To Fly, Or Not To Fly ...

T.F. Green Long Term Parking at Oh-Dark-Thirty
OAFS Photo

... that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The lines and the TSA at the airport,

Or to just get in the car against a sea of traffic

And by driving just do it.¹

It is, dear reader, almost time to head south again. The Missus Herself is off to California to visit LUSH for a fortnight leaving me, Your Humble Scribe, to once again fend for himself. As the invitation to visit The Nuke is always open, I decided to go there for a week, or so, rather than entertain myself at Chez Sarge.

I know what you're thinking, "But Sarge, all these gaming posts you've done recently, surely this is your opportunity to do that without interruption or snide remarks about 'being in front of a computer all day.'"

I know, I know, there is that. But Your Humble Scribe is a social animal (stop laughing) and requires the presence of other humans for to survive. No seriously, at certain times of year I don't mind the solitary life, but when the weather outside is frightful (but the fire is so delightful) I'd rather be around other people. Besides, there is a fireplace at Chez Tuttle et Nuke, whereas at Chez Sarge there is not.

The Nuke did ask me if I'd like to fly down. I thought about it for perhaps a second before responding with a resounding "NO!"

Mind you, I don't mind flying, but I do like to have a vehicle when I get to where I'm flying to. Now, the kids would let me use one of their vehicles when visiting, it's been mentioned. But here's the thing, they drive Teslas. Both of them (not both Teslas, there are more than two, both kids I mean).

While not opposed to the technology (I enjoy riding in a Tesla) I'm hesitant to take command of such an expensive vehicle when it doesn't belong to me. Rent a car? No, are you insane? This is me that has to pay for it, not my former company.

So I drive. Besides which, I enjoy driving my car. She's an awesome ride, comfortable, lots of get up and go, and she does well in inclement weather. Sure, it's a long-ish trip, roughly 420 miles which translates to 7 to 8 hours, but I don't mind.

It's also cheaper than flying, just parking at the airport costs more than the fuel required to get there and back again. It's less hassle than flying because, let's face it, going through TSA, and all the minor indignities that entails, just ain't worth it. I'll fly if it's a really, really long trip (takes more than a day), but for Maryland?

Where's my car keys?

And that's how I feel about that.

Why am I not going to California with The Missus Herself? Well, California is a long-ass flight, been there, done that, multiple times. Besides which, we're going on a trip to California in April, I didn't want to do it twice in one three month stretch. Too many (less than fond) memories of flying out to Sandy Eggo for work and staring out the window saying, "Damn, it looks like Mars down there," after crossing the Mississippi River. Hour after hour ...

So I drive. I can also get out and stretch my legs, get Dunkin' or Starbucks when I feel like it and generally act the care-free soul.

Yes, the other drivers can be a colossal pain, but as long as they're not trying to actively kill me, I can exercise due caution and avoid most of that.

It can be "interesting" but hey, it's what I like to do. I drive, because I can.

'Nuff said.

¹ With apologies to the Bard.

When Night Falls ...

Screenshot - Call to Arms: Panzer Elite

... Sarge gets his game on.

Yup, back in the saddle again, this time with Call to Arms: Panzer Elite from Digitalmindsoft Publishing. I originally got into this publisher's games via their Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront. When Panzer Elite came out, I jumped on it. I mean, y'all know my love of tanks. (And juvat, I'll try and find some screenshots of aircraft blowing up tanks in one of the games I have. I know it's there, just haven't played that particular setup yet.)

This one is in early release, in other words you buy the game and provide feedback to the developers and as the game gets updated, you get the updates. Basically you're paying for a finished product and get to help test that product. I don't mind, that particular business model seems to be working for a lot of game publishers.

Anyhoo, that opening photo is the standard player's view. You're hovering behind your tank so it's perhaps a bit more "arcade-ish" than IL-2 Sturmovik - Stalingrad. But it's great fun. Once you see something you might want to shoot at, you can zoom in to this view ...

Screenshot - Call to Arms: Panzer Elite

I thought I saw movement just beyond that farm ahead to the right, so I zoomed in to the gunner's position. Moments later a Pzkw IV came rumbling into view. He blew off my left track but this was his fate ...

Screenshot - Call to Arms: Panzer Elite

I'm not sure if the crew can bail out at this stage of development, they can in Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront, in that game you can bring up spare vehicle crews to repair and re-man a vehicle. Which is pretty cool.

For now, if the vehicle dies, so does the crew.

As for Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront, it looks like this ...

Screenshot - Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront

Screenshot - Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront

You can play zoomed out, with a map showing you your guys and known enemy positions, or you can zoom way in, like that last screenshot, to really see what's going on. You can order your units to advance, fight, withdraw, what have you, and they'll execute in real time. Then you can zoom in and watch the action.

It's immersive, very immersive.

I highly recommend both, if you've got at least this much oomph in your machine:

Minimum System Requirements

OS *: 64bit - Windows 7, 8, 10, 11

MEMORY: 16 GB RAM

GRAPHICS: GTX 1070 / RX 5600

DIRECTX: Version 11

STORAGE: 80 GB available space

SOUND CARD: DirectX 11 compatible

ADDITIONAL NOTES: SSD drive and fast internet connection needed for optimal gameplay

If you've got that, or better, you should be able to run these games. (juvat - Not sure if they'll run on a Mac, but the discussion page on Steam says "Yes" it runs on Windows and Mac.)

Sorry gotta run, Krauts are breaking through near St. Vith!

Goofing Off, Not Much to Say

Me-410 Hornisse
Screenshot - IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

I finally got around to hooking up my old Saitek X52 Flight Control System to the new desktop machine. I was somewhat worried that it wouldn't work well with the newer machine running Windows 11, but it does work and it seems (so far) to be working well.

It's been awhile since I've taken to the air in this old (but continually updated) flight sim which, to me, is the best I've ever "flown."

P-51 Mustang
Screenshot - IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

What you see above is the view looking out of a P-51 over France. One thing vastly improved from the early versions of this flight sim (I hesitate to call it a "game") are the clouds. They looked pretty good back in late 2001, when the sim first came out, they look fantastic now.

The flight models in the later version of the sim are much improved as well. No flinging the old kite about the sky with wild abandon anymore, do that and guaranteed you'll stall or go into a spin. It was much harder to crash the bird in the early versions.

So while I play, I don't write, much.

I'm also working my way through the old HBO Rome series, one episode to go. I enjoy my time with Vorenus and Pullo, they're like old friends now.

Ah well, me and my fantasy worlds.

In other news ...

We're expecting more snow here, but the forecast has been bouncing all over the place, which is typical when they try to forecast ten days in the future. Right now it's raining, which was predicted. That might turn to snow after sundown.

Oh boy.

But on the bright side, the temperatures are in the high 30s during the day. Which after the last few weeks feels downright balmy!

So there you have it.

The rest of the world keeps working while the Old AF Sarge plays with his toys.

I've waited 50 years for this!

And I'm not disappointed in how it's going!

Ciao!

Time Flies

OAFS Photo¹

When I heard that the Reverend Jesse Jackson had passed away. I noted that he had been born in 1941, my first thought being, "Wow, he wasn't that old." Then I saw the report mentioned that he was 84 years old. So he had lived a good, long life.

I don't think of the 1940s as being all that long ago, probably because I spend a lot of time reading about World War II, which ended eight years before I was born. (VE day was exactly eight years before my birth.)

After all, I'm pushing 73, which doesn't, from my perspective, feel all that old. Though my knees and back are probably figuratively "rolling their eyes" at that statement. My brain is still pretty young-thinking, my body usually does feel its age. Especially after rough-housing with my grandsons Roberto and Finnegan.

Time flies, neh?

I had the thought that I had retired from the Air Force some 25 years ago ...

Nope, it's 27 years ago as of May. I retired from Raytheon 14 months ago, and I spent 25 years there.

Robert Duvall, one of my favorite actors, passed away this week as well. That one hit close to home as he was younger than my mother! I'd like to say that Mom is still going strong as she heads towards 96, but she's not. Not really. She's forgetful as hell, can't hear to save her life and is far too stubborn to consent to having us get her hearing aids. She gets by, day to day.

Getting old ain't for sissies.

Brad Arnold of Three Doors Down died back on the 7th of February. While not a huge fan of their music (I only own one album, and that's a greatest hits album) I did enjoy their music, and their energy.

I love that band for the simple fact of this video ...

I need to get more of their music.

Life comes at you fast, enjoy it while you can.

Peace.

¹ F/A-18F clock given to me by LUSH. Time, in this case, does seem to fly literally.

Old Times, Good Times

Family Photo

That's Your Humble Scribe on the left in the photo, striking some odd pose as is my wont. Behind me is my oldest kid brother The Olde Vermonter, he's the one who posted this old (circa mid-60s) photo on the Book of Faces. Moving further to the right there is my maternal grandfather (technically step-grandfather but we didn't view it that way, then my Dad. In front of him are milk cans which Gramp used to collect maple sap, which was then boiled down to make maple syrup. Behind the grown-ups is the sugar house, where all the boiling of sap took place.

Scurrying about in their usual excited frenzy at having us boys visit can be seen Bimmy, part beagle, part bird (more on that in a bit) and traveling out of the picture is Tippy, just his hindquarters and tail made the photo. Tippy was mostly collie, probably other breeds mixed in there, but he looked mostly collie.

It's been over fifty years since I've seen those dogs and I miss them still. They were loyal, affectionate, and terrors to the local woodchuck population. Gramp didn't like woodchucks for the damage they'd cause to Gram's garden so he was an active participant in culling the woodchuck population.

That aside, those two dogs would go crazy when our car would pull up to the farmhouse. They would dash back and forth barely standing still long enough to get petted, yipping in excitement, their happiness showing plainly on the canine faces. Eventually my Mom would tell us to separate ourselves from Tippy and Bimmy and go say hello to our grandparents.

Now I refer to Bimmy as being "part bird" for the simple fact that when he ran, his ears flapped up and down. Pretty standard for a floppy eared dog, I know. But when we'd ride the tractor up to the pasture, Tippy and Bimmy would run behind, Bimmy's ears going up and down for all the world like he was trying to get airborne. So "part beagle, part bird."

Those dogs were devoted to my grandparents and to my Uncle Hank, gram's brother, who also lived on the farm. But one day Gramp told us that the dogs loved us kids above all others. To demonstrate he took us all outside.

He pretended to start coming after us, as if to hit us, and quick as you like, Tippy and Bimmy placed themselves between us and him, snarling, prepared to attack if anyone dared to lay hands on us, including the man they spent a lot of their lives with, day in, day out.

As I get older, I remember times like those more and more. I can remember the smell of the smoke from the sap being boiled, the wood waiting to go into the fire, the mud, the snow. The spring sunshine just starting to make the days a little more pleasant after a long winter.

I remember my grandfather, not a man to express his feelings with words, more by deeds. My Dad, always trying to teach us boys not to be idiots, he had his work cut out for him with me! Mom and Gram in the kitchen cooking and/or baking something.

I remember those two dogs every day. The love they had for us, their excellent companionship and especially their energy. I miss them.

A lot.

Free Ride!

 

OK, I don't think I've written about this subject before.  I don't know if what I'm going to talk about is still being done. I don't think it is, but it had a lot of good results in it's day.

The program was called "Incentive Rides".  Members of the non-rated Air Force (AKA not Pilots or WSO's*) who had impressed their chain of command could be selected for an Incentive Ride in one of the Base's jets.  

Yes, Beans, in a two seater.

They would get some basic training on emergency equipment just in case things went south.  Then they would be put on the flying schedule with a very experienced pilot.  They would be briefed on what was going to happen on the ride, and how to deal with it. 

Basically, this was pulling G's.  When a fighter turns, the pilot rolls the jet into an appropriate angle of bank.  Airliners do the same, but it's usually no more that 10 degrees of bank.  Fighters generally turn using 70+ degrees of bank.  

Oh, did I mention that when a fighter goes into a high bank angle,  the G-Load gets pretty high pretty fast. Which can include, if not prepared, the possibility of losing consciousness.  That could ruin the mission of the incentive ride because the rules state if someone loses consciousness, whether a person on an incentive ride, or a experienced fighter pilot/WSO, returning to base and landing is mandatory.  

Oh yeah, a visit to the Flight Surgeon is also required.

I always enjoyed giving them that ride so I went to great extremes to keep them happy (and avoid them having to visit the Flight Surgeon).  It was a reward for excellent effort on their part in getting their job done.  As such, in the brief, I would ask what kind of ride they would like.  The options were anything from a fantastic view of the local area in complete comfort (OK relative comfort, they WERE strapped in to an ejection seat) up to a ride that would make the best Disneyland E-ticket ride feel like a walk in the park.

I distinctly remember one of the incentive rides I gave.  I was scheduled to fly a ride with a Senior Airman (E-3) Crew Chief who'd had a very good record in keeping "his" F-4 mission ready.

In the briefing, I mentioned those briefed options   This Airman was from the deep south.  He answered.  "Sir, I don't wanna do any "Loop-de-Loops".  

OK.

We take off and are in the local practice area, driving around like a Cadillac.  I'm bored to tears.  I hear him ask "Sir, can we do a little faster turn?"

"Why, yes I can". I roll into bank and pull 2 G turn.  He says, "That was great, can you turn faster?"

 "Why, yes I can".  I roll into about 70 degrees of bank and pull on the stick to 6 G's (our g-loading limit).  I hear this loud yell over the intercom, so immediately roll wings level and ease off the stick to 1 G.

"Airman, are you ok?"

"Sir, that was Sheet Hot!"

I immediately went into demonstrating high speed, 2 or 3 G maneuvering.  After a bit, he asks "Sir, can we do a Loop Dee Loop?"

A loop is a 4 or more G maneuver.

I start the maneuver. 

At the top of the loop, I look in the mirror, he's got his head back looking at the ground above him.  He lets out a "Yeee HAWWWW!' over the intercom.

Brought a smile to my face, yes it did. 

Suffice it to say, whenever I got assigned his aircraft, I got treated  quite well. 

Based on that ride, I volunteered to fly any incentive ride I could.  The people that were going for the ride were the cream of the crop, so this was a reward for both of us.

 

 

This was another ride I knew about.  Somebody I'm deeply proud of, even now, got selected for an incentive ride in the F-4E.  The pilot is on the left,  next to him is the Wing Executive officer, next is his assistant executive officer, next is my Weapons System Office (WSO AKA Back Seater), Me, then my Flight Commander.

The young lady in the middle is also my wife.  One of the traditions of flying a fighter in the USAF is soaking one down on their final flight at that assignment.  When she landed the tradition was carried out.  

I asked the Pilot how she did.  No problems and a lot of fun.  Excellent!

 We received orders shortly thereafter. She and I were going to Holloman AFB to fly AT-38s.

That would be Captain/Mrs. Juvat in the back seat

 Fast forward 3 years. We're now at Holloman and about to leave,  Mrs J (AKA Capt/Mrs J) gets scheduled for another incentive ride.  There is one obstacle, she is pregnant with our son.  The flight surgeon said "No" to the flight. So, they do a high speed taxi ride.

 Shortly thereafter, it's my turn, the squadron members (who weren't flying, briefing or debriefing met me at the jet with fire extinguishers  to wet me down and present me with a cheap bottle of Champagne.  I had enjoyed the time, but had bigger, better, faster things ahead of me.

 

The guy to the left in the picture?  Yeah, I took some gun camera film of him

Yep, that's me after my last ride in the Eagle, also the last airplane I was at the controls of.  Mrs J (at the time Major J) only got a taxi ride in the Eagle because of a medical condition which is obvious in this picture.  MBD was born a month or so later.

 I really enjoyed taking folks on incentive rides, they were satisfying to both parties.

So..a little music about the subject, just because it seems right! 

 

 

*WSO -Weapons System Officer. Basically the non-pilot on board a fighter responsible for a lot of different jobs in some fighters (F-4 and F-111, back in the day, F-15E nowadays)

The Well is Running Dry

Screenshot of the Commander's Position in the Panther
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

Contrast the German Panther commander's position above with that of the Soviet KV-1 commander's position below ...

Screenshot of the Commander's Position in the KV-1
IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

Note the game play aids along the bottom of the screen along with the mini-map in the lower right hand corner.

I've had this game for a long time, couple of years at least. When I got it my machine didn't really have the cojones to run the game, it IS a resource hog, comparatively speaking. My Razer laptop could run it but that poor beast died before I could really get to this game. Okay, I have a LOT of games for the computer.

My current laptop has the cojones to run the game but, and this is a big but, the laptop heats up quickly when playing games of this sort and I don't really want to burn up another laptop. Laptops are deuced useful when traveling dontcha know? But the smell of hot electronics bothers me. A lot. Can't imagine why. (Bit of snark there, I used to work avionics and the smell of hot electronics meant there was something we had to fix ... Which is exactly why I don't like that smell.)

My current desktop machine has lots of power and lots of cooling fans, seven to be precise, and the CPU is liquid cooled, not quite like a Maxim machine gun but you get the idea.

I'm still getting to know this new machine (so far I love it) and I do that by playing games on it. It's who I am, it's what I do. Can't command armies in the field but I certainly can on my computer. Best of all, no one gets hurt for real.

A game I am anxiously awaiting is Grand Tactician: Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815). The following screenshot might tell you why ...

Grand Tactician: Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815)

I have the American Civil War version of this, Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) and enjoy it though the graphics aren't quite as good as what is shown above. As can be seen below ...

Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

The units seemed to be scaled better in the former, by which I mean the number of men represented on the display matches what the actual unit would have. If a battalion has 500 men, you'll see 500 men. The latter game seems to have fewer soldiers on the display than would be present in real life. Then again, that might be a setting the user can fiddle with. More items to display takes longer and on lower end machines could really bog down the game play. We shall see.

So that's what I'm up to, as for material for blog posts the well does seem to be running dry. Maybe it's me being lazy (or tired, I stay up way too late playing these damned games) or perhaps I need a break.

Might take a couple of weeks away from the hurla burla of the internet, I'm starting to need it. Failbook is driving me nuts (too much political shit) so I'm cutting back on my time spent over there. I'll read friend and family posts about their families and vacations but not much more. It's getting out of hand. (And don't get me started on the number of bloody ads Failbook inundates us with.)

Anyhoo, enjoy your Sunday. See you ...

Uh, scratch that, be back on Tuesday with something, I dunno ...

Maybe inspiration will hit, you never know.