tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-291867702024-03-07T01:39:00.074-05:00By Land, Sea and SkyExpedition writings: Flying to the Moon without ever leaving Earth...yet.Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-52376624707716997132021-03-27T21:26:00.004-04:002021-04-01T12:45:21.109-04:00NEW WEBSITE FOR THE BLOG!<p style="text-align: justify;">Hello readers! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">I'm switching blog hosting site to have more functionality, and because things are about to get interesting again with more frequent posts! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is now part of a full website which I'm making slowly. I've learned a lot and spent many hours working on, though it's got a long way to go. But the blog should be working as I build the rest over time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">On the blog page, you can subscribe (if you are so inclined) on the right hand side. You'll get an email to verify you want to subscribe. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">New blog site: <a href="http://www.bylandseaandsky.com/blog/" target="_blank">www.bylandseaandsky.com/blog/</a> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Enjoy!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-67469840657066319162021-03-19T18:59:00.000-04:002021-03-19T18:59:07.657-04:00Instrument Flying!<p style="text-align: justify;">To enter into the clouds is to enter a different world. This fall, I usually flew three times a weekend, studied for an hour each night, and finally just before the new year passed my instrument check-ride (2 hour oral exam, then an hour flight with an FAA examiner - written test taken the month before). Getting the rating took a huge amount of work and was quite challenging. It makes visual flying seem like a walk in the park! Balancing the airplane, the radios, the navigation and all the rest took some adjusting to. For most of the training, I wore "foggles," glasses that only permitted me to see the instruments. I could not look outside of the airplane. Keep her wings level and going in the right direction all by the instruments! It's not an easy task. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFj79l8UYqJijcDgC7tQbYtkXAAYgxqPaeXa0LwUSPDr-VoGJjxO14xReig-0u-kg_-6zlIMeY7LNpf3SP7odOmDwjF1TsPmD3dsRZ5J1qO5Fi6_EcdUgAtKM1GrtTuAspZ5f/s2048/16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmFj79l8UYqJijcDgC7tQbYtkXAAYgxqPaeXa0LwUSPDr-VoGJjxO14xReig-0u-kg_-6zlIMeY7LNpf3SP7odOmDwjF1TsPmD3dsRZ5J1qO5Fi6_EcdUgAtKM1GrtTuAspZ5f/w400-h300/16.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">As one of the training exercises, my instructor asks me to put my head down, close my eyes and keep her straight and level. Very quickly I can assume that I am no longer straight and level but the very strange thing is that I have no idea how to correct it. It's like my sense of orientation in space has been dulled out of existence. So I must "trust my instruments" as they say. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvp5KyKSyxHUqqqngfuHJZRuQmv3-LzSEBO3D9pt5-7_coXq45RARecO06wfxEq-KFLo2d5dDvR5CPIb5WY2bOs5dD3W3RYnL73CPREwHVa_Roco9kq4VR6HDVk9Tu_DxAU6TF/s2048/2+%25283%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvp5KyKSyxHUqqqngfuHJZRuQmv3-LzSEBO3D9pt5-7_coXq45RARecO06wfxEq-KFLo2d5dDvR5CPIb5WY2bOs5dD3W3RYnL73CPREwHVa_Roco9kq4VR6HDVk9Tu_DxAU6TF/w400-h268/2+%25283%2529.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fPwf5HbIIZJPV23S2hisf6mcQwmlFjfvTjMxPkIyw90q3ZW1eIVo4guTHxpJ4BJ5NniO_88g-3i5y_2PxhqhNIxDyBSrIh7fJwA2r25Pas73S_-nasGq9VfpRi_GHfY4Ygs4/s2048/3+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fPwf5HbIIZJPV23S2hisf6mcQwmlFjfvTjMxPkIyw90q3ZW1eIVo4guTHxpJ4BJ5NniO_88g-3i5y_2PxhqhNIxDyBSrIh7fJwA2r25Pas73S_-nasGq9VfpRi_GHfY4Ygs4/w400-h300/3+%25282%2529.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes, IFR flying gets a little crazy!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpQFOR_muLte0CpoeFRKBq1n_MHq-OYYyhsHLBUaIsD6tna0I21FAE0hPEOjvHbvytGg9o-Z75EQ_9dU4Vzyqcc1TO6euxkCccxvVOPk1LbFVI4HgeYHAFlIfVCj-lxQ05r9T/s1280/7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpQFOR_muLte0CpoeFRKBq1n_MHq-OYYyhsHLBUaIsD6tna0I21FAE0hPEOjvHbvytGg9o-Z75EQ_9dU4Vzyqcc1TO6euxkCccxvVOPk1LbFVI4HgeYHAFlIfVCj-lxQ05r9T/w400-h300/7.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foggles (and chicken)!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJl4ysSFoYQMRQCT0jx-X_6lA_6fZlliRiiGCJZqnIluvYQVWcbFPAjDzmUgKXyCP67PoGVPwGMoQH8vGbBUtcilMc5CfGRHt3n6CJNAYTnEehnObijQ6mG2fYDOh5ti6XphXj/s2048/9+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJl4ysSFoYQMRQCT0jx-X_6lA_6fZlliRiiGCJZqnIluvYQVWcbFPAjDzmUgKXyCP67PoGVPwGMoQH8vGbBUtcilMc5CfGRHt3n6CJNAYTnEehnObijQ6mG2fYDOh5ti6XphXj/w400-h268/9+%25282%2529.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Vs1-kBxHfIB2dVx48R6K3HnvlPA2sRWY3XTi32nhfx6AWBdqC7ni67ugGs1JgybP-hFSjXmsdMCRiuslYDy_h5AeH3D9TCBnL_8cHRg0S1zi6lWXyLDPJ_I_fXd09CA7ZL8Z/s2048/23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Vs1-kBxHfIB2dVx48R6K3HnvlPA2sRWY3XTi32nhfx6AWBdqC7ni67ugGs1JgybP-hFSjXmsdMCRiuslYDy_h5AeH3D9TCBnL_8cHRg0S1zi6lWXyLDPJ_I_fXd09CA7ZL8Z/w400-h268/23.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concentrating.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWqFO5Txwm6yxhnPi7AOPNB29XSJdMDjFmOPP3lgnw2gV5tl3gNIzXIhqfnUF8v0DMeB28agtqu0GBlrQhCBaNBG5YjcoFAntcEfgIibZQd7Yx2iOKp8XbNlcMoX9gjupaBAb/s2048/33.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxWqFO5Txwm6yxhnPi7AOPNB29XSJdMDjFmOPP3lgnw2gV5tl3gNIzXIhqfnUF8v0DMeB28agtqu0GBlrQhCBaNBG5YjcoFAntcEfgIibZQd7Yx2iOKp8XbNlcMoX9gjupaBAb/w400-h300/33.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nighttime beauty!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9dfIyvU86Q3lJk4OOqEoHCl7qpO-_6CzA9R7ZNiTpLMg5cyG72A0pATyigsc8wcNm9xpIo9iYXZcI7IB9GW5pQTz2nWlgdjAlcH2NZLoxwvmWw3JYWix-sTpZF-3_Ow4ZBvw/s2048/34.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9dfIyvU86Q3lJk4OOqEoHCl7qpO-_6CzA9R7ZNiTpLMg5cyG72A0pATyigsc8wcNm9xpIo9iYXZcI7IB9GW5pQTz2nWlgdjAlcH2NZLoxwvmWw3JYWix-sTpZF-3_Ow4ZBvw/w400-h300/34.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love these airport lights!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJMx_SyerRgpGDK9avO9ukN1sR4sNILfc87pnpY9XKvNJ_M5yRycVT2rHUXKgRcsdtdgFcMo8zZ71L5y0ho563nGIyRLi5OzZGJWUhGZqFKuvr8fVO9it7bf4MVAuxjSsDB3B/s4240/DSC02241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2832" data-original-width="4240" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJMx_SyerRgpGDK9avO9ukN1sR4sNILfc87pnpY9XKvNJ_M5yRycVT2rHUXKgRcsdtdgFcMo8zZ71L5y0ho563nGIyRLi5OzZGJWUhGZqFKuvr8fVO9it7bf4MVAuxjSsDB3B/w400-h268/DSC02241.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cockpit instruments!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtPdyMnmRJ7JOogKJmSODeecnS9oCrwNFtvsgArhtjJkxIMk3KpKzKeEsWOYjyf7s1vb03ZIvKMoxYyp8wtpFMvSvFALCuO_9-vYjksFQOCLl50I9Ydn-yUKMB2FEnCXzdQH5/s4240/DSC02281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2832" data-original-width="4240" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHtPdyMnmRJ7JOogKJmSODeecnS9oCrwNFtvsgArhtjJkxIMk3KpKzKeEsWOYjyf7s1vb03ZIvKMoxYyp8wtpFMvSvFALCuO_9-vYjksFQOCLl50I9Ydn-yUKMB2FEnCXzdQH5/w400-h268/DSC02281.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I missed all of the training sunsets because I was under the foggles.</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;">It all was quite fun and quite a challenge. I feel like a better pilot and now should have some more flying opportunities when otherwise I would not be able to fly. It's quite an amazing thing to be flying by a few needles in the cockpit, and then pop out of the clouds to see the runway in the perfect position in front of the aircraft. Freddy was great throughout the training and liked the attention. Since then the weather and work has not been cooperative. Winter means low freezing levels and I want to avoid ice at all costs so I'm looking forward to some warmer weather for some instrument practice.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I've given my notice at my teaching job. Looking forward to more adventures. Back to NOLS, Antarctica, sailing and the like. I'm excited for the adventures ahead! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">All picture credits go to my amazing flight instructor (and photographer) Jason Archer! Thank you, Captain! </p><p style="text-align: justify;">In NASA news, they've postponed things again, so the waiting game continues likely at least until this summer. All part of the process! Hope you are all well! </p>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-50112899383415815912020-08-24T15:56:00.006-04:002020-08-24T15:56:55.874-04:00Flying Home<p style="text-align: justify;"> Though there is always some excitement when coming out of the mountains, it is often short lived. A check of the phone, a calls to family and friends, a check of the news... but then it's often back to logistics, tasks that have been put off or need doing after a month away. Thankfully, though, this time I had another adventure that awaited me after I left the mountains. Leaving the mountains was easier knowing it was only a few days until I entered the sky!</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5-P0F3GWVytS068spQQ1E2y22-_oBldXB0mbphQBz6KDvUfSIhw6Sl1_Bu1QxRBG-37UITjIuDIVTDgXiHWkxL2vEw6E56HdoNcszVKj2AnOnwtbbQWo1u_WNo2FlSlZyOnT/s2016/IMG_1566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5-P0F3GWVytS068spQQ1E2y22-_oBldXB0mbphQBz6KDvUfSIhw6Sl1_Bu1QxRBG-37UITjIuDIVTDgXiHWkxL2vEw6E56HdoNcszVKj2AnOnwtbbQWo1u_WNo2FlSlZyOnT/s640/IMG_1566.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Fires north of Grand Junction, CO.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Instead of 100 miles in almost a month, I flew 100 miles in an hour. I traded the intimate knowledge of the ground below my boots for the intimate knowledge of the air - its temperatures, its winds, its density, its clouds and its wild fire smoke. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVAVIj1nV2wI8gSk-L31f7EsbjVZl8qfDvp4EGed6cTjNkM1GH9ibBZ_W3EMgqes2Msydir87A-veQ2bqpKKtLc-EzpIPZOxVdtkASjvNTnOnjtXOSoebf1dHIPxPlpE_oJbb/s2016/IMG_1568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVAVIj1nV2wI8gSk-L31f7EsbjVZl8qfDvp4EGed6cTjNkM1GH9ibBZ_W3EMgqes2Msydir87A-veQ2bqpKKtLc-EzpIPZOxVdtkASjvNTnOnjtXOSoebf1dHIPxPlpE_oJbb/s640/IMG_1568.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Hazy Grand Junction.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQqdEB9X_lU_c1taH69yqyBOoBKoxmqsB7B5fnTSy5KDPqurH6y_L-ydhZiwkgH1-jgiiZE4f9bQ93TNLHgUIteIHikV2gyF88eDF9tS8iBw0EpK8cX5KSS-pJrQ58G7rszrP/s2016/IMG_1572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPQqdEB9X_lU_c1taH69yqyBOoBKoxmqsB7B5fnTSy5KDPqurH6y_L-ydhZiwkgH1-jgiiZE4f9bQ93TNLHgUIteIHikV2gyF88eDF9tS8iBw0EpK8cX5KSS-pJrQ58G7rszrP/s640/IMG_1572.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YGwxSobmsHeNFXnoakkjZMHAcr3seu1atSM0DONcSd0djdggfaPvCe1KfengwxKCe7SAJhTNQzn4RlUL0JyhXPolGS9ORabP1665w6b0Pv_Hv7vP-1095JT6ZdeVXmh_9m-2/s2016/IMG_1583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YGwxSobmsHeNFXnoakkjZMHAcr3seu1atSM0DONcSd0djdggfaPvCe1KfengwxKCe7SAJhTNQzn4RlUL0JyhXPolGS9ORabP1665w6b0Pv_Hv7vP-1095JT6ZdeVXmh_9m-2/s640/IMG_1583.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Early morning smoke.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Something happens when I crawl into Freddy's cockpit. I feel more myself than I often do. It's like the feeling I felt after my student NOLS course. Something about knowledge of self. I learned to fly from a few flight instructors but I fly in an expedition style that's my own. Not many people fly long distances in small slow airplanes. I've never heard of anyone else actually sleeping in their plane. Nor eating breakfast sitting on one of the main gear tires, nor ride a skateboard across the airport tarmac to the pilot offices. I bet some people shake their heads! </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-0a4TNDzImc1K2RasALJ6AGlHwzkzqizfU5nlJLOX_lK0jZ4EzxkOCKwOqrtIrTzA2O_cXfK1M5b2gIFpHrOHhkivdzNFBIZzCZJpI4iWspFr-7rLnqa7ZAyYYyuJ0NCOV_C/s2016/IMG_1574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-0a4TNDzImc1K2RasALJ6AGlHwzkzqizfU5nlJLOX_lK0jZ4EzxkOCKwOqrtIrTzA2O_cXfK1M5b2gIFpHrOHhkivdzNFBIZzCZJpI4iWspFr-7rLnqa7ZAyYYyuJ0NCOV_C/s640/IMG_1574.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Colorado mountains.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfqFDd3wgh1ZBrVYFtesZu8S37XSH8h0eMH0DkY0elOQbRUh7EAtAvCYG2M07H2o-61Q8Ry9sgiUowowTBCNTG3kpu0aGKU-xQ-ybOq2GI_1WYjTiqXnb7HeOFqQ6JMUtY7pt/s2016/IMG_1577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfqFDd3wgh1ZBrVYFtesZu8S37XSH8h0eMH0DkY0elOQbRUh7EAtAvCYG2M07H2o-61Q8Ry9sgiUowowTBCNTG3kpu0aGKU-xQ-ybOq2GI_1WYjTiqXnb7HeOFqQ6JMUtY7pt/s640/IMG_1577.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_NHIWMycA3FxFUhSygEINNks2F6kzDuGSUQpr4y5qlhlKDKUmBrBdTgGoGpBEXfaxWCVX3Kbmko4KbWY4I3Ig9V8nw8iCVcSQ_T63qMMdlih4y_-GGMJeVEb1GcL6T8mNnFk/s2016/IMG_1586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_NHIWMycA3FxFUhSygEINNks2F6kzDuGSUQpr4y5qlhlKDKUmBrBdTgGoGpBEXfaxWCVX3Kbmko4KbWY4I3Ig9V8nw8iCVcSQ_T63qMMdlih4y_-GGMJeVEb1GcL6T8mNnFk/s640/IMG_1586.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvR1C4_j8mDot-WVUYN8jgTkg9pKWrkFUEh1o98zGSUkueCfKov-3YQYuYkM6eLFw_G1hNg7qLMI8KJOohSPplXJgZU3UfangxG134W8fghyphenhyphena8UoXdFGJ2sDIvEohVENnR0Ht/s2016/IMG_1599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvR1C4_j8mDot-WVUYN8jgTkg9pKWrkFUEh1o98zGSUkueCfKov-3YQYuYkM6eLFw_G1hNg7qLMI8KJOohSPplXJgZU3UfangxG134W8fghyphenhyphena8UoXdFGJ2sDIvEohVENnR0Ht/s640/IMG_1599.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love the weather routing, the knowledge of the sky - especially when on the ground, to look up and think, "I was just up there, I know what it's like up there..." It's maybe a tiny part of a feeling I imagine the Apollo astronauts have when they look up at the moon. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkvskviOumqhAU0nc__KSxea8369zi4Ou_wQWYBMXO1qoH2TlzXzGboSMCqITMSkALnMfEsCHSYFKfzXycf8UMAr04FqCMTy3dpuE4n6dEYrZ5BrO_-xlv_G2wF0_1VmWAVru/s2016/IMG_1590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWkvskviOumqhAU0nc__KSxea8369zi4Ou_wQWYBMXO1qoH2TlzXzGboSMCqITMSkALnMfEsCHSYFKfzXycf8UMAr04FqCMTy3dpuE4n6dEYrZ5BrO_-xlv_G2wF0_1VmWAVru/s640/IMG_1590.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">I love sitting in Freddy's cockpit, after a long day of flying, making my notes, making improvements to my systems, eating a simple dinner, looking at the cockpit instruments. Man and machine, maybe it just feels like Freddy has a soul. I look after him, he looks after me. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">It took two full days of flying plus one short flight on the third day to arrive home. No weather delays, mostly smooth air and a small tailwind got me home. Met some nice airport folks along the way, as I always do. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmnW9YWfJeG9tL3X8hAIZm6KjLvvZmWYlByYdlcTDNMNk62bktPE0L0tis65Z0yHQxZ9RnIlCYk-DHm_C-UyaM23CbUrOn9ju4W4oxDIHcjpNAX411iVWtN4NV_PAZEI5ApzN/s2016/IMG_1611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDmnW9YWfJeG9tL3X8hAIZm6KjLvvZmWYlByYdlcTDNMNk62bktPE0L0tis65Z0yHQxZ9RnIlCYk-DHm_C-UyaM23CbUrOn9ju4W4oxDIHcjpNAX411iVWtN4NV_PAZEI5ApzN/s640/IMG_1611.JPG" /></a></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMo_3DGCZ2ZBdUV_nHM9mjECGjM16TZTvoRsRpatwJi-k0Lf7E9MjkQJVbBKK3S0vUOgtHNgW0myEZh672EsU0Vm6SLKJSzL57F0uS3M9HoAKJbyrrcR9InhBQo8ceRRdtN9vh/s2016/IMG_1615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMo_3DGCZ2ZBdUV_nHM9mjECGjM16TZTvoRsRpatwJi-k0Lf7E9MjkQJVbBKK3S0vUOgtHNgW0myEZh672EsU0Vm6SLKJSzL57F0uS3M9HoAKJbyrrcR9InhBQo8ceRRdtN9vh/s640/IMG_1615.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Falls City, Nebraska.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">When I arrived back at my home airport, I got out my running shoes and ran the 5 miles home to pick up my car. It was a fitting way to end. The legs wanted some exercise after all the sitting. I arrived home from 5 miles run, four thousand nautical miles flown, and 100 miles walked in the mountains. I was tired, ready for a rest. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">But how soon things feel strange. This is the first day in a while that I haven't been on the move or preparing for a move. There is now time to catch up on emails, pay bills, do things that I haven't wanted to do. I go back into my home routines so quickly it's surreal. The patterns and habits make it seem like I never left. I have to settle into front country life now. Work, teaching, front country things like To Do lists. There's certainly some wonderful parts: friends and family, musical instruments, regular exercise... But I know I'll miss the depth of relationships formed in the wilderness and when on the move. There is something a little more vulnerable while traveling. It's much easier to build up walls in one place. </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4U6CkxighgiyOyOPM-ki94Rbu5Y0e2hCEUFMsC1UOBDzIRli5kbWs_TyVX1YZd8aYv8SvOfx1hvSLnrTW6UFv0Ii2GBGGjhNEoO_6bzU7hRt_W5B-7rIt_vyJIzGbT3rm-ISh/s2016/IMG_1617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4U6CkxighgiyOyOPM-ki94Rbu5Y0e2hCEUFMsC1UOBDzIRli5kbWs_TyVX1YZd8aYv8SvOfx1hvSLnrTW6UFv0Ii2GBGGjhNEoO_6bzU7hRt_W5B-7rIt_vyJIzGbT3rm-ISh/s640/IMG_1617.JPG" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Crossing the Mississippi. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFmHliHwm5R9Fu2pUoGGIRAxe8OJdGy2aN8FTss49pSg7O72iACs-GCEf6L3H5xDBeuFjxRhE9Cj6rd3A2AldzmqdEeqMMGF9qJSF2UzByMToCK7Jw3YrmXPGCuiTJcd6-EBZ/s2016/IMG_1624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFmHliHwm5R9Fu2pUoGGIRAxe8OJdGy2aN8FTss49pSg7O72iACs-GCEf6L3H5xDBeuFjxRhE9Cj6rd3A2AldzmqdEeqMMGF9qJSF2UzByMToCK7Jw3YrmXPGCuiTJcd6-EBZ/s640/IMG_1624.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Small town in Pennsylvania. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br style="text-align: left;" /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIOXbrnwOQ4JCbN79h9e73RswV_j5f8hyphenhyphenGL2tKQwjcnNMMFhCBJnwGF6fWmC9LEAdjzPzJ2MflY7w4CruEvOwCTV9_RIAFb0bDJoN_j8Chi_MmcYUEvfRKjk_1IsTCJQue4y2/s2016/IMG_1626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIOXbrnwOQ4JCbN79h9e73RswV_j5f8hyphenhyphenGL2tKQwjcnNMMFhCBJnwGF6fWmC9LEAdjzPzJ2MflY7w4CruEvOwCTV9_RIAFb0bDJoN_j8Chi_MmcYUEvfRKjk_1IsTCJQue4y2/s640/IMG_1626.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Rolling hills of Pennsylvania.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABVRTXcw-aw77QDLanc1ycjygtxzHihyO-RjBfRIHY9TYjczGmYq-dTS0Mx629V3atoi3_1u-IeH5VgZaI-1TtgNNPDwwTPs1tpkrjZjqFlfOqRtr5ozHSjkyAZ8ZluL2QgLk/s2016/IMG_1632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABVRTXcw-aw77QDLanc1ycjygtxzHihyO-RjBfRIHY9TYjczGmYq-dTS0Mx629V3atoi3_1u-IeH5VgZaI-1TtgNNPDwwTPs1tpkrjZjqFlfOqRtr5ozHSjkyAZ8ZluL2QgLk/s640/IMG_1632.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Beautiful evening in Towanda, PA. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">So thank you to the friendly strangers I hope to see again. Thank you to my NOLS students and co-instructors for sharing a depth of soul every day. Thank you to the friends I saw along the way and had such a special time with. Thank you to Freddy for our partnership and adventures. Now to see if I can apply the backcountry lessons to frontcountry living!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">P.S. No news from NASA yet...But I haven't given up hope! The first interviews are/were scheduled from September to December. So I guess if January comes and I've heard nothing, it won't look good. I believe I heard around 120 will get the first interview. That's 120 from a reported 12,000 applicants. We shall see../</p><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0ors1cem2dkjIZZuVOUTUQ_K5dBbTNCb_c2QoNTgwQLUpeYUwVQmYLntbtgBJV5DvZ-jOsX4sHiTNPC3X52Ygl3kVocxBQupxXmCTlwCCImYF07R_z6SizDjkoXiofx-Ajpc/s1288/IMG_1628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0ors1cem2dkjIZZuVOUTUQ_K5dBbTNCb_c2QoNTgwQLUpeYUwVQmYLntbtgBJV5DvZ-jOsX4sHiTNPC3X52Ygl3kVocxBQupxXmCTlwCCImYF07R_z6SizDjkoXiofx-Ajpc/s640/IMG_1628.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div>For some reason when I turn around and look at the tail while in flight, it makes me think: Holy smokes, I'm flying an AIRPLANE! Crazy to think that with some relatively simple engineering, things like this are possible!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeiXgnOjDE16MLWAcIusMT4UDkq-LBzRwcret9YW5Ar6dDOxvhQP0vf1cFjwFvpEAKqDRvjGDbeDZ03CQBhWJQK0CUW2LqWWkOAu6zwMZ8GmDHMo6cDpQchWhUuWQfm6a4lbJ/s2016/IMG_1642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeiXgnOjDE16MLWAcIusMT4UDkq-LBzRwcret9YW5Ar6dDOxvhQP0vf1cFjwFvpEAKqDRvjGDbeDZ03CQBhWJQK0CUW2LqWWkOAu6zwMZ8GmDHMo6cDpQchWhUuWQfm6a4lbJ/s640/IMG_1642.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Back to Berkshire School!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFy1ebUgXa5Y16t0fOX9iKyeLpxu6J6WE2_cA6ylew6yx1qJzYnatR_65GqtcirDo3uh6S1QogHRTFvSHDNjiWOVtcZRrogziaIhH6DAMNuQm1T9hO05YnoTosE56RuxJPYkGK/s2016/IMG_1647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFy1ebUgXa5Y16t0fOX9iKyeLpxu6J6WE2_cA6ylew6yx1qJzYnatR_65GqtcirDo3uh6S1QogHRTFvSHDNjiWOVtcZRrogziaIhH6DAMNuQm1T9hO05YnoTosE56RuxJPYkGK/s640/IMG_1647.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p>Freddy's like a sled dog. He just needs a tiny bit of rest and then he's chomping at the bit to go again! Here's to future adventures! Thank you, Freddy!</p><p><br /></p></div></div>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-91610054338265943582020-08-24T13:04:00.002-04:002020-08-24T13:04:49.351-04:00Naval Academy in the Wind River Range<div style="text-align: justify;">Just back from 24 days in the mountains with Naval Academy midshipmen. What an awesome time we had. We climbed peaks, saw the stars and milky way, and the space station fly overhead a few times. We fished, briefed and debriefed, learned a ton along the way and the midshipmen all have so many leadership lessons to take back with them to their lives in the Navy. I had wonderful co-instructors and it was a wonderful group of "mids." I didn't want the course to end. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We camped and traveled with new COVID protocols, but after two weeks as a family unit with no symptoms, we were temporarily free of the COVID world. It was wonderful to escape the medical, and political news for a few weeks. Especially good to be in the mountains after the last two summers of graduate school. We lived simply out there. Generally, each day's task was to move from point A to point B in the best style possible, learning as much as we could along the way. No phones, no computers, no social media. Just good old fashion back country living. Lots of lake and river swimming, lots of time looking at the mountains. I remember at one point looking around in awe of the mountains and thinking, "I don't have this feeling on a daily basis in the front country..." I've got to work on that. Many good laughs, new friends and new experiences. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78YX3lFJY0s6UBtOLA4wQsKGXb8u1IiPFM8mx-BiIwQzaqE6koPTr5Ll3jLXwjaAGFhJGfdyWfDjs6FUrWf7KGN33o2GrvhNqcY1cIPCWuaSVBw42Zx1RczMoCfhmY9i8y8oB/s4608/P1000073+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78YX3lFJY0s6UBtOLA4wQsKGXb8u1IiPFM8mx-BiIwQzaqE6koPTr5Ll3jLXwjaAGFhJGfdyWfDjs6FUrWf7KGN33o2GrvhNqcY1cIPCWuaSVBw42Zx1RczMoCfhmY9i8y8oB/s640/P1000073+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXw8zCC5PCshtkW0a6Nd2Lhys4UZqWP-X3bp84dn5jjOeX-ku5sKRmqWGFO_V-aBQ5hQOycyLSvoHuvYw8qwPxXVeyCai453PXYTEXkqYSexWSVK5Z6xf_un5YU9zfC8-zWNX/s4608/P1000083+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9p_8nwJSYFKOkQWnPHhYvH6F5b7pN81ZZiyi08jLx-F54GSR5ocux7-yT-RkN_QjW4oXRfbbktPk5AvU0jI2MxfY2Ai6dKat6nyP1kYdejEmpcWbcyHQ0bR-tgNgpcYIk2no/s4608/P1000190+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs9p_8nwJSYFKOkQWnPHhYvH6F5b7pN81ZZiyi08jLx-F54GSR5ocux7-yT-RkN_QjW4oXRfbbktPk5AvU0jI2MxfY2Ai6dKat6nyP1kYdejEmpcWbcyHQ0bR-tgNgpcYIk2no/s640/P1000190+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvLSMZXO_m3EOTCwROYhjWSsqfq0oyT5kHDRNraLTCWc1Hk5vR8s-mcavuXBi153dZhhhSzyr3C20SYerveUYEdvbz6TGua5fiM0tAKv5y3CNA5aesek1eqja8BxzUbrg7tfn/s4608/P1000197+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvLSMZXO_m3EOTCwROYhjWSsqfq0oyT5kHDRNraLTCWc1Hk5vR8s-mcavuXBi153dZhhhSzyr3C20SYerveUYEdvbz6TGua5fiM0tAKv5y3CNA5aesek1eqja8BxzUbrg7tfn/s640/P1000197+-+Copy.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxr3-GGJK-DxtUkuPvyqyH9R3HrTZKxaNQDbQuALbmrMmKHb_I7_eTGR2jwjpZwwji8j7rkDIf4piw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br /></div>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-15559936139266183802020-07-15T16:11:00.001-04:002020-07-15T16:11:11.341-04:00Day 3: Arrival to LANDER, WYOMINGI made it to Lander, Wyoming this morning! Had a short 1.5 hour easy flight that I didn't want to end. I find there's something so satisfying about thinking up an idea, whether grad school or flying out here instead of wasting a day on commercial aviation, and then carrying it out with all the unknowns. Wasn't 100% sure the weather was going to cooperate - didn't want to get stranded - which makes it all the more sweet to arrive on time! <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1cG1WUflhTiy3NGcVgLfvgwBeJKY89ZpgymdmD8P0Gdw17JQzlk3WkS7zZ2Ye0QCT5cIcbaC9aqDcKJxAePw0Ly6PVRwYXG1Qtfi0OTGCE_XdsxyMl0u-M-FRDuJcWc9YFsXJ/s2016/IMG_1530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1cG1WUflhTiy3NGcVgLfvgwBeJKY89ZpgymdmD8P0Gdw17JQzlk3WkS7zZ2Ye0QCT5cIcbaC9aqDcKJxAePw0Ly6PVRwYXG1Qtfi0OTGCE_XdsxyMl0u-M-FRDuJcWc9YFsXJ/s320/IMG_1530.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>For the music lovers: Freddy's engine makes a lot of noise. I have a noise canceling headset, but I can still hear a lot of the noise. Over the last few days on certain flights, I've started to hum along to Freddy's noise. I was hey-ing and ho-ing one repeated sequence for some reason until I realized it all fit within Freddy's background. So after a little experimenting, I determined Freddy sings in the Lydian particularly in the key of F, with a strong dominant 7th. Generally the major third works best, but the minor sounds very good when thrown in there once in a while. The normal 7th is too close to what Freddy's singing so it makes the flatted 7th of the Lydian mode sound so good. It's perfect for Freddy. A major chord of fun and adventure - but with just a touch of a minor third occasionally and the dominant 7th for some real character and color. I sang almost the whole way. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguy8uaQLwA6SEIKbzi6lYOLmQAEet7VjrLcC3QdQ8C2afqkJCoSdJ2Z84b-xZO1hjEYlDdYNwy5QIz0veoqZK0vUlY6H1TG8fatXMpsw9IeJz9JQK-bQ_am9O7NvrkRB5ylYHQ/s2016/IMG_1532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguy8uaQLwA6SEIKbzi6lYOLmQAEet7VjrLcC3QdQ8C2afqkJCoSdJ2Z84b-xZO1hjEYlDdYNwy5QIz0veoqZK0vUlY6H1TG8fatXMpsw9IeJz9JQK-bQ_am9O7NvrkRB5ylYHQ/s320/IMG_1532.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>At one point along the way today I looked up into the blue sky. I had a sudden flash of once being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean looking south, dreaming of one day making it to Antarctica and the South Pole. Now I look upwards, hoping to one day make it to space. As I looked up again, I spotted a beautiful crescent moon. Someday I suppose. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMTsmfCY6QoQPXrabjkJlj_GAGrayBgjt1CuCqESO_7RyYXOUe8ijTznohqgVRGnWNClApg-UCyqJ6A4kuxrPNgSP7wN_lPf20TvimIQHSy6Y45RUUlJnu_OpKP0NID6nQxYp/s2016/IMG_1538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMTsmfCY6QoQPXrabjkJlj_GAGrayBgjt1CuCqESO_7RyYXOUe8ijTznohqgVRGnWNClApg-UCyqJ6A4kuxrPNgSP7wN_lPf20TvimIQHSy6Y45RUUlJnu_OpKP0NID6nQxYp/s320/IMG_1538.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjagivthyMXwt71xHCnxN6iV6_gHj9zfZ5wB9uMrLhZXV1wpI7X_zsY4UocFFwjD72kRHI445jGOky4_K3XdYXuld5Tl4py6M4BXk7ApQCUgr5eTeCDmYgZabZtVPqaWASfxcaL/s2016/IMG_1544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjagivthyMXwt71xHCnxN6iV6_gHj9zfZ5wB9uMrLhZXV1wpI7X_zsY4UocFFwjD72kRHI445jGOky4_K3XdYXuld5Tl4py6M4BXk7ApQCUgr5eTeCDmYgZabZtVPqaWASfxcaL/s320/IMG_1544.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>My astronaut application, the first one I'm really qualified to have submitted, was submitted in March. Now I wait and see. The first interviews are between September and December. Not sure what COVID will do to the timeline but we'll see. I feel confident about getting the first interview. After that is anyone's guess (there are three interview stages) and a lot of luck. </div><div><br /></div><div><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-xzcDzdovKogaXOQQTGq1oBlHR0hKWZ_I9EJQGkS7KzNqEGweJn_w2l5Qyv6uu-Ledrm6lex_ck_uZUpWU7u_dAPHi4EH6DYBaSGtR8QqmdHgKirr5UP6J3Ct5uxwmP-nV6g/s320/IMG_1542.JPG" width="320" /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div></div><div>That's it for now. Heading into the mountains in a few day with the Naval Academy midshipmen and really looking forward to it. And of course, it is wonderful that when that finishes, I still have another adventure flying east with tailwinds! </div>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-86641399999815789802020-07-14T22:35:00.003-04:002020-07-14T22:39:37.085-04:00Day 2: to DOUGLAS, WYOMINGI'll get right down to it, because I'm exhausted but in a good way:<div><br /></div><div>1. Good sleep in Freddy last night. Though a few mosquitoes got in before I could rig a bug net over the cargo hatch. I think I'm developing an uncanny ability to hear the mosquito's pitch. It can wake me from a sleep. </div><div><br /></div><div>2. My dad asked me today (as dad's do) if I'm doing any socializing. I responded yes in that I met an airport guy who told me he flew for 25 years without a license. Flew helicopters in Vietnam, then wanted to fly fixed wing aircraft when he returned home, so he bought a plane, and figured it out! The airport folks are amazing! Such a brotherhood!</div><div><br /></div><div>3. I'm managing the mini Triscuits.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. Watching the landscape changing as I flew west made me think of what it must have been like for explorers to go west without knowing what was there! Such adventure! Then I imagined being on a new planet and seeing it from the air for the first time. I would want to land everywhere to explore! </div><div><br /></div><div>5. I could have made it to Lander today, but I stopped to try to get to sleep early. No one but me at the airport. Now typing in the pilot's lounge where I'll sleep on a sofa. I prefer to sleep in Freddy, but I'll probably sleep a bit better in here. </div><div><br /></div><div>6. Three flights today. On the ground there is chaos - fueling, paying, record keeping, but in the air, things feel simple - I like it. Made it under a cold front today and otherwise good progress. Some turbulence the last flight that wasn't so fun, but all others were pretty smooth. </div><div><br /></div><div>7. Less than two hundred miles to go! Then into the mountains!</div><div><br /></div><div>8. I flew over some windy farmlands today (sustained at around 20 knots) and watching the wind blow through the fields was mesmerizing. From the air, they looked like spirits or ghosts all heading in the same direction. It was fascinating and otherworldly. Perhaps there is a spirit convention somewhere. </div><div><br /></div><div>9. That's all, thanks for reading! </div>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-86324625091664631672020-07-13T23:46:00.001-04:002020-07-14T22:36:08.774-04:00Day 1: to CANTON, ILLINOISDAY 1: (WESTBOUND) GREAT BARRINGTON, MA to CANTON, IL<div><br /></div><div>I'm heading west as I unexpectedly got offered a NOLS backpacking contract with Naval Academy students. My earlier Alaska mountaineering contract with the Navy had been canceled so I was very happy to get the offer for this one. Starved for a bit of summer adventure since the last two summers were dedicated to grad school, I agreed. </div><div><br /></div><div>After much debate and wondering, instead of heading into the world of COVID commercial airline travel, I got Freddy ready for another adventure. The potential reward is 3 days of flying (the same time it takes to get to the moon) and an adventure in thy sky before the adventure in the mountains. The potential logistical nightmare is if I get stuck somewhere along the way due to weather or some other thing and need to somehow get myself and my gear to a commercial airport. I guess it's all part of the adventure of the unknown. </div><div><br /></div><div>So now, I've gotten almost half way but some potential weather tomorrow. Two days to go. </div><div><br /></div><div>If there are any aviation buffs out there, you can track my flights by going to flightaware.com and putting in Freddy's callsign: N7202G. There's even a "Get Notifications" button so you can get emails with each flight if you're one of my parents. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had plans of writing with style and grace, but a bad sleep last night and almost 10 hours of flying have me a bit beat. It's nearly time for bed so here are some memorable moments:</div><div><br /></div><div>- Making it east past the rising clouds! It was like getting out past the breaking waves when surfing.</div><div>- Feeling so in tune with the motions of the sun. I was chasing it so time actually went slower today - by a tiny bit. </div><div>- realizing with disappointment that instead of regular Triscuits (my favorite flying snack), I bought Mini Triscuits which are not very conducive to dipping in hummus. </div><div>- Turning on the runway lights (always a favorite task) and landing just after sunset.</div><div>- Skateboarding on the dark runway with just the runway lights. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to see any pics, check instagram or facebook. Will try to add later but now need to go to sleep. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also if you are a subscriber and reply to the email, I won't get it. To leave a comment (I love comments, as it shows people actually are intersted in what I write), you must click on the link in the email and then add your comment in the comment window. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's all for today. Hope you are all healthy and as well as can be in this crazy time!</div>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-53306241795555592072019-12-23T17:08:00.001-05:002019-12-23T17:08:21.842-05:00Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering, FINISHED!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two weeks ago, I turned in my last graduate school assignments. Due at midnight, turned in at 11:30pm. And with that, I was done. Arms up in victory, hooting, hollering, singing, fist pumping, kicking, dancing, laughing, swearing, eyes watering...I had finished what many times seemed impossible to me. My coursework was complete - ten classes plus two prerequisites. Two and a half years, over 150 week-long modules of work with assignments, discussion boards, readings, office hours. No more homework, no more assignments, no more discussion boards to participate on. I feel like I'm being reborn into the world. </div>
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In the last two weeks, I've been transitioning. It still feels crazy to be done. Though sometimes I feel like they'll find some small print error and I'll actually have to do one more class. I still have to wait for my diploma which should arrive in the next few weeks. I've been cleaning my little home for the past two days - two years worth of unrelenting chaos. I can't believe I lived within such chaos but so it was when every half an hour had to be accounted for. I hadn't quite realized the burden it was to always have a task that required so many hours per week. Always a choice came down to priorities with those hours in mind. Don't think: just sit down and do the work, and if you're not working, it better be worth it!</div>
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Throughout the process, I had some great teachers, patient and interesting. I had an online meeting with at least one of them almost every week of the last two and a half years. I learned a ton, did interesting projects and took some long tests. Some "quizzes" were to be finished within three hours, while I had a number of tests that were to be completed in six. Though they were designed to not need all six, I used almost every single minutes. </div>
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One of the most memorable experiences was on one of the six hour tests (either Digital Signal Processing or Microwave Systems). I looked over the test and though, I'm completely screwed. I don't know how to do any of these problems - the likes of which I've never seen before! I'm going to fail. And then I thought, "Well, I have six hours to try not to fail." Miraculously, in about 5 hours and 50 minutes, I figured them out, one by one. It was like when Will Farrell debates James Carville in Old School. It was sort of an out of mind experience. Not much time to celebrate as there was another six hour test to take that week for another class.</div>
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Little by little, with each class passed, my confidence grew. I knew it would never be easy for me, but I knew that if I put in the time, I could figure most of this stuff out. My 12 classes:</div>
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Circuits, Devices and Fields</div>
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Signals and Systems</div>
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Digital Signal Processing</div>
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Microwave Systems and Receiver Design</div>
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Communications Systems Engineering</div>
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Modern Navigation Systems</div>
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Intermediate Electromagnetics</div>
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Antenna Design</div>
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Space Weather and Space Systems</div>
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Image Engineering</div>
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Spread Spectrum Communications</div>
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Oceanography</div>
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So many people inquired, encouraged, cheered me on and so much more throughout the process. So powerful it is to know that others believe in me, when I wasn't quite so sure I believed in myself. If others believed, I'll just keep taking one step at a time. </div>
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A few people have said, "Wow, that flew by." I just chuckle. Now I wait for NASA to announce, in hopefully a matter of days that they'll be opening up the astronaut application, as they have been doing every four years since the year 2000. I'll keep you posted. It could get interesting!! </div>
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Hats off to all who've been there! And a huge hank you to all who have believed in me! </div>
Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-60811016362855726842018-08-01T09:21:00.000-04:002018-08-01T11:46:13.800-04:00The Adventure of Graduate School<div style="text-align: justify;">
When I graduated from college, I thought, "There's no way I'm going to grad school unless there's basically a 100% reason I need to have that advanced education." While for many years, I thought I would never go back to real "school," the time has come. A growing interest in all things electric, especially radios, and having never heard back from numerous applications to SpaceX, Boeing, and other engineering companies, I figured it was time realizing the answer to "Who takes a chance on a guy who's 15 years out of engineering school, but hasn't really worked as an engineer?" It turns out: No one. </div>
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So back to school I go to become a "double E" as an electrical engineer, to reopen or open new doors to space, the undersea world or Antarctica. That's the plan anyway. </div>
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But grad school in electrical engineering has been anything but easy. Considering I do not have an undergraduate degree in EE, I have a long long way to go. With classmates who are younger and working EEs, I have even farther to go compared to the rest of the bunch. I am doing an online program so I can continue my teaching career. Needless to say, I am the only teacher among the 2 prerequisite classes I took last year and the 3 grad-level classes I am currently taking. </div>
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So far, the pace has been grueling. I'm taking three classes now, in hopes of finishing my degree right as the next NASA astronaut application opens. Three classes is a lot, even when I have the summer mostly off. I spend anywhere from 6 to 12 hours a day, everyday, going through the books, the posted lectures, the assignments. </div>
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Generally I work 8 am to 4 or 5, then blow off some steam, then back at it after dinner. It's exhausting and is relentless in that if I don't get on each new module right away, it's so easy to slip behind. Every half hour of my summer is accounted for, meaning basically that if I'm not studying, it's got to be worth it. The things that are worth it are sleep, swimming, exercise and good friends and family. I had plans to travel and study, of friends to visit, but those were thrown out the window. The thee syllabuses combined said the three classes should be about 25 to 48 hours per week. Being a slower worker, I'm definitely on the slower end of that so that sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the week. </div>
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No big land, sea or sky adventure for me this summer, my adventure is of the mind. Sometimes, I just laugh when I look at what I'm learning, and then think that I'm in electrical engineering graduate school. And I often think, "If I can pull this off, it'll be incredible...one of my biggest accomplishments ever!" But it's a big if! </div>
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In the beginning I was fraught with the feeling that I am not smart enough for this kind of thing. It was as if a voice was inside my head saying, "You'll never be able to handle all this, you're not smart enough! You'll put in all this time, energy and effort, and you still won't make it!" Over and over again. It was a struggle to not listen to that voice, to not believe it. </div>
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To get through, I borrowed something from a Navy SEAL friend. When I asked him how he got through "Hell Week" of BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training), he said something to the effect of, "The only time I would allow myself to quit was at a meal. If I was at a meal, it meant the exercise was over, I had made it through, and I was more likely to be ready for the next challenge, with food in my stomach." I adapted this to, I can only quit after my homework is turned in. It meant that I couldn't even entertain the thought, and so I would just keep plugging away and little by little, I would make progress!</div>
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I've now two thirds of the way through the semester and have passing grades in all my classes! (Communications System Engineering, Digital Signal Processing, and Microwave Systems and Receiver Design) I wish I could say with confidence that I'm going to pass them all, but I'm going to have to work for it. Only one grade out of my 10 classes can be in the C range, so I don't want to take my C in the first three lower-level classes. I do really like what I'm learning, especially when I fully understand a topic. Then I think of all the interesting things I can do with it: Space communications, antarctic communications, underwater communications and systems.</div>
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It's been a humbling experience though. Again and again, I have to write on the discussion board that I don't understand a certain topic. I have to schedule one-on-one skype-like meetings with the professors for extra help. In the class last semester, I was the only student who needed the scheduled "office hours" and one professor even commented, "I've never had a teacher in one my classes before." </div>
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Little by little though, I'm surviving, one homework, or I suppose, three homeworks at a time. The voices are quieter in my head as I've proved to them, that I can at least get through the material and get my grades above the 80 mark, some even far higher! As I learn about filter design, I'm learning how to filter out the internal messages, trying to let the good, supportive ones pass, while attenuating those that do not help. I've become more aware of those voices and have learned to recognize them before listening to them, so that I can try to chose to listen to them or not. </div>
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And I've learned to ask for lots of help - from classmates and teachers. I've got to keep reaching out for help. It requires letting go of the feeling that I should know something that I don't, but I've been finding it's often the only way through. Juggling three classes, my brain often turns to mush, but little by little, homework by homework. If I don't make it, it won't be because I quit. Maybe it's true - that I'm not smart enough, but I'm committed to that not being my decision, I'll just keep doing the best I can, and hope that my determination can close the gap. </div>
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That's all for now. Got to start the week of study, where every minute counts. </div>
Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-73593156514979559222017-10-16T11:39:00.002-04:002017-10-16T11:39:21.753-04:00Canada!<div style="text-align: justify;">
My little spaceship has been good to me. After a few days of fog and friends on Mount Desert Island, I headed east again, so good it was to be on the move again. Made it to magical Roque Island that night. A run in the morning on the Great Beach before heading into uncharted territory! </div>
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On the way east, I passed The Brothers islands. I tried to keep going, but one of the beauties of sailing alone is that I can do what I want and so I headed my inner call to go explore the island. I turned, motor on, sails down and tied up to the mooring there in about 5 minutes. I rowed in and had a little run around. I love these tiny islands, especially those with a little dwelling like this one had, for scientific research. Magical islands full of boyhood adventures. </div>
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Then back to the boat, set sail again past the Cutler Navy Base where they have the huge antenna array to communicate with submarines, to the town of Cutler. Got to Cutler an hour before sunset and while there was no place to anchor despite the guidebook saying otherwise, I was invited to raft up with another sailboat. There was another boat rafted on his other side, so it made three yachts rafted together among huge lobster and other fishing boats. They were two Canadians and we had a good time sharing stories and local knowledge of our countries' cruising areas. <br />
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I took a run around Cutler before the sun went down and it was a pleasant little place. I felt I had gone back in time a bit, as I often do in these small Maine communities. <br />
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The next day, I made sure I left early so I would have the flooding current with me. Up this far north, it is apparently foolish to try to sail against the tide. So I left in the fog and drizzle, hoping things would clear later on. It eventually did though for a while I could not see any land. I sailed up the west side of Grand Manan as I hoisted the Canadian flag for the first time on the starboard spreaders. The wind had picked up and by that point I was screaming around the northern head at more than 7 knots steady, reefed, sailing through strange and strong currents thinking, so this is Canadian sailing!</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I made my way to North Head but when I got there in the 20+ knots of wind, there was scarcely enough room. There did not look like much room to maneuver so I motored back and forth again and again trying to see if I could make it, it seemed like I'd have one chance. Eventually as I got closer, I found a little more room than I had initially seen and slowly, but with enough momentum to keep steerage, I made it into the harbor, with its 22 foot tides. I found a lobster boat to tied up to, as is the custom here, secured the engine and went below for some fist pumps and a sit down. So psyched to have made it to Canada and Grand Manan Island! The whole trip, I'd wondered would I really make it? Or would something turn me back to the west...so I was so happy to have persevered into the unknown to explore some new territory and a country I'd never sailed to. It would be dark soon but I felt like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin having gotten to the moon yet their moonwalk wasn't for another few hours, if I call remember correctly. They were ready to explore so they asked and were approved for a schedule change. I didn't have endless daylight on my side, since I wasn't on the moon so I'd have to wait for the next day to go beyond the harbor. Canada, hot dang!</div>
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<br />Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-16383864417820005702017-07-10T08:22:00.001-04:002017-07-10T08:22:15.164-04:00Entropy and My Own Space Station<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
7 July 2017<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfPtcuxHhyphenhypheniFVzvjeQCoSaCPqFKkRWmcRkLwD2mgb_AZc8ozJ1Kpr4T8SEuqY0Job1qAvvG4GMWsCYcNce86gHNEE-E5NkxSZ8Am_CNwsObbvP_PyY3uIAkto0rlsKUR5rRxW/s1600/IMG_0879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfPtcuxHhyphenhypheniFVzvjeQCoSaCPqFKkRWmcRkLwD2mgb_AZc8ozJ1Kpr4T8SEuqY0Job1qAvvG4GMWsCYcNce86gHNEE-E5NkxSZ8Am_CNwsObbvP_PyY3uIAkto0rlsKUR5rRxW/s320/IMG_0879.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The chaos of loading Daphne.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">To see were I am:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId%3D0RgHkm2O9bYamFeQ9zsvSykmly5zT0RtB&source=gmail&ust=1499775276283000&usg=AFQjCNEuwDw7AdsyLZkKtB7u4P4sqnwbBA" href="http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0RgHkm2O9bYamFeQ9zsvSykmly5zT0RtB" rel="noreferrer" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;" target="_blank">http://share.findmespot.com/<wbr></wbr>shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?<wbr></wbr>glId=<wbr></wbr>0RgHkm2O9bYamFeQ9zsvSykmly5zT0<wbr></wbr>RtB</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also to read the story that I wrote for Popular Mechanics about flying to Houston last year:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a26883/cessna-flight-astronaut-tryout/" target="_blank">3600 Miles and a Dream</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
if the link doesn't work, copy and paste:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a26883/cessna-flight-astronaut-tryout/</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I am
now on Day 4, having sailed two days, and done boat projects the other
two.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I am trying to get Downeast, but
going faster would sacrifice a certain style.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ve spent too many days of my life feeling like I was running around
like a chicken with my head cut off.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While my schedule and tendency to cram things in dictate that I still
must do a bit of this, now that I’ve put to sea, I am slowing down, in that I’m
taking the time to do things in the spirit of preserving a certain style.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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I am
currently at anchor is Southwest Harbor, Mount Desert Island, a two day sail
from Rockport Harbor, where Daphne is splashed each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got here last night and am seeing friends
not seen in years, later this afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally I have cleaned and waxed the topsides and the top strip of the
hull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, having thus far being
neglected in favor of getting Daphne in the water, has been weighing on me, as
I do not like to neglect anything on this ship that takes such good care of
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My other “layover” day was of the
same ilk (at Pulpit Harbor, North Haven), but entailed lots of little projects
needed to get fully ready for three weeks on the coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Connecting the single side band radio wire,
securing the solar panel wire, checking knots, inventorying the cotter pins,
and various other organizational tasks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thanks to all that, the girl is looking sharp!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yaRTl5Z_RaKopRO-3eAJZ3H6XbQZhk8pij2p7Qfue_ImZ-i5fkefvOAXFxuWIhLliaOhCHS-WwcflZNQpWukgfvakmateBM5pX2MH95rKMsQyzZpICVmNFIaX3adSFTIorJN/s1600/IMG_0878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yaRTl5Z_RaKopRO-3eAJZ3H6XbQZhk8pij2p7Qfue_ImZ-i5fkefvOAXFxuWIhLliaOhCHS-WwcflZNQpWukgfvakmateBM5pX2MH95rKMsQyzZpICVmNFIaX3adSFTIorJN/s320/IMG_0878.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally in the water and floating!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<br />
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The
other day, I marveled at what a different life it is out here on Daphne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I slide right into the routines and the
rhythms and how different it is than my teaching life during the school
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I love this little ship more
than I can express.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When aboard, it’s as
though I’ve dropped myself into a world that’s ever stimulating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is endless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is the mechanical diesel engine, the
plumbing of the water tanks, the electrical system, the VHF and HF radios, the
weather systems, the geometry/physics of navigation and sailing, the spiritual
connection to the world around me...It is endless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so on days where I’m stay put to see
friends or to avoid certain weather, or just to keep up my style, I’m happy as
a clam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is an urge to explore the
land around me, but there is often a stronger urge to master my craft, the art
of being a sailor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have my little
spaceship, and for certain, it’s the spaceship and the journey that are the
important things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what a spaceship
and journey!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<o:p><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</o:p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPywJ5d1roGQSPWhhmgDlK6CkR46hyphenhyphen4kKwb-dHu1bDCJztHtbCjldjbvksQok5QBx5nK4YC90LoZdz1xlkC1qxdlaJWzYD3nbOH3W772hQcmQRD6d56DZzcbTD7OEtmu2FjSF/s1600/IMG_0890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPywJ5d1roGQSPWhhmgDlK6CkR46hyphenhyphen4kKwb-dHu1bDCJztHtbCjldjbvksQok5QBx5nK4YC90LoZdz1xlkC1qxdlaJWzYD3nbOH3W772hQcmQRD6d56DZzcbTD7OEtmu2FjSF/s320/IMG_0890.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterproof VHF radio in my chest pocket, PLB<br />(Personal Locator Beacon) strapped to my shoulder strap.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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40
nautical miles yesterday and my $40/month pre-paid iPhone account won’t give me
data anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I’m without email, but
it still feels like a luxury to be able to make calls and send text
messages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the weather, I’ll have to
switch on the VHF radio and listen to the computer recording of the weather
broadcast, eventually working its way to the marine forecasts, eventually then
working its way to the section of the coast that I’m on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No more maps that show the radar returns,
I’ll just have to look to where the wind is coming from to gauge my chances of
rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heading east and heading back in
time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually my phone might not work
anymore and so I’ll try to make contact with my HF radio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UoEfPldCmXIbgqE-4BbDptgPZI-n85Mdx0P_unGiFg2_nyKjDwd40rpeJNFMT2Uzi74xyW2a0KGad1urQOa1Av2gOfT0FxfX0oBim2F_fMIBVzKO-9772NuxZ1MxxlssOMIS/s1600/IMG_0913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UoEfPldCmXIbgqE-4BbDptgPZI-n85Mdx0P_unGiFg2_nyKjDwd40rpeJNFMT2Uzi74xyW2a0KGad1urQOa1Av2gOfT0FxfX0oBim2F_fMIBVzKO-9772NuxZ1MxxlssOMIS/s320/IMG_0913.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the fog, crossing Bass Harbor Bar.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’ve
been aware of Entropy for some reason this trip.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Entropy in that chaos is always growing.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Daphne is a ship that I care for, and in most
cases, she is not getting younger.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A
careless move can cause damage, to her and I, both of which could be disastrous,
never to be the same again.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We’re both
breaking down on a slow decline.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We can
reduce the geometric slope of the line, but in the long term, we’re both going
down hill.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But while that’s happening to
the physical beings, my mind is on the upswing.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Twenty years ago, I remember thinking, I don’t mind getting older
because 20 years from now, I’ll know a lot and have done some interesting
things!</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And so as the body gets older,
the mind learns new things (and certainly forgets some too, but hopefully I’ll
remember the important things.)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What
Daphne and I lose in physical strength and flexibility, we gain in experiences,
memories, skills and capabilities.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ships
are made for the sea, so we must accept all that comes with it.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So
when it gets down to it, I’ll make some notes, listen to the weather forecast,
play a bit on my plastic ukulele and write in my journal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each day is precious, whether sailing
Downeast at 7 knots (speed record for yesterday) or just doing some
“housekeeping” like the Apollo astronauts would do on their three-day coast to
the moon, I’m having a good time and soaking up every minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<o:p><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
</o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And
it’s kind of like I have my own space program but I am responsible for every aspect
of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mission design, vehicle
maintenance, weather go/no-go officer, provisioner, tester, debriefer,
recorder, chef, navigator, pilot and general astronaut. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It makes me wonder how many astronauts have
put to sea by themselves on a small boat…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroKvbwjE83IuCqmp44WuIVbh3Nl04XvmDwjnlGNm7qPRtURptj9ys_kZm99oJ9YaDLCmJvjisjV_iowlcGlnFpIQCSEwySadQVtTrztLOveMJZK6dR5hlHkJJjz5wX4htq2Yn/s1600/IMG_0893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroKvbwjE83IuCqmp44WuIVbh3Nl04XvmDwjnlGNm7qPRtURptj9ys_kZm99oJ9YaDLCmJvjisjV_iowlcGlnFpIQCSEwySadQVtTrztLOveMJZK6dR5hlHkJJjz5wX4htq2Yn/s320/IMG_0893.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulpit Rock and a sunset over the Camden Hills from Pulpit Harbor, North Haven.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-68155196864843946342017-06-24T10:25:00.000-04:002017-06-24T10:30:07.256-04:00Home<div class="MsoNormal">
6.21.17<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidel6Exp3w2Dc-rRYjfo7kehuyZe4JI-JP7_XbIMTuMJWdWVUp_xq8zw-nsPafknSOVN7LEx_XWhxHp9SRkcabBtBGSH8dsDL8kgsNfLl-7V3xXJg8bCpNDJH1Kgxe_4PdRo23/s1600/IMG_0769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidel6Exp3w2Dc-rRYjfo7kehuyZe4JI-JP7_XbIMTuMJWdWVUp_xq8zw-nsPafknSOVN7LEx_XWhxHp9SRkcabBtBGSH8dsDL8kgsNfLl-7V3xXJg8bCpNDJH1Kgxe_4PdRo23/s320/IMG_0769.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waking up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I am home now, and things feel strange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m in clean clothes, have showered, gone to
the grocery store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unpacked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t like it much, though I will
adapt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did not like unpacking
Freddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like he was saying, “Hey,
what’s going on?!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I had to say,
“Sorry, buddy, I don’t have limitless aviation budget.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He understood and said, “Sure was a good
trip, though!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I said, “Worth every
penny!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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And of course it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I compare aviation to other passions of mine, it is indeed more
expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the opportunity that it
allows is incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so the plane
that I got for six grand and keep alive on a teacher’s salary is worth holding
onto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To soar among the clouds, to be in
the brotherhood of all who take machines into the air, to be able to look up at
the clouds and sky and think, I’ve spent a lot of time up there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a different sort of existence once I
knew how to fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sort of like someone
who’s walked on the moon is forever changed in that they can look up at the
moon we all see, but they see the one they walked on, the one they’ve been
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I’m not going to the moon, at
least I’ve been amongst the clouds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-57078356924150664072017-06-24T10:16:00.002-04:002017-06-24T10:29:14.075-04:00East Bound Day 3<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
6.20.17<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am now in striking distance from home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m in Carrollton, Ohio and there is no pilot
lounge, so I’m in the cockpit, but that’s just where I like to be on what might
be my last evening of the trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This morning I left Madison, Wisconsin just ahead of a dark
rainstorm that was approaching from the northwest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was very happy to take off and hit 125
knots on my southeast course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going
east, I lose time to the time zones, but I make up for it with tailwinds
usually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I flew past Chicago, watched on radar as always with the
FAA’s Flight Following service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
after about 330 nautical miles I landed at Green County Airport near Dayton,
Ohio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I landed, someone came out to
greet me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked what’s the easiest way
to get to the National Air Force Museum, that someone told me about while I was
west-bound…The courtesy car, of course!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I told him, I’d top off my gas tanks when I was back, and he said he’d
do them while I was away at no extra charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Green Co., they don’t mess around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So to the museum I went after a quick lunch stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And four the next four hours, I walked around
in amazement looking at favorite plane after favorite plane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The F-16, T-38, X-29, Mercury/Gemini/Apollo
spacecraft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You name it, it was
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the ex-presidential Air Force
Ones, helicopters, balloons, rockets, it was incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to sit inside cockpits and do a virtual
reality space walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole afternoon
made me very happy I am a pilot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Incredible aircraft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smell
inside the Air Force Ones reminded me of submarines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the same smell, not sure if it’s the
metal, the paint, the wiring, or what they use to clean the vehicles, but it’s
the exact same and it makes my blood move a little faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was wondering how would I chose between an
aircraft and a submarine…and I decided I would split the difference with a
spacecraft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bet they have the exact
same smell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2slH54L_8smQinpjoMS30azAgVYPmG5MHm-XpFnxoueoT0A57cb-uuf1XF5i8EgM50mniOLFlUI-NbiIJi8zSyakvt3yBPKQP4JeIFUew8UaIwQYLdgruFDt3gTJBdP86c-zZ/s1600/IMG_0756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2slH54L_8smQinpjoMS30azAgVYPmG5MHm-XpFnxoueoT0A57cb-uuf1XF5i8EgM50mniOLFlUI-NbiIJi8zSyakvt3yBPKQP4JeIFUew8UaIwQYLdgruFDt3gTJBdP86c-zZ/s320/IMG_0756.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Goblin! Launched from the belly of a bomber if fighters were attacking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Then it was on to find my home for the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I landed at Coshocton, Ohio but their office was closed
and they had no self-service fuel, so I took off without turning off the
engine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Onto Carrollton where I know they had
fuel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no one here as usual, so
I checked out the local area, discovered there was no pilot lounge, but found
some outdoor electrical sockets, then went for a run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since it was dark by then, I ran on the four
thousand foot runway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran looking at
the runway lights and then up at the stars and lingering clouds, thinking, I
just came from there!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sometimes feels
like I’ve been spending as much time up there as I do down here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran down the middle of the runway, my arms
spread, smiling to myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So now in the cockpit, I’ve had my dinner of a granola bar,
a banana, a carrot, hummus, triscuits, raisons and cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running a little low on provisions, but the
voyage is almost done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My records need
organizing – I keep track of the airports that I visit, so I know which ones I
should visit again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I keep records
of my flights, not just in my logbook, but more detailed notes of fuel costs
and usage, miles flown, time in the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And I’m not quite ready to be home yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love these trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the unknown, I love how I never need
the checklist, everything makes sense and there becomes a certain rhythm and
familiarity from flying everyday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Man and beautiful Freddy flying machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
An instagram friend suggested the Air National Guard is
always looking for experienced pilots…makes me wonder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the sense of mission, the
purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still hoping for space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But for now I’ll soak in Freddy’s smell which is still the
same and as stimulating as it was almost 30 years ago when I was in junior
high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few more flights to home and
I’ll soak in those too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got to organize
my little spaceship now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goodnight!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-47050066232146757742017-06-23T10:27:00.000-04:002017-06-24T10:28:50.140-04:00Denver!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
DENVER <o:p></o:p></div>
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Denver…was a whirlwind, but it was great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw a fantastic group of friends from
Antarctica, then flew down on the following day to Colorado Springs to see an
Outward Bound student of mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had
been 14 when she took the course with other girl scouts, and during that time
we discovered we had a shared love of aviation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Before the course ended, I made her a temporary airman certificate and
told her it would be her certification until she got her real one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ten years later, I received a letter in the
mail…and a copy of a US Army helicopter certification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems Martha wasn’t messing around!<o:p></o:p></div>
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So I flew down to see Martha to show her Freddy and for her
show me the Blackhawk helicopters she flies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She looked at my 3-page checklist and asked, “Is this your whole
checklist?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was fun sharing notes,
pilot to pilot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her checklist looked
like a book and her aircraft is incredibly complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I taught her about sailing 14 years ago, and
there is a lot she could teach me about flying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Then to two nights of Dispatch shows!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First at the Ogden and then at Red
Rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red Rocks was the special one, as
I’d never been there and had so many friends in the audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends from high school, college, Antarctica,
NOLS, Berkshire School and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
rushed about catching up with friends and also did some behind the scenes
filming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The show was incredible, the band sounding so good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most memorable for me was the song Curse
+ Crush____ written about the death of our cousin last year from a construction
accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So poignant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was something about being in Colorado,
at a big outdoor concert, that Matty would have loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would have been there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was touching and we miss him so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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More catching up with Antarctic and NOLS friends and it was
time to depart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But first a little
detour to the North to do some wake surfing and water skiing with some NOLS
friends!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh man, was this fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My arms and legs were sore as were my cheeks
from smiling so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two hours on the
lake and then it was time to head out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW3No3-uRPcS6YGgH_ru0JcHQyqOjyTi3Dx8RhQRQIWwtNlWwFxiJy0wM30PcbYCrJ_Hbf1TAwvQOaZm7lWOz7gAVY4X5z7HohhlHiOTdyv1rtca9unuhm8oKu2mejG3dZWlm/s1600/IMG_0714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW3No3-uRPcS6YGgH_ru0JcHQyqOjyTi3Dx8RhQRQIWwtNlWwFxiJy0wM30PcbYCrJ_Hbf1TAwvQOaZm7lWOz7gAVY4X5z7HohhlHiOTdyv1rtca9unuhm8oKu2mejG3dZWlm/s320/IMG_0714.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I landed that night in Grant, Nebraska where I chatted with
a farmer for an hour or so as it got dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We chatted about politics, women, kids, relationships, farming, and
climate change among other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Marvin lives alone, never had kids, his wife died a decade ago and not a
day goes by he doesn’t miss her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since
he never had kids, he says he has no one to pass the farm onto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Niece and nephew show no interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a nice guy, we talked until it was
totally dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before he left, he gave me
his number so that if I ever fly through again, I can look him up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I most definitely intend to see him
again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So fun to meet and connect with
someone who just happened to be at the airport at the right time seeing off a
few friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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-->Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-37123308810358788922017-06-22T09:38:00.000-04:002017-06-24T10:28:08.703-04:00Day 2: Clarion, PA to Osceola, Iowa<div style="text-align: justify;">
An incredible day of flying, perhaps a few of the most stellar flights I've ever had. I was smiling, laughing, saying things like, "Holy Shit!" I was flying at just above the base of the clouds. And such that it was a mostly sunny/partly cloudy day, the clouds were not continuous. So I was able to pick my way amongst them. But to this extent, I had not done before. </div>
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I suddenly found myself working with the mind of a mountaineer. Analyzing the terrain for each safe passage, but this terrain was moving, albeit, slowly. It was an incredible feeling. I would be flying straight towards some big bellowing mass and have to pick left or right, unsure of which would provide a clear passage. I would pick one direction, bank that way, then back to my on course heading and look for a way through. A few times, I would be planning to soar over a cloud when I realized it was growing faster than I could climb, so I'd have to bank this way and that making my way through. It felt like the lost combination of all my years of mountaineering and sailing. The mountains of water vapor, moving ever so slowly, the mesh between the mostly stagnant mountains and the ever-alive ocean. </div>
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I would soar with a wing past expanding mountains growing as if they were molten lava before my eyes. It felt like a month of mountaineering route finding compressed into a 3 hour flight. Incredible flight with a reckoning with the clouds as I had not had before. I will remember this one forever. </div>
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Here's a time lapse of one of the flights: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CK_0NRePpM" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Crossing the Mississippi</a></div>
Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-18931935531984088072017-06-12T22:39:00.000-04:002017-06-12T22:43:21.868-04:00Day 1: Great Barrington, MA to Clarion, PA.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlJj6xWrH7UT403eRdFEl3knd8awuyC9oBFHU6ariYCO2yINu4PnWPxR5yzq0_S4L0nEzVSpwgG1OSKaZF9qfYr0C8lUSAQ87snUB3H4gbU0wrchq0JJ8j-cZIKNXB8ccH9W0/s1600/IMG_0526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlJj6xWrH7UT403eRdFEl3knd8awuyC9oBFHU6ariYCO2yINu4PnWPxR5yzq0_S4L0nEzVSpwgG1OSKaZF9qfYr0C8lUSAQ87snUB3H4gbU0wrchq0JJ8j-cZIKNXB8ccH9W0/s320/IMG_0526.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Farm Pond. I often wonder why I leave...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally packed up and ready to go, I was ready to break the chain to the ground, being ready enough. There is always more things to do but I was ready enough and the clock is ticking. But it's always hard to leave family and friends and the comfort of home (and Farm Pond!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEhS525-eC_DmhJngkSXKzO38s_EDpQalrCnIBaIM44JN3qghpuWCRN4sHvfr7D-Fg0XL4TWN2I7lWeExn4-xbkbJtoTfF4IyUnm8s46So8YIngjPzIYm1DJc0gXJ8J0MeO8j/s1600/IMG_0530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEhS525-eC_DmhJngkSXKzO38s_EDpQalrCnIBaIM44JN3qghpuWCRN4sHvfr7D-Fg0XL4TWN2I7lWeExn4-xbkbJtoTfF4IyUnm8s46So8YIngjPzIYm1DJc0gXJ8J0MeO8j/s320/IMG_0530.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All fueled and ready!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The goal is to get to Denver, CO to see my brother, Chad, play with his band, Dispatch, at the Ogden (Thursday night) and then Red Rocks (Friday night), which I've never been to. The weather didn't cooperate this spring, so I'm having my flying expedition now. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over 105 degrees.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUiGRyT5bfZGCCZyM2lP-Y2M7O37oDhRSwCT51Sb0z2UVBos4LYv7puW1WXu32emnuOobvUvMd8xrrOZNwTXM3MZnIQU5sMhe62_syWK2r5POFHSw80w1wwWQMNZVApRXsTDe/s320/IMG_0531.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweating it out.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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92 degrees today in western mass, meant that it was 105 degrees in the cockpit. Sweating bullets, I was very happy to get into the cooler sky, where it was a pleasant 70 at 4,500 feet. <br />
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This pic was taken over Pennsylvania. After flying towards the sun all afternoon, I was struck by the amazing thing that we live on a planet near a star. How lucky we are to exist on such a cool planet. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAc84BRilwGPBRVNMKNDy2sr9tBIc7UrJGeWH9XmiqVoxmv0m11Lw0y5ACmBfwFplLqUBDbQMKrQituF7BVLjrqxf5REbyM-eF_YKQlbaoBsOMt46haTNMUhd401SZDiu3S-AW/s1600/IMG_0552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAc84BRilwGPBRVNMKNDy2sr9tBIc7UrJGeWH9XmiqVoxmv0m11Lw0y5ACmBfwFplLqUBDbQMKrQituF7BVLjrqxf5REbyM-eF_YKQlbaoBsOMt46haTNMUhd401SZDiu3S-AW/s320/IMG_0552.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I landed after 2+ hours in Clearfield, PA but they didn't have self-serve fuel and I didn't want to wait for the services to open up, so I headed on to Clarion, PA, where I've landed many times before. Got in as it was getting dark. Had to click the mic seven times to turn on the runway lights. Such a beautiful sight to see all the lights turn on. <br />
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All parked, and flights entered into the various logs. I'll sleep outside tonight and hope the bugs aren't too bad. Under the wing, looking up at the stars. It's always hard to leave home, and I sometimes wonder why I do, but I usually find the answer out here. Happy to be out and about in the world. Saw the space station fly overhead as I was parking Freddy.<br />
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Hope to fly a good distance tomorrow. Lots of daylight being so near to the summer solstice. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OfU8u2037uhBynsy8MoQ3HC0Eq9vL1ZxfqOGeA8AkWTNVc45_V8gNai99cn7kSseXWmsIni7ckQdXbucvh_R57epDP6SDYju0cSR6YCxVF0tRciN9mcsBLGd2cHpCH0EqJEW/s1600/IMG_0555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OfU8u2037uhBynsy8MoQ3HC0Eq9vL1ZxfqOGeA8AkWTNVc45_V8gNai99cn7kSseXWmsIni7ckQdXbucvh_R57epDP6SDYju0cSR6YCxVF0tRciN9mcsBLGd2cHpCH0EqJEW/s320/IMG_0555.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Star Wars sunset. Looking for the other star in the binary system...</td></tr>
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<br />Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-24812788926084058342017-06-08T16:04:00.000-04:002017-06-08T16:04:06.420-04:00Comment/Subscription Clarification<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hello! To readers who would like to leave comments, my mother suggested I make some clarifications. If you have subscribed (through the window on the top right to get an email each time I post something new) you cannot reply to that email to leave a comment. I will not get the message. </div>
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If you want to respond, you can click on the blue link at the top of your email - that will take you to the blog. Then you can scroll down to the bottom and there is a place to read and write comments at the very bottom. Or you can always feel free to email me directly. </div>
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But to be clear, if you respond to the automated email, I will NOT get your message. If you want it public, go to the blog and type in your comment at the bottom. If you want your comment private, email me directly! </div>
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And if you want to subscribe, you type in your email address to the window in the top right, then you'll get an email asking you to confirm you want to subscribe and a link to click on to verify it's really you. I know many people have put in their address to subscribe but have never verified themselves. YOU CAN UNSUBSCRIBE AT ANY TIME. I'll be writing a bunch over the summer with some flying and sailing and otherwise, so do as you chose. The whole point of the blog is to not overwhelm overflowing email inboxes. </div>
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As always, thanks as always for reading, and thank you Mom!</div>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-989213403834402672017-06-08T09:48:00.000-04:002017-06-08T09:48:28.689-04:00New Astronauts Announced<div style="text-align: justify;">
12 new Astronaut-Candidates were announced today. Long ago, I knew I was not going to be among them, but finally seeing the twelve NASA selected from 18,300 was interesting to say the least. There are men and women, in their twenties, thirties and forties, PhDs and medical doctors, military and non-military, pilots and non-pilots, a SpaceX employee, a NASA employee, a submariner and a bunch of Antarctic experience among the group. With over 18,000 applicants it's hard to compete. </div>
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https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/astronauts/candidates</div>
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So again, I am closer to having passed the window of age where I could be selected but seeing who they selected, I am again confronted with the seeming reality that I won't get selected. Questions arise as I watch and listen on NASA TV. Should I have joined the military, should I have gone into the Aerospace industry right after college, should I have gotten a masters. Maybe I shouldn't have worked at a school for the Deaf, shouldn't have become a certified arborist, shouldn't have become a sailor, shouldn't have been trying to learn how to play the bass guitar, and so on and so forth. NASA's not really looking for sailors, even though astronaut means "star voyager." They're looking for military test pilots, NAVY SEALs and medical doctors. I simply don't come close to measuring up to those selected.</div>
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Out of the 18,000 there are another hundred who got very close, and some will probably be selected next round. I was not close at all and didn't even make it through the first round. So it's extremely unlikely that it will ever happen, and though I've told myself that my whole life it's hard to come face to face with the likely reality. </div>
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I will still apply again. I will be over 40 by the next selection but two were selected this round over 40. But I expect to get no further that round. </div>
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So my answers to the questions? Even though it may have been lessening my chances, I wouldn't change a thing. I love my Deaf friends and their language, I love the trees, my sailboat, my borrowed bass guitar. I've loved my five seasons in Antarcitca, and the expeditions I've done with friends. I love the expeditions I've led for NOLS and Outward Bound, I love that my tree company is/was called Spacewalk Tree Service and its logo features an astronaut with a chainsaw. I am happy and feel incredibly lucky. I have had such incredible support and such an incredible family and network of friends. </div>
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And thank the universe, I have my own expeditions to embark on in a matter of days! Flying my little Cessna-172 out to Colorado to see my brother play in his band, Dispatch, then sailing in Maine on my sailboat before returning to western Massachusetts for the start of the school year at Berkshire School, where I'll teach another year of Engineering and Astronomy.</div>
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Not getting selected gives me more freedom and freedom I have always loved. I can keep sailing, keep flying, keep signing and singing, keep playing ice hockey and squash. And I'll keep exploring the Earth as if I came from another planet. I guess I'm an Terranaut, an Aquanaut and Aeronaut. The elusive Astronaut out of reach, but there is much to be explored still by land, sea and sky. I have my own "spaceships." And so I'll not dwell and take to the skies on Monday!</div>
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Thank you to all who've supported me with such enthusiasm and for all your words of encouragement along the way! They mean the world to me! </div>
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Here are a few of my favorite shots exploring the world by land sea and sky:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UQ9nfMYsUkioVUapyBwjpqJtLiAPt8MTqXQ-1TZTbKCTn5QO6_M7lRfJOhwhLJ1QeBQ6KfAMt7X2p2jU0-HLMwA9P8h2BymujIdOIAnC2Zf-El5DWr1v4pdrQZ6_VHGwpGSX/s1600/IMGP1673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UQ9nfMYsUkioVUapyBwjpqJtLiAPt8MTqXQ-1TZTbKCTn5QO6_M7lRfJOhwhLJ1QeBQ6KfAMt7X2p2jU0-HLMwA9P8h2BymujIdOIAnC2Zf-El5DWr1v4pdrQZ6_VHGwpGSX/s320/IMGP1673.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All suited up in my glacier rig while instructing a NOLS course.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_5WDa_t4v8umEvqe2UqDfoGAWDBInRdBi5Ba2XjtrzijOVEAKuM57sp4hRFa647lVl97wIcMduypB4o9kNiKRXU_CHflriwN_mjeRirlQPkmkTgHM7A_3ESIGItkp6Jwjc5n/s1600/IMGP0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_5WDa_t4v8umEvqe2UqDfoGAWDBInRdBi5Ba2XjtrzijOVEAKuM57sp4hRFa647lVl97wIcMduypB4o9kNiKRXU_CHflriwN_mjeRirlQPkmkTgHM7A_3ESIGItkp6Jwjc5n/s320/IMGP0249.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my first tower climbs in Antarctica as an antenna rigger.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuR5OWODn2VbUCcZbXLZW1UV8YLMjTah0KCFdy5v0ijiJlFfIwIpOLuoCDiqOIrgfy1h0ds9vQetfFZzYWqDQzfI2nDjJJT6fc84sd6fNDYC796c5DQxZvBhf6RcxvjXxqD2oV/s1600/IMGP0285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuR5OWODn2VbUCcZbXLZW1UV8YLMjTah0KCFdy5v0ijiJlFfIwIpOLuoCDiqOIrgfy1h0ds9vQetfFZzYWqDQzfI2nDjJJT6fc84sd6fNDYC796c5DQxZvBhf6RcxvjXxqD2oV/s320/IMGP0285.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Riding in helicopter to our worksite in Antarctica. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ugPWIDqHwqkPTlnpkvP6U9vP5T_IYj7Lx0Ni_qZ92uvHWzJ3rGH4NsdLH29DbQlWpssAyOIJZRyB6N9moxGtxS-BsEuJ36dLS0J0Ecy9NF0Hez3L0OplEDA4k317447yJNTR/s1600/IMGP0206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ugPWIDqHwqkPTlnpkvP6U9vP5T_IYj7Lx0Ni_qZ92uvHWzJ3rGH4NsdLH29DbQlWpssAyOIJZRyB6N9moxGtxS-BsEuJ36dLS0J0Ecy9NF0Hez3L0OplEDA4k317447yJNTR/s320/IMGP0206.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sailing in Baja with NOLS.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2vh2sPywd2TmlJMWc8zsUDt-MwgkADNi2p33m6qDGZdwMxI6VzaAkTMdMT3F8TtfKpw21v5Kb6gyiR4JWJWX_8kW2bAzR9dgivhjSTP9ZrXaWfPQrP1z07_JCXrY2o0ogsSe/s1600/IMGP0072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2vh2sPywd2TmlJMWc8zsUDt-MwgkADNi2p33m6qDGZdwMxI6VzaAkTMdMT3F8TtfKpw21v5Kb6gyiR4JWJWX_8kW2bAzR9dgivhjSTP9ZrXaWfPQrP1z07_JCXrY2o0ogsSe/s320/IMGP0072.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instructing a mountaineering course in the Waddington Range of British Columbia.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGX0EKZbR6vCRKQsg3uwCfB7RFkI-z2h-BmWBxVqeFYZUdIQ5b8ygA8PRsW4RilR9BodPj3YMnh0bskYrBvyCdUFTpRURNwraNUTPEl2GnY02qImo9hZfo_y0MV78SgX_cU_LK/s1600/IMG_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGX0EKZbR6vCRKQsg3uwCfB7RFkI-z2h-BmWBxVqeFYZUdIQ5b8ygA8PRsW4RilR9BodPj3YMnh0bskYrBvyCdUFTpRURNwraNUTPEl2GnY02qImo9hZfo_y0MV78SgX_cU_LK/s320/IMG_0003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the cockpit and at the controls!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg80CKM1wrU_u41GNnqk2Z3Spr8t4fdDoZL5HRu347_ohGl6Hz-Q9TITxJDcOpwoMxzMvI-VqrTZwXDIzVQmk8_NJ-5edXjZpHgal3bgEFCUXhpxOXrWwI7RGC7LPN2o6hMG8B/s1600/IMGP0995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg80CKM1wrU_u41GNnqk2Z3Spr8t4fdDoZL5HRu347_ohGl6Hz-Q9TITxJDcOpwoMxzMvI-VqrTZwXDIzVQmk8_NJ-5edXjZpHgal3bgEFCUXhpxOXrWwI7RGC7LPN2o6hMG8B/s320/IMGP0995.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All skin covered, probably high on Mt. Erebus in Antarctica.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKgr6O81dFdoEPs9lRlCehhFC0q_Ci5aErLpUuMfokId8q2kEWjtfWvR80X8Hldo9sWHpOFx3A_yuodahUDk_Vui2l6x-kQ1Qxkm-qFsaz5Kb2zSxZ4EMXYPk9dcwbweABHF3/s1600/GOPR0360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmKgr6O81dFdoEPs9lRlCehhFC0q_Ci5aErLpUuMfokId8q2kEWjtfWvR80X8Hldo9sWHpOFx3A_yuodahUDk_Vui2l6x-kQ1Qxkm-qFsaz5Kb2zSxZ4EMXYPk9dcwbweABHF3/s320/GOPR0360.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view from the cockpit.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE7QAc1Pn64eqcZ6meqs4EybycGAufeU50oypjTwmbOMTSYfYEov8xrqTk8o_nHQ13j8PTsoK4WmZZ077pZasMelaORBMh7kZzB66G5uwbaS1a3aC7sDOwQ9IdQ3zFYqXYFhG1/s1600/338A2585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE7QAc1Pn64eqcZ6meqs4EybycGAufeU50oypjTwmbOMTSYfYEov8xrqTk8o_nHQ13j8PTsoK4WmZZ077pZasMelaORBMh7kZzB66G5uwbaS1a3aC7sDOwQ9IdQ3zFYqXYFhG1/s320/338A2585.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind turbine work on Mt. Erebus, Antarctica.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaB3MwpRFSsDAerO4xApsYGiBFtQpi-r99Dakou6kowZQd8qMmyQn9jvGOXCfoszOlJ8DbKJa1ePP6VRFd5CkcRlnl2jqUdndQYmHwNkvWReXh0NjO9tCugGUKuqorc2PVY5HJ/s1600/GOPR1104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaB3MwpRFSsDAerO4xApsYGiBFtQpi-r99Dakou6kowZQd8qMmyQn9jvGOXCfoszOlJ8DbKJa1ePP6VRFd5CkcRlnl2jqUdndQYmHwNkvWReXh0NjO9tCugGUKuqorc2PVY5HJ/s320/GOPR1104.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep underwater in the Bahamas.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK71SH8RC8-cSjBfLXuNJ-joK1nfgHNgtal1QZgNnAP78vShvKx8U6-KSwAAzWqgPU4JrACPy38GzdGkxZEbDedefsmva4sg2R73BUM70tDb4LNqgfW7QwDJH0V_0GC65d7Gw7/s1600/DSC_0597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK71SH8RC8-cSjBfLXuNJ-joK1nfgHNgtal1QZgNnAP78vShvKx8U6-KSwAAzWqgPU4JrACPy38GzdGkxZEbDedefsmva4sg2R73BUM70tDb4LNqgfW7QwDJH0V_0GC65d7Gw7/s320/DSC_0597.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the summit of one of the Scandinavia Peaks, Alaska on a personal trip.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjue2giFL2rua6ieG9WMluTKfGHmJtcAwc_m9m8F8bv1245Kv-ih7kOCIR7Y3As2p9XIjm2N_l8R1E-1nO5yX7oCWpgJva-V9rawE3mpLl2Rdzfxfn3eyle6SoyItRxrl10aIN5/s1600/IMGP3581.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjue2giFL2rua6ieG9WMluTKfGHmJtcAwc_m9m8F8bv1245Kv-ih7kOCIR7Y3As2p9XIjm2N_l8R1E-1nO5yX7oCWpgJva-V9rawE3mpLl2Rdzfxfn3eyle6SoyItRxrl10aIN5/s320/IMGP3581.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daphne, my long term spaceship.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqTEevt_4ddpyE8sqkA_mjw-lODrs5kkCwAiooTNyOBMzXtf5abc1hKluLMg_tV5JjF3UmnKfJRS3o-iSoNMbik58WyuF7YVu2XNqcen54IdZ8rPAGu37J2sHJqruompYjf7k/s1600/IMGP0705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqTEevt_4ddpyE8sqkA_mjw-lODrs5kkCwAiooTNyOBMzXtf5abc1hKluLMg_tV5JjF3UmnKfJRS3o-iSoNMbik58WyuF7YVu2XNqcen54IdZ8rPAGu37J2sHJqruompYjf7k/s320/IMGP0705.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy as a clam in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica.</td></tr>
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<br />Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-55031081746307052242017-06-03T16:00:00.000-04:002017-06-04T14:55:15.769-04:00Sign Language Interpreting<div style="text-align: justify;">
And so I was called into action in a last minute desperate attempt to find an interpreter - any interpreter at all as the time was so short. That's the kind of interpreting I do best, not being certified and all...A desperate need for one student on a Wilderness First Responder re-certification course. I was hesitant as my skills aren't as good as when I was a teachers' aide and coaching the soccer team at The Learning Center for the Deaf, but when I found out I knew the student and she needed the cert for her summer job, I was agreed to be "better than nothing!" </div>
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And hopefully I have been. Two days done, one more to go. One Deaf student out of 19 students. It has been interesting watch her navigate her not-certified interpreter. There are times, I know she's confused and is just being patient with me (oh so patient) and there are times when I'm interpreting some long-winded, too-specific story from some student that has nothing to do with what is going on or what we're trying to learn. I appreciate those who are succinct and clear in their communication. </div>
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Having taught similar courses, I am caught in the dilemma of communicating exactly what I hear or communicating what I think will best convey the information. All the while, not really stopping. At the end of the first day, I was ready to take my arm off at the elbow and look around for another one. My finger-spelling started to slow as my tendons and ligaments started to fatigue, then I could feel every movement in my forearm. When I had a short break, I would let my right hand hang like I was rock climbing, trying to get some healing blood back to it. Shake it out...hope it lasts another lesson. Normally there are two interpreters for a job so they can rest their minds and hands. When I showed up they told me there were usually three for these courses. </div>
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With no experience, some work easily with a Deaf co-student. Some tend to find someone else to work with. Those who are willing make a difference. Those who treat their students Deaf and non-Deaf all the same are wonderful. </div>
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Back in this wonderful language, so beautiful, so cool, knowing it feels like a super-power! Since my client and I are looking at each other for much of the course, there are wonderful shared moments where one of us will catch the other in a moment of confusion, chills, boredom or mental fatigue. Smiles come, sometimes laughter, our own little beautiful world. It would be made more beautiful if the room was full of Deaf folks and I was teaching them wilderness first aid skills directly instead of interpreting them through another instructor, but as it is, it's our own little beautiful world. Her perspective is probably not the same as there are times that I am not interpreting things perfectly due to the nature of what or how something is being said or in what situation. She looks confused and we laugh about it later. She probably thinks, "What the Hell?!" and either thinks the instructor is an idiot if I'm interpreting things properly or thinks I'm an idiot for not doing a better job. On second thought, she surely knows I am at fault. Hopefully I am still better than nothing!</div>
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My client I have not seen in many years and so wonderful to reconnect. Before a student, now a friend. Confident, smart, ever so patient, and with wide eyes to the world. So impressed how she works with us hearing folks. Lookout world! So nice to have such people in the world. </div>
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I would write more, but really should rest the hands. Slept almost 10 hours last night, trying not to move my hands and forearms. First day in a long time I didn't play a guitar or bass. It was worth it though. Power to the people who can communicate with their hands and faces. I was drawn to this language as a kid and the grace and beauty of the language and the people of the Deaf world have forever enriched my life. So many thanks to all who've been so patient with me and let me into their world. </div>
Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-41863275120650596782017-06-03T15:27:00.000-04:002017-06-03T15:27:47.964-04:00Waddington Range Mountaineering and Dogsledding in Minnesota<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's almost summer time which means it's almost adventure time! The quick plans, once school is done, fly myself out to Red Rocks in Colorado and back to hear my brother play with his band, Dispatch. Then up to Maine to spend the rest of my school-teacher summer aboard my beloved boat, Daphne. </div>
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But first a recap. The first half of last summer was spent in British Columbia teaching a NOLS mountaineering course. With two other instructors and 11 students, we traversed over 50 miles of glaciated, rocky and think vegetated terrain in style and with lots of laughs, and maybe a few tears. It was an awesome experience, made more powerful with the knowledge that the first time I had been there was with my friend AJ, who was killed in a plane crash two years ago.</div>
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The days were long and the views stunning. I used my Maine coast fog navigation skills to navigate the team many miles up a glacier, through a pass, then down a glacier to our campsite in one of my favorite days in the mountains. Everyone who was behind me had to quietly plod along, separated by the rope lengths (in case one of them fell into a crevasse), in the cold soaking rain, while I, on the front of the first rope team, with map and compass in hand, took bearings, made marks on the map, and quietly dead-reckoned our way to camp while thinking, "I love this shit!" When we arrived to camp, one student asked, "How the heck did you get us here?!" Thank you to the Maine fog and my time as a sailing instructor for Outward Bound. </div>
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We had long days and short nights. Both in actual daylight and in hours awake. Many days on end contained only 5 hours of sleep or less and I would often wonder, how am I still functioning. It was a probably a combination of the good company, the responsibility of being in charge of the whole team, our stunning scenery and the fact that the terrain involved much careful thought, mitigation and planning to safely travel through it. I will not forget coming down one glacier, looking up to see the headlights high above as they followed the little wands I had placed marking the safest route. By midnight we were down but had no where off glacier to camp, so we had to have two people with probes probe out an area safe for us to sleep. A long day ahead, it was only a few hours of sleep again for us instructors. </div>
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The route out of the mountains was perhaps the most challenging part. Jenga logs from pine-beetle kill, bushwhacking, it is indescribable to any who haven't been there. What a feeling to emerge with our team happy and healthy, a month after entering the mountains of the Waddington Range. </div>
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From there it was a few weeks of sailing on the Maine coast and then back to the school. </div>
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This spring me and another on the faculty took students on a dog sledding trip in Minnesota. We hired an outfit to lead it and it was a spectacular experience. Sleeping in bivi sacks on the surface of a frozen lake at -10 degrees F, listening to the ice crack and looking up at the stars. It was a little taste of the Antarctic and I felt right at home in Ely, Minnesota. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing my best to look like an arctic explorer...</td></tr>
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School is almost done! A story of last spring's adventure flying to Houston and back to talk to NASA folks will be published in the July issue of Popular Mechanics! Apparently over a million readers! </div>
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That's all for now! Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks!</div>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-43936355857958331022016-11-11T20:51:00.002-05:002016-11-11T20:51:27.922-05:00The Power of Music<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yesterday morning, in front of the entire Berkshire School student body, I made a speech about the power of making music with other people. My aim was to create a space for musicians (and anyone who wanted to become a musician) who'd been practicing (or dreaming) in their dorm room to find each other and to begin making music together. Not for an audience, but for the fun of it, for the magic of it, for themselves. To turn off their Netflix, their video games, pick up a guitar, a horn, a pair of drum sticks and believe in themselves.</div>
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Today we had our meeting. About 30 students, faculty, and a few faculty kids showed up, guitars in had, smiles on their faces with such eagerness on their faces. Before half an hour was up, kids were hurriedly scurrying out the door to begin practicing with their new band mates eager to get to work. Their assignment was to form a quick group, and in a few weeks, the 30 of us will come back together to play one song for the group, cover or original. </div>
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I did not do that much. I told them to make a conscious choice about how to use their time. I told them about the power of making music. I told them everyone has to pick up an instrument for the first time. Basically, I gave them permission to believe in themselves and to belive they could be in a band. For sure some will get too busy and be on to other things, but by the looks of what I saw, Berkshire now has a little more rock and roll in it, and I'd wager that for some kids, there's no going back! The tiniest encouragement and a tiny bit of structure and look out! I am very excited to see where it goes.</div>
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If your're interested further, here's what I said.</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello Bears,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wrote this out because you all make me nervous. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year, my first year as a teacher here at Berkshire School, I loved going to all the different kinds of music events around campus, and maybe I missed it, but at some point, I said, “Where’s the rock and roll?!” I went to a public high school in eastern mass where at every talent show, there were multiple bands playing music, so I naturally expected the same here. But it appears it’s not happening on its own, or it needs a little encouragement so I’m here to try to infuse and instill a little rock and roll into and out of the students and faculty here at Berkshire School. Because I know you’re out there...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you say, “I like music, but I’m not a musician” To that I say, become one! I once taught a promising astronomy PG named Kevin. For reasons I don’t know, he started playing the guitar. Maybe it was given to him, maybe it was a friend’s, maybe it was something he always wanted to do. But he started in January, and he was performing at the talent show a few short months later. While I was on duty in deWindt last year, I would bring my guitar and we played together when we had the time. One night I asked him, where do you get the time to play and practice? He said something to the effect of..., “I just stopped watching Netflix.” </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dave Grohl, the drummer from Nirvana and now the frontman for the Foo Fighters summed it up best. He said,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “When I think about kids watching a TV show like American Idol or The Voice, then they think, ‘Oh, OK, that’s how you become a musician, you stand in line for eight hours with 800 people at a convention center and… then you sing your heart out for someone and then they tell you it’s not good enough.’ It’s destroying the next generation of musicians! Musicians should go to a yard sale and buy and old drum set and get in their garage and just suck. And get their friends to come in and they’ll suck, too. And then they’ll start playing and they’ll have the best time they’ve ever had in their lives and then all of a sudden they’ll become Nirvana. Because that’s exactly what happened with Nirvana. Just a bunch of guys that had some old instruments and they got together and started playing some noisy junk, and they became the biggest band in the world. That can happen again! You don’t need a computer or the internet or The Voice or American Idol.” </span></div>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-75668274247737252462016-09-21T15:17:00.000-04:002016-09-21T15:17:01.939-04:00Not Selected for NASA<div style="text-align: justify;">
I contacted my astronaut friend today to get any word about how the NASA selection process is going. He said they'd made the first cut and that if my references weren't contacted, then I've been passed over, which means I didn't make it to the "Highly Qualified" pile. So this one's over. At least I know now. </div>
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I wonder who looked at my application and what they thought...I'll try again if they open up the application again three years from now (they usually open it every 4 years - since 2000 anyways). But by then I'll be 42 and my friend said once I'm over 40, it gets a lot harder to get selected. If I made it past the first cut this time, I'd think there might be a chance next time. As it stands now, it all seems very unlikely. 18,000 other applicants were too hard to beat. </div>
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So the dream is disappearing, but still maybe one last chance, though an unlikely one. For now, it means some good things...I can keep teaching at Berkshire School, keep flying Freddy, keep sailing Daphne, keep driving Bessie. Perhaps a future sail across the Atlantic will be better than a flight in space. I can keep playing the guitar and bass and I don't have to move to Houston. </div>
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I didn't expect to get selected, but it's still disappointing. For now I'll just have to be an astronaut on planet Earth. I'll just have to make that do for now and maybe forever. Generally it is awesome being an astronaut on Earth, but I wanted a taste of space. Maybe someday. I'll keep training, as the training might be almost as good as the real thing. </div>
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Thanks to all who've supported and encouraged me in this pursuit. One of the best part of being an astronaut would have been how many people I could have shared the experience with, and also riding a rocket into space would have been pretty cool too. </div>
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Back to Earth adventures! To infinity and beyond!</div>
Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-13661208028101842112016-03-22T21:21:00.001-04:002016-03-22T21:21:00.842-04:00Almost HomeAlmost a thousand miles today. I got out of the cockpit and after more than eight hours of flying today and thought, I need to sit down! So after a pee break, and put fuel in the wing tanks, I climbed back in the cockpit. I woke up just outside of Houston this morning. Part of me wanted to see if I could make it all the way home with some awesome tailwinds created by a high and a low boundary. But I stopped to see some friends (Davey and Fox!) and almost saw some more (Peske and Ben!) and now find myself in a quiet airport in PA. <div><br></div><div>Although I would have liked to have crossed the one thousand nautical mile mark today, I'd rather be right here. I'm not quite ready to be home, not quite ready to land and immediately unpack. I woke up at 0500 this morning and while I feel that I'm exhausted I also feel the life in me. They do a strange thing in PA where they lock the airports, even the pilots out after a certain time. (All other states seem to trust pilots.) And while I can't go inside right now, I'm perfectly content sitting in my vessel, my ship, my craft. We clean up, debrief the day, record the facts of the day. A sweet dinner of apples, arugula, triscuits and cheese. </div><div><br></div><div>I sat watching the last light disappear and felt like I was on a boat in a peaceful anchorage. So happy to sit and look at the sky, look at the dials, contemplate flying more than 900 miles. Free miles from the wind push no me along. After many months of many hours of computer time, it is so nice to have the eyes open and to be looking across miles and miles. One mile straight down and tens of miles in all directions. </div><div><br></div><div>Life is good. I love being a pilot, I love my ship. I love that pilots don't usually sleep in their planes or have skateboard in their planes. If I never get to be an astronaut in space, at least I'm getting to be one on planet Earth. </div><div><br></div>Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-25027194508672096072016-03-19T23:38:00.004-04:002016-03-24T12:18:53.270-04:00By Sky to Houston<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Repairs in progress.</td></tr>
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It's time for some "By Sky" to Houston, TX to have a meeting with an astronaut. Being a teacher now, I have a long spring break, and so instead of flying commercially when my astro contact said to come down to visit, I am flying Freddy (N7202G) a 1970 Cessna 172K Skyhawk that's been in the family for at least 30 years. The details of the story have to be saved now for a potential story for Popular Mechanics, but here are some of the memorable bits so far...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crossing Delaware Bay</td></tr>
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The test flight to VT to see Chad play a show proved the carburetor heat cable needed replacing when it came off in my hand...in flight. I landed safely but had to work a fix to get back to my local airport and mechanic that involved a nearby ACE hardware store and a few hours of trial and error. In Delaware I was told to keep clear of the restricted airspace where aerial gunnery practice was happening. Then saw two fighter jets dead ahead about to practice their gunnery on me...then I realized they were sea gulls. In North Carolina, I stopped for some surfing with two of the other three Crazy Horse guys. In Mississippi, I landed at an airport that was staffed from the prison across the street. (It seems to be a very strange prison, but the hospitality from Terry (serving 10 years on a crack cocaine dealing charge - he's served 8 years, 2 months so far) was outstanding. And then there is landing at Ellington Field in Houston which did not disappoint. Vectored in for landing traffic, I was told I was number two to land, following the F-16. I love this airport, and am now in one of their pilot sleeping rooms. No charge for pilots. Amazing. Freddy is parked near a T-38. The same jet trainer that the astronauts use to keep up their proficiency.<br />
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Three days, 16.3 hours of air time. Over 1500 miles flown. One weather delay, two surf sessions. Flying is unreal. It is amazing that I can throw some switches, turn some dials, press some buttons, pull and push some levers and end up in Houston!</div>
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Tomorrow to be a NASA tourist and Monday to have a meeting that may (or may not) impact my future...Very happy to be in Houston! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset as I arrived in Houston.</td></tr>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29186770.post-46748388187722176782015-04-02T14:54:00.000-04:002015-04-02T14:54:13.240-04:00Spacewalk T-shirts!I'm making shirts for my tree service! See below for info if you're interested in having one sent to you. $20/shirt.<div>
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If any of you don't know, I've been a certified arborist since 2006 and made my business a real thing this past fall. Since '06, it's been something that I did in between other contract work but this year, I've been doing it as my main work. I named the business Spacewalk Tree Service because when I'm in the trees I often feel similar to what I imagine what an astronaut feels like on a spacewalk. Hopefully someday I'll have a chance to compare them myself.</div>
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The shirts are being printed by friends of mine at Fox Island Printworks on North Haven Island in Maine.</div>
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American Apparel Track T: XS-2XL<br /><a href="http://store.americanapparel.net/tri-blend-short-sleeve-track-shirt_tr401" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://store.americanapparel.net/tri-blend-short-sleeve-tra…</a><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br />(They're very soft, good shirts. State Radio uses the same kind.)</span></div>
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If you want one, email me <span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">(benjaminurmston@gmail.com) </span><span style="line-height: 1.38;">the following:</span></div>
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Size<br />Color (best on black or navy - AA calls them "tri-black" or "tri-indigo")</div>
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The cost is $20/shirt and you can pay once the shirts are made at the end of the month. I'll send the shirt to you.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">The actual shirt will have the typed SPACEWALK TREE SERVICE below it as shown in the mock up below.</span><br />
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Yeah, springtime! My best to you and your trees.</div>
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Ben Urmstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03225943975516689207noreply@blogger.com0