This might give you an idea how big the plane is. I'm working on an avionics problem. Not a lot of room to remove parts. 

 

I bought some flags to send up on a combat mission. These will be presented to family and friends when I get home.













Here is the "travelin' penguini" getting ready for his 1st combat mission. He rode along with the flags that flew on Nov. 6










Check it out. Penguini had his own little capsule that he flew in.

This is our GCS - ground control station. It is set on a Humvee chassis.














This is our GDT - ground data terminal. Its an antenna system that we use to control the plane.

IGNAT taking off. An IGNAT is basically a predator that we make for the Army. It has a few differences in the avionics package thats about it.

Here are the planes all ready to go.

This is how we ship the planes. They're taken apart and get packed up in fibreglass containers. it takes about 8 hrs to put together and do the ops checks.

We arrived in theatre just after midnight. The plane was unloaded in about 30 mins. and they took off for Kuwuit.

Just before we entered Iraqi airspace we had to put on our kevlar vests and helmets. This thing weighs a ton with the ballistic plates in it.

London Skyline looking across the Thames river

Another view of tower bridge 

This is the "tower bridge". I guess this is what is now known as London bridge. 

Here we are at Picadilly Circus. I guess this is the time square of London

The palace guards

The gate at Buckingham palace

Penguini at Buckingham palace

Big Ben

The plane had some minor electrical problems on the trip over so we had to divert to RAF Mildenhall for 2 days. Can't say I didn't enjoy the layover. London is about 1 hour away by train so Ryan and me spent a day touring the city. Of course the "travlin' penguini" said he wanted to go also.

This is a shot of the inside of the C17

This is the plane we fly overseas on. Its a C17 transport from Washington state. This is what replaced the C141 Starlifter that the Air force used for about 40 yrs. Its a lot bigger inside than it looks.

Sunrises in the desert can be pretty dramatic. (a little help from photoshop doesn't hurt either) 

This is where I work. Basically I'm in the middle of the desert in California. In the background you can see the Gray Butte flight test facility. This is where they fly the predator A & B models from after final assembly and testing. 

Here he is "The Travelin' Penguini" He will accompany me on the road to help document my latest adventure. Carol bought him for me when it looked like I was going to be working for Raytheon and traveling to Antartica for a job.