Blogshoot!!!

Murph is hosting his annual blogshoot again this year, Saturday 1 Nov in lovely (and apparently going to be cold) West by God Virginia…

Link is HERE.

Looking forward to seeing the usual suspects out there, and looking forward to raising money for charity again!

See y’all there!!!

Random stuff…

Back in battery finally… Sigh…

These 13 hours out of sync trips are NOT FUN anymore…

But getting stuff like this from the Big Brown Truck is always good! 🙂

Tupperware

And I did my first book signing… Yea!!!

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Out in the middle of nowhere, on the hood of the truck, but hey a signing is a signing… And closely followed by shooting stuff!

Thanks to all who’ve bought the book, and thanks too for the feedback and comments.  Y’all are the reason I’m doing it.

Sales continue to bump along, a little faster than the first book, and maybe this one will catch up soon!

If you know anybody that wants one, they can go HERE.  And reviews on Amazon are appreciated too!

YGTBSM…

Well, the word came down today that ALL military sent to west Africa WILL be automatically quarantined ‘somewhere’ for 21 days prior to re-entry into the USA…

But if you’re a civilian, you can fly directly home, bitch to the media, and immediately be released to ‘home monitoring’…

Oh yeah, and they STILL are not saying how long the ‘deployment’ of the troops will be.

Also heard the National Guard/Reserves will be part of the mix, and the aircrews that fly in/out will also be quarantined… Probably along with the airplane (which the crew will have to clean).

It just gets better and better…

Cars…

A wrap up from the last trip…

Leave it to a bunch of American ‘kids’ to find the hot cars/hot rods regardless of what country they’re in…

Everybody has heard of the Nissan GT-R. It was the answer to the Toyota Supra, and was homologated for racing early in it’s life…

The Wiki is HERE.

And here are three of the Gen 3s, all in the same parking lot at one of our bases in Japan…

Two in blue…

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One in Gray… I couldn’t get a good shot of this one’s nose, but the owner had added a US racing cooler to the front intake, and I ‘think’ he’d played with the turbos too!  At least that’s what it sounded like when he left…cars 2

I know there was at least one more on that base, owned by a Machinist Mate 1 who had in his words, “played with it a bit”…

So I come back home, and what do I see…

Cars 3A PINK Honda… sigh…Really???

WWII Poster

The Marines are up this week, and this one is what I’d call a ‘combo’ poster…

WWII Marine 167th

Image from HERE.

It’s both a celebration of the 167th anniversary of the Marines and a recruiting poster…

Interestingly this was done for 1942, and shows the more modern steel helmet and M-1, as opposed to some of the others that showed Marines will the old steel pot and 03A3s…

No author is given, but somebody did a nice job of capturing this Marine in ‘action’.

A little aviation ‘humor’…

Controllers vs. Pilots

British Airways flight asks for push back clearance from terminal.

Control Tower: ‘And where is the world’s most experienced airline going today without filing a flight plan?’

———————–

ATC: “Al Italia 345 continue taxi to 26L South via Tango – check for workers along taxiway.”

Al  Italia 345: “Roger, Taxi 26 Left via Tango. Workers checked – all are working”

———————–

Nova  851: “Halifax Terminal, Nova 851 with you out of 13,000 for 10,000, requesting runway 15.”

Halifax Terminal (female): “Nova 851, Halifax, the last time I gave a pilot what he wanted I was on penicillin for three weeks. Expect runway 06.”

———————–

Tower:  Have you got enough fuel or not?

Pilot:  Yes.

Tower:  Yes what?

Pilot:  Yes SIR!

—————————

Frankfurt Control: ‘AF1733, You are on an eight mile final for 27R. You have a UH-1 three miles ahead of you on final; reduce speed to 130 knots.’

Pilot: ‘Roger, Frankfurt. We’re bringing this big bird back to 130 fer ya.’

Control:  (a few moments later): ‘AF33, helicopter traffic at 90 knots now 11/2 miles ahead of you; reduce speed further to 110 knots.’

Pilot: ‘AF 33 reining this here bird back further to 110 knots.’

Control: ‘AF33, you are three miles to touchdown, helicopter traffic now one mile ahead of you; reduce speed to 90 knots’

Pilot (miffed): ‘Sir, do you know what the stall speed of this here C-130 is?’

Control: ‘No, but if you ask your co-pilot, he can probably tell you.’

————————–

Controller: AF123, say call sign of your wingman.

Pilot: Uh . . . Approach, we’re a single ship.

Controller:  Oh . . . oh, s**t!  You have traffic!

———————

O’Hare Approach: USA212, cleared ILS runway 32L approach, maintain 250 knots.

USA212: Roger approach, how long do you need me to maintain that  speed?

O’Hare Approach: All the way to the gate if you can.

USA212: Ah, OK, but you better warn ground control.

———————-

ATC:  Pan Am 1, descend to 3,000 ft on QNH, altimeter 1019.

Pan AM 1: Could you give that to me in inches?

ATC:  Pan Am 1, descend to 36,000 inches on QNH, altimeter 1019

————————

Cessna 152: ‘Flight Level Three Thousand, Seven Hundred’

Controller: ‘Roger, contact Houston Space Center.’

————————–

Beech Baron: Uh, ATC, verify you want me to taxi in front of the 747.

ATC:  Yeah, it’s OK. He’s not hungry.

————————-

Student Pilot: ‘I’m lost; I’m over a big lake and heading toward the big “E”.

Controller: ‘Make several 90 degree turns so I can identify you on radar.’ (short pause)…

Controller: ‘Okay then. That big lake is the Atlantic Ocean. Suggest you turn to the big “W” immediately…’

——————–

Pilot: ‘Approach, Acme Flt 202, with you at 12,000′ and 40 DME.’

Approach:  ‘Acme 202, cross 30 DME at and maintain 8000′.’

Pilot:  ‘Approach, 202’s unable to make that descent rate.’

Approach:  ‘What’s the matter 202? Don’t you have speed brakes?’

Pilot: ‘Yup. But they’re for my mistakes, not yours.’

—————————–

Tower:  ‘American 123, and for your information, you were slightly to the left of the centerline on that approach.’

American 123:  ‘That’s correct; and, my First Officer was slightly to the right.’

———————–

Controller: ‘USA353 contact Cleveland Center 135.60.  (pause)

Controller: ‘USA353 contact Cleveland Center 135.60!’  (pause)

Controller: ‘USA353 you’re just like my wife you never listen!’

Pilot: ‘Center, this is USA553, maybe if you called her by the right name you’d get a better response!’

———————–

BB: ‘Barnburner 123, Request 8300 feet.’

Bay Approach: ‘Barnburner 123, say reason for requested altitude.’

BB:  ‘Because the last two times I’ve been at 8500, I’ve nearly been run over by some bozo at 8500 feet going the wrong way!’

Bay Approach: ‘That’s a good reason. 8300 approved.’

————————————

Controller: ‘FAR1234 confirm your type of aircraft. Are you an Airbus 330 or 340?’

French pilot:  ‘A 340, of course!’

Controller: ‘Then would you mind switching on the two other engines and give me 1000 feet per minute,  please?’

———————–

Controller: ‘CRX600, are you on course to SUL?’

Pilot: ‘More or less.’

Controller: ‘So proceed a little bit more to SUL.’

—————————-

Pilot: ‘Good morning, Frankfurt ground, KLM 242 request start up and push back, please.’

Tower: ‘KLM 242 expect start up in two hours.’

Pilot:  ‘Please confirm: two hours delay?’

Tower:  ‘Affirmative.’

Pilot:  ‘In that case, cancel the good morning!’

h/t JP

Really???

Ramirez hits another home run…

The ONLY place this is believed is by the MSM!

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Maybe it’s time for Americans to take BACK control of the government…

It’s two weeks until the election.  Look beyond the sound bites, look at the candidate’s record.  Do your research and go VOTE!

Your country’s future depends on it.

Sequestration Redux…

The chickens are coming home to roost in military aviation…

This is just one of the many examples that are now leaking out from the military via various means…

The F/A-18s needs spare parts and in too many cases they’re being taken from brand new jets. This is a risk to national security and pilots’ lives.
The U.S. Navy’s elite cadre of fighter pilots—made famous by Top Gun—are not flying nearly often as they would like. Instead, many of the Navy’s elite Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter squadrons are sitting on the ground with only two or three flyable jets available. The rest of the jets are awaiting maintenance for want of critical spare parts—and some of those parts are being cannibalized from brand new jets in an increasingly vain attempt to keep squadrons flying.

The full article from the Daily Beast is HERE

It’s not ALL bad news, just most of it…

Thankfully the USO and entertainers are continuing to support our troops whereever they may be.

And a special thanks to Chris Daughtry and his band for giving up the time and money to come do a USO tour.

How accurate are Naval Guns???

I was asked in an email how accurate the 3 inch Naval gun was in Monday’s post…

According to Capt Kouta (JMSDF Retired), they are this accurate…

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This snow lantern top is made out of the center of a military target from the time period (early 1900s) that was shot by the 3 inch guns from an average range of 4000 yards on the gunnery range.  The legs are made from the pieces removed from the Mikasa to repair battle damage after the defeat of the Russian Baltic Fleet.

This is the ‘standard’ bridge, used in normal times on the Mikasa, which was actually built in Britain and in March 1902 MIKASA was commissioned at Vickers Shipbuilding, so many of the instruments are in English…

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This is the topgallant forecastle, where Admiral Togo (corrected thanks Joe) ‘directed’ the Mikasa and the battle against the Russian Fleet.   According to drawings, it was ‘shielded’ by sandbags around the sides and the compass was also wrapped in sandbags.  The speaking trumpets on each side of the compass go to the bridge above, and to the armored bridge two decks down (below).DSC01297

This is looking through one of the ports to the armored bridge.  Roughly 12 inches of battle steel.DSC01289

And then there’s keeping a gun in the office, taken to the next level…

Two of these two inch guns are in the Admiral’s workroom/mess at the stern of the Mikasa…DSC01325

If anybody is curious, the Mikasa’s website is HERE.

Mikoshi Festival…

Well, there was a Mikoshi Festival here Sunday, and it’s quite the experience if you’ve never seen it…

A mikoshi (神輿 or 御輿?) is a divine palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when moving to a new shrine. Often, the mikoshi resembles a miniature building, with pillars, walls, a roof, a veranda and a railing.

And they not only carry it, they dance, and there are drummers, and ‘everybody’ gets in the act…

Dancing…

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Pulling the drum wagon…  Even the little ones help…DSC01259

And they have fun!!!DSC01261

The base opened the gates and easily 10,000 came in to ‘help’ the festival and enjoy the time on base…

It seemed their ‘favorite’ take home food was pizza!!!

And a short video of one of the palanquins…  I’d have needed a beer or three (dozen) after listening to that for a couple of hours of ‘dancing’ that thing along…

But it was fun! And it is amazing how the Japanese clean up after themselves.  No messes, everything piled by the trashcans, and everyone was polite!