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vilepython.bsky.social
VilePython
@vilepython.bsky.social
120 followers 190 following 160 posts
Engineer. Pilot. Policy wonk. I do infosec type stuff for airplanes.
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vilepython.bsky.social
I didn't know an AH-1 Cobra was something one could privately own. Another surprise from Red Bull Hangar 7 in Salzburg.
An AH-1 helicopter inside a glass domed hangar, mostly from the front. The multi barrel gun and sensor suite are visible. The Red Bull logo is on the side.
October 11, 2025 at 10:50 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
Red Bull Hangar 7 in Salzburg, Austria is something that should be on every avgeek's bucket list.
The P-51 Mustang named "Double Trouble" sits under a glass framed dome in the evening light. The airplane has yellow and black checkerboard patterns on its nose, and yellow and black swirls on the spinner.
October 11, 2025 at 12:45 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Say what you want about Kansas - and there is plenty to say - but absolutely no one here is unsure of who John Brown is.
The mural "Tragic Prelude" in the Kansas state Capitol. From Wikipedia: "It depicts the abolitionist John Brown with a Bible in one hand, on which the Greek letters alpha and omega of Revelation 1:8 can be seen. In his other hand he holds a rifle, referred to as the "Beecher's Bibles". He is in front of Union and Confederate soldiers, living and dead, with a tornado and a prairie fire approaching. Emigrants with covered wagons travel from east to west."
October 5, 2025 at 12:03 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
The car where World War I started, displayed at the Vienna Museum of Military History. If you look carefully, you can see the bullet hole above the rear axle where the shot that killed Sophie, the Duchess of Hohenberg, passed through the body of the car.
A 1910s convertible car displayed in a museum. The car is open top with leather seats front and back, and a brown steering wheel on the right side. The car is displayed on reproduced cobblestones in front of a picture of Sarajevo.
September 28, 2025 at 11:19 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
Hapsburgs: "If we add 'Agustus' after our names on this giant monument, is that too on the nose?"
Looking up at the facade of the Gloriette at the Schönbrunn in Vienna. The inscription has the names "Iosepho II Avgvsto" and "Maria Theresia Avgvsta" above three large windows.
September 28, 2025 at 11:12 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
The Red Bull DC-6 rotating on takeoff in Salzburg yesterday. The noise of the four radial engines cannot be mistaken for anything else.
The Red Bull DC-6 is rotating on takeoff at Salzburg Airport. The control tower is behind the airplane. The Alps are in shadow in the background with the soft evening light and clouds in the sky.
September 27, 2025 at 4:50 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Does your workplace have a Fly Your Airplane To Work Day? Mine does.
In the foreground, a single engine retractable gear low wing airplane is parked on a concrete ramp. Behind, the sun has risen and is behind scattered clouds, with blues, yellows and oranges visible. Crepuscular rays are visible between the sky and ground. A second, high wing, single engine airplane also sits on the ramp in the background.
September 13, 2025 at 12:03 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
My fifth in person DEF CON is about to start. As usual, I wish I could be in three or four places at once
The pod-shaped DEF CON 33 human badge in green, yellow and gray
August 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
The mountain was definitely out yesterday as my flight climbed away from Seattle
The snow covered peak of Mount Rainier rises above a cloud base, with another layer of clouds above The snowy peak of Mount Rainier rises above a thin layer of clouds and a lush, green valley.
June 18, 2025 at 1:13 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Zealand and New Zealand. Getting to see both with my own eyes is living a charmed life.
The inner harbor of Copenhagen, on Zealand. Several docked sailboats are moores in front of colorful three and four story buildings on a sunny day. Green vegetation under a blue sky with a few clouds, and some houses visible in the distance. A sample of New Zealand's beauty.
April 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Cologne Cathedral earlier this week. I hadn't realized they started lighting the spires at night once again.
Cologne Cathedral from a distance, all lit up. The spires are also lit. A half moon is between the spires. The face of Cologne Cathedral lit by the setting sun. Evening shadow is just starting to creep up from the bottom.
April 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
Köln, Germany, on Monday evening. The fog was incredibly thick that day, and provided this ethereal glow.
The front of the Cologne Cathedral, lit at night and viewed from a low angle. Street lamps reflect off of the wet plaza surface. The flood lights are scattering off of heavy fog, resulting in a glow in the sky around the cathedral. Part of the Cologne riverfront buildings with the cathedral in the background. Restaurants in the foreground have their outdoor seating lit in red, but they are empty due to the cold. The sky has a diffuse glow from the fog scattering lights. A wide angle of the riverfront shops, restaurants and hotels in Cologne. The spires of the cathedral are visible in the background. The night sky has a faint glow due to the thick fog.
January 25, 2025 at 2:03 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Moonrise during a sunset flight
An aircraft's engine cowl and proeller are in the foreground on the right. There is a snow covered landscape with a small river. The sky is light blue to pink. The full moon is visible in the distance.
January 14, 2025 at 2:44 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
My first flight of 2025 is in the books.
A light aircraft is parked in its T hangar. The engine, propeller and nose wheel are in the foreground. Another row of closed T hangars in the background. The evening sky, with blue becoming pink and orange, is between the rows of hangars. Looking across an airport ramp. There is an evening sky, blue becoming pink and orange. The sun sets behind some clouds on the left hand side. The silhouette of the air traffic control tower is on the right.
January 2, 2025 at 1:00 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Today, my beloved kitty Alice crossed the rainbow bridge. Her 17th "gotcha" day was just a few weeks ago. She lived a full life, and she made mine better every day. I will miss her dearly.
Alice, my calico cat, lies on her side on a bedspread. She is attacking a lacrosse ball by holding it between her front paws while she rabbit kicks with her back paws. She does this because everything is a cat toy.
December 14, 2024 at 5:56 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
As Notre Dame cathedral prepares to reopen, here are photos I took on my last couple of trips to Paris. The scale of the reconstruction work is most apparent when looking at all the scaffolding and cranes from the side.
The south side of Notre Dame cathedral in the fall of 2023, viewed from the south bank of the River Seine. Scaffolding surrounds most of the structure while intensive repairs are underway. A large crane is also present as part of the reconstruction. A barge for construction debris is docked along the north bank. Notre Dame cathedral and the River Seine, viewed looking southeast from Pont Saint-Michel, in the fall of 2022. Sunset is approaching, so the river is in shadow while the cathedral is in soft light. A large crane is in the background, and some scaffolding is visible next to it, due to the ongoing reconstruction following the 2019 fire.
December 3, 2024 at 1:20 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Just a few of the aircraft on the ramp during totality of the 2024 solar eclipse. It was dusk, 360 degrees around.
Wispy high clouds in dusk-like dark blue to orange skies that are the result of a total solar eclipse. Multiple light aircraft are on the ramp.
November 14, 2024 at 1:21 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
The interior of Antwerp Central Station Brabo's Fountain in Antwerp, lit up, as night falls over the Grote Markt
November 12, 2024 at 11:58 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
I had a work trip to Brussels last month, and was able to visit Bruges and Antwerp too.
The Grand Place in Brussels, with the sun just peeking through clouds over the buildings NATO headquarters in Brussels, under a blue partially cloudy sky and across a sunflower field Bruges, Belgium, as seen from the Belfry of Bruges. A mostly cloudy sky is turning orange as the sun sets. One of the Bruges canals as seen from a bridge, with flowers in the foreground
November 12, 2024 at 11:55 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
I'm sure it means something that my Bluesky user number and my Slashdot user number both happen to be mid-300k. I have no idea what that meaning might be.
Bluesky image saying I was user #355,250
September 17, 2024 at 1:19 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
The Defcon 32 badge includes fully functional video games. I think they knocked this one out of the park.
The Defcon 32 badge, which is shaped like the outline of a cat's head, and includes a functioning screen
August 9, 2024 at 12:32 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
I do not mind business trips to Cologne, Germany. Not even a little.
April 27, 2024 at 7:36 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
I flew to Marion, Illinois to experience the total solar eclipse. Sunset, 360 degrees around, is just eerie. Nature sure put on a show.
April 9, 2024 at 12:03 AM
vilepython.bsky.social
Live look at the end of the 2023-2024 KU basketball season
The SpaceX Starship surrounded by heated plasma as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere, just before its presumed in-flight break up
March 14, 2024 at 6:16 PM
vilepython.bsky.social
DEF CON 31 is underway. I'm looking forward to learning a lot, as usual. There's way too much I want to see and do, also as usual.
A DEF CON 31 human badge with lanyard
August 10, 2023 at 11:50 PM