Fighters Over Toledo

So it wasn't too long before I heard the sound of an F-16 taking off with full afterburners.  After hearing that, I don't understand how people complain about the sound of modern passenger jets taking off.   The F-16s were loud and it was a pretty cool sound.

 As I said before, the Wing has been here a while.  They've had the F-16 since the early 90's.  I like the way the afterburner pattern sets off against the dusk sky.

 this one wasn't taking off with afterburners but it was still loud.

 After about 15 minutes or so, the next group started to take off.

 This one has the squadron markers.  The squadron itself is called the "Stingers".

 I kind of like the idea of seeing a loaded combat plane.

 then there was another group.

 If this is like other traditions, this one may belong to the squadron leader because the markings are in color.

 I didn't see any more F-16s, but I did see this Cessna.  It was probably a good thing I didn't see any more F-16s because I was losing my light.

 I saw this one on FlightRadar, so I figured I would stick around to see it take off.  It was an Allegiant A320 heading to Fort Lauderdale.  I think Allegiant operates a couple of flights out of Toledo.

This plane was getting loaded near me and I heard it as it spooled up for take off.  Even though it was almost dark, I decided to stick around to see if I could get some take off pictures.  Unfortunately, this was the best I could do.

The Moon Over Toledo

So last Thursday I headed over to Toledo.  I heard that the National Guard unit there was going to be doing some training.  I wanted some dusk shots because I saw some on twitter and liked the looks as they were taking off with afterburners.

As I was waiting for the planes, I looked over at the moon and thought it looked pretty cool.

Toledo at Eastern Michigan in Pictures

So I went to the Eastern Michigan basketball.  So far, they have lost all of their games in the Mid American Conference.   Granted, many of these losses have been close but a loss is still a loss.

They were facing off against the Rockets of Toledo and that probably gave them the best chance to get their first MAC win.  This is probably my favorite shot from the game.

I kind of like this picture of the dance girls.  The hair gives you a sense of action.

Eastern Michigan would end up beating the Rockets by a score of 61 to 57.

The Helena G on the Maumee River

As I was heading to Ohio Route 2 to continue on my way to Ottawa and Magee, I saw that one of the bridges was open on the Maumee River.  I knew that meant there was a ship heading through.

 As it turns out there was a salty heading outbound on the Maumee River.  she was being escorted by a pair of tugs, which was pretty neat.

 I'm not sure if the tugs are in lieu of a pilot.  But the lead tug was the Colorado.

I kind of like the looks of these tugs.

 I'm not sure who the Helena G is owned by but she is flagged out of Portugal.  At one time she was called the Gargeny and I think she was on this blog as that ship.

 Another shot of the Colorado.

 A picture of the Helena G without the tugs.

 I love the looks of these.

 One more shot of the Colorado.

 An almost beam shot of the Helena G.

 She was being trailed by the Ohio.  the Ohio is the newest addition to the Great Lakes Towing fleet.  She was commissioned earlier this year as the old Ohio was commissioned for the Museum.

 A better beam shot of the Helena G.

 The horse under the window is the old logo of Great Lakes Towing.  She's got a different looking pilothouse and it looks like more freeboard.

 Another angle.

The trio continues up the river.  The Helena G is heading up to Venice, which is in Louisiana.  I suspect she is going to take a load of grain for somewhere overseas.

And the Alpena

So I bounced between the deck of the Schoonmaker and the ground in an effort to get some pictures of the Alpena.  She was taking her time getting down the river.

 She is passing one of the railroad bridges on the Maumee.  She was making pretty decent time in this picture.  It wasn't too hazy out, so I was able to get some decent shots of her.

 She's being approached by a pleasure boat.

 As the boat is passing her.

 Just before this picture, she started to turn around.  I thought for a second that she might end up going to what looked like another cement dock.  It turned out that she was just turning around to back down the river.  I think it is easier for captains to back into the dock.

 It took a while for the bridge to open.  I was about ready to head home when I saw that she was starting to go through the bridge.  At this time, the Schoonmaker was closed, so I had to find another spot.  Fortunately, there is a decent spot along the river.

 And she passes through the bridge.

 At this point, she was picking up speed.  I was actually hoping to see some tugs but I guess not.

 The beam shot, this working in the opposite direction of what I normally shot.

 And she passes giving me the shots that I prefer.

 Because I was now shooting into the sun, I had to adjust things a bit.

 Another shot of her bow.

 A shot of the skyline again.

And one more shot before heading home.

Toledo from the Deck of the Schoonmaker

While I was waiting, I decided to get a picture of part of the Toledo skyline.

A Pair of Airplanes

While I was waiting for the Alpena, I heard the buzzing sounds of airplanes.

 I'm not sure what kind of plane this is.  It is definitely a type of floatplane but I'm not sure what kind it is.  If I had an N number, I could tell you.

I think this is a Stinson 108.  It looks like it has larger tires for bushplane operations.

From the Deck of the Colonel James M. Schoonmaker

On Memorial Day, I decided to head down to Toledo because I saw that the Alpena was heading down there.  Since I got a membership, I decided that I was going to watch her from the deck of the Col. James M. Schoonmaker.

 I was last on her deck when she was known as the Willis Boyer and was a little further down the river.  If you look in this picture, you can see the towers of the Anthony Wayne Bridge and that is where she was.  A few years ago, they decided to move her to her current spot and built a museum nearby.  This is looking back towards her engine room.  I didn't tour that this time because I was hoping to catch the Alpena on her deck.

 Looking up at her pilothouse.

 Looking from inside the pilothouse.

The decks below the pilothouse were used to entertain guests of the ship.  Typically, they were shareholders or other influential people.

 A view of the pilothouse.  She was the only ship on the lakes to have two wheels.  I think one of the wheels was added when they improved her steering and other things.  They kept the second wheel as a backup.

 Her radio direction finder.  In the days prior to GPS, they had radio stations around the lakes.  Ships could get directions to them and triangulate their position.  If I remember correctly, it was fairly accurate.

 Her radar.

 Her compass.

Looking out from the pilothouse.  I think if you look just below the suspension bridge, you can see the Alpena peeking around the corner.