Category Archives: Technology

Vehicle I-D: Model T & White Motor Warriors

At the beginning of November 2019, the Illinois State Military Museum held its Great War Encampment event and two 1917 Ford Model Ts showed up.

The Ford Model T gun truck is owned by John Krug, he also brought his 1917 Model T Ambulance.

In May 2018, Oregon’s Military Museum held its 22nd Annual Living History Day and retired Reservist Jack Gieson drove down from neighboring Washington in his 1917 Model T ambulance.

https://youtu.be/2rBzyseQ-54

A standardized class B truck, or ‘Liberty Truck’, also made the Living History Day show.

According to the folks at the AMedD (Army Medical Department) Museum at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, during World War One the U.S. Army also bought two 1917 White Motor Company ambulances.   While they look similar to the Model Ts, they were smaller than the Ford ambulance. In 1917 they cost about $1,650 each.

I so far haven’t found any information as to why the White ambulance has a GMC radiator.  U.S. Army orders for White logistical vehicles, during World War One, made White the top producer of trucks in the United States, which was a burden since the company was new to truck building.  Immediately prior to WW-1 the White Motor Company began shifting from car production to truck production, but was only able to make the truck chassis, they had to contract with Riddle Coach and Hearse Company to make the bodies of the trucks.  It’s possible White was also outsourcing for powertrain parts.

The driver’s seat sits on the fuel tank.

World War Two FORD FIRETRUCK RETURNS TO SERVICE WITH THE U.S. Air Force!

Bare Metal: NASA’s MD-11 experimental, your taxes saving the ‘private sector’ airline industry

29AUG1995

Between August and November 1995, an experimental McDonnell Douglas MD-11 conducted landings under engine power only.

It happened at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, and it was the first time a transport aircraft landed with normal controls switched off.

It was part of a NASA project to develop a computer-assisted engine control system that enables a pilot to land a plane safely when its normal control surfaces fail.

The Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system uses standard autopilot controls already present in the cockpit, together with the new programming in the aircraft’s flight control computers.

The first PCA tests by NASA were carried out with a modified twin-engine F-15 Eagle research aircraft.  The F-15A was the second U.S. Air Force Eagle (71-0281), sent to work with NASA in 1976.

04FEB1976

BARE METAL: C-17 STRIPPED (with video)

 C-130 PAINT PREP, OR THE EMPEROR GETS SOME NEW CLOTHES

 B-1B & B-52H

Bare Metal: C-130 paint prep, or the Emperor gets some new clothes

Ohio Air National Guard photo by Airman First Class Alexis Wade, 31JUL2019.

July 2019, Ohio National Guard C-130H2 gets new tail markings.

Video from 2018, Dobbins Air Reserve, Georgia, explains how they picked the nose art for their C-130s:

Wyoming National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Jimmy McGuire, 16NOV2017.

In November 2017, after Hurricane Maria laid waste to Puerto Rico’s Air National Guard base their C-130Es were sent to Wyoming to get some depot maintenance.  Yes, using a roller brush to apply primer paint.

Missouri Air National Guard photo by Airman First Class Audrey Chappell, 12JUN2018.

June 2018, this C-130H is fresh from the paint shop, with its Cold War era camo, heading to its new home as permanent ‘gate-guard’ for Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, Missouri.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Dana J. Cable, 26OCT2017.

October 2017, at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, a vinyl decal is readied for use as the new tail flash for the 314th Airlift Wing’s C-130Js.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis, 09FEB2017.

United States Marine Corps KC-130T sits at Oklahoma City (Tinker) Air Logistics Complex, waiting for new clothes, February 2017.

Oklahoma City Air Logistics video explainer:

USAF photo by Tommie Horton, 27JUL2015.

Masking the windows of a C-130 for painting, July 2015, at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, Georgia.

Warner Robins video explainer:

McChord Air Museum photo, 25NOV2014.

November 2014, McChord Air Museum, Washington, primer paints C-130 for static display.

McChord Air Museum photo, 10DEC2014.

McChord Air Museum photo, 08JAN2015.

It took two months but finally, in January 2015, McChord Air Museum’s Vietnam era C-130 is almost ready for display.

USAF photo by Danny Webb, 09OCT2013.

Sheppard AFB, Texas, October 2013.

BARE METAL: C-17 STRIPPED

BARE METAL BOMBERS: B-1B & B-52H

Bare Metal: C-17 Stripped

All jacked-up!

The following official USAF pics were taken at Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, 13NOV2019.

Thrust reverser doors waiting to be re-installed.

Video explaining the C-17 thrust reversers:

Those turbines are hungry.

New door hinges.

New leading edge slat seals.

Trailing edge panels.

Prepping for new fuel tank seals.

BARE METAL BOMBERS: B-1B & B-52H

Oregon Mohawk flies again (sort of) & some other Mohawk news

OV means Operational View, and OV-1 sounds like Obi-Wan.  The OV-1 entered production in October 1959 and served in United States, Europe, Korea, Israel, VietNam, Central and South America, and during Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Middle East. The Mohawk retired from U.S. service in September 1996. At least 133 OV-1Cs were built (sources vary, as many as 169?), the C designating the model which used an IR (InfaRed) imaging system in the nose.

Oregon National Guard’s Project 926, move the old tail number 926 OV-1C Mohawk ‘gate guard’ to a better location.

23OCT2019 was the culmination of three years of volunteer work by Oregon National Guard retirees who worked and flew the OV-1 Mohawk from 1972 to 1992.  Almost all of that three years was spent restoring the gate guard.

The new home of the 926 Mohawk is at Deibert Flight Facility, Army Aviation Support Facility.

The official dedication ceremony was held 02NOV2019.

Video of relocation operations called Project 926:

See more about Oregon National Guard’s long use of the Mohawk here (OV-1 Mohawks in Oregon).

The 02NOV2019 dedication for the new home of 926 came one day after a pilot was killed flying a Mohawk, while preparing for an air show in Florida.

Doctor Joe Masessa, of Mohawk Airshows, was killed when he lost control of the aircraft during a practice flight.  Updated news reports said the air show was forced to cancel all flights due to bad weather.

Mohawk Airshows flies the POW-MIA ‘flying monument’.

https://youtu.be/P8hAbpHAwj4

Somebody needs to make a decal sheet of the Flying Monument.

In the early 1980s, NASA created an automated stall-speed warning system for OV-1Cs.

From February 1983, a NASA-U.S. Army operated Grumman OV-1C over Edwards AFB.

U.S. Army-NASA OV-1C Mohawk, automated stall warning system tests @ Edwards AFB, July 1983.

Hasegawa’s now ancient 1:72 scale OV-1B (also issued by Frog in the early 1970s) can be easily modified to a C version by scratch-building the IR glass in the nose.

Roden’s 1:48 scale D boxing depicts the IR nosed Mohawk.  The D Mohawk is simply a consolidation of all the best upgrades from previous versions.  Oddly, Roden’s C boxing does not depict the IR nose, and the instructions even tell you not to use the IR nose part (which is included on the clear sprue of every Roden Mohawk kit).

Roden’s C version also does not come with the SLAR, but you still need to get it because it comes with fuselage mounted flare dispensers and ‘classified’ electronic recon under-wing pods.

‘Aftermarket’ companies produce a variety of detailing/correction sets for the Hasegawa and Roden kits: Eduard, Cobra Company and Black Dog.

OV-1 vs MiG-17: How the Mohawk became a MiG killer

MINI AIR TANKERS TAKE OFF IN NORTH CAROLINA

Idaho, Kansas, Utah home bases for NASA’s FIREX-AQ!

08 November 2019 (15:40 UTC-07 Tango 06) 17 Aban 1398/10 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1441/12 Yi-Hai 4717

NASA-Armstrong DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory sits on the east ramp of the 124th Fighter Wing, Boise, Idaho, 23JUL2019

NASA’s aged and heavily modified DC-8 airliner is conducting air monitoring missions in relation to the growing wildfire danger in the western U.S.

Idaho National Guard A-10Cs in the foreground, NASA’s DC-8 FIREX-AQ takes off from Gowen Field (Boise Airport), 30JUL2019.

President Donald Trump is portrayed by the ‘main-stream’ news media as being anti-climate, yet since he became President of the United States NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration) has seemingly increased its studies of the effects of pollution and wildfires (including prescribed burns and agricultural fires) on the atmosphere.

On 23JUL2019, NASA held an explainer day for Idaho news media, and as you can tell not many showed up.

The latest study is called FIREX-AQ (Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality), and from 22 July thru 18 August it called Gowen Field, Idaho, its home base.

Loading computers onto a Twin Otter.

FIREX-AQ also uses Twin Otter aircraft from NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration), as well as satellites.

NASA’s ER-2 ‘climate-spy-plane’ based in California is also used.

A peak inside the DC-8.

From 19 August to 05 September FIREX-AQ was based in Salinas, Kansas.

It seems the explainer day had a much bigger turnout in Kansas, than in Idaho.

The final stage of the FIREX-AQ mission will be in Utah. (Update on the Fire and Smoke Model Evaluation Experiment)

Stormy Summer weather over Boise.

On 08 August, while flying out-of Idaho NASA Made a Rare Flight Right Through a Thundercloud Formed by a Wildfire.

NASA says their DC-8 flys at 42-thousand feet (12-thousand-801 meters or 12.80 kilometers) for as long as 12 hours, collecting air samples with the many antennae protruding from the fuselage.

The NOAA Twin Otters are used on shorter range, lower altitude LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) missions.

Some sensors hangin’ out the windows.

More window sensors on the other side.

NASA DC-8 to Fly Low Over Los Angeles Basin and San Joaquin Valley

What It’s Like to Work in a Flying Smoke Laboratory

Video from 2018, NASA’s DC-8 super-particulate-sniffer in Germany:

 

NASA ER-2 ‘CLIMATE SPY PLANE’ PROVES CALIFORNIA’S STRICT ANTI-POLLUTION LAWS ARE A JOKE!

RED BANK & SOUTH FIRE HELICOPTER OPS

A-10C SNOWBLIND WALKAROUND IN IDAHO!

In 2016, the NASA DC-8 was in Korea conducting high-altitude monitoring of air quality. Note all the sensors/pipes sticking out-the side of the plane.

Video explainer of NASA’s DC-8 mission over Korea:

 

NASA ‘climate spy plane’ proves California’s strict anti-pollution laws are a joke!

08 November 2019 (03:37 UTC-07 Tango 06) 17 Aban 1398/10 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1441/12 Yi-Hai 4717

NASA pilot suits-up for an ER-2 AVIRIS-NG mission high over Hawaii, February 2018. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Luke Kuennen.

Six decades after California set the first global standards for industrial anti-air-pollution laws the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) has proven those (and subsequent) laws to be laughable.

NASA ER-2 preps for a mission from Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, February 2018. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Luke Kuennen.

NASA used it’s modified U-2R/TR-1A, called the ER-2 (Earth Resources-2), to inspect industrial air pollution, scanning the ground from near-space (65-thousand feet/19-thousand-812 meters): “Before the pilots even take off, we put them on 100% oxygen for an hour to get all of the nitrogen out of their systems. It’s similar to what scuba divers can face. If they have nitrogen in their system, they can end up getting what they call the bends, and it’ll be a really bad day for that pilot.”-Wason Miles, ER-2 life support crew, from 2018 interview concerning the HyspIRI preparatory airborne mission over Hawaii

Liquid nitrogen is used to cool the ER-2’s hyperspectral thermal emission spectrometer. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Luke Kuennen.

The two years long NASA-California methane mission resulted in the AVIRIS-NG ( Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer-Next Generation) system, onboard the ER-2, discovering dozens of what NASA calls methane “super-emitters”(published 06NOV2019) across the Los Angeles area.  This why I say California’s progressively ‘tougher’ anti-pollution laws failed.  I lived in California when those anti-pollution laws began driving out many industries causing the loss of thousands of jobs just in the Los Angeles area, in the 1970s-80s.  The exalted lawmakers of The Golden State then started playing games with their own anti-pollution laws, trying to woo back major employers.  NASA’s California methane mission revealed that the industrial sector of the Los Angeles area is still pumping out clouds of pollution, even with stricter air quality laws and fewer industrial operations.

NASA photo by Jim Ross, 13JUL2006.

Boring 2018 lecture type NASA explainer video about how AVIRIS detects and maps methane emissions:

NASA photo by Lori Losey, August 2001.

2017 NASA video explainer of their climate-spy-plane AVIRIS system:

ER-2 tail#706, over Edwards AFB, California, 04NOV1997. NASA photo by Carla Thomas.

In the 1990s, NASA had three ER-2s, but now has two.  The other ER-2 was returned to the U.S. Air Force.

ER-2 tail#709. NASA photo by Tony Landis, 18FEB1998.

Lockheed ER-2 tail#809 cockpit. NASA photo by Tony Landis, 11DEC1999.

ER-2 #809 receives fuel outside Arena Artica hangar in Kiruna, Sweden. SAGE-3 Ozone Loss & Validation Experiment (SOLVE), January 2000. NASA photo by Jim Ross.

ER-2 #809 in Kiruna, Sweden for SAGE-3 Ozone Loss & Validation Experiment (SOLVE), January 2000. NASA photo by Jim Ross.

The ER-2, which has been in use for decades, can be equipped with a variety of sensors.

Large Area Collector sensor for a cosmic dust collection. NASA photo by Tom Tschida, 24APR2009.

ER-2 under-wing mounted cosmic dust collector pod. NASA photo by Tom Tschida, 24APR2009.

ER-2 Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) mission over Costa Rica, 06JUL2005. NASA photo by Bill Ingalls.

May 2010 pic of NASA’s ER-2 overflying the British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill. NASA photo by Regan Geeseman.

VEHICLE ID: 61 YEARS LATER U-2 & TR-1 STILL FLYING HIGH, COOL VIDEO!

NASA’S DC-8 CLIMATE WARRIOR

IDAHO, KANSAS, UTAH HOME BASES FOR NASA’S FIREX-AQ!

UNMANNED MILITARY SPACE SHUTTLE BREAKS RECORD IN SPACE

SUPER GUPPY BE OLD, BUT NASA STILL USES IT!

Unmanned military Space Shuttle breaks record in space

27 October 2019 (13:09 UTC-07 Tango 06) 05 Aban 1398/27 Safar 1441/29 Jia-Xu 4717

Real short thermal image video of 27OCT2019 X-37B landing:

“The sky is no longer the limit for the Air Force and, if Congress approves, the U.S. Space Force.”-General David L. Goldfein, U.S. Air Force

After two years in orbit, the space drone X-37B returned to Earth, setting a record: “The X-37B continues to demonstrate the importance of a reusable spaceplane. Each successive mission advances our nation’s space capabilities.”-Barbara Barrett, Secretary of the Air Force

Photo via Space Launch Delta 45.

At 03:15 Eastern U.S. Time, 27OCT2019, the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing 780 days in orbit during its fifth test mission: “This program continues to push the envelope as the world’s only reusable space vehicle. With a successful landing today, the X-37B completed its longest flight to date and successfully completed all mission objectives. This mission successfully hosted Air Force Research Laboratory experiments, among others, as well as providing a ride for small satellites.”-Randy Walden, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office

You should keep in mind how significant the 780 days in orbit are, as the Boeing X-37B was originally designed for only 270 day-orbits.

The X-37B OTV is placed inside a pod for launching, 31AUG2017. Photo via Boeing.

X-37B Mission-5 launched on 07SEP2017 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on-board a Space X Falcon 9 booster (Air Force Awards Launch Services Contracts to SpaceX).  Mission-6 will launch sometime in 2020.

Launch pod carrying X-37B is towed to the Space-X rocket, which can be seen waiting in the background, 05SEP2017. Photo via Boeing.

2017 official video explainer of the X-37B:

U.S. Air Force photo, 07MAY2017.

Video of X-37B Mission-4 landing, 07MAY2017, Kennedy Space Center.  Watch as it roles past a Space Shuttle ‘gate guard’:

USAF photo, 07MAY2017.

What’s it like to have the X-37B fly over your head? Watch the video:

Before the use of a SpaceX rocket, the X-37B was launched by the old Atlas-5.   Video, March 2015, Atlas-5 rocket launches AFSPC-5 satellite carrying X-37B from Cape Canaveral:

Video, 2012 Pentagon Report reveals unmanned space plane was taken over by DARPA from NASA:

The X-37B OTV being placed inside the launch capsule/pod, 31MAR2010. USAF photo.

VEHICLE I-D: MIG-31 SPACE BOUND DOGFIGHTER?

PHILIP J. FRY SHOULD’VE KEPT THOSE SPACE-WORMS! EXERCISE IS ALSO GOOD FOR YOUR…PARASITES?

SEX IN SPACE? CHINA’S DOIN’ IT!

1ST SUCCESSFUL REUSABLE SPACE ROCKET! LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A 1950S-60S SCI-FI MOVIE!

New Jersey militia robot responds to WMD crime scene

27 October 2019 (02:27 UTC-07 Tango 06) 05 Aban 1398/27 Safar 1441/29 Jia-Xu 4717

New Jersey National Guard photo by Mark C. Olsen.

On 23OCT2019, the National Guard’s 21st Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Team (WMD-CST) Talon-4 robot was deployed in response to a potential WMD crime scene.

New Jersey National Guard photo by Mark C. Olsen.

Talon-4 was used to conduct an initial inspection of the scene, before humans went in.

New Jersey National Guard photo by Mark C. Olsen.

The ‘crime scene’ was inside a New Jersey commuter train.  National Guard personnel suited-up to inspect the scene for themselves.

New Jersey National Guard photo by Mark C. Olsen.

Samples were taken and everything turned out okay.

New Jersey National Guard photo by Mark C. Olsen.

It was all part of training for New Jersey’s 21st WMD-CST, which supports silly-vilian (civilian) authorities in responding to man-made or natural disasters by identifying chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear substances, assess the consequences, and advises on response measures.

ARKANSAS HIT BY UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE, USAF SCRAMBLED!

OPERATION JUPITER: RUSSIAN CBRN TEAMS DEPLOYED! ROBOTS WILL SAVE US?

Bare Metal Bombers: B-1B & B-52H

Quick look at naked B-1Bs at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, on 29APR2020, U.S. Air Force video by Second Lieutenant Danny Rangel:

U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 14FEB2018.

Waiting for new clothes at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis.

18MAY2017, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.  Lightning strikes in the background, as a naked B-1B undergoes depot level maintenance.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis, 20JUN2017.

Post maintenance check flight.  Next is some new clothes.

Quick video explainer of what they do with B-1Bs at Tinker:

USAF photo by Kelly White, 29JAN2016.

Ghost Rider was saved from the Davis Monthan graveyard, sent to Tinker AFB for resurrection in December 2015.

This is actually the tall tail, removed for rebuild. USAF photo by Kelly White, 25MAR2016.

March 2016.

USAF photo by Kelly White, 25MAR2016.

USAF photo by Kelly White, 25MAR2016.

Somewhere in the bowels.

USAF photo by Mark Hybers.

Re-attaching the tail, July 2016.

USAF photo by Mark Hybers.

USAF photo by Mark Hybers.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis.

Ghost Rider naked, 29AUG2016, Tinker AFB.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis.

Run….faster!

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis, 21SEP2016.

New clothes.

USAF photo by Greg L. Davis.

Reborn Ghost Rider, 22SEP2016.   It took 19 months to rebuild the 55 years old B-52H.

USAF photo by Kelly White, 27SEP2016.

It’s new home is with the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot AFB, North Dakota.

USAF photo by Kelly White, 27SEP2016.

USAF photo by Senior Airman J.T. Armstrong, 08AUG2017.

Lightning welcomes Ghost Rider to its new home.

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS NOSE ART

VEHICLE ID: B-1, B-2 & B-52 NEW ‘INTEGRATED BOMBER FORCE’, B-B-B-BAAD TO THE BONE!

VEHICLE ID: B-1B LANCER, ANDERSEN AFB GUAM