Planes, graves and dates…

Sorry for not writing anything for so long, but I was busy. I know, bad excuse. Okay, let’s put it differently: I had better things to do than update my blog. I’ll refrain from losing myself in ramblings about how I don’t want to come back but stay here and give you some insight into what I’ve been up to instead.

Two weeks ago, I took a fellow intern up in a glider, which was something he’s been begging me to do for some time and so we took one of PGC’s 103s and went for a nice 47-minute ride over beautiful Pennsylvania;)

Staying with airplanes, yesterday we went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. It’s a branch of the National Air and Space Museum that is located next to Dulles International airport. Since not all of the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibits fit into the Museum on the Mall, they had to relocate the „big things“ out there. Among the planes exhibited there are an SR 71 Blackbird, a Space Shuttle and the B-29 „Enola Gay“, which came to be known as the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.

The most interesting of all – at least for me as a glider pilot – was this:

That’s right, an example of high-performance German engineering right there For those of you who might not know: This is a Grob 102 „Standard Astir“, which is today mainly used as a trainer for student pilots who transition from two-seaters to single-seaters. Hanging from the ceiling of a museum, however, the uninformed layman might think that this is the cutting edge in glider design or some kind of classic. Neither of which applies.

For aviation freaks, this is definitely the place to go. Imagine it like the „Flugwerft Schleissheim“, only twice as big and with waaay more interesting planes in it.

The next stop on our itinerary was Arlington Cemetery, known to many from countless movies such as….I don’t know, was it in Red October? I believe so….

Anyway. Lots of white marble gravestones, a very dignified atmosphere and a great view over Washington. We found out that there are around 250.000 gravesites there.

In the next few weeks, I’ll try to keep this site updated more frequently as some might be wondering how I spent the remainder of my stay here. But be assured: I won’t be wallowing in grief

In two weeks, I’ll be going to NYC for the last time on Saturday and celebrating my farewell party on Friday, along with a few other people who’ll leave soon. Until then, as mentioned, I’ll try to write something every once in a while, even if it’s only pointless blaa blaa.

Peace, I’m out.