New Zealand to Hood River.....the mast has arrived!

Bus is to my right, mast to my left, here I am.....stuck in the middle again.

Here's the disheveled interior of our bus  in route heading west into the Columbia River Gorge towards Hood River.

The boom is laying on the floor resting on two sheep skin seat covers. The blue jug was full of water in case the engine over heated, the chest and two tool boxes were brought along just to make me feel better and the ladder was used to help is clammer atop the bus.  

Incidentally, this model bus is the identical model used in

 the movie "speed"

I looked just as nervous as Sandra Bullock

"Speed" Trivia:

A special bus was used for the bus jump scene. This bus was modified so that it could reach a speed of 70 mph and it was equipped with powerful shock absorbers. The driver seat was moved back 15 feet so that if something went wrong the driver wasn't ejected from the bus. The seat itself was a suspension mechanism between the ceiling and the bus floor to avoid the driver from suffering spinal compression on impact.

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For the bus jump sequence, a ramp was built. The bus was started from about 1 mile back and accelerated towards the ramp. When it hit the ramp it had reached a speed of 61 mph. The bus traveled 109 feet and its front wheels reached an altitude of 20 feet from the ground, which was higher than anyone had anticipated. Because of this, the cameras were not placed correctly and the top front part of the bus goes out of the frame when the bus reaches the maximum point of the jump.

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At least 12 different buses were used during the shooting of the movie: - 2 buses for exterior shots - 2 buses that were blown up - 2 buses for interior shots - 2 buses for action sequences and "hitting things" - 1 bus for the jump sequence - 1 bus modified so that it could ride on 2 wheels during the sharp right turn sequence - 1 bus slightly raised so that a man in a mechanic car could fit underneath. It was for the sequence in which Jack Traven tries to deactivate the bomb. - 1 bus with an extended platform in front so that a filming crew could shoot the driver from the front. The filming crew referred to this bus as the "pope-mobile".

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