Model Airplanes Section in "Other" Room

[incubus2432]

Great rooms Paul! I need one of your models for my "war room".

Really? Which one? Maybe we can swap it for the Lemmy!

That's the best offer that I've gotten so far!

[jps]

Great rooms Paul! I need one of your models for my "war room".

Really? Which one? Maybe we can swap it for the Lemmy!

That's the best offer that I've gotten so far!

Then go for it!

[jingle_jangle]

Great rooms Paul! I need one of your models for my "war room".

Here's what you need for your "War Room", Brian. It's from Phantom Werks:

Four decommissioned and fully-restored Phantom 4 ejector seats and some aerospace carbon fiber, aluminum, and plate glass.

http://www.phantomwerks.com

[bassduke49]

Mmm. Martin Baker Mk.7 seats. But I dunno. I think that will take several Lemmy's to trade.

No, seriously, Brian. I do model professionally (no, not THAT kind of modeling). If there is something of interest, we can talk.

[eric_b]

I'm also an avid aircraft modeler. From 1/144th to full scale. Worked for 12 years at the Northrop Model Shop on everything from desktop display models, wind tunnel models, all the way up to full scale RCS test aircraft and flying UAV's, most of which are still classified to this day. I also do side jobs for people from time to time. I'll post a few pics of some of my collection in a bit.

And the honor of the most air to air kills in WW2 belongs to the F6F Hellcat, with which my late father managed to get 4 kills in the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

[jps]

Hmm, a B-29 in BBR, or perhaps, AFG!

[longhouse]

Eric, I must tip my hat and bow to your father! Amazing.

The Gruman F6F Hellcat (aka 'ace maker') was the most successful carrier-based plane in our military, but the P38 Lightning shot down more Japanese planes than any other US plane. Guess I'm not sure about the Euro Theatre stats...

Both planes have a great many tales to go along with them.
Major Richard I. Bong, the most decorated American ace of WWII shot down 40 enemy planes in his P38 Lightning.

Amazing men.
Amazing aircraft.

[johnallg]

There is an SR-71 in there somewhere.

Ahhhh, my mistress! We have one here at The Air Zoo that is the lone surviving trainer and it is displayed so seductively. Our plane and display beats the **** out of the one at Dulles at the Smith Air and Space Museum. Interestingly, I have been carrying a photo from the net of the SR-71 as my cellphone wallpaper. Come to find out on my last visit to the Air Zoo it is of THAT plane. I was a happy and surprised camper.

http://www.airzoo.org/
http://www.airzoo.org/page.php?menu_id=26#

[eric_b]

I stand corrected..

The Hellcat does have the best Kill/Loss ratio of any fighter in WW2 though

[eric_b]

There is an SR-71 in there somewhere.

Ahhhh, my mistress!

Blackbirds huh? Have you read this story? Quite entertaining.

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71 Blackbird (The Air Force/NASA super fast, highest flying reconnaissance jet, nicknamed, "The Sled"), but we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if, because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would not be the first word I would use to describe flying this plane - intense, maybe, even cerebral. But there was one day in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below us, I could already see the coast of California from the Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months of simulators and study, ahead of the jet. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back seat.

There he was, with no really good view of the incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four different radios. This was good practice for him for when we began flying real missions, when a priority transmission from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult, too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during my entire flying career I had controlled my own transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however. Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with him.

The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly), we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace. We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot who asked Center for a read-out of his ground speed. Center replied: “November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at ninety knots on the ground.”

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers was that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a Cessna or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact same, calm, deep, professional tone that made one feel important. I referred to it as the "Houston Center voice." I have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on this country's space program and listening to the calm and distinct voice of the Houston controllers, that all other controllers since then wanted to sound like that and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what sector of the country we would be flying in, it always seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die than sound bad on the radios. Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed in Beech. “I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed.”

Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. “Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check.” Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that 30 million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a read-out? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: “Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground.”

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it - the click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: “Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?” There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. “Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground.”

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: “Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money.” For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A. came back with, “Roger that Aspen. Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one.”

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there.

[longhouse]

Better to die than sound bad on the radios.

Love it! A good mantra and epitaph for pilots and musicians alike. Great story too.

[robbo63]

I'm also an avid aircraft modeler. From 1/144th to full scale. Worked for 12 years at the Northrop Model Shop on everything from desktop display models, wind tunnel models, all the way up to full scale RCS test aircraft and flying UAV's, most of which are still classified to this day. I also do side jobs for people from time to time. I'll post a few pics of some of my collection in a bit.

And the honor of the most air to air kills in WW2 belongs to the F6F Hellcat, with which my late father managed to get 4 kills in the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

That is very cool (all of it). One of my first models as a kid was the Monogram 1/48 scale Hellcat, and I recall the kit including the plane's history, including the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

FWIW, my father flew in (but didn't pilot) C-47's over the Hump and elsewhere in the CBI theater. I remember his story of flying with Chinese soldiers who'd had too much rice wine and had never flown before

[johnallg]

Eric, I have to thank you deeply for that. It has been a tough 2 weeks here at work and I need to laugh that hard. Thanks.