15 April 2023 (13:57-UTC-07 Tango 06) 26 Farvardin 1402/24 Ramadan 1444/25 Bing-Chen 4721/15 апреля 2023 года
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by by Senior Airman Edward Hermsen, 11APR2023.
This past week, Air National Guard C-130H MAFFS units from Nevada (152nd Airlift Wing) and Wyoming (153rd Airlift Wing) joined California’s 146th Airlift Wing on Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, for their yearly wildfire preparations.
MAFFS air crews get a quick explanation of how the fire retardant is mixed, Nevada Air National Guard video by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, 11APR2023:
‘Bombing-up’ and testing your MAFFS, video by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, 11APR2023:
Water-bombing training was conducted in the Angeles National Forest near Green Valley, California. Personnel from other federal operations such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), also took part in the training.
Smoke signaling King Air 250. Nevada Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Paula Macomber, 14APR2023.
King-Air 250 FACs (Forward Air Controllers) lead the MAFFS in, using smoke signals to indicate where to drop the water bomb, video by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, 12APR2023:
More water bombing video by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, 12APR2023:
One more in slow motion, video by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, 12APR2023:
Engine maintenance is always a must, Nevada Air National Guard video by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, 14APR2023:
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by by Senior Airman Edward Hermsen, 14APR2023.
Nevada Air National Guard video, by Master Sergeant Garrett Wake, unloading MAFFS from C-130H, 14APR2023:
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 11APR2023.
On 11APR2023, the Iowa Army National Guard was called in to move an Iowa Air National Guard ‘gate guard’, using their Viet Nam era CH-47 Chinook.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 11APR2023.
The Korean ‘UN police action’ era F-80 Shooting Star had just gotten some new clothes, in order to proudly continue its guard duties on Camp Dodge.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 11APR2023.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 11APR2023.
Iowa Air National Guard video by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 11APR2023:
The painting process began on 15SEP2022, when the F-80 was sling loaded to the paint shop in Sioux City.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 15SEP2022.
Iowa Air National Guard video by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 15SEP2022:
It wasn’t the first time the Iowa Air Guard F-80 got new clothes.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, April 2011.
In April 2011, the Shooting Star was stripped naked and fitted for the uniform of the 174th Fighter Bomber Squadron, for its new job as a gate guard on Camp Dodge.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, April 2011.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 2011.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
Somewhere in Korea, date not known.
In June 1950, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (north) invaded the Republic of Korea (south) in an attempt to unite the country (something that had been promised at the end of World War Two). The recently created United Nations essentially declared war and created the United Nations Command, invading Korea in September 1950. The United Nations Command still operates in South Korea, today.
Korea, date not known.
Silent U.S. Air Force film (by H.E. Reid), re-arming and re-fueling your F-86 after a mission, Kimpo, Korea, 17DEC1950:
The F-86 used three Browning M3 12.7mm x 99mm (.50 caliber) machine guns.
Date not known.
The first F-86 Sabers to arrive in Korea touched down on Kimpo, 15DEC1950. Three squadrons of F-86As had been sent to Korea to deal with the Soviet MiG-15.
Silent USAF film (by Frank Evans) of arming and fueling your F-86 near Taegu, Korea, 25-26JAN1951:
Mach Knocker.
Freshly armed and fueled Sabers take off from Taegu, silent film by Frank Evans:
It is bad enough that the woke-news-media like to refer to low-velocity/small caliber semi-auto rifles as ‘assault rifles’ (which goes against many states’ definition of an assault rifle), and as ‘high powered’, but the gun industry isn’t helping and are making things more confusing for police as even .22 caliber rimfire rifles, and even .22 caliber pellet (Air Soft) rifles, are made to look like ‘assault rifles’.
Sig-Sauer .22 caliber ‘airsoft’ pellet rifle, available on Amazon!
The main clue to the type of rifle used is the width of the magazine, on most rimfire and Air Soft guns it is too narrow to be that of a larger caliber rifle.
Ruger’s 10/22 made to look like an M4 assault rifle, notice the skinny magazine.
But you can’t trust the width of the magazine, as some 22 rifle manufacturers even use magazines that look like the larger caliber guns!
Sportsman’s Outdoor Superstore claims this is a .22LR rifle, notice the full sized assault rifle magazine with the loading channel which is indicative of a 22LR.
The identifying feature of a 22 rifle with full sized magazine is the vertical channel running through the magazine, which is typical of all 22 magazines. With 22 rimfire magazines you have a lever on the magazine which you have to pull down in order to load the 22 rimfire rounds.
The .22 rimfire is considered a cheap-o plinker, to be lethal you have to be at close range, and hit just the right part of the body. But then even the more powerful AR-15/M16/M4 assault rifles are considered plinkers.
There is a lot of confusion over whether or not rimfire guns are considered assault rifles under ‘The Law’. It depends on which country you live in, and here in the United States it also depends on which state you live in. In California, the rimfire round itself does not make an assault rifle, but how the rifle is outfitted determines its classification as an assault rifle, especially regarding the capacity of the magazine (California anti-2nd Amendment laws are constantly being changed, so do your research).
In most U.S. states, that have legal definitions of what an Assault Rifle is, what matters most is if the rifle has a ‘select-fire’ option, meaning you can select to fire semi-automatically or automatically. Realize that this type of definition means that the term Assault Rifle can only be applied to guns that can fire automatically, like a machine-gun, most mass shooters are not using guns that can fire automatically, which means (depending on the state) that most mass shootings do not involve Assault Rifles! Is this why most police departments across the U.S. use the phrase ‘assault-type weapon’ in their press releases and not assault rifle? Why does the woke-news-media incorrectly slap the label ‘assault rifle’ on any shooting that happens?
Poland’s Krab is a self-propelled artillery gun, normally an indirect-fire weapon, but can be used as a direct-fire weapon (like a main-battle-tank). The following images and videos were made during Exercise Dynamic Front, March 2023, in NATO-Denmark.
Puerto Rico Army National Guard image by Staff Sergeant Agustín Montañez, 26MAR2023.
Hawaii Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Gavin K. Ching, 26MAR2023.
Hawaii Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Theresa Gualdarama, 26MAR2023.
Hawaii Army National Guard video (by Sergeant Gavin K. Ching) of Krab direct firing on the Oksbøl range, Denmark, 26MAR2023:
Hawaii Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Theresa Gualdarama, 26MAR2023.
Hawaii Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Theresa Gualdarama, 26MAR2023.
Hawaii Army National Guard video (by Sergeant Gavin K. Ching) of Krab crawling through the mud on the Oksbøl range, Denmark, 24MAR2023:
Hawaii Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Theresa Gualdarama, 24MAR2023.
Hawaii Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Theresa Gualdarama, 24MAR2023.
The SR-71B that would become NASA 831. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Luis Ruiz-Vazquez, 15JAN1982.
SR-71B #61-7956, on the day of its delivery to NASA, 24JUL1991.
NASA photo of SR-71B #831, July 1991. The ‘B’ version of the Blackbird has ventral fins on the nacelles, like the YF-12A.
Silent take-off video from 1991:
In July 1991, NASA began using the last of two SR-71B trainers (the other SR-71B was lost in a crash in 1968), #61-7956, also known as NASA 831.
Silent refueling video from 1991:
NASA photo from 1992, showing-off the three SR-71s they got ‘on loan’ from the U.S. Air Force. NASA 831 is in the middle.
Silent take-off video from 1992:
SR-71B ‘831’, photo via NASA, 1994.
NASA photo of 831, March 1996.
831 was used for crew training and various research programs on Dryden Flight Research Center (now called Armstrong Flight Research Center, on Edwards Air Force Base), California, until October 1997.
This NASA photo was made in July 1997, just a few months before 831 was retired.
NASA photo from August 1997, in the foreground is SR-71A carrying the Linear Aerospike experiment, behind it is retiring SR-71B 831.
Same photo but I zoomed in to show the apparatus on the canopies of 831.
At the end of 2002, pieces and parts of NASA 831 were loaded onto tractor-trailers at Edwards AFB (Dryden Research Center), California, for the trip to Michigan. Photo via NASA.
To confuse things even more, some aviation blogs claim the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, has NASA 831! The museum’s own SR-71 FAQ section states they’ve had the SR-71 since 2002! They post three photos; two are NASA photos, with one being of 831, and the other being an SR-71A being configured for the Linear Aerospike experiment. The third photo is of the museum’s SR-71 and it is clearly an SR-71A, not the B or even 831.
At this point, the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum is the only location that has photographic proof that they have NASA 831. Not only does their website have lots of detailed photos of NASA 831, but they got lots of photos of other Blackbirds.
Testors SR-71 built as the ‘B’ version, NASA 831. I had to scratch build an aerial refueling door as Testors did not provide it.
After 25 years in my stash-pile, and realizing that the outrageous prices being fetched for an old Testors SR-71 might be due to Testors ceasing to exist, and the fact that the new Revell-Germany SR-71 does not include parts for the ‘B’ version, I decided it was time to build it.
NASA photo, July 1995.
The first problem I came across with the kit itself, was that Testors molded the refueling door in the open position and did not provide a door for the closed position, I wanted it closed so I had to use plastic sheet to cover the open fuel receptacle. Perhaps Testors got confused, photos of parked SR-71s do show the refueling door open, but that is because the hydraulics have relaxed, in-flight the door is closed, except when refueling.
I still have a mail-order catalog showing the MSRP of $20 back in 1996-97. I realized that the kit was not promoted as being able to build the B version.
I bought the Testors kit back in 1997, when it was a whopping $20 brand new, and I got it on discount for less than $19!
Unfortunately, the box and decals didn’t survive the test of time; the outer end opening box literally began disintegrating, and the decals were cracked beyond use (I tried, even with a coat of clear they shattered in the water), I ended up getting some Caracal-Cartograf decals.
If you follow the order of assembly you will have problems.
I learned that if you follow the instructions and attach the rudders to the nacelles first, you will have problems attaching the afterburners. Attach the afterburners before attaching the rudders. I glued the intake spike (shock cone) behind the mounting point as I was building it to represent being in-flight. The shock-cone retracts into the nacelle allowing the Blackbird to fly faster.
Dry fitting reveals a major problem.
Another problem is that the mounting holes in the center section are too small to allow the nacelles to fit. Even after hollowing them out, and thinning the posts on the nacelles, I still ended up with stress cracks on the center section.
Even after surgery to make the parts fit, stress cracks appeared.
Lack of mounting stubs caused the rear part of the wing to droop. Testors does not replicate the fuel dump, I tried by filing the pointy end flat and using paint.
For some reason Testors did not model the prominent fuel dump at the back of the Blackbird. I decided to flatten the pointy end and then use red paint to represent the fuel dump. Most photos of the rear-end of SR-71s show the inside of the fuel dump was painted red.
An SR-71 gate-guard on Beale AFB, California, showing the red painted fuel dump. USAF photo, 26JAN2016.
The kit does not come with pilots, using putty I modified some old Monogram pilots to look like astronauts, but then discovered the seats wouldn’t allow them to fit. I had to chop off the pilot’s feet, butts and part of their backs to get them to fit.
I modified some spare Monogram pilots. Turns out the red borders around the canopy glazing are incorrect, and the clear I used to get them to stay down fogged the canopies.
Forget those red canopy border decals, they are flat wrong. While reviewing photos (unfortunately after I applied the decals) I noticed there are no red borders. At certain angles it might look like there are, but the red that is sometimes seen around the glazing is actually the seals inside the canopy framing.
In this close-up of NASA SR-71B 831, you can see there are no red borders around the canopies. What is red are the seals inside the canopy framing. NASA photo, December 1994.
It was in the Caracal-Cartograf Blackbird Part-2 decal set that I discovered the markings for NASA 831.
You might not can see, but even a coat of clear paint failed to force the aftermarket decals to lay flat on the underside of the Blackbird.
Even expensive (almost as much as what I paid for the Testors kit back in 1997) aftermarket decals can be wrong (like the red canopy borders), and not cooperate. For some reason not known to me, the decals would not settle down on the underside of the kit. Decal solution failed to keep the decals from wrinkling. I applied clear paint and the result was no more wrinkles, instead I got blisters which hardened when the paint dried.
NASA photo of 831, sometime in 1995.
831 cruises over the Mojave Desert with a NASA F/A-18 Hornet flying safety chase. NASA photo sometime in 1996.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
The Gepard (German for Cheetah) is a Cold War era self-propelled anti-aircraft gun system based on the German Leopard-1 battle tank. The Gepard uses radar guided 35mm auto-cannons. When the non-declared Cold War ended in 1991, Romania left the Warsaw Pact and eventually joined NATO. Romania acquired 43 Gepard 1A2s from the reunified Germany. Officially the Gepards were ‘donated’ to Romania, under a 1998 agreement, finally being delivered in 2004.
Ukraine Crisis: February 2014 (NATO backed coup) to present.
USA photo by Staff Sergeant Steven M. Colvin, 26OCT2015.
U.S. Army video by Staff Sergeant Michael Zahnow, July 2017:
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Timothy Villareal, 15JUL2017.
Gepard shoot-em-up video, by Laurens Vermeire, July 2017:
Romanian Gepards on Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, 02FEB2021. USA photo by Staff Sergeant Elizabeth O. Bryson.
USA photo by Staff Sergeant Elizabeth O. Bryson, 02FEB2021.
USA photo by Specialist Osvaldo Fuentes, 30JUN2021.
USA photo by Sergeant First Class Adrian Patoka, 27JUL2021.
Sky Guardians fire their anti-aircraft Gepards during a live fire at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, 27JUL2021. USA photo by Specialist Osvaldo Fuentes.
NATO promotional video (by U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Adrian Patoka), Romanian Gepards night-fire over Poland, July 2021:
NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group-Poland/Task Force Ivy (Croatia, Poland, Romania, United Kingdom, United States) conducted a Combined Arms Live Fire EXercise (CALFEX) at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, on 05AUG2023. Romania brought their German made Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, U.S. Army video by Sergeant Alex Soliday:
14 March 2023 (15:28-UTC-07 Tango 06) 23 Esfand 1401/21 Sha’ban 1444/23 Yi-Mao 4721/14 марта 2023 года
According to a White House Fact Sheet, U.S. President Joseph Robinette Biden Junior issued a bold new executive order concerning the destruction of your Second Amendment Constitutional Right!
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) video from 2015, explaining how they can track guns using something called NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistic Information Network), part of Crime Gun Intelligence (CGI), it is currently used for solving crimes:
ATF video from 2014, showing random inspection of gun store by ‘Industry Operations Investigators’:
