Videos

Business/Economics, Technology

Winglets, or Once again NASA saves the Private Sector!

Video

In another fine example that the capitalist country of United States spends taxpayer money to help-out private sector corporations; between 1979 and 1980, NASA used a KC-135 to special-test the use of winglets in reducing drag and thus reducing fuel consumption.  The study led to the use of winglets on commercial aircraft.

The winglets were developed by NASA’s Richard Whitcomb, who discovered through wind-tunnel testing that winglets could actually produce forward thrust.  Whitcomb is also credited with developing the supercritical wing, also used by commercial airliners (F-8 SUPER-CRITICAL-CRUSADER, FATHER OF MODERN AIRLINER WING DESIGN).

Silent NASA video:

The winglets used by NASA were much bigger than the winglets being used by the commercial sector.

The U.S. Air Force’s -135 family of aircraft are not modified Boeing 707s!!!   It’s amazing to me that even aviation periodicals will refer to the -135 as having evolved from the 707.  Both the -135 and the 707 evolved from the earlier prototype 367-80 (first flight 1954), the -135 (first flight 1956) was actually created before the 707 (first flight 1957).  The -135, also known as the Boeing 717, is smaller than the 707 and structurally there is nothing similar about the two aircraft (like the fuselages having totally different cross sections, the 707 being taller and wider), the major components cannot be interchanged.

Some confusion can be blamed on Boeing itself, as the manufacturer offered militarized 707s to other countries’ air forces, such as Iran (which got both 707s and 747s converted for use as airborne fuelers).  Boeing’s militarized 707 production continued into the 1990s, they are nothing like the -135.

 

KC-135:   BATS & BEARS, OH MY!

Bare Metal: NASA TRUCKS saving the trucking industry

Technology

Vehicle I-D: NASA’s DC-8 climate warrior

Video

The former Douglas airliner is a -72 model, and can stay airborne for 12 hours and has an operational speed between 3-hundred and 5-hundred knots (345-575mph, 555-926kph).

The research flights are made as low as 5-hundred feet (152 meters) and as high as 42-thousand feet (12-thousand-801 meters or 12.80 kilometers).

DC-8-72 on the ground in Chile after an 11 hours flight to study ocean ice, October 2009.

The information that came with this pic stated the DC-8 was being used to test alternative fuels in California, January 2009.

The DC-8-72 uses a plethora of electronic equipment for remote sensing scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science and biology.  The name of the organization/university conducting the study is sometimes painted on the forward section of the fuselage, underneath the Dryden Flight Research Center name.

Preparations for Operation Ice Bridge, Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility, California, late 2009.  The cart full of computers is part of a Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor, waiting to be installed on the DC-8.

Inside the DC-8 Airborne Laboratory, being configured for Operation Ice Bridge, 2009.

DC-8 on approach to Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility, November 2008.

From November 1999 to March 2000, the DC-8-72 joined a NASA U-2 (aka ER-2) for SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE), in Sweden.

In 2019, IDAHO, KANSAS, UTAH were HOME BASES FOR NASA’S DC-8 FIREX-AQ! (also has videos of climate sniffing ops over Germany and Korea)

For more info visit NASA’s official DC-8 website

NASA ‘CLIMATE SPY PLANE’ PROVES CALIFORNIA’S STRICT ANTI-POLLUTION LAWS ARE A JOKE!

Influenza

Vaccine Fail: Why are healthcare workers refusing to take the shot, and what’s the connection between Llama’s and CoViD?

Video

List of links to news reports/scientific studies about vaccine oddities, as of 02JAN2021:

Can employers demand proof of COVID-19 vaccinations?

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Video warning about fake vaccine scams:

Can pregnant women get the CoViD shot?

Rabies vaccine marketing research warns that government funding for CoViD vaccines is delaying potential government purchases of rabies vaccines, at a time when rabies infections are increasing!

Study to see if MMR vaccine could work against CoViD discovers that mumps and CoViD create similar antibody response!

An auto-immune disease, usually in the form of a body rash, can occur after getting an MMR shot!

High-dose influenza vaccine shows no additional benefit for heart disease patients
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Did an Australian politician fake getting a flu shot?

China Grants Approval to First Coronavirus Vaccine, Will Vaccinate Citizens for Free
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Finland reports adverse vaccine reactions 

India OKs AstraZeneca and locally-made COVID-19 vaccines

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At least 240 Israelis infected after getting vaccinations!

A second Israeli dies hours after getting vaccinated!

Mexican doctor hospitalized after getting CoViD shot!

United Kingdom allows CoViD vaccines of different types to be mixed!

Large Numbers Of Health Care And Frontline Workers Are Refusing Covid-19 Vaccine
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Drive-thru vaccination site operated by Arizona National Guard, in Sun City. Arizona Army National Guard Photo by Specialist Thurman Snyder, 28DEC2020.

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Idaho health officials say general public most likely won’t get vaccine until May 2021
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Massachusetts grad student, parent suing over flu vaccine requirement
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A Licensed Practical Nurse receives the CoViD-19 vaccination at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Vineland. New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs photo by Mark C. Olsen, 05JAN2021.

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Vaccine Fail, 01JAN2021: 20-MILLION DOSES DELIVERED BY OPERATION WARP SPEED! WHY ARE U.S. STATES FAILING TO PASS IT ON?

Kit Bashing, Technology

KC-135: Bats & Bears, oh my!

Video

Iowa Air National Guard 185th Air Refueling Wing’s 75th Anniversary colors, 22DEC2020. Photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot.

After more than six decades the KC-135 Stratotanker flies on, and by the end of 2020 some even got new clothes for 2021.

Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 22DEC2020.

Iowa’s bat tail was first used on F-16s in the 1990s.  Iowa’s bat logo was first used over Viet Nam in the 1960s, to represent the unit’s night operations.

Iowa Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 01MAR2022.

The nose of the KC-135 has a diamond surrounded by silhouettes depicting the type of aircraft flown by the Iowa unit since 1946.  The 185th switched from single seat aircraft to the KC-135 in 2003.

Video of Sioux City Bat tanker by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 22DEC2020:

Alaska Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Julie Avey, 15OCT2020.

In October 2020, Alaska Air National Guard’s 168th Wing revealed a new polar bear logo on their KC-135s.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Kaylee Dubois, 18DEC2020.

The tail flash at the top of each Stratotanker’s vertical tail will bear the name of one of nine interior tribal/native communities.  The final two will bear the name Fairbanks and North Pole.

Alaska Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Julie Avey, 17DEC2020.

Dramatic music video unveiling (by Technical Sergeant William A Keele) of Alaska’s polar bear tail KC-135, 15OCT2020:

Alaska Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Julie Avey, 17DEC2020.

Here’s a New Jersey Air National Guard KC-135R from May 2020 covid-19 flyover ops:

New Jersey Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sergeant Cristina J. Allen, 12MAY2020.

KC-135: Pandemic Overflight

Rivet Joint-Airseeker: RC-135V/W PATRIOT & RED COAT

Bare Metal: KC-135R GETS STRIPPED

2019: KC-135 CITY OF DERBY

International, Kit Bashing, Technology, U.S.

Rivet Joint-Airseeker: RC-135V/W Patriot & Red Coat

Video

RC-135 Rivet Joint , Las Vegas, Nevada, 07DEC2021. U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis.

Kadena Air Base, Japan, 12MAY2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Benjamin Sutton.

Personnel wearing masks board RC-135V at Kadena Air Base, Japan, 05MAY2020. USAF photo by Senior Airman Rhett Isbell.

Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, 21FEB2020. USAF photo by Manuel Garcia.

The Boeing RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft are the most recent members of the RC-135 family, which can be traced back to 1964.  The difference between the ‘V’ and ‘W’ variants depends upon which C-135 was upgraded/modified to Rivet Joint standard; RC-135Vs are upgraded RC-135Cs, while RC-135Ws are modified C-135Bs.

USAF photo by Manuel Garcia, 21FEB2020.

It provides near-real-time on-scene intelligence collection, primarily by detecting, identifying and geolocating signals throughout the electromagnetic spectrum.

Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, 28JUL2017. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Amy Lovgren.

Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, 28JUL2017. Photo by Technical Sergeant Amy Lovgren.

It can carry a crew of more than 30 people, and is powered by four CFM-56 turbofans.

Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, 27JUL2017. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Amy Lovgren.

Currently, U.S. Air Force Rivet Joints are flown by the 55th Wing, based out of Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Nebraska.

Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 13MAR2012. USAF photo by Jeffrey Gates.

Time lapse video by Senior Airman Jacob Skovo-Lane, How to Wash your Rivet Joint, October 2018:

Video by Senior Airman Joshua Hoskins, Michigan Air National Guard re-fuels Rivet Joint over Afghanistan, January 2017:

Offutt AFB, 13MAR2012. USAF photo by Jeffrey Gates.

Over Afghanistan, 19JUN2011. USAF photo by Master Sergeant William Greer.

Over Afghanistan, 19JUN2011. USAF photo by Master Sergeant William Greer.

Over Afghanistan, 19JUN2011. USAF photo by Master Sergeant William Greer.

In August 2010, the USAF celebrated 20 years of Rivet Joint operations, with aircraft that are as much as 50 years old:

During the pandemic of 2020, believe it or not a mask was created for the nose of the RC-135.  It is nicknamed The Mule Mask.  Video interview of mask creator Technical Sergeant Kristen Horwith by Staff Sergeant Lexie West, 11AUG2020:

Video by (then) Senior Airmen Lexie West, USAF RC-135 at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, November 2017:

RAF RC-135W Airseeker, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 02MAY2018. USAF photo by Senior Airman Jacob Skovo-Lane.

RAF RC-135W Airseeker, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 02MAY2018. USAF photo by Senior Airman Jacob Skovo-Lane.

For the Commonwealth of Nations (formerly British Commonwealth of Nations, formerly British Empire) member United Kingdom, in 2011 the RC-135W was chosen as the replacement for the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) BAe Nimrod R Mark 1.    In November 2013 the RAF received it’s first RC-135W, flying it’s first mission in May 2014.  The official British name for the RC-135W is Airseeker.

12FEB2017, Airseeker undergoing landing gear inspection, Offutt AFB. USAF photo by Delanie Stafford.

12FEB2017, Airseeker undergoing landing gear inspection, Offutt AFB. USAF photo by Delanie Stafford.

While taking part in Red Flag aerial wargames in February 2017, over Nevada, the RAF Airseeker developed main-landing gear problems and diverted to Offutt AFB in Nebraska.

12FEB2017, Airseeker undergoing landing gear inspection, Offutt AFB. USAF photo by Delanie Stafford.

It was determined that the Airseeker had a faulty main-landing gear sequence valve, which was preventing the gear from locking in the retracted position.

RAF Airseeker, Red Flag wargames, Nevada, 2017. Photo by Sergeant Neil Bryden.

Giant model of an RC-135, Lackland AFB, Texas. Photo by by Nadine Wiley De Moura.

The ancient Nova vacformed 1:72 scale KC-135 came with optional parts which you could use to make an RC version (but it has the older engines since it came out before the CFM-56 version, you could kit-bash using a newer CFM equipped AMT-ERTL KC-135R kit, which was also issued under the Airfix/Heller brands).

In the 1990s AMT-ERTL issued a 1:72 scale RC-135V, the version used during Desert Storm.   Some kit bashers used the kit to model a RC-135W Airseeker. 

An old photo of an RC-135, by Forrest Durham.

If you are a model builder, pay attention to the year of operation of the RC-135V/W you want to depict, because various antennae bumps and blades will appear and disappear depending on the latest electronic mission configuration.   It seems the older the plane gets the more skin growths it develops.

Somewhere in The middle East (South West Asia), 04MAR2010. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Michelle Larche.

Refueling during the invasion of Iraq. USAF photo by Master Sergeant Dave Ahlschwede, 09APR2003.

Over Nebraska, 01MAY2000. USAF photo by Master Sergeant Dave Nolan.

01MAY2000, USAF photo by Master Sergeant Dave Nolan.

Don’t forget the bottom.

Departing from a forward operating base during the invasion of Iraq. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Robert J. Horstman, 28APR2003.

11DEC1991, USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Scott P. Stewart.

Don’t confuse with the RC-135S Cobra Ball:

Not all RC-135S are covered in bumps and antennae. USAF photo by Senior Airman Amy Younger, 23MAY2020.

Variations of bumps and windows on RC-135S. Notice that the upper part of starboard wing, as well as nacelles, on some Cobra Balls are painted matt-black. USAF photo by Senior Airman Jeremy Smith, September 2001.

C-130: ONCE A RED COAT, NOW A BLUE ANGEL

Pandemic Overflight: KC-135

EC-135E FIRE-BIRD: 10329 COMES BACK TO LIFE, AGAIN! OR, WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR EXTRA KC-135 KIT.

Vehicle I-D: MLRS, BRITISH RED COATS INVADE U.S. ARMY BASE IN GERMANY!

2018: M777 artillery proof the Red Coats have returned!

2017: U.S. ARMY COMMANDED BY RED COATS?

Canadian Red Coats control U.S. NORAD: SHHH, DON’T “CROSSTELL”, BUT U.S. AIR MILITIA UNITS & CANADA PREPPING FOR TFR EMERGENCY!

Influenza

Going Viral: Operation Warp Speed proves leftist-liberal news media wrong!

Video

CoViD-19=Corona-Virus-Disease 2019

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Chris Miller receives the CoViD-19 vaccine, 14DEC2020.

When U.S. President Donald Trump promised a CoViD vaccine by the end of 2020 the main stream news media, their scientific medical ‘experts’, and even Joe Biden, stopped short of calling President Trump a fool.  Now that the U.S. has several CoViD vaccines the news media refuses to acknowledge Trump’s promise!

Operation Warp Speed is a President Donald Trump ordered partnership among components of the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Defense, to produce and deliver 300-million doses of safe and effective vaccines as a part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of CoViD-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

Video, Operation Warp Speed reminds you how wrong the U.S. news media, and Joe Biden, was:

Under Operation Warp Speed, U.S. Marshals Service is working with United Parcel Service to distribute vaccines, 14DEC2020.

U.S. Marshals Service working with Federal Express to distribute vaccines under Operation Warp Speed, 14DEC2020.

U.S. Army leaders meet with executives of Walgreens Boots Alliance to discuss Operation Warp Speed vaccine distribution, 16NOV2020.

Operation Warp Speed video explaining what to expect when you get your CoViD-19, keep in mind the video was made on 19NOV2020:

Here’s a list of FAQs by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia concerning CoViD-19 vaccines, such as the fact that multiple shots will be needed and nobody knows how long you’ll be immune after getting the shots (it’s assumed that people who’ve been infected are immune for no more than three months): Questions and Answers about COVID-19 Vaccines

Here’s a list of links to news media articles about the vaccines:

Trump administration makes deal for millions more CoViD vaccines for next year  (who’s paying for all this, especially when so many taxpayers have lost their jobs?)

FDA warns of side effects of CoViD vaccines

Despite CoViD vaccine California orders thousands of body bags

Health workers in Contra Costa County first to get CoViD vaccines in California

In Colorado, minorities are suspicious of CoViD vaccines

Healthcare workers at Veteran’s Hospital first to get CoViD vaccines in Minnesota

University of Utah health workers first to get CoViD vaccines in Utah

Big Brother/Sister-ism as people are given CoViD “Got my vaccine” stickers 

International shenanigans:

U.S. movie maker Oliver Stone opts for Russian CoViD vaccine!

Russia begins mass CoViD vaccination using Sputnik V vaccine
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With First Dibs on Vaccines, Rich Countries Have ‘Cleared the Shelves’

Going Viral: NEGATIVE PRESSURE FLYING HOSPITALS?

Going Viral, February 2020: PRO-VACCINE GOVERNMENT ADMITS 700% INFECTION RATE CAUSED BY FAILED VACCINE!!!

International, Technology

End of the Cold War to Ukraine Crisis: No more Open Skies, or whatever happened to the OC-135B?

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Keith Reed the Third, 17JUL1997.

On 24MAR1992, the Treaty on Open Skies was created as a way of being sure that countries that have military weapons (military-grade arms) control agreements are complying.  However, it wouldn’t be until 01JAN2002 that Open Skies actually went into effect, with 34 countries signed-on (but only 20 ratified).  Interestingly, the first OC-135B was ready to launch in June 1993!

Newly independent Ukrainian Air Force personnel get their photo taken in front of their Open Skies Antonov An-30. Photo by Technical Sergeant Brad Fallin, 14APR1997.

Russian Open Skies Antonov An-30, 25SEP2009. Photo by Alan Lebeda.

On 22NOV2020, the United States officially withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies, so far the only country to do so.  It’s interesting that the many countries who did not sign-on to Open Skies, like nuclear armed China, condemned the U.S. withdrawal.

Photo by Kelly White. 23APR2020, U.S. Air Force OC-135B (6-12670) stripped and awaiting what would become its final Open Skies livery.

But it is more complicated than U.S. President Donald Trump being a mean old ‘orange man’, it’s about other treaty signators not complying, and the fact that updating the now ‘ancient’ observation technology is just too cost prohibitive for taxpayers.

A naked OC-135B anticipates its final Open Skies paint job on Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Photo by Kelly White, 23APR2020.

Here’s a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) video, 22MAY2020, in which NATO accuses Russia (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) of violating the Open Skies agreement:

Photo by Charles Haymond. An OC-135B Open Skies (converted WC-135 weather research) aircraft takes off from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska,14SEP2018.

Photo by Technical Sergeant Heather Salazar. Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily Rossii (Military Air Forces of Russia) Open Skies Tupolev Tu-154M RF-85655, lands at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 14AUG2019.

From 1992-93, three WC-135B aircraft were modified for the Open Skies mission, re-designated OC-135B.   For some reason, after only a few years based at Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Nebraska, the first OC-135B was sent straight to ‘moth-balls’ at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, in 1997.

Photo by Charles J. Haymond, 14SEP2018.

This OC-135B conducted observation flights over Haiti, after the 7.0 earthquake in 2010. Photo by Senior Airman Perry Aston, 16JAN2010.

Despite the OC-135Bs being used on other non-Open Skies observations, such as natural disasters, according to some reports the remaining two OC-135Bs are now available for sale as a result of the U.S. exit from Open Skies: “We’ve started liquidating the equipment. Other countries can come purchase or just take the airframes. They are really old and cost-prohibitive for us to maintain. We don’t have a use for them anymore.”

Photo by Staff Sergeant John Hillier. 01FEB2018, a Commonwealth of Nations (aka British Empire) Royal Canadian Air Force C-130J arrives at Rosecrans Memorial Airport, Missouri, joining units from France and Czech Republic for Open Skies training with the Missouri Air National Guard.

What many people might not know is that the Open Skies operation required the use of old school film technology.  In this 2015 U.S. Air Force video report, by John Harrington, it’s revealed that the old technology was getting difficult to maintain due to no new parts:

Here is an October 2016 USAF video (by John Harrington) explaining how the imagery captured by the OC-135Bs are processed:

Photo by Delanie Stafford. Snow removal from Open Skies OC-135B, 03FEB2015, Offutt AFB.

Via Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Russian examine a U.S. OC-135B, 27FEB2007.

Via Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Italian C-130 with SAMSON observation pod.

23NOV2020: Russia warns remaining Open Skies members not to share data with United States

11NOV2020: French personnel to use Romanian An-30 for Open Skies flyover of Russia

Realize that the United States and Russia have always conducted observation flights of each other, Open Skies was just an attempt to make it more militarily non-threatening.

28NOV2020: Russian Sukhoi 27 scrambled to intercept U.S. RC-135 over Black Sea

27NOV2020: Russia accuses NATO of conducting more than 1300 non-Open Skies spy flights

There were rumors that the two remaining Open Skies OC-13Bs were up for sale in 2020, however, the aircraft were given a fresh ‘Open Skies’ paint job and sent to the ‘boneyard’ in Arizona. USAF video by David Farley, 13MAY2021:

OC-135B Open Skies on Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 09JUN2021. USAF photo by Senior Airman Alex Miller.

July 2022: NATO-Romania puts to use an ex-Open Skies Antonov 30.

U.S. taxpayer expense: NASA’S Russian Tupolev 144 SST

Pandemic Overflight: KC-135

Bare Metal: KC-135R GETS STRIPPED

EC-135E FIRE-BIRD, 10329 COMES BACK TO LIFE, AGAIN! OR, WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR EXTRA KC-135 KIT.

HOW TO MUMMIFY YOUR KC-10, OR, LAST FLIGHT OF 86-0036

Terminator: SpaceX satellites helping the new U.S. Space Force to target you from above

Technology

Terminator: SpaceX satellites all about A-P-N-T/L-R-P-C-F-T?

Video

“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
    keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”-Proverbs 15:3, New International Version Bible

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”-2 Chronicles 16:9, New International Version Bible

Photo by Technical Sergeant Brittany Murphy.

On 21NOV2020, SpaceX-Falcon 9 launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying a Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite.  The satellite is ostensibly going to be used to monitor ocean levels.

SpaceX launch control, Vandenberg AFB. Photo by Michael Peterson.

On 15NOV2020, a SpaceX-Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts from the U.S. and Japan to the International Space Station.  Video by Airman Thomas Sjoberg (it takes a while for the launch sound to come in because of how far away the camera is):

U.S. Navy 647th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s SpaceX Guardian Angel video explainer report, with overly dramatic music, by Daniel Mayberry:

On 05NOV2020, a SpaceX-Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral carrying a new GPS-3-4 (GPS III-4) satellite for the new U.S. Space Force. Video by Airmen Thomas Sjoberg:

And now for the possible connection to a new way of killing people:   APNT = Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing

LRPCFT =  Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Teams

U.S. Army Futures Command video explaining APNT/LRPCFT and how it will rely on machine learning and new GPS satellites to kill people in the future:

 

Official site: www.starlink.com

17NOV2020: SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are about to ruin stargazing

October 2020: There’s more than 8-hundred SpaceX Starlink satellites in orbit now

U.S. Army, 2018: ‘MICROWAVE’ BEAM WEAPON AIMING TO HEAT YOU UP!

Terminator 2016: ISRAEL ON VERGE OF CREATING ALL SEEING, KNOWING, POWERFUL SATELLITE TO CONTROL THE WORLD!

U.S. Army, 2014: CREATING NEW WIRELESS SPY SYSTEM TO BE TESTED IN TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO

From 2011, Global Warming Paradox: NASA launches satellites to find out why the melting polar ice caps are not raising ocean levels. 

Technology

Wrecked F-111E finds new home in South Carolina

Video

Photo by Master Sergeant Cohen Young.

In February 2012, a U.S. Air Force F-111E Aardvark found its way home to its old unit, the 20th Fighter Wing.

The 20th FW was born in South Carolina a couple of years after World War Two.

After many changes, the 20th FW was sent to the Commonwealth of Nations‘ (formerly British Empire)-United Kingdom member of England, from 1970 to January 1994, on the Royal Air Force’s Upper Heyford base.

In 1991, the 20th FW’s F-111s  went to Turkey to take part in Operation Desert Storm, with this specific Aardvark logging 21 combat missions.  When RAF Upper Heyford was shutdown the 20th FW finally returned to its birthplace of South Carolina.

Note the swing wing hinge.

Note the vortex generators inside the air intake.  (Read NASA report Flight-Determined Characteristics of an Air Intake System on an F-111A Airplane. The F-111 suffered from Mach speed induced engine stall due to the interaction between the sonic shock wave and the air intake, thus many things were adapted to reduce this phenomena, including vortex generators shown in Figure 5 of the report.)

Video report by Airman First Class Blake Hubbard, 03FEB2012:

The 20th FW historians say this particular F-111E spent its entire service life with the 20th FW in England from 1970 until the end of 1993.   This specific F-111E was imprisoned at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB) from 1994 to January 2012.  In 2009, discussions began with the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to negotiate the release of the Aardvark from Davis-Monthan.

Photo by Airman First Class Hunter Brady.

After four or five months (depending on which official report you read) of restoration work, the F-111E was ready to take on its new job as Shaw AFB gate guard.

Video report by Airman First Class Blake Hubbard, 12SEP2012:

Shaw AFB: A FLYING M48A1 TANK?

Technology

Green Mountain Boys find a new home for an old F-4D Phantom-2

Video

Photos by Technical Sergeant Sarah Mattison.

At the end of May 2015, the Vermont Air National Guard moved a former 158th FW F-4D (65-712) Phantom-2 to a new, and supposedly phinal home; guarding the entrance to Camp Johnson.

Video by Staff Sergeant Jason Brace:

The F-4D was located on the grounds of the Camp Johnson Vermont National Guard Museum and Library (aka Vermont Military Museum).  That former location now being held by an F-16.

 

PHINAL UN-MANNED PHANTOM PHLIGHT

1/1 SCALE F-4 PHANTOM-2 MODEL

Utah: PHINAL PHANTOM PHLIGHT, NO MORE USAF F-4 PHANTOMS!