Keels & Wheels (Post # 128)

The first weekend in May, Toni and I received an invitation from our good friends Richard and Ronnie to visit them in Kemah, Texas.  The main reason was to attend the 23rd annual Keels and Wheels Concours d'Elegance in nearby Seabrook, but it was also an opportunity to take advantage of Dr. Mark Brinker's invitation to visit his car collection in Houston. Mark is one of The Alfatross' most ardent suitors, and although we have corresponded for several years, we had never met in person.

A small part of Mark Brinker's collection of limited production Italian exotics, one-off American exotica with interesting history, and special rare sports and racing cars produced for the Japanese Domestic Market. 

With what seemed like hundreds of cars of every conceivable type and age on exhibit, in addition to just about anything that would float, there was something for everyone at the Keels and Wheels Concours d'Elegance.

This Pegaso Z102 Spider was the kind of car I came to see.  Had we entered The Alfatross this would have been part of her competition.

And of course what kind of a concours would it be without
 sky-diving, flag waving daredevils landing with pinpoint
 precision on a floating dock? 

One of only 36 surviving B-17s, the "Thunder Bird" is 71
years old and still going strong! It's 4 radial engines make
 1,200 hp each.

It was only a weekend jaunt, but as long as we were there anyway, we decided to make a side trip to Galveston and see the Lone Star Flight Museum.  Much to our surprise and delight we got to get up close and personal with a vintage machine of a very different type.  Just as we drove up a WWII B-17 "Flying Fortress"--one of my all-time favorite flying machines--was coming in for a magnificent landing!   

We also hit the Johnson Space Center to see some of NASA's new exhibits, including the Space Shuttle replica Independence mounted atop the specially-modified Boeing 747 used to ferry the shuttles from the their manufacturing and landing sites to the launch pad at Cape Kennedy.   

OK, so I didn't get any work done on The Alfatross for a few days, but even car restorers deserve a break every now and then . . . .  
Thanks to Richard Coberly, Ronnie Veerkamp, and Dr. Mark Brinker for a most amazing and educational weekend!

We thought the Thunder Bird was big until we saw this combination: the shuttle Independence  riding piggyback on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft N905NA !   231 ft. long, 195 ft wing span.  Fully fueled  take off weight 710,000 lbs!  HP?  . . . many gajillion.