AirVenture - the world's largest aviation expo/convention/airshow/get-together was wrapping up this weekend in Oshkosh, Wisconsin so we drove up there to check it out and then went to Noah's ark - world's largest waterpark on the way back in Wisconsin Dells. AirVenture was big, with airplanes, helicopters, and ultralights buzzing everywhere. We walked around checking out a bunch of exhibits including a tour of KC-10 aerial tanker and then headed out to the museum and then the airshow. Those Raptors are definitely a sight to see even though I do not care that much about military stuff. Formation flights with old warbirds were pretty cool too. By that time we were pretty toasted and drove down to the Dells and spent the night camping there.

We got to the waterpark just after it opened and were able to go through about half of the rides without hardly any wait. Then the lines started building up and we spent over an hour waiting for the Black Anaconda - supposedly the longest water slide. After lunch we hit the rest of the park and got through all but the kids' slides. It was alright, but I did not think it would justify a four hour drive for a water park trip just by itself.

This week I was back in Wichita, KS doing more flight testing, this time on Cessna Citation XLS+ aircraft that just got certified a few weeks ago. We were flight testing our updated FMS and it could not have performed better. Unlike the CJ3 flight test back in April, this time we stayed local in Wichita area. It still got pretty exiting when we did a formation flight with a Citation X (see below). On the way back I was flying United through Chicago and was pleasantly surprised when both of my flights were on time. However, once we got to Cedar Rapids, there was a strong thunderstorm around the airport so we ended up holding for a little bit and then diverting to Moline to refuel and wait up the storm before coming back for a somewhat shaky landing. I guess that is what I get for flying through Chicago...

We have been flight testing on Citation XLS+ today and at one point this afternoon Citation X folks wanted to practice some formation flight. We joined up at 14,000 feet, flew around for a bit with them going from one side to another and then did a low approach at Newton. This was the coolest thing ever! We were so close that ATC told the X to turn off its transponder so our targets do not overlap (and CACAs don't go off down there).

I got to go on more flight tests over the last couple of weeks. We mostly flew around here shooting a bunch of approaches locally on Challenger 604. The plan was to go to Ashville in North Caroline but the construction there sent those plans out of the window. Oh well. I am heading out to Wichita this week to go on more flight tests on Cessna XLS+, should be fun.

For this 4th of July I decided to get the heck out of Iowa and traveled to Boulder, Colorado to visit a friend of mine who is there for the summer working at Ball Aerospace. I love mountains and these three days were amazing.

On Friday we hiked up almost to the top of Flatirons (flat rock formations west of Boulder) to watch a number of different fireworks some as far out as Denver. On Saturday we checked out Coors brewery tour which was pretty disapointing - not really a tour but more of a annotated walk through the posters on Coors history and beer making with only a few glimpses inside the factory. This was followed by an equally disapointing self-tour of 'historic' Armana downtown which did not really look or contained much historical things. Afterward we drove back to check out Boulder waterfall and do some more mild hiking in the area. The drive, the views and the water were all amazing.

Sunday started with a white water rafting trip down the Clear Creek with water temperature barely up to 34 degrees F. After an hour and a half of chilling fun we headed out to Colorado Springs. There we rode the highest cog railway in the world to the top of Pikes Peak (stretching 8.6 miles from about 7000 feet up to 14110 feet) with nothing short of amazing views on the way to the top. By the time we got to the top, it was all covered in clouds. I could definitely feel the altitude up there with a miled headache and constant shortness of breath..

Lastly, before flying back on Monday, I went out and got a ride in a glider around the mountains and above Boulder. It was a pretty cool 40 minute ride. The guy I went up with let me fly it for most of the time and it was really simple and pretty cool at the sime time. We caught some nice updrafts above the Flatirons and saw a bunch of hikers at the top of the mountains. Time to pick up another expensive hobby?

The weekend is finally here and we got together for another fun day at Adventure Park Paintball. This time we had even more people show up and it was good times. I ended up getting the membership so I will be coming back soon. We escaped the pain of revolutionary war this time around, so I am not nearly as bruised up as I was last time. Good times!

I received an email in the morning asking to support a flight to survey the Maquoketa river to ensure that there are no environmental hazards stuck in the river. This was my first Civil Air Patrol mission. Since I have yet to get checked out as mission pilot, I just rode in the back and acted as observer as well as taking pictures of things we found. It was a long flight, we flew up to Manchester, picked up the river and then followed it all the way to Mississippi river at about 1000 feet above ground. Luckly, we only found one object that looked something like a barrel or possibly just a boat stuck in a sandbar.

The water is slowly coming down in Cedar Rapids - the railings are already visible on the bridges downtown. The problem now is heading down to Iowa City just south of us. They expecting the river to go even higher and not even crest until Tuesday. Unfortunately there is no easy way to get down there to help - most of the roads, including two interstates in the are are closed due to flooding. Normally it would take about half an hour to get down to Iowa City. Instead, the detour goes north to Waterloo, west to Ames, down to Des Moines and back east to Iowa City. This would probably take 4.5 to 5 hours.

Instead I helped out at the Linn County Emergency Management Agency as part of Civil Air Patrol group. IT was definitely an interesting experience working alongside reps from many local and federal groups: CRPD, highway patrol, Linn County Sheriff, Iowa DOT, FEMA, FBI, ATF, ICE, US Marshals, fire department, city and county officials, and many more.

I stayed there until midnight and was passing downtown on the way back and it was really weird, almost scarry. There was no lights, so it looked like I was driving just in the middle of the fields but then there were silhouettes of downtown buildings on the right all dark and quiet.

The river crested today at just around 32 inches. Downtown footage is just unbelievable. Over 400 blocks are flooded in just downtown, over a thousand in Cedar Rapids. 25000 people evacuated. All bridges except for I380 are under water. Mays island downtown houses the courthouse and the city hall and normally looks like a battleship in the middle of the river. They sunk our battleship today!

It is official - downtown Cedar Rapids is now a part of Cedar River (Cedar lake?). It has been raining overnight and most of the day today and the river is up to 31 feet right now (flood stage - 12 feet, previous record from 1920s - 20 feet). There was a railroad bridge just north of downtown and to prevent it from washing away a train full of carts with sand and rocks was placed on it to weigh it down - neither the railroad cars nor the bridge are there now. Downtown is 6-8 feet under water in some places close to the river so the sandbagging effort yesterday was completely useless (most places had a foot or two of sandbags covering the doors). The water is slowly creeping up to the garage we used to park at - and that's four blocks away from the river. All of the bridges are under water at this time and some might not be there anymore. Check out this video from KCRG.

It is much better in the north east part of town where I am at. Puring rain did create some lakes on the roads here this morning, but the water was gone by the afternoon. We did lose power briefly at night but have not had a problem since. Still, after work I made a run to Wal-Mart to pick up a bunch of canned food just in case the electricity does go out for a while. There is a water shortage already so I have the bathtub filled and anything else that can hold a reasonable amount of water. The river should be cresting tomorrow at around 32 feet and so far it looks it will take at least a week for flooding to go away. Stay tuned.

After the record snow falls and even a snow day this winter we have been getting a lot of rain lately and are now dealing with record breaking flooding in eastern Iowa. We really do not see its effects on my side of town so I went downtown today to check it out. The river is far beyond the flood stage at 20+ feet high (flood stage is 12 feet) and expected to reach 25 feed by Friday morning. That will probably cover most of the bridges and spill downtown so many businesses already sandbagging their entrances downtown.

Our office downtown has started getting water in the basement this morning and by the afternoon the decision was made to evacuate everyone to another building on the north east side of town - just when I walked back in after taking the pictures. We were told we have fifteen minutes to pack up the stuff we might need within the next week or so and get our stuff labeled before it will be moved. Well, it is almost time for us to move into the new building anyways...

The summer is finally here (or so I hear). Our plans to go to Mt. Rushmore for the weekend did not work out, so instead we stayed in Cedar Rapids and had a picnic at a park on Cedar river on Saturday. We even found the rapids part in Cedar Rapids. Or so we think. On Sunday me and Kris were finally able to meet up and go sailing for the first time this year. We took a hobby wave out and it was fun up until the part where the wind completely died on us and we had to paddle back in. Today I am supposed to go flying if the weather holds up in the afternoon. It has been a while so I am somewhat anxious but still very much looking forward to it.