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snake
Mar 16, 2015 0:01:24 GMT 9
Post by oswald on Mar 16, 2015 0:01:24 GMT 9
I was in Korea back in 68-69 during the time the 71st was there and sometime late May I saw a snake on the ditch bank behind the two 6 spots straight across from the alert trailers. I went back inside the trailer and told another person (sgt Jackson Crisp) , he said where is it ? We both went back and saw it. He then started to go back and get it. I hate snakes. Anyway he got a long stick and got it to get on the stick, then brought it back to the taxiway and started playing with it with the stick. scared me enough to stand back. The snake got mad and turned red in color just behind the head. Then Jackson grabbed it by the tail. when he picked it up, the snake did a kind of backbend and that's when Jackson cracked the whip so to speak which killed him. Later we went back in the trailer and got a book out and found out it was a poisonous adder called a salmusa in Korean. It is better known by its Japanese name as mamushi.  |
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snake
Mar 16, 2015 3:12:27 GMT 9
Post by Jim on Mar 16, 2015 3:12:27 GMT 9
also called a Pitviper, a sneaky little bastard that gives no warning ala a diamond back rattler....... Your buddy was lucky or damned fast to play "crack the whip" with a snake... BTW mushi in Japanese means fierce dragon!!!!!
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snake
Mar 16, 2015 3:18:58 GMT 9
Post by Jim on Mar 16, 2015 3:18:58 GMT 9
also called a Pitviper, a sneaky little bastard that gives no warning ala a diamond back rattler....... Your buddy was lucky or damned fast to play "crack the whip" with a snake... BTW mushi in Japanese means fierce dragon!!!!!
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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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snake
Mar 16, 2015 4:19:26 GMT 9
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Mar 16, 2015 4:19:26 GMT 9
When we went to Yuma for rocket firing, and the predecessor of William Tell, you had to be on the lookout for Sidewinders, as they liked to "cuddle up" to warm things on the ramp.
There were also lots of Scorpions and Black Widows around.
When at Nellis, I was on early morning pre-flight crew.
Every crew chief out there, before the sun came over Sunrise Mountain, had a long broom handle, a nose wheel chock and a flashlight.
When approaching the F-105, or any other airplane, you aimed the beam of the flashlight at the main gear tire, used the broom handle to push the main wheel chock out of the way and make sure no Sidewinder was
wrapped up next to the tire.
From time-to-time, you would hear the sound of that small chock hitting the concrete, and hopefully a snake.
Scorpions would also find their way next to the tires.
But, they are not overly large and some are very hard to see.
For the snakes and the Scopions, it was a good place to hide or keep warm, as the tires kept their heat longer than the desert sand.
In Thailand, a trip to the Bomb Dump or the "open" supply area, where drop tanks were stored, meant keeping close watch for snakes.
There were Cobras, Kraits, Asps and other rather poisonous critters abounding.
Golf courses next to rivers or swamps were highly populated by snakes.
When at DaNang, you had to stay close to the roads when walking, as getting in the deeper grass or bushes could be an invitation to meet up with a snake.
But, for some reason, we managed to get the job done, and I don't recall anyone ever getting a snake bite, but some got stung by bugs, in the desert and in Southeast Asia.
Jim Too
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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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snake
Mar 16, 2015 4:21:49 GMT 9
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Mar 16, 2015 4:21:49 GMT 9
Thinking of "Snakes", has anyone heard from our resident "Diamondback" of late?
Last time he logged in was in October.
Jim Too
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snake
Mar 16, 2015 22:20:28 GMT 9
Post by oswald on Mar 16, 2015 22:20:28 GMT 9
Well, the rest of us thought he was obsessed with his own enthusiasm but proved to be at least successful. The pilots also came out and had a look at this commotion. They just shook their heads and laughed.
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snake
Mar 16, 2015 23:25:48 GMT 9
Post by LBer1568 on Mar 16, 2015 23:25:48 GMT 9
Tyndall also had lots of snakes. They usually stayed away from housing, but when storms approached, they moved to higher ground...base housing and flightline. We also had several alligator patrols on ramp and runways. When we spotted them, the base game warden would come out in his pickup and capture gattor and take them to Mexico Beach end of base. It would take them a few days to work their way back to MA-1 docks on opposite end of base. The MA-1/MG10 and MG 13 docks all backed up to swamp areas, so we were always on lookout for critters. In late 1960's we started to get these huge Beatles from SE Asia. They would hitch a ride on any aircraft and had one big pinching claw on nose??? They got as large as 10-12" and always came out at night and loved the lighted areas. We would hit them with spray paint so day shifters could see what we faced at night.
Lorin
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snake
Mar 17, 2015 0:41:02 GMT 9
Post by Jim on Mar 17, 2015 0:41:02 GMT 9
Lorin's story about the bugs and spray paint reminded me of my first 2 gunnery TDY trips to Wheelus Field, Tripoli and scorpions.... We lived in those big squad tents with plywood walls and concrete floors. At night you could hear them clicking as they walked across the floor and when you turned a flashlight on them, they would stop and we would squirt them with Zippo lighter fuel with a trail on the floor leading up to the them. We would turn the flashlight off and light the fluid and watch them explode.........You only forgot once to turn your boots upside down!!!!!! Speaking of boots, the "jump boots" at one time were authorized for only 2 groups of people: APs and flight crew, well 3 groups really, former flight crew could wear them until worn out, (that is why I still had mine). Now everybody wears bloused pants and boots and rolled up shirt sleeves ala dirt grunts and Marines- esprit de corps? ?
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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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snake
Mar 17, 2015 5:11:23 GMT 9
Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Mar 17, 2015 5:11:23 GMT 9
I think the AF should still use the two-piece fatigues we had for many years.
The original cotton ones were comfortable, provided you didn't use too much starch, and looked nice, with a crease in the trousers.
We were authorized to make them short-sleeve, but only to wear when the base authorized them.
The later polyester ones were still pretty comfortable, but were not as cool in hot weather as the cotton ones.
The stuff they are wearing now is like what cops and movie guys wear.
Don't like them, at all.
Yuma, Nevada, Thailand, Viet Nam, had to make sure no visitors were in your boots or shoes.
Used to use Liquid Nitrogen or LOX to freeze the big bugs, then stomp on them and see how they shattered.
Had to be sort of careful with the LOX.
If there was some grease, oil or JP on the ramp, and you stomped on the LOX, well, it has been known to explode and blow heels off of brogans.
Jim Too
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snake
Mar 17, 2015 11:37:22 GMT 9
Post by LBer1568 on Mar 17, 2015 11:37:22 GMT 9
As a Flight Sim guy we were assigned to either Fighter Sq or DO for years. My office was DOTS for many years. Then they decided to put us in Avionics Sq...What a turn off. Instead of DO writing my APR and Wg Cmd being first endorser, the AMS Maint Super wrote APR, AMS Cmd Endorsed it and if lucky DCM would endorse. Lucky that I had a boss who got higher level endorsements.
We also had an account to get the nice jump boots with the built in zipper along with the white coveralls so we could go from being operator to being maintenance by slipping on coveralls. We had custom patches and full rank, sq/wing patches etc. They looked sharp. and also protected blue pants and blue shirts from hyd oil etc when we had to do some fixes on Sim.
When I got to WPAFB I became a Flight (Simulator) Test Engineer and was issued full flight suits, shoes gloves etc. I got many flights while working on a Refueling Trainer for C-5/C-141 crews. Got to ride in cockpit on refueling missions in both C-5/C-141 and record video/sound of missions so we could provide to designers to better the quality of trainer. Riding right hand seat during refueling was awesome. But it also broke rules since requirement was to have both seats with qualified pilots. Ended up having instructor pilot behind me ready to take over seat if needed.
Lorin
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snake
Jul 4, 2015 12:06:27 GMT 9
Post by lugnuts55 on Jul 4, 2015 12:06:27 GMT 9
We went TDY from RAF Woodbridge to Balekesir Turkey for a NATO exercise. CE set up a tent city for us and for two weeks we "roughed" it with cots, air mattresses and mummy sleeping bags. We had a dirt floor until someone found where to procure enough plywood sheets to make a floor from wall to wall. That was great except that it made nice places for centipedes. Sometimes they would crawl inside boots and sleeping bags. One of my buddies crawled into the sack one night and immediately felt something crawl across his feet and then up his back. I never saw a guy move so fast! It was a centipede. It was a big one, too. It was black about 6" or 7" long with lots of segments and even more legs! We all got into the habit of shaking out the sack before we crawled into it. We did the same with our boots.
On the same TDY, someone set up a day at the beach for us. It took 3 small vans to get us all there and the road through the mountains were winding with steep hills starting at the edge of the road. It was all part of the adventure and we made it to the sea coast of western Turkey. We had a great time playing in the water and swimming in the ocean. That is until one of the guys got stung by a jelly fish. I was standing in thigh-deep water when I saw a jellyfish swim right by me about 3" away. I was done swimming anyway so I didn't go into the water anymore. I had been very lucky so far and I didn't want to push my luck.
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