ARRRGGGGHHHH!

It's Memorial Day.  Borepatch said it best.  "Remember the cost".  Sons and daughters never born.  Grandsons and Granddaughters also.  Greatgrand...The only thing more tragic would have been if they hadn't payed the cost.   Heroes all.  Rest In Peace, Warriors.  You did your duty well.

On an infinitely less important note...

Big Week here at Rancho Juvat.  El nuevo hogar de Juvat has changed significantly over the past week.  So much so, that I recorded a walkthrough video fully intending to present it for your viewing pleasure.

Howsomeever,  my mastery of things electronic seems to have vanished.  I cannot, for the life of me, get the (&(^%*&%^!!! thing off the phone.  I can see it when connected to my PC, but when I try to copy it, import it, use the Photo's app on the PC, or any of the other things I've seen online to fix the problem, it still says the phone is "Not connected".  

Apple, I've never been a fan of your products.  This isn't changing that.

So...You're going to get stills.  

(Also taken with the same phone, and opening the same phone, clicking on the pictures, copy, paste in the PC, works like a champ, but not the flippin' movie.  Hence, you may sense why the title of this post is the title of this post.)

Anyhoo, last Wednesday, after feeding the horses their evening meal, I noticed the supervisor was at the house.  Mrs J and I do a daily walk through at that time, so we went over.  I asked him what was next as we had had the insulation installed and inspected, so were through with that step.  He said the Dry Wall hangers were going to show up Monday and as soon as they were finished, the Bricklayers and Stone Mason would begin work.

Well...Monday was a no show, but Tuesday, bright and early, the Dry Wall guys showed up. and got to work.

Yes, Beans they really do use stilts.

 Thursday evening, when I did my walk through, virtually everything was done, but they said they were low on drywall and would return on Monday (Today).  I let the supervisor know and he said he'd take care of it.  

The rounded corners really make the doors

That center beam will be wrapped in Cedar when finished, not sure why they put drywall on underneath

Saturday morning early, I hear the rumble of traffic headed up to the site.  A little later, as I head up to feed the horses (twice a day, it's the highlight of my day!), I notice a guy shoveling sand and mortar into a mixer.  By the time I'm done with the hayburners, he and his partner are starting to brick the north side of the house. 

Since virtually nobody is going to see this side of the house, cheap little old me, decided that would be solid brick vice brick bottom, limestone top for the rest of the front.

By that evening, that face was finished.

Since the next day was Sunday, I figured we would be undisturbed until this morning.  Nope, just after dawn, I heard the trucks again, peeked out and it was the Bricklayers.  Worked all day  and this is where they were when I went to press.

It's really starting to look a lot like a home, now and it's much easier to get a feel for how it's going to look.  Mrs J is starting to get excited, I'll confess I am also.  

Although I still looking at Christmas as a move in date.

Now to change the subject, my former office mates sent me a link to a video asking me if this was what flying a fighter was really like.

I have to answer...Sorta!

It's obviously filmed from the cockpit on an actual flight, but the maneuvers are much more smoothly applied than shown in the film for a lot of different reasons.  But...It does give you a view of flying a high performance fighter.  

Just as an aside, as I was watching, I could feel my stomach and leg muscles tensing as the first step in the G straining maneuver.

Spare a Thought...

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

 and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,

and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Psalm 8:4-5, KJV

Every year there are names that I recite in church the Sunday before Memorial Day. Men that I wish to remember and wish that my friends and family might also remember. I feel that if we can each remember the name of one who fell in the cause of freedom, then they might live in our hearts forever. Three were killed in action, three died in training, all fell for freedom.

Captain Carroll F. LeFon, Jr., United States Navy

Lance Corporal Kurt E. Dechen, United States Marine Corps

Major Taj Sareen, United States Marine Corps

Lieutenant Nathan T. Poloski, United States Navy

Private Robert Bain, Royal Scots Fusiliers, British Army

Private First Class Albert J. Dentino, United States Army

Enjoy the weekend, enjoy the time away from work with family and friends. Enjoy the unofficial start to the summer season. Those who fell would not begrudge you the good times, the laughter, the fun, for truly, if they could join in, you know they would.

But spare them a thought, even if it's just for a moment.

The men and women who fought and died for our freedoms should never be forgotten.

Ever.

My thanks to Dave (Fuzz) for sharing the following video with me, my old service did a good job with this.

The following is a program about one of the most hallowed places in our country, Arlington National Cemetery. It's an hour long, but well worth your time.

Have a box of tissues handy, you'll need them.

I did.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them.

Remember...

Memory Lane

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Been feeling a bit out of sorts lately, some folks enjoy working from home, I don't, not really. Though the commute can't be beat, and it's a snap to "get ready for work," it just doesn't feel right. Work is work, home is home. They shouldn't mix.

Work Sarge is different from Home Sarge, when I work from home, my worlds collide. Chaos ensues. Okay, it ain't that bad it's just maintaining the separation between those two worlds is important, at least to me. When I leave my desk at the lab, at work, I am better able to leave work at work. When I work from home, I can't do that.

Sleep has not been easy the past couple of weeks. All the bovine excrement going on in the world has not done wonders for my morale. Damn it, I'm too old to be wanting to man the barricades or go guerrilla in the mountains. But if necessary, I will.

Anyhoo. Out of nowhere this song popped into my head today, it took me back to last fall when I was down in Maryland (a lovely place by the way), getting ready for Tuttle's and The Nuke's wedding. We were motoring through the countryside and The Nuke was playing us a CD of the music she had chosen for the reception. Really good stuff. I think she changed a couple of tunes out for fear that The WSO and Your's Truly might go a bit crazy. And there was a full moon the night of the wedding. Well, we did kind of act up in the car, throw in alcohol at the reception, and things could have gone badly. Not for The WSO and I anyway. Very little fazes us, we're both naturally goofy and a bit too extroverted for our own good.

But this song came on at some point in the trip, I think the CD had ended and this was on the radio. Or maybe it was on the CD, I don't recollect exactly but that's immaterial. At any rate, it was good to hear the song (hadn't heard it in ages).

In other news, Aidan's Pub re-opened in our wee town by the Bay on Friday. Limited accommodations on the outdoor patio but they were doing take-out. So The Missus Herself and Your Humble Scribe availed ourselves of the opportunity to have a meal from one of my favorite places on the planet. She had the shepherd's pie (technically it's cottage pie, but we don't stand on ceremony) and I had the fish and chips.

Slowly things are, and will continue to, return to something approaching normal. It's inevitable and no number of idiot governors and mayors can stop it. They might try but I think they will fail and fail utterly. I hope everyone remembers these damned Commies come this November. Keep juvat's voting rubric in mind when you head for the polls.

A couple of people have mentioned this interview with Chuck Yeager, I provide it here as a public service. It's long but well worth your time.

See you Sunday.

The Friday Flyby - Wings of Weirdness II

The Convair XFY Pogo in flight.

(Source)

And what she looked like on the ground...

Now that's a boarding ladder!

What's more. she could actually fly!

But ya know, every time I see one of these weird looking flying machines, my reaction is something like this -

~ SALTY LANGUAGE ALERT ~

Yeah Gunny, what is that?!?!

And yes, there is another aircraft at the tail end of that video of the Pogo in flight, it's a Ryan X-13 Vertijet... (Thought you were going to catch me ignoring an aircraft in a video again, dintcha?)

She's actually flying in this photo, about to land, er I mean, moor herself to the dual-role flatbed transport/launch trailer.

A weird looking bird to see in the air, though kinda cool at the same time.

I swear, watching the first few seconds of that video freaked me out. I mean, if I saw an aircraft doing that, I'd lose it. Well, truth be told, the first time I ever saw a V/STOL¹ aircraft in flight, it did freak me out!

Back in the day, shortly after the Pleistocene Epoch had ended, shortly after juvat and Old NFO had slain the last woolly mammoth (hey, their families were hungry!), I was a young airman stationed upon the island of Okinawa. (No, we hadn't just taken it from the Japanese, in fact it wasn't long after we'd given the island back to Japan. (1972 the island "reverted" back to Japanese control, no, the Okinawans were not real happy about that. I call that one, Nixon's Second Mistake. Nixon's First Mistake was visiting Communist China earlier in that same year, setting the stage for the Peanut Farmer to formally recognize the Commie bastards control of the mainland in 1979. Cue Red Foreman!)

Anyhoo, I was walking down to the MAC² Terminal where I had been told they served a very tasty burger.

Truth be told, I don't remember anything at all about that burger as, whilst on my kleine spaziergang down to said MAC Terminal (for to partake of said burger) I first heard an odd-sounding jet engine. It wasn't an F-4 Phantom, it wasn't a T-39 (an Air Force version of the North American Sabreliner, much preferred by general officers for winging from base to base), no, it wasn't anything like those at all. (Didn't even think for a second that it was a C-141 or an SR-71 either, when you know a jet engine, you know it.)

As I wondered what that noise could be, I saw ahead of me, some dozens of yards in the distance, an apparition rising from the trees near the MAC Terminal. For a moment I had the same reaction to this flying machine as Gunny Hartman had to the discovery of Pyle's jelly donut.

"WHAT THE FIRE TRUCK IS THAT?!?!?!"

Well, it was a Marine AV-8 Harrier, an aircraft capable of vertical take off and landing. It was the first one I had ever seen and it was both weird and marvelous at the same time. But yeah, initially I was freaked out. (Kinda like those terrorists in True Lies, said clip I would have included but it was just too long... Okay, I'll include it...)

Yeah, it was just like that, only without the terrorists, the tall building, and all the other unrealistic, though enjoyable, stuff in that clip.

Anyhoo, I digress. We're here to talk about weird-looking aircraft, not movies. (Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm the one who included three movie clips in a Friday Flyby, only one of which was aircraft related. My bad.)

Another odd looking bird in the V/STOL category is the Lockheed XFV "Salmon" -

Vertical display of the XFV-1 Prototype at the Florida Air Museum
(Source)

The XFV-1 prototype at the Florida Air Museum.
(Source)

Note that the aircraft could also take-off and land normally, those landing gear in that second photo don't look like they'd last through a rough landing. Truth be told, those don't appear to be the original horizontal-landing gear, which you can see in this photo -

Still rather spindly-looking, aren't they?

All this V/STOL stuff is interesting and actually serves a real purpose. When you need an aircraft and don't have room to take-off and land, well, V/STOL solves the problem. Though of course, most aircraft which have this capability are real dog shite when matched up against a "real" fighter plane. The jury is still out on the F-35, though I have heard good reports about it. (None of which involved lowering the bloody price tag on the thing.) But hey, if you're on convoy duty and are worried about submarines, one of those V/STOL jobs might be just the ticket. Load a few V/STOL birds on a couple of freighters and bang, better than no aircraft at all. I mean aircraft carriers are awfully pricey, ain't they Precious?

Anyhoo...

Remember the Sparrowhawk from the other day? Well, that bird had a hook on the wing, for swinging from a dirigible's "trapeze" (seriously, that's what it was called) and a tail hook. This next bird has what I call a nose hook. It also has folding wings, just like a Navy jet, not so that it will fit onto a carrier, but so it will fit in the bomb bay of a B-36 bomber.

Say what?

That's right, fit into a bomber...

During World War II, American bombers such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and Boeing B-29 Superfortress were protected by long-range escort fighters such as the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and North American P-51 Mustang. These fighters could not match the range of the Northrop B-35 or Convair B-36, the next generation of bombers developed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The development cost for longer-ranged fighters was high, while aerial refueling was still considered risky and technologically difficult. Pilot fatigue had also been a problem during long fighter escort missions in Europe and the Pacific, giving further impetus to innovative approaches. (Source) 

So they came up with this little beast, the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin. Aptly named if you ask me...

Weird looking, innit?

Here's a short film on the beast, no sound, doesn't really need it.

(Turn the sound off as a matter of fact, there's an awfully annoying buzz near the end of the clip.)

As technology improved and air-to-air refueling became routine, the need for a parasite fighter to protect bombers went away. Among the problems the Goblin had were a limited flight time, something like 30 minutes, imagine being dropped from your mother ship to fight incoming bandits knowing you only had 30 minutes to do so, then re-dock with the mother ship. Which wasn't very easy, the skill it took for a pilot to do that was rather taxing, imagine doing that while running low on fuel and your bomber is being attacked! No thank you.

This next aircraft is almost normal looking, it was the sound of the thing which was weird, one source said it could make ground crews physically ill!

The Republic XF-84H "Thunderscreech"
(Notice that it's RAT³ is extended.)

Looks rather normal doesn't it, other than that whole "cross between a jet and a propeller aircraft" thing.

Although the USAF Wright Air Development Center was the key sponsor of the Republic Project 3347 turboprop fighter, the initial inception came from a U.S. Navy requirement for a carrier fighter not requiring catapult assistance. Originally known as XF-106 (a designation later reused for the Convair F-106), the project and its resultant prototype aircraft were redesignated XF-84H, closely identifying the program as an F-84 variant, rather than an entirely new type. With a projected contract for three prototypes, when the US Navy cancelled its order, ultimately, the remaining XF-84H prototypes became pure research aircraft built for the Air Force's Propeller Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB to test supersonic propellers in exploring the combination of propeller responsiveness at jet speeds. (Source)

This clip talks a bit about the aircraft -

So what about the sound it made?

The write-up for that video on YouTube has this to say -

This is a recording of the Republic XF-84H "Thunderscreech, a turboprop plane with a supersonic propeller. This sound (when played at its original volume) caused people to faint, vomit, become slightly deaf , and reputedly soil themselves. Enjoy!!

Lovely, that would be perfect for air shows dontcha think?

Anyhoo, that's enough weirdness for one day. If I haven't shown your favorite yet, be patient (yes, Virgil, I remember your F-107, also the Stiletto will have it's day as well) I have enough Wings of Weirdness to cover a few Fridays. Gotta save something in the tank dontcha know?

P.S.

One last thing, notice the header change from the aircraft carrier to the F-102? Well, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 17, Big Time's boat and the previous occupant of the header) put back to sea after being tied up at Guam for roughly 55 days due to the virus-thingee. She's doing some work-ups and a bit of a shakedown to make sure everything still works and the crew knows how to make them work, good idea after a long stay in port like that. I mentioned that I was keeping the TR up there until she was back where she belonged. At sea. She is, so the header changed. I figured Dave would like the new one, he used to fly those birds you know.




¹ V/STOL = Vertical/Short Take-off and Landing
² MAC = Military Airlift Command. Yes, it has a different name now. No, I don't care what it is, I will always call it MAC. Old school buddy, that's me. (There's an even older name for it, but only guys like Old NFO know what it is...)
³ RAT =Ram Air Turbine, in the event of a loss of electrical power this could be extended into the slipstream and generate enough power to maybe get you on the ground in one piece. The F-4 had one as well.

Yes, I'm Looking Forward to This...

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So how many of you knew the name of Tom Cruise's character in the first movie? We all remember his callsign, Maverick. Well, until I read the article at the source of the photo above, I had no idea that his character's name was Pete Mitchell. There are folks who my daughter (The WSO) and her husband (Big Time) flew/fly with that I am hard pressed to remember their actual names when I run into them. (Which sadly is far less than I used to...)

Folks like Bubbles, Big Tittie Mike (yes, his mother hates his callsign), Bobo, Lennie, Danica, Gandalf, Frodo, and Korndog (I was cautioned to never use his callsign when his Mom was around). Now I know these folks well enough to say "Hi" to and I'm even koobecaF friends with some of 'em, but ask me their actual names, and I really need to think about it. I dunno, getting older ain't much help in the memory department either!

Anyhoo, the new Top Gun movie (which as we all know should be TOPGUN) has been pushed back to December of this year (damn it) and I grow more impatient by the day for it to come out. Not that I'm in a hurry to have another calendar year fall aft in my wake, the damn things go by far too fast to begin with, but hey, I want to see this movie!

Here's the second trailer and as I have nothing really to write about today, you get videos. The second one is by a guy yclept Mover (okay, his real name is C. W. Lemoine), an Air Force fighter pilot AND a Navy fighter pilot, though not at the same time, he also writes novels, which I keep reminding myself to read. Mover has some good commentary on the Top Gun 2: Maverick trailer. He can't wait to see it either! (Lest you think he's going to be hypercritical about the film, he's not.)

Oh yeah, his YouTube channel, C. W. Lemoine is awesome, you should watch it. (No, no that's a different link, I know it looks the same, but it ain't. The first is to his author website the second is to his YouTube channel. As Mike K. says, "Trust me, I'm an NCO.")

Anyhoo, watch, enjoy, take notes (just kidding)...

And now Mover's take on the trailer...

I'll be back Friday, prolly with another Flyby as I do believe that there are still a number of weird looking aircraft that I am keen to share with you. Yes, yes, I'll probably include the Pogo and the Stiletto, POCIR.

See you then!

Update to "Thoughts on Government"

The Federal Triangle, on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I wrote what follows four years ago. As you may recall, the lead up to the Presidential election was underway, just as it is now. Though I do not believe either party had nailed down who their candidate was to be in May of 2016, though I believe the Dems actually knew exactly who their candidate was going to be, they just hadn't announced it yet. This time around they have their ventriloquist dummy primed and ready to take the stage. At least last time they were actually going to run the ventriloquist, and not the dummy.

The ventriloquist lost that election, and ever since the Dems have been losing their minds. I hear tell that they plan on attempting to impeach the President again. I wonder what trumped up charges they'll foist upon the Senate this time? (That choice of wording was, by the way, intentional.) Criminal conduct is not, however, just at the Federal level. We have a number of state governments who are auditioning to be the next "Fascist Idol."

Anyhoo.

Government is out of control, on nearly every level imaginable and it ain't limited to the jackass party either. So here are my updated thoughts on government, much of what I wrote back then is still, in my mind, relevant today. Updates are italicized. (The original post, avec les commentaires originaux, is here.)

One more thing I will include here, are two quotes provided by Frère juvat on the original post in a comment, true then, true now:

Those who seek power are not worthy of that power. 

― Plato

Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism. Fellow Republicans, it is the cause of Republicanism to resist concentrations of power, private or public, which enforce such conformity and inflict such despotism. It is the cause of Republicanism to ensure that power remains in the hands of the people.

― Barry M. Goldwater

And the people say, Amen.

So Mesdames et Messieurs, without further ado, Sarge's...

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I have always felt that government - at any level - has two primary functions, for lack of any better terms I'll call those two functions infrastructure and protection. If any government cannot provide either of those two functions, that government deserves to be replaced. Mind you, government is not some thing or machine, no, government consists of people either elected, appointed, or anointed. If the people in government aren't doing the job, get others who will.

I still believe that, all of it. If you have an employee who isn't doing their job, explain their deficiencies to them, if they don't get the message, replace them. It's why we have elections people!

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By infrastructure I mean roads, railroads, bridges, canals, seaports, airports, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, parks, beaches and the like. Things that people need to get from point A to point B. Things whereby the productive folk can move their goods from source to marketplace to consumer. Places to teach the young, places to care for the sick, and places to inter the dead. Recreation in the forms of parks and beaches are useful and I think necessary.

Not all levels of infrastructure are the bailiwick of all levels of government. For instance, the Federal government should set standards, let the States themselves figure out how to meet those standards. If they refuse? Well, no Federal funding for you, okay?

Protection takes a number of forms. Protection from natural disasters could be viewed as part of the infrastructure but I view this as the duty of weather services, both local and national. Protection from crime, from fire, from stupid people (there are reasons for zoning laws, some being better than others).

I kind of missed the boat on assigning protection from natural disasters to the "weather services." They warn us so we can take the appropriate measures to protect ourselves, let me repeat that, protect ourselves. Of course, there are times when no matter what you do, you get nailed. Then the States themselves provide the initial response, if they are overwhelmed by the scope of the disaster, then (and only then) can the Feds step in. By the way, this virus-thingee is not a natural disaster.

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On a national level the people require (not need but require) protection from invaders, both armed and otherwise. (Trust me, illegal immigrants are a massive drain on local services. Those who don't wish to assimilate are here to make our home like their home. If their home is so damned wonderful, why are they here?)

No changes there, still believe that.

(Source)

It is not the business of government to involve themselves in the private lives of their citizens as long as those citizens are not harming anyone else. (For instance, an individual's right to go where they wish ends at someone else's property line. Your right to free speech does not mean that that speech need not have consequences. While I have the God-given right to call my boss an idiot, he has the God-given right to fire my ass should I do so.)

Different levels of government should not meddle at other levels. For instance, the Federal government has no business dictating to the individual states what those states can and cannot do, as long as those states are not in contravention of the Constitution of the United States as a whole.

By the same token the individual states should not meddle in Federal territory. For instance, Rhode Island may not enact a mutual defense treaty with Croatia. (I know that would be impractical and illogical in addition to being illegal under the Constitution.) But if Rhode Island wants to make common cause with Connecticut in an area of mutual interest, what right does the Federal government have to interfere? Provided of course said common cause does not violate the Constitution.

A number of distractions currently in play have the Feds interfering with state governments. Things which they have no business interfering with, such as who goes to the bathroom and where. Really DOJ? Aren't there existing Federal laws being broken which should demand your attention? (And threatening to cut off Federal funding? Where do you think that money came from? Washington DC? No. It came from the states. How about we cut off your funding?)

Cutting off Federal funding is a useful tool for the Feds to enforce national standards in education, road maintenance (not fire trucking speed limits), air traffic control, etc. The DOJ overstepped its bounds during the last administration, and is probably still guilty of that. Oh, one more thing I didn't mention back in 2016, unless the college/university you're talking about is West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, or the Coast Guard Academy, no Federal funds for you, ever. (Unless you have a vibrant and useful ROTC detachment, then you can get simoleons from Uncle Sam, but only for that.)

It's all bread and circuses. Distractions meant to entertain and confuse. If you think the nonsense coming in over the transom every damned day is not orchestrated, you probably need to rethink the way you look at things. There's an agenda out there and reasonable, limited government is not on that agenda. I'm not saying I know what's going on, but I smell a rat.

It really is all bread and circuses and most of the media are complicit in that. They lie to us so often that most of us have ceased trusting them altogether. Of course, as recent events show, the government (at all levels) are pretty accomplished liars themselves.

And yes, the nonsense surrounding this virus-thingee, illegal orders from state governors and the actions of certain police forces (which the Cossacks of the Tsars would be so proud of) spring to mind and is the precise reason for me repeating this old post.

The Ideal...

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I think we've lost our way. Let's start making noise and get back to the ideal. Damn it, this is our country we have a right and a duty to make it work for the benefit of all citizens. Not just a privileged few. And yes Congress, I'm looking at you!

Let me emphasize one thing in that last paragraph ALL CITIZENS! Not those who are here illegally, not just those who have more money than others, not just those who follow any particular religion (or none at all), not just those whose skin is a certain color, not just those who vote for one party rather than another. ALL CITIZENS OF THESE HERE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!

We must all hang together, for if we don't, we shall surely hang separately... (with apologies to the late, great, Benjamin Franklin.)

It is to weep.

Securing soap box activities at this time. Smoking lamp is lit, stand down from general quarters. That is...

Carry on.

The Hawks

Curtiss P-6E Hawk at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
(Read Me)

I like the idea of an aircraft manufacturer using a set of similar names to denote the various aircraft they supply to their customers. The Grumman Cats spring to mind almost immediately. Whilst wandering hither and yon throughout the vast reaches of the Web of World-Wideness (which is what "www" stands for, right?), I happened upon something I had never seen before. That is, this bird:

(Source)

That my friends, is a Curtiss YP-37, of which only 13 were ever made (there was one other airframe like it but with a different engine, that was the XP-37). That bird was in the second half of a video in this post, which frankly I ignored but shouldn't have. Fortunately an alert reader brought it to my attention. (Old Sarge must have been nodding off at the helm that day...)

Now that post was about some of the products of Bell Aircraft (later Bell Helicopter Textron) and really featured the Bell Airacuda, which was the main topic of the last video in that post. Seeing that bird in the photo above, which was a development of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk, led me to notice that a lot of Curtiss aircraft had the word "Hawk" included in the name. Though a bunch of their early aircraft were all called "Hawk." Just "Hawk." Later birds had variations on that theme.

Just for completeness sake, there was also the XP-42, which kind of looked like the YP-37 (though the cockpit isn't as far aft), but was actually an offshoot of the P-36. While it seems to have an inline engine, it actually had a radial engine. No, the design didn't pan out, which is probably why you've never heard of it.

Curtiss XP-42
(Source)

Where am I going with this? Oh yes, the whole "Hawk" thing...

One of the Sarge's favorite warbirds is the P-40 Warhawk/Tomahawk/Kittyhawk. We called all of the versions of the aircraft Warhawk, the Brits called two models the Tomahawk (the P-40B and P-40C versions), and all of the versions P-40D and later they called the Kittyhawk. Warhawk I get, a hawk which goes to war, the British names, while cool, aren't really named after the bird. Hawk that is.

Curtiss P-40E Warhawk of the National Museum of the USAF

No doubt our British cousins would have called the bird in the picture a "Kittyhawk."

Anyhoo, the whole hawk name thing...

The opening photo is a Curtiss P-6E Hawk, here are some of the other early all named Hawk fighters (well, almost all...) produced by Curtiss -

Curtiss P-1B Hawk

Curtiss P-2 Hawk
(Now with turbo-supercharger¹!)

Curtiss P-3 Hawk (no engine cowling)

Curtiss P-5 Superhawk
(Okay, it's not just "Hawk." My bad.)

They all have a certain resemblance don't they?

The P-40 saw extensive service in WWII, as did another Curtiss aircraft, the P-36 Hawk.

Curtiss P-36C Hawk
(Source)

Seems like everyone except the United States used that bird in WWII:

The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, is an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of both the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft—a sleek monoplane design making extensive use of metal in its construction and powered by a powerful radial engine.

the predecessor of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the P-36 saw little combat with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was nevertheless the fighter used most extensively and successfully by the French Armee de l'air during the Battle of France. The P-36 was also ordered by the governments of the Netherlands and Norway, but did not arrive in time to see action before both were occupied by Nazi Germany. The type was also manufactured under license in China, for the Republic of China Air Force, as well as in British India, for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF).

Axis and co-belligerent air forces also made significant use of captured P-36s. Following the fall of France and Norway in 1940, several dozen P-36s were seized by Germany and transferred to Finland; these aircraft saw extensive action with the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force) against the Soviet Air Forces. The P-36 was also used by Vichy French air forces in several minor conflicts; in one of these, the Franco-Thai War of 1940–41, P-36s were used by both sides.

From mid-1940, some P-36s en route for France and the Netherlands were diverted to Allied air forces in other parts of the world. The Hawks ordered by the Netherlands were diverted to the Dutch East Indies and later saw action against Japanese forces. French orders were taken up by British Commonwealth air forces, and saw combat with both the South African Air Force (SAAF) against Italian forces in East Africa, and with the RAF over Burma. Within the Commonwealth, the type was usually referred to as the Curtiss Mohawk. (Source)

Of course the Commonwealth called it the Mohawk. Stayed with the "hawk" theme, but again, not a bird.

Curtiss also built aircraft for the Navy, all with a hawk-based name, except for two aircraft, both named "Helldiver."

Curtiss F7c-1 Seahawk
Designed as a carrier fighter, never saw service on a carrier. Assigned to the Marines.
(Source)

Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk

So what's with the hook on the Sparrowhawk? Glad you asked...

Landing a Sparrowhawk on its "carrier."

Note the name on the aircraft in the photo above, USS Macon. The USS Macon was a dirigible which was designed to carry four Sparrowhawks internally and one "on the hook," seen above (but in reality could only carry two internally). That hook could be retracted into the dirigible so the pilot could get in and out. The idea was that the aircraft would extend the reconnaissance range of those big airships. But the Sparrowhawk's limited downward visibility made it "not so good" at that job. The aircraft in the photo preceding the latter photo was destroyed in the same accident which destroyed the USS Macon. (Which also destroyed the future of the airship in the Navy.)

Curtiss F11C Goshawk
Yet another 1930s era Navy biplane.

The Goshawk actually saw action in WWII, but not with the United States -

The only U.S. Navy units to operate the F11C-2 were the Navy's famous "High Hat Squadron", VF-1B, aboard the carrier Saratoga, and VB-6 briefly assigned to Enterprise. In March 1934, when the aircraft were redesignated BFC-2, the "High Hat Squadron" was renumbered VB-2B, and then VB-3B, and retained its BFC-2s until February 1938. VB-6 never actually embarked on Enterprise with the BFC bombers.

The F11C-2 Goshawk was produced in two export versions as the Hawk I and Hawk II fighters. Essentially a modified XF11C-2, the Hawk II was fitted with a Wright R-1820F-3 Cyclone rated at 710 hp at 5,499 ft and 356 liters of fuel while the Hawk I had 189 liters of internal fuel. Both versions carried the same armament as the production F11C-2. Only the Hawk II was exported in quantity with Turkey, the first customer taking delivery of 19 on August 30, 1932. Colombia placed an order at the end of October 1932, receiving an initial batch of four twin float-equipped Hawk IIs, the first of a total of 26 float fighters delivered by the end of July 1934. The Colombian Air Force used Hawk II and F11C-2 based in floats in the Colombia-Peru War in 1932-1933. Nine Hawk IIs were supplied to Bolivia, of which three had interchangeable wheel/float undercarriages; four were delivered to Chile, four to Cuba, two to Germany, one to Norway and 12 to Thailand as Hawk IIIs. The Chinese Nationalist Air Force received 52 F11Cs as Hawk IIs and fought against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was the main battlefield of the F11C in World War 2.

Thai Hawk IIIs saw action during World War II, including against the Royal Air Force. On 8 April 1944, a Thai Hawk III was shot down by a No. 211 Squadron RAF Bristol Beaufighter over Lamphun, the pilot of the downed aircraft escaping by parachute. (Source)

Now what about those Helldivers I mentioned before. This is the less well known Helldiver, the SBC-3 -

The VS-3 CO's SBC-3, assigned to USS Saratoga (CV 3), circa 1939.

This aircraft was the last biplane bought by the Navy for its carrier squadrons. It was obsolete when first introduced into service in 1938. It remained in service until 1943. While they were around, the Navy kept them out of combat. They were eventually replaced by the Douglas SBD Dauntless. The remaining aircraft were used for training. Both the Navy and the Marine Corps used the aircraft.

The more famous Helldiver, the Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class, er, I mean the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver -

Of course Udvar-Hazy has one.

A Curtiss SB2C Helldiver in tricolor scheme and tail markings for Bombing Squadron 80 (VB-80), which operated off the aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CV-19), in February 1945. This aircraft is the SB2C-5, BuNo 83589. It is flying with the Commemorative Air Force, based in Graham, TX.

That last photo depicts only the only flying Helldiver in the world. She suffered some damage during landing a while back, but the CAF spent $200,000 getting her back in the air. Money well spent.

And of course every aircraft company has to have at least one weird or odd looking design in its portfolio -

Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk

Intended as a replacement for the P-61 Black Widow (which was rather odd looking in some ways itself) -

The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk (previously designated the XP-87) was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter interceptor and the company's last aircraft project. Designed as a replacement for the World War II–era propeller-driven P-61 Black Widow night/interceptor aircraft, the XF-87 lost in government procurement competition to the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. The loss of the contract was fatal to the company; the Curtiss-Wright Corporation closed down its aviation division, selling its assets to North American Aviation. (Source)

The Scorpion was an ugly aircraft, if there is such a thing. I guess you could say that the scorpion's sting killed Curtiss-Wright.

USAF Northrop F-89D-45-NO Scorpion interceptors of the 59th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Goose Bay AB, Labrador (Canada), in the 1950s. 52-1959 in foreground, now in storage at Edwards AFB, California

An odd looking bird that, certainly no Hawk, that's for sure.


Sources:

• Curtiss P-1 Hawk Link
• Curtiss P-6 Hawk Link
• Curtiss F7C Seahawk Link
• Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk Link
• Curtiss F11C Goshawk Link
• Curtiss P-36 Hawk Link
• Curtiss P-37 Link
• Curtiss XP-42 Link
• Curtiss P-40 Warhawk Link
• Curtiss SBC Helldiver Link
• Curtiss SB2C Helldiver Link
• Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk Link
• Curtiss-Wright Link
• Allison V-1710 Link
• The P-37 (Joe Baugher) Link

¹ For years I paid no attention to what a supercharger was, but upon reading this: 

A supercharger is an air compressor that increases the pressure or density of air supplied to an internal combustion engine. This gives each intake cycle of the engine more oxygen, letting it burn more fuel and do more work, thus increasing power. Power for the supercharger can be provided mechanically by means of a belt, gear, shaft, or chain connected to the engine's crankshaft. Common usage restricts the term supercharger to mechanically driven units; when power is instead provided by a turbine powered by exhaust gas, a supercharger is known as a turbocharger or just a turbo - or in the past a turbo-supercharger. (Source)

it all became clear as a bell. Boosted engine performance at altitude!