Winter 2024 - 2025

Chris traveled continuously from the beginning of November through Christmas.  He was test engineer for the Aerosonde 4.8 Future Tactical Uncrewed Aircraft System (FTUAS) for two test events in Blackstone, Virginia in November and December.  Chris and Tami spent Thanksgiving in Cancun, Mexico in between those two test series.  The second test series ended on 13 December, and then Chris visited Bell Helicopter in Dallas, Texas for a week in December to learn about the Valor V280 tilt-rotor, which is the US Army's Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).  We all then spent the Christmas holiday with Tami's family in Charleston, West Virginia.  Chris visited Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio on January 2, 2025.  We celebrated our anniversary in Jamaica from 16 to 26 January 2025, driving all over the island but spending most of the vacation sitting on the beach drinking rum.  We also took a three day cruise from Florida to the Bahamas with the whole family (14 people) in March 2025.

Cancun - Thanksgiving 2024     Jamaica - January 2025    Bahamas Cruise - March 2025

Cancun, Mexico : 27 November - 2 December 2024

Chris spent two weeks in Blackstone, Virginia for the first of two flight test series.  He came home on Saturday, 23 November, spent a few days at home and at work, and then Chris and Tami flew to Cancun, Mexico for the long Thanksgiving weekend.  They flew south on Wednesday, 27 November and spent five nights at an all-inclusive resort on the beach.  They rented a car for the holiday, and drove themselves to visit Chichen-Itza on Thursday, 28 November.  They spent the rest of the holiday at the resort.  Chris headed back for the second test series at Blackstone after vacationing in Cancun.

Blackstone Army Airfield, Virginia : 2 - 13 December 2024 : Aerosonde 4.8 FTUAS

The second part of acceptance flight testing started in Blackstone, Virginia on Tuesday, 3 December, with Monday set aside to travel after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Tami and Chris flew from Cancun to Miami on Monday.  Tami flew to Baltimore, and Chris flew to Richmond and then drove to Blackstone to join the testing starting on Tuesday.  That second part of flight testing went for the next two weeks at Blackstone.  The culmination of those two flight test events was the formal acceptance of the system by the US Army.  The flight testing shared the airspace with other aircraft, such as the UH-60 Blackhawks and CH-47 Chinooks shown below.

Greenbrier, West Virginia : 6 - 7 December 2024 : Tom's Birthday

Tom's 75th birthday was in the middle of the second flight test series.  After flying was finished on Friday afternoon, Chris drove towards West Virginia to meet Tami and then continued on to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.  Saturday was Tom's birthday, and the whole family came for the party.  Tami and Chris took a tour of the Greenbrier Bunker on Saturday afternoon, and everyone went to the Greenbrier Christmas Tree lighting and to a family dinner birthday party.  Chris had to drive back to Blackstone after dinner to help run the acceptance flight testing starting early on Sunday.  That flight testing continued through the week, finishing on Friday.  Chris dropped off his rental car at Richmond Airport and took the train home to Baltimore on Friday evening.

Dallas, Texas : 16 - 20 December 2024 : Bell Valor V280 Tilt-Rotor Future Long Range Assault Aircraft

Chris flew to Dallas on Monday for the next week to begin working on the avionics systems design for the Bell V280 Valor tilt-rotor aircraft.

Charleston, West Virginia : Christmas 2024

Charleston, West Virginia : Hubsan Zino Pro+ Aerial Panorama

Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio : 2 January 2025

Chris visited Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio while in Charleston, West Virginia with Tami's family for Christmas.

Meta glasses video of fire tower climb

  
Ash Cave

Ash Cave

Old Man's Cave

Cedar Falls

RCMB Winter Flying : 11 & 12 January 2025

Jamaica : 16 - 26 January 2025

We flew to Jamaica for eleven days to celebrate our anniversary in January, and rented a car to drive around the island.  We spent the first night at Strawberry Hill, four nights at a resort in Ocho Rios, and five nights at a resort in Negril.  Strawberry Hill is owned by the owner of Island Records, and has lots of gold and platinum records from his artists lining the walls of the main lodge. While in Ochos Rios we visited Dunn's River Falls, and made the long climb from the bottom of the falls to the very top.

15 Jan, Wed : Drive home to DC, dinner in DC

16 Jan, Thu : Fly DC to Miami to Kingston, Drive Kingston to Strawberry Hill

17 Jan, Fri : Drive Strawberry Hill to Holywell Park to Buff Bay to Couples San Souci, Ocho Rios

18 Jan, Sat : Couples San Souci Ocho Rios

19 Jan, Sun : Couples San Souci Ocho Rios, Dunn's River Falls

20 Jan, Mon : Couples San Souci Ocho Rios

21 Jan, Tue : Drive Couples San Souci, Ocho Rios to Fern Gully to Couples Negril

22 Jan, Wed : Couples Negril

23 Jan, Thu : Couples Negril, Catamaran Sunset Cruise:  Catamaran route @ AllTrails

24 Jan, Fri : Couples Negril, beginners course to sail Hobie Cat

25 Jan, Sat : Couples Negril, Tami sick, Chris walks 7-mile beach at sunset

26 Jan, Sun : Drive Couples Negril to Montego Bay Airport, Fly Montego Bay to Miami to DC, drive DC to home

Strawberry Hill

 
Holywell Park

Couples San Souci, Ocho Rios

                 
Dunn's River Falls

                                                                   
Couples Negril and 7-Mile Beach, Negril

Texas : February - March 2025

Chris started a six month assignment at Bell Helicopter in Ft Worth, Texas at the beginning on February.  He drove to Texas, stopping at his sister's house in Tennessee for two nights to visit   A few days after he arrived in Ft Worth, Tami flew down and spent ten days.  We found a great apartment near the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys stadiums, bought furniture, and made it a very nice temporary home for six months.  We moved in on 14 February, unloading all the personal belongings that Chris had carried to Texas, including multiple RC aircraft.  It is almost a resort, having a gym, pool, hot tub, and two bars, including a swim up bar in the pool.  Texas Rangers' baseball games are only a five minute walk away.  Chris will work on the Bell Valor V280, fly RC and full size, and explore Texas.  Chris visited many Texas and Oklahoma state parks throughout 2025.

Chris brought a bunch of remote control aircraft with him to Texas, expecting to find an RC club near Bell Helicopter where he could fly.  Chris joined the Greater Southwest Aero Modelers (GSWAM) RC Club on 1 March 2025, and began flying with the club at the RC field in Ft Worth.  The club officer who signed Chris up for membership was Rick Shook.  Rick and Chris had flown together for several years at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, and had once celebrated an excellent mid-air collision while dog-fighting in 1992.  They had not seen each other or been in contact since 1993, when Chris moved to Nevada for his Air Force assignment to Nellis AFB.   Everyone says it, but meeting again at random after 32 years just proves that it is a small world.  While at the field on 1 March, the AMA District-8 Vice Present, Lawrence Harville, took photos of many pilots, including Chris, for an article in the May 2025 Model Aviation magazine.  He noted "Chris came all the way to Texas to fly RC and get in Model Aviation magazine."

Bahamas Cruise : 20 - 24 March 2025 : Thursday - Monday

Port Canaveral, Nassau, Coco Cay, Port Canaveral

Our extended family went on a three night cruise from Port Canaveral in March.  Fourteen people flew in from Texas, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to Orlando on Thursday night before the cruise and then drove to Port Canaveral.  We all boarded the ship on Friday morning, which stopped in Nassau on Saturday and Coco Cay on Sunday, then returned to Port Canaveral on Monday morning.  We all had breakfast together in Cape Canaveral on Monday morning after leaving the ship, and then headed for our flights home from Orlando.

20 March - Thursday : Tami fly PA to Orlando FL, Chris fly TX to Orlando FL, pick up family, drive to Port Canaveral
21 March - Friday : Board ship at Port Canaveral
22 March - Saturday : Ship arrives at Nassau, Bahamas, Tami & Chris ATV Route @ AllTrails
23 March - Sunday : Ship arrives at Coco Cay, Bahamas
24 March - Monday : Ship arrives at Port Canaveral, Tami & Chris fly FL to TX

 
Cape Canaveral, Florida, DJI Mavik Platinum Pro 4K Aerial Video

Texas : April - May 2025

More Texas Rangers baseball...

and more RC flying at Greater Southwest Aero Modelers (GSWAM), Ft Worth, Texas.

GSWAM, GoPro Hero 4K Aerial Video, April & May 2025