Bager1968Let’s not forget Marilyn Monroe.
You mean Norma Jeane Baker!
Mrs James Dougherty between June 1942 and 1946.
She took her famous stage name in 1946 when she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox.
Wiki-waki says
“While Dougherty was in the Merchant Marine during World War II, Monroe moved in with her mother-in-law, and found employment in the Radioplane Munitions Factory. She sprayed airplane parts with fire retardant and inspected parachutes. During this time, Army photographer David Conover snapped a photograph of her for a Yank magazine article. He encouraged her to apply to The Blue Book modeling agency. She signed with the agency and began researching the work of Jean Harlow and Lana Turner. She enrolled in drama and singing classes and had her hair cut, straightened and lightened to golden blonde.
Norma Jeane Dougherty became one of Blue Book’s most successful models, appearing on dozens of magazine covers. In 1946, she came to the attention of Ben Lyon, a 20th Century Fox executive, who arranged a screen test for her. Lyon was impressed and commented, “It’s Jean Harlow all over again.” She was offered a standard six-month contract with a starting salary of $125 per week.”
Bager1968I know these are not RAF, but…
In January 1929, the US Army Fokker C-2 ‘Question Mark’ remained continuously airborne for 150 hours and 40 minutes, corresponding to nearly a week aloft. During this time the engines consumed 5,812 U.S gallons of fuel.
The tanks on the aircaft were of course insufficient for such an amount, so the Question Mark was refuelled in the air at intervals. In total, more than 20 tons of goods were transferred to the Fokker in the air by other aircraft. On 7 January, an engine failure forced the record flight to be terminated. By then the aircraft had been refuelled 37 times.
The crew consisted of Chief Pilot Major Carl Spaatz, First Pilot Ira C. Eaker, Pilot Lieutenant Harry A. Halverson, Pilot Lieutenant Elwood R. Quesada, and Flight Engineer Sergeant Roy W. Hooe.
On Feb. 26, 1949, Capt. James G. Gallagher and a 13-man crew took off from Carswell AFB, Texas, in a B-50 bomber named Lucky Lady II. 94 hours, one minute later, they landed back at Carswell, having completed the first non-stop “around-the-world” flight. They refuelled 4 times from KB-29s.
On 24–25 November 1956, four B-52Bs of the 93rd BW and four B-52Cs of the 42nd BW flew nonstop around the perimeter of North America in Operation Quick Kick, covering 15,530 statute miles (13,500 nm, 25,000 km) in 31 hours 30 minutes (493.0 smph). SAC noted that the flight time could have been reduced by 5-6 hours if the four inflight refuellings were done by fast jet-powered tanker aircraft rather than propeller-driven KC-97 Stratotankers.
On Jan. 18, 1957, three B-52 Stratofortresses completed a 24,325-mile around-the-world nonstop flight, nicknamed Operation Power Flite, in 45 hours and 19 minutes, with several in-flight refuelings by KC-97s, at an average speed of 534 mph.
Bager1968Sea Vixen… twin boom-mounted vertical stabilizers connected by a horizontal stabilizer… used by many aircraft, hardly unique.
Skyray/Skylancer… single-vertical stabilizer tailless delta… again, many others.
Cutlass… tailless semi-delta with twin vertical stabilizers mounted on the wing and unconnected by any structure other than the main (only) wing, with the engines located in the fuselage… unique as far as I know (except for a couple German research aircraft).
The SR-71 had full delta wing with the twin vertical stabilizers mounded on the engine nacelles.
Bager1968F7U Cutlass
Bager1968It’s no accident that the Marines’ Harriers rarely fly even in combat with loaded guns, the British Harriers don’t even mount guns, and the F-35B & C don’t even have provisions for internal guns.
Funny, the reports back from Afganistan showed the British Army preferred calling the USMC for air support over the RAF, specifically due to the AV-8B+ having loaded guns, and the GR7s NOT having them.
The British Army sure feels guns are essential in a CAS aircraft.
Bager1968The difference to remember between now and then is that was wartime, and it was expected that the aircraft would not last more than 30 or so missions… maybe 150 hours… before being shot down, damaged beyond repair, or sent back for complete refurbishment.
The most that was expected of a repaired prop (before being repaired again) was maybe 50 of those hours, as they were replaced fairly frequently.
Nowadays, CAA/FAA/military standards require a lifetime of hundreds, if not thousands of hours, even of repaired props, and thus the “repair/trash” ratio is far different.
Bager1968Contact a firm specializing in data retrieval. While mainly oriented toward dealing with fire/water/mechanical damage, they also are equipped to deal with some pretty archaic hardware/opsys, as many commercial customers don’t upgrade their systems very often.
Bager1968The real difference* is in the attention paid to the whole of the craft of photography.
The speed & automation of digital photography means that attention no longer needs to be paid to many of the technical details.
Many of even the “professional” photogs that use digital cameras get too much into the “quick-shot” gimmickry, and forget how to set up, compose, and pace their picture-taking.
Relying on the automatic exposure/speed controls means the photo usually uses the “average of both” mode… which produces “average” pictures.
Have any of you heard a so-called “professional” photog wonder how one old photo got the de-focussed fore/background effect (answer: large aperture, fast speed) and another a very deep focus field (answer: small aperture, slow speed)?
I have, and told him, and I’m just an amateur!
I am glad I first learned to shoot (in a class in Jr High School in 1975) with B&W film, and a fully-manual camera with a separate light meter. When you have to take your light reading, then check focus, exposure, speed, etc, then you really want to make sure the rest of the picture is equally well-planned.
I still shoot with a fully-manual camera (the same Nikon FM I have used since February 1983), and I still think through the whole of the picture-taking process.
*outside of the color-saturation & fine-grain capabilities of different types of film, compared to the “one size fits all” digital programming of most modern cameras
Bager1968They have cancelled PA2, and are blaming the British for not giving France enough workshare.
Bager1968One happened 17 months ago, the other 4 weeks ago. Pay attention!
Oh, mods… 
Bager1968By that logic, all passenger jets should be grounded permanently… look how many of the public die in them every year!
Face it, LIFE is not “risk-free”, demanding that aviation be so is evidence of total disconnection from reality.
Reduce the risk as far as is rational??? Absolutely, but demand no risk at all? Stupid.
Bager1968Western Colorado… some 708 miles from Reno.
It would take a couple of months to hold back enough for either gas to drive or plane/train fare.
Or I could have borrowed it from him, but would still need time to set things up.
Bager1968“Opposition defence spokesman Nick Minchin said he was taking “with a grain of salt” the validity of the report. “This is based on a computer game, computer modelling of the aircraft,” he told Sky News.”
And the results of computer simulations depend 100% on the data and parameters input into the program. If the data isn’t accurate, then neither will be the result. The questions remain about scenario, rules of engagement, etc.
I remember a set of exercises in the 1980s in which the F-15 beat the F-14 repeatedly… until the F-14 pilots violated the rules of the exercise and used their TCS to identify the targets while outside AIM-7 range and then fired up their radars in long-range mode and “launched” their AIM-54s… “wiping out” the F-15 force before they could “fire” a single missile. The rules banned them from simulating AIM-54 use… they were restricted to the same missiles as the F-15s had (AIM-7 & AIM-9).
Bager1968My oldest brother lives in Reno… if I had known a month or so ahead of time… drat it!!
The F7F was one of the first models I put together, and I have loved it since… despite never having seen one in person!!
Bager1968This is probably also a reaction to this move in April:
http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=36606
Navy Reestablishes U.S. 4th Fleet
Story Number: NNS080424-13
Release Date: 4/24/2008 3:32:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alan Gragg, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs
MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) — Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead announced today the reestablishment of U.S. 4th Fleet and assigned Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, currently serving as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, as its first commander.
U.S. 4th Fleet will be responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) area of focus, which encompasses the Caribbean, and Central and South America and the surrounding waters.
Located in Mayport, Fla., and dual-hatted with Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO), U.S. 4th Fleet reestablishment addresses the increased role of maritime forces in the SOUTHCOM area of focus, and demonstrates U.S. commitment to regional partners.
“Reconstituting the Fourth Fleet recognizes the immense importance of maritime security in the southern part of the Western Hemisphere, and sends a strong signal to all the civil and military maritime services in Central and Latin America,” said Roughead. “Aligning the Fourth Fleet along with our other numbered fleets and providing the capabilities and personnel are a logical execution of our new Maritime Strategy.”
U.S. 4th Fleet was original established in 1943 as one of the original numbered fleets, and was given a specific mission. During World War II, the U.S. needed a command in charge of protecting against raiders, blockade runners and enemy submarines in the South Atlantic. U.S. 4th Fleet was disestablished in 1950 when U.S. 2nd Fleet took over its responsibilities.
Initially, the new 4th Fleet will be headquartered with COMUSNAVSO and take advantage of the existing infrastructure, communications support and personnel already in place in Mayport. As a result, U.S. 4th Fleet will not involve an increase in forces assigned in Mayport.
“This is a significant change and presents us the opportunity to garner the right resources for the missions we run for Southern Command,” said Rear Adm. James W. Stevenson Jr., Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO). “As a numbered fleet, we will be in a better position to ensure the Combatant Commander has the right assets available when needed.”
U.S. 4th Fleet will retain responsibility as COMUSNAVSO, the Navy component command for SOUTHCOM. Its mission is to direct U.S. naval forces operating in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions and interact with partner nation navies within the maritime environment. Various operations include counter-illicit trafficking, Theater Security Cooperation, military-to-military interaction and bilateral and multinational training.
For more information from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command visit http://www.cusns.navy.mil.
For more information from U.S. Southern Command visit http://www.southcom.mil.
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