Warbird Information Exchange

He wasn't claiming that you said you took the pic, he said that you said the pic was taken at Hurlburt.

Gotta translate occasionally for you guys not in Texas.

Yeah, what he (C flyer) said! Don'tcha know. Ya'll are takin' things a little too literal. The translation is right on! What I am sorta puzzled by... is why nobody has said anything about the tail number being 17676???? This is the airplane at the Air Force Museum or whatever the heck they are callin' it nowadays. That place in Dayton on Wright-Pat AFB. I remember the day when most of the big airplanes sat outside. The B-29 (Bock's Car) used to sit behind the B-36. It was completely dwarfed even though a B-29 is big in its own right. Glad they got most of the stuff inside under cover and in a controlled environment. Will have to put Dayton on our tour list. Thanks and ya'll come back now, ya hear? JR

UMmmmmmm.... ERrrrrrrrrrrrr.... UHhhhhhhhhhh...... Is this what I said? Can somebody translate??? LOL !!

C2j

UMmmmmmm.... ERrrrrrrrrrrrr.... UHhhhhhhhhhh...... Is this what I said? Can somebody translate??? LOL !!

C2j[/quote]


Means... sticky keyboard.

Hmmmmmm...

Not sticky. Stutters.

C2j

C2j... I just found my Texan to English translating software.. that would be a dictionary in your language and noticed that indeed some confusion must have arisen which has now caused your computer to ah, well, stutter. Now, just let me say, that a very famous star and aviator, namely Jimmy Stewart... turned a slight stutter into some very big bucks. In 1989, he was a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at the start of the new year. Johnny asked Jimmy if he had made any New Year's resolutions. He replied, "Why no, he used to do that, but not any longer.. too late in life" He continued, "I did give up smoking as one resolution, but the other resolution was not so successful". Johnny asked him what that was and there was a long pause, then Jimmy said, " To try to talk faster!" So you are in good company!! He was my all time favorite. JR

We noticed a few parts missing off the number two engine which is why we thought it might be time for overhaul. Would you agree? Actually, we got word that Anderson is coming down from Idaho one day next week and can pick up our real engine. Joy!! That's the good news. The bad news is that the engine driven fuel pump is not repairable and we have to find a new one. The jury is still out on the hydraulic pump. Keep your fingers crossed!! Hopefully we can start making engine noises before the new year and increase the Air Force of the Republic with another A-26. Wow, wouldn't that look cool... a formation of A-26's over Kyle Field at an Aggie football game?? We gotta work faster. JR

Hmmmm... new mystery part of the week. This odd shaped antenna was placed behind the one Ray installed last week on top of the empennage. Wonder which radio it goes with?? JR

I'm thinking that's part of the high frequency antenna system for the HF radio.

I figured it'd be there someplace. Woodie

I had this photo in my files for quite some time now. Nice angle. I can't recall the original source

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

Hi Frank: yep, correct. It has a wire that goes up to the cable that runs from the top of the vertical stab to the front post behind the cockpit. What did ya'll use the HF for and was it very clear? I was thinking about long range comm when ya'll flew them across the Pacific, but was it used in country? Regards, JR

There's a pic of 645 on the flightline loaded with "iron bombs" and 2 CBU-24s inboard over on FaceBook. Can whoever posted it please post it here. I would like any more info you have, if any, on the pic too. I'm hoping that it will be in higher resolution here.

It's likely that I loaded those bombs on 645. During the monsoon season we were sometimes fragged to fly to the Plane of Jars (PDJ) to support the Royal Laotians. We went to the PDJ during monsoon season because the trucks were not moving on "the trail". The "trail" had become just a huge mud bog so none were "out and about". The only time we flew "wall-to-wall" iron bombs (or a load like this) was when we were fragged to the PDJ. For those missions we loaded 12 of the M1-A4 clusters in the bomb bay. (For missions over the trail, we loaded six M1-A4 clusters and 2 funny bombs (M31/32) in the bomb bay).

When we loaded iron bombs like that, a 40ft trailer would drive around the flight line taking a load crew with it. The load crew would load just the iron bombs and move on to the next plane. If other munitions were to be loaded, like the CBU-24s, another crew would load those. Also in the process, 2 man crews would fuse bombs or a different 2 man crew would load the M1-A4s in the bomb bay.

It got real "exciting" one time when the driver of the 40-footer forgot to strap down the bombs as he drove away... dropping bombs on the ramp as they rolled off the back of the trailer. Then he slammed on the brakes... and the bombs rolled the other way. Yup... thumping into the cab and tumbling off to the ground. What did we do after the "excitement" was over?... We picked up the bombs and loaded them on the planes of course.

It wasn't till late '69 that we started using the MHU-12 trailers (Munitions Handling Unit) like shown in the pic (with two CBU-24s still on it). So I am concluding that this was in the monsoon season in the later part of '69... perhaps August - October. At least, that's my best guess from the resolution I can see on the Facebook pic.

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

Bob, I think this is the picture you wanted. Is this any better? Man, what a story!! To get the first hand account from the guy what done it!! Wish I could give you more info on the picture, but I am not sure where it came from actually. Just came across it in my file while looking for things to put on our new Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/a26specialkay ... if anybody would like to take a look. We are trying to spread that word in various ways that we are getting relatively close to flying status again. We need all the prayers and support we can muster to help push K over the finish line. Tomorrow should be another productive day at the hangar if the heat doesn't make us quit too early. Come on out and visit with us. Meacham Field is not hard to find if you are in the Republic. Cheers, JR

The picture is obviously well beyond 1966. Aluminum mat and not PSP.

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