Bill Gass wrote:
Cat Swag...Geeesh !
Back in the 80's you could hardly even get a Cat hat let alone a shirt.
We spent tons of money repairing Cat stuff and even the salesman had a hard time getting them. You'd think if you spent a million a year just in parts you'd get a frikkin hat for free.
Wrong sales rep Bill! My customers, from the big fleets to the Mom & Pop one machine owners, they all got the royal treatment. Over 8 1/2 years I was salesman of the month eight out of twelve months on average, so when I came in for cases of hats and trash and trinkets, there never was a problem. One Friday evening I got phone call from one of my customers, the interstate system was being built at the time, his 815 Compactor had just shelled a water pump, shutting down an entire fleet of scrapers and the whole project . I called the head of parts for my dealership at home and he went in to see if we had the pump in stock. We didn't have it, Peoria didn't have it, a CAT depot in Indianapolis had one sitting on the shelf. I called my buddy who owned the FBO at our local airport, got him to come out and unlock his hangar and pull a new Piper Arrow out that had just come from the factory at Vero Beach. I hopped in, flew to Indy in the black of night, took a taxi to the depot, grabbed the pump, greased the palms of the depot manager and his guys, got back in the arrow and flew home. Five hours from the time that pump went toes up, the compactor was up and running and so was the project. That was 1972 and I think we estimated it was costing several hundred thousand dollars an hour while the project was down, so my client was beside himself that we got him back up when he was imagining being shut down until early the following week. I did it because it needed to be done, and I ate all the associated costs, over and above the pump itself. Turned out to be the best marketing move of my CAT career, Peoria got word of it and made a big deal over it, my client told every contractor he knew across the state, it was a good move for sure.
So, caps and shirts, key fobs, whatever, no problem at all...........
Not that I don't value each and every assignment that comes my way, but occasionally a plum drops from the sky.....this is my ride to a four day assignment in Bimini..............I know, not likely to generate much sympathy. Maybe, just maybe this is payback for the August Memphis cardboard box factory shoot a few years ago
Great article on a part of the world I love. Blair Lakes is the practice bombing range near Eilson AFB out in the Alaska bush. I had the pleasure of spending nearly a year up there buiilding their new maintanance facility and barracks. Access and logistics were a big challenge. The Army Corps of Engineers builds an ice road in January primarily to supply the camp with fuel. Otherwise access is via a short runway. Our project was $17 million due to logistics. We assembled an old Atco 50 man mancamp for the crew and bunked with the AF crew during mobe in and camp assembly. Some of the thrills were watching the youngsters from Eilson AFB strafe the targets with their A10's. sadness was the camera restrictions due to the highly sensitive area we were in. They did allow me to use a 2 megapixel P&S for job related shots only.
I had the opportunity to photograph this King Air for a client of mine this week, over at Meacham Airport in Fort Worth.
This one was a "family affair" as my wife's, niece's, son (our grand-nephew) took some amazing drone shots of one of our recent, gorgeous sunsets here in the DFW area, and I used it for the sky part of this composite.
The client loves it, so that makes me happy. He is even going to have an enlargement of this one, put in his sales presentation office, to show prospective clients.
All you people with drones are definitely bringing an expanded meaning to this thread. Now who's going to be brave enough to be first to ask permission to fly over the air show static area during a non-flying show time? Sunrise/sunset from above would be awesome!
Well Erich, if you are a hobbyist, it's as simple as asking the tower/Air Boss for permission, if your are a Part 107 or a Part 333 Commercially rated operator (requiring intimate knowledge of operations and airspace), you will have to apply for an exemption in writing, wait for approval, then call the controlling entity and request permission. And there you have it, government "logic", you cannot make this stuff up.
Glenn and i have been messaging and calling back and forth this afternoon and evening. The MiG 17 mission is on, but the weather looks pretty crummy for the flight window. Thunderstorms just on the northwest edge of the metroplex right now, very slow moving and pretty nasty. The question is, do I want to get up at 4:30 and drive to East Texas to watch it rain? Ugh, why is this stuff never easy? We decided that we'd look at it in the wee hours and make a go/no go. I'm a couple hours away, he's 30 minutes. Weebeesee!
JWilsonphoto wrote:
Glenn and i have been messaging and calling back and forth this afternoon and evening. The MiG 17 mission is on, but the weather looks pretty crummy for the flight window. Thunderstorms just on the northwest edge of the metroplex right now, very slow moving and pretty nasty. The question is, do I want to get up at 4:30 and drive to East Texas to watch it rain? Ugh, why is this stuff never easy? We decided that we'd look at it in the wee hours and make a go/no go. I'm a couple hours away, he's 30 minutes. Weebeesee!...Show more →
And the answer was "Nope!" Athens Texas is 800 OVC 13 minutes prior to crank....
Why? Who wouldn't want to do a minimum controllable airspeed close formation instrument climb thru embedded weather to find a break on top? Hmm, on second thought....
My instincts were correct on the air to air mission, crummy skies, mediocre art direction and an RTB just as the monsoon hit. Glad I stuck with my pillow. Five years ago I probably would have gone just to see how it would unfold, but it isn't five years ago,
