Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Well we've been super busy here at the Airship 27 Hangar with lots of great new pulp titles in the work.  We just finished editing a brand new Green Lama novel by writer Adam Garcia and today started work on a new Dr.Watson adventure by Erwin K.Roberts.  Plus we've many of our Airship 27 artists also hard at work on illustrations for these wonderful books.  We'll post some soon.  For right now we've still got lots of pictures taken from our whirlwind three day Chicago tour that our daughter Heather led us on.  Chicago is truly a great city.

        
                      The Air Chief & daughter Heather in front of the Navy Pier.
Seeing the famous Navy Pier was high on Valerie's list of things to do and Heather was only too happy to oblige us.  All three days of our visit were sunny and so getting around this wonderful metropolis proved to be easy and fun.  Note the famous Ferris Wheel designed and constructed by George Ferris Jr. for the World's Exposition of 1893.  The pier jets out into mighty Lake Michigan and has lots of eateries and fun exhibitions for the entire family.  In the warm months it is clearly a favorite spot of both residents and tourists alike.

         
                               Val and the Air Chief with dazzling Chicago as a backdrop.
Heather snapped the photo near the end of the pier to get this marvelous shot of the downtown Chicago skyline in the background.

                         The Chicago Field Museum of Science
Another must stop on our grand tour was the Field Museum. One of the most elaborate and marvelous such museums in the world, it is the home of several fantastic exhibitions we were anxious to see with our own eyes. This was a real treat for us.

         
                            Looking Down From Second Floor of the Museum
The place is enormous and it would be impossible for the museum to show all of its collection at one time.  The majority are stored in the basement levels and rotated on a set schedule.  All of them speak to another era and time when America was coming of age and the museum's explorers traveled the globe in search of scientific knowledge.

         
                                     Sue the T-Rex
One of the major attractions of the Field Museum is Sue, the most complete skeletal remains ever unearthed of a a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The archeologist who dug her up whimsically called her Sue.  She is truly a marvel to behold and standing beside her, it took only a wee bit of imagination to envision her tromping through prehistoric Earth in search of prey.  She is a most impressive old girl.

       
                                                 The Man Eaters of Tsavo
Several years ago we saw a gripping adventure movie called The Ghost & The Darkness starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas.  It tells the true story of a British engineer named Patterson sent to Africa at the turn of the century to build a railroad and how his entire operation was shut down when the work camp was terrorized by two man-eating lions.  By the time they were finally hunted and destroyed, the twin beasts had slain over thirty men.  Patterson later wrote about his experiences in a book he called The Man Eaters of Tsavo, which then became the basis for the movie.  At the end of the movie, the narrator explains that the story just viewed was true and anyone wishing to see the actual lions had simply to visit the Field Museum of Science in Chicago where they are permanently on display.  Ever since seeing that movie, Val and the Air Chief have hoped to one day do just that…and we did.  And let me assure you, standing in front of that diorama, looking through the glass at the remains of these animals was a very unique experience.  It was all too easy to understand the terror they instilled and the horror they inflicted on those poor African rail workers.

And that's our Chicago pictures for this week. Still a few more and we'll parcel those out next week, especially our trip to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs in action.  Meanwhile, what with our traveling behind us, Val and the Air Chief have been busy with all sorts of activities.  Not the least of which is finally getting our house on the real estate market.  Yes, indeed, after 27 wonderful years here, we have put it up for sale and hope to be moving out west before year's end.  We'll keep you posted.

                                          Noble High Students & the Air Chief

Finally this past week, Ye Old Air Chief was invited, along with 45 other professional people, to participate in an Opportunity Fair at nearby Noble High School, in North Berwick, Me.  Basically, we, and the other presenters, got to talk with students from all four grades about our careers and the satisfaction of making our individual dreams come true.  Naturally we brought a bunch of comics and pulps we had written and told them of our own life's journey in becoming a writer of the fantastic.  The kids were great and we had a blast spending time with them.  Our congratulations to the students and faculty who put on this truly marvelous event.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  Another week come and gone. Hope you are enjoying Spring as much as we are and we'll see you back here next Friday.
Ron-Over & Out