Random photo montage of enjoyment......

Interesting.

Before this, I always assumed that "bent" blade look on aircraft was something that only happened with video shot using a really high shutter speed (it's really evident in GoPro video).

That's the first time I've ever seen it from a still camera.

Ahhh, the P-61 Black Widow. A very underappreciated airplane from WWII. Basically a scaled-up P-38 with hefty firepower and an early radar.

Well, visually, I guess, but Northrop designed it from scratch. I doubt they consulted Lockheed.

Dad story: He volunteered to fly a Black Widow on patrol one night, having never set butt in one before. While cruising along in the dark trying to figure out where all the buttons were, the navigator suddenly started kicking the back of his seat and yelling at him. The nav realized before Dad (cause he was trying to figure out where all the buttons were) that they'd fallen into a spiral, and were about to slam into the ocean and die. Dad pulled out of the spiral so hard the tail booms "fluttered" and all the paint ripped off them.

Here's Margie:

Yeah, agree. I meant the twin-boom configuration, mostly. The P-61 and P-38 look very similar, altho the Widow is a lot bigger than the Lightning.

These C-130s were built by Lockheed for the Libyan Air Force in 1972 but were never delivered because of political problems. Because they were paid for, they were not sold to anyone else. They sat behind the Lockheed Aircraft plant at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, GA for 15 or 20 years before they were towed to the south side of Dobbins AFB where they sit today.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=430_1407757177

Pucker factor: 11

What that pilot is thinking: "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!"

...and trying to push the throttle thru the stop.

Yeah. Probably the only thing keeping him out of the drink at that point was ground effects.

Someone on Reddit took it on their flight in.

My other two babies - my bows! The brown (bubinga wood) bow is the 1969 Bear Tigercat, the thinner red one is maple - a 1959 Cravotta Blackhawk Bee.
Both are vintage + awesome!

View attachment 17938

It's possible that B-52 engines caused global warming all by themselves.
Maybe with some help from F-4s.

Man, those old turbojets were smokey . . .

Puget Sound Naval shipyard. Many a fine craft has lain there, dormant, and now the yard is emptying quick. Of the 4 Carriers stored there, two have been towed to Texas for scrapping.

USS Hornet, CVS-12 on the left, USS New Jersey, BB-62 in the middle, and USS Oriskany, CV-34 on the right. 1992.

The ass end of USS Bonhomme Richard, CVA-31, one month after her mothballing in 1971.

The poor USS Ranger, CV-61, being towed away just this last month. The group trying to preserve the ship had gathered a good amount of money for mooring her somewhere, and the Government took her off museum hold, and sold her for a fucking dollar to a scrapper in Brownsville. Cunts.

USS Sailfish, SS-572 in 2001, before being sunk as a target. She had been in storage since 1978. She's under USS Midway, CV-41's flight deck.




An assortment of decommissioned nuclear submarines.

A more current shot. USS Independence, CV-62 on the left, USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63 and the now gone USS Ranger, CV-61.

USS Chicago, CG-11, with the former USS Menhaden, SS-377. She had been stripped of engines, and used as a torpedo target, hence the yellow paint job.

The North American F-107 was an attempt to upgrade the F-100. It was sleek and gorgeous, but the USAF didn't buy it. Only 3 were built in the late 50s. I always wanted to see one in Viet Name era camo, so I built one that way:

Here are some of the ships featured in the last installment, but in their prime.

USS New Jersey, BB-62.

USS Midway, CV-41

USS Oriskany, CV-34

USS Bennington, CVS-20

USS Hornet, CVS-12

USS Bonhomme Richard, CVA-31

USS Chicago, CG-11

USS Menhaden, SS-377

USS Sailfish, SS-572.

Oh, go with a better one:

My NJROTC instructor in high school served on the Kitty Hawk, he retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer.

Do the Humvees also have loads? And passengers? Maybe some pets too?

I was actually looking for this picture at the time.




The LAV-25s each weigh around 13 tons, not counting the Jarheads probably riding in them at the time the photo was made.

I found these on an old thumb drive. Not bad!



This is the USS Bennington, CVS-20, on her way to being laid up in reserve in Bremerton, Wa, 1970. Apparently, she arrived in Bremerton under her own power, which is rare. Notice the lack of radar aerials, and the empty, painted over flight deck.
She would be one of the very few capital ships we sent overseas to be scrapped, before that practice was stopped. She met her end on a beach in India in 1995.