Not that we were a tad bit sarcastic back in the day or anything…
Here is a famous 4 jet engine aircraft. Perfectly suited for long-range international travel. Spacious accommodations for both passengers and crew. Multiple configurations that precisely match the intended purposed. Proudly owned and operated in numerous national organizations for decades. Has a well-recognized silhouette and reputation for reliability and safety.
Oh, yea…. there is also a 747 in the shot.
My old squadron, 10 years after I transferred…
We used to stay at the Muscat Intercontinental Hotel, and they had REAL Turkish towels… The hotel automatically added $5 to our bills, knowing we would take the towels (I’m blaming that on the damn Brits… THEY started it)!
And jumping forward, HERE’s the story of the Russian Yankee that blew and sunk off Bermuda in 1986. This one damn near started WW III… The photo at the top of the article was taken by a good friend of mine the event after the explosion occurred.
Not a bad way to serve your country, earn a living and see the world, is it?
Of course, TODAY, you’d be joining with Al Qaeda to crush their enemies in a bloody Syrian civil war, led by Sheik Barack and his band of misfits.
and no facilities but a “honey bucket”
Thanks. I’ll pass.
Somewhere around here, stashed in a box, I have a declassified recording of that Yankee SSBN while he was surfaced and through the subsequent sinking. Nothing really dynamic, just a lot of clanging and banging. We had aircraft flying out of NAS Jacksonville keeping tabs on the sub. If I remember correctly, the Soviets refused all offers of assistance from the US, so all we could do was sit back and watch and listen.
LL- Yeah, sigh…
MSgt- It was there, if you used it ‘first’ you got to dump it (after everybody else used it)… 😀
Ray- Yeah, a few flights out of JAX, but most of the support was VP-5 out of Bermuda. And you are correct, they DID refuse any support.
Even though the Russians were (are?) our sworn enemies, you still have to respect the heroism of that crew.
“Brown clouds of oxidant”!
Considering they use hypergolic fuel, that would be Nitrogen Tetroxide, which is really vile, nasty stuff!
We have all kinds of special procedures we use when fueling the spacecraft for our customers, and an NTO leak will send people running upwind as fast as their legs will carry them.
The stuff is so energetic that if you spill it on blacktop, the blacktop ignites!
Interesting. Nothing but respect for those who serve in submarines.
Drjim- Yep, run QUICKLY in the opposite direction is right!
WSF- True! Especially those who served in the Russian Navy and some of the others. Those boats weren’t exactly up to par compared to ours for safety or habitability!