Category: Open thread

  • Sunday Blizzard Open Thread

    Snow

    I’m just going to leave this as an open thread where people can let us know if they’re snowed in and bored silly, out shoveling the white stuff for neighbors, or on a long road trip and concerned about getting home.

    The Accuweather prediction is for 6 to 12 inches in northern Illinois, also involving southeastern Wisconsin, and the most recent addition was counties to the south of Chicago. If you’re starting to feel the impact of this snowy night already, please let us know. If you got home safely, let us know.  We’ve already had one full inch of snow, not counting an hour of slop that turned to snow. Been out with the shovel already.

    I’ve been caught out in bad weather like this, only a few miles from home, with snow so deep that I had to pull off the road at a restaurant about a mile and a half from my house, and wait until the plows made it past the restaurant. That was a 2-hour wait, too.  I’ll probably be up most of the night shoveling white stuff.

    Accuweather’s latest on this storm is here:   https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/reports-powerful-winter-storm-slams-central-us-with-heavy-snow-destructive-winds/70006712

    Stay safe and if it looks really bad, find a place to get off the road like an open all-night restaurant or a McD’s.

     

     

     

  • Weekend Open Thread

    OK, here’s yer WOT, model M1A3E1 (1 ea), for Friday, 23 November 2018.

    The original WOT article for this week was set to run early, prior to Thanksgiving (traditionally a 4-day weekend). Somehow it ended up rescheduled to run today.

    Unfortunately, due to embedded content the original WOT article was not really appropriate to run post-Thanksgiving, and I didn’t have enough time to draft a suitable replacement. So this is it for today; have fun anyway.

    Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend.

  • We Gather to Give Thanks For….

    Thanksgiving Day is upon us. Most of us gather with family, stuff ourselves, and sack out in front of the TV to watch football or whatever. Some of us do other things, like wash dishes and deal with leftovers, especially the excessive amount of gravy that will come in handy through the weekend. We have a place to go to, or maybe we have the place people come to, gathering for this one day when we’re supposed to be thankful for something.

    I know when the birds show up for their portion, they wait patiently until I put out the bird food and then I go into my bird observatory with a camera at the ready. They know I’m there.  I’m just glad they show up.

    D-Day stuff

    Me: I’m grateful to live in a country where i’m free to come and go as I please, without having to produce identity papers or a voter ID card like they do in Venezuela, just to be allowed to buy food, because someone beat the crap out of some Very Bad Guys a year or so before I was born.

    I’m grateful that I can go to a store and pick up good food at a reasonable price and can count on finding more the next time I go, without stiffing myself financially.

    I’m thankful that I can be out at sunset to get shots of incoming migrating geese without having to explain myself.

    There are people who want to take these things away from us. Freedom is a threat to them. They are afraid of a free people like us.

    Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.

    I never want to lose it.

    Here’s your place to tell us what you’re grateful for.  Like someone used to say to us, “Knock yourselves out.”

  • Thanksgiving Open Thread

    The above photo is from iStock user bhofact2. This midweek open thread continues on with a nod towards the big day tomorrow, Thanksgiving.

    First, a tip for re-heating ham and turkey slices, whether that’s later after Thanksgiving dinner, or the following days. Have a spray bottle? Before heating the leftover Thanksgiving food, spray it with water. When you’re done microwaving the turkey and ham, they’ll taste just like they came from the oven.

    Now onto some Thanksgiving Trivia.

    Did you know that turkey meat is a global meal, not just something that we Americans enjoy?

    The Spaniards/Conquistadores didn’t just bring vegetables and “display” animals back to Europe. They got a taste of turkey meat while in the new world. They were so taken in by the taste of turkey that they took some turkeys with them back to Spain.

    Turkey meat ended up conquering the Spanish King. He subsequently ordered the importation of more turkeys. Through trade and popular demand, raising and eating turkeys spread throughout Europe.

    From The Atlantic:

    The success of Central American, European-cultivated turkeys in England from the reign of Henry VIII onwards is what made it possible to send them on ships to Virginia in 1584 and Massachusetts in 1629,
    .

    This bridged us to the wild turkeys:

    When the French epicure Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote of going on a wild-turkey hunt in 1794 in Connecticut, he observed that the flesh was so superior to that of European domesticated animals that his readers should try to procure, at the very least, birds with lots of space to roam.

    You could read more here:

  • Monday Musings Thread

    Here’s a thread for you guys to post random thoughts to start your work week. I’ll get things started…

    “They will take their lies to the grave!” We consistently see evidence of this here and elsewhere. Let’s start with a recent example.

    Colt Bulot, phony Army Ranger, showed us last week that he never learns from his mistakes. After being called out, again, on his continued embellishment, he doubled down. Never mind that his documentation doesn’t support his claims.

    So, Colt Bulot rapidly flipped through the pages of the phony/embellisher playbook. Driven by control and desperation, he ripped a page out and ran with it. The result? His phony medical screening form:

    Colt Bulot says:
    November 16, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    Screw you idiots you want proof? you couldn’t handle the proof but here is my medical graduation from signed by the doc that cleared me after graduating Ranger school. Now suck on it and back the hell off before I have to contact my lawyer again. SSG Colt Bulot, REAL HERO, signing off.

    http://files.constantcontact.com/1ba25797701/8ea2a55c-7e1b-49ce-8303-2586568554ef.png.

    Where else have we seen manufactured proof before?

    Well, after downloading his PDF documentation, I did a “split documents” operation. I pulled the top page into a separate document, then rotated it. His so-called “evidence” actually damaged his claims further.

    As many in the community pointed out last week, inconsistencies torpedoed his “proof”.

    For example, he dated the form “November 7, 1982”. The medical history form he used; However, was revised effective October, 2018.

    Colt Bulot signed the form with a date that existed outside of his military service dates.

    Additionally, those in the know pointed out that there were no “medical graduation medical screenings” for Ranger training. If anything, the screening would’ve been done prior to training.

    Now, a look at the form itself shows additional discrepancies.

    Blocks 1 through 4 show blacked out information. However, the way the blackout is done appears random. Colt Bulot more than likely left most of those blocks blank, and then did the blackout. With no words to guide his actions, they show a “drift”. This should’ve exposed a part of the words being blocked out.

    The examination “took place” at the Army Ranger School’s location. As was noted, the screening would’ve taken place at the previous unit. If they required this form, it would’ve been a part of a packet taken to the school, for review by a local surgeon.

    Perhaps those that have been through this course could shed more light on this part.

    In 1982, the “Xs” would’ve looked different. Although he lists “apply for Ranger school” as the purpose of the examination, it shows his “usual occupation” as “Ranger”.

    Onto the “screening” portion.

    He chose “yes” for some of the questions. Collectively, they’d have a high chance of disqualifying him from consideration for any “secret squirrel” operations. His screening would’ve risked his being declared “nondeployable”.

    The comments section would’ve focused on medical issues. This includes answers to the doctor’s questions not addressed above.

    Fitness for a specific duty would’ve been coached in terms of medical readiness. If someone has issues that could potentially impact their performance, and the doctor gives a positive recommendation, he’s potentially putting his/her neck on the chopping block.

    If something happened to the person being screened, while at the recommended unit, and it could be traced to one of the “yes” answers, then fingers would be pointing to the doctor. So, the statement about “risks of severe harm” being accepted, is very suspect.

    Cult Bulot lists “Apply for Ranger’s school” for the purpose. Yet, the healthcare coordinator states that Colt Bulot completed Army Ranger School at Fort Benning. Which is it?

    In reality, if they accepted a previously filled form, the comments would’ve been left blank. Then, after he went through all of the screening, and the doctor was looking at the results of his labs and examination, the doctor would hand write the commentary.

    Then, if a recommendation was required, the doctor would provide a recommendation based on the results.

    It’s unlikely that he’d recommend “promotion to clandestine operations”. He may not necessarily state whether someone completed a school or not. There’s a good chance that the doctor wouldn’t say that “risks are accepted” given the “yes” responses on this form.

  • Weekend Open Thread

    Yeah, I know Top Gun was (as far as accuracy goes) pretty much crap. But there’s one scene in the movie I absolutely love – because I’m convinced it’s based, somewhat loosely, on a real event.

    My spouse and I saw the movie when it came out 30+ years ago. And I spent a lot of my youth as well as part of my early Army career around Army aviators – so I think I understand the aviator mindset fairly well.

    One scene in the movie had me LMAO. Here’s a still:

    As soon as I stopped laughing, my first thought was: “That has to be based on a real event.” But at the time I had no idea what that event was, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever find out any details of the real event that inspired it.

    Fast forward 15+ years. I was reading a book; it was Ben Rich’s Skunk Works – his autobiography focusing on his years at Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects Division (AKA the Lockheed “Skunk Works”). A couple of chapters in the book are devoted to accounts from or about U-2, SR-71, and F-117A pilots and missions (all three aircraft were Skunk Works products – as were the P-38, the P-80, the F-104 and several other aircraft).

    One of those firsthand SR-71 accounts was attributed to a Lt. Col. William Burk, Jr., USAF. It recounts a mission over Lebanon in late 1982, after the Beirut Marine Barracks bombing. Burk was the pilot for the mission.

    The flight originated at RAF Mildenhall. At the time, the French wouldn’t give the US clearance to overfly France, so the mission’s route was planned to go via the Straits of Gibraltar.

    The outbound leg and overflight of Beirut went well, though not without a bit of high APF time (they were tracked by a Syrian SA-5 during the mission). However, while in the Western Mediterranean on the return leg Burk got a low oil pressure indication on one engine.

    The engine appeared to be operating properly, but he shut it down anyway. As the pilot, since he was now flying on one engine Burk decided to take the short way home (e.g., to cross France) instead of going home the long way via Gibralter.

    He and his Recon Systems Officer had nearly finished crossing France and were nearing the English Channel. At that point, they were intercepted by a French Mirage.

    The French pilot came up on the radio and asked them for their diplomatic clearance number. Per Burk, the Mirage was about 10 feet off his left wing at the time.

    Burk had no idea what the man was talking about. So he told the French pilot to hold fast, while he checked with his RSO.

    He asked his RSO if he knew what the French pilot was talking about. His RSO’s reply: “Don’t worry about it, I just gave it to him.”

    Burk’s RSO had given the French pilot the finger out of his side window. At that point, Burk’s account says he “lit the afterburners and left that Mirage standing still” – and was crossing the English Channel a couple of minutes later.

    As soon as I read that, my thought was: “Bingo! That’s it!”

    Burk’s account can be read here. (Regrettably, I can’t find that particular excerpt of Skunk Works online.) My recollection is that it appears to be a faithful transcript of Burk’s account from Ben Rich’s book. What appears to be same account also exists, in non-verbatim form, on several other websites.

    Personally, I’m convinced the account is legit.

    . . .

    Now, I don’t know with absolute certainty that that is in fact the real-life incident that inspired the cockpit finger scene in Top Gun. But the timing fits; the incident occurred in late 1982, and Top Gun didn’t start filming for at least 2 years. And aviators tend to talk about stuff they did over a drink or two – particularly the outlandish or dangerous stuff they managed to survive. So I’m guessing that story, in sanitized and/or garbled form, had circulated throughout military aviation circles by then. And I’m also guessing the story had come to the attention of the film’s writing team.

    The rest, as they say, is cinematic “history”.

    Anyway, “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” (smile)

    OK, enough Blackbird history for today. Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend.

  • Weekend Open Thread

    Busting humps to get ready for a long (2-week-plus) road trip. So today’s WOT article consists of a photo, a comment – and a hint.

    Here’s the photo:

    The comment: the bright areas in the exhaust are called shock diamonds. They’re standing wave patterns that appear in supersonic exhaust plumes.

    The hint: the photo is the hint.

    Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend. And check back again next week. (smile)

  • Weekend Open Thread

    Many TAH readers have flown on a C-130. But it’s possible few know the aircraft’s true maximum possible passenger capacity.

    Oh, sure – the book says that the earlier models can hold “64 paratroopers or 92 combat troops”. But when push comes to shove, the bird can carry a few more than that.

    As in over 350 more. And I am not joking.

    . . .

    Tan Son Nhut Air Base, 29 April 1975. The North Vietnamese were advancing on Saigon, and a massive evacuation of US and other friendly personnel was underway. Originally planned as an evacuation of 13,000, the evacuation is estimated to have moved nearly 130,000 persons to safety.

    At the time Tan Son Nhut was literally a war zone. Over 100 aircraft were either damaged and/or destroyed on the air base flight line, with some still burning.

    However, one C-130 – tail number 56-0518 – remained there in flyable condition. It has been a USAF asset from delivery in 1957 until 1972, but was then transferred from the USAF to the RVNAF.

    Its pilot on 29 April 1975 was an RVNAF officer named Major Phuong (regrettably, I couldn’t determine the man’s full name). As he prepared to leave, his aircraft was being mobbed by literally hundreds.

    So many people boarded the plane that while taxiing the loadmaster informed Maj Phuong that he couldn’t close the rear ramp. Phuong then slammed on the brakes, which pushed the mass of passengers forward. (Some accounts say he did this multiple times in order to make room for more evacuees.) The doors were closed, and the aircraft – though overloaded by an amount estimated to be at least 5 tons – successfully took off.

    Accounts indicate the aircraft needed more than 10,000 feet to get airborne – and the runway at Tan Son Nhut was only 10,000 feet. The bird didn’t lift off until it was on Tan Son Nhut’s 1,000’ runway overrun.

    After an eventful flight (in addition to the high APF takeoff, they also became disoriented over the Gulf of Thailand), Phuong and his aircraft eventually reached safety. After landing, 452 personnel exited the plane – 32 of whom had been crammed into the cockpit.

    . . .

    No, this isn’t some bogus “tall tale”. It actually happened. It’s documented here, here, here, and here. Multiple other accounts also exist, though not all are accurate (some sources indicate, erroneously, that the aircraft was a USMC C-130).

    Living free vice under a Communist dictatorship is often a powerful motivation to do truly amazing – and insanely dangerous – things.

    Afterwards, the aircraft was returned to the USAF. It continued to fly until 1989, at which point it was retired.

    The aircraft wasn’t send to Davis-Monthan AFB and scrapped, though. In recognition of the fact that it was the last C-130 to leave Vietnam, the aircraft was retained as a memorial. It is today on static display outside the main gate of Little Rock AFB, AR.

    OK, enough aviation history for today. Enjoy the WOT, everyone – and the weekend.