Among The Joshua Trees

Buck Pennington at Exile In Portales on the Supreme Court ACA(Obamacare) decision

The cartoon is worth clicking the link, folks.

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Blue Angels circa 1970

Found this one at AirPigz Blog. Good place with some neat stuff on occasion.

For all to enjoy!

It has all the shaky stuff and other things relative to home movies of forty two years ago.

NSAWC F-16 Fighting Falcon

Taken at The Central Valley Air Show at Naval Air Station Lemoore on 15 October 2011.

Note that at NSAWC both Services are on these Fighting Falcons.

All Caps, All One Word

Look what turned up this morning out on my airport ramp on the shores of Gitchee Gummi:

Hornet 31 NSAWC-NFWS

Hornet 27 NSAWC-NFWS

In case you had any doubts as to ownership…

Dang Bugs. They’re everywhere this time of year. 🙂

Ay, Carumba! Part Two

You can read the description of “Joe’s” little misadventure here.  If you recall, he took a short break after everything had come to a rest and the dust had settled.

Any landing you can walk away from…

Smoke ’em if you got ’em.

Some days, you actually earn your pay.

 

 

The Daily Lex – June 30th

Something Old, Something New

Originally published on June 30th, 2010

The Kat has posted a note

Hie on over to our good Captain’s blog to see it. It is nice to hear from the family, and I would love to see updates for all.  They are in our thoughts. Comments are closed.

Another Rare Warbird Restoration

From the Usual USAF Source…

Last Braves of the Tribe: A World War II-era A-36A Apache—an ultra-rare dive-bomber variant of the P-51A Mustang—earlier this month flew for the first time from New Smyrna Beach Airport, south of Daytona Beach, Fla., after extensive restoration and rebuild. This airplane, serial number 42-83738, is one of only two flying examples of the type, and one of only three intact A-36s known to exist worldwide, according to American Aero Services’ A-36 webpage. The company rebuilt the aircraft for the Collings Foundation. Due to its rarity, restorers were forced to fabricate many components since several parts, including the aircraft’s unique landing gear, air scoop, and canopy were swapped for more common P-51 parts in the 1960s, noted company officials. Unlike the P-51 fighter, the A-36 was designed for close air support by incorporating dive brakes and an Allison engine specifically tuned for low-altitude performance, according to the Collings Foundation’s Apache webpage. The aircraft took to the skies June 13.

Ah, I see we’re rewriting history… “an Allison engine specifically tuned for low-altitude performance” is shorthand for “doesn’t perform as well as a Merlin.”  The Brits wouldn’t use the A-36/P-51 with that Allison engine as a fighter and the USAAC wouldn’t, either… or at least  not until the aircraft was re-designed/refitted with Rolls-Royce (Packard, under license) power.

Nits aside, it’s good to see this aircraft back in the air.

Uh, Excuse Me, But…

In my oft-annoying role as the smart-@$$ JO in the back of the Ready Room, I just gotta ask:

Are we buying stuff like this;

Boeing X-45C

Because all the other cool kids already have stuff like this and even other “neat stuff” more way cool:

MQ-9 Reaper

Because that would be a whole lot like when we got this:

Aquaflage, A.K.A. “Blueberries”

Just because all the other cool kids had stuff like this:

MARPAT

Or more like this:

Cuz, you know, we’ve seen how well that’s turned out, haven’t we?

 

 

The Daily Lex – June 29th

Unarmed but Unfraid

Originally posted on June 29th, 2010