Memories fly with warplanes out of Boeing Field

World War II-era bombers and fighter planes will be on display and available to fly this weekend at the Museum of Flight.

By Anna Boiko-Weyrauch

Seattle Times Staff Reporter

GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

This view of Seattle and Lake Washington is from the nose of a World War II era B-17F visiting Boeing Field outside the Museum of Flight this weekend. Rides on the B-17 and other aircraft will be available to the public for a fee.

Seattle’s most familiar sights scrolled by postcard-size out the plane window: Seward Park, Lake Washington and the Space Needle.

Passenger Ted Gary was happy to be alive.

During World War II, Gary was a tail gunner in a Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress similar to the one he flew in Friday afternoon. Now Gary is a docent at the Museum of Flight, where he answers kids’ questions and shows them a sandwich bag full of jagged metal, shrapnel from the war.

“That’s what the Germans shot at you, 88-millimeter shells,” he said, holding the pieces in his hands.

The 88-year-old Gary went up in a restored B-17G as part of the annual “Wings of Freedom Tour” organized by the Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation, which each year brings World War II-era planes to more than 100 cities across the United States, helping history come alive for Americans.

Through Sunday at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, the public can pay to tour and fly on a B-17G Flying Fortress, B-24J Liberator and a TP-51C Mustang fighter plane. The Collings Foundation has stopped at Boeing Field since the 1990s.

The B-17G on display was built in Long Beach, Calif., by Douglas Aircraft. It never saw combat but has been repainted and renamed to honor another storied aircraft, the “Nine-O-Nine,” which completed 140 bombing missions without losing a crew member, according to the Collings Foundation.

Al Jones, who flew 88 missions over Europe as a pilot in the 414th Night Fighter Squadron, was on board Friday’s flight with his son, Kevin Jones.

After liftoff, the two unbuckled their seat belts and Kevin Jones helped his 94-year-old father stand up from the low seats so he could tour the plane and view the scenery below.

Al Jones smiled as he stood behind the pilots in the cockpit and looked out the window. Kevin Jones said he’s proud of his father.

“I’ve never gone through the horrific experiences he’s gone through,” he said.

The Flying Fortress flight sparked memories for Ted Gary, who served out of Debach, England on a bomber crew members called “Snell’s Snails,” after the last name of the pilot.

Until around four years ago, Gary never wanted to talk about his experiences, but friends persuaded him to open up and educate others about World War II. During the flight, he pointed out the plane’s features, like the Morse code telegraph key to communicate with base and the .50-caliber machine guns pointing out the windows.

He also recounted the close calls he had with the Germans, saying it’s important to learn from history so we don’t repeat it.

“War is hell,” he said.

After the plane touched down smoothly at Boeing Field, passengers hoisted themselves out through the small side door.

After the flight, Collings Foundation volunteer Mike Adams stood on a ladder and cleaned leaking oil from the plane’s spinners and polished the propellers. He supports the mission of preserving the planes.

“All the guys are passing away and it’s good to take part and honor what they’ve done,” he said.

Anna Boiko-Weyrauch: 206-464-3145 or aboikoweyrauch@seattletimes.com

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021243778_flightbomberxml.html

Kirkland students accepted into scholars program at Museum of Flight

JUNE 18, 2013 · 1:19 PM

Four Kirkland students will participate in one of the four Washington Aerospace Scholars summer residency sessions held in June and July at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Washington Aerospace Scholars is a competitive educational program, based at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, for high school juniors from across Washington state.

The Kirkland students who were accepted into the program include Stefan Kutz, Juanita High School; Mark Hedreen and Samuel Pliska, both of Lake Washington High School; and Kirkland resident Gavin Blake, Lakeside High School.

These scholars are among the 160 students who qualified for the Washington Aerospace Scholars summer residency program from 283 students who applied in November. To qualify for the residency program, they spent five months studying a University of Washington and NASA-designed, distance-learning curriculum via the Internet and have been selected to attend one of the four residencies hosted at the Museum of Flight in Seattle this summer based on their academic performance on the distance-learning lessons.

Through a special partnership with the University of Washington, students were also able to register for an optional fee of $237 to earn five University of Washington credits in space and space travel based on their successful completion of the curriculum.

During the residency experience, they will collaborate with the other student participants on the design of a human mission to Mars.

The program is designed to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) but the students are divided into teams, which also require them to learn about mission management, budgets, the legal aspects of space exploration, and medicine.

All room and board are provided to students free of charge by the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation.

Washington Aerospace Scholars will be accepting applications for students and teachers in early September for the 2013-2014 program cycle; visit www.museumofflight.org/was to download an application. Participants must be high school juniors, U.S. citizens and Washington state residents.  Teachers must be currently practicing, Washington state certified educators, and must also be U.S. citizens. The deadline for applications is Nov. 8.

http://www.kirklandreporter.com/community/212032911.html

Come aboard: Port Blakely chairman's yacht for sale

Jun 3, 2013, 5:36pm PDT

The 83-foot Christine K, owned by Jim and Christine Warjone, is a classic Monk McQueen wooden boat. The space aboard is estimated at more than 2,000 square feet.

Patti Payne

Columnist-Puget Sound Business Journal

Email  | Twitter

With interest rates low
and homes selling more quickly
than they have in a long time,
one boat owner is hoping his
“floating home” will sell now,
at a discounted price of just under half a million dollars. Jim Warjone
and his wife,Christine, own the Christine K.

The couple moved out of the Seattle area and have had their classic Monk
McQueen boat up for sale for two years. Jim is chairman of Port Blakely
Companies (timber and development), one of the founding family-owned
companies of the Northwest. He was its longstanding CEO before he turned
over the reins two years ago. The couple moved out of the area to Idaho and
Arizona — two places with no saltwater.

It’s more than fun to take a look at this posh, popular and spectacular wood
boat, and bring you onboard, behind the scenes. “Of course a man in the
timber business would have to have a wood boat,” says Jim, who insists that
maintenance is not much different than on a fiberglass boat.

But for me to take you on board ... the trouble is, it's not exactly on display.
Under cover in its own private 100-foot boathouse in Salmon Bay, east of
and near the Ballard Locks in Seattle, the yacht is being preserved like a
rare painting, for the next buyer, complete with its specially built boathouse
and its docking privileges. So I will take you on a word tour, complete with
pictures. Come aboard:

The Christine K has two wet bars, four staterooms, a engine room and
workroom that's easy to stand up and walk around in, a galley that looks like
a full-sized farm kitchen, heads fitted with Italian Carrara marble, an enormous
single-level salon and so much more.

If you could measure the space on this 83-footer, it would likely come in
at more than 2,000 square feet. With its artwork, furnishings and turnkey
feel, it's like walking into a well executed home, right off the cover of
“House Beautiful,” or “Architectural Digest.” It’s the stuff that some dreams
are made of. And it’s always fun to dream.

If this boat could talk, it would tell stories of guests on board who head Fortune
500 companies, as well as whole generations of the Warjones' extended family. 
It would tell you that Jim has lost so many cell phones overboard from this
yacht he loves that the last one he was given had water wings and a GPS locator.

The boat would tell many stories — including one about a prominent Seattle
man who bought an enormous, expensive steel yacht and lost control of
it on approach to docking at a Seattle Yacht Club outstation on Henry Island
in Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands. It just so happened that the Christine
K was docked right in the pathway of this errant behemoth, which cracked into
the Christine K’s anchor on the front, bending the anchor bracket. The collision
decimated the salon windows on one full side of the steel yacht, sending safety
glass and shards of that new ship everywhere. Ah, the stories.

Jim Warjone still comes into Seattle once a month or so, and serves on boards
of two other for-profit companies, aside from Port Blakely — one of them in
Denver, one in Seattle.

Ever the engineer, he says his favorite area of the boat is the standup engine
room and workshop. “I enjoyed working there … it was a little shop on its own
and I could make parts and things we needed and help others when they
needed things for their boats too.” He made straps, fixed valves, wiring and
parts for plumbing. “Whatever was needed I could mostly do on the boat,” he says.

The couple found the yacht in Portland, through the internet. They had always
wanted a Monk McQueen and within 24 hours of seeing it, they bought it.

Then the checkbook came out and they revamped almost everything, spending
 as much as the median cost of a home in the Seattle area.

The Warjones handle the boat themselves, with no help, and have taken it all
over the Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound and the San Juans, but no farther.
Under other owners, it has gone to Mexico and Alaska. “We managed it
ourselves, even in the locks,” says Chris, who would warm up homemade cookies
to give to the Lock guys who helped them maneuver the lines.

Brett Aggen, part owner at Emerald Pacific Yachts in Seattle who represents
the Christine K, says the boating business is reflective of what’s happening
in real estate. Right now it is turning around and is on the upswing, he says.
Sales of boats at his company were up 50 percent in April over the same time
last year. Emerald Pacific represents not only previously owned yachts, but
two boat lines as well: Horizon yachts from Taiwan, and Riviera Yachts built
in Australia.

And we are talking big money. Right now there is an order coming in for a
$10 million yacht, and Aggen has seen one sell for $5 million.

Clients include high profile business leaders, including some from the Fortune
500 list, as well as C level execs and business owners of all size companies.
Just last week he sold a yacht to a prominent former Mariner player. A Sonic
is on the customer list as well.

“I’ve seen it all in 22 years,” says Aggen. “I’ve been thrown every curve ball,
from the Luxury Tax Act in 1993 to our most recent market crash, to the
highs of 2007, and everything in between. Right now, people recognize the
values are out there and are not going to be around forever, including
incredibly low interest rates. People who have been holding off boating for
the last few years are serious now.”

The Warjones' boat is far from the most expensive, but I would venture to
say it is one of the most beautiful, the way it is fixed up. It is selling now for
$499,000, down from $570,000. The boathouse, which can be bought with
it, in its permitted moorage, is selling for $500,000.

“It’s turnkey to put your groceries in and go,” says Aggen.

“The beds are made, the linens are there, the galley is outfitted with everything
needed, ” says Chris Warjone. “ If someone buys it, they can count on me to
supply the warm cookies.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2013/06/slide-show--come-aboard-port-blakely.html?page=all

Planetary Resources raises over $200,000 on day one of crowdfunding for space telescope

By Clara Moskowitz

Published May 30, 2013

Space.com

• 
  

A commercial asteroid-mining company aiming to launch a crowdfunded space telescope raised more than $200,000 on the first day of its campaign.

Planetary Resources, a private venture aiming to mine near-Earth space rocks for water, minerals and other resources, announced Wednesday that it would build and launch a space telescope for public use if it could raise at least $1 million in 33 days.

'If you're a beginner, an 8-year-old, and you want to take a picture of Mars, you'll be able to do it.'

- Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Peter Diamandis

The telescope will be a twin copy of the Arkyd spacecraft the company is developing to detect, track and study asteroids in preparation for its mining mission. A test version of the spacecraft is set for its maiden trial flight in April 2014, while the crowdfunded model would launch in early 2015. [Gallery: Planetary Resources' Asteroid Mission]

The spacecraft's public backers would use it to study celestial objects of their choice. They would also have the option of sponsoring research projects at schools, universities or museums that could use the instrument.

"For me, that's the single most exciting part of this, that it will be available to science classrooms, to astronomy classrooms, and kids will be able to do deep space exploration on this telescope on par with what's being done by NASA and other organizations that control all of the satellites," Brent Spiner, the actor who played Data on the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series, said during a webcast to raise funds for the project Wednesday night. "This one will belong to the people."

The project is part of Planetary Resources' plan to make space more accessible to average people, its officials siad.

"I am here to represent the sci-fi crowd, and the line between sci-fi and reality is blurring more and more as time goes on and I think that's what really exciting about this," Spiner said.

Planetary Resources is developing an interface to serve a variety of users, from scientists to kindergarten students.

"If you're a beginner, an 8-year-old, and you want to take a picture of Mars, you'll be able to do it," Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Peter Diamandis said Wednesday during a press event at the Seattle Museum of Flight announcing the campaign."It'll be easy and appropriate for the level of user."

The telescope will also take "space selfies" — self portraits that show the telescope in orbit, with a user-submitted photo displayed on the instrument's screen. A camera mounted on the hull of the spacecraft will snap the photo. Already more than 200 backers have ordered selfies for $25 and above.

"We are putting a webcam on the shoulder of Christopher Columbus as he explored the New World," said Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Eric Anderson. "You are literally going to have the chance to see and feel and listen to what it's like to explore the solar system."

The crowdfunding project, hosted on the Kickstarter website, came about as a way to involve the public in Planetary Resources' mission, which has garnered enthusiastic public support since its announcement in April 2012, its founders said."When we announced the company last April, we really were blown away by the level of interest and excitement," Diamandis said."We were not ready for it."

The company has grand plans for public engagement, beyond the space telescope. "In the future, we're going to be looking at using this crowd that we're developing to help us do data analysis of asteroids, help us develop crowd-sourced software, and even hardware," Diamandis said."Our goal is to democratize the access to space."

But if the crowdfunding campaign fails to reach its $1 million goal by June 30, the company will receive none of the money it has raised.

"All of you out there who believe in this, you've got to put your money where your mouth is," Anderson said. "You've got to help us out,".

To learn more about the Planetary Resources crowdfunding campaign, visit its Kickstarter page here: ARKYD: A Space Telescope for Everyone.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/05/30/space-telescope-crowdfunding-project-raises-over-200000-on-first-day/#ixzz2VB0Mr4Zy

Bellevue space company turns to Kickstarter for interstellar telescope

BY JOSH KERNS  on May 29, 2013 @ 2:02 pm (Updated: 2:35 pm - 5/29/13 )

Planetary Resources announced the Kickstarter campaign at a launch event Wednesday at Seattle's Museum of Flight.A Bellevue company that wants to mine precious metals from asteroids is hoping a new crowdfunding campaign will help pay for an ambitious new space telescope.

The company's founders say the goal is to provide direct access to the new ARKYD space telescope for "students, scientists and a new generation of citizen explorers."

"I've operated rovers and landers on Mars, and now I can share that incredible experience with everyone," said Chris Lewicki, President and Chief Engineer of Planetary Resources.

"People of any age and background will be able to point the telescope outward to investigate our Solar System, deep space, or join us in our study of near-Earth asteroids," he said.

Schools and science museums will get the primary access to the telescope.

While the company has some deep pocketed investors, including Google co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt, Planetary Resources co-founder Eric Andersen said the company decided on the Kickstarter campaign to gauge public interest and get more people to participate in space exploration. And he said the company would invest far more in the project.

"We are willing to do all the design, engineering work and we've put that on the table. But we're not going to build something that people don't want. The only way to prove that it's something people want is to ask for money and set a value on things."

Clearly there's plenty of interest. The Kickstarter campaign raised over $140K in the first several hours. Along with the opportunity to donate time on the telescope, other incentives include "Your Face in Space." For $25 you can upload a picture of your choice to the telescope, snap a photo of it with the Earth in the background and then transmit it back to you for a "space selfie."

"In the last 50 years, space exploration has been led by national governmental agencies with their own set of priorities; and now we're changing the nature of exploration. We're developing the most advanced space technology ever made available to the public," said co-founder Peter Diamandis.