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Post by LBer1568 on Apr 13, 2014 2:15:28 GMT 9
Don't get me started on LBJ, or I should say He and Ladybird. She owned a Construction company and bought a large portion of World Airways. The Construction Company started as her fathers oil business in Texas, but found itself building air bases in SEA. They were awarded sole source contracts during the 10 years we were there. The airlines ferried Army troops back and forth to the war zone. SEA was the first time we put tour limits in combat. Previous actions were mainly for the duration. So ladybird became very rich over business in SEA while LBJ was President. Following LBJ leaving office, a Conflict of Interest law was passed to prevent this sort of business in the future. It's pretty sad that LBJ caused the war to prolong and expand and it's just as sad that ladybird made millions off of our troops. Good news is the Airlines offered pretty good service and the Construction Company built good bases. Lorin
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Apr 13, 2014 2:45:04 GMT 9
Don't get me started on LBJ, or I should say He and Ladybird. She owned a Construction company and bought a large portion of World Airways. The Construction Company started as her fathers oil business in Texas, but found itself building air bases in SEA. They were awarded sole source contracts during the 10 years we were there. The airlines ferried Army troops back and forth to the war zone. SEA was the first time we put tour limits in combat. Previous actions were mainly for the duration. So ladybird became very rich over business in SEA while LBJ was President. Following LBJ leaving office, a Conflict of Interest law was passed to prevent this sort of business in the future. It's pretty sad that LBJ caused the war to prolong and expand and it's just as sad that ladybird made millions off of our troops. Good news is the Airlines offered pretty good service and the Construction Company built good bases. Lorin Lorin, when LBJ and Lady Bird Taylor got married, she was already quite wealthy.
LBJ was as poor as dirt.
After they got married, she owned the largest radio station in Austin, the capitol, and had a large interest in the newspaper.
Later on she built a TV station.
The family still has lots of interest in businesses in Austin and the surrounding area.
Her family, was, and is, very wealthy and very influential in Texas.
Our son-in-law grew up near the LBJ Ranch and his dad was a drinking buddy of LBJ when he was at the Ranch.
Phil talks about driving LBJ back to the Ranch in a drunken stupor.
He also talks about the many women LBJ had on the side, mostly with Lady Bird knowing about them.
LBJ was not a "refined" person, but a boorish, low class, lowlife, who, through his wifes money and influence from FDR ended up as president.
I remember a story in some automobile magazine, many years ago, when a writer went to the Ranch to look at LBJ's car collection.
LBJ took the reporter for a ride in his new Lincoln convertable and had him hanging on to anything solid the whole ride.
He took the Lincoln and drove it across the shallow waters of the river on the Ranch, spraying water all over the car and both men.
He said LBJ just laughed and said if it quit, he would call the dealer in Austin and have him bring a new one out and haul the old one off.
He was a rich Socialist, mentored by FDR and his cohorts, and IMNSHO, never had the best interests of the nation at heart, but only his own power and bank account.
You might get the opinion that I am not an LBJ fan, and you would be correct.
Better get off this subject or all of us SEA Vets will be going in to apoplexy.
Jim Too
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Apr 30, 2014 7:48:59 GMT 9
This could go in to two or three different threads, but, I decided to put it here.
29 April 1975 was a shameful day for our government, and this story is one of the final chapters of the debacle of Nam.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/29-april-1975/
We have not learned the hard lessons of that War, but continue to reinvent the wheel, trusting dictators and terrorists to be "nice" and do what we asked them to do.
Didn't happen in Nam, and it isn't happening now.
Jim Too
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Jun 14, 2014 5:57:41 GMT 9
This Day in Aviation History has a short piece on a B-17 raid on the U-Boat works at Kiel, Germany on 13 June 1943.
The picture in the story tells it all.
Not a good day for the B-17s.
Be sure to open the link on the bottom, and read the extended story on the PDF Document it brings up.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/
Jim Too
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Post by Mark O on Jun 14, 2014 16:16:55 GMT 9
This Day in Aviation History has a short piece on a B-17 raid on the U-Boat works at Kiel, Germany on 13 June 1943.
The picture in the story tells it all.
Not a good day for the B-17s.
Be sure to open the link on the bottom, and read the extended story on the PDF Document it brings up.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/
Jim Too
Good post Jim Too. Lots of good men died that day. I found it interesting that it was the one, and only time the "Forrest Formation" was used by B-17s in combat. I have read a bit about that mission before, but never knew the creator of the Forrest formation (Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest III) was also KIA on that mission. He was the first U.S. general officer killed in the ETO during WWII.
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Post by pat perry on Jun 25, 2014 6:27:13 GMT 9
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Jun 25, 2014 7:57:02 GMT 9
I well remember this crash.
It was definitely not equipment, but Pilot malfeasance.
Many years ago, I read about some "hot shot" pilot trying to roll a B-47.
Same results.
If any of you are not looking at This Day in Aviation History, you should give it a look.
I have been following the attemp by Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan to circumnavigate the globe in her Locheed Electra.
She was a gifted writer, as well as a daring, but not foolhardy aviatrix.
I wonder what our country really accomplished with all the START nonsense and the number of bombers sent to the guilletine at AMARC?
Oh, wait, I know.
We have managed to have fewer nuclear delivery vehicles than the USSR/Russia military.
Must be the plan, as it is working quite well.
Jim Too
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Post by Mark O on Jul 21, 2014 0:37:40 GMT 9
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Aug 23, 2014 22:21:06 GMT 9
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Post by pat perry on Sept 9, 2014 7:03:32 GMT 9
This day in aviation, 60 years ago, Scott Crossfield demonstrated the "three bumps and you're out" feature of the F-100 Super Sabre.
Chuck Yeager never let him forget it.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/8-september-1954/
Pat P.
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Post by pat perry on Sept 9, 2014 22:22:49 GMT 9
This day in aviation.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/9-september-1940/
Excerpt: 9 September 1940: North American Aviation completed assembly of the NA-73X, the first prototype of the new Mustang Mark I fighter for the Royal Air Force. This was just 117 days after the British Purchasing Commission had authorized the construction of the prototype. The 1,100-horsepower Allison F3R (V-1710-39) engine had not yet arrived, so the NA-73X was photographed with dummy exhaust stacks. It had been assigned civil registration number NX19998.
Originally ordered by Great Britain, the Mustang became the legendary U.S. Army Air Corps P-51 Mustang. A total of 15,486 Mustangs were built by North American Aviation at Inglewood, California and Dallas, Texas. Another 200 were built in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
Pat P.
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Post by Jim on Sept 10, 2014 3:00:28 GMT 9
This day in aviation.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/9-september-1940/
Excerpt: 9 September 1940: North American Aviation completed assembly of the NA-73X, the first prototype of the new Mustang Mark I fighter for the Royal Air Force. This was just 117 days after the British Purchasing Commission had authorized the construction of the prototype. The 1,100-horsepower Allison F3R (V-1710-39) engine had not yet arrived, so the NA-73X was photographed with dummy exhaust stacks. It had been assigned civil registration number NX19998.
Originally ordered by Great Britain, the Mustang became the legendary U.S. Army Air Corps P-51 Mustang. A total of 15,486 Mustangs were built by North American Aviation at Inglewood, California and Dallas, Texas. Another 200 were built in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
Pat P. Origins In 1940 the British approached North American Aviation to license-build Curtiss P-40 fighters for the Royal Air Force. North American offered to design a better fighter, which flew as the NA-73X in October 1940. Production of the aircraft -- named Mustang I by the British -- began the following year. More interesting reading: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_variants
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Post by pat perry on Sept 10, 2014 7:32:02 GMT 9
This day in aviation.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/9-september-1940/
Excerpt: 9 September 1940: North American Aviation completed assembly of the NA-73X, the first prototype of the new Mustang Mark I fighter for the Royal Air Force. This was just 117 days after the British Purchasing Commission had authorized the construction of the prototype. The 1,100-horsepower Allison F3R (V-1710-39) engine had not yet arrived, so the NA-73X was photographed with dummy exhaust stacks. It had been assigned civil registration number NX19998.
Originally ordered by Great Britain, the Mustang became the legendary U.S. Army Air Corps P-51 Mustang. A total of 15,486 Mustangs were built by North American Aviation at Inglewood, California and Dallas, Texas. Another 200 were built in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
Pat P. Origins In 1940 the British approached North American Aviation to license-build Curtiss P-40 fighters for the Royal Air Force. North American offered to design a better fighter, which flew as the NA-73X in October 1940. Production of the aircraft -- named Mustang I by the British -- began the following year. More interesting reading: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_variantsJim, That P-51 was a true war horse. Great article. Two old drag racers used the V-1710 Allison engines in their dragsters before moving to jet engines.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Arfons
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Arfons
In '64 or '65 Raymond Godman's Bo-Weevil roadster had a match race at Carlisle, AR drag strip. We ran against the Arfons jet car called Green Monster or Green Mamba (I believe the latter). I remember that we won the race but when the jet car passed us he hit the chutes and all 4 wheels came off the ground about 3 feet. The young 22 year old kid driving (possibly Doug Rose) was composed but still shaking when we got to the other end to tow them back. Our driver, James Red Dyer", said I knew we would beat him but when he blew past me at the end I was blasted by sand and pebbles. Jet cars did not start fast but accelerated very quickly from mid to end of track. Wheel driven cars launched hard but slowed acceleration from mid to end of track.
Here is the car we ran against.
They had the chute anchored above the engine which always pulled the front end off the ground when deployed. This was one of the many different jet dragster configurations that Walt and Art ran over the years. These guys were the pioneers of jet cars whether drag strip or Bonneville Slat Flats for land speed records.
Pat P.
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Post by pat perry on Oct 4, 2014 2:38:30 GMT 9
Oct 3, 1967: Major William J. Knight, United States Air Force, with the North American Aviation X-15A-2, 56-6671 sets a new speed record.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/3-october-1967/
Excerpt: The X-15A-2 climbed to 102,100 feet (31,120 meters) and Pete Knight leveled off, still accelerating. After 140.7 seconds of engine burn, Knight shut the XLR99 down. He noticed that thrust seemed to decrease gradually and the X-15 continued to accelerate to 6,630 feet per second (2,021 meters per second), or Mach 6.72.
Mach 6.72 is 5115 MPH
Comparison: M82 barret muzzle velocity: 854m/s That's 2900 fps, using a 720 grain bullet equals 12,900 ft/lbs of energy. That's 17,490 Newton-meters. The X-15 was 2.2 times faster than the bullet
Wow! That's faster than a Chevy!
Pat P.
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Post by pat perry on Oct 16, 2014 3:26:04 GMT 9
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Post by pat perry on Oct 25, 2014 0:16:34 GMT 9
First flight of the F-106 wannabe.
Excerpt: 24 October 1953: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, Convair’s Chief Test Pilot Richard Lowe Johnson took the first prototype YF-102 Delta Dagger, serial number 52-7994, for its first flight. Dick Johnson was a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and a leading military test pilot.
The YF-102 was a delta-wing interceptor developed from the earlier experimental Convair XF-92 Dart. It was designed as an all-weather, missile-armed, Mach 2 fighter. The single-seat, single-engine fighter was powered by an interim Pratt and Whitney J57-P-11 afterburning turbojet engine, which was rated at 10,900 pounds of thrust, or 14,500 pounds with afterburner.
www.thisdayinaviation.com/24-october-1953/
Pat P.
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Dec 16, 2014 1:38:52 GMT 9
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
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Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Dec 17, 2014 23:41:10 GMT 9
Three very significant events in Aviation History took place on 17 December, 1903, 1935 and 1947.
Here is the link to the events: www.thisdayinaviation.com/
I hope everyone appreciates what Bryan Swopes does for us, by daily posting events in the history of Aviation.
Jim Too
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Post by pat perry on Dec 20, 2014 3:25:42 GMT 9
Col Joe Rogers and the SR-71A compressor stalls
www.thisdayinaviation.com/18-december-1969/
When Colonel Rogers advanced the throttles to go into afterburner for the climb, the compressor sections of both engines stalled. (Compressor stall is a condition that occurs when airflow through the engine intake is disrupted. Normal flow ceases, the engine stops producing thrust, and there can be violent oscillations and uncontained failure of the compressor section.) The SR-71A slowed abruptly and violently pitched upward. Rogers said, “Let’s go,” and both men ejected from the out-of-control airplane.
61-7953 crashed near Shoshone, California, and was totally destroyed by the crash and fire that followed.
Read the radio and intercom transcript. Then see the cause of the crash.
Fortunately, only one of the three "high value assets" was lost on Dec 18, 1969.
Pat P.
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