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Traveling

By lex, on October 12th, 2011

By car from Sandy Eggo to Ventura County. By Kfir from VC to Idaho.

Off the grid, talk amongst yerselves.

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October 12th, 2011 | Tags: | Category: Blogging

95 comments to Traveling

  • Joe in N Calif
    October 12, 2011 at 5:53 am

    Fair seas, Cap’n.

    Here is one to get the ball rolling:

    U.S. State Dept. contacts Khan family
    By Tim Funk

    Yemen Cleric Killed

    An official from the U.S. State Department has called the Charlotte family of al-Qaida propagandist Samir Khan to offer the government’s condolences on his death in a U.S. drone attack last week in Yemen, according to a family spokesman.

    “They were very apologetic (for not calling the family sooner) and offered condolences,” Jibril Hough said about the Thursday call from the State Department to Khan’s father, Zafar.

    The phone call came a day after the family released a statement through Hough that condemned the “assassination” of their 25-year-old son – a U.S. citizen – and said they were “appalled” that they had not heard from the U.S. government to discuss their son’s remains or answer questions about why Khan was not afforded due process.

    On Friday, State Department spokesman Harry Edwards confirmed to the Observer that the call had been made, but said “privacy issues” kept him from offering details.

    Hough said the Thursday conversation lasted a few minutes.

    “It wasn’t just ‘I’m sorry’ and hang-up,” said Hough, who added that the phone call included no discussion of the status or condition of Khan’s remains.

    Khan was killed along with cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

    Also a U.S. citizen, al-Awlaki was a leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and appeared to be the main target of the drone attack.

    Hough said Khan’s father’s reaction to the call was “kind of positive and optimistic.”

    “The (family) statement appears to have gotten their attention.”

    But, Hough added, the family would still like answers to the civil liberties-related questions.

    “The discussion doesn’t stop with a phone call, though the contact was a step in the right direction,” he said.

    Khan authored a radical blog while he lived in Charlotte – one his father, Hough and others unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to abandon. Then, in 2009, Khan moved to Yemen to produce al-Qaida’s “Inspire,” an English-language online magazine. In one early edition, Khan said he was “proud to be a traitor to America.”

    One of his articles was titled “How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”

    • Flugelman
      October 12, 2011 at 6:39 am

      Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.

      Or a Hellfire up yer keister. Shoulda kept better company.

      I’ve read somewhere that in Mao’s day when they executed someone the family was sent a bill for the bullet. Wonder what a Hellfire cost?

      On another note, thirteen Ft Hood soldiers were unavailable for comment.

    • Jeff Gauch
      October 12, 2011 at 6:52 am

      Are there any two words in the English language less useful than “I’m sorry”? Perhaps “Barak Obama”.

    • xformed
      October 12, 2011 at 11:15 am

      Well, so much for me considering backing Hillary in ’12….morons….(but they have been morons all along since taking over in ’09)

    • OldSchool
      October 12, 2011 at 5:01 pm

      Awlaki (sic? different spellings survive) reportedly renounced his USA citizenship.
      Why is he considered a US citizen for any purposes, legal or extra-legal? Done & done.
      The other chap, possibly still holding citizenship in the nation he wants to destroy (or least to subjugate to Islam) … perhaps a 2fer1 targetting opportunity; perhaps wrong place/wrong time/wrong companion [but I doubt that].

  • SJBill
    October 12, 2011 at 6:11 am

    We have BINGO field at NAS Moffett, if’n the WX is bad up there.

  • Idaho Joe
    October 12, 2011 at 7:15 am

    Good day to come up here. It’s been raining for several days, but it’s supposed to be beautiful today. Severe clear and nice and cool right now, at least in Boise.

    Yesterday I was in our parking lot and something sleek and fast came past after making a low pass into Boise. It was too far away to see what it was, but obviously it wasn’t our humble host in a Kfir, since he’s still on his way. Plus i’m pretty certain he’ll be avoiding the civilian airport.

  • T.G. McCoy
    October 12, 2011 at 7:34 am

    Going to be working the MOA and Mt. Home AFB range I’ll bet.
    I have fond memories of being dusted off at night by a FB-111
    in the Oregon desert by a Aardvark at about oh 200ft…

  • Old H-2 Guy
    October 12, 2011 at 7:37 am

    O.T., but in other news:
    http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/07/navy-growler-squadron-co-fired-deployment-071911w/
    Is the Navy’s Command Screen process broken?

  • Spencer
    October 12, 2011 at 7:40 am

    You flying against the zoomies up there?

  • SK1
    October 12, 2011 at 8:05 am

    Cap – To bad you can’t fly from SE to Ventura…would have to be shorter and more agreeable…..

    Working the job seacrh here in BAWSTON and found this worthy of a chuckle – MILWIFE’s lament on allowing her hubby to get the dog groomed…Poor Pup !

    I asked my husband to take our pooch, a cocker spaniel, to the groomers and drop him off for his appointment. Our groomer had a gradient for cuts and I always ordered a number four. I just assumed the groomer would look at the chart and give the dog the same haircut he had always received. Instead, the groomer asked my husband what type of cut he wanted for our dog. My husband had no idea what to say and being the soldier that he is, he just asked for a high-and-tight.

    Later that afternoon, I went to pick my baby up and when they brought him out, I didn’t even recognize him. He was completely shaved. Shaved, not trimmed. The poor thing looked pitiful, and I think he felt pitiful, too.

    Moral of the story: Service members should not be allowed to take pets to the groomer unless you want your pets to come out looking like they’re in boot camp!

    Well at least it will grow back…..

    • Idaho Joe
      October 12, 2011 at 8:14 am

      Now that’s funny. Poor dog. And winter’s coming on.

      Good luck with the job search.

      • SK1
        October 12, 2011 at 8:55 am

        Thanks Idaho – I am finding positions that I am qualified for and are in the Boston area – like anything else, the trick is getting the decision makers to pay attention to you among all the others who are fighting for the same jobs….and so it goes.

    • Kris, in New England
      October 12, 2011 at 9:16 am

      I can bet you the dog was humiliated; they know. A friend of mine takes her Shih Tzu to the groomers and due to a skin condition he developed over the summer, she had him shaved so the condition could be treated. He is a normally upbeat, friendly, loving dog. After that appointment? Notsomuch – he was displeased and depressed for weeks.

      As for the job – I’ll be sending your info off this afternoon to a variety of people here – HR execs, recruiters, friends. We’ll see what shakes out of the tree!

      • SK1
        October 12, 2011 at 10:44 am

        Thanks Kris…..I deeply appreciate it. Owe you & the hubby a dinner when you get up Boston way.

        Networking among shipmates – One more benefit of serving on the USS Lex !

        • Kris, in New England
          October 12, 2011 at 12:53 pm

          Info on the e-wire as we speak. Networking has begun and it is my pleasure. No dinner is needed – happy to help a fellow New Englander. If we ever do connect in Boston – shared dinner at Durgin Park would suit us just fine! And thinking positively that it will be a celebratory one!!!

  • Tuna
    October 12, 2011 at 8:20 am

    Talk amongst ourselves? C’mon- as tech savvy as Lex is, you’d think he’d figure out a way to blog while airborne. Oh wait, he’s flying a 70′s era sports car, not an Airbus with wifi, but still…

  • Daryle
    October 12, 2011 at 8:56 am

    You have all probably seen this and maybe Lex posted on it in the past and I don’t recall. I saw it on Instapundit yesterday:

    UFO-LIKE DRONE hits cruise mode. “A stealth U.S. Navy drone — one designed to take off from and land on moving aircraft carriers at sea — successfully retracted its landing gear and flew in cruise configuration for the first time, engineers announced today.” Now send these back in time and the flying-saucer craze is explained. . .

    http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/10/8253784-ufo-like-drone-hits-cruise-mode

    • BeachBum
      October 12, 2011 at 10:58 am

      At the Miramar air show a week and a half ago, I was talking to a NASA pilot who flew in an F-18 for static display. Some how or other it came up that Northrop Grumman asked NASA if they could task an F-18 or 2 to fly chase for the X-47 flight test. Up to now the X-47 has had the gear down, limiting flight speed, and NG had aircraft that could keep up. Now that they are raising the gear, the bird flies too fast for the NG chase aircraft. I asked the pilot if NG was going to PAY NASA for the use of the aircraft, and in true pilot fashion he replied, ‘hey, I just fly ‘em, I leave the money stuff to the bean counters.’

  • Byron
    October 12, 2011 at 9:03 am

    Psst! Did anyone look to see if Lex re-stocked the grog locker?

    • Hogday
      October 12, 2011 at 9:14 am

      Byron, having just moved to the Norfolk/Suffolk borders (UK) I can thoroughly recommend you import, at whatever the cost, my local brew, esp some Adnams Broadside, named in honour of the battle of Sole Bay. at 6% it guarantees you face the enemy without fear or feeling. (Made a man out of me – made a man out of me wife:)
      http://adnams.co.uk/category/beer

  • Kris, in New England
    October 12, 2011 at 9:18 am

    Twice in one week he leaves this lot with the keys to the place.

    What did we do wrong??? :-)

  • Joe in N Calif
    October 12, 2011 at 9:54 am

    Now, you know that he will pop in unexpectedly. The last three or four times he has done the “talk amongst yourselves” bit he has popped in within 12 hours with something. He’s clever, he is, but eventually we catch on to his tricks.

    Now, about our society – how helpless have we become? http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/familys-corn-maze-fun-ends-in-911-rescue/

    By Katie Kindelan
    Oct 12, 2011 11:50am
    Family’s Corn Maze ‘Fun’ Ends In 911 Rescue

    How do you find your way through a corn maze?

    Call 911.

    At least that was the approach taken by a Massachusetts family Tuesday after they lost their way amidst seven acres of nine-foot corn stalks and became scared.

    Fearing for the safety of their 5-year-old and 3-week-old children, the couple, whose names were not released, used a cellphone to call 911 just after dusk on Tuesday night.

    “We came in during the day time and we got completely lost and we have no idea where we are,” the caller told the 911 operator. “I’m really scared. It’s really dark and we’ve got a 3-week-old baby with us.”

    The family was trying to find their way through the maze at Connors Farm in Danvers, Mass.

    “We thought this could be fun. Instead it’s a nightmare,” the couple told 911.

    Police quickly alerted farm management of the family’s situation, and sent a rescue team, K-9 unit and all, to the farm.

    “They responded so fast,” Bob Connor, the farm’s owner, told “Good Morning America.” “It was unbelievable how fast they came up.”

    The quick-thinking 911 dispatcher instructed the parents to yell out, “Hello K-9!” until they were finally escorted out to safety.

    The entire search, and rescue, took all of about five minutes, according to Connor.

    It turns out the family was just 25 feet from the exit when they were found by a police officer.

    “They were in the heart of the maze,” Connor said of the family’s location. “Bridge, hanging out by bridge, right in the center of the horse.”

    Connor said the family is the first this year to get stuck in the maze, which features maps and signs along the way to help people find their way.

    The maze path has been a part of the Connor Farm for the past five years.

    “We designed the maze for people to get lost but it’s all about family fun and it’s unfortunate that the family got stuck,” he said. “That’s not our goal. We want a positive experience for all.”

    By the bridge onto which they could climb and see the way out. Signs to help. Geez! I hope these people take public transportation and don’t drive. Or vote.

    And this is one couple who I would say should not be allowed to own guns.

    Or knives.

    Plastic forks – Maybe. But no metal ones.

  • chunk
    October 12, 2011 at 9:59 am

    Shocked, but not surprised.

    http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/587698/201110111829/Apologies-Not-Accepted.htm

    Apologies Not Accepted

    Posted 10/11/2011 06:29 PM ET

    In November 2009, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to bow to Japan’s emperor. View Enlarged Image
    Leadership: Leaked cables show Japan nixed a presidential apology to Hiroshima and Nagasaki for using nukes to end the overseas contingency operation known as World War II. Will the next president apologize for the current one?
    The obsessive need of this president to apologize for American exceptionalism and our defense of freedom continued recently when Barack Obama’s State Department (run by Hillary Clinton) contacted the family of al-Qaida propagandist and recruiter Samir Khan to “express its condolences” to his family.
    Khan, a right-hand man to Anwar al-Awlaki, was killed along with Awlaki in an airstrike in Yemen on Sept. 30. We apologized for killing a terrorist before he could help kill any more of us.
    It’s yet another part of the world apology tour that began with Obama taking the oath of office to protect and defend the United States and its Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, something he immediately felt sorry for.
    One stop on his tour was Prague in August 2009. There he spoke of “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” ignoring that before 1945 we lived in such a world and it was neither peaceful nor secure.
    Another stop on the tour was in Japan, where Obama in November 2009 bowed to the emperor, something no American president had ever done. It could have been worse if plans to visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima to apologize for winning the war with the atom bombs had come to pass.
    A heretofore secret cable dated Sept. 3, 2009, was recently released by WikiLeaks. Sent to Secretary of State Clinton, it reported Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka telling U.S. Ambassador John Roos that “the idea of President Obama visiting Hiroshima to apologize for the atomic bombing during World War II is a ‘nonstarter.’”
    The Japanese feared the apology would be exploited by anti-nuclear groups and those opposed to the defensive alliance between Japan and the U.S.
    Subscribe to the IBD Editorials Podcast
    Whatever Tokyo’s motive, Obama’s motive was to once again apologize for defending freedom, this time for winning with devastating finality the war Japan started.
    While Obama envisions a world without nuclear weapons, and moves steadily toward unilateral disarmament of our nuclear arsenal, we envision a world without tyrants and thugs willing to use them against us. We do not fear nuclear weapons in the hands of Britain or France, countries that share our love of freedom and democracy.
    It was not all that clear in August 1945 that Japan was ready to surrender. Okinawa, where 101,000 Japanese and 24,000 Americans died, was a clear indication of the fanatical resistance to come in an invasion of the Japanese home islands. That resistance ended only when Tokyo became convinced there would soon be nothing to defend.
    Nuclear weapons in the right hands ended the violence of World War II. In the right hands, they kept Western Europe free and helped win the Cold War. And the fact that they’d been used made it less likely they would ever be used again.
    The world that Imperial Japan envisioned was quite different than the one we now enjoy. That regime’s dream was of an imperial rising sun blistering the globe. Good thing they saw a rising sun of a quite different sort, the fulfillment of Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamato’s prophecy after Dec. 7, 1941: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
    President Obama fails to realize that being the leader of the Free World, the last best hope for mankind, means never having to say you’re sorry.

    • Edward
      October 12, 2011 at 10:29 am

      Well, it could have been worse.

      He could have apologized to Germany.

    • Joe in N Calif
      October 12, 2011 at 10:32 am

      There is a wide range of estimates of the casualties that would have resulted from an invasion of the Home Islands. The lowest I have seen is about 500,000 Allied within the first 90 days, about a quarter of those KIA. And the estimates range up to 2,000,000, again with about a quarter KIA.

      Estimates for Japanese range between 3,000,000 and 10,000,000, with a third to a half KIA.

      Revisionists and wishful thinkers cry that everyone in the Japanese government and high command were expending all their efforts to sue for peace. History, you know, what actually happened, is very different.

      The ‘America is evil’ crowd also wring their hands and claim that Hiroshima was a totally civilian city with no ties at all to any military efforts. They ignore that both were port cities. Both had industry producing war materials. Hiroshima had the headquarters of two armies, as well as camps housing about 40,000 troops. Nagasaki had some good sized shipyards and ordnance factories.

      I think what really gripes the leftists about the two bombs is that they presented less opportunity for Americans to be killed. How unfair it was to only expose a dozen or so men to death rather than hundreds or thousands as with conventional bombing.

      They also don’t compare them to the casualties from conventional bombings. How many did the fire raids on Tokyo kill? What’s the difference.

      But the main thing that they don’t look at is the lives that were saved. OK, those two bombs may have killed, oh, 200,000 to take a middle ground on the estimates. Compare that to the likely million or two killed if we had invaded. But, oh, how much better it would have been to have inflicted those millions of deaths on Japan because they would have had a chance to fight back and kill hundreds of thousands of Allied troops, mostly American.

      • Joe in N Calif
        October 12, 2011 at 10:44 am

        Sorry for the rant. See, my brothers and I would likely not be here if those bombs hadn’t been used. There was this little soiree called Operation Olympic to which he, and many other of Uncle Sams Misguided Children, had been invited to attend.

        As an aside, the US still has well over 100,000 of the Purple Hearts that were made in anticipation of that party even though they have been handing them out at others ever since.

      • xformed
        October 12, 2011 at 11:26 am

        IRL Story: Shipmate on shore duty had a pen and pencil set from his time as NS Sasebo. Two china globes were mounted on the carved wood. Globes came from the dreging spoil in the early 80s, when they needed to expand the harbor. No one knew what they were….hint: Noritake China Plant is there. Anyhow, after much investigation and questioning, found some old timers who knew. The story Paul conveyed is the plant was ordered to make them, without any paper trail. They looked like a large Christmas tree ornamental globe, but were made by the bazillions to be filled with gunpowder/explosive nmaterials and issues to everyone (meaning literally everyone) to beused against the invading Allied forces. They would light the fuzes and charge the ground troops and ….where have we seen this before?…commit suicide while taking as many of us with them to the grave.

        Consider how the Nation of Japan was poised to literally commit suicide as a culture, all over their pride and the abuse Bushido Code, propagandized by the militant portions of the Government….Would truly have been sad and humanity would have lost so much. Thankfully, in the bad news of nuking a nation, that same nation was saved from it’s own fratricidal strategy.

        Surly The WON! will never be able to fathom that, for it would offend his World View.

        • Joe in N Calif
          October 12, 2011 at 11:41 am

          Yep. The civilians, including very young school children, were all being trained and indoctrinated to use all sorts of improvised weapons against an Allied invasion. And, if what happened during the island hopping to get there is any indication, many of the civilians who didn’t attack would have suicided to avoid being captured.

          • Daryle LaMonica
            October 12, 2011 at 8:00 pm

            I have a question for you: How many troops did the Japanese still have in China in 1945? I haven’t been able to find that out and have often wondered how many of them the Soviets would have killed with their entry into the war.

            When it came to killing Germans the Sovs didn’t play nice. Of course the Germans had invaded their home but still, at Stalingrad the casualties were something like 95% weren’t they? Even of the POW’s taken only about 5% survived the camps.

            I know the Soviets weren’t anxious to enter the war but do you think they would have prosecuted the war vs. Japan with any more, ummm, humanity?

          • virgil xenophon
            October 13, 2011 at 5:23 am

            Daryl/

            IIRC fully 50% of the Japanese Army was still sitting in China at the end of the War–which is why we were going to mount an entire field Army (3 Corps, nine Divisions worth) against them by ourselves alone as part of the effort. My father was on a troop-train transiting from the east coast where he had returned from the ETO on the way to the west coast for embarkation to China as part of that effort when VJ day was declared and he was spared his second go-round in the war.

          • Daryle LaMonica
            October 13, 2011 at 6:22 am

            I wasn’t aware that we had plans to fight them in China. I thought we were going to leave that to the Russians. WWII is such a vast event it seems I’m always learning something new.

      • Jeff Gauch
        October 12, 2011 at 11:44 am

        I think the main reason leftists are upset is because it kept the USSR from getting involved and claiming their fair share.

        Could you imagine how the history of both Korea and Vietnam would have been different if we had to garrison South Japan to protect it from the communist North, instead of using it as a logistics hub?

      • Quartermaster
        October 12, 2011 at 2:41 pm

        As I recall, on the first fire bomb raid on Tokyo, Lemay’s boys killed about 80,000 people. Compare that to the casualties of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. LeMay was of the opinion that they actually accomplished less with the nukes than he had with incendiaries. Between the fire raids and the Submarines, Japan was on the ropes. If we had recognized the Emperor the war would have been over earlier than it was.

        The demand for unconditional surrender also prolonged the war in Europe. Someone talked some sense into Truman’s head over Japan, or even two Nukes would not have worked. They were that stubborn.

    • SK1
      October 12, 2011 at 10:50 am

      Posted the same at US Navy Jeep…..what a putz. His cluelessness defies description !

      Sir Winston Churchill got it right – I agree with Churchill 100% -

      “We ask no favours of the enemy. We seek from them no compunction. On the contrary, if tonight our people were asked to cast their vote whether a convention should be entered into to stop the bombing of cities, the overwhelming majority would cry, “No, we will mete out to them the measure, and more than the measure, that they have meted out to us.”

      The people with one voice would say: “You have committed every crime under the sun. Where you have been the least resisted there you have been the most brutal. It was you who began the indiscriminate bombing. We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will. You do your worst – and we will do our best.”

      Sir Winston S. Churchill – British Prime Minister
      First delivered 14 July 1941

      • TwoDogs
        October 12, 2011 at 4:46 pm

        I’ve not heard that particular bit from Sir Winston, but I’ve heard enough of other speeches that I can hear him delivering it in my head. The cadence, the inflections, everything. He had his flaws, but as a statesman he had no equal.

        • Quartermaster
          October 12, 2011 at 5:51 pm

          Other than completing the destruction of the British Empire, I would agree with you.

          In fairness, Chamberlain gave him the war, he didn’t start it, although he wanted it.

    • Old AF Sarge
      October 12, 2011 at 11:46 am

      Out-freaking-standing!

    • Daryle LaMonica
      October 12, 2011 at 7:53 pm

      Good God Man! Please, no more of such things. I won’t be able to sleep tonight. What was that?

      • Joe in N Calif
        October 12, 2011 at 8:03 pm

        Hmmm…such strong reaction and protest. Did we tap into your deepest fantasy, Daryl? DNDT is over, this is the era of openness, you can fess up now. ‘-)

        (good gawd! I shouldn’t drink coffee when I write something like that. I owe myself a keyboard now)

    • John
      October 12, 2011 at 9:20 pm

      Neither of those Occupy Philly folks shold be loose on the streets. I imagine two small towns in eastern Pennsylvania are desperately looking for their idiots who have fled to join the occupiers.

      However, as ludicrous as these clowns are, they are part of the vanguard of the troops who will be engaging in class warfare. THey may not know what it is all about, or why, or who they are fighting, but such mindless idiots are useful tools for the more committed socialists and communists lurking and plotting for their eventual open warfare.

      It is coming, maybe not next week, but look for violence to be rampant before January 21, 2013.

    • Joe in N Calif
      October 12, 2011 at 4:15 pm

      Plan type drawings

      click on the drop down

      • T.G. McCoy
        October 12, 2011 at 4:24 pm

        Joe thanks for those links! I spent one my formative years in aviation at Evergreen field in Vancouver Wa. Back in the early
        70′s got to know some real pioneers. I think enclosed cockpits and horizontally opposed engines are for wussies…

        • Joe in N Calif
          October 12, 2011 at 4:28 pm

          My pleasure, TG, glad you enjoyed them. A pard goes by “Hardpan Curmudgeon” over t’ the SASS Wire Saloon posted them there.

          I just redistributed the wealth.

  • Joe in N Calif
    October 12, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    Amish Violence

    No, really.

    • Quartermaster
      October 12, 2011 at 6:11 pm

      It’s a faction fight. A small group says they just want to be left alone, but another faction won’t leave others alone.

      The Ohio Amish have several things blow up on them in the last 20 years. In the4 group that was local to me in SE Ohio, one of them was jailed for child molestation and wanted back into the group after he had served his sentence, but the rest were shunning him. He kept trying to force his way back in, but about 98% of the group sold out and relocated leaving him behind.

      This is a better article about the mess.

      http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-amish-leader-beard-cutting-religious-matter-232845934.html

      • Joe in N Calif
        October 12, 2011 at 6:23 pm

        Oh, I know. It is just that “Amish” and “violent” don’t usually go together.

        • Quartermaster
          October 13, 2011 at 4:32 am

          You’ve never heard of that evil Amish Militia that want to conquer the US? Google “Amish Militia” sometime if you want a good laugh.

    • Hogday
      October 13, 2011 at 1:04 am

      “MULLETT IN AMISH `HAIR RAGE` ATTACK

      You couldn’t make this stuff up. Thanks Joe, I think I’m shocked, or something…

  • Ron Snyder
    October 12, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    Say Hello to MH -it has been 40 years since I was stationed there. Loved it. F-111′s were there at the time.

    • Quartermaster
      October 12, 2011 at 5:54 pm

      They were fairly new then too. Makes you feel old.

      I have a friend at church who was an Army Warrant Rotorhead and everything he flew is now in a museum. Another, who flew KC-97s, has been able to see his in museums for over 40 years. Took his Multi training in B-25s.

      • Ron Snyder
        October 13, 2011 at 5:12 pm

        Yeah, it does QM.

        The -111 was the first variable wing I saw, and despite a less then stellar rep at the time, was pretty cool. Big plane.

        Would like to see the MH area again.

  • ChrisP
    October 12, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    It would appear that the USN is fond of Lex & Co. and plan to keep them around for another year:

    “Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., L.L.C., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $47,080,902 modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-09-D-0021) to exercise an option for services in support of the Commercial Air Services Program, which provides contractor owned and operated Type III High Subsonic and Type IV Supersonic aircraft to Navy Fleet customers for a wide variety of airborne threat simulation capabilities. This provides for training shipboard and aircraft squadron weapon systems operators and aircrew how to counter potential enemy electronic warfare and electronic attack operations in today’s electronic combat environment. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va. (45 percent); Point Mugu, Calif. (35 percent); and various locations outside the United States (20 percent). Work is expected to be completed in October 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.”

    Pretty cool!
    Congratulations, sir!

    • tuna
      October 12, 2011 at 11:11 pm

      Hopefully he’ll get a little of that to help with his crushing burden of debt or whatever it is he calls his house. I think this gig isn’t quite the rainmaker that his last one was.

      • Sim
        October 13, 2011 at 2:46 am

        Yeah but even the Kat would have to be getting up there in age, I get the strong impression it’ll be last one off to College then the yellow and black handle getting pulled with a swiftness.

  • Leland
    October 13, 2011 at 3:27 am

    To those of you in the US, be sure to check out Bing today. For those of you still using Google as a search engine, nothing special happened on this day in history.

  • Quartermaster
    October 13, 2011 at 4:35 am

    ATAC otter buy that Su-30, or was it a 27, that was on offer a bit ago. I’m sure Lex would love to get his hands on something like that if for no other reason than to say he had.

  • SJBill
    October 13, 2011 at 5:03 am

    A new Chinese luxury yacht was recently launched: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Kk4QrYZRo
    This design wasn’t stolen rom the US.

    • virgil xenophon
      October 13, 2011 at 5:33 am

      ROTFLMAO! SJBill you made my coffee-spewing morning! File under: “I don’t think they really thought this one through.” :)

    • Flugelman
      October 13, 2011 at 8:32 am

      Methinks the guy gesticulating at the end is screaming “Turn that effing camera off!!!”. All in Chinese, of course.
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