Category Archives: Technology

Idaho, Technology

Chrome in the Dome, 2025!

Video

In 1970 (Cold War), the first in the U.S. fully enclosed colligate sports arena opened; the ASISU (Associated Students of Idaho State University) Minidome.

In 1988 (Cold War), the name was changed to Holt Arena to honor the athletic director who pushed for the creation of the Minidome.

In January 2024 the name was officially changed, again, to ICCU (Idaho Central Credit Union) Dome, due to the arena’s recent refreshment being funded mostly by the financial institution.  However, the signage on the arena wasn’t changed until later in the year.

On the 7th-8th of March 2025, Idaho State University (ISU)-College of Technology Automotive Program held its yearly ‘Chrome in the Dome’ car show.

Cold Friday afternoon, waiting for the car show to open, 07MAR2025:

A tale of two Chargers, Dodge that is, 07MAR2025:

Goldilocks said “This rice burner is too long, and this rice burner is too little!”:

2024: Motorcycles at the Chrome in the Dome

I had a challenging time getting into this Challenger, but I still want it (somebody buy it for me, please):

A couple of Hot Rods:

Dr. Pepper & Rutbeer Ford pickups:

Chevy 350 powered 1968 Toyota Land Cruiser:

Hippie-Dippie van and electric King-mobile:

A couple of tri-five princes of Bel-Air:

One hundred and eleven years old 1914 Ford Touring survivor:

1971 AMC Javelin SST (Super Sonic Transport? No, Super Sports Touring):

1950 Plymouth Deluxe:

‘Proud’ Fiero with a fiery V8:

Chevy Super Mod:

Cabin Over Engine:

A super Nova called Mayhem:

Awards were issued, even to the little ones:

The hundred and one years old ‘Depot Hack’ needed some help.

Time to head ’em up and move ’em out, even the little ones:

For more of my Chrome Dome videos check out my ‘Cars Showing Off’ playlist on my YouTube channel (and subscribe!): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZrLGwZbnj9l1IMiwgu49bsmVG95CIaM

2024: Part-5 Chrome in the Dome

International, Technology

No more NATO-România MiG-21 ‘Fishbed/Lancer’!

Video

Romania retired its last active Cold War era Mikoyan & Gurevich (MiG) 21s on 15MAY2023, officially replacing them with new versions of the Cold War era General Dynamics F-16s: “Decommissioning of the MiG-21 LanceR aircraft and the accelerated transition to the operation of the F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force.”–Forțele Aeriene Române

Romanian Ministerul Apararii Nationale retirement video report:

Romanian F-16s; I edited this from a NATO video, non-disclosed location over Europe, released July 2023:

I edited together several NATO ‘walk-around’ videos (mostly silent videos) recorded between 2016 and 2020:

Serbian Armed Forces video from September 2018’s International Air Tactical Exercise Air Solution (involving Ohio National Guard, Romania and Serbia):

2020: NATO’s MiG-21 (with more videos of Romanian MiG-21s, including a report about Romanian pilot’s last flight in MiG-21)

For more MiG videos go to my ‘Forever Wars’ playlist on my YouTube variety-show channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkZrLGwZbnj93-HZy9E6tQvyrXyMi_-x7

Technology, U.S.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, in war-time color!

Video

An early P-40 Warhawk.

AT-6 Texan versus P-40 Warhawk.

A row of early P-40s, no information came with the photo.

Somewhere in China, date not given.

26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, somewhere in China.

A pilot and his P-40.

Maintaining in Panama.

I got this from a silent color film, recorded sometime in 1942.  It shows the nose-names applied to newly arrived P-40E Warhawks (to replace the P-40B/Cs that were destroyed by the Japanese) on Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii:

Before the Second World War started France had ordered hundreds of Curtiss P-40 fighters, but did not receive them due to being invaded by Germany. After the United States invaded Morocco, U.S. General James Harold ‘Jimmy’ Doolittle presided over the official delivery ceremony of Warhawks to the newly ‘liberated’ French Groupe de Chasse GC II/5 (aka Lafayette Escadrille), on Casablanca-Cazas airfield in Morocco, on the African continent. I edited from a collection of color silent films recorded by B. O’Conner on 09JAN1943 (the date of the official ceremony, in reality the U.S. had already equipped the French unit in November 1942):

Casablanca-Cazas airfield in Morocco, 09JAN1943.

U.S. Army Photo Division personnel incorrectly listed the above photo as being in Algeria (Algiers), it is from the 09JAN1943 ceremony in Morocco.

P-40 Warhawk, Aleutian Islands, 11DEC1943.

The U.S. Army photo-info says this is a ‘E’ version, but the tail looks like the ‘K’ version.

P-40 Warhawk over Mount Vesuvius, supposedly before it erupted on 18MAR1944.

Uncle Sam preps for War: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Business/Economics, Idaho, Kit Bashing, Technology, U.S.

Pocatello Model Railroad & Historical Society, open house 15FEB2025.

Video

On a cold, blustery, snowy day, the Pocatello Model Railroad and Historical Society held another Open House.  On 15FEB2025, non-club members could come in from the cold and watch some neat displays come to life.  Hopefully the club, which also helps to preserve a very important part of Pocatello’s history, which many local railroad hating officials seem to want to bury (I’ve noted elsewhere that a major cause of the demise of the local economy is due to public officials making a decision that ultimately killed thousands of local Union Pacific jobs), will gain more members, or better yet, raise some much needed cash.

Always under construction.

Anybody remember their display in the old Pocatello Mall? Pocatello Model Railroad and Historical Society’s current location needs a new roof. My blustery video report:

East Idaho News, March 2024: “The railroad went to Chief Pocatello to get permission to lay their tracks through here. The Chief asked (what was in it for them) if they donated land. The railroad said, ‘Anytime you or your braves want to ride the train, we’ll let you ride it for free.’ That’s what it took to get the tracks through here.”-Larry Gilbreath, President of the Model Railroad and Historical Society

The ‘Big Room’.

Tax revolt? Some of my video from the Big Room:

Pocatello Model Railroad and Historical Society is funded with membership fees and donations.  The club was started by Union Pacific railroad employees, and other fans of mini-trains.

Alas! No more passenger service.

More Big Room video:

If you missed the 15FEB2025 open house, no worries, since the end of the fake-news Pland-emic (which temporarily shutdown the club) they are usually open to the public every third Saturday of each month, from 10:00 to 14:00 hours.

Some of my video of the Middle Room:

They have a working telegraph, and you can try it out!

The Small Room:

You can see more of my PMRHS videos on my YouTube channel: Aaron Hutchins @aaronhutchins1545

Follow PHMRS here: https://www.facebook.com/PMRHS

KPVI, April 2023:

KIFI, PMRHS reopens after the Pland-emic, February 2022:

Idaho State Journal, 2010: Model train enthusiasts attend PMRHS event

Trains.com: Did UP’s Big Boy run through Pocatello?

Idaho economy:

Anybody wanna buy a hobby store?

Starting in 1991, Dapco Hobbies used to be the main supplier for model railroaders in the Pocatello/Chubbuck area.

In a nearly abandoned Pocatello rail car repair shop, a father and son team are trying to combine machining techniques and artistry to create ‘bulletproof’ family photos?

Chubbuck: JCPenney; the final domino falls at the Pine Ridge Mall, now under 4th ownership!

Pocatello: Big Lots! failure, par-for-the-course.

U.S. economy, 2016-17:  Model railroad hobby demise?

U.S. economy 2014: Model Power, a major internet model railroad retailer, is being killed off by Too Big to Jail banks!

Technology, U.S.

An emotional girl with a gun, a whole lotta guns!

Video

More than 16 years ago the Oregon Military Museum (near Clackamas/Camp Withycombe-Happy Valley) shutdown for renovations.  The museum is expected to reopen during the Summer of 2025, a year later than originally planned.

In January 2025, final work was being completed for the weapons display.

Kathleen Sligar, Director/Curator of the Oregon Military Museum, talks about the final preparations for the weapons display in this video report, via Oregon National Guard’s First Sergeant Zachary Holden, released 29JAN2025:

Oregon National Guard photo by John Hughel, 23JAN2025.

Despite being closed for renovations, special tours were conducted for veterans organizations.

The museum has outdoor displays that visitors can view.

A woman with a mission: https://youtu.be/gg17C0W9BoU?list=OLAK5uy_kAZ6e1Hh1OnpO2PyMSjbMe7ajDbDDy6Ac

Oregon Military Museum, 2020:

How to assemble your 1:1 scale F-86

Technology, U.S.

Two crashes in two days involving U.S. military aircraft!

Video

U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Brian Hegseth reports, morning of 30JAN2025, about the 29JAN2025 crash between U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk and American Eagle Flight 5342, video via Department of Defense:

On 28JAN2025, a U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning-2 crashed near Richardson Highway in Alaska. Colonel Paul Townsend, 354th Fighter Wing commander, conducts a local media press conference:

2022: MiG 31 crashes in Novgorod

2011: United States blows-up crashed French Mirage 2000D!

1949: NACA’s ramjet F-82 Twin Mustang, 1949 crash & burn? Reborn more than 60 years later!

1947: Cold War Dragon crashes into Antarctic Ocean, caught on film.

Technology, U.S.

Uncle Sam preps for War: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Video

Curtiss XP-40 Warhawk tested in the NACA wind tunnel, Langley Research Center, Virginia, 1939.

I edited together videos from United States Army Air Corps/Forces (USAAC/USAAF) newsreels, released in 1941. Curtiss P-40 Warhawk:

Before the U.S. entered the Second World War, ‘volunteers’ were being paid by the U.S. government to fly P-40 ‘Flying Tigers’ for China, against the Japanese.  However, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor the Flying Tigers became an official USAAC/USAAF unit, along with some of their pilots being transferred to the Navy/Marine Corps, and the Chinese began flying their own P-40s.  Here is a poor quality, silent film of Chinese operated P-40s:

Here are some photos of various versions of P-40s throughout the war:

P-40 tied down on Iceland, 23SEP1941.

P-40E being tested by NACA, 20MAY1942.

Warhawk lands at Burg-el-Arab, Egypt, October 1942.

Somewhere in the Caribbean, December 1942.

25DEC1942, “…SSGT J.A. Muller, CPL John W. Coleman, and CPL L.B. Thomas of the 16th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, consume their Christmas dinner on the field at a base somewhere in China.”

A P-40F is presented to a French air force chaplain in northern Africa, 1943.

May 1943, Dobodura, New Guinea.

A bullet riddled British Royal Air Force P-40 ‘Kittyhawk’ somewhere in northern Africa, 1943.

Port Moresby Air Depot, Papua, New Guinea. A P-40 converted into a two seat observation plane, sometime in 1943.

Sometime in 1943, Burma-India Theater of Operations.

Sometime in 1943, Abadan, Iran, Soviet pilots play chess before flying their U.S. taxpayer funded P40s to the Karelian Front.

P-40 lands on a new airfield on Baker Island (aka New Nantucket), 11SEP1943.

Apamama Island, Gilbert Islands, January 1944.

February 1944, Upper Assam, India.

A Curtiss C-46 lands while a Curtiss P-40K watches, somewhere in China, sometime in 1945.

Chinese anti-air spotters are taught not to shoot down a Warhawk, sometime between 1945 and 1946.

Final flight outta the U.S.?: Yankee Lady, the last take-off? Does anybody know what is going on?

Technology, U.S.

U.S. Disaster 2025: What is PHOS-CHEK? FEMA & National Guard ops in California.

Video

PHOS CHEK is a product of a company called Perimeter Solutions. They also sell a retardant called FIRE-TROL. They claim their retardants are certified USDA “environmentally friendly”. The red color means nothing, it is one of three options for buyers, the other two are “disappearing color” and “uncolored”. Obviously the red would allow fire fighters to see where they’ve already applied the stuff.

On 12JAN2025, C-130 cargo haulers equipped with U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) get loaded with brand name PHOS CHEK, Channel Islands Air National Guard Station on Port Hueneme, California. Currently there are old C-130H Hercules operated by Colorado Air Force Reserve, Nevada Air National Guard and Wyoming Air National Guard. California Air National Guard operates the newer C-130J Super Hercules. I edited video via Technical Sergeant Nicole Wright:

California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing Super Hercules water-bombing (retardant/brand name PHOS CHEK) the mountains above Pacific Palisades. The air-horn noise is the MAFFS in operation. Video via Master Sergeant Nicholas Carzis, 11JAN2025:

On 11JAN2025, California Army National Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade arrived on Camarillo Airport, to link-up with CalFire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) Fire Hawks. I edited down a video via Specialist William Franco Espinosa:

On 11JAN2025, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began helping survivors file claims, at the Pasadena Convention Center. FEMA video via Alexis Hall:

If you are a fire survivor and have transportation, the FEMA and The American Red Cross have set up locations across Los Angeles County, to try and help you and even your pets. FEMA video via Alexis Hall, 10JAN2025:

California Army National Guard’s 40th Military Police Company on patrol in Santa Monica.  I edited video via Sergeant William Griffen, the video was recorded 10JAN2025, but not released until 12JAN2025:

U.S. Disaster 2025:USMC & Air Guard mobilized for California fires!

Technology, U.S.

U.S. Disaster 2025: USMC & Air Guard mobilized for California fires!

Video

A Presidential order, delegated through the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) and U.S. Northern Command (NorthCom), has mobilized full-time and part-time military units to fight the fires in the Los Angeles County area of California.  Those units began preparations on 10JAN2025, to be ready for action by 12JAN2025.

Marines prep a Bambi water bucket for their UH-1Y Venom.

On Camp Pendleton, California, U.S. Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367-Marine Aircraft Group 39-3rd Marine Aircraft Wing prepares Bell UH-1Y Venom for fire fighting duty.  About 5-hundred Marines will join fire fighting efforts. I edited video via Lance Corporal Jennifer Sanchez:

California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (aka Cal Fire) and Air National Guard prepare PHOS CHEK (a brand name of a type of fire retardant) and Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules (with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System) on Port Hueneme, California.  I edited video via Master Sergeant Nicholas Carzis:

U.S. Air Force-Reserve’s 302nd Airlift Wing loads U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) on Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. I edited time lapse video (sent with no audio) via Technical Sergeant Justin Norton:

Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing personnel load a  USFS-MAFFS into a C-130H Hercules on Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Video (sent with no audio) via Technical Sergeant Justin Norton:

Nevada Air National Guard 152nd Airlift Wing’s Maintenance Squadron prepares C-130H Hercules with a U.S. Forest Service MAFFS.  I edited down video via Senior Master Sergeant Paula Macomber:

Idaho deploys personnel and equipment to fight California fires: https://shoshonenewspress.com/news/2025/jan/10/north-idaho-crews-deploy-to-support-efforts-in-sou/

U.S. Disasters 2024: Hawaii Fires, 4+ months on, Lithium batteries made things worse?

2023: MAFFS prepping for 2023 wildfire season!

2022: C-130 MAFFS deployed, Idaho suffers most fires/acres burned in the U.S.!

2021: California MAFFS prep.

2018: California fires make at least 1-million tons of waste!

Technology, U.S.

What is USACE doing with the Upper Ohio River, in Pennsylvania?

Video

A huge taxpayer funded Upper Ohio River Project as part of Presidential Executive Order 14063 on Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects.

In 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Pittsburgh District awarded a nearly $770-million contract to construct a new 110 feet by 6-hundred feet lock chamber at Montgomery Locks and Dam in Monaca, Pennsylvania.  It is part of the even bigger Upper Ohio Navigation Project, itself the result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which already authorized $934-million in taxpayer funding for the project.

It is hoped the project will help with the transportation of at least 12-million tons of products in and out of the Port of Pittsburgh: “Completing the new lock chamber’s plan marks a significant achievement for the district’s team. This project is vital to ensuring safe and reliable navigation on the upper Ohio River. With the contract awarded, we are ready to advance this critical infrastructure for the region and the nation.”-Colonel Nicholas Melin, USACE Pittsburgh District

The old lock is almost 1-hundred years old, and will disrupt the U.S. domestic supply chain if it fails. It is estimated that if the old lock fails it would cause the loss of nearly $150-million for the U.S. economy, per year of shutdown.

The Montgomery Locks and Dam project must first deconstruct the old auxiliary lock chamber, then the new primary lock chamber will begin sometime in mid to late 2025. But even before that, a new ‘pad’ had to be built in order to mix, on-site, a special type of concrete that will be used. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers video explainer via Michel Sauret, released 03JAN2025:

USACE in Idaho: Boise State University joins forces with USACE, it’s about water!