Happy Hour

"IF A LIFETIME CAN BE LIKENED TO A DAY, THEN THIS IS HAPPY HOUR!"
BUCK PENNINGTON

Mother, Mother Ocean

Mother, Mother Ocean, I've heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all
Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam
In your belly you hold the treasures, few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred year's too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

Yoda

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
―Yoda, to Luke Skywalker

Counted the Stars

Counted the stars on the 4th of July
Wishing we were rockets bursting in the sky
Talking about redemption and leaving things behind
I have these pictures and I keep these photographs
To remind me of a time
These pictures and these photographs
Let me know I'm doin' fine
We used to be so happy once upon a time
Once upon a time
But the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line
And the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line


""SOME SEE A GLASS AS HALF FULL, SOME SEE IT AS HALF EMPTY, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO’S DRINKING MY RUM."
Rumbear

Monday, October 31, 2011

On board Delta 2204

Seat 28F in a 757-200. It was a really comfortable trip.








Did day one today at school. Going to the hangar and play on the jet tomorrow.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

An Air Force wife’s rant about the “military industrial complex”

This was at The Right Scoop. Seems the Air Force Wife has a few good points.......
Just sayin.........................that's all.
But go and hit the link and read it for yourself................then make up your own mind......
That is the one thing........I cannot do for you............
http://www.therightscoop.com/an-air-force-wifes-rant-about-the-military-industrial-complex/

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Going to Hill AFB, Utah and other sundry things

I will be going to F-16 Advanced Crew Chief School at Hill AFB from the 31st of October to the 18th of November. I fly out of LAX tomorrow at 1:30 to SLC.
I am getting a rental car on arrival........that I don't have to pay for.
The school may help in me getting moved into a grade 12 slot..........kind of difficult with a hiring freeze now days though.
But I can use it to pad the resume for further things.........
I just realized that I have been at this for two years as of the 21st of this month. Wow! Who woulda thunnk it?
The counter keeps going up as well..........

Friday, October 21, 2011

MythBusters Video Digest Of The Duct Tape Plane (4 Videos)

Did any of you fine folks catch this the other evening? It was vintage Mythbusters and just plain interesting at the same time.
Science, Comedy and Kari Byron. What's not to like?
Did I mention Kari Byron?
I did!
Well, go figure!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://airpigz.com/blog/2011/10/21/mythbusters-video-digest-of-the-duct-tape-plane-4-videos.html

Latest in R.T. "REDNECK TECHNOLOGY" that is . . .

biLatest in R.T./i/b
Redneck Technology!!!!!!!!!
Got to hand it to Sean at Stormbringer.
There are some seriously good pictures at the link above.
Go.
See.
Laugh!!!!!!!!!

Will Fisker Motors Be Another Solyndra?

This was at American Thinker yesterday.
The question is right there in front of us. What is the answer? Somewhere, that transparency thing got tossed in the shit can.

"..................There's been considerable coverage of the Department of Energy's $534-million loan guarantee to bankrupt Solyndra.  But lurking unnoticed is a similar $529-million DOE grant toFisker Automotive to build the high-end hybrid Karma and eventually mid-priced sedans.  With Hyundai, Toyota, Porsche, and GM building hybrids, why is the government funding an automotive startup?

Fisker's people believe that they can build a car with more consumer appeal.  Are they right?  The market will let them know, just like it has for Chevy's Volt.  
There are two considerations involved.  First is the Karma itself, and second is the government loan in light of the Solyndra revelations..............."
The rest of the article follows but I will give you this last one............it will keep the thought in your head..................$529 Million of our Tax Dollars gone to Finland for a hybrid start up......For a car most of us would not buy. Well, at least I would not buy one. 
If I am going to spend that kind of money, I want serious performance...............A ticket maker if you will...........

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Cycling into Spring

From the blog Boy on A Bike. Down under it is Spring. Some really nice pics at the link. I guess it is a major cycling event in Sydney. I just like his pictures......daily life of a man who goes everywhere on a bicycle.

http://boy-on-a-bike.blogspot.com/2011/10/cycling-into-spring.html#links

Saturday, October 15, 2011

NAS Lemoore Air Show

Actually it is called the Central Valley Air Show. It is a good one. The show has been absent for seven years. This being the Centennial of Naval Aviation, it was almost a priority. I have fond memories of this place as we were there from June of 1985 to March of 1989. I started in the A-7 Fleet Replacement Squadron, VA-122 now VFA-122 operating the various versions of the F/A-18 Hornet. That is the legacy jets A/B/C/D and the Super Hornets, the E and F.
Saw the Super Hornet fly. I am impressed. My friend who was an F-15 Crew Chief during his hitch in the regular Air Force was impressed with the Super Hornet. Said it was a better jet than the F-16s we currently crew at Edwards. Says a lot from an Air Force guy.
So for your enjoyment, here we go! And Buck there is one in here just for you, my friend!!!!!!


































































In front of the Argonaut Maintenance Spaces. Back some twenty six  years ago or so,  it was VA-147. A long time past. Yeah, sometimes I miss it, still. Sometimes terribly.

Thought you all would like these. Unfortunately, The Argonauts did not have a booth for stuff. I did get a VFA-122 CONA T shirt and a Carrier Air Wing Two Ball Cap along with a couple of pins, a T-2 Buckeye and an A-7 Corsair II. Memories and during a most  significant year...........that being Our Centennial. I will always address Naval Aviation related things in the We. Navy Air for Life.
A mix of the old and the new. Of interest are the REAL Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", the F8F Bearcat, the F-16N from the Strike Air Warfare Center at Fallon with Navy and Marine on it. There is the jets, old and new and the California Air National Guard F-16 from Fresno.
I saw the F/A-18 Super Hornet fly.....I had never seen one before, just the Legacy Hornets as they were around while I was in from mid career to the end.
When I arrived at NAS Lemoore that summer of 1985, there were only three Hornet Squadrons, VFA-25, VFA-113 and the FRS VFA-125. By the time I left in March of 1989, the A-7s were gone.......all replaced by the Hornet.................
And now the Super Hornet is replacing the Legacy Hornet(A/B/C/D) as well as the new EA-18G slowly replacing the Venerable and Most Reliable Grumman EA-6B Prowler as the Electronic Attack Platform. I will never use the "N" word as is the new corporate name due to that merger. Just can't do it........too many years in the A-6E Intruder, the finest attack aircraft ever to serve.
I will not go down and tell my children I didn't have the courage, the conviction, the commitment or the character to fight for this country...Don't go home and let your children down~~ LTC Allen West

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

‎"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.("Therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war")" from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus)