Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The Garden of Eden
Thomas Cole

Twelve score and nine months ago I started this blog. One of the things I stated back then was -

...tread carefully here, this is meant to be a place of dignity and respect. I will not tolerate abusive comments or personal attacks. Though things may get heated at times, I expect a certain amount of civility and decorum. So please, play nice. (Source)

While the blog has grown considerably since then, from less than a thousand views per month to something like 22,000 views per month since June of 2017, three short years ago, I fear that we have drifted slightly away from the "certain amount of civility and decorum" since then. I am guilty of it myself.

I've also noticed that in election years, things tend to heat up here and in society in general. And I am tired of it.

I don't care if you don't like the Democrat Party. I don't care that you don't like the Republican Party. I really don't care for them either, I'm a "Small-R Republican," and speaking generally I'm not a big fan of party politics. Regardless of which party one is talking about.

I don't care if you don't like people from other parts of the country or even other parts of the world. I really don't care. What I do care about is comments that tend to say things about others which may, or may not, be true. While I am interested in the opinions of others, this blog isn't really the forum for political views. It's one of the reasons I avoid posting about current events like the plague. As an historian, I know that often the real story of an event doesn't come out until long after the fact.

Yes, I've been guilty of some of that shite myself. I need to remember that not all Democrats are out there to give your tax dollars away and not all Republicans are in the pocket of big business. Yes, a lot of them are corrupt sonsofbitches, but damn it, they're American sonsofbitches, OUR sonsofbitches. Don't like 'em, don't vote for 'em.

Let's all try to be a little nicer in the future, m'kay? I know it's hard, I know you want to unload on some of these politicians but seriously, give it a rest. I'll try to steer clear of posting on current events, if you really want that, go to koobecaF, you can get your fill of unsubstantiated rumor, "fact" checking, and the opinions on viruses, the Constitution, and a whole bunch of other things from folks who violate a cardinal rule of polite discourse, to wit -

It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt. - Mark Twain

I am just so tired of all the drama out there and would rather it stay out there.

As to the title of today's post, that bit of Scripture is a rather important tenet of Western Civilization. At least as it applies to the United States of America - we were founded by men who had faith in their Creator, a higher power if you will. It was reckoned by Jesus to be the second most important commandment, second only to "Thou shalt love thy God...". It's mentioned at least nine times in the Bible, so I'm sure it's in there for a reason -

• Leviticus 19:18
• Matthew 5:43
• Matthew 19:19
• Matthew 22:39
• Mark 12:31
• Luke 10:27
• Romans 13:9
• Galatians 5:14
• James 2:8

I'm guessing we're all guilty from time to time of hating our neighbors, but remember -

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? - Matthew 7:3 (KJV)

So keep that in mind no matter what you do in this life, whether it's on a blog, on Facebook, or just out and about interfacing with your fellow human beings. You don't have to agree with everything another person says, or believes, but you don't have to voice your disagreement either. Sometimes it's best to just keep schtum. (As our cousins across the water might put it.)

So there, frustration vented, all gauges returning to nominal readings, stand down from General Quarters. Really, I'll be fine, just needed to let off some steam.

Carry on...

The Other Side

(Source)

In wartime we dehumanize the enemy, it makes it easier to kill him (or her). But nevertheless, the other side are still human. Their culture might be vastly different, doesn't mean it's wrong, just different.

It's always the old men, the party politicians who send the young to fight, sometimes those young are indoctrinated sufficiently to think that right is on their side. That their enemy is evil and must be ground underfoot.

Throughout history there have been men, evil men, who desired to take something that was not theirs, was never theirs. All of the misery our species has suffered throughout the vastness of time can be attributed to one thing - greed.

The common people oft times have absolutely no say in what their leaders seek. Sometimes they're swept up in the passionate argument of why their side is right.

Seldom does the common soldier have any say at all in where, or who, he or she fights.

I'm in the midst of reading a very fine book on the Normandy Invasion, which the anniversary of fast approaches. It is Sand and Steel: The D-Day Invasion and the Liberation of France by Peter Caddick-Adams, which is available here. (Other places too, I'm sure.) This is the second of his books I've read, the first I wrote about here. Having enjoyed that one, when I had the opportunity to buy Sand and Steel, I jumped on it. (Picked it up at Barnes & Nobles, in an actual brick and mortar book store.)

The other day, at breakfast, I was reading of some of the bitter fighting waged behind Utah Beach. Turning the page I came upon a photo of three dead paratroopers. It was obvious that the three men had died violently. They were piled on a cart, awaiting burial. Not something one necessarily wants to see over morning coffee. But it happened, I have spent my life reading history, while a bit of a shock, it's not like I haven't seen that sort of thing before.

While looking at the photo, I had the thought I often had upon seeing such a thing: who were these men, where were they from, did they leave a family behind? I also noticed that one of the men was a captain, his body thrown unceremoniously upon a simple farm cart with the bodies of two of his men.

You may be forgiven for thinking, how dare they treat the bodies of our dead this way? Well, the battle was still raging, in wartime there is often not the time for the pomp and circumstance of a proper burial. Due to the threat of disease and the sheer number of the dead, it was often expedient to gather them quickly, take note of what you could, and quickly get them in the ground. Often in mass graves. So it has been since antiquity, the dead are mourned when there is time, the war rages and there is a job to do, a fight to win.

Thing is though, these men were not American paratroops, nor were they British paratroops. They were not men of either the U.S. 82nd or 101st Airborne Divisions, nor were they troopers from the British 1st Airborne Division. These men were German. Men of the 6th Fallschirmjäger¹ Regiment commanded by Major Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte. If you've seen the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, these were the men who faced the men of Easy Company at Carentan.

Yes, they were the enemy. Yes, they served one of the most evil regimes to have ever ruled a nation. Perhaps they were die hard Nazis, some Fallschirmjäger were indeed true believers. Most were soldiers like other soldiers. Swept up in the maelstrom of war, perhaps with little choice in the matter, other than perhaps they wished to be part of an elite unit. Much like our own airborne troopers.

You could see two of the faces of these men, both, including the captain, were quite young, probably no more than 25 for the captain. According to the text, the captain was probably one of von der Heydte's battalion commanders. (In the German Army it was often the case where a soldier of a lower rank could command a unit which, in peacetime, required a higher rank. Colonels could, and often did, command divisions.)

I was haunted by that picture for the rest of that day, and still am. Though they may have been the enemy, they were men. They had hopes, they had aspirations, they had, until the Invasion of Normandy, a future. They had families who mourned their loss, if the families themselves were still alive that is, even civilians are consumed in modern war. War is not particular in who dies.

While thinking about how to approach the topic of those dead Germans, and doing further research, I came upon the story of Leutnant² Friedrich Lengfeld, commander of the 2nd Company of the Fusilier Battalion of the 275th Infantry Division.

It was November of 1944, the American Army and the German Army were locked in combat in the Hürtgen Forest. The weather was miserable - wet, cold, muddy - and the United States Army, to include my Great-Uncle John's outfit the 4th Infantry Division, were pushing against tough German resistance. My uncle was eventually wounded in the Hürtgen Forest and evacuated back to England. (I told his story here.) A good man with whom I worked closely in Germany, Johannes, told me that his father had been captured by the Americans during that battle.

During that battle, there was one day, when an attack upon a German position, commanded by Leutnant Lengfeld left a wounded American soldier in a minefield. Assuming that American medics would come to collect the man, Lengfeld ordered his men to keep an eye out for such a thing and to hold their fire. Yes, hold their fire.

The Americans did not come, the wounded man was obviously in great pain and was crying out for help. So Leutnant Lengfeld took his own medics out to assist and evacuate the wounded man from the minefield.

During the rescue attempt, Leutnant Lengfeld stepped on a mine, badly wounded he was evacuated, dying of his wounds a few days later.

I have been to the German military cemetery where that memorial is, though I have not seen it myself. It is worth noting that the memorial was placed by men of the American 22nd Infantry Regiment, the opponents of Leutnant Lengfeld's Fusilier Battalion. The Leutnant himself isn't actually buried there but at a smaller military cemetery about ten miles away. You can read the whole story in the sources listed below.

I think, during this time of remembrance of our fallen, that it is worth remembering that heroism, compassion, and mercy are not the exclusive purview of any one side in a war.

We are all human.

Leutnant Friedrich Lengfeld
(Source)

Sources:

• Legacy of the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest Link
• The heroic German officer killed in a minefield trying to save an American Link
• 22nd Infantry Monument to a Fallen German Soldier Link
• Friedrich Lengfeld (German Wikipedia) Link
• Lt Friedrich Lengfeld Link
• This Nazi³ officer risked his life to save an American soldier Link

¹ Fallschirmjäger = Paratroop or paratrooper
² Leutnant = Second Lieutenant
³ It is worth noting, again, that not all Germans were Nazis.

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

(Source)

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...

(Source)

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!