Missouri Trip - Chapter 5

Our last big day of adventure was pretty wild. This morning after we ate some yummy waffles nate and i headed out to see the Apache Helicopter. I must say this was pretty cool. The model we were touring today was from '89 or 90, but is still heavily used. To look inside of these machines your amazed that they aren't super computers, but just lots of switches and gauges. But the technology on them is still incredible. The technology to detect and destroy basically. They have the ability to kick some tail with the fire power the have. To the right is just one of the shells they can shoot from the gun that is controlled by the helmet of the copilot. They shoot these in 10 round bursts with one click of the trigger. This is not to mention the hellfire missiles. Not something you want to be on the receiving end of.

After we toured the Apache we met up with the girls and took a tour of the old missile command center. This was really incredible to see a piece of American history. This launch control center helped keep us safe even though it never launched a rocket. The project cost $70 million, and took only 2 years to get all the different centers in Missouri up and going. This center was about 60 feet underground and was heavily protected with giant doors. They were so well hung that you can move them with the smallest effort. In the picture below you can see Allie moving the 8 ton door back and forth. Our guide said she is the smallest person to ever close it. She's in Whiteman history!! After this nate and i got to go through a mock drill on how the deed would have been done. It was pretty wild. When we get all settled in i'll update all the photos to our flickr account so you can see them there.