Chant du Départ is up and running and I’m sure the author wouldn’t mind a few more people in the comments   Stop on by and say hi to a cool former Air Force guy if you’ve got a few moments free

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp main connecting rod

13 November 2011 - Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp demonstration engine

 The guys from Pratt & Whitney brought something incredibly cool with them that I’ve never seen before.  To be honest, it’s amazing that this display engine still exists.  This display was built in 1947 for use in conventions and sales functions and somehow was never scrapped.  They don’t know if the parts were new or salvaged and much of its back story has been lost, but I’m glad to have been able to see it.

One of the really unique things about this particular display is that it has a geared electric motor at the back end of the engine which turns it over so that you can see how it all works.  I never knew there is a single carburetor which feeds the atomized fuel into the supercharger, that the pushrods are actuated by a cam ring instead of a cam shaft, or that there is a planetary gear reduction drive from the crankshaft to the prop shaft.

A good animation of the basic operation and function of the radial pistons and the master connecting rod can be found here.

13 November 2011 - Commemorative Air Force Tuskegee Airmen tribute P-51 'By Request'

13 November 2011 - Commemorative Air Force Tuskegee Airmen tribute P-51 'By Request'

 I don’t know if it’s that I’m used to seeing bubble canopies on the P-51D Mustangs, but I really like the older style on this Mustang

13 November 2011 - RideNow Powersports brought some bikes to the airshow

 RideNow Powersports on Craig Road brought a few motorcycles down to the airshow.  This Yamaha Roadliner was originally $15,000 but has been marked down to $9,000!  Yes, it’s a very nice bike, but I think I’ll keep my V-Star for now

13 November 2011 - Cessna O-2A Skymaster cockpit

 I really could live with having a Skymaster like this to play with

13 November 2011 - B-1B Lancer heading out in full burner

13 November 2011 - Nose art on a B-1B Lancer

 I really like the B-1B Lancer.  Its nickname, The Bone comes from B-ONE and it always sounds fantastic with all four engines in afterburner

13 November 2011 - A-37 Dragonfly cockpit

 Remember that A-37 Dragonfly from yesterday?  I think I got a decent picture of the cockpit from way back by the wingtip

13 November 2011 - Japanese Zero flying by

 As I said before, I don’t care if it has the wrong engine – I just love seeing this Zero fly

13 November 2011 - Patriots display team jet number 4 taxiing out

 Now, why couldn’t they let me ride along in that back seat

13 November 2011 - USAF Red Horse construction troops jumping from a C-130

13 November 2011 - USAF Red Horse troops descending behind the B-2 Spirit

 The Red Horse squadrons are to the Air Force what the Seabees are to the Navy.  They’re deployable construction crews and they rock   I didn’t know until this airshow that at least some of them are actually airborne, but that just adds to the awesomeness

13 November 2011 - USAF THUNDERBIRDS

 I couldn’t let this post go by without a gratuitous pic of the T-Birds

13 November 2011 - C-17 Globemaster III taking off for its demo

13 November 2011 - C-17 Globemaster III flying by

13 November 2011 - C-17 Globemaster III slow pass

13 November 2011 - C-17 Globemaster III and the Thunderbirds

 I know how much Kath likes the C-17, so I made sure to get a few good pics of that one for her

13 November 2011 - Patriots jet demonstration team

 I swear I’m going to get some better pics of the Patriots the next time I’m at an airshow where they’re performing    They really are good 

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit approaching in the distance

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit flying overhead

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit turning in the distance

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit turning in the distance

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit turning in the distance

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit with the bomb bays coming open

13 November 2011 - B-2 Spirit with the bomb bays open

 Attendees at the Sunday edition of Aviation Nation 2011 were very lucky indeed.  Not only did we get to see a B-2 Spirit on static display, we got to see one fly as well   Be sure to click on the pics for the high resolution versions

13 November 2011 - C-17 Globemaster III on static display

 One more C-17 pic for Kath

13 November 2011 - A-10 Warthog maneuvering hard during its demo

13 November 2011 - A-10 Warthog

13 November 2011 - F-16 Viper

13 November 2011 - F-15E Strike Eagle AKA Mud Hen

13 November 2011 - F-15E Strike Eagles ejecting decoy flares at the start of a bomb run

13 November 2011 - MH-60 Pave Hawk coming in during an air support demo

13 November 2011 - MH-60 Pave Hawk coming in during an air support demo

13 November 2011 - MH-60 Pave Hawk coming in during an air support demo

13 November 2011 - MH-60 Pave Hawk

13 November 2011 - MH-60 Pave Hawk coming in during an air support demo

 The close air support demo was a great addition to the standard airshow I’ve come to know at Nellis AFB   They had this along with an air combat demonstration with the Fighter Weapons School’s aggressor jets playing the part of the bad guys.  Both were wonderful, but a bit difficult to capture with still photography.  I hope they do both again next year

13 November 2011 - F-16 Aggressor taxiing back from the air support demo

13 November 2011 - F-16 Aggressor taxiing back from the air support demo

13 November 2011 - F-15E Strike Eagle taxiing back from the air support demo

13 November 2011 - F-16 Viper taxiing back from the air support demo

 After their demonstration flights, all the aircraft taxied back along the crowd line on their way back to the hot pits.  All the pilots waved back to the crowd and I think their smiles were almost as big as the ones the kids along the fence line had

Out of all the pics from both days at Aviation Nation 2011, I think two of my favorites are the pic of the second Aggressor F-16 taxiing back and the one with the F-15E cruising down the crowd line.  The kids waving their American flags and the pilots responses from inside the cockpit just seem to bring together and focus the feelings everyone was enjoying that day

13 November 2011 - The Phabulous F-4 Phantom!!!

13 November 2011 - USAF Heritage Flight - F-4 Phantom, A-10 Warthog, F-86 Sabre

 These two pics represent my best effort at making lemonade out of a big pile of lemons   The exposure was horrendous due to my camera not liking the lighting.  Oh well, just do what you can

13 November 2011 - C-5 Galaxy

 I just thought this C-5 Galaxy with the American flag in the hold looked rather impressive

13 November 2011 - Panorama - P-51D Mustang 'Section Eight'

 I only have three panoramas this time, but I really like ‘em   Just look at that exhaust marking on the P-51

13 November 2011 - Panorama - I still love the nose art on this Cessna Skymaster

 There’s just something humorous about Sylvester the Cat riding a pair of target marking rockets

13 November 2011 - Panorama - F/A-18 Super Hornet

 Once again, I made sure to include a bit of Naval Aviation Pr0n – The Super Hornet just looks super

That’s all for Aviation Nation 2011.  Here’s hoping you enjoyed the pics almost as much as I enjoyed the show and taking them

Have fun everyone

Saturday. Not much doing here. So Blogging and Linking are the Orders of The Day!!!!!!!

Barracks on Worm Island

I lived in the closest one on the first deck. For real.

The Accommodations!

The inside of the barracks.

The Naval Training Center and Recruit Training Command, San Diego closed for good in 1997. Lousy BRAC Bastards. Should have kept this one open and maybe even Orlando and closed that dump called Great Lakes.

Sometimes my Navy can still piss me off!

While flame throwers don’t have any pesky federal regulations and are relatively inexpensive, I surely wouldn’t mind receiving an F-22 Raptor or F-117 Nighthawk this Christmas   Oh sure, you could get me an SU-27 Flanker, F-5 Tiger, or a T-38 Talon and I’d be seriously thrilled   There’s something the Raptor and Nighthawk have that nothing else operational right now does that would be the icing on my jet cake – stealth!  No, I don’t want to bomb anyone or shoot anything down (OK, I do – but just inanimate targets in the desert ) – that’s not what I want the low observable capability of these jets for.  I just don’t want to show up on radar screens is all.  After all, who’d know if I accidentally overflew something if they couldn’t see me?  And I’d have plausible dependability in the F-22 if a sonic boom just happened to shake things up somewhere, right?  Come on, people!  You know I should have something like this to play with to help keep me out of trouble