April 30 – Lear 45

Saturday, April 30 == In at 7:40, chilly, moderate rain, empty ramp. Worked in Magazine Room about 50 minutes, gathered things to work on at employer (discard mags for culling articles from) and went to employer. The day went very well, accomplished a LOT for AKM. Five minutes after sitting down at my office desk at the airport office, lovesick amigo came in and we talked 40 minutes. Spent the rest of the day in the Mag Room working. back to office at 6:40, tired from the standing upstairs. This magazine re-vamp will be an ongoing effort; not something to obsess with until it’s DONE. MUST have some fun with model building SUNDAY and start the April Lincoln Flyer. Went home at 6:50.  Day rating: B-minus because I’m feeling a sense of urgency around AKM, that I MUST hurry. I need to back off a little and have more fun.

Pictures are of a Lear 45 that visited April 28. The pilot was very interested in the models in the Welcome Room, asked more questions about them than most. He also explained some of the company 45s he flies are owned by the home company; others are owned by the leasing company. He checked with his left-seater before green lighting me to walk with him to the ramp for a few fast pictures. Approved were pics of this bird because it’s owned by the leasing company. It it  had been owned by the home company, I would not have been permitted to photograph it with his escort on the ramp. Technically, though I would have been looking into the sun, I would have phot’d it from the public side of the fence — the light would not have been prime, but the results would have been okay — but I didn’t explain that to the pilot, and these are the only pictures I took, mostly because I respected the fellow’s interest in AKM, even though he took neither the newsletter or brochure I put into his hands with him. About a week ago something similar happened with an encounter wtih the pilot of a Falcon 2000. I saw it taxi in and park in a perfect place with perfect light on the  airplane, but I didn’t get my camera in a hurry because people were exiting the bird, and I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable by my presence with my little Sony camera on the public side of the fence. Later, the pilot– a former AH-64 pilot —  visited the Welcome Room and we had an interesting visit. When I explained how flight crews often escort me out to the ramp so I can take a few pictures, he explained he could NOT do that because the owner doesn’t want people photographing the Falcon. I promised I would take NO pictures, and I remained inside while it was on the ground. There’s no net gain from my being “legal” from taking pics where I am “legal” — on the public side of the fence — when I know that if the pictures are eventually seen by owners who wish they had not been taken. This is what I call “getting along.”