New Member Intro - Stratoflyer

[Stratoflyer]

Hello! Teenage years running tractor and combine working for uncle on family farm, tilling, seeding, cutting wheat. Custom cut wheat from Kansas to Colorado. Lifelong career as electrical engineer and program manager in Aerospace. Retired from NASA after 37 years working in Aerospace, 21 with NASA. Upon retirement, Honey-Do page went overnight from a single page to a volumous list of things that "have to be done." Couldn't do half of them without my Kubota BX23S tractor. Now active with personal home landscaping & gardening, as well as fishing and amateur radio whenever I can claim with a straight face that the Honey-Do book got misplaced and is nowhere to be found.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Welcome to TBN; that little Kubota is quite the Swiss Army knife isn't it?

Good to hear you're enjoying your retirement!

 

[Mrsig]

and enjoy the forum!

 

[Stratoflyer]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Enjoy the site.

Thanks! I've wonderful memories of many wonderful NASA campaigns conducted in Alice Springs and having travelled through Christchurch to/from Antarctica. Downunder...I'm a transplant by heart. Best...

 

[Stratoflyer]

Welcome to TBN; that little Kubota is quite the Swiss Army knife isn't it?

Good to hear you're enjoying your retirement!

Thanks! Yes...don't tell anyone, but I've even been known to get on it just to run around the property since the knees and hip are going out. Guess I'll have to take doc's advice for those titanium joints...which is OK as long as no hydraulics are involved. Best...

 

[Stratoflyer]

and enjoy the forum!

Thanks! Yeah, a year before my purchase, I was doing everything by hand then after looking through the manufacturer website, realized I was nuts for not going ahead and investing in something to make chores easier. Thing is, someone I hold near and dear realized there was much more that could be done that otherwise wouldn't get second consideration if I didn't have the tractor. Funny how things like that work. Best...

 

[Spanner]

Thanks! I've wonderful memories of many wonderful NASA campaigns conducted in Alice Springs and having travelled through Christchurch to/from Antarctica. Downunder...I'm a transplant by heart. Best...

Welcome, from 'near Chch'.

I, for one, have enjoyed watching the Artemis II mission.
Saw a live Shuttle launch once (Amazing) and enjoyed the NASA tour in Houston.
Thanks for your work. Enjoy your retirement.

 

[Stratoflyer]

Welcome, from 'near Chch'.

I, for one, have enjoyed watching the Artemis II mission.
Saw a live Shuttle launch once (Amazing) and enjoyed the NASA tour in Houston.
Thanks for your work. Enjoy your retirement.

Thanks Spanner! It was a fun ride working for NASA. Lots of travel and making new friends in far away places. Agree...Artemis II was great to watch. I had previledge to watch several ISS resupply launches that were conducted from Kennedy and Wallops Island. My favorite was watching a Space-X launch for an instrument we had in the Dragon module headed for an ISS resupply. It wasn't the lift off that got me most excited...it was watching the first stage retro back to the pad and hit it spot on the mark. As they say..."there's no Buck Rogers without the Bucks." Took me back to younger years when spaceships were envisioned to land wherever they journeyed under descent controlled by the main thrusters, not on parachutes. Glad you got to make it over and take the tour and take in the sights. There's a great bunch of folks down your way who have made fantastic inroads into commercialization...Rocket Lab. They've done great and are fun to watchl. Best...

 

[Spanner]