It gets in your blood, really.

Even though I miss my old heavy airframe WC-135W and B-52H days, I don't know how anybody's heart wouldn't skip a beat when viewing a lovely Beech Staggerwing - like this one I viewed at a local shindig in my little Wisconsin hometown:


I mean, just look at those curves!

Been retired a couple years now...

And hardly a day goes by I don't think about my previous vocation. Thanks to an astute boomer with camera, here's a shot of us on an operational sortie, filling up the gas tanks enroute to the AOI:

They look good, so maybe they'll shoot just as well!

A while back, I scored a box of 180gr Winchester Ballistic Silvertips, which are a joint venture between Winchester and Nosler. Of course, I had to have nickel-plated brass to load these beauties in, and some obliging friends from a few forums I used to haunt sent me a care package. For them, and others wanting to see what lovingly handcrafted ammunition looks like, I give you a photo with 20 each .30-06 rounds, and 5 each .308 Winchester rounds, all using those 180gr Ballistic Silvertips, courtesy of the reloading bench: