“Admiral, we’ve taken a hit…and we’re on fire” Tuesday, 11 Sep 2001 0937:25. Reflexively I glanced at my watch at the moment of impact, burning the time into my memory as I passed to my boss who was in Memphis for a promotion board that we had just been struck. “Sir, looks like we’ve been…
Over at Tailhook’s site, Flightdeck Friday is about a little known hybrid fighter, the FR Fireball. ‘Round these parts Southern Air Pirate has graciously offered to host Flightdeck Friday this week while we continue with the remembrances of shipmates lost on this, the 6th anniversary of 9/11. His topic? Spurred by last week’s story of…
Lots to cover today: Airborne Laser (ABL) Passes Milestone Russia Declares for the Moon “by 2025” More Questions About the Bulava SLBM S-400 Triumf (SA-21) Production/Deployment Problems Second SS-27/Topol-M Battalion to Deploy By Year’s End More below the fold…
Several years back I had the extraordinary privilege to get to know a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack who had been assigned to one of the gun turret crews onboard the USS Nevada (BB-36). As a junior "hinge" (O-4/LCDR) I was both captivated by the re-telling, first hand, of the accounts of that morning, and…
(Part 8: Convergence here) Steeljaw 604, airborne, Eastern Caribbean “Here comes another one†passed the ACO on the ICS. Flashing the position of the video paint on his and the others scope via the Intercom Mark function. “Right where the others have all been coming from – they must be using that cape as their final…
Team NAVY and MEGEN: While donations are taken year ’round, there is an annual fund raiser (two years old now) that runs from Halloween to Veteran’s Day (11 Nov). During this period teams of bloggers, formed along Service affiliation lines, compete with one another to drive fundraising efforts. Last year four teams sought to be…
Well, we’re going to try an experiment, which is probably the blog equivalent of "Hey watch me do this (fill in the blank)…!" As we have entered the fall season with the return of school for the remaining scriblet and the attending commitment of time to marching band and football, Saturday’s will provide minimal opportunity…
Prologue It began in December, 1943 with the delivery of the 8th and 9th YP-59 Airacomets (s/n 42-108778 and 42-100779) to the Navy for investigation of bringing jets to aircraft carriers. By all accounts, one wouldn’t have been surprised if the Navy had passed on the concept based on initial impressions from these prototypes (also…
The U.S. Coast Guard marks more than a million lives saved in a 217th birthday ceremony Saturday. Eagle1 has a great rundown on the "Top 10" rescues ( as provided by USCG PAO). Besides the Katrina rescues, there are some very notable, if obscure efforts listed (see espcially the write-ups on the Prinsendam and Bermuda Sky…
So, we have Flightdeck Friday and now, having taken full leave of our senses, we have determined that following the MAKS 07 series and some others, perhaps there is enough interest (and fodder) out there for a recurring feature on elements of the naval- and air forces of Russia, China and North Korea – and their surrogates (Iran…
