planeflyer21

My discretionary funds are indiscreeted for awhile right now but I would like to get in on a group buy too. Jon

You are welcome! I've gotten a few things from them. Fast shipping a good customer service. Jon

Glad you made it here Magwa! Jon

As of when I did the search right now at 1035 hours: http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item.asp?sku=000200002 Jon

We used to have issues in shops with varying quality. When it was left to the machinists (who knew what they were doing) it wasn't an issue. When supervisors got involved is when it became an issue...usually "These bits are expensive. You have to cut x-number of parts before you get a new one!" Which left the last few parts lacking in quality. Jon

Thanks guys! I wish he'd been around more but now understand why he made the choices he did. Jon

Spray what?!? So then she can say "Smells like someone crapped on a pine tree and wiped with a Brownell's catalog!"? Jon

Courtesy flush...for yourself more than anybody else. What bad is getting to the computer to check and see if it is in stock, forgetting what it was, then going back into the "zone of married man's solitary bliss" and realizing the gov could condense that smell and wipe out China. Not remembering through that! Better start at page 1 again. Jon

Alright... Caca numero uno, straight forward plop-n-drop...and I'm still on page 1 of 688 pages. I'm gonna have to find a way to get more time on the throne. Better look into making a trip to Nogales, Sonora for some tap water. Jon

The EAA Airventure thread got me thinking about all the stuff Dad was assigned to fly. After basic flight training in a Piper Cub, the North American T-6 Texan and T-28 Trojan, he was sent to Williams AFB in Arizona for gunnery training in F-84G Thunderjets: http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0PDoX7xlh5Q03cAeJCJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBlMTQ4cGxyBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1n?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Df-84g%2Bthunderjet%26_adv_prop%3Dimage%26va%3Df-84g%2Bthunderjet%26fr%3Dyfp-t-701-s%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D53&w=1214&h=1249&imgurl=jetpilotoverseas.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F33effcc987f68ba0_large.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjetpilotoverseas.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F11%2Ff-84g-thunderjet-atomic-capability%2F&size=226.8+KB&name=84G+Thunderjet+‘Atomic+Capability’+«&p=f-84g+thunderjet&oid=b9b7f23af118fe6f4abaaf336b3e2dad&fr2=&fr=yfp-t-701-s&tt=84G%2BThunderjet%2B%25E2%2580%2598Atomic%2BCapability%25E2%2580%2599%2B%25C2%25AB&b=31&ni=112&no=53&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=12k0dgdiq&sigb=1447aas6s&sigi=12739ue5v&.crumb=Yvu0zVUsY9m After that it was a checkout in the RF-84F Thunderflash. I was surprised searching for a photo of these, as there were aircraft from T-33s up to C-119s listed as these recon planes. While flying these in WEST Germany he was assigned temporarily to work with the French on a detachable camera pod. He received a medal not only from the USAF but also the French for this work. These are now used commonplace as T.A.R.P. (Tactical Aerial Reconaissance Pods). Only took them 30 years to use in U.S. inventory. Upon their return from W. Germany, Dad was assigned to work radar in Ajo (Ah-ho...means "garlic"), Arizona. During this time the Cuban Missile Crisis took place, the RF-101C Voodoos playing an important role and he requested to be assigned to one of these squadrons. Request granted: http://warbirds-online.org/images/PictureOfTheDay_100A3/RF101C_FP.jpg Those didn't last long before the USAF decided to strip Phantom IIs of radar and weapons and install cameras, so he was transitioned to RF-4Cs. http://www.globalsecurity.org/jhtml/jframe.html#http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/images/rf-4c-DF-ST-82-00488.jpg||| I was glad to find the old school photo, where the RF-4C still had the red-white-and-blue AF symbol. From there the festivities in SE Asia were gearing up to full-speed. He was transferred to serve as "Air Force liason to the U.S. Army artillery" in country. Dad volunteered for two additional tours in this capacity...we wouldn't learn why until after his death. Straight from the ground assignment, he did a short stint in C-141A Starlifters...he hated it. http://www.theaviationzone.com/images/starlifter/bin/c141a08.jpg Something about not liking having to rely on other air crew to do their duties. That lasted a year. He then got news he had been waiting 8 years to hear. Way back in 1960 he heard about a new reconaissance aircraft when Francis Powers had been shot down over the USSR, and he applied for the U-2 Program...and was finally accepted. Can't find any decent photos of the early U-2 planes but they were different...different enough that Dad went through Lovelace Clinic and got an astronaut rating to be able and fly the Dragonlady. His was one of the last groups of U-2 pilots required to complete this specialized training (SR-71 pilots went a bit longer). The early U-2s had only a compass and an airspeed indicator for navigation. Pilots were given star charts and a sextant to chart their position above the Earth. Cameras were heavy and bulky, film canisters were HUGE. The next year the squadrons were given the U-2R, which was a completely different and more capable aircraft...it also had intertial navigation. Cool beans! The photo pilots had a retort to fighter pilots' questioning "Recon pilot? What is a recon pilot?" The answer was "A recon pilot is a fighter pilot with brains and guts!" No armament, just cameras...first in-last out. Pre-strike photos to show the targets, post-strike photos to show the damage. Retiring in 1975 and recently divorced, Stan took to doing a number of other jobs, mostly wheeling and dealing in used industrial equipment. In 2000 when the presidential race was heating up, my brother told our Dad "I guess John McCain is going to be our next president." Dad asked why. "Because of him being a war hero," brother said. Getting a bit twisted, Dad said "War hero? What do you mean?" Bro replied "You know...for getting shot down and held as a POW for eight yeee..." Now completely torqued Dad raised his voice "WAR HERO?!! WAR HERO?!? A man isn't a good enough pilot to avoid a couple of surface-to-air missiles and he's a WAR HERO??!!" End of conversation. During his career he received 7 Air Medals (or one Air Medal and six clusters, however it is reported). Most are very generically worded, due to the classified nature of the work. The one that is detailed was issued for NOT bailing out of the U-2 (against the standing order to bailout during a mechanical malfunction) and landing the aircraft safely at an unfamiliar AFB. I like telling people he got a medal for disobeying orders. Jon

Shepp, that was in the early '80s...so it is probably the same guy! ;D Bob Hoover was shot down over Germany in WWII and sent to prison camp...where he escaped, stole a Focke Wulf 190, and flew back to Allied territory. He flew chase plane for Chuck Yeager when doing the Bell X-1 flights, and (after the speed runs) him a Yeager used to "dog fight" on the way down. MikedaddyH, my Dad flew RF-101Cs for awhile. He liked them quite a bit. Those are like the ones in front of the airport in Gila Bend...no radar, nice chisled nose with a lens in front. Jon

How does it work?! I want want want! Jon

The FAA came out with a whole new pilot rating for the tilt-rotor/Osprey type aircraft: Powered Lift. Once they make it into the civilian market (probably with oil/mineral exploration) those pilots are going to make CAKE! When I was a kid they had airshows surrounding us, usually a couple a year: the USAF Thunderbirds or USN Blue Angels at Davis-Monthan AFB, the Christensen (sp?) Eagles and side-shows at Ryan Airfield west of Tucson, and then a Warbirds type show up at Pinal Air Park...before Evergreen basically took it over and said "Nothing to see here, move along!" Bob Hoover was at every Ryan Airfield show. A man's man and pilot's pilot. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old-bold pilots...except Bob Hoover. Doing a demonstration in his bright yellow P-51 Mustang with ROCKWELL painted on the side, he did things with a Mustang pilots of Harriers and F-22s dream about. He would then give a demo on a twin-engine Shrike Commander (executive twin-engine prop)...he would get to a certain altitude above ground level, then dive at redline...total balls to the wall...cut the engines and feather the props. Engines off, he would do a loop, fly to the end of the field and turn around, fly back by and do two rolls, then turn around and land. Dad said he saw him at an airshow back in the early 1960s give a demo in the F-100 Super Sabre. On take-off, by the time he reached the half-way point of the runway, he had the F-100 off the ground, landing gear retracted, and flipped over on its back and gaining speed in full-afterburner. Jon

Hopefully they will make the .308 version compatible with Rock River's LAR-8. Jon

That weighs about 8#s, will occupy me for hours and hours on end, will irritate the wife, and ensure that I stay broke even if I had been starting to get ahead? That's right! It's bigger! It's badder! It is new and improved! Catalog number 65 from Brownell's was in the mail when I checked it this morning! Sad thing is they don't even put scantily clad women or have two-bit articles like Dillon Blue Press but it will keep me occupied in the bathroom until my legs fall asleep. <dontknow> Jon

I think he'd rather pay for the rifle. <dontknow> :cookoo: Jon

I usually charge $10 and that's for ladies but for you I'll... oh, you mean the dreadnaught! Sorry! Jon

Hhmmm...I like that titanium color. Jon

Very cool! Oshkosh is a goal of mine for the EAA Airventure. But while at the range yesterday I was appeased by a Sukhoi doing aerobatics, a North American Sabre doing touch-n-goes, and getting to watch them work on a TA-4J they're getting ready for sale. Jon

Welcome sir51508! That coin toss gets old. Must be how I got fat. Jon

Hunter1974, am I correct in thinking that sound suppressors aren't a licensing hassle there? I seem to remember NZ being one of the places that believes hearing is important to protect. Jon

Welcome CPT CAVEMAN!!! I'm in both a desert and mountain environment and I concur...the 7.62x51 whomps ass on the 5.56x45. Unless you're plinking or small game hunting. Then the .22LR whomps ass on the 5.56. Jon

Dude at the range with his 12ga AR had two magazines, one of which looked like two mag bodies clamped together lengthwise. Don't remember the capacity but want to say it was 12 rounds. Jon

And for passport photos they don't let you smile...your face must be totally devoid of any expression. Jon

Welcome aboard FARTHAMMER!! You'll have fun around here! Jon