2020 New Random Pics

[devodave]

Western New York is nice and all (the summers here are gorgeous...little to no humidity), but I really miss this about Tidewater! I think of it as the sound of freedom! And it wasn't just Navy as Langley was on the other side of the James River and Marines from Cherry Point down in NC.

[JackDidley]

[TimT]

Mel Brooks
Before he could complete his degree in psychology from Brooklyn College

For those of you who don't know.. Brooklyn College is an Ivy League - esque school, In the middle of a not so nice area in Brooklyn...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by devodave

Western New York is nice and all (the summers here are gorgeous...little to no humidity), but I really miss this about Tidewater! I think of it as the sound of freedom! And it wasn't just Navy as Langley was on the other side of the James River and Marines from Cherry Point down in NC.

When I was a kid, we lived on an AF base for about 5 years (2x 2.5 yr) In between those, we lived in Pensacola, and got to see a bunch of Navy air traffic. For about 18 years, I lived near a base on the SE side of Houston, but there wasn't much activity. It was mostly used by NASA. I'd see a lot of Nasa T5s. I'd occasionally see a Super Guppy as well which was really amazing to see. Once a year, we'd get more traffic when the air show came to town. They'd practice for a week or two.

I really miss the traffic on the air base.
The first time that I was in Japan, even though it was an AF base, the flight line was Navy, so I remember seeing lots of P-3 Orions. We'd get planes doing touch and gos that I believe were from ships that were in port. We'd get some sort of (I think) prop type plane with a big disk on top (always called them AWACs). The second time I was there, we still saw a lot of the Orions, but we then got an F16 squadron/wing, so that was pretty exciting.

When I was there, where my dad worked, "echelon".


transition period


today the "elephant cage" or "dinosaur cage" seems to be gone.

[Crowbob]

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by devodave

Western New York is nice and all (the summers here are gorgeous...little to no humidity), but I really miss this about Tidewater! I think of it as the sound of freedom! And it wasn't just Navy as Langley was on the other side of the James River and Marines from Cherry Point down in NC.

Growing up in the Eglin AFB area it was always a treat to be at the beach when the Thunderbirds would fly in for "Open House" at the base. They would do all sorts of high speed low passes and maneuvers. We lived in Valparaiso, Florida back in the mid 70s and our house was in the flight pattern of the runway there at Eglin. I learned to identify probably a hundred different planes and helicopters!!! I remember Jolly Green Giants, B-52s, C-5A Galaxys, F-111s, C-130 Hercules, C-130 Spectre Gunships, C-141s, F-4 Phantoms, T-38s, F-15 Eagles, and F-16 Falcons just to name a few, they all flew over our house and so low I swear you could hit them with a rock. I remember when the 33rd fighter wing there changed over from the F-4s to the F-15 Eagles. Ah, the sounds of Freedom!!!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Racerbvd]

[GH85Carrera]

[Racerbvd]

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

but this is worse:

[GH85Carrera]

Hunkpapa Lakota family members held as a prisoners of war by the U.S. Army at Fort Randall in Dakota Territory - 1881 * Standing L - R : Good Feather Woman ( sister of Sitting Bull ) , and Walks Looking ( adopted daughter of Sitting Bull ) * Sitting L - R : Her Holy Door ( mother of Sitting Bull ) , Thathánka ĺyotake ( aka Sitting Buffalo Bull , aka Sitting Bull ) , Many Horses ( daughter of Sitting Bull ) holding her son , Courting A Woman ( grandson of Sitting Bull ) . ( Note : Born around 1831 , Húnkešni ( aka Slow ) was the son of Jumping Buffalo Bull & Her Holy Door . Later , Slow was known as Hoká Psíče ( aka Jumping Badger ) , and then was known as Thatňáŋka ĺyotake ( aka Sitting Buffalo Bull , aka Sitting Bull ) . Sitting Bull was killed while resisting arrest at his camp near the Grand River , on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota , on 15 December 1890.






RedLotusLake, Thailand

[ErVikingo]

Originally Posted by masraum

today the "elephant cage" or "dinosaur cage" seems to be gone.

we had a Wullenweber elephant cage in PR also.

Random:

[GH85Carrera]

[F150 FX4]

Originally Posted by masraum

When I was a kid, we lived on an AF base for about 5 years (2x 2.5 yr) In between those, we lived in Pensacola, and got to see a bunch of Navy air traffic. For about 18 years, I lived near a base on the SE side of Houston, but there wasn't much activity. It was mostly used by NASA. I'd see a lot of Nasa T5s. I'd occasionally see a Super Guppy as well which was really amazing to see. Once a year, we'd get more traffic when the air show came to town. They'd practice for a week or two.

I really miss the traffic on the air base.
The first time that I was in Japan, even though it was an AF base, the flight line was Navy, so I remember seeing lots of P-3 Orions. We'd get planes doing touch and gos that I believe were from ships that were in port. We'd get some sort of (I think) prop type plane with a big disk on top (always called them AWACs). The second time I was there, we still saw a lot of the Orions, but we then got an F16 squadron/wing, so that was pretty exciting.

When I was there, where my dad worked, "echelon".


transition period


today the "elephant cage" or "dinosaur cage" seems to be gone.

This was also in Alaska, I drove by it. I was told it was for low speed through the earth contact with our ballistic subs.

[GH85Carrera]

The M3 Light tank had a crew of four -- two in the turret and two in the main hull. Note the circular disk atop the turret -- a sun dial compass.


1949 Kaiser Deluxe Convertible Sedan






Very heavy traffic.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by F150 FX4

This was also in Alaska, I drove by it. I was told it was for low speed through the earth contact with our ballistic subs.

I'm guessing you are talking about Elmendorf. There was another one in Adak, AK, but I don't think anyone was ever just driving by Adak, LOL.

I'd heard the same thing at one point, but I think those antenna arrays are primarily for receiving and locating high frequency, not low frequency.

Per wikipedia

The AN/FLR-9 is a type of very large circular "Wullenweber" antenna array, built at eight locations during the cold war for HF/DF direction finding of high priority targets. The worldwide network, known collectively as "Iron Horse", could locate HF communications almost anywhere on Earth. Because of the exceptionally large size of its outer reflecting screen (1056 vertical steel wires supported by 96 120-foot (37 m) towers), the FLR-9 was commonly referred to by the nickname "Elephant Cage." Constructed in the early to mid 1960s, in May 2016 the last operational FLR-9 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska was decommissioned.

The antenna array is composed of three concentric rings of antenna elements. Each ring of elements receives RF signals for an assigned portion of the 1.5 to 30-MHz radio spectrum. The outer ring normally covers the 2 to 6-MHz range (band A), but also provides reduced coverage down to 1.5 MHz. The center ring covers the 6 to 18-MHz range (band B) and the inner ring covers the 18 to 30-MHz range (band C). Band A contains 48 sleeve monopole elements spaced 78.4 feet (23.9 m) apart (7.5 degrees). Band B contains 96 sleeve monopole elements spaced 37.5 feet (11.43 m) apart (3.75 degrees). Band C contains 48 antenna elements mounted on wooden structures placed in a circle around the central building. Bands A and B elements are vertically polarized. Band C elements consist of two horizontally polarized dipole antenna subelements electrically tied together, and positioned one above the other.

The array is centered on a ground screen 1,443 feet (439.8 m) in diameter. The arrangement permits accurate direction finding of signals from up to 4000 nautical miles (7408 km) away.
AN/FLR-9 antenna array at Misawa Air Base c. 1980

FLR-9s were constructed at the following places:

USASA Field Station Augsburg (Gablingen Kaserne), Germany
Chicksands, England
Clark AB, Philippines
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, USA (formerly designated as Elmendorf AFB)
Karamursel, Turkey
7th Radio Research Field Station/Ramasun Station, Udon Thani Province, Thailand
Misawa AB, Japan, built 1963 to 1965, demolished beginning in 2014.
San Vito dei Normanni Air Station, Italy (near Brindisi, Italy)

Advances in technology have made the FLR-9 obsolete. In 1997, the FLR-9 at the former Clark AB in the Philippines was converted into a 35,000-seat fabric-covered amphitheatre. In early May 2002, systematic dismantling of the FLR-9 at San Vito began, and it was totally deconstructed by the end of that month. Although the markings of where the array stood remain in the ground, the structure is completely gone.

Demolition of the FLR-9 at Misawa began in October 2014.

A decommissioning ceremony for the last active FLR-9, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, was held on May 25, 2016.

There were other similar antenna arrays that were "AN/FRD10" that were basically the same. We could have ended up stationed at those as well.

Dad was stationed in Misawa twice, was in Pensacola the first time as a student, and the second time as an instructor. He spent some time near Wash DC, and his last duty station was Rota, Spain, which was really cool.

The second time that we were in Japan, he was on a few of these, including this one

[GH85Carrera]

[GH85Carrera]

Bikes that ran on railroad tracks, Pellston, Michigan, 1910.






P-40 Chief test pilot Lloyd Child (C) with other test pilots at the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo NY - 1941 - Original Color Picture
L to R;
W. Webster, R. Fausel, H.L. Child, H. Fisher (standing on wing), Ed Elliott & B.T. Hulse
Henry Lloyd Child was born in Philadelphia, PA, on May 25, 1904. After Graduating High School, Child majored in mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the varsity and all-state soccer team, he also played football & tennis. Child graduated with a bachelor of science degree in June 1926 and went to work for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation as an engineer.
Child joined the US Navy in November 1927 and was trained as a pilot at Naval Air Station Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Va where was commissioned as an Ensign. He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) in November 1932, and to lieutenant in November 1935.
While maintaining his commission in the US Navy, Child returned to Curtiss-Wright as a test pilot where he flew the first flight of the P-36 Hawk.
Child worked for Lockheed from 1958 to 1968, when he retired, He passed away in Palmdale, California on August 5, 1970 at the age of 66.
Thanks to José-Daniel Cabanilles for his assistance
LIFE Magazine Archives - Dmitri Kessel Photographer


Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is an American national park located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service.
There are two primary entrances to the park: the south rim entrance is located 15 miles east of Montrose, while the north rim entrance is 11 miles south of Crawford and is closed in the winter.
The park contains 12 miles (19 km) of the 48-mile (77 km) long Black Canyon of the Gunnison River. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into Curecanti National Recreation Area and downstream into Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area.


1939 Packard Twelve Convertible V12 Sedan
The Packard Twelve is one of the most respected and desirable American pre-war classics. Built in two separate series, the earliest “Twin Six” models hail from 1916-1923, though it is the later cars that are seen as the most desirable. As the American luxury car makers battled for supremacy at the very top of the market, the twelve-cylinder Packard returned in 1932 to take on Cadillac’s headline-stealing V-16 and Lincoln’s V-12, among others. 1939 marked the final year for Packard V-12 production, with only 446 leaving the famous Detroit plant.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Filmed with the Zeiss lens mentioned in the other thread

[GH85Carrera]

Once Called a One-Man Army... Now Honored with the Highest Decoration of the US Military
"You're a one man Army," said a beachhead General to Private First Class Alton W. Knappenberger, 20, Spring Mount, Pennsylvania, shown here cleaning his fondest possession, an automatic rifle. With it, he neutralized approximately 40 enemy combatants."
After the loss of his two comrades Private First Class Knappenberger fired 600 rounds of ammo returned for more- then stopped more Germans, including an officer and 7 men who ordered him to surrender during the Battle of Cisterna in Italy. Alton Knappenberger served in the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division." (Source: US Army)

Private First Class Knappenberger's official Medal of Honor Citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action involving actual conflict with the enemy, on February 1, 1944, near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy. When a heavy German counterattack was launched against his battalion, Pfc. Knappenberger crawled to an exposed knoll and went into position with his automatic rifle. An enemy machinegun 85 yards away opened fire, and bullets struck within 6 inches of him. Rising to a kneeling position, Pfc. Knappenberger opened fire on the hostile crew, knocked out the gun, eliminated 2 members of the crew, and wounded the third. While he fired at this hostile position, 2 Germans crawled to a point within 20 yards of the knoll and threw potato-mashers at him, but Private First Class Knappenberger stopped them both. Later, a second machinegun opened fire upon his exposed position from a distance of 100 yards, and this weapon also was silenced by his well-aimed shots. Shortly thereafter, an enemy 20mm. antiaircraft gun directed fire at him, and again Knappenberger returned fire to wound 1 member of the hostile crew. Under tank and artillery shellfire, with shells bursting within 15 yards of him, he held his position and fired at all enemy Infantrymen. When his ammunition supply became exhausted, he crawled 15 yards forward through steady machinegun fire, removed rifle clips from the belt of a casualty, returned to his position and resumed firing to repel an assaulting German platoon armed with automatic weapons. Finally, his ammunition supply being completely exhausted, he rejoined his men. Private First Class Knappenberger's intrepid action disrupted the enemy attack for over 2 hours.
Knappenberger was then promoted to Staff Sergeant. His Medal of Honor Ceremony was held on May 26, 1944.
Alton returned to Pennsylvania after the war. He owned a potato farm and later changed careers; working for a blacktop pavement company. Knappenberger was also an avid hunter. Alton passed on June 9, 2008 at the age of 84. Staff Sergeant Knappenberger lies in rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Lest We Forget.


"Escort Carrier USS Barnes transporting P-38 Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes across the Pacific, July 1 1943" (US Navy)