Interesting photos I have run across.

[FlashBuddy]

14 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

IF you folks want to use the google accounts...they should not be to where a viewer would have to create an account....or at least provide your log in....

Are you referencing the photos linked by @linus6948 supposedly hosted on Google Photos? That link didn't work for me and I have multiple free Google accounts (because I'm special as you know). 

 

I've had good luck hosting images on imgur. With the app on my phone and their very functional website for my desktop, I'm able to quickly get images up to share. Just sayin'...

 

 

You can use imgur too! https://imgur.com

Edited January 8, 2021 by FlashBuddy

[Los_Control]

[plymouthcranbrook]

2 hours ago, Los_Control said:

?

[Ulu]

Some of my cichlids squaring up to fight. Labidichromis vs Malawi hybrid.

 

 

This is how I have felt lately too. Ready to bite. LOL

[Plymouthy Adams]

8 minutes ago, Ulu said:

Some of my cichlids squaring up to fight. Labidichromis vs Malawi hybrid.

 

 

This is how I have felt lately too. Ready to bite. LOL

 

Lot of cabin fever in winter...add the covid factor....many folks are at t he breaking point...hang in there if you survive covid, spring is coming...

[knuckleharley]

Ok,being a former career SF soldier in the army,I ran across these photos and found the comparison amusing.

 

The first photo is of soldiers from a conventional Army airborne division making a standard military parachute jump.

 

The second photo is of a SF Scuba Committe team making what is,for them,a typical parachute jump.

 

Who do YOU think is having the most fun?

[Dan Hiebert]

That was probably a rhetorical question, but...duh!  The HALO jumpers, of course!  I did the first thing, static parachuting, I was always surprised how many of those studly paratroopers were terrified during the whole jump process.  Some would scream from a few feet to the door all the way to the ground, some you had to push ahead of you to get them out the door, some made 100% night jumps because they always kept their eyes shut.  But they (ok, me too) got to wear a sexy maroon beret, jump wings, and be forever known as paratroopers (although my tolerance of heights has steadily diminished over the years).  You could tell which ones would go on to Ranger, Special Forces, or even Delta.  They tended to be the ones giggling the whole time and coming up with bizarre ways to entertain themselves more during the jump.  I was in support of the HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) school at Ft. Bragg one post support cycle and always got a kick out of the absolute glee they were experiencing.  I also get a kick out of what I call the specialty hierarchy, you being SF calling the 82nd ABN (for example) a "conventional" airborne unit, the 82nd would call non airborne (leg) units "conventional"...and all of them would call us nuts. 

[knuckleharley]

6 hours ago, Dan Hiebert said:

That was probably a rhetorical question, but...duh!  The HALO jumpers, of course!  I did the first thing, static parachuting, I was always surprised how many of those studly paratroopers were terrified during the whole jump process.  Some would scream from a few feet to the door all the way to the ground, some you had to push ahead of you to get them out the door, some made 100% night jumps because they always kept their eyes shut.  But they (ok, me too) got to wear a sexy maroon beret, jump wings, and be forever known as paratroopers (although my tolerance of heights has steadily diminished over the years).  You could tell which ones would go on to Ranger, Special Forces, or even Delta.  They tended to be the ones giggling the whole time and coming up with bizarre ways to entertain themselves more during the jump.  I was in support of the HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) school at Ft. Bragg one post support cycle and always got a kick out of the absolute glee they were experiencing.  I also get a kick out of what I call the specialty hierarchy, you being SF calling the 82nd ABN (for example) a "conventional" airborne unit, the 82nd would call non airborne (leg) units "conventional"...and all of them would call us nuts. 

After being medievaced from VN I was no longer on jump status,so I couldn't remain in SF. So they sent me to the 18th ABN Corps to serve out the rest of my enlistment. Since I had a bunch of jumps and not everybody,including the NCO's in my new unit were ABN qualified,I ended up being the safety NCO on jumps,and as I am sure you remember,the army LOVED jumps on Saturday night because it didn't interfer with normal training hours.

 

Since I was no longer on jump status myself, I didn't get even an extra nickel out of this despite losing more hours than the jumpers because I had to fly around with the C-130 crew while they got in enough flight hours to get flight pay that month.

 

I was what could be safely called "less than amused" by this situation,so looked around for ways to amuse myself. One was was to look at the sticks and search out what seemed to be like the most terrified young jumper,and as I did the safety check on his equipment right before the jump,I would look them straight in the eye and say "Man,your bleep is ALL bleeped up! You are going to die for sure! Airborne!

 

For some reason,they failed to see the humor in this.  

 

The end result was I got pulled off of safety NCO duty. Wadda shame. Who could have seen THAT coming?

 

Where I really screwed up is not re-enlisting when they offered me a promotion if I would do so. I did NOT like the regular army any better than they liked me,and I just couldn't see me making it for another 13 years with these uptight "wear red and march in a straight line" bleeps.

 

Then I got out of the army and found out about Agent Orange a year or two later,and was stuck with a montly income of $67 that even cut me out of unemployment. Not to mention having no civilian job skills and a weird sense of humor.

Edited January 27, 2021 by knuckleharley

[Dan Hiebert]

My brother was in the 18th ABN Corp for a bit in the mid-80s.  We were on Bragg at the same time.  He was a "garrison MP" and wasn't airborne, but still had to wear the airborne tab.  Caught a lot of poop for it, he didn't like wearing it as much as the airborne folks didn't like him wearing it.

 

We called those Saturday jumps "fun jumps".  National Guard aircrews always did them so they had to be on the weekend, and they had to have us as "training aids".  We got full credit for however many jumps we could pull off in a day, there were some months when those were the only jumps we could get.  I liked them because they weren't as strict as the regular jumps.  The Division never did weekend night jumps while I was there, for whatever reason.  If our timelines weren't so different, I'd swear you were a jumpmaster for a few of the jumps I did...I've heard that line a few times...?   

 

 

[knuckleharley]

33 minutes ago, Dan Hiebert said:

My brother was in the 18th ABN Corp for a bit in the mid-80s.  We were on Bragg at the same time.  He was a "garrison MP" and wasn't airborne, but still had to wear the airborne tab.  Caught a lot of poop for it, he didn't like wearing it as much as the airborne folks didn't like him wearing it.

 

We called those Saturday jumps "fun jumps".  National Guard aircrews always did them so they had to be on the weekend, and they had to have us as "training aids".  We got full credit for however many jumps we could pull off in a day, there were some months when those were the only jumps we could get.  I liked them because they weren't as strict as the regular jumps.  The Division never did weekend night jumps while I was there, for whatever reason.  If our timelines weren't so different, I'd swear you were a jumpmaster for a few of the jumps I did...I've heard that line a few times...?   

 

 

Well,if you are going to be in the Airborne infantry,you need a sense of humor.

We in SF actually had it pretty easy,as you can tell by the attitude of the scuba jumpers. No mass jumps like the 82nd. Seems like every time the 82nd would have big jumps,multiple people would get seriously injured. There was a time or two,back in the C-119 days,when one of the damn things would just start dropping like a rock from hitting an air pocket,and there were a couple of times that mean it would run though a stick of jumpers. 

I remember going to jump school and since I had never even been close to an airplane before,never mind jumping out of one,was afraid I would punk out. All such fears vanished after climbing about a C-119. Damn thing would hit an air pocket and drop like a rock for what seemed like 500 feet but was more likely 50 feet,then slowly begin to climb back up to altitude. I lost ALL fear of not jumping instantly. I didn't give a damn if they were flying over downtown Columbus,if they opened the door,I was OUT of that SOB as fast as I could move.

IIRC,they retired the C-119 shortly after that,a move for which I was profoundly grateful..

On the other hand,my "cherry jump" at Bragg after jump school was a night equipment jump over Nighmaegen Drop Zone,and we were jumping C-47's,just like the guys did in Normandy during WW-2. I thought that was the absolutely coolest thing I would ever do. I had known since the 3rd grade that I wanted to be a paratrooper,and enlisted on my 17th birthday with the guarantee that I would go to jump school. 

I could close my eyes and imagine the AAA fire,the searchlights,etc,etc,etc.  One of my all-time favorite army moments.

The army got rid of the C-46/C-47's right after that. For all I know that jump was the last one they were used on.

[Dan Hiebert]

That is cool, jumping out of a C47 had to be awesome.  It must have been close to a helicopter jump as slow as those could fly.  I had the privilege of being in the last stick to jump out of the C7 Caribou.  That and two dollars will get me a small coffee somewhere.  Don't remember where they dug it up, it was from a Guard unit somewhere, making the rounds before it was retired from service.  Rivets popping, loud, smelly, but stable.  They asked for volunteers (you know what they say about that) to make the jump "for posterity".  Got on thinking "this is cool", but like you and that C119, I couldn't wait to get out of it as soon as possible...on the ground or not. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

interesting reads....I only have flown in the military C-141 as I took a couple hops long ago and my longest flying adventure was in a AF C-5 across the Atlantic puddle with layover in Spain bound for Bahrain....I was one of 5 people who got bumped off the returning flight and flew via 747 coming back...at that time Cathay Pacific was the best airline in the service area.  Out of six trips to the mideast...5 1/2 was commercial.  

[knuckleharley]

On 1/28/2021 at 9:13 AM, Plymouthy Adams said:

interesting reads....I only have flown in the military C-141 as I took a couple hops long ago and my longest flying adventure was in a AF C-5 across the Atlantic puddle with layover in Spain bound for Bahrain....I was one of 5 people who got bumped off the returning flight and flew via 747 coming back...at that time Cathay Pacific was the best airline in the service area.  Out of six trips to the mideast...5 1/2 was commercial.  

Flying commercial didn't work well for SF troops. The silenced sub guns and all the explosives tend to freak civilians out. Plus,people really weren't supposed to be aware of our movements.

I did go to visit friends on Okinawa and to ride the Triumph Bonneville I had left there while on 5 day standdown in VN,though. I told the camp commander what I was up to and gave him a contact number if he needed to reach me in a hurry,and had the clerk type me up orders saying I was a "classified courier". This allowed me to get on a commercial flight out of Saigon without having to buy a ticket,and I I didn't have to go through customs. I was  also able to fly armed,and at that time I really wasn't comfortable going anywhere unarmed.

 

Flew to Okie,found out my friends had held a Shinto Funeral Service for me because they had heard I had been reported MIA in Laos,and had my friends wife flat scare the hell out of me when she came to answer her doorbell,saw me standing there and screamed like the hounds of hell were after her. Took a while to calm her down. What happened was one of the teams TDY from Okie were roating back there at the same time my team was underfire and running from the NVA,and out of contact because the radio had been shot up. They got back to Okie before we got back to the base camp,so for all they knew,we were still MIA. I had no idea any of this had happened when I rang that doorbell.

 

BTW,if any of you are interested about what life was like in the Special Operations Group recon section in VN,one of my best friends was Awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions there,and wrote a book about his experiences. Truth to tell,there isn't a whole lot of combat mentioned in the book. It's mostly about what life was like on recon teams,what the people where like,and what life was like in general in SF during that period.

 

He spent 5-1/2 years running recon non-stop,and the Camp Commander literally had him sedated and put on an airplane back to Ft.Bragg to get him to leave after getting shot up so badly on his last mission. He ended up dying in the early 80's from a blood infection that came with the transfusions he got at no extra cost. From the time of the diagnoisis to the time he died awas about 3 weeks.

 

His name was Franklin D.Miller,and the title of the book is "Reflections of a Warrior". The profits from all sales go to his children. You can read reviews and buy it from Amazon,

Edited March 19, 2021 by knuckleharley

[Plymouthy Adams]

was able to catch this veteran as it made a thru-flite on its way to retirement at Wright-Patt.....I was quite surprised to spy this bird one day while doing my QA rounds and drove immediately back to the office and grabbed the camera.  

 

Hanoi Taxi.....given special permission to go back to the original paint scheme....the oxygen panel where the POW's signed on the flight home.

 

 

[knuckleharley]

5 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

was able to catch this veteran as it made a thru-flite on its way to retirement at Wright-Patt.....I was quite surprised to spy this bird one day while doing my QA rounds and drove immediately back to the office and grabbed the camera.  

 

Hanoi Taxi.....given special permission to go back to the original paint scheme....the oxygen panel where the POW's signed on the flight home.

 

 

DAYUM! That is some historic stuff!

[sidevalvepete]

1906 Model N Frod. Predates the T and back then Henry was a right hand drive man.......... at a local car show last weekend. Not mopar and apologies if I am disrespecting Don's memory by piggybacking his thread....no offence intended ?

 

Thought the genuine US rhd was interesting.....

[RobertKB]

Interesting car! Before the Model T in 1908, there were a few other models. Looks like a show with lots of oldies. 

[sidevalvepete]

1948 and 1952 Buick Straight Eights. Owned by same local guy since 1959.

1947 Pontiac

Frod Jeep

Willys Jeep

GMC 6x6

Unimog

 

A few others of interest at the show. Posted some Mopars on the main Forum.......kept the others to this Off Topic......

[knuckleharley]

21 hours ago, sidevalvepete said:

1906 Model N Frod. Predates the T and back then Henry was a right hand drive man.......... at a local car show last weekend. Not mopar and apologies if I am disrespecting Don's memory by piggybacking his thread....no offence intended ?

 

Thought the genuine US rhd was interesting.....

Seeing one of those things "in the flesh" has to be a real experience these days. Can't be many of them left.

[plymouthcranbrook]

On 1/31/2021 at 8:46 PM, sidevalvepete said:

1906 Model N Frod. Predates the T and back then Henry was a right hand drive man.......... at a local car show last weekend. Not mopar and apologies if I am disrespecting Don's memory by piggybacking his thread....no offence intended ?

 

Thought the genuine US rhd was interesting.....

I get excited seeing really old cars in the flesh so to speak. Still remember the first Curved Dash Olds I saw and the first Stanley Steamer running. Keep right on posting this stuff. Love it.

[sidevalvepete]

The guy who resurrected this lives about 4 miles away. He is well known for finding and restoring veterans and then rallying them - not putting them in a museum. He has done pre 1920 Ts, Cadillacs ( one a 1906 single cylinder ) and is very clever with the home engineering required for this passion. Which a lot of you people are too...... As there seems to be some interest, I will call in and see if he will let me take some pictures to post here.

[T120]

The result of flat towing a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon behind an RV while transmission engaged in 4 Lo...$$$

[Ed's Wrench]

Wow, that's ugly.

Hopefully this Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is on someone else's list of Project Cars, and not YOURS.

[T120]

1 hour ago, Ed's Wrench said:

Wow, that's ugly.

Hopefully this Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is on someone else's list of Project Cars, and not YOURS.

Not mine. While I would love to own one ,they are rather pricey...There is a video on youtube with the reaction of a mechanic where  the vehicle was taken for an estimate on repairs, Caution!,there is foul language..."2021 wrangler Jeep destruction! HOW?!"

[knuckleharley]

I'm going to go out on a limb here,and say  suspect it got a little hot.er 

 

Back in another lifetime when we lived in a free world,I used to just drive straight up the beach from NC to get to Va to shop for items not available locally. Been decades since the world was that free,but IIRC,it saved about 40 miles of extra driving if I had followed the roads.

 

Coming back home one day I spotted a brand new Series 1 Ford Bronch that still had dealer tags on it,being washed sidways by the ocean,and being pulled further out to sea with every wave. Both doors were open,and the panicky elderly owners who had just bought it that day to explore the wonders of the undeveloped ocean front were in a panic.

 

So we stopped,attached a tow rope to it,and pulled it out of the ocean for them. Once we got it up high on the beach I noticed  the front hubs weren't locked and it was still in 2wd. When I asked the man why he hadn't just put it in 4 wheel drive and driven higher up the beach while he still could,his response was "Huh? I thought they automatically went into 4WD when  it loses traction!".

 

You would THINK a Jeep salesman back then would have recognized the new buyer didn't know a damn thing about 4wd and given him a short class,but nope,he just took the signed contract and waved "Bye Bye" as this elderly couple drove off on their exciting new journey.

 

I somehow suspect it was traded in on a new car the next week,and a year later the new couple were wondering why the body was disappearing as it sat in their garage.