Last time, we’d announced our anniversary would be celebrated in Canada since Chip wanted to share the beauty of his other country of citizenship–indeed, it was beautiful! We first flew to Vermont where we rented a car to drive across the border and enjoy all the wonderful natural sights on the way to Montreal. Once there, we stayed at the historical Reine Elizabeth hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono had held their bed-in; coincidentally, there was a fascinating exhibit on about them, along with another on Napoleon at the Musee des Beaux Arts.
Montreal vibrates with cultural events, great restaurants, and stores, and of course, impressive monuments like their own Notre-Dame Cathedral. We toured the entire city, and even added side trips to the Canada Space Center and a day at the lovely mountain resort called Mont Tremblant.
Veronique really had a good time speaking French in Canada; and her anniversary celebration was complete with a stop at the Vermont Bear factory on the way back home, to add yet another bear to her collection!
Chip repeated good times with a trip to Gadsden, Alabama, to attend the “Jet Blast” organized by International Jets. There were more than a dozen jet pilots ready to train in formation flight. The event culminated with a newly-formed “Jet Blast team” of L-39s flying in formation at the local airshow. Chip was at the controls of his jet with another trained pilot, and he’ll definitely repeat the experience–yes, it was a blast!
Back home, we were invited to participate in the Space Investment Summit Conference by Robert Jacobson from the 62-Mile Club, in order to introduce Aurora Aerospace formally as a Space Training Center doing business out of Florida. Chip was the presenter, and he blew the audience away with the description of our services. The day was well spent networking, with Per Wimmer (future Danish astronaut) booking a training flight in the L-39 that same week-end.
So far, we have been able to secure partnerships with outstanding companies such as Mig-Flug (in Europe), Incredible Adventures, and the Millionaire’s Concierge. They’ve helped us expand our activities along with the interviews we gave to the local Fox and ABC television networks. Online, more news about www.aurora-aerospace.com have been circulating through articles by Space.com and Space News. We’ve been busy since our official launch on May 1st!
News about our other space -related activities: Americans-in-Orbit 50 Years (AIO 50) has procured a space capsule which is now at the US Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Check it out at: www.aio50.org. Plans are still on for a 2012 launch….
In the meantime, we’ll get together with Craig Russell, the AIO President, at the next AOPA Summit here in Tampa in November to drum up some media coverage about the project. (Before that, we’ll be flying the jet at the Cocoa Beach Air Show in October. In short, we’ll be airborne no matter what happens!)
As soon as Alexander and Nicholas came back home in June, we focused on them of course, and on spending quality time having fun. We began with a trip to Paris, France, the day after they arrived. The timing was necessary due to the Paris Air Show we were attending (instead of the one in Russia, which we decided to trade for in order to be able to take the boys with us). The jet lag turned out to be easier than we had anticipated, and the boys had no problem taking in all that Paris had to offer in the short time we were there–a lot!
Right after we stepped off the plane and dropped our luggage at our hotel (situated in front of the Madeleine Church, a perfect selection which Veronique’s mom, Vovo, had recommended–she met us there by the way), we headed towards the Eiffel Tower, walking past the Place de la Concorde with the Egyptian obelisk, the Jardin des Tuileries, bridges, etc. etc. There is no point in trying to describe all the magnificent Parisian sights , the best is to view the photographs we took directly on this blog!
We were all very happy to see Vovo again, going to fancy French restaurants and taking time to connect with the French culture. The Louvre and Versailles were especially marking, with the richness of their designs and the treasures they preserved inside.
We were glad to introduce the boys to their second cultural heritage as they will soon be learning French at school now that they are done with cruising. They both already know “maman”, and they loved the French sandwiches called “croque-monsieur” they first tasted at the traditional Angelina, so that counts for a lot already, ha!
Once home again, the boys were very excited to have their own rooms for the first time! They decorated them freely with their personal interests, and it was a delight to watch them at work sorting through their collections and decorative items. Finally, they had no more studying to do this summer, so we were done with Calvert School. Still, in order to keep their skills honed, they studied robots, then had to design their own concept on paper; launched rockets; participated in the Summer Reading Program at the local library; and learned about Fire Safety with a private tour of the Oldsmar Fire Station by their friend Nick Weber.
Alexander and Nicholas also did do some non-scholarly work: They helped repaint the “Spaceball”, or “MAD” (multi-axis disorientation) Machine for use at Aurora Aerospace. Alexander also assisted with the company’s simulator, the Orbiter, while Nicholas lent a hand with the MAD Machine on Space Camp Day. Here is an excerpt of articles published about Aurora Aerospace’s Space Camp Day:
Space Camp Day began this past Saturday at 9 a.m. when twenty-five cadets and parents from four different squadrons (Clearwater Composite; Northside Cadet; Palm Harbor Cadet; and Pasco Cadet Squadrons) were escorted into the conference room of the airport’s fixed base of operation for their first briefing. Welcoming them was Chipman’s fiancée, Veronique Balsa-Koken, a University Professor and President of Aurora Aerospace, and their two sons, Cadet Alexander and Nicholas, who assisted with the operation of the simulator and MAD machine. Nick Weber, a new member of the Oldsmar Fire Department, was also present to give a presentation later in the afternoon about Fire Safety.
Following Major Chipman’s assignment of lucky cadets to the jet or zero-g flights, Captain Balsa-Koken then proceeded to instruct the entire group in Human Physiology in Space; Spatial Disorientation; and Marshalling. An hour later, the group was divided into four teams, each participating in a different activity for the next two hours. After a lunch break, the teams rotated again until the end of the event, which wrapped up successfully around 4 p.m. with Aurora Aerospace’s donation of the company’s flight patch as a souvenir.
The cadets and senior members of the CAP shared their appreciation for Aurora Aerospace’s generous offering of time, expertise, and equipment, in what some cadets expressed as “their best time ever!”
Leisure-wise, the boys got to engage in many activities every boy might wish to do: Bowling; flying; gliding; boating; driving; tennis; kayaking; swimming with new pool toys; laser-tagging; wake-boarding; bicycle riding; launching fireworks; starting a bonfire; ice-skating lessons; electronics time; and by all means, since they are part of the Chipman Family now, a mandatory trip to the Bahamas!
During this trip (the fourth one for the boys, they’ll soon be eligible for residency at this rate!), we stopped at the Grand Bahama Island to visit Chip’s dad in Freeport. He declared that he wanted to explore the Exumas, so off we went all of a sudden to Georgetown–that’s the advantage of private planes in the Caribbean, you pick another island at the last minute and you just go (checking first if the airport has fuel)…
Chip found a charming and private property to rent called Regatta Point, located at the end of Kidd Cove. The mansion came without TV, internet, or good telephone reception—too bad?—but complete with boat and equipment to enjoy fishing. That we did every day, catching enough fish to prepare our own “Chipman Fish Fry” many times over. We also toured around Georgetown, ate well, snorkeled, relaxed, went boating everywhere, and had a great time with the “famous Chippie Chipman”. The most memorable day was the one spent on Stocking Island where tame sting rays come up to people near the beach and allow them to pet them and feed them. It was unbelievable!
The summer ended with a definitely-not-uptight visit to the “Holyland”, right here in Florida! Instead of going again to the exhibits nearby—we’ve seen so many already—or the standard Orlando Disney or Universal traps, we decided to investigate a less mainstream attraction (although it did get featured in Bill Maher’s “Religulous” movie, the source of our curiosity).
Anyway, we arrived there in our Astrovan just in time to catch the simulated whipping and crucifixion of Jesus complete with fake blood. They had a pretend “last supper” with the same Jesus after they cleaned him up. Chip parted the Red Sea at some point, and everybody was enthralled by the quality tour of old Bibles and scrolls. It was an experience we shall define as weirdly tacky, yet quite valuable and entertaining. Definitely worth it, believers and atheists alike!
This is it for now. The boys are with father in California; we’ll be celebrating our birthdays next week at the Biltmore in Miami (courtesy of Vovo and Auntie Elizabeth who want to share this occasion with us); then it’ll be the start of the fall season with much to do. So let’s reconnect around Christmas, “the best time of the year”! Till then, be well, and our best thoughts always…
Chip and Veronique 