Paula asked where Lou would be and I have an answer.  He would be at the Palm Springs Air Museum.  Outside, an F-15, A6, F-16 and Cicadas screeching so loudly, that I couldn’t hear if my engine was off or not.

Inside, they had a fantastic collection of WW2 aircraft and a pretty impressive explanation of when and where the planes (and pilots) fought.

I won’t bother naming all the planes (like I could anyway) but man, it really reminded me how HUGE even the ‘small’ fighters were.  Some of the engines, like those on a P-47, were freaking gigantic!

Oh I loved looking at all the planes and reading about the history but the most fun I had was when one of the volunteers came over and asked what I thought of the collection.

We ended up talking for quite a while and he was very excited to tell me about how they found and raised and restored an SBD dive bomber (on display now in the museum.)

I told him about my dad being an airplane mechanic and how he came over to Canada and fell in love with the open space and he told me he went over to England and fell in love with an English woman.  Hahaha!

He was a great guy, short, round, his eyes a little rheumy and red, his hands spotted, his hair white and thin but his mind was still as sharp as, well, something sharp and he LOVED talking about planes.  How he found the engine cover for the SBD (on a windpump in Texas), how they used authentic rivets but how the plane would not fly (which seemed to make him sad.)

He talked about all the planes and pilots that come to the airshows here and how he wants to go back and see the UK museums which he thought were outstanding.

Made my day.

Lou would have loved the museum.

And the old crew chief, Tom.