Last one, I promise!

No, really... this is really my last post about the Intrepid!

I know some of you are probably sick of it, but I had such a great time touring the aircraft carrier... and I want to share some of my favorite photos!

Since I've shown you most of the boat, the last thing I have to share are the air crafts that live on the deck.

As you can see, there are quite a few to enjoy...

But rather than bore you with all the details...

I'll show you some of my favorites!

But of all the planes and helicopters on the ship, I think one of my favorites was the Lockheed A-12 (Blackbird).

The Lockheed A-12 was a reconnaissance aircraft built for the CIA.

This particular plane is one of the fastest ever created. In fact, our tour guide told a story about how there was an myth that for their meals, the pilots of this type of plane would hold a cold sandwich against the glass in the cockpit... and in ten seconds the sandwich would be toasted. Of course he assumed this story wasn't true- until one afternoon a pilot that flew A-12s in the 1960's took his tour. Our guide asked him about the myth- and the pilot said it was absolutely TRUE! Apparently the government got annoyed that the sandwiches were leaving remnants on the glass (which would annoy me too if someone used my multi-million dollar airplane as a panini press), so they made a rule that pilots could only eat astronaut food in the plane. The pilot went on to tell our guide that they would instead sneak bread and cold cuts into their flying suits so they could enjoy a sandwich in the air... isn't that interesting?

Of course, as one of the fastest manned air crafts ever created, this plane was really impressive... and can you imagine it's about 40 years old? Made almost exclusively of titanium, scientists and engineers have still not been able to improve upon some of the technology in the Blackbird.

I think it was hundreds of interesting tid-bits like this that made my time at the Intrepid so interesting... and so much fun!

So I guess the moral of the story is this: if you're ever in NYC with a few hours to spare, you should stop by the Intrepid Museum. Just get off the 42nd Street subway station and head west until you hit the Hudson River.... you'll see the great ship a few yards to the north where you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself!

Thanks for joining me these past few days as I droned on and on about the ship... feel free to stop by tomorrow for something very different!

Welcome aboard...

Remember last week when I visited the Intrepid?

Well, I still have tons of pictures to share.

(You're shocked, I know...)

When I first visited the museum, I made my way onto the flight deck...

(Where I gazed in awe at the plethora of incredible planes and helicopters...)

And made my way to the island.

In this spot on the ship...

Higher ranking officials had bedrooms...

And day and night men pored over charts...

Dials...

And tables...

That were all integral in the operation of the ship.

As I climbed to the Navigation Bridge, I couldn't believe the view of the city and the rest of the boat below me.

(I tried to take a photo of myself- see that speck in the mirror? That's me!)

I loved looking around the Navigation Bridge.

There were so many instruments- and I had absolutely no idea what any of them did!

(Apparently this is what I looked like for most of the day aboard the ship... can you blame me?)

The higher I climbed, the better the view got!

But at a certain point, I knew I'd reached the pinnacle.

Not just because things were fancier (hello telephones!)...

But because I had reached the Captain's area: this was his wheel- pretty shiny, right?

I loved looking around the Navigation Bridge...

But it practically paled in comparison to the flight deck! However, I don't want to totally overwhelm you with photos today- so stop back tomorrow for another installment of my visit to the biggest ship I've ever seen!

Thanks for visiting- I hope you have a great day!

Ahoy!

As I mentioned the other day, I finally visited the Intrepid.

The museum is incredible- I couldn't get over all of the amazing things there were to see!

When I first arrived at the boat, I entered into Hangar 1.

Inside the hangar were all sorts of interesting artifacts and learning experiences.

For example, this is the "Meatball", an optical landing system. The lights and mirror helped pilots land on the boat's deck in the proper way.

They also had one of the boat's propellers on display- it was huge! This was just one of the four propellers that powered the Intrepid during the war- and it ways more than 10 cars combined!

A little further down the way was a Grumman Eastern Aircraft TBM-3E Avenger.

These planes were built on Long Island (NY) during WWII by women. This is also the same type of aircraft that George W. Bush had to escape from when he was a pilot!

As I wandered around this floor of the museum, I was in awe of the incredible machinery on display!

This particular 'copter is the Piasecki HUP / UH-25 Retriever... and it was the first helicopter to ever have an autopilot!

There was so much to see and do at the museum. One of my favorite things in this area of the museum was the "Kamikaze Experience." About halfway down the ship, three video screens descended from the ceiling to play a video about an actual Kamikaze attack on the ship.

As the plane on the video hit the Intrepid, the floor started to "smoke" and the narrator explained that the plane hit the exact spot where we were all standing... and had we been there that day we would all have been killed- it was really powerful!

In a different area of the ship there was a Martin-Baker Mark Ejection Seat. This patented ejection seat includes a parachute and rocket booster. If you can believe it, the force of the ejection on the pilot is 12-20 times the force of gravity- yikes! Interesting fact: John McCain sustained his injuries when ejecting from this type of seat.

The Intrepid was a very busy ship between the 40's and 80's! Believe it or not, it even picked up the Gemini-3 capsule after it re-entered the earth's atmosphere.

There's even a replica of the capsule hanging from the crane that retrieved the astronauts from the ocean years ago.

As you can tell, there was so much to do and see at the museum. At one end of the hangar was the children's area...

Complete with a replica of the ship...

Made out of...

Legos!!! The model was created by a couple in England and is an exact 1:40 scale replica.

The children's area also had displays to engage the 5 senses. Kids were encouraged to touch, listen, feel, etc... For example, kids could climb into different areas of the helicopter, and depending on where they were sitting, a recorded voice told them what their job would have been, etc.

And while there wasn't much on the ship I was familiar with ahead of time (I'm pretty clueless when it comes to aircrafts,etc.), there was one display that I knew all about!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!