July 27, 2021 Uptown Funk

The Liberty Gazette

July 27, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: We didn’t figure on writing about the recent private rocket trips – Sir Richard Branson in his SpaceShipTwo or Jeff Bezos in New Shepard. After all, the news was saturated with the incredibly wonderful story of Wally Funk. She stole the show. What could we add? 

But after receiving a few messages, we realized we could tell a story you won’t find in any other media. 

It started when Liberty native Benetta Rusk sent me a note. “Wally Funk was one of my instructors! She helped me on my instrument rating. I am so excited for her!” Benetta was flying out of the Addison airport, working on her instrument rating in 1993. A newcomer to the Dallas area, Wally came to a Ninety-Nines meeting, and that’s where they met. Benetta’s friend, Bill, a captain at Northwest Airlines, helped her study for her instrument exams, and she flew with Wally.

“We flew a Cessna 172, and because Wally had been an NTSB inspector, she drilled in safety. I liked flying with her. She was always calm and easy to understand and explained things very well. Plus, her multi-purpose ‘Wally stick’ was a must for preflight!” 

Wally Funk, Benetta Rusk, and Captain Bill, 
after Benetta passed her instrument checkride.

Wally stick? 

“Yes! She had measurements marked on it and used it to check fuel tanks – she had seen too many accidents from running out of fuel – and to tap propeller blades to check for cracks, and on several other areas of the plane during preflight inspection. I sure hope I still have my Wally stick!”

Benetta admires Wally’s contagious enthusiasm and that she is such a cheerleader for women in aviation. “Having her as my flight instructor and cheerleader, and Bill quizzing me constantly on possible oral questions, I was so focused.”

The memories kept pouring out. “My friend Kimberley and I went with her to Killeen to a collegiate flying competition. She signed us up to be line judges for the spot landing contest, and we helped her at the preflight inspection station where students had to identify all the things that would cause an airplane to fail a preflight. It was a fun day.”

Wally Funk, age 8.
Courtesy
Ninety-Nines.org.

Then Mom messaged me all excited. “Just started to read about Bezos and his edge-of-space trip. Shame we couldn’t leave him up there. But then I read that Mary Wallace Funk, aviation pioneer, was on the trip too! OMG, LINDA, I knew her when she was three years old!”

Mom grew up in Mattoon, Illinois, and Wally Funk’s grandmother lived there too. Wally’s mother, Virginia Funk, came to visit several times, with the kids in tow.

“My mother would always go to see her when she came with her son and little girl. You don't forget a girl named Mary Wallace, and that’s what they called her. She had a small Indian blanket that she would not let go of. She was cute and shy. If you see her again, tell her your grandmothers were friends.” 

Wally overcame shyness. How grand that she finally went up in a rocket. She trained for it decades ago and NASA turned her down. She deserves this. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 20, 2021 Get a Move On

The Liberty Gazette

July 20, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Let’s get a move on. Since the onset of the most recent biological warfare, we haven’t been grounded by the shutdowns across the country, but we have had to pivot on travel plans. Like many folks, we became more creative and spent more time outdoors. Things are slowly opening up, yet perhaps not at an agreeable pace. 

Over the past fifteen months, our bikes have resided in the back of our airplane. With picnic lunches packed, we’ve taken off to find adventures. We’ve chronicled some of those jaunts, showing that it really didn’t matter that much where we were going, only that we were indeed going. 

To date, we’ve flown and biked around some interesting places which we might not otherwise have visited, since our trips usually cross several states. For instance, in San Antonio on the Mission Reach trail, riding right up to the front steps of the Alamo. We cycled along the top of the dam in Waco. In Texarkana, we found a small trail that drifted along a drainage culvert to a park bench under a couple of trees. At a beautiful little park just south of Lafayette, Louisiana’s downtown district, we gobbled sandwiches and guzzled lemonade. We enjoyed a similar treat in Ada, Oklahoma along the edges of a gorgeous lake. And, we headed down the coast to Mustang Beach where we walked barefoot, collecting sand between our toes as we dipped them in the waters of the gulf.  One of my favorite trips was to the hilltop at Lockhart State Park where we munched on crackers and cucumbers. 

I love hiking, but bikes offered us a quicker means to get out into the country from the airport. Besides, many of the paths are concrete which wreaks havoc on my shins, making biking a more body-friendly choice. On corporate trips to Salt Lake City over the winter, I climbed mountains both in heavy snow and later in brilliant sunshine. All of this gave my lungs a good workout and filled them with wonderfully freeing fresh air. 

We have also spent more time practicing instrument approaches. That’s something that many pilots have a tendency to put off when there are interesting places to go. Staying proficient is vital for instrument flying.

When we are not wandering the country’s airwaves hither and yon, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed virtual international travel with WithLocals.com. One host showed us how to Greek dance. With another learned host, an archeologist, we studied Pompei’s ruins from the awesomely frightful volcanic eruption at Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D. We took a cooking class in Italy and were introduced to Krav Maga from Israel. We learned about Greek mythology and Venetian history, rode along with a German veterinarian who took us sight-seeing in Berlin, and these things only whetted our appetite for actually being there. 

As our country and the world slowly move out of this dark, oppressive period, we can only hope that things will return to normal. The real normal. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 13, 2021 How to be an Emmy Winner

The Liberty Gazette

July 31, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Let’s continue with last week’s introduction to Kara and Adam White and their aviation documentary company, Hemlock Films, through which they bring history to life in astounding cinematography. 

From the Imagery page of HemlockFilms.com

Well-told stories are mighty, and as Kara says, “When creating, we want the audience to feel something. If we’re not evoking emotion, we’re failing. I know the editing is done when I’m crying.” That is, when she can feel the story’s power. But with great power comes an awesome responsibility. Everything they write is sent to historians to fact-check.

“We want do it right, and to tell stories that haven’t been told. That there were other women pilots besides Amelia. That all of these women are amazing. Mostly, we’re honoring veterans and women who did something courageous. We’re keeping our history alive — the entire world shall know about them. If just one person is affected, then it’s worth all these years of work.”

Affected by airplanes? Not quite. 

On scene with Adam and Kara White, Hemlock Films

“People may think we’re talking about airplanes, but we’re not. We’re talking about the people around them. The airplanes are wood, metal, fabric. The people are people. They aren’t black and white photos. They are real people. It’s their stories we tell.”

I wondered if Kara could pick a favorite. She reflected on an interview in the film, “Rise Above: WASP,” that has deep meaning for her. 

“It’s the part where Alyse Rohrer recalls her family’s reaction to her choice to join the Air Corps. She says, ‘My mother was very unhappy when I started taking lessons. She said, Dear, tumbling around in an airplane, in pants, the way a man does, is just not lady-like, and I said, Too bad.’ I love that part. It sums up their spirit and the whole theme of the movie about not letting anyone discourage you.”

But there’s more about “Rise Above: WASP” that tops the list for Kara. “We worked on it for years. I put everything into it. I knew it was a huge responsibility to tell the WASP story. No one had told it the way we were, the whole point being educational, for children. The film has the ability to affect young girls everywhere, so it holds a very special place in my heart.”

She also loves the feedback she gets from “Beyond the Powder,” another high-quality production with a strong message. “I’ve learned that it has caused some women to learn to fly. That gives me so much joy to know that a project I’ve put my whole self into has changed the course of someone’s life, given them a new horizon.” PBS has continually renewed their contract and has been airing “Beyond the Powder” nationally for six years and counting.

The latest: “Why I Fly,” (whyiflyseries.com) on the web and social media. In this series, they are posting two- to three-minute clips of people from all parts of the aviation the industry, not just pilots. 

To be astounded by the many other award-winning creations by Hemlock Films, you simply must visit hemlockfilms.com. When you watch any of their movies, you’ll notice something satisfying in your soul. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 6, 2021 Grandfather is to blame

The Liberty Gazette

July 6, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Not often do I sit down and chat with multiple Emmy Award winning director/producers. Through their company, Hemlock Films, Kara White and her husband, Adam, produce the most stunning aviation documentaries.

I first met them on scene at an Air Race Classic race several years ago while they were filming their documentary, “Beyond the Powder,” about the history of the race. Theirs is a story as sweet as the movies they make. 

Kara graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh with a degree in video production and went to work for HBO and A&E in New York City. After a few years’ experience under her belt, she decided it was time to return home to northeast Ohio. While job hunting, she came across Adam’s website. 

Aviation documentaries? You can do that? she wondered. 

Let me step back for a moment and tell you that growing up, her best friend was her grandfather. “My grandfather is to blame for everything,” she grins. “He taped movies on VHS, and we used to watch Turner Classic Movies together all the time. His name was Richard Moore, and he liked ‘Band of Brothers,’ not only because it’s a great story, but there’s also a guy named Moore in it.”

So, when she had this assignment in college to interview someone not of her generation, she naturally chose her grandfather. “What shall we talk about?” he asked. Anything would have been fine with Kara, but he had a perfect suggestion. “How about the war?”

“Grandpa had been a tail gunner on a B-24 in the Pacific during World War Two,” Kara explained. “I was 18, and it was my first documentary. He died in 2006, and I am so glad I have all those stories. He had all the letters he had written to my grandmother. Their whole courtship. It was so beautiful, I made it into a book, “My Very Dearest Anna.” I fell in love with his scrapbook and then with airplanes.” 

Fast-forward, now she had discovered this niche film company. Could there be a more perfect job than this, with Hemlock Films? She contacted Adam, and they met for an interview. Everything went so well, that the next day they went on their first date — he took her flying in a Cessna 172. It was love at first flight.

Adam’s degree is in motion picture production from Wright State University’s prestigious film program. Together, their passion for aviation, history, and the art of storytelling drives them to make movies that are profound. While most folks can tell if a movie is or isn’t good, knowing how to make it magnificent is a gift. How to capture an image technically is one thing, but how to tell a story is another. Kara is a huge part of the reason Hemlock Films produces the kind of movies that cuddle up to your heart, open your mind, and settle well in your soul.

Come back next week to find out what it means to tell stories that change lives.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

June 29, 2021 Earthrounders

The Liberty Gazette

June 29, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Ed Yost was adrift in the middle of the ocean. His craft rocked from side to side as it floated up and down with each swell. He had released his balloon after coming down in the water. Now, he just had to wait to be rescued with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.  

It was 1976, and it was his grandest attempt yet. He had tried to be the first person to sail a balloon across the Atlantic. Even though he had set 13 world records, he did not make it to Europe. The wind blew his craft too far south and left him stranded. But fourteen years earlier, he and fellow balloonist Don Piccard had piloted the first balloon across the English Channel.

Chronicled in the February 1977 issue of National Geographic, he recounted how search and rescue pilots found him and dispatched a boat to pick him up. The light-hearted air crew dropped him some supplies along with something to read while he waited—the novel, Jaws.

While Ed never did succeed in ballooning across the Atlantic, he designed the first one that did, the Double Eagle II. Two years after Ed’s attempt, a farmer in France watched as a large silver-looking bag settle into the middle of his barley field. The bag was eleven stories tall until it collapsed. In the balloon’s gondola, Maxie Anderson, Ben Abruzzo, and Larry Newman made history having piloted the craft all the way from Maine. Later, Maxie Anderson and Ben Abruzzo, along with two other crew members, flew another of Ed’s creations, the Double Eagle V, across the Pacific Ocean non-stop from Japan to Oregon, in just four days.

Eighteen years later, Bertrand Piccard, cousin to Don Piccard, Ed’s old flying bud, and Brian Jones circumnavigated the globe in the Breitling Orbiter 3, a Rozière balloon, designed to use both heated air and helium gas. They traveled 25,360 miles in just short of 20 days. Not bad for letting the wind push and steer them. 

The Breitling crew had an additional hurdle staying clear of China’s airspace which didn’t let any foreign aircraft fly over their country then. Piccard and Jones picked different altitudes so the direction of the wind would blow them around the country. 

This summer, British balloonists Deborah Day and Mike Scholes will use another Rozière balloon in their Transatlantic attempt. Deborah plans to be the first woman to pilot a balloon across the Atlantic and Mike wants to be the first legally blind person to do so. 

Recently, Shinji Maeda, from Japan, now living in Seattle, flew his Bonanza solo around the world. He was the first a one-eyed pilot to claim this accomplishment. His was a great personal victory that took a lot of planning, good judgment, and the support of many people. His message to those struggling with a disability: “Nothing is impossible.”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

June 22, 2021 Summertime Fun

The Liberty Gazette

June 22, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

AT-6 "Texan"

The fly-in and car show at the Beaumont Municipal Airport was a great choice to start off the summer. The event was a fundraiser for the Commemorative Air Force, Houston Wing. Wing leader, Denise
Walker, expressed her thanks to airport manager Chris Meauw, who invited them to fly rides in their WWII-era aircraft, an AT-6 (“Texan”), while he collected entry fees for the car show, where owners could opt to compete in the judging, and sold hot lunches cooked onsite, with and all proceeds going to the Houston Wing. 

The Houston Wing also owns and maintains a PT-19 and a C-60 large transport, both from the WWII era, and an L-17 Navion, a Vietnam-era aircraft. These fundraisers are important because they help defray the costs of maintaining the aircraft. The “Texan” they brought to the fly-in costs $800-$1000 per hour to operate.

Denise and her crew are based at the West Houston airport off I-10 in Katy, but theirs is a flying museum, bringing living history to the public, to educate, honor, and inspire. If you were an 18-year-old cadet joining the Army Air Corps flight training program back then, you would have started training in the N3N or PT-19, the primary trainers. If you mastered those, you would have moved up to basic aircraft, and then to advanced trainers like the AT-6, which is fully aerobatic. After training, you would have had a choice to fly a multi-engine aircraft (a bomber), or a fighter, such as the P51 Mustang or the Helldiver. 

“In this way,” says Denise, “we also honor our greatest generation. People can see and touch the airplanes and talk to pilots who fly them now and immerse themselves in the history. Not to mention that noise that goes right through you when they start up!” 

Manuel Cachutt is part of the crew, too. He is going to school to be an aviation mechanic, but on weekends, he works to restore and preserve these airplanes. 

Aerial view of Beaumont Municipal Airport Fly-In

“These are pieces of history,” Manuel explains. “All of the aviation mechanic schools, they don’t teach this. They don’t teach radial engines or fabric covered airplane parts. They’re mostly focused on the airlines. So, the CAF, we work on aircraft that are hard to find just anywhere. These are historical
artifacts. It’s a testament to the guys who fought, bled…blood, sweat and tears, for these aircraft, the memory of World War Two, because the sad part is, we’re running out of people who remember World War Two, and the role these aircraft played. And not just in wartime, but in industry and in the hearts of the blue collar American everywhere. And it’s a great honor to be a part of this.” 

Now that you know, you’ll surely want to go see for yourself, and you’re in luck. They have a museum and working hangar there at West Houston, and everyone is welcome. Plan a visit, meet Manuel, Denise, and the crew. See https://www.houstonwing.org/, or call or email them at 281-579-2131 or info@houstonwing.org.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com 

June 15, 2021 My Friend Wayne

The Liberty Gazette

June 15, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Last week we promised to tell what Wayne Rodgers learned from his Air Force squadron leader, decorated ace, Iven Carl Kincheloe Jr. “Kinch,” as they called him, was arrogant and demanding. He tried hard to make his squad of three novice pilots quit.

In the F86, Kinch would make his squad fly under his tail, each plane then flying under the tail of the next plane in a straight line. He would take them around in that formation, try to lose them, and they would play chase. Over the Great Salt Lake, he took them lower and lower, and one by one, the squad peeled out in self-preservation–except for Kinch.  

 The lowest point on the F86 was a drain tube the length and girth of a pencil protruding from the under part of the plane. Wayne told his family years later that he had his greatest joy in those days from flying low over the salt flats, so low he would have to put his plane down for repair due to an aft-bent drain tube. He would never tell maintenance how it happened. When his kids asked if he bent his drain tube flying that low, he shook his head no, saying, “That's crazy. Only Kincheloe would do that.”

Wayne loved flying formation in the Grand Canyon. Kinch took them below the rim, and they flew wingtip-to-wingtip vertically along the walls of the canyon. In the low valleys, Kinch knew exactly how close and how low he could get so that the fourth man in the flight would never hit the wall or the bottom. 

Wayne became animated when recounting how they climbed up the wall from the lowest point in the canyon with Kinch taking them mere feet from the tourist observation deck on the south rim, and as they flew away, looking back at all the tourists lying all over the ground. He said you always felt like you were just about to bite the dust, but they learned to trust their leader, and he never did them wrong. 

Wayne once broke the sound barrier in a dive, which was outside the envelope for the F86, but it was another badge of courage. But the hardest, most dangerous part of training was target practice. They dove to billboard-sized targets on the ground and shot at them in high-speed flight. The danger was in being nearly hypnotized by the target and flying straight into it, which unfortunately happened to some guys.

The bonds formed with fellow aviators were deep. Gary Powers, who’s U2 spy plane was shot down over Russia, was a friend. So were astronaut Gordon Cooper and others in the space program. It was tough when Wayne’s whole training class was killed on their flight to Germany. He missed the flight because he had the flu. He named his son Gordon, after his best friend lost on that flight.

That’s my friend Wayne in just a few words. But he was a monumental man. I miss him. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com 

June 8, 2021 Remembering Wayne Rodgers

The Liberty Gazette

June 8, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Many years ago, my first job out of paralegal school was with a small firm in Kingwood. I worked for the two partners, but I also had many occasions to visit with another lawyer, one who rented space in the same office. 

Wayne Rodgers had retired as a vice president of Brown & Root and was helping people with their wills, probate, and real estate needs. We officed together there for nearly four years, and in that time, I came to have a deep respect for him. Solid, truthful, caring, unselfish. But he never told me he had been a fighter pilot in Korea. That was something I learned recently from one of his daughters. 

Wayne has moved to heaven, having a sweet life, I am sure. Meanwhile, as I’m still here, I have heard about another side of Wayne. I wish I’d known these stories back in the day. But now, all I want to do is honor him by sharing them with you. Wayne’s family explained his true unwillingness to tell these stories—they had to drag them out of him. 

Lt. Wayne Rodgers and his T-6 Texan

He was in his junior year at the University of Texas when the Korean war broke out. He and several of his buddies went down and signed up in the Air Force. He started flight training in the T-6 Texan at
Lackland and then went on to Big Spring for combat skills and weapon training. 

Wayne had grown up in Munday, Texas, and his parents’ home was across the street from the old, two-story Munday High School. On cross country flights, he would head straight to Munday and dive bomb and do high-speed flyovers over the high school. He knew his parents were at work, so they would be none the wiser. He just wanted to show off. That big radial engine was so loud, he emptied the entire school to watch his air show. This happened two or three times until the principal talked to his parents to ask him to please stop. It was said later that his flying escapades proved to be a tremendous recruiting tool in the years that followed. 

After Combat Skills Training, he transitioned into the F86 aircraft at Nellis AFB to get his go-to-war training. Texas was playing Tennessee in the 1951 Cotton Bowl, and at halftime, he could not stand the thought of starting that training without his Becky. He got up, told his buddies, “I'll see you for class at Nellis in a few days,” and headed to Mississippi to get married. Swank, young pilot that he was, he surprised, married and hauled off his Becky to Nevada. In private, he would smile and shake his head at the sheer gall he possessed in those youthful, desperate days. 

At Nellis, Wayne’s squadron leader was decorated ace, Iven Carl Kincheloe Jr., who he said had a mission to make his squad of three novice pilots quit. Just wait till you find out what Wayne learned to do! Next week… 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com 

June 1, 2021 Warp Speed

The Liberty Gazette

June 1, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: The first time I heard of warp speed was as a kid when it was introduced into our lives via the TV series Star Trek. What it meant in the series was a speed that was faster than the speed of light, that it may take only minutes to reach a star 30 or 50 light years away. But this flew in the face of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, which says, in part, that as mass approaches the speed of light, it expands to infinity. 

So why didn’t the starship Enterprise blow up? The answer is that the Enterprise was operating in a protective bubble at sub-light speed. The ship’s warp drives, acting like the afterburners for supersonic jets but for starships, convert energy, both matter and anti-matter, to bend both space and time—warping it. The space in front of the bubble contracts and the space behind it expands, creating a wave of energy. This wave moving faster than light, pushes the ship along as if it were a surfer. 

This is all great science fiction, and with enough unknowns in physics, there is a vague plausibility to the idea. Einstein didn’t say space couldn’t be expanded or contracted. One thing is certain, the Star Trek TV program brought physics into the average American home, even if it wasn’t exact science. 

The imagination of Gene Rodenberry, the show’s creator, spawned things we take for granted today, like the communicators and tricorders we call cell phones today. It also got people interested in space, and it garnered support for the United States manned space program. 

Interestingly, the original series was canceled after just three years. When Neil Armstrong was making his small step for man, the lights were going out on the Star Trek set. But not for long. Trekkie conventions still have sellout crowds, and each generation brings another set of fans. 

Rodenberry was an Army Air Corps pilot in WWII and flew 89 missions in B-17s operating out of Hawaii. After the war, he became a commercial pilot for Pan Am World Airways. He left that career to pursue writing and become a police officer. In his spare time, he wrote scripts for the TV shows Highway Patrol and Have Gun Will Travel. Then came his breakthrough with Star Trek, where he not only introduced physics in general, but he incorporated many aviation terms and practices as well. When Rodenberry passed away in 1991, his ashes were among the first human remains to be taken into space. 

Can something travel faster than the speed of light? Recently, scientists measured a couple jets of energy inside the black hole identified as M87. X-ray data appears to show particles in the jets traveling faster than the speed of light due to a phenomenon known as superluminal motion. One such cluster, or knot, was measured at 6.7 times the speed of light. Like Gene Rodenberry’s imagination that has inspired countless other imaginations—those particles appear to be traveling at warp speed.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com 

May 25, 2021 The Most Interesting Conversations

The Liberty Gazette

May 25, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: If you haven’t tried the Clubhouse app yet, check it out. It’s finally available for Android users, too. I joined awhile back and am thoroughly enjoying live audio conversations with NASA engineers, authors and publishers, historians, and fellow pilots. There’s something for everyone in the Clubhouse. Hands down, my favorite club is “Small Steps and Giant Leaps,” which they call, “Your home for talks on human exploration of outer space.” Fans and members of the aerospace community tune in for astronaut interviews, discussions about other planets, and debates between CEOs and scientists on everything from astrobiology to asteroid mining. The club’s founder, Alder Riley, is keen on discussing the technology and social implications of spreading humanity to the stars. When he’s not hosting these thought-provoking chats, he’s building factories the size of vending machines that can 3D print, computer-machine (CNC), and laser cut. His plan is to place these factories in every town on the planet, and eventually ship them to the Moon and Mars “so creativity isn’t bound to Earth.”

Meanwhile, Alder opens these fascinating rooms in his club on Clubhouse, from three to five a day, all published on his schedule in the app. Anyone can listen in, and even chat with astronauts and engineers who are right now working on the Mars projects. 

Recently, in the “Space for All Nations” club, I received some enlightening knowledge from Axel Tricaud, a disabled space engineer who spoke on adapted spaceflight for para-astronauts. He’s a pilot and a deep-sea diver as well, encouraging others with disabilities.

Past, present, and future are all represented on Clubhouse. Another of my favorite clubs is “The Tudor History Club.” Wednesday last week marked 485 years since the execution of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. The team of hosts is made up of British historians, and for this special occasion, they met at the Tower of London to produce an hour-long live audio tour. By the way, this is all free. 

I don’t think I was the only one in the audience who felt moved by the respectful way in which the tour was spoken. The four tour guides placed themselves at various locations in and around the tower. They described the scene from where they each stood, and then shared the history of the day in detailed moments – what they saw, and what Queen Anne would have seen as she walked to the scaffold. They painted the picture of the historic, heart-wrenching time so well, it was almost like being there in 1536, remarkably reproducing the sadness of her execution. 

The Tower of London has a brutal past and should be experienced with reverence. So I don’t mean it lightly when I mention how close both Heathrow and London City Airport are to the tower. What a great job these ladies did creating the atmosphere. The essence of the story was present, despite jets flying low overhead and a helicopter from nearby London Heliport. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com