A new blog....

I started a new blog today called The Tourist At Home. 

I haven't yet decided if I will cross post everything to this blog, but here is the first post in its entirety:

Today's destination:

Located in the heart of downtown Columbus, the Scioto Mile is an urban oasis comprised of more than 145 acres of lush parkland. Stretching along the riverfront from the vibrant Arena District to the natural beauty of the Whittier Peninsula, the Scioto Mile reconnects downtown to the Scioto River through an integrated system of parks, boulevards, bikeways and pedestrian paths.

Fostering some of our City’s most celebrated features—a stunning 15,000 square-foot interactive fountain, the country’s largest free outdoor climbing wall, and the world’s most authentic replica of the Santa Maria—the Scioto Mile has something for everyone.

As is my wont, I got an early start. I like to walk early in the morning when I am nearly the only person up and about. The Scioto Mile seemed as good a place as any for the first post in this new blog, and it didn't disappoint. It reminded me to some degree of the walk I took up the Embarcadero in San Francisco earlier this summer and my morning beach walks in South Carolina in that the only other people walking are thowse walking dogs or indigent panhandlers. Everyone else is either jogging or riding a bike. Note that it is the latter higher-energy persons that are in the majority.

Being a Sunday morning, parking was both easy and free.  Because of the convenient location near the highway, it was easiest to start at the south end and walk to the north.

Downtown is an eclectic mix of the old and new, the rich and poor, and odd little pockets of in-between. I found an interesting pair of cars parked behind one of the lower-cost rentals.  It's rare enough to see a DeLorean these days - seeing them in a group is truly a unique find.

The DeLorean DMC-12 (commonly referred to simply as The DeLorean as it was the only model ever produced by the company) is a sports car manufactured by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company for the American market in 1981–82. Featuring gull-wing doors with a fiberglass "underbody", to which non-structural brushed stainless steel panels are affixed, the car became iconic for the appearance of a modified version as a time machine in the Back to the Future film trilogy. 

The first prototype appeared in October 1976, and production officially began in 1981 in Dunmurry, a suburb of south west Belfast, Northern Ireland(with the first DMC-12 rolling off the production line on January 21). During its production, several features of the car were changed, such as the hood style, wheels and interior. Approximately 9,000 DMC-12s were made before production halted in late 1982. 

The DMC-12 was the only model produced by the company which would go into liquidation as the US car market went through its largest slump since the 1930s. In 2007, about 6,500 DeLorean Motor cars were believed to still exist.

(Yes, I am aware of the typo in the Copyright - I'll fix it next time)

As a contrast, this prime example of inner-city vehicle was parked in the same lot.

Just shy of inclusion in the official Scioto Mile is the Cultural Arts Center. I didn't have any idea what constituted "Cultural Arts," so I looked it up.

The Cultural Arts Center is one of central Ohio's premier public Visual Arts facilities. Geared toward the novice to advanced adult (18 years and older) art enthusiast, CAC's Studios and Programs encourage you to express your ideas, enhance your creativity and explore your artistic potential. Come participate in the Cultural Arts Center's many exciting program opportunities.

I didn't find that to be particularly informative, so I dug a little deeper.

The Cultural Arts Center is housed in a renovated building that connects us to the earliest plans and places in our community's history. In 1812, the high east bank of the Scioto River was designated as the capitol of the new State of Ohio. In 1814, Columbus' first penitentiary was built on this plot of land only to be razed in the 1850's when The Ohio State Penitentiary was built at the corners of Spring and Neil Streets. 

In 1861, this building, one of the first Ohio State Arsenals, designed specifically for the storage of arms, was completed at a cost of $14,000. It continued to operate as the Ohio State Arsenal until the mid-1970s. 

In 1973, Melvin B. Dodge, then Director of the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, toured the Arsenal and saw its unique possibilities. At the time, the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department's very popular Adult Art Center was housed in a restored firehouse on Oak Street. The community glowed with praise for the artists and professional atmosphere that had emerged serendipitously in the proximity of our local art college. The firehouse was operating above capacity, serving hundreds of adults in various art classes each year. Dodge decided to move the Art Center from the over-crowded firehouse into the capacious Arsenal. 

By 1975, at Governor James A. Rhodes’ order, the National Guard and the State of Ohio had negotiated a 99-year lease arrangement with the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department.
The City of Columbus raised $250,000 to secure the development of the Center, and then Mayor Tom Moody signed the 99-year lease agreement for the sum of $1.00 per year. In 1976, Schooley-Cornelius Associates were chosen as architects from a field of eleven area architectural proposals. On December 24, 1976, the United States Department of Commerce for Economic Development Administration awarded a grant of $1,371,733.00 for Phase II of the renovation, and contract for the work was awarded to the Altman-Coady Company.

I was still curious about the corner piece of the wall. I was able to find out about that, too.

This ornate eagle and shield on the outside northeast corner of our brick courtyard, once decorated the US Battleship Ohio. The ship was decommissioned in 1900 and the eagle was mounted on the Arsenal wall in 1923. As part of the renovation project, five women's service organizations made it possible for James Mason, Bronze Casting Instructor, to restore it to the beauty you see today.

I was unable to determine which "US Battleship Ohio" it was that had been adorned with the shield. From what I could find on Wiki, there was no such ship decommissioned in 1900.

Hey, I could have ridden instead of walking....

.... if I could have decoded the convoluted rules.

This is Bicentennial Park. The big building in the background is One Miranova Place, which is a building full of high-priced condominiums.

How expensive?  Well....

Suite 2230

Price: $799,000.00
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 3.5

Description

One of your very last opportunities to build your 'dream home in the sky'! This 22nd floor corner Penthouse has 3,045 sf of potential. The magnificent wrap around floor-to-ceiling glass provides spectacular panoramic views of the river & skyline! The 54' balcony has 4 sliding glass doors & a Bomonite floor. Sold as shell space, the suite has been studded out per Acock & Associates plan and has rough electrical & mechanical in place. Per the current layout, it would have 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths & very open kitchen & living areas. Your vision may be different and this is your chance to personalize the space. Includes a private, 2-car enclosed garage with an electric door opener.

The south end of The Scioto Mile is marked by a wide open area with a huge fountain (which was thankfully inert in the chill of a Fall morning) and a small stage for outdoor performances.

Had the fountains been active, it would have looked something like this:

Again, I am glad that they weren't.

Looking to the West, there is a very expensive new bridge over the Scioto River to carry Main St. from one side to the other.

The "At Home Tourist" knows that some of his tax money went towards the four-year construction of said bridge, so he was by-golly gonna walk out on it.

And he's glad he did, because it really does provide a nice point for waterfront pix of downtown.

It's an odd duck, this bridge. Just the one arch. Not sure I've ever seen that before.

Which is because.... I haven't. 'Tis but the one in the entirety of the vast US of A.  Well, as of 2010, anyway. Perhaps it started a fad.

Catering to tourists such as myself, the city thoughtfully provided these nifty binoculars.

They work!

If I'm being a little snarky about the bridge, well, forgive me. It really is pretty impressive.  Very clean looking design, really.

I wonder how many people outside of Central Ohio know that Columbus has a waterfront.

This, I suppose, is the official starting point of the mile.

Or maybe this. Or, maybe they're just reminders. In any event, there were quite a few of them.

Each of the little columnar kiosks had either a fixed or swinging bench.

Across the rode from the path is the Civic Center and The Supreme Court of Ohio.  I'm not sure what message is intended by the gavel. I suppose it isn't the contemporaneous connotation of "Shut up or I will clear his courtroom," so common in Hollywood movies. I imagine they had something more like this in mind:

A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle and often struck against a sounding block to enhance its sounding qualities. It is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the capacity of a chair or presiding officer.

Back across the street (and being completely honest here, I only crossed over to the Supreme Court side to avoid a panhandler), the river walk is punctuated with more fountains.

At the end of the mile (by which I mean "as far as a I cared to walk") I found the Columbus City Hall building. Or, more accurately, the City Auditor's building.

Right along side is a replica of the Santa Maria.

Christopher Columbus' fleet consisted of three vessels obtained in a tiny Spanish coastal port. These ships were the most complicated and significant technological creation of their day. The Santa Maria and the ships that evolved from her design, opened up the world to the Europeans.
The Pinta and Nina were caravels: boats that were longer for a given width to give them a streamlined configuration. The Pinta was three-masted with square-rigged sails; the Nina, though the smallest, had four masts and was lateen-rigged (triangular sails) which Columbus had converted to square-rigged during a stop in the Canary Islands. 

The flagship Santa Maria was a "nao" or cargo ship. It was significantly wider and clumsier than the caravels. Columbus even mentioned later in the voyage that the Santa Maria was not very well suited for exploration. 

The Santa Maria never left the "new world". She ran aground and became hopelessly stuck on Christmas Day 1492 on the island of Isla Espanola (modern-day Haiti). Columbus had the Santa Maria disassembled and used the timbers to build a fortress in what Columbus called La Navidad, the first Spanish settlement. Because of the loss of the Santa Maria, Columbus was forced to leave 39 men and supplies at La Navidad to await for his return. 

The Columbus Santa Maria is the world's most authentic, museum-quality representation of Christopher Columbus' flagship. She was built in 1991 by Scarano Boatbuilding Inc. of Albany, New York for eventual opening to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the trans-atlantic voyage in 1992.

Had I been an actual tourist, I might have parted with the $4.50 required to take a tour. As it happens, the ship was closed until noon so I didn't really have the option.

Not too far from the Santa Maria was a guy looking to catch some brunch-worthy fish.

This is W. Town St., facing east. There aren't too many brick streets left around here.

This is one of those freaky 3D sidewalk paintings.  It's just outside the Milestone 229 restaurant located in the Bicentennial Park. If I was a real tourist, we would be eating at this place today, primarily because of this item on the menu:

Three Little Pigs
pulled pork, double-smoked thick 
hickory bacon and caramelized pork belly 
on a brioche roll with slaw, pickles 
and BBQ sauce 10.95

I think the sidewalk painting looks better if you have someone stand on the bridge.

Same painting, different angle.

This is the outside view of the Milestone 229:

That's it for this entry in The Tourist At Home. Check back for more!

I'm all aquiver...

It's not a case of idle hands, per se.  Nor is it a spirit of survivalism or a Mittyesque pursuit of a Hunger Games dream. It's partially because I have a good size backyard that is crying out for some use other than an acre of canine latrine, I suppose, but that doesn't really explain it either. Whatever it is, the idea that I would like to get a bow and some arrows for target shooting got into my head last year. I even went as far as enlisting Co-pilot Egg as a companion for a visit to the then new indoor archery range that opened a few miles from the house.

We rented bows and they had some arrows we could use. Neither of us could hit the targets at first. Egg's first attempts didn't even reach the wall, clattering to an embarrassing and ignominious landing on the floor. It didn't take too long before we were not only reaching the wall but actually hitting the target we were aiming at, though. 

It was quite fun, although it wasn't something that we could just pick up and do; between the drive to and from the range and the time-consuming signing of liability release forms and settling of accounts, it was a three hour chunk out of the day. It got me wondering how much a bow of my own would cost.

Answer: a lot!  The days of the simple fiberglass bows we had as kids are long gone. Those are now called 'recurve' bows and are surprisingly rare, at least in comparison to the newer 'compound' bows. And expensive. I suspect they appeal mostly to traditionalists (like me) who are willing to spend a lot of money for technology as old as the hills (NOT like me).

Which is not to say that compound bows are inexpensive. They are not. Prices started at around $300.  And that was just the start. They have all kinds of attachments and such that drive the cost even higher. And a quick glance at arrows was rather dissuasive as well: $20- $30 each! 

Archery looked to be more expensive than trap shooting!

The appeal of being able to do it without having to travel all over the place finding a suitable location continued to appeal, though, so I adopted my standard long-term acquisition strategy: Craig's List. This is the strategy that netted me a $150 Selmer saxophone (later sold for $250), a $400 16' kayak (later sold for $650), and Cabot, a "free" dog that has to date probably cost well over $1,000. Worth every penny, of course, but a strong argument for amending the age-old "there's no such thing as a free lunch" adage to include "or puppy."

So, long story short (as if!!), I started periodically checking the ads for a used bow, figuring that this was one of those areas where 'new' was not worth the additional cost. It took a long time, but the effort was minimal. It's all just a matter of patience. Hey, I've been looking for a good dart board in a solid wood cabinet for ages. Anyway, last week I found what I was looking for: a new-in-box Martin Threshold compound bow in a scrawny-guy-friendly 40 pound pull.  Even at the brand new price of $225, it looked to be a pretty good deal. The seller was asking $130.

I was on that like Cabot on a Milk Bone(tm).

The bow came with all of the attachments I would want, so I didn't even have to spend the $$$s to accessorize. It came with a six arrow quiver, a sight, and an arrow rest. Those are the bare essentials, but for what I want to use it for they are all that I will need.

Except for arrows. A six pack of field point arrows was about $27, free shipping. But I would have to wait for them. Instant gratification stymied. Still, a sixer of arrows at someplace like Cabella's would be $50+.

Oh, and I would need a target, but that should be cheap and easy, right?

Wrong.  You might be surprised to learn that even a small 16" x 16" target costs over $50.  I spent a good half hour stewing over the pricey selection of targets before realizing that 1) I would need something larger than 16" x 16" if I wanted to be able to hit it, and 2) I didn't need a super expensive target that could handle broad point arrows. While it still wasn't cheap at $65, and I had a hella hard time fitting it into my little roadster, I found a good sized target:

The picture above is the 'after' picture of a 'before & after' set. By which I mean it took quite awhile to get an arrow into it.

The aiming sight, you see, needed to be sighted in. That involved loosing arrow after arrow in the general location of the target, with fully 83% of them flying right over the top. The other one landed short as I tried to compensate for the horribly inaccurate sighting. As I blithely shot my entire collection of arrows down range, I never once considered that they might be hard to find, what with my lawn being in its ubiquitous state of needing to be mowed.

This is the most visible case:

Being down to one arrow had the salutary effect of making me a little more careful about watching precisely where it landed. After another half dozen tries, adjusting the sight after each failure, I finally achieved the state shown in the first picture.  I was able to refine that result through more repetition.  I have the insightful comment from a fortune cookie taped to my computer monitor at work that says, "Repetition is the mother of skill."

I guess that might be true. The jury is still out on this one, though.

I did eventually find the first arrow that landed short. This was nice, because it allowed me to work on consistent (if not precise) aiming.

So, the other four arrows?

The mower is pretty likely going to be the only way to find them.

All but one...

For the second time in as many empty hangar situations, the absence of one of my own airplanes has unexpectedly coincided with someone else's need for a temporary storage solution. In the most recent even, an RV-10 builder up north of Columbus asked if I knew anyone that would have open hangar space in September. I didn't, but told him that I would be on the lookout, just in case. And as we all know, it turned out that I knew just the guy: me. With my plane suddenly disappearing to the paint shop, the planets aligned and I was able to offer the space to another RV-10, the owner of which would be spending a few weeks in town.

The plane in question, Blinkie, is a gorgeous RV-10. It's owned by Steve, who is fairly well known in RV circles as 'Steve from Aircraft Specialty.'  That would be a fairly odd moniker (although... Blinkie??) if it wasn't for the fact that Steve is The Big Cheese at an online airplane accessory shop. Hey, if women need to accessorize clothes with shoes/purses, why not airplanes?  Most of the stuff he sells is manufactured right in his shop. Although I told him that he could use the hangar at no charge (it's just sitting there empty, after all), he still brought me some fantastic gifts. I can't get over how amazingly cool this stuff is! I can't wait to get my plane back (end of next week, at latest report) and dress it up:

I've flown in every single model of RV (except for the RV-3, which doesn't count because it only has one seat) but an RV-10, so I begged a ride if a chance arose. So while it looks like I got my ride at the point of a gun, such was not the case:

I thought my Dynon Skyview was some hot stuff, but this Garmin panel took my breath away. These are the kind of avionics that they're starting to put in multi-million dollar business jets:

Steve did the takeoff (which you will see in the video at the bottom of this post) and climbed the first few hundred feet, then I put away the camera and took over. The difference between Van's largest plane (the four seat RV-10) and Van's smallest plane (my RV-12) was stark indeed. The -10 is much faster, faster even than my old RV-6. It's a little heavier in roll than the six, but if I remember correctly, a little lighter than the RV-9. It trims out nicely, but I did notice that I didn't hold my altitude very well in steep-ish turns. That's probably a factor of both my eroding skills (haven't flown in five weeks) and the higher speed of the -10 over the -12. It's solid as a rock in cruise, though, and I could see three or four hour flights being quite easily accomplished.

I flew the downwind to runway 20 at Urbana, and Steve took over for the turn to left base. Which was a good thing - I was having trouble not letting the speed build up again. It sure is a slippery beast!

It was, by far, the nicest plane on the ramp that day!

It needed gas, and Steve didn't want to attempt a hot-start on the Lycoming just to taxi over to the fuel pumps. I lent my normal about of help. Never let it be said that I am always happy to do the least I can do.

For the return flight, I rode in the back seat. Unbelievably, the back seats are even more comfortable than the front! What a great way to travel! And the avionics make it even easier - had we been in the clouds, Steve could have just flown through those purple rectangles in the sky and the Garmin would have taken us right to the end of the runway.

Here is the aforementioned video:



So now the clock is ticking: when will I get an RV-14 ride?

The Plane Warming

No, I had never heard of a plane warming either, but then again I haven't had a great deal of experience in the realm of post-completion celebrations. But sure enough, there it was: an invitation to go down to Jackson to attend the airplane warming cookout with The Jackson Two. And when they combined 'warming' with 'cookout', well, they really meant it! But we'll get to that.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions for the event proved to be almost the very definition of 'flying weather', which would normally be considered a good thing. The problem was, of course, that I had no airplane to fly. In fact, I still don't. My little air buggy has been in the paint shop for four weeks now, and it feels like longer. I haven't made any attempt to check on the status - I figure they want it out of there every bit as much as I do and it will be done when it's done.

Balancing out the weather ledger a little bit was the fact that it was also very good convertible weather. Pete joined me for a nice hour and a half drive down to Jackson. We arrive about a half hour before the official scheduled beginning time and that worked out quite nicely - we got there just in time to get the one and only indoor parking spot.

What? Oh, yeah. You're right: that wasn't intended to be a parking spot. Oh well.

I'm not sure who was in charge of the cooking, but I sure was impressed with the technique they use down there. I think they matriculated at Burger King University.... Home of the Flame-Broiled Whopper!

As it turns out, it wasn't so much a technique as it was an accident. With the fire showing no sign of abating, it was determined that the lid should be closed. As I was watching the temperature rise on the thermometer, I couldn't help thinking that it was a real-life reenactment of the scene in every single submarine movie ever made when the boat is diving for the bottom of the ocean and all eyes are on the depth gauge as it goes ever further beyond the predicted crush depth:

At 900 feet degrees, it was further determined that perhaps closing the lid was not having the intended effect.

Oddly enough, the burgers that left their shadows behind turned out just fine.

They have a great hangar - it's on the end of the row, so it has tons of extra space and really great decorations. I particularly like the lamps made from old engine jugs. It's almost enough to convince me to try to find an old played-out Lycoming to make into lamps!

I simply cannot imagine how my Perseverance Award got lost in the mail. That is, as near as I can figure, the only reason I don't have one. When you consider that they started after me and finished before me, well... maybe it's not just time served that earns that award. My tenacity or stamina must have been in question.  Yeah, that must be it.  Anyway, well earned on their part.

The other pilots at the airport universally commented on how nice the paint looked. As impatient as I may be, at least I know that I am getting a high quality paint job.

Pete and I took a side tour. I met an older guy that told me that he had two biplanes - that was something we had to see!  The first is called a Fly Baby, and it more commonly built as a monoplane:

This one is an EAA biplane. This is the one I wanted to see the most - these pop up on Barnstormers now and then and are quite affordable, typically having asking prices right around what I'm paying for the paint on the -12.  If I could find a partner or two.... it might make sense to share a fun little open cockpit biplane.

The Fly Baby was a much simpler plane, but it had the appeal of looking more retro. I love the detail of the wood and guy wires.  Both of these planes were "plans built," which is the old school way of building an airplane. They bought boxes of wood and fabric that they hand-crafted into airplanes. I bought an airplane in a box and assembled it.

There is a world of difference between the two.

Back at the party, the cards determining each table's position in the food line were being handed out. I'm guessing that woman was satisfied with her assignment!

I wanted to wait around for the christening, but we had to head back north. I can only assume the airplane held up well against the force of the champagne bottle.

See 0:38 for what could have gone awry:

Despite the questionable burger cooking technique, the food was both plentiful and good!

The wives presented their husbands with just about the best thing you can give to an airplane owner: pictures of his plane in flight!

We headed out soon after that for another nice drive home, although having been moved out of the nice shaded car port did cause one little problem: the seats in the car were more toasty than the flaming grill!