TBT…

Traditions…

This post won’t make a lot of sense to most people, but go with me here…

It’s a ‘tradition’, origin lost in time, that the last flight to the boneyard is always at max power…

This is a P-3 panel (steam gauges) on a bird going to the boneyard at Tucson. 1010 is the max allowable TIT in non-emergency situations, and this crew did it in style. 390 TAS with a 10Kt headwind at FL280, so they took the old girl out in style!

1010 TIT

Photo courtesy of TC Sherman

The birds are old and tired, most are over 50 years old (this one is ONLY 46 years old), as you can tell from the flaking paint, but they all have stories to tell. Thousands of flight hours, hundreds of crewmen, pilots, navigators and maintainers sweated over these birds on the ‘hot’ deployments, and froze their asses off on the ‘cold’ deployments all over the world.

And they pretty much brought us home every time… Thankfully…

 

 

It’s SUMMER in Texas…

The most coveted parking space…

Texas parking space

In the SHADE!!!

I don’t care if it’s a hundred yards to the store… Nope, not a bit… because SHADE! 🙂

I’ll try to get an AAR up for tomorrow on LibertyCon, if anyone is interested. Sleeping in one’s own bed IS more restful than the best hotel bed.

Just sayin…

Peter and DaddyBear have their respective AARs up HERE and HERE.

 

 

ZZzzzzzz…

Gah…

Not only was I late, the post didn’t go either… Sorry bout that!

16 hours, 856 miles, my ass is draggin’ and hopefully I’m still asleep when you read this.

Blogging will Resume tomorrow, after I’m coherent again. Go read the folks on the sidebar.

Heading home…

Tired, but fun was had at LibertyCon.  Some new faces put with commenters, interesting conversations were had, one liners and puns were exchanged on an many things, lessons were learned, and plotting and scheming was done…

It has been a sad weekend, with the losses in Dallas, and the commentary from this administration continues to poison the waters so to speak…

So you get humor…

Retirement Options in the U.S.
You can retire to Phoenix, Arizona where…

1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away from your house because you found shade.
2. You’ve experienced condensation on your hiny from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.
5. You know that “dry heat” is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.
6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??
OR
You can retire to California where…
1. You make over $450,000 and you still can’t afford to buy a house.
2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3. You know how to eat an artichoke.
4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.
6. The 4 seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought.
OR
You can retire to New York City where…
1. You say “the city” and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan ….
2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can’t find Wisconsin on a map.
3. You think Central Park is “nature.”
4. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
5. You’ve worn out a car horn. (IF you have a car).
6. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.
OR
You can retire to Minnesota where…
1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.
2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas.
3. You have seventeen recipes for casserole.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair.
6. The highest level of criticism is “He is different, She is different or It was different!
OR
You can retire to The Deep South where…
1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2. “Y’all” is singular and “all y’all” is plural.
3. “He needed killin” is a valid defense.
4. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Joe Bob, Betty Jean, Mary Beth, etc.
5. Everywhere is either: “in yonder,” “over yonder” or “out yonder”.
OR
You can retire to Colorado where…
1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home, so he stops at the day care center.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.
OR
You can retire to Nebraska where…
1. You’ve never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is three cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition: “Where’s my coat at.
OR
FINALLY You can retire to Florida where…
1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind — even houses and cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent cardiologist, dermatologist, proctologist, podiatrist, or orthopedist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.

Aviation Art…

23

On the morning of May 25, 1944, three pilots from the 4th Fighter Group, the “Debden Eagles”, 336th Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Force, were over Germany looking for trouble. Flying near Botenheim, they encountered German planes from III JG1, 9th Staffel.

During the ensuing dogfight, a Messerschmitt Bf109G-6/AS (also known as an Ausburg Eagle) came up behind Captain Joseph H. Bennett’s P-51B Mustang, while staying below the P-51’s propeller gust.
The Bf109’s guns jammed, but the young Luftwaffe pilot, Oberfähnrich Hubert Heckmann, was determined not to let the American flyer get away. Heckmann pulled up to the P-51’s height and rammed his Bf109 fighter right into the tail of Bennett’s aircraft.

The impact sheared off the tail and rear fuselage section and came within a few feet of the rear fuselage tank. With his aircraft’s nose thrust skyward, Bennett bailed out near Botenheim. Going into a loop, the P-51 crashed into a house in the middle of the village. His own plane seriously damaged, Heckmann managed to make a belly crash landing.

Bennett, a former RAF Eagle Squadron pilot, was captured and taken to a jail by German military officials. Heckmann later came to introduce himself and meet the first American flier he had put out of commission as a German pilot. Bennett remain a German prisoner until the end of the war. The 336th Fighter Squadron lost another Mustang in this fight but made claims of shooting down five of the enemy.
After the war, the two airmen became friends and met every year for their reunion.

LibertyCon…

Nothing like starting a con with a morning at the range… And segueing into meetings with old and new friends.

First panel- Sarah Hoyt, John Ringo, Larry Corriea, and Toni Weisskopf. MHI update…

image

And then there is the 100% rule “as modified”…

image

I gave my 5%, did you??? 🙂

Barbie for ‘men’…

And some women I know too…

Top to bottom-

Gen 1- Colt SP1 (Early 70s edition) 1:12 twist, Colt and CVV contract uppers

Gen 2- Colt HBAR (Late 80s edition) 1:9 twist

Gen 3- Wilson Elite, reworked by former Marine armorer (2000 edition) 1:9 twist

AR15 gens

I haven’t done anything to the SP1, I’ve put a Geissele trigger and Norgon ambi mag release in the HBAR, and the Wilson has an ARMS handguard, Magpul stock, TA-31RCO ACOG, Surefire Scout light, Norgon ambi mag release, Ergo pistol grip and an original Grip Pod.

Of the three, the HBAR is the most accurate (20 inch barrel), and being a ‘factory’ match rifle. All three of them will shoot POA without a problem, and are more accurate than I am! 🙂

I can’t find it now, but I saw something to the effect that there were in excess of $60,000 worth of available options for an AR. I know you can get a 50cal muzzle loading upper for it, a shotty upper, and various lasers and other toys…

So yeah, it’s pretty much a Barbie for men, and some women… 🙂

How many ‘accessories’ have you added to yours??? Or how many colors is it? I know there are a few purple ones out there, and at least one or two blue ones, and at least one that is ‘pretty’ with flowers… sigh…

Light posting and commenting

At LibertyCon in Chattanooga, trying to learn how to write better, and seeing some folks.

Panels all day, and half the night. I expect to be back to regular blogging about Tuesday when I get back home.

So, ice cream machine is in for the annual cleaning, go read the folks on the sidebar…

If I get a chance, I’ll throw something up here.

TBT…

Yes, this is an ad, but it’s two beautiful warbirds and pilots having fun!

And the eye candy isn’t bad either…

The fix is in…

Soooo… Hildabeast talks to the Fibbies on Saturday, Sunday it’s announced that BO will campaign with Hillary today…

And FBI director Comey comes out with a damning statement including the following-

He added it was possible that people hostile to the U.S. had gained access to her personal email account.

“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information,” he said.

Comey said the FBI found that 110 emails were sent or received on Clinton’s server containing classified information and seven email chains were classified at the “Top Secret/Special Access Program level” when they were sent and received on Clinton’s server.  

“There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton’s position, or in the position of those government employees with whom she was corresponding about these matters, should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation,” Comey said. 

And the final recommendation-

“Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” Comey said.

Here is 18 U.S. Code § 798 – Disclosure of classified information, which anyone with a clearance is briefed on…

(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information—
(1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of the United States or any foreign government; or
(2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by the United States or any foreign government for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or
(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or
(4) obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
(b) As used in subsection (a) of this section—
The term “classified information” means information which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a United States Government Agency for limited or restricted dissemination or distribution;

The terms “code,” “cipher,” and “cryptographic system” include in their meanings, in addition to their usual meanings, any method of secret writing and any mechanical or electrical device or method used for the purpose of disguising or concealing the contents, significance, or meanings of communications;

The term “foreign government” includes in its meaning any person or persons acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any faction, party, department, agency, bureau, or military force of or within a foreign country, or for or on behalf of any government or any person or persons purporting to act as a government within a foreign country, whether or not such government is recognized by the United States;

The term “communication intelligence” means all procedures and methods used in the interception of communications and the obtaining of information from such communications by other than the intended recipients;

The term “unauthorized person” means any person who, or agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set forth in subsection (a) of this section, by the President, or by the head of a department or agency of the United States Government which is expressly designated by the President to engage in communication intelligence activities for the United States.

18 U.S. Code § 793 – Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information

(a) Whoever, for the purpose of obtaining information respecting the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information is to be used to the injury of the United States, or to the advantage of any foreign nation, goes upon, enters, flies over, or otherwise obtains information concerning any vessel, aircraft, work of defense, navy yard, naval station, submarine base, fueling station, fort, battery, torpedo station, dockyard, canal, railroad, arsenal, camp, factory, mine, telegraph, telephone, wireless, or signal station, building, office, research laboratory or station or other place connected with the national defense owned or constructed, or in progress of construction by the United States or under the control of the United States, or of any of its officers, departments, or agencies, or within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, or any place in which any vessel, aircraft, arms, munitions, or other materials or instruments for use in time of war are being made, prepared, repaired, stored, or are the subject of research or development, under any contract or agreement with the United States, or any department or agency thereof, or with any person on behalf of the United States, or otherwise on behalf of the United States, or any prohibited place so designated by the President by proclamation in time of war or in case of national emergency in which anything for the use of the Army, Navy, or Air Force is being prepared or constructed or stored, information as to which prohibited place the President has determined would be prejudicial to the national defense; or

(b) Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid, and with like intent or reason to believe, copies, takes, makes, or obtains, or attempts to copy, take, make, or obtain, any sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, document, writing, or note of anything connected with the national defense; or

(c) Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid, receives or obtains or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain from any person, or from any source whatever, any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note, of anything connected with the national defense, knowing or having reason to believe, at the time he receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain it, that it has been or will be obtained, taken, made, or disposed of by any person contrary to the provisions of this chapter; or

(d) Whoever, lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or

(e) Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or

(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—

Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

(g) If two or more persons conspire to violate any of the foregoing provisions of this section, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be subject to the punishment provided for the offense which is the object of such conspiracy.

So, according to ‘my’ training, she is in violation of multiple sections of both 793 and 798, along with Mills, Abedin, Kennedy and ???

The other elephant in the room is this- WHO was responsible for extracting these materials from the SCIFs, stripping off the classification and putting it on the email???

Compare and contrast what happened to Patraeus, HERE.

Does anybody really believe the fix isn’t in??? If any of us ‘peons’ with a clearance had done anything even approaching this, we would already be in Leavenworth, for 10 years per COUNT!!! Like this sailor, HERE.

We’re so screwed… Just stick a fork in us now…