Summerfest 2007 (8/3 To 8/5)

A special trip to the SUMMERFEST BOOGIE skydiving event was done during the weekend of August 3-5, 2007. This event was billed as the "WFFC Alternative" ... The WFFC in Rantoul, IL was cancelled this year to the disappointment of many skydivers. The SUMMERFEST event at Skydive Chicago had just about every event the WFFC had that wasn't for 2007.



Aircraft to skydive ranged from a Pitts Special to the Perris DC-9 commerical jet, plus many "standard" jump aircraft. Some pictures can be seen at the link provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/skydive.htm

Diabetes Can Be Deadly (8/1)

DIABETES KILLS! If not taken care of properly or out of control! Jacinto (Jose) Chong, pictured below, was a long-time friend and roommate of mine whom I knew since early 1994. He passed away after a long battle with kidney failure, paralysis, heart disease, and other diabetic complications. He passed away from heart failure on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at Plantation West Hospital in Broward County, Florida after undergoing dialysis. His death was rapid, and ended about 5 years of excruciating pain. He was only 44 years old. Diabetes is a killer, fully hereditable, and insidious in many ways as damage is often done to the person before he or she even knows they got it!



After his death Jacinto was shipped to his home country of Panama for a formal funeral with his family and is survived by his mother, Sonia. He was a mix of Spanish and Asian descent, his father also succumbing to a similar fate at 45 years old. Jacinto was a hard working and good man who started from scratch after leaving Panama in the 1980's during political problems.

He worked his way from nothing in his "new life" in the USA to a career in computer engineering and never hesitated when the time came to give and / or help someone. He supported his large family back in Panama and brought his mother to the states when his health turned. Jacinto was a man who almost never said "no". May he rest in peace, as his suffering is over, and may God bless him to everlasting life and happiness.

A special memorial page, dedicated to this unfortunate victim, has been set up. It also contains important and useful information on diabetes and can be viewed at the link below...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/diabetes.htm

Back In Florida (7/20)

Back in hot and sunny south Florida just in time for Hurricane Season 2007! I have wrapped up my Dayton, Ohio computer project on-time as of the end of July 2007.



Once again, I am home in South Florida and currently working there at another IT job in Fort Lauderdale. The picture above is Florida at its oldest, Saint Augustine.

More Canada (7/6 To 7/9)!

A second trip to Canada was made on July 6 through July 9, 2007. This time, the trip to Toronto was made by flying in instead, to avoid any hassles experienced at the border during the last trip! During this trip, the worlds tallest free-standing structure, the CN tower, was visited with a height of 1,815 feet. Also, see the raging class-six rapids of the Niagara River from aboard a specially designed jet boat. Then, take a helicopter flight over the Niagara great gorge and see the falls from over a half mile up!



You can also view this trip as well as many others by checking out the OUTDOORS section of my web site. You can go right to the area for this trip by clicking the link below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/outdoors.htm

Trip To Canada (6/15 - 6/17)

The weekend of June 15 through June 17 was spent in the Toronto area of Ontario, Canada including a trip to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side then a trip to the city of Toronto. Toronto is located on the northwest side of Lake Ontario and is about an hour from Niagara Falls, which is south of the southwest side of the lake. Niagara falls is a spectacular waterfall system between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario where flows from one lake to the other takes place along the Niagara River. This area is also one of the most heavily visited tourist areas in the world. The city of Toronto is also the most ethnically diverse city in the World.



You can also view this trip as well as many others by checking out the OUTDOORS section of my web site. You can go right to the area for this trip by clicking the link below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/outdoors.htm

US / Canada Border Problem (6/15)

I had some problems when crossing from the United States into Canada on June 15 Due to "suspicious contents" found on my laptop computer, brought along for both GPS mapping and internet (email). I was detained and subsequently arrested. I spent about 6 hours at the facility, most of that time in a holding cell (aka: "Jail") in Windsor.

It was not until a special investigator scrutinized my laptop and all contents and deemed there was "nothing there" that was illegal. After this terrifying and seemingly un-fair wait, I was released and apologized to and continued on to my destination, with no more than frustration and a 6-hour delay.



The interesting details on how this unfolded can be seen by clicking the link to it provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/america.htm

High-Risk Chasing (MN / WI - 6/7)

A second and exciting chase day unfolded on June 7, 2007 through Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Illinois which was part of my chase trip to the US Great Plains and Midwest was during the period from June 5 through June 10, 2007. On June 7 a high-risk and rough chase landed myself with three tornadic supercell storms and my first experience seeing what GIGANTIC hail can do to a small Midwestern town that was hit by a tornado on one side and the hail on the other!



The chase log for the June 7 storm chase is also online and can be seen by clicking the link to it provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2007.htm

Tornado In South Dakota (6/6)

A long-shot chase trip to the US Great Plains and Midwest was done during the period from June 5 through June 10, 2007. On June 6 a tornadic supercell storm was intercepted near Wanblee, South Dakota. This was the first sucessful chase day of the June 5-10 chase trip.



The chase log for the June 6 storm chase is also online and can be seen by clicking the link to it provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2007.htm

Tropical Storm Barry (FL - June 1-2)

Tropical storm Barry decided to affect Florida with winds and torrential rains just as I was doing a routine visit there from Ohio, where I work (I live and have a house in Florida). The flight into Fort Lauderdale was pretty much rough-and-tumble turbulence through the feeder-bands (left picture) of TS Barry! In the center and right pictures, large waves, wind and rain affect Deefield Beach fishing pier. TS Barry weakened a day later on June 2 near Tampa, FL without much in the way of wind, but gave FL some much needed rains.



There is a small chase log for this storm, adn you can see it by clicking the link to it provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/ba07.htm

Storm Chase Bust (MN / WI - 5/26)

A chase trip was attempted on a potential setup near the tri-state region of Iowa / Wisconsin / Minnesota and did not really pan out as well as expected due to lack of instability. Such "busts" do happen, and are a part of chasing - Like going out fishing and not catching anything good - Same "hit" or "miss" scenario.



The chase log for this attempted storm chase is also online and can be seen by clicking the link to it provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2007.htm

SVR Storms (TX, OK, & KS - 5/23)

A special trip was made during the mid-week of May 22-24 for a chase day in the Texas / Oklahoma panhandle area on May 23, 2007. During this special "spot-chase", a tornadic supercell was intercepted near Laverne, Oklahoma during the late afternoon of 5-23-2007 and a monster HP supercell storm later on farther southwest near Lipscomb, Texas!



This chase started by Leaving Dayton, OH near 9 PM via a flight to Kansas City, MO arriving at 11:30 PM. Picked up rental vehicle then headed west to Abilene, KS for the night. May 23 was a full chase day in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle regions. An all night drive back to Kansas City, MO ended the chase on May 24 with a 5:40 AM flight back to Dayton, OH at 9:40 AM - Yawn!!

The full chase log is now online and can be seen by clicking the link to it provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2007.htm

Kings Island Theme Park (5/20)

Kings Island is another theme park in Ohio (near Cincinnati). This is another place for the roller coaster enthusiast and has many high-thrill attractions. The Beast is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, with a ride time of nearly five minutes, try it - If you dare!



You can check out some on-ride footage of these amazing coasters as well as other extreme rides at Kings Island by checking out the link provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/coasters.htm#KINGSI

Dayton Hamfest (5/19)

The Dayton Hamfest (or Hamvention) is a yearly event held at the Hara Arena in Dayton Ohio each year. It receives world wide attention, and hard-core HAM radio operators, along with "casual" HAMs, and even their friends and families, come each year to it. With myself living and working in Dayton, Ohio just blocks away from the Hara Arena, I attended this event on May 19, 2007.



I put many pictures and coverage of this event in the STORM CHASING PICNICS AND EVENTS section of this web site. You can see more by checking out the link provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/picnic07.htm#CEDARPT

Northern Indiana Chase (5/15)

A round of severe thunderstorms occurred in northern Indiana and parts of Ohio on May 15, 2007. This promped another severe weather chase inwhich two nice gustnadoes (tornado-like vortices created in strong gust-fronts) were observed with an intense squall line west of Fort Wayne, Indiana during the afternoon as well as hail and high winds in Ohio in the late evening towards midnight.



You can also check the status on any storm chases for 2007 in the central USA by clicking the LINK provided below - This should take you to the special section for any storms chased in the central USA during 2007...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/mwcl2007.htm

Storm Chasing Slows In May 2007

The image shown below is the airflow at high altitude over the United States - This is why our chase plans have resorted to "spot chasing" and no long chase "expeditions" ... The "Omega" shaped airflow is due to a BLOCKING RIDGE pattern that has been over the central USA since the first week in May 2007 and can last as long as the entire month of May 2007! These so called "death ridges" can effectively shut-down storm chasing operations in the central US.



Lucky were those who have been out there before the first part of May when the pattern was busy, now it's not, so storm chasing is lame as it was during the "past 2 Mays". We are waiting for this pattern to break so that chasing can resume. On the flip-side, this "quiet pattern" does, however come as a fantastic relief and reprieve to those unfortunate tornado victims of the start of the 2007 storm season, especially those of Greensburg, KS.

Cedar Point Theme Park (5/12)

Cedar Point is a theme park on a penninsula that juts out into Lake Erie in Northern Ohio near Sandusky. Opening day for the season was May 12, 2007 and very busy with long waits and lines, as you can imagine. This place is noted for at least 17 roller coasters plus many other high-thrill attractions.



Many roller coasters here have broken records for their sheer height (called "giga-coasters" or even "strata-coasters"). One of the most notable examples of a "strata-coaster" is the "Top Thrill Dragster" attraction, with a height of 420 feet and a gut-wrenching 10,000 horsepower hydraulic launch system capeable of accelerating an 18 passenger train from 0 to 120 MPH in under 4 seconds!

This Is YOUR Face At 5 Gs - Any Questions?

You can check out some on-ride footage of this high-G monster as well as many others at Cedar Point by checking out the link provided below ...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/coasters.htm#CEDARPT

Greensburg, KS Destroyed (5/4)

A very devastating and large tornado struck Greensburg, Kansas during the early evening of May 4, 2007 and destroyed most of the town and killing at least a dozen people. This is the kind of disaster one may not want to witness, no matter how much he or she may like seeing storms.



The picture above was taken by fellow chaser Dan Robinson with STORMHIGHWAY.COM as I was not with him or out chasing in that area. The tornado, called a WEDGE, is about a mile and a half wide and just about to hopelessly take out Greensburg as this picture was taken. The tornado was rated EF-5, the highest on the enhanced Fujita scale, with winds at least 205 MPH extending across a path nearly 2 miles wide.

You can also visit Dan Robinson's great web site, at STORMHIGHWAY.COM by clicking the picture above, or by clicking the link provided below...

http://www.stormhighway.com

Remembering Virginia Tech

Our heart and sorrow goes out to all the victims, friends, and families, plus anyone who has been affected by the senseless and tragic shooting spree that took place at Virginia Tech the day on Monday, April 16 of 2007. This is another horrific example of what kinds of roads people may be headed down in our world today! This is indeed the dark-side of what we all see in the NEWS.



This horiffic event should not have happened, not here in the USA at least. A special tribute section has been set up for it in my area on AMERICA, with more details. Please click the link below to see it...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/america.htm

SVR Storms (S Florida - 5/6)

May 6, 2007 presented a round of severe thunderstorms in south Florida. The storms were caused by a developing low pressure region to the northeast of the area combined with sea-breeze boundaries and a low-pressure trough. Some supercell storms developed by late afternoon, and moved south across south Florida. One supercell storm in Broward County produced a small tornado west of the populated areas.



I was able to intercept some severe weather down in Broward County, south Florida ... For more information with pictures on this supercell storm, check out the link below in my section on storm chasing for 2007 (other storm chases)...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/stlog.htm

For pictures on this storm plus others for 2007 (other chase log pictures), check out the link below...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/stplog3.htm

FTL Air And Sea Show (May 5-6)

The 2007 Mc Donald's Air And Sea Show took place on the weekend of May 5-6, 2007 at the end of Fleet Week. This is a yearly event, since the mid 1990's (originally sponsered by Shell), where over a million people flock to Fort Lauderdale beach to see boats and aircraft of many types and capabilities. This year the Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team and F22 "Raptor" were some of the biggest stars of the show.



You can check out more about this incredible event by clicking my link on airshow coverage by clicking the LINK provided below - This should take you to the special section for ALL my footage on airshows...

http://www.sky-chaser.com/airshow.htm