Are we...geeks?

[republic]

I was visiting the local "city" to get some goodies from the mall.  As was walking I heard a tuboprop above me, as usual my head goes on a swivel looking for the source of this pleasant sound.  I see, for the first time ever, one of Burt Rutan's Starships.

I grabbed my wife and pointed up to it and told her how rare it was to see one, especially where we live.  She smiled one of those smiles only a wife can give...more interested in seeing me excited than the actual plane.

On vacation I once stopped my car and pulled over to the side of the road because I thought saw a Lancaster flying overhead...I stared at it until I couldn't see it anymore...I just couldn't believe it because I knew I had read somewhere only 2 Lanc's in the world were in flying condition.  Later found out it was a Lanc, on the way to an airshow nearby.

I have all this seemingly useles information swimming in my head.  I spot a plane/ship and I recall all this information I've read through the years.  A friend says they are going on a flight, instead of asking 'where to' I ask, "Ohhh what plane are you flying in?"

My favorite vacation so far has been to see the BB-35 USS Texas....and if ever asked I could tell the main gun size, armor thickness and layout, and brief history of the major naval combatants of WWII.  

I'm not a geek am I?

[JB88]

some might prefer to use the term "enthusiast".

[Chairboy]

The BB-35 Texas is excellent, I was just there a month and a half ago.  

In polite company, we're enthusiasts.  If I recall correctly, a geek was originally the person at the circus who would assist poultry in doffing their heads, usually with his teeth.

[storch]

there used to be one based at OPA, my house is west of the runway and it would fly over every sunday at about 1600.  yup every time I hear a prop I look up.

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by republic

I'm not a geek am I?

nah.. just slightly interested.. in a Rainman sorta way

[republic]

Originally posted by Nilsen
nah.. just slightly interested.. in a Rainman sorta way

Definitely definitely interested....ya.  I'm a good pilot...ya...

[JB88]

wopner.

[Pooh21]

nerds.

thats what the missus calls us.

[DYNAMITE]

I'm definitely not wearing my Batman underwear... definitely.

[deSelys]

Republic,

If you want an unbiased answer, this is not the best forum to ask


PS Lancaster r t3h c00l!!!

[GtoRA2]

Originally posted by republic
I was visiting the local "city" to get some goodies from the mall.  As was walking I heard a tuboprop above me, as usual my head goes on a swivel looking for the source of this pleasant sound.  I see, for the first time ever, one of Burt Rutan's Starships.

I grabbed my wife and pointed up to it and told her how rare it was to see one, especially where we live.  She smiled one of those smiles only a wife can give...more interested in seeing me excited than the actual plane.

On vacation I once stopped my car and pulled over to the side of the road because I thought saw a Lancaster flying overhead...I stared at it until I couldn't see it anymore...I just couldn't believe it because I knew I had read somewhere only 2 Lanc's in the world were in flying condition.  Later found out it was a Lanc, on the way to an airshow nearby.

I have all this seemingly useles information swimming in my head.  I spot a plane/ship and I recall all this information I've read through the years.  A friend says they are going on a flight, instead of asking 'where to' I ask, "Ohhh what plane are you flying in?"

My favorite vacation so far has been to see the BB-35 USS Texas....and if ever asked I could tell the main gun size, armor thickness and layout, and brief history of the major naval combatants of WWII.  

I'm not a geek am I?

I did the same thing when I saw the Collings foundation B-24.

I was on 880 north in the fast lane, glanced to the left saw a big 4 engine bomber.... saw it was a B-24. I got over 4 lanes hit the offramp and then the shoulder and watched as that B-24 and B-17 flew by.  

It was awsome.


Their are all kinds of geeks, some can fit in with other "normal" people. Most of us are that type, though I am sure we have a few of the social misfit, magic card playing types here too.

[Frodo]

Originally posted by republic
I was visiting the local "city" to get some goodies from the mall.  As was walking I heard a tuboprop above me, as usual my head goes on a swivel looking for the source of this pleasant sound.  I see, for the first time ever, one of Burt Rutan's Starships.

I grabbed my wife and pointed up to it and told her how rare it was to see one, especially where we live.  She smiled one of those smiles only a wife can give...more interested in seeing me excited than the actual plane.

On vacation I once stopped my car and pulled over to the side of the road because I thought saw a Lancaster flying overhead...I stared at it until I couldn't see it anymore...I just couldn't believe it because I knew I had read somewhere only 2 Lanc's in the world were in flying condition.  Later found out it was a Lanc, on the way to an airshow nearby.

I have all this seemingly useles information swimming in my head.  I spot a plane/ship and I recall all this information I've read through the years.  A friend says they are going on a flight, instead of asking 'where to' I ask, "Ohhh what plane are you flying in?"

My favorite vacation so far has been to see the BB-35 USS Texas....and if ever asked I could tell the main gun size, armor thickness and layout, and brief history of the major naval combatants of WWII.  

I'm not a geek am I?

You seem perfectly normal to me.

Frodo

[Kurt]

Wow, you really don't see Starships anymore, that is a catch...

My first flight instructor was a Starship pilot.  He invited me on a flight from Vegas to Camarillo one time, I was all set to go, but then they pulled the Starship off the flight for some reason and he was going to make the flight in a Super KingAir...  Probably would have been a cool ride to go on, but I told him I'd rather wait for a ride on the star ship...  I figured there would be more opportunities..

Nope, he left that operation a couple months later and I never did get a ride.

Oh, almost forgot... Yeah, we're dweebs... DUUUH.

[Benny Moore]

I was mocked quite a bit both in high school and, more gently, in several jobs for my enthusiasm for aircraft.  Somehow it's normal for men to obsess over cars, but not over aircraft which can do literally everything hundreds of times better than those cars, and which have another entire dimension?

This has been a source of frustration for me for many years.  Men like automobiles because they represent power, freedom, and beauty.  What really gets me is that aircraft possess all three of those attributes far in excess of any automobile.  Let's do the mathematics.

The fastest land vehicle goes around 300 M.P.H.  The fastest atmospheric aircraft (we'll be nice and not count spacecraft) goes around 3,000 M.P.H.  That's a ten times increase in the power category.  And a land vehicle operates only in two dimensions, but is usually limited to one dimension.  An aircraft operates in all three dimensions.  That's a two to three times increase in the freedom category.  And while some say that beauty is relative, if you really consider a Lotus Exige more aesthetically pleasing than an Apache gunship, I feel sorry for you.

I believe that the reason "normal" men are into automobiles and not aircraft is the same reason that millions of people like Brittney Spears and Japanese cartoons.  It's simply the "in" thing to do.  I blame it on popular media; how many times do you see cars on television?  And how many times do you see aircraft?  I mean without looking for them.

[midnight Target]

I work about 1 mile off the end of the runway at March AFB. I see planes go over every day, and I still stop and look every time.

The worst...best was about 7 years ago.

I was outside in the break area smoking and all by myself. I hear an engine sound that makes be move to a better viewing spot and here comes a lone P-38. It flew straight toward me then did a hard 180 over my head and flew back to the field.

I wanted to tell someone, then I realized... I'm probably the only person anywhere near here that gave a crap. ... was cool tho.