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Idaho Wild Fires 2019: MD-87 water bomber, new King Air FAC

23 July 2019-23:43 UTC-07 Tango 06 (02 Mordad 1398/21 Dhu l-Qa’da 1440/22 Xin-Wei 4717)

The fires keep burning in eastern Idaho.  Things got so hot today that evacuations of ‘non-essential personnel’ were ordered near the Idaho National Laboratory’s nuclear jet engine and EBR-1 nuclear-disaster-reactor,  due to the rapid expansion of the ‘Sheep Fire’ (about 85-thousand acres, 34398 hectares).

MD-87 (foreground) and DC-10 (background) tankers rolling in from their latest east Idaho mission. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

The Sheep Fire is just one of dozens of wild fires in Idaho right now so, once again, the little used Pocatello Airport was put to good use by water bombers from 10 Tanker Air Carrier and Erickson Aero Tanker.

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

A little bird water bomber heads out. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

A new U.S. Forest Service King Air 250 FAC (Forward Air Controller) taking off. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

King Air ‘FAC’: Forest Service buys its first lead plane in almost 40 years

The King Air passes by the incoming DC-10. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

A familiar sight ever since the big fires of 2012. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Home for the night. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

WILD FIRES 2019: DC-10, IDAHO’S 911

B-29 navigator: “Would I even be alive to eat the sandwich I saved?”

“We lost so many good men, I don’t have many fond memories. My crew almost perished during a mission over the city of Gifu, where we were shot up so badly, bailing out of the plane seemed like the only option. Why we did not die that day, I will never know.”-Rowland Ball

In 2016, Rowland Ball made a trip to Guam.  It had been 71 years since the last time he was there.  During World War Two he was a navigator on the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber Weddin’ Belle (back when the U.S. Air Force was called the U.S. Army Air Force).

The B-29 missions were long, 18 hours.  Ball told a captive audience of Air Force personnel “The cooks would give us three sandwiches for an 18-hour mission. I had to decide how I would eat them. Should I eat two before a bomb run or after? Would I even be alive to eat the sandwich I saved? One time, ice cream was included in our meal. Now why would they give us ice cream of all things? So, during that mission, we decided to fly at a higher altitude than normal, to keep it frozen. Unfortunately, by the time we completed our mission, the ice cream was unsalvageable.”

Rowland Ball checks out the assortment of kool models at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Ball was impressed with the latest USAF technology for navigation: “It’s mind-boggling the type of equipment we have now. The technical advantages have come a long way since my time. I remember having to look up at the stars to navigate, but now there is this amazing equipment that makes navigating much easier and efficient. It’s a different world altogether.” 

 

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

D-Day KC-135, ‘Hundred Proof’ & other nose arts

To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day the U.S. Air Force’s 100th Air Refueling Wing (descendant of 100th Bombardment Group [Heavy]) gave some of their Stratotankers full color markings.

Skipper III in honor of retired Master Sergeant Dewey Christopher, a World War II veteran. U.S. Air Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere, 21JUN2019.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Alexandria Lee, 19JUN2019.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Joseph Barron, 31MAY2019.

Video, 48 hours of refueling hell, including invasion stripes:

They even gave a couple of KC-135s ‘heritage’ WW2 markings. The D on the tail was used by the 100th BG(H). USAF photo by First Lieutenant Nathanael Callon, 26MAY2019.

The EP is the flight symbol of the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group(H), which dates back to 1942 and the letter A on the tail is the aircraft number. USAF photo by Senior Airman Benjamin Cooper, 09MAY2019.

Video explains the World War Two connection for ‘Black Jack’ and the 100th ARW:

Video interview, ‘Savage’ artist gives one reason why he joined the USAF:

In this video some guy explains why he’s infatuated with the ‘All American Girl’:

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS NOSE ART

IDAHO PRIDE A-10C NOSE ART

NEBRASKA KC-135 TEENAGED NOSE ART

TENNESSEE KC-135 NOSE ART

SNOOPY RC-135S COBRA BALL NOSE ART

C-17 NOSE ART

D-Day F-15E Strike Eagle

“This heritage project is about the 48th Fighter Wing legacy, and more specifically the wing’s support to the D-Day invasion during World War Two.”-Colonel Will Marshall, 48th Fighter Wing commander

In January 2019, the 48th Fighter Wing unveiled their new D-Day invasion stripe paint job on their F-15E Strike Eagles.

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 19APR2019.

In April 2019, a third D-Day Eagle was revealed at the British empire’s Royal Air Force base Lakenheath, England.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 19APR2019.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 19APR2019.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 19APR2019.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 11APR2019.

The D-Day paint jobs were applied to a single seat F-15C and two two seat F-15Es.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 10APR2019.

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Eric Burks, 26APR2019.

USAF photo by Master Sergeant Eric Burks, 26APR2019.

The invasion striped Strike Eagles took to the sky over United Kingdom.

100th Air Refueling Wing tops-up two F-15E D-Day Eagles, 09JUN2019.

LOCATION OF MISSING IDAHO F-15E STRIKE EAGLES REVEALED? OR, WHY HI-TECH DOESN’T EQUAL FEWER HUMANS?

VEHICLE I-D: NORMANDY PAINTED C-130 HERCULES

Vehicle I-D: M4 Sherman, WW2 to Iran-Iraq War

March 1981, my father W. L. Hutchins checking out the Sherman in front of the Ely, Nevada, VFW Post.

The M4 Sherman is the iconic U.S. tank from World War 2.  It was also used after WW2 by many countries across the world.  There are many variants, and to make things more difficult for kit bashers there were many field modifications.

1-116th Cav, 1-148th FA, Pocatello, Idaho. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Video report 03NOV2021, Museum Support Center–Anniston Army Depot is about to attempt to restore a recovered sunken ‘DD’ Sherman from Operation Overlord June 1944:

U.S. Army Central, Sumter, South Carolina, welcomes the arrival of a M4A3(76)W HVSS Sherman tank, 15JUL2021. U.S. Army photo by Michael Clauss.

It was originally on display on Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Amber Cobena.

In December 2020, the U.S. Army’s Army Maneuver Center of Excellence used examples of WW2 Sherman tanks to demonstrate the ingenuity/inventiveness of U.S. military personnel.

October 2020 promotional video, the National Army Museum’s Cobra King Sherman:

July 2020, volunteers with the Selfridge Military Air Museum take a restored Sherman for a spin, before parking it for its new ‘gate guard’ duty. Michigan Air National Guard photo By Munnaf H. Joarder.

Harrodsburg, Kentucky, 07MAY2020. The tank memorializes the Harrodsburg Tankers, which were captured by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War Two. Kentucky Army National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Cody Stagner.

Reenactment of Battle of the Bulge, 14DEC2019, Belgium.
U.S. Army photo by Corporal Kevin Payne.

Pennsylvania ‘gate guard’, 05NOV2019. Pennsylvania Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Bryan Hoover.

Texas Military Forces Museum Sherman takes part in a reenactment, 13APR2019. Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Tom Lamb.

Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, 11SEP2018. U.S. Army photo by Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie.

Video of ‘IN THE MOOD’ gate guard being moved from Belgium to Germany for restoration, 09JUL2019:

See more about IN THE MOOD: PAINTING & DECALING A 1:1 SCALE M4 SHERMAN

D-Day reenactors June 2019, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Ryan Rayno.

U.S. military video by Staff Sergeant Draeke Layman, Sherman Tanks in Mons, Belgium, 2019:

M4A1 Battle of the Bulge commemorations in Belgium, December 2018. U.S. Army photo by Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie.

Sainte Mere Eglise, 04JUN2017. USA photo by First Lieutenant Victoria Goldfedib.

This tank looks ‘crody’ because it was salvaged from the sea off United Kingdom, in 1984. It’s now part of commemorations for Operation Tiger. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Timothy R. Smithers.

Pennsylvania National Guard ‘living’ memorial, February 2016. Pennsylvania Army National Guard photo by Private First Class Hannah Baker.

December 2015, the town of Clervaux, Luxembourg, dedicates a Sherman tank memorial to a little known part of the Battle of the Bulge:

New York National Guard personnel spent 22 months renovating this Sherman. Put on display in Saratoga Springs, September 2015. New York Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Major Corine Lombardo.

Restored Sherman taking part in D-Day celebrations in France, June 2015. USA photo by Sergeant Austin Berner.

Sherman loaded for transport to the Fort Polk Museum, Louisiana, 12SEP2012.

This April 2011 photo shows three versions of the M4 Sherman, taking part in a Texas Military Forces World War Two reenactment on Camp Mabry. Texas Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Josiah Pugh.

A Sherman tank war memorial in Cassino, Italy. Texas Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Daniel Griego, March 2010.

Silent U.S. Army film, dated 23APR1945, Sherman tanks enter the city of Leipzig, Germany.  Combat action, civilians wounded, civilians welcome U.S. troops, German officer surrenders:

New York Army National Guard M4A3 Sherman, Fort Drum, during the 1950s.

An Easy Eight Sherman in Kumchun area, Korea, October 1950.

Believe it or not, this is a 70 years old Iraqi Sherman! It was ‘appropriated’ by U.S. Army forces and ‘repatriated’ to the U.S. towards the end of 2011. The pic was taken on Camp Virginia, Kuwait, as it awaited ship-out.

Iranian M36B1 Jackson version of the Sherman, used against Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. Captured by Iraq and put on display, only to be ‘captured’ by U.S. forces and supposedly ‘repatriated’ to the United States.

A U.S. Marine checks-out a stripped Sherman in Beirut, Lebanon, April 1983.

Photograph from World War Two, 03JUN1944. The Sherman in the foreground has the rounded cast hull, while the Sherman behind it has the welded hull.

USMC vet Kenny White checks out a Marine Sherman gate guard at Twentynine Palms, California, December 2014. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Medina Ayala-Lo.

In Virginia, reenactors playing Marines fighting the Japanese stand aside for an approaching Sherman, August 2013. USMC photo by Corporal Paris Capers.

My grandfather, O.G. Hutchins, on his newly arrived USMC Sherman, sometime before shipping out against the Japanese.

My grandfather O.G. Hutchins, tank commander in the USMC during World War Two. Note the snow tracks used as sand tracks in the Pacific Theater (also indicative of some 75mm gunned Shermans, that is not saying they were the only Shermans that used them, obviously not). Also, notice the final-drive cover is different from the M4 in the above photo. He’s smiling because prior to getting Shermans his USMC unit was using tiny Stuart tanks (note how tall he is, even in the Sherman he had trouble ‘buttoning up’).

My grandfather’s old helmet. O.G. ‘Hutch’ Hutchins.

See my grandfather’s 1st Marine Division unit citations for actions in World War Two and Korea in LAST RIDE FOR 1ST, 2ND & 4TH TANK.

It has become dry and brittle due to decades of improper storage on my father’s property in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.

The hardened leather helmets were called ‘football helmets’ because they were directly based on the old style American football helmet.

Photo by Richard C. Ferguson, September or October 1950. Inchon, Korea, Easy Eight ‘Candy Ass’ decided to take a swim after off-loading from LST. It appears there’s only one cable (attached to front tow hook) keeping Candy Ass from going under.

U.S. Marine Corps photo, dated October 1950. It’s not Korea, it’s a pass-in-review of Shermans and F7F Tigercats at Cherry Point, North Carolina.

Argentinian Shermans waiting for new homes, or the scrapper.

Argentine hybrid-hull Sherman with French 105mm gun in what looks like a Firefly turret, and powered by a diesel motor.

Chile used Israeli M51 Super Shermans as live-fire range targets.

Chilean M60, a M4A4 Sherman with Israeli designed 60mm high velocity gun.

I can’t remember where this photo was taken (Fort Irwin?), sometime mid-late 1990s.  Me in front of a Sherman based Recovery Vehicle.

IDAHO VEHICLE I-D:  1-148 FIELD ARTILLERY GATE GUARDS

Super Guppy be old, but NASA still uses it!

According to press release there were only four Super Guppies made, only one is still being used by NASA.

On 11JUL2019, NASA Super Guppy 914 made a fuel stop at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas:

The following pics are from February 2019, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina:

The following pics are from May 2018, El Paso International Airport: 

Official video explainer of Super Guppy eating a Tyndall AFB, Florida, T-38 in March 2017:

The following pics are from November 2012, March Air Reserve Base in California: 

What’s it like to fly on a Super Guppy?  Here’s a five minute long video to find out:

The following pics are from June 2012, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Washington:

Time lapse video of load-up at Houston, Texas:

 

Boeing 377SGT Super Guppy, May 1976, swallowing the X-24 and HL-10 lifting bodies at Edwards AFB (Dryden), California:

A Guppy before it got upgraded to Super status with turbo-prop engines, Edwards AFB (Dryden), October 1962: 

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

WILD FIRES 2019: DC-10, IDAHO’S 911

 

All hell breaks loose in Wisconsin, operation Patriot North is underway!

Video, Nebraska National Guard UH-72 Lakota joins the fun:

Food insecurity, unemployment, failed national and local governments, and non-stop natural disasters leading to race riots and civil war.  It’s July 2019 and Wisconsin is ground zero for Patriot North 2019 DomOps (Domestic Operations).

New Hampshire Air National Guard medic treats a ‘person’ wounded by a ‘zombie’ at Camp Douglas.

Apparently various National Guard focused  ‘patriot’ operations are not called patriot because they’re trying to be patriotic, the ‘patriot’ exercises are a directive of the Patriot Act signed into law after the 9-11 attacks.

Official video explaining The Burn Pit:

Starting the third week of July, Air and Army National Guard units from across the United States converged upon Volk Field and Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, for a massive domestic ‘natural-or-man-made’ disaster response exercise.

Video of Texas National Guard C-130H landing on dirt:

More than 7-hundred federal and local government employees, civilian volunteers and National Guard personnel from more than 20 states are taking part in the inter-agency operation, in preparation for catastrophic events.

Video, various National Guard C-130H Hercules rolling into Wisconsin, off-loading personnel, rescue dogs and equipment:

Patriot South 2019 was already held, in Georgia, back in March.  Watch this official promo video and be afraid of what your government is expecting:

June 2019: ARKANSAS HIT BY UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE, USAF SCRAMBLED!

Tornado prep, USAF style: TORNADO & FLOOD FACTS, ACCORDING TO THE USAF, HOW TO PREP!

Fatal USMC KC-130J crash kept secret?

In December 2018, a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J was refueling a F/A-18 over Okinawa, Japan, when they aircraft made contact.  Both the F/A-18 and KC-130J went down, only one person survived.

It was not until the end of May of 2019 that the KC-130J’s cockpit voice recorder and digital flight recorder, along with human remains.  And it was not until June of 2019 that the information was made public.  As the investigation is still ongoing no further details were released.

Model kit EC-130J gets special handling by National Guard!

A real 193rd Special Operations Wing EC-130J Commando Solo, October 2020. Air National Guard photo by Munnaf Joarder.

In April 2019, Pennsylvania’s 193rd Special Operations Wing’s Fabrication Shop recently was given the opportunity to repaint the EC-130J Commando Solo aircraft model outside the wing HQ building.

Video of repairs to model that has been on display since 2006:

Kit Bashing:

USAF photo by Airman First Class Thomas Charlton.

WORLD’S LARGEST C-141B STARLIFTER MODEL?

Vehicle I-D: Fury vs Mig

MiG-17 on the left, Fury in the middle, MiG-15UTI on the right. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Tristan Truesdell, 13JUL2019.

In July 2019, the state of Montana was invaded by marauding MiG-15UTI and MiG-17, and a lone FJ-4 Fury came to The Big Sky state’s defense.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Tristan Truesdell, 13JUL2019

MiG-17. USAF photo by Airman First Class Tristan Truesdell, 13JUL2019.

It was part of an air show at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

VEHICLE I-D: MIG 17 V U.S. NAVY FERRARI

POCATELLO AIRPORT 02 AUGUST 2014: MIG-15 UTI & MIG-17

POCATELLO AIRPORT 02 AUGUST 2014: FJ-4 FURY