tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post7920475413496877242..comments2024-03-29T06:08:20.938-07:00Comments on Chant du Départ: Moving OnOldAFSargehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-82738283023870304912022-06-30T11:33:12.944-07:002022-06-30T11:33:12.944-07:00Dang! Quite a story!Dang! Quite a story!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-14902058503395254942022-06-30T11:30:52.474-07:002022-06-30T11:30:52.474-07:00When I was flying for the Corps (just after Wilbur...When I was flying for the Corps (just after Wilbur and Orville, according to my grandkids) it was a hard process sometimes to change into a new aircraft. I can understand the need. Those things I flew were expensive! The only "relaxed style" check-out I ever got was transitioning to the T-Bird from the Phantom as an IP. There were some students who had come to us from, shall I say, larger aircraft, perhaps less maneuverable. They wanted the "war time experience" for their personnel folder. Anyway they were not good at flying around at a few hundred feet (AGL) at 450K or so. So someone thought we should fix the guns in the T-Bird (P-80) and do the air ro ground thing a little slower, say 300K or less in the pattern on the range. It was fun (ahhh, the smell of cordite in the morning. AND the guns went "to-pak-ata, to-pak-ata, instead of grrrrrrrrrrrowl, one second burst on the fancy gatling gun). <br />Anyway, they assumed I had been in the T-Bird for Primary PT (hadn't everyone?). I got a quick reminder to turn the spark on, then the fuel, two touch and go's, and behold, I was a P-80 IP! I didn't tell them that I had never flown the T-Bird. I was in the very first T-38 class at Randolph! And I didn't kill myself or more importantly, let a stud kill me (that's another story). The range was fun, the landings a challenge. God bless the T-Bird!LtFuzzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15284607259168159651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-76445400725673841842022-06-29T18:13:41.952-07:002022-06-29T18:13:41.952-07:00Good eye!Good eye!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-1306507191925404422022-06-29T16:55:35.134-07:002022-06-29T16:55:35.134-07:00Gas cans look like flimsies too. No Jerricans yet....Gas cans look like flimsies too. No Jerricans yet...Don McCollorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18028324869570493102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-17240005483091689572022-06-29T14:30:39.142-07:002022-06-29T14:30:39.142-07:00Exactly.Exactly.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-70744225059101980662022-06-29T14:00:01.694-07:002022-06-29T14:00:01.694-07:00That way you'd have a combat veteran playing a...That way you'd have a combat veteran playing a combat veteran <br />BGAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-26656867105470093082022-06-29T11:58:46.303-07:002022-06-29T11:58:46.303-07:00Beans - Would have loved to have David Niven play ...Beans - Would have loved to have David Niven play Morley.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-56816382348144935352022-06-29T11:58:19.233-07:002022-06-29T11:58:19.233-07:00Tuna - That's kind of how it plays in my head....Tuna - That's kind of how it plays in my head.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-5452557172531927852022-06-29T11:57:35.269-07:002022-06-29T11:57:35.269-07:00The Hurricane was very popular with its pilots. Du...The Hurricane was very popular with its pilots. Due to their construction they were able to take quite a bit of damage and get its pilot home.<br /><br />Of course, any German pilot shot down during the battle always claimed to have been downed by a Spitfire. Which goes far towards proving your plough horse / thoroughbred analogy!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-31133690240850836632022-06-29T11:23:48.049-07:002022-06-29T11:23:48.049-07:00Very nice. Heard that the Hurricane pilots really...Very nice. Heard that the Hurricane pilots really liked them, relatively rugged and good handling. Kind of the plough horse to the Spitfire's thoroughbred.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-49056895545783042252022-06-29T11:22:50.046-07:002022-06-29T11:22:50.046-07:00Or a really good mini-series.Or a really good mini-series.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-48238082831947550572022-06-29T10:17:20.352-07:002022-06-29T10:17:20.352-07:00Maybe I have an active imagination, but I can real...Maybe I have an active imagination, but I can really see this installment playing well on a big screen. It just reads like something I'd see in a movie.Tunahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04930237104692982421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-3305385643001123042022-06-29T10:09:43.551-07:002022-06-29T10:09:43.551-07:00The RAF had (and still has) a system for its round...The RAF had (and still has) a system for its roundels painted on aircraft which originated in the First World War. You can read more about it <a href="https://www.classicwarbirds.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-the-raf-roundel.php" rel="nofollow"><b>here</b></a>. The roundels on the wings were, by design, different from those on the fuselage. In Asia they used first white, then pale blue in the center of that roundel because in combat the red center could, and was, often mistaken for the red sun painted on Japanese aircraft.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-49450192400286412842022-06-29T09:41:47.855-07:002022-06-29T09:41:47.855-07:00A really enjoyable installment, conveying an awful...A really enjoyable installment, conveying an awful lot of information succinctly with both the emotional personal inferences and the strategic context. Your characters are interesting and endearing, so we always want to learn more about their adventures.<br /><br />Now, since you once again have a great photo, that raised a question, enquiring minds might want to know...<br />What's with the lad with the paint pot touching up the (yellow/white?) outlines for the fuselage roundel? Note they are not on the wins, just the fuselage.<br />John Blackshoe<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-28430297393876386882022-06-29T07:35:56.792-07:002022-06-29T07:35:56.792-07:00True dat!True dat!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-73304869774147376162022-06-29T07:31:10.090-07:002022-06-29T07:31:10.090-07:00When you're transferred to a new air plane you...When you're transferred to a new air plane you learn the new airplane. looks like they are going to be using the aircraft hard so there will be plenty of opportunities to learn it's idiosyncrasies...Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05450082315014407506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-76833927896747558362022-06-29T05:58:29.631-07:002022-06-29T05:58:29.631-07:00The Muse is always ready to throw a curveball.The Muse is always ready to throw a curveball.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-86378475524351766692022-06-29T05:54:55.483-07:002022-06-29T05:54:55.483-07:00That was not the news I expected from her. Life a...That was not the news I expected from her. Life always finds its own path through the world.htomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10079911355302503367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-41036130038561300582022-06-29T05:33:36.192-07:002022-06-29T05:33:36.192-07:00Deserts are nasty places to fight.Deserts are nasty places to fight.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-6143194942776465732022-06-29T05:19:10.835-07:002022-06-29T05:19:10.835-07:00The desert sand was hard on our vehicles and our l...The desert sand was hard on our vehicles and our lungs. I've no wish to do that again. It made me appreciate what it was like for those men serving in the WW2 desert campaigns with equipment that was, to us, primitive and with lesser logistics support.<br />-Barry Barryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03979323275440493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-90687978691832131642022-06-29T04:48:23.933-07:002022-06-29T04:48:23.933-07:00Motor transport, there's never enough!Motor transport, there's never enough!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-39061390358372150212022-06-29T04:47:34.938-07:002022-06-29T04:47:34.938-07:00Those sand filters were absolutely needed in the h...Those sand filters were absolutely needed in the harsh conditions prevailing in North Africa.<br /><br />But yes, they're ugly.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-33695633550599765112022-06-29T04:47:10.494-07:002022-06-29T04:47:10.494-07:00Not much in the way of motor transport on that air...Not much in the way of motor transport on that airfield, lots of fuel(?) cans lying about though. Out of the frying pan into the fire for Janice.Nylon12noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-3310314132899763852022-06-29T04:46:31.527-07:002022-06-29T04:46:31.527-07:00Frasier probably will transition to the Spitfire a...Frasier probably will transition to the Spitfire as well, he's an engine guy and the Hurricane and Spitfire both used the Merlin engine. Now if he was an airframe guy, that would be tougher.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-35632404901685302672022-06-29T04:01:43.770-07:002022-06-29T04:01:43.770-07:00I see the Spits have the sand filter installed. Do...I see the Spits have the sand filter installed. Doesn't do much for the looks, but necessity rules<br />BGAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com