Vladimir Putin is a clever lad, but I think he’s mistaking expenditures for relevancy:
Russian Navy plans to buy the first batch of MiG-29K fighters set to be deployed on an aircraft carrier later this year, said a Navy official on Friday.
“This year we are planning to buy the first batch of several machines,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted the unnamed official as saying…
A total of 24 MiG-29Ks will be purchased by the Navy in the next three to four years with an estimated cost of one billion U.S. dollars, said the report.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in late last September that one of the most import issues for the Russian Armed Forces was to recreate Navy in the coming decade.
Russia has always been a continental power, rather than a naval one, and Admiral Gorshkov’s imperial Soviet fleet has been something of a millstone hung around the Russian neck ever since the Cold War ended. A couple dozen Fulcrums will not change that.
Prestige navies are rarely affordable in the long term.
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I have just about narrowed down my search for the airplane I will purchase when my lottery number hits. Which it is mathematically possible, or it would be if I played the lottery.
It will be a Mooney 252 TSE to get there quickly, economically (and compactly) without blowing the top off half way to major overhaul like a 231 might. Or else a Beech B36TC, to get there with friends. Or, perhaps a V35B to get there classically. Or a Super Decathlon to get there aerobatically. A Super Cub or a 200 HP Aviat Husky (I can not decide which) to get there slowly, but not have to much worry about where “there” is, so long as there are a few hundred feet of nice grass or a river bend. Or maybe a Vans RV-8 that I could build myself, if I could trust myself to build an actual airplane that I myself might fly. Safely.
The Flanker? Right out. Operating costs, you know.
So. I’ve got that going for me.
So, there you have it: Build me an IFR equipped, taildragging airplane that will cruise at 200+ kts for four hours on 9 gallons per hour, can clear the western mountains, carry four people plus a modicum of cargo and I’ll buy it.
Once, you know: The lottery hits.
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Speaking of lottery odds, some in the GOP have convinced themselves that Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat might actually be up for grabs. Which I’ll believe when I see it, and anyway they’ll only change the rules so there’s no use getting het up about it. Health care reform is to be a “signature achievement” or summat like that. For your own good.
So just shut up and take your medicine.
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Heretofore, these pages have been silent on the peccadilloes of the world’s greatest golfer, because frankly we don’t think about other things when watching a masterful ball smiter smite the ball masterfully. But with the news that Eldrick Tont Woods is all set to go to a sex rehab clinic – in Mississippi, of all places – enquiring minds want to know: Is this one of those 12-step things, or is it done cold turkey? Because if it’s the latter, a Dachshund puppy is cheaper it at $800 or so.
I speak from experience.
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The Fort Hood shootings: Mistakes were made.
Mr. Gates cited poor communications about internal threats to the security of personnel, as well as a weak supervision by commanders, as systemic problems with implications that go beyond the single case of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the military psychiatrist accused of the shootings.
The formal report, released at noon by the Pentagon, found that “some medical officers failed to apply appropriate judgment and standards of officership” when dealing with Major Hasan, and that more attention should have been paid to his overall performance rather than just his academic record.
Round up the usual suspects, but for God’s sake, stop staring at that elephant in the room.
You’ll only radicalize it.
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Air Venture 2009. I really have to try and make it one of these years.
Land on the Yellow Dot.
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Well, it’s been a long week, so I’ll let you go now.
Have a great weekend.
Your wife may not be thrilled to have an “unmade-up” photo of her plastered on the interwebs, but ’tis clear she’s a loverly lady. Quite fetching indeed. It is abundantly clear why you have stayed with her, lo these many years.
Why she put up with you and your mistress (the Navy), is a question for the ages. Toughest job in the Navy and all that…
Dogs have a way of working their way into the bedroom & then extracting them is like getting a gopher out of his hole….the right amount of C4 will wok but usually obliterates the area in the process….
I’m working on what my wife & I call ” Deployment Marriage Theraphy” – when things get a little stodgy, I need to go on deployment so that when I return, things are more exciting & anticipated…..
Love the Dogs BUT the ALPHA in our pack needs to make some time with the BETA if you get my drift……
Building an RV-8 would take less effort than finishing that rumored book we keep hearing about….by the time you finished it you would be free to leave CA for places more suitable as a domicile.
I’m not an aviator, nor do I play one on the TV but the idea of hopping into a bush plane like the Super Cub, Beaver or Husky and flying to god-knows-where at the drop of a hat just sounds awesome.
Second only to winning the lottery to actually afford to buy/train/fly/maintain one obviously.
“So, there you have it: Build me an IFR equipped, taildragging airplane that will cruise at 200+ kts for four hours on 9 gallons per hour, can clear the western mountains, carry four people plus a modicum of cargo and I’ll buy it.”
Can the passengers be in pods on underwing hard points?
Yep. You’re talking about a Vans-Super-Beech-V Tail-Husky. The hard points also accomodate dachshunds.
Well, speaking as a Badger, I am not at all sure I approve of Dachshunds.
Heh. Most people have no idea what the original reason was behind those dogs’ breeding. Classic case of “form follows function.”
When it comes to dogs, my wife and I raised two litters of show-quality Smooth Fox Terriers way back when… I mean, BK: Before Kids! AK it was varied and numerous: Miniature Schnauzer, Cocker Spaniel, Wire Hair Terrier, 2 Brown & 2 Yellow Labs (they’ll take any kind of abuse a kid can dish out and love ‘em back).
Now we’re into our Post Kid phase and it’s been Miniature Pinschers (they wanted to defend us against anything and everything) until settling on Cavalier King Charles Spaniels… a pair. They’re GREAT!!! Travel well, love ya’ to death, right size, love to be loved, will vacate the room without a fight, friendly with the neighbors’s kids and just good all ’round company. Cavaliers… King Charles’ favorites… our’s too.
Lex, you spent too much time in the tight-budget reality factory known as The Navy. Since you are dreaming, you really, REALLY, have to aim a bit higher with that ‘when I hit the Lottery’ musing. Sure, it’s your dream, but if you are going to spend time dreaming, then DREAM BIG. Your deserve it. Go Gulfstream-something for travel with family and your closest dozen friends; then you’ll need, trust me on this, NEED something else that begins with a “P-” for the fun stuff. You also have my permission to go whole hog on the ‘toy’ – so that baby can begin with an ‘F-’, too. Maybe a couple. Works for me.
The rest of you guys, too….think big. Let it hang out. It’s not like the Mrs. is going to beat you for overspending while you’re dreaming….just don’t let her find you ‘shopping’ in Playboy for that other dream toy.
You could always move up somewhere well north of Anchorage (maybe Fairbanks) where you pretty well have to have some form of winged transportation. Like maybe a Twin Otter with floats, or a Beaver with a nasty old double Wasp on the front like I went fishin’ in last year.
Not a tail dragger, but meets most of your specs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Defiant
C’mon, if the lottery hits, this is the only thing that will scratch that itch:
http://www.prideaircraft.com/flanker.htm
nothing else would even come close.
Russia grounds Sukhoi Su-27 fighters: http://ow.ly/X6cm
“Russia has grounded its entire fleet of Sukhoi Su-27 fighters until the probe is over in the crash of a similar jet, Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday. The announcement came after the rescuers today recovered the body of the pilot and flight recorders of Su-27 fighter, which was destroyed in Thursday’s crash in the Khabarovsk region.
“Until the reason for the SU-27 crash in the Khabarovsk Territory becomes clear, all flights by this type of aircraft have been suspended,” state-run Vesti TV channel reported quoting Defence Ministry officials. About 450 Su-27 aircrafts have been built for the Russian Air Force since 1984, and over 200 jets have been exported to other countries, including China, Indonesia, Angola and some ex-Soviet states.”
I’m betting the crash was an issue of airspeed over altitude, rather than keeping it the other way around. Anything less than a whole number usually ends badly; ‘deceleration’ sickness as Lex refers to it.
And heck, got a Dachshund puppy free – she’s a sweetheart/PITA and we wouldn’t give her away; mostly because she belongs to the next generation of Navy and he can’t keep her in Okinawa.
Lex, I know where there is an impeccably cared for/maintained C-170B with a 180hp Lycoming eng. with a constant speed prop and factory install STOL wing in it’s own pvt hanger–owned/flown by an old Alaskan Bush pilot who has lost his medical. (Korean War Army vet who was a Det.special investigator in MPs–has some interesting/funny stories to tell about Korea AND bush flying. Also fooled around flying to every deserted beach, fishing spot & roadhouse dive bar in Baja Calif.Has led quite a life. Also at one time owned the #1 car dealership in SoCal.)
I thought you were buying that!
One last thing:
Gourmet Dog Treats, Dog crate, Garage – well that’s three things but one objective.
The dog will love it.
Sitting here freezing in Appleton just north of KOSH really makes me look forward to summer when I saw that Air Venture video. Thanks, made my day.
That videographer “slickhutto” really has an eye for airshows; here’s another one: Old Kingsbury Air Fair
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7svF2Byv34
http://pioneerflightmuseum.org/news/index.shtml
Oshkosh Lex-Con 2010!
Awesome…a Lex-Con! I’d be there in a minute
I still think you need a Folland Gnat. That is the cutest jet fighter ever built. I think most of them on the civil registry are the two-seat trainer version, so you could give me a ride.
Wot, no Cirrus?!? RV-10 at least? Hey, not having any money didn’t stop me from buying the Cirrus. Beats being addicted to heroin. I guess…
But not by much, money wise….
Ride The Crippler around the airshow. It’s the most affordable ride there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9JSAF4Y7MM
I missed the yellow dot. You ever notice how nobody but nobody ever brings a PBY to the airshow?
Actually, the national GOP is late to the party in the Commonwealth of Taxachusetts. From what I’m reading a whole lot of people have reason to believe that Brown has a chance to win, and there’s a lot of polls that have Brown and Coakley in a dead heat. A few have Brown ahead (although within the poll’s margin of error)
Remember that those folks have gotten an early taste of Government-controlled health care. They’re also a bit tired of politicians acting like royalty, thinking that they’re entitled to their seats. It’s going to be interesting next Tuesday. Right now it’s a toss-up.
The national GOP is late to the party, but Brown is kinda working that to his advantage. He’s done a good job of raising his own cash, AND he’s showing that he’s not beholden to “special interests,” unlike a certain candidate that holds fundraisers with lobbyists in DC.
Damm, that’s a good song. I haven’t heard it since Lt. G was forced to close his blog down.
And that video had me grinning from start to finish. But I just realized how tired I was when it took me over 3 minutes into the vid to realize that the reason some of those shots looked exactly like way better renditions of my own photos was because I had been there. I mean I knew I was there, but just didn’t connect that that was the video of this past summer’s show. See, I told you I was tired.
Anyway, you really do need to make it to Osh Kosh, Lex. I’m hoping to make it back for 2011. Watching that video reminded me just how much it was worth the drive. And the heat. And the rain. The walking. And the dorm rooms. Oh yeah…
Lex
How about a real warbird: HurRicane Mk IIa, genuine war veteran, was for sale at the end of last year, though it didn’t sell. Meets most of your criteria, except the passengers and da the fuel — believe it could at a pinch carry two(2)
http://www.spitfiresite.com/reviews/2009/08/hawker-hurricane-for-sale.htm
Speaking of late to the party… these Friday posts always catch us in the forward time zones out (split infinitive, yes).
So on them Fulcrum–they may do nothing for Russia’s power, but they will suck up hundreds of millions of dollars (and similar man hours) from our Intelligence community, whose senior leadership all revel in the glory days of the FOSIFs and that stuff called OPINTEL, tracking emitters and the like. Never mind a Russian hasn’t raised a weapon against an American in nearly 20 years, and tracking terrorists is sooooo hard, and opening books to understand just what all those Muslims are supposedly distorting takes real work and effort—LOOK! A RUSSKIE JUST LEFT PORT! OOH OOH OOH! I REMEMBER HOW TO DO THIS, JUST WATCH! OOH OOH OOH! IGNORE THAT STAIN IN THE FRONT OF MY TROUSERS! OOH OOH OOH! The Chinese are taking over all the world’s resources? Oh, that’s hard to solve. LOOK, THE RUSSKIE IS DEAD IN THE WATER! OOH OOH OOH! I REMEMBER THIS, TOO! YEP, WE’RE ALL ABOUT BEING PREPARED FOR THE RUSSIAN THREAT! OOH OOH OOH!
Yeah, I’m a little cynical. Good luck with that lottery thing.
Seeing the missus, my first inclination was that she looked an awful lot like the long-lost sibling of Kevin Cronin, the lead singer for REO Speedwagon. So I did a google search on him, found a few images.
Oh. My God. Nothing like him. He’s like, you know, kind of old now. And the Missus is nothing near to him in that area.
My, how the time has passed. Was it *that* long ago that I went to an REO concert with Lisa, my parents driving the car because I was too young to be properly licensed?
Yup. 30 years have gone by. Darned if I didn’t notice how they’d slipped away.
Feel the same way about my own bride — if it’s been 20 years since we’ve met there’s nothing I notice that is different.
This whole ravages of age thing applies to back muscles and eyesight. The ladies in our lives remain beautiful, and hence somewhat younger than present conditions require, until our last days.
Though I suspect they’ve known us long enough, at this stage, that they’ll kindly allow us our infatuation with aircraft or motorcycles and did I mention a Vought F4U would look right good on ya?
= Max
REO Speedwagon In the headphones. Only just after zero-eight on a Saturday, and wanna keep the ‘vibrations’ down for a bit.
For the longest time REO Speedwagon was my litmus test on girlfriends. I’d take them to a concert (back then REO toured more frequently than I dated) and if she wanted more that was an indication we were compatible. If not, well, what were the odds we could survive a family vacation together in a car for hours each day? Nope, best to cut my losses and seek others.
What really opens my eyes is, though they’re still touring, the bands of that era that I once paid good money to see in a stadium are now playing bars in Des Moines. Bad Company. Head East. Foghat. Black Sabbath. Molly Hatchett. Iron Maiden. Peter Frampton.
Heck, I once saw Elvis in concert and today’s college grads have never heard him. The King of Rock and Roll, an icon, now merely a footnote in history.
Hence my point — when you look in the mirror or across the dinner table nothing has changed. You’re the same as you were at 19, maybe a few more aches and pains and a little grey in that hair and when did that happen anyway? Compare against an external object, like that rock band you saw when you were still dating, and only then does the passage of time become so evident.
Or, you know, when you board an airplace, see the captain, and your first question is if he has a drivers license yet?
– Max
Whenever I see one of the one time “great” bands performing at county fairs, or in bars, as you noted, I feel kind of sorry for them, how the mighty have fallen, and all that.
The Flanker? Right out. Operating costs, you know.
And the up-front cost is just for the airplane — the Russkies charge *extra* for the support package, such as replacing an engine that *should* have been brand-new, but was delivered with 300 hours on it, so it was ready to be recycled into beer cans…
Ask the Iraqis about the good deal they got on all those “remanufactured” Mi-17s.
Lex
Check out Titan Aviation T 51 Mustang
Thanks, Stan. That just cost me an hour of my life
Update: Two hours, actually. Walking the Elysian fields of Suburu engines and Australian Spitfire kits.
I don’t hit the tip jar much. Would you and your lovely ladies like to go to Sbiccas one night with FbL and the Major and Tamara and Megan and Mark? I’m not much but my little sister is in town with her husband, for a year. Both of them write books. They’re really good at it.
What a load of manure this sex addiction scam is. All normal men would take as much sex as they could get absent dire consequences. This is just a way to say “Not my fault, I have an illness.”
No, it’s a desperate and ultimately failing attempt to hang on to 50% of his assets.
Ahhh, doxies, we do love ours
- SJS
I liked my wiener dogs. We had to get rid of them when we went to Germany the second time. One went with a cousin to Kent, Wa. The other to a young AF couple at Adair. Broke our hearts to see them go.
Oshkosh is good, but check out grassroots aviation at its best back in Indiana at Lee Bottoms Field. They have a great airshow every year with an old time atmosphere.
http://www.leebottom.com/nordo/ARCHIVES/Feb%202008.htm