October Office Photo

This is the photo I will see in my office for the month of October. (Photo by Ron Kimball – Kimball Stock) As one can read the caption indicates the car is a 2015 Icona Vulcano Titanium LS9 V8.

Icona is an Italian automobile company and as the name of this particular model suggests, the car is made of titanium. (Icona makes/made automobiles from more “traditional” materials as well.) This metal is really the ultimate in terms of the combination of strength and light weight, but it’s not cheap. The amazing SR-71 spy plane was made largely of titanium obtained surreptitiously from the then Soviet Union as they surely would not have sold the US the metal needed to make an “unsinkable” spy plane.

From taringa.net a photo of the SR-71. Words cannot describe my affinity for this plane nor can they describe the amazing engineering and performance. The SR-71 was developed by the famous Skunk Works division of Lockheed headed by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson.

The SR-71 was capable of flying at such a high rate of speed (Mach 3.3+) that pilots reported seeing the sun rise in the western sky. The plane was capable of sustained flight at 85,000 feet and of reaching 90,000 feet in zoom climbs.

I am fortunate in that I have seen one of these in person. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the annex of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport, has an SR-71 prominently on display. No guessing my reaction the first time I saw the SR-71 in person…

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Patrick Mahomes, in his first year as a starting quarterback, continues to amaze with his performance. He led a second-half comeback against divisional rival Denver in the Monday night game. However, everyone watching will remember one play in particular. Here is the recap from Yahoo Sports: “Sure, the Kansas City Chiefs have seen Patrick Mahomes go with a left-handed pass … in practice. But in a game? With Von Miller about to sack him, trailing by three points late, 76,656 fans screaming and millions watching on ESPN? ‘We’ve seen it in practice,’ Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. ‘Not under those conditions before.’

Mahomes wasn’t as dominant as he was in his first three games. It really doesn’t matter because all we’re going to remember from Monday night is Mahomes sprinting to his left and throwing a short first-down pass with his left hand to Tyreek Hill. That unbelievable play kept a game-winning drive going, and the Chiefs moved to 4-0 with a 27-23 victory.”

Through the first four games of the season Mahomes has thrown 14 TD passes without an interception, has an average gain per attempt of 8.70 (the league average is always right around 7.00) and a passer rating of 126.5 when the league average is usually in the high 80s to about 90.