The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge

Got a great opportunity at work today to see William and Kate when they arrived at the airport to catch their flight to Lake Louise for the night on a Canadian Military Griffin (412).  Great experience, my photos made Calgary Global news for a couple hundred bucks!! These are the photos that ensued...

Prime Minister Harper's entourage flew in on this jet

Jet carrying William and Kate

Enroute to Lake Louise for the night



   I recently got an invitation to attend my friend Scott Wesolowski's wedding with his new partner Dominika in Mui Ne, Vietnam, a small oceanside town near the city of Phan Thiet. The date is set for March 08th, 2012.  I am REALLY excited about this opportunity to travel a little more to a new (and very historical) part of the world and it will be great to reunite with a few of my friends from the past that I haven't stayed in close contact with.  I am going to start a documentary about this trip, starting with some info. on Vietnam, and some of the things we'll be doing while we're there. Exciting, exciting, exciting!! Stay tuned for blog updates as the wedding planning unfolds....

Overview of the geographical location with Mui Ne Town in red

                                         Note the location of Ho Chi Minh City which is about 180km west and slightly
                                      south of Mui Ne Town. This will be the city we fly into.

Fishing vessels moored for the night



Bringing in the nets

Colours

Drying anchovys

A fishermans wife



Beauty and the sand dunes



Off to market over the sand dunes

Young boy in a woven bamboo basket boat



Warman Parade and Rodeo cabaret

Quick trip to Sask. to see the family and partake in the Warman Rodeo Cabaret. Fun times with my bro and sister-in-law, and friends Tony and Becky. Nice to see them let loose a little, Baba was taking care of the kids. Did make make us all feel a little old though as I'm guessing the average age wasn't much above twenty!!  Nice to see Kim's uncle Dennis out, he really got dressed up and enjoyed himself! :)

Hello? .....Is Nana there?

Nana, Nana,....Rowan's flying his helicopter! (and freaking out at the same time!)

Okay.....seriously.....how are you doing Nana?

U n  c   l    e ........  I've got your co w  b   o    y   Hat?

Okay Row, give 'er the throttle. Let's see what she'll do with one blade!

I'm just gonna finish this cartoon then I'm ready to fly! See?.....the remote is still in my hands.

I'm still ready uncle!

Darn wind.....trying to steal my hat!... Brynn..."throw me some more candies!"

I'm ready!....I'm ready!....

Team of mini ponies......Cool!!

Yes, that's right, I'm helping dad stain the fence; and yes, I'm proud as punch!!

A very proud Julia at her ballet performance. Looking great Julia!! nice work :)

Kim as his sis Corinne. What a nice looking brother and sister!

My domestic zoo!

 For those of you who may not have known, I am house/pet sitting for Kyle and Cerise while they are in Mexico. It actually helps me out quite a lot as well since I am waiting to take posession of my condo on April 17th. Anyway, the pets and I did a little photo shoot tonight and these are the results!!

Rocko sniffing around Willis. Willis likes to hang out under the black blanket on his bed

Willis and his pet chicken

Willis' domain

Pinot and Leo cuddling

Willis getting his 'love battery' charged up!

Willis and I self portrait. I think all Willis had in mind was licking the ketchup off of my mouth from my smokey dinner!
(Oops, these are the things you don't notice when you're by yourself, until you take a picture!!)

Rocko ready for a pee

Rocko and Willis 'post' pee

Pinot. He sure has some wild eyes!

King Leo on his futon comforter

What' chu talkin' about Willis??!!

Rocko loves fetching this rubber ring

Huhhhhhhhhhh?

Pinot looks on but rarely partakes in the shinanagans that Rocko and Willis create!



STARS

 

Ken finally discovering our snag with the CSAS System. The CSAS is basically the auto flight system for the aircraft to help assist the pilot with flight. It malfunctioned at the helipad at the Foothills Hospital and we limped it home with the circuit breaker pulled for the CSAS System. Ken is one of our contract engineers and he spends his time off working in Afghanistan for another helicopter company making big $$. But...you do get shot at?!

One of our shiny BK 117 Helicopters on the dolly. This is our duty machine ready for a call out.

Corporate jet getting some maintenance done to it. Our shop/office space is the open door below the staircase in the back (the last door that is open along the wall). We whell our toolboxes in here when we're not working on the aircraft.

Another corporate jet. Lots of money around here!

Back view of the BK through the clam shell doors showing the medical installation.



Kimmer looking scared and overwhelmed with the new machine!



The helicopter lands on these platforms and is always quickly moveable from the tugs for a quick dispatch when they get a call out. 

The Honeywell LTS 101 750B-1 engine. This is our training aid cutaway for the engine course.

Just giving some perspective to the size of the turbine engine. This litle gem puts out 750SHP and the helicopter is twin engine!

Some LPU's (line replaceable units) that can be replaced on this engine. There is an FCU (fuel control unit which contains the fuel pump), a Governor for engine overspeed protection, an oil pump assembly, and an actuator for the Air Flow Modulation System (which prevents compressor stalls in the engine at low power settings)



The engine course has been fantastic! The instructor is an American gentleman named Bob who has been involved with this particular engine from it infancy 30+ years ago. He's extremely knowledgable and really makes us learn how this engine works along with the troubles that accompany it. They've had a lot of growing pains over the years with this engine, but it is quite reliable today, and continues to improve. We're (STARS) fortunate to have this course taught  'in-house' from such a knowledgable field technician. There is still a lot for me to learn from experience, as well as my engineer co-workers, but that will come with time. Just trying not to be too overwhelmed!!