I must admit that I found Win10 somewhat strange at first, and I’ve been using Windows since v 3.1. I’ve set mine up to be as much like Win7 as possible.
It did help that I bought a new computer and started from scratch. Many problems seem to come when upgrading from a previous version on an older computer.
If there is a specific problem you are having, Google is usually your friend.

Here’s a hint from a frustrated user: after having my computer totally crash twice in the last few weeks (had to take it to the shop and have the whole system rebooted) trying to use Win 10 (upgrade from Win 7) I finally deduced that the problem was that the Microsoft Edge program which replaces the previous “Internet Explorer” program was the culprit. I simply loaded Google Chrome after the second crash recovery and used it. The whole system works great and seems very stable…no further problems.

Yes, U-2 pilots wear a pressure suit, but not really because of this scenario. Our usual issues were related to loss of cockpit pressure due to a damaged seal on the canopy or equipment bay (E-Bay) hatch which lowered cockpit pressure slowly to moderately fast but not “explosively”. Even if the canopy was suddenly lost, I don’t think it would be much of a problem in this respect, unless the canopy hit the tail and forced an ejection. In my day the cockpit was pressurized to about 30,000 feet (9000 meters) so the volume of air escaping was significantly less (therefore less dense) than an airliner. Also, we were very securely strapped into the ejection seat which was pretty firmly integrated into the cockpit structure. The cockpit pressure altitude has been lowered (actual pressure raised) recently to help prevent bends/CNS issues but I still don’t think inadvertently being tossed out is an issue for U-2 pilots.

BTW, I have lost pressure on a flight, but it was more of a nuisance event than a real concern (it’s like being inside the Pillsbury doughboy when the suit inflates…pretty limited mobility until you descend).

The Japanese comments obviously didn’t apply to some of the radials. I recall from my Vietnam days that A-1 Skyraiders we had at Danang AB were said to be mission limited by oil consumption on their P&W radials, not fuel. I always thought their sides and bottom were painted black; I was wrong! Later, as the SAC supervisor of flying (SOF) at Davis-Monthan AFB in the 70s, we had to go out to the end of the runway to give a pre-take off check to any SAC aircraft leaving. Usually it was the C-118 belonging to 15th Air Force that did admin runs between the 15th AF bases in the Western US. The four P&W radials leaked like a sieve. As a strictly jet driver, I asked the AC once what constituted an “unacceptable” leak. His response was that if the leak dripped to the ground in individual drops, it was okay, but if it was enough that it was a solid stream from the wing to the ground it was too much (unless maybe they were in a hurry, it was a short flight, and they were in a hurry to get home). The approach end stand where they waited for takeoff was always a mess after they’d gone.

This reminds me of a near-incident in Toronto a few years back. We took an SR-71 up for the Toronto Air Show (Canadian International Air Show) in about 1987 and operated out of Toronto International Airport, across the ramp from a huge Air Canada maintenance hanger capable of holding,and was actually full of, many aircraft of various types (747s and others). The hanger was built with a drainage system running along the center of the bays, with aircraft nosed in from both sides. Part of the drain was system that sensed hydrocarbon fluids (i.e. fuel) entering the drains and would flood the entire hanger with foam like the helicopter facility pictured above even if, as a preventative measure, there was no actual fire. The night before we were to fly in the show (a couple of passes over the lake then a max performance departure) and return to California, we prepared the aircraft for the morning and most of us left for the night. During the night it began to rain and the very helpful Air Canada night crew decided to help us out and tow the aircraft forward into an empty bay to keep the aircraft dry (they did notify us but did not mention the drain and its fire suppression system). Our maintenance people still with the aircraft monitored the tow and all went well. However, as some of you might know, because the JP-7 is such a good solvent it tended to dissolve the fuel tank sealant over time…the longer the aircraft has been out of major maintenance the more it leaks. Therefore, when the SR is fueled it has a tendency to leak a little around the fuselage expansion joints, something the local guys were unaware of. So, about 10PM they towed it into hanger, and by midnight virtually everyone was gone. When the morning shift arrived about 6AM, they discovered a nice trail of JP7 extending from the aircraft to a point about two feet short of the drain. There was a mad panic (including, I was told, a desperate clash with the fire department who had responded and per SOP were on the verge of flushing the site from their trucks which would have put all the fuel into the drains!) to sandbag the drain and clean up the spill. It was successful, but a near thing. Ultimately nothing happened, but they figured they were about 15 minutes from the spill hitting the drain and activating the foam…that would have been something like 500,000 square feet of foamed hanger about 15 feet deep (or roughly 8 million cubic feet we figured) covering the SR and about a dozen various Air Canada aircraft. It would have been really, really ugly!!

By the way, given the high flash point of JP7 (its sea level vapor pressure is so low you could drop lighted matches into it and they simply went out) there isn’t much fire hazard from a spill. In fact, I was told by one of the Lockheed people that many years ago there was a tanker that landed with a collapsed nose gear that resulted in a small hydraulic fluid fire as it slid along the runway. The forward body tank containing JP7 ruptured as the aircraft came to a stop and the resulting spill put out the fire.

I agree with the reference to the site’s direct contents, but some entities use these sites to find people who might be possible targets for additional investigation because of their background, and others simply to hack for commercial/criminal purposes. I get particularly suspicious of attempts from Chinese sources, as they have a very active information gathering network. I’m not paranoid, but anytime I see this activity, I tend to start changing passwords. Just a suggestion…

Just for member’s awareness, I have been notified twice in the last few weeks of hacking attempts against my account. The first attempt was described simply as coming from Australia (?), while the second IP address specifically traced to a source in China. Clearly, discussions of military aviation and past military association may be of interest to various nefarious sources, so I suggest members may want to watch for more of this type of activity, and possibly change passwords as a precaution if concerned.

Edit: Sorry, I just noticed that PeeDee reported a similar incident on his account several days ago. Obviously, someone is interested in the background of people on this site. It might be a good time for all to consider changing to a stronger password if appropriate.

Really nice work and great pictures. Not only that, but It was neat to see Casa Grande Municipal again. When I joined the USAF in 1967 and went to pilot training at Williams AFB, a little north of Casa Grande, our first training was on the T-41 (Cessna 172) at a contract training facility at Casa Grande Airport. Neither the airport nor the terrain seems to have changed much in 46 years!