Month: September 2025

For TONS more information and to find out details, go to www.NJAirshow.com The Annual Show is usually held in June. This one was added because of some inclement weather this past June.

So….. as I last reported to you, we drove back to Texas.

            And then I did some chores there and got back on a plane and went back to New Jersey!

???!!!

            Yup! Back I went to volunteer for a few days at the NJ Airshow which is held annually at the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, NJ. You all saw a photo of my grandson Andy’s toolbox at the Airport in my last Post, well, that’s how I got involved with this show.

            Mind you now, I did not have to be dragged back there kicking and screaming…… as Airshow’s are some of my favorite events on the planet! If you go back to the beginning of this Blog, October 25th of 2020, you will find one of my original Posts entitled “What You Don’t Know Is….” that has an Aviation slant to it. This will explain most of my affinizations on this topic. Throw in a chance to work with Andy and you’ve got the rest of my story!

WARNING!

This Post has only to do with Aviation and Airshows, this one in particular!

I’m really hoping that fact does not scare you away! I promise that there are some apropos anecdotes, some really cool photos,

and the chance to gain valuable insight into the ways and means of airshows and their performers…. just in case that category comes up when you finally get selected to be on Jeopardy!  ………..

“I’ll take ‘Airshows for $800’ please, Ken.”

Seen in this photo, this small control surface is usually found at the rear of the plane, not in front as it is seen here, and therefore has a different name.

“Pick me Ken! Pick me!”

First you will need to ring in Mr. Hall, you know the rules.

                        “Right you are Ken ol’ boy!”    (DING!)

                        Ahh, yes….Don, go ahead…

                        “What is a canard!”

                        Correct for $800!

                        “By the way Ken did you …..”

            “Ahh, Mr. Hall we don’t have time for any extended extrapolations here…”

            “Yes Ken, but this is fascinating and will only take a minute! Did you know that this particular design was actually the first one used in early aviation!!!???”

            Actually Don, I did know that as I am very intelligent, but now that you’ve piqued their interest (sigh) and interrupted the flow and pacing of this tightly and timely controlled television show, why don’t you now go ahead and enlighten the folks in our studio and our viewers at home about this, as you have already said, “fascinating subject”.

            “Hey! Thanks Ken!”

            Mr. Hall can you please step back behind your podium? This is not a classroom!

            “Oops! Sorry about that Ken! Back behind I go! Now folks, if you take a look at this photo that I happen to have in my phone of the Wright Brothers’ plane, you will notice that this particular control surface that we are referring to is right here, up front!

Now let’s look very quickly as Ken is getting really agitated, at this next photo that I happen to have, and you will see where this control surface has migrated to….. all the way back to the tail where it is called a “horizontal stabilizer” which holds the “elevators” which control the pitch of the aircraft and point the nose either up or down when actuated!

In the photo that was first shown, that featured yellow plane is called a Long E-Z, and was designed by the aviation genius Burt Rutan, who also deigned that plane (the Rutan Voyager) that flew around the world non-stop in 1986. And that’s just a small part of it! If we…..”

            No! No! No! That’s enough Mr. Hall! You’ve hijacked this Program for long enough! We will now break for a word from one of our sponsors, ahh.… oh no…. Rutan Enterprises???!!! That’s it! I’m outa here!!!

            “Bye Ken! See ya next time on Jeopardy!”

            Ok, well that little yellow plane was just one of the aerobatic acts that were featured this past weekend at the NJ Airshow. This particular airshow is rather unique in that it also incorporates a ‘Night Show” where we see the airplanes zoom through the dark skies spewing incendiaries all over the place…. A veritable fireworks aeronautic as it were. Add in a really cool Drone Story/Show and firebombs that light up the entire airport with billowing fireballs made by igniting gallons of gasoline. Fireworks? You want fireworks? How about a show that puts the Macy’s 4^th of July Show to shame (and that’s not taking anything away from the fine organizations annual NYC show!)

            A regular Airshow usually starts around 1:00 PM and goes until late afternoon as those types of acts need daylight to be appreciated. The folks at Greenwood Lake Airport have assembled a treasure trove of talented routines that start in the daylight, move on through the twilight, and finish with the proverbial BANG! (or BOOM!) when the skies are pitch black.

            I have never seen anything quite like it!!!

Most Airshows offer a variety of seating options. At Greenwood Lake, there are basically three, General Admission, this is where you bring your own folding chairs, maybe a big blanket, and ‘stake your claim’ in the appropriate area. Next is a Reserved Seating option called Front Line. Here you have a Reserved Seat up front, no need to worry about dragging chairs or claiming spots. And finally, there is the VIP Flight Line Experience. This is in its own enclosed area complete with a reserved table (with white linen tablecloth!), private, air conditioned, very clean, no /or short lines, bathrooms, free bottled water, and a private restaurant/grill where you can purchase good vittles right inside your own compound. In addition, you are given a Very Prestigious VIP Area Pass that hangs around your neck that grants you full back and forth entries and exits so that you can go out into the Vendor Area and you can procure the Fried Oreos(!) and other essentials!

The VIP area is where I put my time in, and I can assure you that our goal is to have you have the best possible time while you are there! Think of us as your own personal concierges, there isn’t much that we can’t facilitate except maybe a flight in the big biplane that’s sitting right in front of you! We can, however, introduce you to the fine group of instructors that can arrange for just an “Introductory Flight” that will put you in control of your own Cessna 182 for a gorgeous flight up and around West Milford and beautiful Greenwood Lake!

Here are some interesting tid-bits that bring a sobering aspect to the business side of this business. Every one of the performers gets paid whether they perform or not. Translation: If it rains and the show is cancelled or the weather is miserable enough to keep the crowds away, the Teams get paid anyway. They also still get free lodging, free rental cars, free food, free fuel (both while performing and in transit) in other words, when an act is booked, it is an all-expense guarantee of being paid. Now this is understandable on the Performer’s part…. why would you book a place and not get paid, as they could have booked at a different place where the weather was good enough to fly and they would get paid. In this business, the onus is on the Operator who cannot hope enough for decent weather! This is why a jam-packed show is quite essential to the continuing operation of any airshow!

But let’s start at the beginning, with the Performers, the Pilots and /or their support Team, etc. To say that these are a talented bunch of folks would be a huge understatement as what they do, and how well they do it, simply defies an ordinary explanation. Some novice airshow attendees will ask, “When do they start the air tricks in their planes?” An innocent enough question, they just want to know when the show starts. But the term “tricks” can leave anyone in the know bristling with an inner rage (?) as these aerial maneuvers are anything but “tricks”. There is no ‘sleight of hand’ going on, no ‘magic wands’, no ‘illusionary tactics’, just pure skill and daring (albeit a ‘safe’ daring) enhanced by thousands of hours of practice and technological improvements that sometimes find their way into general aviation!

            Quite often these Performers are commercial airline pilots that do this as a side business or hobby, and this fact is usually conveyed to the spectators by the Airshow Announcer when they introduce and speak about the current performer that is airborne at that time. I have heard more than once a comment coming from an uninformed spectator watching a series of loops, snap rolls, inverted passes, and they say, “I wouldn’t want them as my pilot!” Au contraire my good novice skywatcher….. that person flying is exactly who you would want as your pilot as they have those thousands of hours of experience in recovering from situations that they probably will never find themselves in, but a little extra practice exiting a “situation” never hurts! (As an aside, commercial airline pilots routinely undergo vigorous training in highly sophisticated simulators where their “instructor/proctor” throws them into almost impossible scenarios (Bird strike/main bus fuse failure/ landing gear failure/ and a meteorological micro-burst all at the same time!)

            On top of being skillful, they are all downright friendly and love to walk the Flight Line, before, but especially after their routines. Here they meet you, the Face in the Crowd, and they stop for photos, will sign just about anything, and will have a genuine conversation with you especially if you are a young person! Go get the grandkids, ask any one of the Show Volunteers where the best spot to meet the pilots is and you will become a hero to your grandkid as you were the facilitator of that meeting! And you may get some goosebumps yourself!

            Attending an Airshow requires some forethought and information. Let’s face it, if your weather is grand, the crowds should be also. I can assure you that every aspect of your Airshow Experience is thought through and then thought through again before every show. Getting you in and out as expeditiously as possible is paramount to your experience and the Operators are keenly aware of this. Having said all that, you are responsible for some of this, as you must bring with you some intelligence and patience. This is not like exiting your local Shop Rite parking lot as everyone wants to get out of there, usually at the same time, which, because we are human, is actually impossible to do. So why fight it?

Some of that forethought, especially if you’ve got little Attendees in your care with you, will go a long way. My advice is to hang back a bit, go to the vendors, get dinner, hang around where they roll the planes in and out, ask questions about them, watch some of them take off (some do not spend the night) and if you are at a show that allows “Fly-Ins” you can sit and watch hundreds of just regular Cessna’s, Piper’s, Mooney’s, Taylor Craft, and a myriad of others take off and return to their home bases. When this is done, you amble over to your car and (probably) have a “muchly more betterer” 😊 exit experience while at the same time, an absolute full day of Aviation Enjoyment….. especially that kid, either the one that you brought with you, or the one that is still inside you……. I promise.

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Some More Random Photos

I hope that you enjoyed these few extra pics!

As you can see from the above, we are presently on our way back to Texas. After a lot of debate and logistical finagling we came to the conclusion that heading back there instead of taking the much more scenic and desirable route through Minnesota, Montana, and Colorado was not the best route, in more ways than one. Unfortunately, this decision has left in its wake a few disappointed folks, namely the ones that we were to visit along the way, but no one was more disappointed than we were!

               Short backstory.

               Paula has spinal ‘issues’ that result in nerve anomalies in her feet.

 Solution: Spinal injections.

Moderate results.

Investigations, inconclusive.

Ultimately an MRI

What!!!??

No….. that’s a different issue!

Results: severed ‘anterior tibialis tendon’, time of malady and circumstances unknown.

Probable surgery. Wait.

Oops! Surgery not recommended.

Go West! She was commanded by the Doc. Get PT!

So that’s what we are doing. Add in some other logistical glitches and we came up with the fact that yes, we could wrap ourselves in a Trip of Highways of Circumference, but ultimately it all would have been too rushed. We decided to visit the affected folks later in the year at a more leisurely and quality-based pace.

Next stop, Homebase – Brenham, Texas.

End of Short Backstory!

This past summer had many an item mixed into it, a lot of the time was spent with family and friends, most of which were gladly repeated from experiences in the past. I hesitate to re-report said experiences because as wonderful as they were on that shared family level, there was not enough new material to ply you, the average reader with! And trying to keep up with the actual name of this Blog…. Muchadoaboutnothing-dp.com, I will not tire you with repetitious details. I’ll just leave it at, just like you all, we revel in being with friends and family every year enjoying traditional experiences through shared times!

Having stated that, there were some highlights that do deserve a nod in the ‘fresh’ category and some bragging on family updates!

Graduations, Recitals, etc. were some of the main reasons that we headed back East as early as we did…. three of note here….

Aubrey (Paula) is now in Chatham High School ready to add her swimming prowess to their perennially championship team. Aubrey has been swimming competitively now for about seven years and is constantly improving her best times and leaving her contemporaries in her wake!

Down the shore in New Jersey, we had the opportunity to watch Aubrey (14) swim 1500 meters (the old mile) in the open ocean at an event in Belmar where she bested about 600 other swimmers of ages all above her to come in around 200^th out of 800! And this was her first ‘open water’ meet ever!

Madeline (Don) is a Freshman at Ramapo College where she hopes to exit in five years with a Masters with a nod towards a Counseling career. One of her favorite things about Ramapo is their daily (?) bus to NYC. Maddie has more than 100 Playbills in her Broadway Shows I Have Seen collection!

And Andrew (Don) graduated at the top of his class from Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Teterboro, N.J. with his A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) firmly in his grasp. He is currently employed at the Greenwood Lake Airport in northern New Jersey where he is gaining valuable experience.

We were able to have a very nice maritime excursion out in the ocean outside Manchester-by-the-Sea with my son Donny and his family on their 32-foot sailboat, Selkie. When they moved up there from Cambridge about four years ago the kids started sailing lessons, their parents followed suit and now the kids are all involved competitively in sailing.  It was a great experience for us to watch the kids, Adelaide and Eleanor (13) and Augustus (15), handle a complex sailboat like they were pros!

Eleanor and Adelaide also traveled to Savannah, Georgia to compete on the 1500-meter Relay at the Junior Olympic Trials where they attained an All-America status! The only questionable part of this was someone’s decision to schedule these events in Savannah, Georgia in August where the daytime temps regularly top 100 degrees. Several competitors needed medical attention, and they ended up running some events at crazy late/early hours in order to avoid the heat. We all know the solution to this issue, it’s too bad the organizers did not!

On the Travel Front, you all saw the Posts from the Rhine River and London trip, which could not have been better. I highly recommend that Rhine River trip from either Basel to Amsterdam or the reverse, either one is fabulous.

But maybe I’m saving the Best for Last and it’s totally local! We had the opportunity to ‘tour’ New York City and I say that with all seriousness! How crazy is it that for a thousand years we’ve lived in the shadows of the skyscrapers of NYC, and it took a request from friends of ours that we met on the World Cruise to actually get this experience!

            (Another) little back story here is definitely in order.

            We met Sandi and Steve, residents of Palm Springs, California and Vancouver, Washington on the World Cruise three years ago. You know them from Posts here about Mt. Hood, Palm Springs, Big Bear Lake, Astoria, Oregon, and several others as we have kept in contact with them and visited them, in those other locales. Well, it seems that even with all of their travels, they’ve never visited NYC! Lo and behold, along comes another ‘World Cruise’ that they took from Sydney, Australia, disembarking in NYC this past August. We agreed last Spring (in Palm Springs) that we would hang around long enough to “show them around “as we obviously knew it better than they did.

I was bound and determined to give them a good experience as they had outdone themselves when we visited them on the West Coast in Palm Springs and Vancouver. You all know our affinity for Tours By Locals by now so with ‘tongue in cheek’ I started a company called Tours by Strangers and proceeded to plan a several-day itinerary for them.

They arrived in NYC on a Wednesday where they walked around Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s. We met them early Thursday morning at their hotel which we were also checked into. Off we went to the West Side of Manhattan to embark on the famous Circle Line that would take us all around Manhattan. The highlights were the Statue of Liberty, lower Manhattan with the Freedom Tower, and the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges that span the East River. That evening was dinner at Carmine’s and then off to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theater. Wicked never fails to impress and Sandi and Steve have obviously never seen a show on Broadway, but they have seen the travel-productions of shows when they came to the Portland, Oregon area. Luckily Wicked was not one of those so they had a First-First Experience!

A walk though Times Square at night on our way back to the hotel capped off a good first day. The second day (Friday) I arranged for an all-day tour of the City by Gary from Tours By Locals and he may be the best tour guide we’ve ever had, and you all know how good our past ones have been! There wasn’t much that we missed on this tour which brought us down into the subway system as this is by far the best way to get around. That evening was dinner at Gallagher’s one of the most long-lived and iconically authentic New York Streak Houses there are. It was obviously superb!

The next morning (Saturday) I procured tickets to the top of the Empire State Building. I opted for the ‘Express Service’ which allows you to skip all of the lines and get straight to the top. This is probably double the price, but well worth it! On top of that there is a new ‘Early Admittance’ ticket (yes, that’s even more $$$! But this day was worth the extra expense!) that gets you in a full half-hour before the general public. Throw that on top of the ‘Express Service’ and we found ourselves THE ONLY ONES ON THE OBSERVATION DECK of the Empire State Building! We had the entire place to ourselves, the weather acted as if it was in on this from the beginning, we could see as far as we possibly could and spent the most amount of time that I’ve ever spent up there where we enjoyed showing Steve and Sandi the sights from all four sides.

By the time we exited it was time to catch a cab back to Times Square where we had a brunch of sorts at Junior’s (you know, those piled high pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, etc.) and then it was time for Paula and me to skedaddle. Steve and Sandi left the City on Monday, heading back to Portland.

This is the part that really aggravated Paula’s ankle-issues, her leg looked like an elephant’s after walking (about 7 miles!) all over. A few hurried doctor’s visits brought us to almost hanging around for a surgery that we thought was imminent but was ultimately contra-indicated so here we are on our way back to Texas.

I started this entry a few days ago, worked on it while Paula was driving (she’s a much better driver than me!) and we entered Texas last evening and are at the first Rest Stop on I-10, the Texas Welcome Center, where we spent the night. It’s about 4:30 AM, the place is as quiet as a truck stop on an Interstate can be, and we still have 200 miles to go before we get to Brenham! That’s the distance from Port Jervis N.Y. to Cape May, N.J…… I still can’t get over how huge this place is!

If you’ve stayed with me this long on this Post, then you get to have the exclusive first-look at where you will be traveling with us this upcoming Travel Season which starts in January!

Here we go:

            January into February will be Vietnam from top to bottom, a side trip into the hills to spend time with local folks and then at the end we will spend some more time in Cambodia with Ankor Wat an obvious highlight!

            April into May will be the Baltic Capitals with a nice pre-trip to Poland. Both of these (Vietnam and the Baltic’s) will be new ventures for us using Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) which is the company that Harold and Sherry (World Cruise friends/ Florida, who will be with us) use all the time. They are land-based tours, not necessarily cruises.

            Then in July/August we will fly to Reykjavik where we board the Viking Neptune for a fourteen-day cruise around Iceland with Carol and Glenn (Paula’s cousin / Ortley Beach) then on to Svalbard (Spitsbergen) close to the North Pole and way above the Arctic Circle! Then on to the coast of Norway for a few ports, eventually we disembark at Bergen and fly home.

            So, as usual, make sure that your passports are up to date (mine just came back from the forgers) and that you pack the appropriate clothing needed to go from hot steamy Vietnam to cold and icy Svalbard!

            It should be an exciting season!

Random pics from NYC for your perusal……

Hope you enjoyed these!