vegas style Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 well in my business (stagehand electrician ) you do alot of boring shows. every now and then a cool show comes along. this was one to remember forever. the Virgin Galactic spaceship 2 unveil. it is the spaceship that they are going to take paying ($200,000) passengers into space. Virgin Galactic Website the show was at the end of the mojave ca. airport runway. we had 30 Big Lights along the runway along with 4 truss towers and ground lights. and 3 tents (2 blow up and one 100'x200' large aluminum framed) with party lighting in and around the area. we loaded in for 5 days as the weather kept getting worse wind, rain, snow. it was a constant battle keeping lights and equipment that are meant for dry warm dirt free areas running correctly. the evening of the show there was a constant strong wind over 30 mph. during the press conference with all the big players (governors of N.M. and Cali Richard Branson) the tent flapped and made some noise but was safe and stable. after the press conference everyone (about 800 press and VIP's) went out on the runway to watch the white knight 2 (the host plane) and spaceship 2 roll down the runway with the show lights and soundtrack. was a very surreal show with the wind, smoke machines, snow, and lights. show went off perfect! then everyone was invited to party drink and eat in the tents. but with in a hour the wind had picked up and the gusts were to much for the blow up tents and the whole site was being evacuated! all the guests were loaded up on bus's and the crew was accounted for and told to get off site. my problem was i was staying in my hauler about 200 yards DOWNWIND of the tents! i only had time to grab my wallet and phone before leaving the site. we watched from the up wind access road as the big lights were blown or knocked over and the tent with lights and sound running pick up and swing into it self. the site was then locked down until noon the next day. i spent the night in the crew hotel that night not sure what the hauler was going to look like. i figured it was going to be ok the jacks were down and it was 45* to the wind or there was going to be upside down with a spaceship on it. when we were let back in i found it just as i had left it but there was destruction all around it. the airport tower recorded a top gust of 105mph and sustained at 90mph. they ended up having a airplane salvage company cut up and tear down the tents before we could get in and retrieve what was left of our gear. the sound company had 2 65" lcd tvs hanging in the tent they didnt make it. so it has been a week that i will remember for ever touched a spaceship and survived a hurricane in the same day! bizbash story youtube aftermath report i have 200 pictures here are a few Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas style Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 a few pics of spaceship 1 that took the x prize for pivate reuseble spaceship. and the destruction the day after the storm. and one more of the lights doing a ballyhoo in the sky. we left them run all night one night you could see them for 10 miles in middle of the mojave desert. i have video also that i will try to get on youtube soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britincali Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Very very cool and a kickass story to boot!!! I met richard branston on a flight from england to here a few years back, he was really chilled and took a few mins to talk to everyone on the plane, definately the nicest multi billionaire Ive ever met Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duniemonkie Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 That is so f*cking cool! I am happy you got to be a part of it Now... to stow away on a spaceship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 That's bad friggen a$$, Steve. YIAH SUcks about all that damage. Ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAlaskan Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 That's fuggin awesome Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 That is definately a great memory and sounds like and awesome time! Great pictures Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Cheese Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 PRETTY COOL Steve!! Mojave is ALWAYS windy.. those pics turned out great...looked like a mini Vegas in a couple pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakster884 Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Friggin Awesome Steve. I live 30 minutes from Mojave. Looks like you were going to get some riding in. Brought the 70 and 450. Cant wait to see this in action. thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas style Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 Friggin Awesome Steve. I live 30 minutes from Mojave. Looks like you were going to get some riding in. Brought the 70 and 450. Cant wait to see this in action. thanks for sharing. i was hoping to use the 450 as transportation around the site. but we were next to a active runway and the runway that we used was only closed on the last 2000 feet. so i didnt have much area and airport security was pretty tight. the 70 got a lot of miles. i was on the runway 4th gear as they were testing the smoke machines. i felt like i was on jackass driving through the haze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgeloco Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 cool story and pics thaks for sharing.....i guess you couldn't wait for the regatta to try your 70 haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas style Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 here is a new youtube video of the tent coming apart. i didnt think anyone had video but i just found this on the virgin web site :xmas2: youtube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 holy crap! That suuuuuucks. That place was so pimped out too. :xmas2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chadwick Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 That place looked amazing! Those ships are bad a$$ and if I had $200,000 I would spend it for a mission in outer space. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas style Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 amazing what you can do with a LOT OF $$. was just the end of a runway in middle of a big desert. everything was brought in and all the power was from generators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunerDan Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Thats cool steve that Spaceship looks pretty trippy, would be sweet to catch a ride on that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kens Colors Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Wow Steve what an adventure glad you got to be part of it!!Thanks for the pics. I was reading about all that in the paper but they neglected to mention the destruction part of all that , go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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