After our interesting visits to the Orange County Regional History Center and the Well’s Built Museum of African-American Culture and History, we decided to continue our explorations of downtown Orlando and its surrounding historic neighbourhoods. After driving through beautiful residential areas, framed by majestic oak trees adorned by Spanish Moss, we decided to take a stroll around beautiful Lake Eola, which is just minutes from downtown’s Heritage Square, home of the Orange County Regional History Center, and every second, third and fourth Saturday of the month is also home to a lively farmer’s market. By this time, the sun was starting to set and Lake Eola and the surrounding highrises were bathed in the golden hues of sunset.

Lake Eola is one of Orlando’s more than 300 lakes and is surrounded by established residential areas and highrises ringing the downtown core. The park extends over 43 acres (17.2 hectares) and provides generous sidewalks around the lake on a 0.9 mile (1.4 km) loop around the water, which is enthusiastically used by walkers and joggers. The lake itself can be explored on paddle boats, and other facilities include a playground, a small outdoor cafe, gondola rides, and the Walt Disney Amphiteatre for special events.

Lake Eola is intricately connected with Orlando’s history. Even the origin of the name Orlando may be connected to Lake Eola: the first European settlements in the Orlando area grew around an old army post: Fort Gatlin. According to one story, a U.S. soldier by the name of Orlando Reeves, was killed by an American Indian’s arrow while on sentinel duty in what is today Lake Eola Park and may have given name to this town. Originally, Orlando had been called Jernigan after a Georgia settler, Aaron Jernigan, who settled in the area in 1843. The origin of the town’s name Orlando is not certain, however: another popular story claims that a certain Judge Speer named the settlement after the Shakespeare Character “Orlando” in the play “As you Like it.”

Be that as it may, the town was named “Orlando” in 1857 and was centered around the cotton and cattle industry. Demand for beef was fuelled by Cuba while cotton plantations thrived until the Civil War, which stole away the area’s workforce, compounded by a devastating hurricane in 1873. “Orange fever” hit Central Florida in the 1870s, aided by the completion of the South Florida Railroad in 1880.

The Great Freeze of 1894 to 1895 destroyed Florida’s citrus industry and it took 15 years to recover. Florida’s citrus industry peaked in the 1950s with more then 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) of plantations.

Orlando’s first airport opened in 1922. Orlando also plays a significant role in the defense and aerospace industry: during World War II bomber pilots were trained here. A missile factory was built by in 1956 by a forerunner of the Lockheed Martin company, which still serves as the backbone of the area’s technology industry today.

Tourism became Central Florida’s main draw. From an early entertainment park in 1895, to the creation of the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in 1936, the opening of Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in 1971 really laid the foundations to Central Florida’s tourism boom. Other Disney attractions followed, including Walt Disney World Resort, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studies, and Animal Kingdom. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, followed by Islands of Adventure in 1999 and Universal City Walk, an entertainment complex.

Indeed tourism is Central Florida’s main industry today, with more than 50 million visitors annually and yearly revenues of $28 bllion. Tourism combined with high-tech and the citrus industry are the three dominating economic sectors in Central Florida.

After our walk around historic Lake Eola we strolled back into downtown and grabbed a table on the street patio of “Tijuana Flats”, a Mexican restaurant located right on Heritage Square, and just one of many diverse kinds of eating establishments in the downtown core.

While savouring some tasty and very filling Mexican food, we watched the early evening street life in Orlando’s downtown. We reflected on how different the downtown area is in comparison to the newer and very spread out tourist-oriented hotel and resort areas, which often seem rather devoid of character. Here in the downtown area you really get a feel for the history and the community that started developing in the first half of the 19th century. The downtown and Lake Eola areas, all of which are on an easily walkable scale, have a much more authentic ambience to them which we thoroughly enjoyed.

For more information about Orlando contact the Orlando Convention and Visitor Bureau. The Orlando Regional History Center can be found at www.thehistorycenter.org.

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions ( travelandtransitions.com travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest ( travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.
The story with photos is published at Stories and Photos ( travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/orlando_lake_eola.htm travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/orlando_lake_eola.htm).

Firebombers fighting forest fires have fascinated me since I was stationed on an airbase where a flight of converted A25 WWll Mitchell bombers were also based during the fire seasons. The Mitchell Firebombers had everything removed from the bomb bays, including the bay doors, and then a tank was installed that filled the entire area. These Firebombers could not scoop up water on a low-level flypast over a lake, but had to land and have their tanks replenished with a pre-mixed fire retardant that not only put out fires but also stained anybody and anything that came in contact with it a dark rusty red. Through attrition due to crashes mostly in far flung countries such as New Guinea and Paraguay, and a scarcity of parts, the A25 Mitchell Firebombers were finally retired in the mid ’80s.

During those days in the late fifties into the mid seventies, the A25s were always busy, fighting fires throughout western Canada and down into the western states, all the way to California. In those days, there was an understanding between the western states and provinces that Firebombers were a commodity to be shared in time of need. I can remember a time when all Alberta’s Firebombers were in Northern California, when a big forest fire broke out in Nothern Alberta; the first Firebombers on the scene were from Oregon.

On the West Coast of British Columbia, the fire fighting service had three WWll amphibious Martin Mars. These were 140,000lb behemoths powered by four piston driven engines with a wing span of 200 feet. They were the largest flying boats ever flown operationally and are still operated as Firebombers by Flying Tankers Inc.

These days the Mars carry a 600 US gallon tank of foam concentrate that has greatly enhanced its efficacy as a Firebomber. The Mars is fitted with a scoop used by the pilot to load up with water while flying over a lake, then en route to the fire, some foam concentrate (one part concentrate to 20 parts water) is released into the 7200 US gallon water tank. When dropped, it will cover at least a four acre area of the fire. In an operation where the supply lake and the fire were in close proximity, a single Martin Mars Firebomber established a record by dropping a million litres (265,000 US Gallons) in 37 consecutive drops over a flying time of 5.9 hours.

The “scooping” process itself demands a tightly choreographed operation between the pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer sitting at his panel behind the co-pilot. The pilot enters into a landing procedure dropping the flight speed to 70 mph as he maneuvers the aircraft over the water. The flight engineer then takes control of the engines, maintaining a steady 70 mph while the pilot maintains the aircraft “on the step” while the co-pilot lowers the scoop to the water. Because of the ram pressure, the water is taken in at a rate of a ton per second with the operation completed in 25 seconds. Keep in mind this is being done in a seventy ton aircraft – dry weight!

Recently the province of Saskatchewan bought some new firebombers, accepting delivery of the first Canadair CL-415 firebombers. These twin-engined turboprop aircraft came at a hefty 18 Million Dollars US. Although they have been specially designed and developed for the firefighting industry, they are not, however, fitted with scoops.

In recent years, due to the ever increasing lift capacity of helicopters, these rotary wing craft have taken over firebombing duties with large water buckets slung underneath. Nowadays, it is usually a combination of fixed and rotary wing craft that fight forest fires together with smokejumpers fires.

Firebombers, in whatever style or fashion of aircraft, are sure to continue operating on the front line of forest fire defence for at least the foreseeable future. And they are sure to continue to fascinate onlookers as they do their aerial water-scooping ballets over lakes.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to aviation-guides.com/ Aviation
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Renting a party tent for big events such as weddings, baptismals and corporate get-togethers is more convenient than buying it and erecting it yourself. For one, big tents are harder to assemble and it could take a lot of time and strength just to decide how the canopy should be pitched. Another advantage of renting is that most rental companies also offer accessories and services that, ordinarily, will be troublesome if not downright irritating to organize.

Party tent renting also saves organizers from the trouble of having to dismantle and store the canopy and other equipment after the event. Majority of tent rental companies are not just focused on renting canopies anymore; party accessories such as chairs, lighting, tent decorations and other much needed materials are often part of the package. Services for pitching and dismantling the shelters are also offered by most of these companies.

When it comes to accessories, a tent is not enough; not when you’re holding a special occasion such as weddings and baptismals. For weddings, companies offer accessories such as pole dressings, dance floors, stage sets, lighting and other equipment needed to make a wedding look festive and solemn at the same time.

Pole dressings and curtains are often part of a wedding party package. These materials are meant to dress up a tent, and more appropriately, hide the crude poles that hold the tent. They can be of vinyl or white cloth and are draped in poles that make them part of the ceremony’s decorations. Stage sets and lighting are also commonly rented by party firms. Lighting for special occasions are usually not just to provide illumination but also to set the mood of the occasion. Stage sets, on the other hand, are elevated platforms where ceremonies are held. They can be carpeted, made of parquet materials or just a simple platform that carries the color theme of the celebration.

Dance floors, heating and special entrances are also offered by several renting companies. Dance floors are multi-purpose accessories; they provide a place for guests to dance and also serve as practical floor covers that smoothen out any rough and uneven terrain and eliminate obstacles and bumps. Heating and other electrical services are also commonly requested by renters. These could include extension cords, sound systems and other equipment that uses electricity. Special entrances, meanwhile, can be awnings or specially decorated doors that add color and beauty to the tent.

Majority of rental companies are able to provide whatever party tent accessories asked for by customers. Payment varies depending on whether the materials are part of a package or are charged separately. For those planning for an outdoor party, consulting various rental companies and comparing service fees could go a long way towards a successful celebration.

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