of owls and hawks.

For me the hike took 35 minutes to ascend the to the summit and about the same to come down. As always, on a steep rocky trail coming down is tougher on the knees, not really a running trail. This trail is more like a stair master, in fact there are lots of stairs carved out in the stone. 

This is a beautiful Sunrise hike as captured by Robert. I was not an early rise. The trail is not too challenging, just a continuous climb, you can choose your own pace and heart rate. Piestewa Peak is at elevation 2,608 with a vertical elevation gain of 1,190 feet.









SHARE THIS:

The Ultimate Toy

As a pilot I was wowed by the Icon A5. This "light sport aircraft" is the ultimate toy for pilots who enjoy the water. Imagine launching this puppy from your yacht like a jet ski! Read more about this ingenious development in aviation in Wired Magazine.

SHARE THIS: