Swepted Away

Franklin Mint 1/48 scale Me 262A-2a assigned to 5/KG (j) 54 based at Schwabisch Hall Dec. 1944.

This is a lovely Me 262A-2a, if any weapon of war can so be. Originally designed with a complex BMW turbine, development problems instead led to the installation of Junkers Jumos 004.



The Jumos 004 series turbojets were good for 8 to 12 hours of operation. Of course they could blow up anytime.
I know this feeling.
My beloved 20 year old Beemer (with a dent) blew a head gasket this week.
'No it can't be, I exclaimed-I should have another 100,000 miles before she lets go! It's a Beemer for Gods sake!'
'Its an old Beemer with a dent,' replied the white smocked lab coated engine person. 'If it was a little newer without a dent we could plug it into the computer, but alas, it's her time.'
I thought about this, and I still contemplate the vulgarities of the meaning of life with out my Beemer.
Then I think of the five Marines who perished today, in a land far way, the dust of Mosques shattered from within, the race wars in African and the demands made of a God in Ireland. I think of what a poor person I am, how shallow is my soul, where is my humanity, when I waste words on a 20 year old car with a dent.

Jag Lag

Jaguar 'D' by Auto Art. Photos by author.
Jaguar, it rolls along your tongue. A 14 year old wangling a ride on a test run in a customer's '64 E-Type. Flat out at 140 indicated in a roadster; the bite of the fall air as the slipstream ripped the hair out of my head.

Race
Fluid, air rolling along the sweeping curves of the 'D's chassis, a little tumbling at the rear, time to shake, like a wet dog, sorting matters to achieve an equilibrium. Unceremoniously smashed by the Porsche's bubbling shape, to be counseled back to some form by the roaring Ferrai's. Tough, the life and times of a molecule at the track.

Not your Mom's Mercedes cont'd

Exoto Sauber-Mercedes C9
Photos by author

Efficency, the movement of air,
areas of high pressure, eddies of low.
Dams and friction.
No where to put the groceries.
Wife won't go for that.