Warbird Information Exchange

Yeah, baby! That is sweet!

(brave s.o.b. standing right in line with that prop)

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Dean Hemphill, K5DH
Port Charlotte, Florida

.................(brave s.o.b. standing right in line with that prop)

you got that right!! I was wondering how much closer he intended to get!!

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Actually, it wasn't that close.... just looked like it. There was quite a bit of space between him and the prop. Musta been the camera made it look that way. But still, awesome shot!!! Thanks Ryan! Well, in other news this evening, work continued on the airplane this weekend in spite of all the rain. And Arnold had a good retirement party last night although we had to move indoors and the band didn't get to play. We had a great time. We are looking forward to Arnold having more time to work on the airplane in January.... after he gets the honeydo list completed!! The avionics guys are still working out the last details for their installation although I did throw them a little curve about maybe getting some more equipment! I know, my bad. Ed and Tim teamed up to take care of a lot of details in the left nacelle from the installation of the oil shutoff valve. There was a little leak they fixed as well. Jim S and Alex made templates for the cockpit quilted material behind the pilot seat to cover the electrical and hydraulic areas. Will get those started. The right side panels have already been made, but will wait until the last paint is done in the cockpit. We had a good BBQ lunch and showed the video from Anderson's of our engine run. We are anxious to hear about the after run tests to see if everything checked out ok. Ray is still out and we wish him a speedy recovery. We heard from George M.(Nimrod) that Fred M (also Nimrod) has been in the hospital and has gone to rehab now. We hope he also makes a good recovery. George and Fred have been by to see us several times. Always welcome the guys who flew the A-26A back in the day. George had some great pictures and stories that he shared at the last A-26 reunion in Oct. One involved shooting at a water buffalo carrying explosives that was crossing a river. You can imagine the result. Anyway, we will continue working on K probably on Friday since many of the guys are off then and Saturday as usual. We always welcome visitors to come see us plus the B-29, B-24 and the others in the hangar. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! JR

Our Second Assistant Crew Chief came out this afternoon to conduct an inspection of the work done yesterday in the nacelle. He gave his approval after much consideration. He also displayed his ability to recite the Pledge of Allegiance... not bad for a 4 yr old going on 18. Ol Dad couldn't be prouder!! It really is a family thanksgiving week!! JR

Thinking back to 1965-66 when the A-26's were getting more heavily involved in the conflict in SEA, most will remember the Robin Williams' movie about "Good Morning, Viet NAM". It was loosely based on Adrian Cronauer's book about his experiences as a radio DJ on the AFVN Radio/TV Network based in Saigon. Just wondering if anybody on this forum can remember the actual radio broadcasts from back then. Or if anybody knows who took the place of Adrian C. as a DJ when he rotated out??? Just for grins.... JR

Hmmmm, nobody remembers that far back maybe. Randy, was there any sort of radio entertainment at NKP?? I doubt you could have heard Saigon without some sort of repeater at that distance. If not, what did ya'll have besides the jukebox at the club and scuttlebutt for news? On the question of Adrian C, it wasn't exactly a close replacement. Adrian left in '66. Pat Sajak took over as DJ in '68... yep, the "Wheel" guy was in the Army then. It just seemed interesting. Adrian made a good point about the Vietnam vets.... he said, "People back then couldn't seem to separate those who made policy from those who had to carry it out." And that is exactly why we need to get K going around telling the stories of the vets and making it clear that they deserve our support and thanks as much as any serviceman, past or present. Many got a raw deal when they returned home. Fortunately, people seemed to have learned that lesson and have made it a point not to repeat that mistake. Recognition of the sacrifice and service of the Vietnam vets is a big part of the mission of Special K. JR

.........Randy, was there any sort of radio entertainment at NKP??

=========If there was, I don't remember it. Seems like I remember the song "Day Tripper" coming out of the one club there that I remember as I was walking to and from the flight line. Can't say as I remember anything. Some have said that they listened to Hanoi Hannah but I don't even remember that. Strange how some things you can have almost complete recall of and others you draw a complete blank! Old age and CRS kickin in I guess!!!

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Yeppers Randy, it is hard to sort out the music of the time with exactly how we heard it and where, when, etc. I played in a rock band in college, but don't hardly recall the names of any of the songs we used to play. CRS for sure!! Wonder if Frank N is having the same problem?? Anyway, most accounts I have read about NKP include some stories about buying all the high powered audio equipment of that day at the BX and seeing if one could set the walls back a little in the hooch. Then there were the bar bands playing the latest American music even though it might have a been a little hard to understand with the Thai accents. Didn't matter though cause it had a beat and sounded good like home.... not that you can really understand all the words of a rock song even today. I wonder how many times we played "Louie Louie" at the slower speed on the phono to see if we could figure out the lyrics and if he was saying what we thought we were hearing!! Don't suppose anybody else ever did that??

.....................Then there were the bar bands playing the latest American music even though it might have a been a little hard to understand with the Thai accents.
========with enough Beams Choice and Coke, it all sounded good!!!

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

So Randy, what was your favorite beer besides a cold one??? Was ice a little hard to come by? I mean besides using a CO2 fire extinguisher to cool it down??

JR

......So Randy, what was your favorite beer besides a cold one??? Was ice a little hard to come by?
=====
At the snack bar on NKP, they actually had large vats with ice cold beer in them, and man it all tasted pretty good in the heat. Singha was the beer of choice downtown NKP. Black Label also comes to mind, and Falstaff.
The pilots would also treat us to beer, which we kept in our hooch. No ice there, so we drank it warm. It was desperate times!!
Personally, I class beer like some other things in this world---"It's all good, it's just that some is better than others".............

From Virginia, waiting on the snow to arrive later tonight.

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Hey Randy, got snow yet? I found this video from 1962/63 of ordnance loading at Bien Hoa Air Base of T-28's, Skyraiders, and B-26's that might warm you up!!! These are not K models but they sure tried to load them up like they were. You can see why the K's wings were modified the way they were. The SVAF markings are interesting as well. Well, keep the snow blower handy and stay warm! Cheers, JR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmX_eAKKGWA

The AFTN (American Forces Thailand Network) started operating at NKP on 19 Dec ’66… just after Randy left. The radio station “officially” didn’t start operating till 3 Feb ’67, but SSGT Davis F Ball (“Doc” Ball) got to NKP at the end of Dec ’66 and it seems that a crude radio station was up and operating. “Doc” Ball was one of the contributors to “More Memories of Naked Fanny” and tells about his time at NKP.

By the time I got there (Dec ’68) there was a full fledged radio-station operating at NKP. There were American Forces Radio & Television Networks (AFRTN) all over Southeast Asia with stations at every USAF base in Thiland (Korat, Takhli, Ubon, Udorn, Utapao, & NKP). There were also 15 unmanned satellite stations all over Thailand. At this time there was a full network of radio stations throughout South Vietnam too (AFVN). All of the networks were “hooked together” so we got some of the programming from South Vietnam… though Adrian Cronauer was long gone by my time.

When I first got there they were finishing up construction of a TV station on NKP and they did the first broadcasting test with some Christmas programming on Christmas Day ’68… though I was in no shape to see any of it after the Christmas Eve party the night before. Besides, no one had TVs. A few months later there were a few BW TVs in some of the day rooms & hooch bars.

Yes… we bought lots of stereo equipment. It was really cheap and every hooch seemed to have enough equipment to blow out the ear-drums of all personnel on the base. Everyone bought as much as they could afford so we could have a great stereo system for when we got “back in the world.” I still have some of the stuff I bought back then and it's still going strong.

It seemed we all had some kind of small transistor radio. I remember many long nights working in the “ammo shack” or “fuse shack” and the radio blasting out AFTN. They played mostly the music of the day. The movie “Good Morning Vietnam” made it like they played polka music or organ music, but that was not the case. Yeah there was a tiny bit of that but it was mostly top-40 sorts of stuff. The music was interspersed with GI news casts at the top of the hour along weather reports.

We also got… ummmmmm … errrrrr… VD reports twice an hour. Although a couple of the DJs were hum-drum like shown in “Good Morning Vietnam”, most were up-beat and pretty good. None were like Robin Williams portrayal of Adrian Cronauer of course, but they were OK just the same.

All in all, by the time I got to NKP, AFTN was a big part of our every day lives.

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Bob
Memories of Naked Fanny
More Memories of Naked Fanny (Nov 2013)
609th Nimrod, Bomb loader, Gun Plumber, '68 - '69

................Hey Randy, got snow yet?

.............Yep, got about 4" of heavy stuff on the ground and predicting 6-8 by tonight. Had to take my Mom to the doc this morning before they had started plowing the roads. That was lots of fun, but the trusty little Honda got us there and back. Guess we're lucky not to be in Buffalo though.

Good movie link. Recognized most of the ordnance in that one, except the old clulster bombs. Don't think we flew any of those when I was there, just the newer CBU-14's. The GP bombs, frag clusters and nape all too familiar.

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Randy Ryman
Project Big Eagle
NKP Thailand 1966
http://www.coastcomp.com/av/florence/florandy.htm

Great conversation on AFVN in Vietnam. I am a 43 yr old Vietnam War Historian and a faithful follower on this B-26K project. I own 7 military vehicles and I am known to do a pretty sizeable display. I will also fill you in on "David Rabbit" who broadcasted from an illegal radio station in Saigon. He was an Airforce Airman and was a tell it like it is DJ. I have about 6 hrs of his recordings on DVD as part of my personal collection. To get a sample, grab a cold one from the fridge and sit back and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwuzOlLd3WA

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Long Live the N3N-3 "The Last US Military Bi-Plane" 1940-1959
Badmouthing Stearmans on WIX since 2005