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Post by Jim on Jun 4, 2015 4:35:49 GMT 9
The little known battle that nearly destroyed an American city
August 16th 1956, the typical clear blue California sky shone brightly.
At Point Mugu Naval air station, ground crews prepped an F6F-5K wildcat drone for it’s last flight ever. The Hellcat was painted high-visibility red and was rigged to be guided by remote control. The plane was to fly out over the vast pacific into a training scenario where the navy would blast it out of the sky for target practice. But the Hellcat had other ideas.
Shortly after 11:30 A.M. the Hellcat drone took off from the navy base heading west over the ocean. Soon thereafter it started a lazy turn to the south and began heading straight towards the teeming metropolis of Los Angeles. The remote controllers at the navy base tried frantically to turn the escaped plane back out to the ocean to no avail. Having lost contact it proceeded to head straight into the heart of one of the most populated areas in the country.
When all backup systems failed, the Navy finally gave up and called for assistance. As the Navy had no fighter aircraft standing by, they swallowed their pride and made a call to Oxnard Air Force Base. Five miles north of the navy base were two F-89D Scorpion interceptor jets ready to scramble. Being that this was in the thick of the cold war era, the planes were armed and fueled and ready to go. The Scorpions were armed with two rocket pods containing 52 Mighty Mouse rockets. These rockets were designed to be fired into approaching Russian bomber formations and thus had no guidance systems. However, today, this was an altogether different threat. 1st Lt. Hans Einstein and his radar op 1st Lt. C. D. Murray sprinted across the tarmac and climbed into their waiting silver steed. 1st Lt. Richard Hurliman and 1st Lt Walter Hale jumped into the second plane and joined the pursuit.
The Air Force planes raced southward at full speed to intercept the small wandering blip on their radar. At 30,000 feet just north of Los Angeles the sprinting jets intercepted the portly drone. It was on a southwest course that took it directly over Los Angeles, then it turned slowly circling over the city of Santa Paula. The pilots were waiting for it to wander away from populated areas so they could blast it from the sky.
Soon the red Hellcat drifted over a rural area known as Antelope Valley. The pilots tried to fire their rockets with a turning fire-fire control method, but a malfunction in the system prevented the rockets from igniting. The drone then turned southeast and began heading back for the center of Los Angeles. Under pressure, the pilots decided it was now or never. They abandoned the automatic fire modes on the rockets and decided to launch them manually. One snag was that the gun sights had recently been removed from the planes! The theory was that they shouldn’t ever have to use them because the automated firing system would target the rockets, but it had failed.
The pilots decided to fly by the seat of their pants and began their first rocket run. They set their intervalometers to “ripple fire,” which would strafe the plane with three rocket salvos. The first plane lined up and let loose… and missed completely. The second plane’s rockets undershot the fleeing drone.
The rockets blasted past the mindless drone, overshooting their target. They then descended into the mountains near the town of Castaic and exploded in the forest below. They started a raging forest fire that would destroy 150 acres in an area known as Bouquet Canyon.
The second salvo of rockets also missed the drone, blasting into the town of Newhall. These rockets started fires in an oil field. They ignited a number of oil sumps and began a fire that burned more than 100 acres of brush. These fires blazed out of control and almost reached the Bermite Powder company’s explosives plant!
The drone continued to drift northward toward the town of Palmdale. Frustrated, the pilots tried another rocket run. The first salvo went wide again, and of the second salvo, a few Mighty Mouse rockets bounced harmlessly off of the slow moving drone’s belly.
Suddenly in the quiet bucolic town of Palmdale, all hell broke loose. Mighty Mouse rockets fell from the sky like fiery hail. An explosion outside Edna Carlson’s house caused shrapnel to smash her front window, blast through a wall, and wreck her pantry. Mrs Lilly Willingham heard a deafening explosion and nearly missed being maimed by a hot piece of metal that lodged in the wall inches from her face in her own living room. A rocket exploded in the middle of the street directly in front of the car young Larry Kemp was driving. The explosion blew out his tires, and made Swiss cheese of the front of his vehicle.
After a few minutes the mayhem subsided and the bewildered residents of Palmdale searched the skies. Was this a coordinated Russian attack? A nefarious Sunday surprise? Luckily, no one was injured in the battle and 13 dud rockets were recovered by air force ordinance disposal teams. But it took 500 of the region’s firefighters two days to put out the brush fires that raged.
The pilots of the interceptor jets were running on fumes so they abandoned the mission and returned to their base defeated. The drone itself headed east and ran out of fuel. It descended in a spiral glide into an unpopulated area eight miles east of Palmdale. In it’s final moments, it sliced through some power lines and cartwheeled into the dirt, disintegrating in the crash.
So this was the story of one of the only aerial battles to be fought in the skies over the continental United States. The story of how one oblivious, mindless drone evaded the concerted attacks of the state of the art weaponry of it’s day. A day that will live in infamy for the rest of recorded history and will always be known as the Battle of Palmdale.
… I saw first hand what those screwy Mickey Mouse FFR did when one fin didn't unfold!!!!!!!!
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Post by Jim on Oct 16, 2015 15:03:16 GMT 9
2 questions..... 1 Who was the pilot that flew the plane to give Orville Wright his last flight? 2 What was the airplane he flew in?
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF NBA: Spurs NFL: Niners MLB: Giants NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Oct 16, 2015 23:12:42 GMT 9
2 questions..... 1 Who was the pilot that flew the plane to give Orville Wright his last flight? 2 What was the airplane he flew in? Howard Hughes, in a Lockheed Constellation.
Yes, I had to look it up, as I didn't remember.
"On April 19, 1944, the second production Lockheed Constellation, piloted by Howard Hughes and TWA president Jack Frye, flew from Burbank, California, to Washington, D.C. in 6 hours and 57 minutes (2300 mi – 330.9 mph). On the return trip, the airliner stopped at Wright Field to give Orville Wright his last airplane flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight.[141] He may even have briefly handled the controls. He commented that the wingspan of the Constellation was longer than the distance of his first flight." Wikipedia
Jim Too
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Post by Jim on Apr 23, 2016 1:31:44 GMT 9
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Post by Gene on Apr 23, 2016 2:47:31 GMT 9
interesting...
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Post by Jim on May 3, 2016 8:04:09 GMT 9
Can anyone tell me what these aircraft had in common and when it happened? Beech 18 ex-military C-45 Expediters Volpar Beech 18 – Volpar converted 14 aircraft to turboprop power with Garrett AiResearch TPE-331 engines; modified aircraft were called Volpar Turbo Beeches and also had a further increase in MTOW to 10,286 lb . Beech Baron Boeing 727-92C Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Curtiss C-46 de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 Dornier Do28 Skyservant Douglas B-26 Invader – Douglas C-47 Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-6A/B Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar Fairchild C-123B And K Provider Helio Courier and Super Courier Helio Twin Courier Lockheed L.1049H Constellation Lockheed C-130A/E Hercules Pilatus Turbo-Porter includes Fairchild Hiller version Piper Apache
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Post by Mark O on May 3, 2016 8:08:08 GMT 9
Can anyone tell me what these aircraft had in common and when it happened? Beech 18 ex-military C-45 Expediters Volpar Beech 18 – Volpar converted 14 aircraft to turboprop power with Garrett AiResearch TPE-331 engines; modified aircraft were called Volpar Turbo Beeches and also had a further increase in MTOW to 10,286 lb . Beech Baron Boeing 727-92C Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Curtiss C-46 de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 Dornier Do28 Skyservant Douglas B-26 Invader – Douglas C-47 Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-6A/B Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar Fairchild C-123B And K Provider Helio Courier and Super Courier Helio Twin Courier Lockheed L.1049H Constellation Lockheed C-130A/E Hercules Pilatus Turbo-Porter includes Fairchild Hiller version Piper Apache
Were several examples of these aircraft all flown by the CIA? Gonna take some research to find out dates if I'm right! Mark O
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Post by Jim on May 3, 2016 8:45:14 GMT 9
Can anyone tell me what these aircraft had in common and when it happened?
Play with it for a while and have fun.... I personally did some airworthiness inspections on a couple of these.........
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Post by Jim on May 4, 2016 1:53:42 GMT 9
Can anyone tell me what these aircraft had in common and when it happened?
Play with it for a while and have fun.... I personally did some airworthiness inspections on a couple of these.........
HEY, Gene, NO COMMENT HERE?
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Post by Mark O on May 4, 2016 6:03:11 GMT 9
Can anyone tell me what these aircraft had in common and when it happened? Beech 18 ex-military C-45 Expediters Volpar Beech 18 – Volpar converted 14 aircraft to turboprop power with Garrett AiResearch TPE-331 engines; modified aircraft were called Volpar Turbo Beeches and also had a further increase in MTOW to 10,286 lb . Beech Baron Boeing 727-92C Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina Curtiss C-46 de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapide de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 Dornier Do28 Skyservant Douglas B-26 Invader – Douglas C-47 Douglas DC-4 Douglas DC-6A/B Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar Fairchild C-123B And K Provider Helio Courier and Super Courier Helio Twin Courier Lockheed L.1049H Constellation Lockheed C-130A/E Hercules Pilatus Turbo-Porter includes Fairchild Hiller version Piper Apache
Gotta all be types flown by Air America! Took me a bit when I thought CIA! Here ya go... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_America_%28airline%29 Mark O
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Post by Gene on May 4, 2016 7:34:20 GMT 9
BRILLIANCE IN 3 PARTS
Part I:
A. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.
B. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.
C. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.
D. In three generations, there will be no Democrats.
I love it when a plan comes together; don’t you?!
Part II: 10 Poorest Cities in America (How did it happen?)
City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level
1. Detroit, MI 32.5% 2. Buffalo, NY 29.9% 3. Cincinnati, OH 27.8% 4. Cleveland, OH 27.0% 5. Miami, FL 26.9% 5. St. Louis, MO 26.8% 7. El Paso, TX 26.4% 8. Milwaukee, WI 26.2% 9. Philadelphia, PA 25.1% 10. Newark, NJ 24.2%
What do the top ten cities (over 250,000 pop.) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?
Detroit, MI - (1st on poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961
Buffalo, NY - (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954
Cincinnati, OH - (3rd) not since 1984
Cleveland, OH - (4th) not since 1989
Miami, FL - (5th) has never had a Republican mayor
St. Louis, MO - (6th) not since 1949
El Paso, TX - (7th) has never had a Republican mayor
Milwaukee, WI - (8th) not since 1908
Philadelphia, PA - (9th) not since 1952
Newark, NJ - (10th) not since 1907
Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.'
It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats... Yet they are still POOR.
Part III:
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's Initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what They could and should do for themselves."
~Abraham Lincoln
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him had better take a much closer look at the American Indian." ~Henry Ford
Six trivia questions to see how much history you really know. Be honest; it's kind of fun and revealing. If you don't know the answer make your best guess. Answer all of the questions (no cheating) before looking at the answers
1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
A. Karl Marx B. Adolph Hitler C. Joseph Stalin D. Barack Obama E. None of the above
2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few.. And to replace it with shared responsibility, for shared prosperity."
A. Lenin B. Mussolini C. Idi Amin D. Barack Obama E. None of the above
3) "(We).... Can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."
A. Nikita Khrushchev B. Joseph Goebbels C. Boris Yeltsin D. Barack Obama E. None of the above
4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own ... In order to create this common ground."
A. Mao Tse Tung B. Hugo Chavez C. Kim Jong II D. Barack Obama E. None of the above
5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."
A. Karl Marx B. Lenin C. Molotov D. Barack Obama E. None of the above
6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."
A. Pinochet B. Milosevic C. Saddam Hussein D. Barack Obama E. None of the above
No peeking! Scroll down for answers...
... and the answers are:
(1) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
(2) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
(3) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(4) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(5) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(6) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005
Do something for your country, forward this!
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Post by Jim on May 5, 2016 2:07:03 GMT 9
Play with it for a while and have fun.... I personally did some airworthiness inspections on a couple of these.........
HEY, Gene, NO COMMENT HERE? Hello Gene, you were chastising us about acknowledging your posts, and now you have me crying in my beer.... kbeer-drun
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Post by Jim on May 5, 2016 2:09:33 GMT 9
BRILLIANCE IN 3 PARTS P (1) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004 (2) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007 (3) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007 (4) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007 (5) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007 (6) E. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005 Do something for your country, forward this! Be Sure to Vote!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by Tom Dlugosh on May 5, 2016 3:14:01 GMT 9
Jim, I hate to say this, but there's no one to vote for!
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Post by Gene on May 5, 2016 4:17:13 GMT 9
jim... the fact that theres a post right under yours would suggest i read what you said... if you look around, many of the posts i make end there...no response, no other posts at all... i read your post and am waiting for someone who knows what the hell your talking about and see what they have to say... and i really like your command of fonts and such...
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Post by Jim on May 14, 2016 9:43:49 GMT 9
Got this from Capt BROWNSHOES, a 27th FIS Six Driver The Pima Air and Space Museum On the Saturday following Thanksgiving 2013, Ms. Karen, my 94-year-old father, Bill Gressinger, and I were visiting Pima Air and Space Museum. We were in Hanger #4 to view the beautifully restored B-29, when I happened to take notice of a P-51 Mustang near the big bomber. It’s name … “Bad Angel”. maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bad-Angel-01.jpg?iv=239P-51 Mustang "Bad Angel" in Hanger #4 at Pima Air and Space Museum. I was admiring its aerodynamic lines and recalled enough history to know that until the Mustangs came into service, the skies over the Pacific Ocean were dominated by Japanese Zeros. Then something very strange caught my eye. Proudly displayed on the fuselage of “Bad Angel” were the ma rkings of the pilot’s kills: seven Nazis; one Italian; one Japanese … AND ONE AMERICAN. Huh? “Bad Angel” shot down an American airplane? maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Kill-Insignias-Close-01.jpg?iv=239Kill marks on "Bad Angel". Was it a terrible mistake? Couldn’t be. If it had been an unfortunate misjudgment, certainly the pilot would not have displayed the American flag. I knew there had to be a good story here. Fortunately for us, one of the Museum’s many fine docents was on hand to tell it. ********************** In 1942, the United States needed pilots for its war planes … lots of war planes; lots of pilots. Lt. Louis Curdes was one. When he was 22 years old, he graduated flight training school and was shipped off to the Mediterranean to fight Nazis in the air over Southern Europe. maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Curdes382.jpg?iv=239Lt. Louis Curdes. e arrived at his 82nd Fighter Group, 95th Fighter Squadron in April 1943 and was assigned a P-38 Lightning. Ten days later he shot down three German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters. A few weeks later, he downed two more German Bf -109’s. In less than a month of combat, Louis was an Ace. During the next three months, Louis shot down an Italian Mc.202 fighter and two more Messerschmitts before his luck ran out. A German fighter shot down his plane on August 27, 1943 over Salerno, Italy. Captured by the Italians, he was sent to a POW camp near Rome. No doubt this is where he thought he would spend the remaining years of the war. It wasn’t to be. A few days later, the Italians surrendered. Louis and a few other pilots escaped before the Nazis could take control of the camp. One might think that such harrowing experiences would have taken the fight out of Louis, yet he volunteered for another combat tour. This time, Uncle Sam sent him to the Philippines where he flew P-51 Mustangs. Soon after arriving in the Pacific Theater, Louis downed a Mitsubishi reconnaissance plane near Formosa. Now he was one of only three Americans to have kills against all three Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan. maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Curtis-in-Bad-Angel.jpg?iv=239Pilot Lt. Louis Curdes in his P-51 Mustang "Bad Angel". Up until this point, young Lt. Curdes’ combat career had been stellar. His story was about to take a twist so bizarre that it seems like the fictional creation of a Hollywood screenwriter. While attacking the Japanese-held island of Batan, one of Louis’ wingmen was shot down. The pilot ditched in the ocean. Circling overhead, Louis could see that his wingman had survived, so he stayed in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot. It wasn’t long before he noticed another, larger airplane, wheels down, preparing to land at the Japanese-held airfield on Batan. He moved in to investigate. Much to his surprise the approaching plane was a Douglas C-47 transport with American markings. He tried to make radio contact, but without success. He maneuvered his Mustang in front of the big transport several times trying to wave it off. The C-47 kept to its landing target. Lt. Curdes read the daily newspaper accounts of the war, including the viciousness of the Japanese soldiers toward their captives. He knew that whoever was in that American C-47 would be, upon landing, either dead or wish they were. But what could he do? Audaciously, he lined up his P-51 directly behind the transport, carefully sighted one of his .50 caliber machine guns and knocked out one of its two engines. Still the C-47 continued on toward the Batan airfield. Curdes shifted his aim slightly and knocked out the remaining engine, leaving the baffled pilot no choice but to ditch in the ocean maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Machine-Gun.jpg?iv=239One of "Bad Angel's" .50 caliber machine guns built into it wings . The big plane came down in one piece about 50 yards from his bobbing wingman. At this point, nightfall and low fuel forced Louis to return to base. The next morning, Louis flew cover for a rescuing PBY that picked up the downed Mustang pilot and 12 passengers and crew, including two female nurses, from the C-47. All survived. maxcdn.devildogproducti.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Ammunition-Cal-50.jpg?iv=239.50 caliber ammo for P-51 Mustangs. For shooting down an unarmed American transport plane, Lt. Louis Curdes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Thereafter, on the fuselage of his P-51 “Bad Angel”, he proudly displayed the symbols of his kills: seven German, one Italian, one Japanese … and one American flag.
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Post by Gene on May 15, 2016 1:11:34 GMT 9
that could has been a good john wayne movie...
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Post by Jim on May 24, 2016 2:22:23 GMT 9
Be careful about going out to eat with Dick Stultz and recalling any of your past adventures!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch his hands or you will be caught off guard!!!!!! Attachment Deleted
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Post by Jim on May 24, 2016 2:38:31 GMT 9
Since Pastor Jim has passed away, we seem to be missing some important historical dates. One of these was VE Day , 8 May 45. The a/c is based at Mesa, AZ's Falcon Field- a WW2 pilot training base for British pilots....
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Post by pat perry on May 24, 2016 6:13:37 GMT 9
Be careful about going out to eat with Dick Stultz and recalling any of your past adventures!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch his hands or you will be caught off guard!!!!!!
Jim, at the All Troops F-106 Reunion at Colorado Springs I was covering Dick's sales table while he was gone. Later, I found him in a meeting room by himself getting his notes together for a presentation he was giving to the other reunion group that was at the hotel with us. We chatted for a few minutes and he picked up a plate from the table and started doodling with paint pens. When he was done, he handed me this plate and said thanks for handling his sales table.
Later on, I walked into the small room next to our F-106 hospitality room and Dick was there showing a slide show of his art work through the years. He told the story behind each slide and how he came to do the art work shown. The people in the room were laughing so hard their sides hurt.
The Good Lord broke the mold when he made Dick Stultz!
Pat P.
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