Beverly Hillbillies, Part Deux

[m3a1]

кто сказал, что я не говорю по-русски?

[m3a1]

And now for something completely different - -

https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird ... overy.html

[rickf]

Interesting article but that was 8 years ago. Has anything been done? Did they recover the two planes and the crew?

[m3a1]

No crew to be recovered. This was a group that got lost and ran out of fuel and they all set down on the ice if memory serves me. Maybe one pranged it on landing. I can't remember. Take-offs are optional. Landings are not.

I'm not sure how far along the project is now. I'd imagine the number of constraints on such an endeavor are astounding....chiefly funding, and if they had brought another one up, I reckon we would have heard about it by now. There's a B17 down there too but it's been pretty well flattened.

[rickf]

This is from that same article.

Salazar and McBride also formed a second entity, Hot Point Solutions, which will be working with the U.S. Coast Guard and the DPAA in a quest to repatriate the crew of J2F Duck, Coast Guard Lieutenant John Pritchard, Petty Officer Benjamin Bottoms, and Corporal Loren Howarth, presumably inside the aircraft approximately 150 feet below the ice cap. About 27 miles from the Lightning, the Duck and original crew are waiting to be recovered. The accident occurred in 1942, and the recovery of this aircraft would bring closure to the families of the lost crew. Both with in-house radar systems and private-sector support, several systems are at hand to look deep into the polar ice cap. An exemplary team of geophysicists, mountaineers, recovery specialists, pilots, glaciologists, bringing together the varied skill sets needed to accomplish these endeavors, and armed with innovative tools like drones, miniature helicopters, and remote control buggies, this team is on the right track to locate these men who were lost during WWII. The group sent an exploratory crew in July of 2016 on a completely volunteer basis and made contact with an anomaly approximately 100 feet below the ice cap, fewer than 100 yards from where the Coast Guard initially thought they made contact with the Duck aircraft. This finding has inspired the group who are redoubling their efforts for the 2017 season.

[m3a1]

I'd like to be in on one of these projects...even if only as a guy who does the menial work. At this point in my life I'm still looking for adventure that isn't likely to kill me. Hardship? Sure, okay. Death? Maybe not so much.

[rickf]

Freezing to death, Possible. Wet and cold all day and night. Most likely.

[m3a1]

So, WAY better than Afghanistan....

[rickf]

Several differences between WWII and any of the wars/actions following it. First and foremost WWII was actually a World War, the implications were if we lost we were going to be speaking German and Japanese. Other differences, Korea, Vietnam had a tour of one year and you came home. All since then have tours of less I believe but not sure. Afghanistan we just kept sending the guys back over and over. In WWII You went over and you came home when the war was over!! My uncle was in for 4 years. My father was in for three years.

BUT, They are all wars and as in any such action people are serving the leaders of their respective countries. Following the commands of people sitting in plush offices. Might be a stretch calling Churchill's bunker a plush office but they were on the front lines the entire war. None of the people doing the fighting started the wars. All soldiers believe what they are told by their leaders, regardless of the country you are in. The common person does not want to fight a war. We need to honor all that have followed those orders.

As I said before, WWI has been totally forgotten about. WWII is close to that. Do you ever hear of anyone talking about Korea? no, another forgotten war. The war I was in (Vietnam) was never heard of by most millennials. We need to keep this history alive regardless of how the books are being written. Word of mouth. The Native Americans have kept their history through stories and memory and passed it on down. We need to do that.

[m3a1]

Well put but, the trouble seems to be in getting someone to actually have enough interest in looking at the applicable material on the internet (print seems to be officially dead) or learn about it in school and even then, can they understand it and can they apply it to how to become better citizens. And History, Government, etc, in the form it is (or is not) being taught in schools is, IMHO, a racket meant only to make the student be able pass the tests so that the school system can claim that sweet Federal money. So it is dubious that students are being taught anything meaningful about it in school.

I'm not just talking about wars. Wars are just the punctuation marks at the end of long periods of failed peacetime policies and we can be assured of one thing. Those who don't learn, make the same mistakes over and over. Of late, I have been watching Threads From The National Tapestry; a very worthy YouTube channel that covers a lot of history. Much of it applicable to the periods framing Our Civil War. It is remarkable how similar things then are to things now. The times are very different but, clearly, we are making the same stupid mistakes over again. If I can see it, anyone can see it....but one has to SEE IT first!

Now, post Memorial Day, I'm hearing the stories from irritated vets who have had people come up to them and thank them for their service...on Memorial Day. There is a HUGE disconnect between our younger people (including people who, under any other circumstance, would be considered an adult) and their understanding of their roots as it applies to this country. They just drift along, not knowing or caring where they came from or what role they are meant to play as good citizens. We even see a lot of this in people who have winnowed their way into positions of governance. They're just idiots who behave as though they are in office, only to be social activists. Pitiful. Stupid. Wasteful.

Cheers,
TJ

[m3a1]

I now have a long block and a short block, both of which are reluctant to go round and round.

Stay tuned and keep yer fingers crossed. This is going to be interesting.

Lots of photos will be forthcoming.

[rickf]

Long block and short block for what? I went back two loooong pages and did not see what your latest non running project is.

[m3a1]

Well, it's for the recently purchased A1...

The one with the hole in the block.

In fact, I reckon I'll be better off posting the pics on 1966 Ford M151A1 - A Beverly HIllbillies Odyssey

Lots of eye candy coming your way, Rick.

[m3a1]

As found in the parking lot of the local grocery. Some lucky person has been thoroughly enjoying their cool project! Shows signs of doing what needs to be done and not getting too hung up on the paint.

TJ Approved!

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[fergrn37]

Don't see very many Nissan Patrols these days.