Even more Museum of Aviation

My favorite plane of WWII, the P-51 Mustang. Note that LTC W.E. Hopkins was an ace with five Nazi kills over Europe

The F-15 Eagle. The best fighter plane to ever fly. Don't think so? Its 104 to 0 kill ratio, the highest ever, says you are wrong.

Banner of the American Volunteer Group, the famous Flying Tigers of Burma. Guys who wanted to fly in combat so bad that they decided not to wait for the USA to declare war. They just went anyway.

Cessna A-37B Dragonfly. This was a light attack aircraft used for close air support and forward air control missions during the Vietnam War.

The nose of Waco C6-4A glider. You could see the controls, and let me tell you, I've owned bicycles that look more complicated and air worthy than this thing. The guys riding in this thing were absolutely crazy.

The HU-16B Albatross, a float plane from the post- WWII period, designed to land in the ocean to rescue downed pilots.

My favorite jet, the A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog"

The GAU-8 Avenger 30mm Gatling gun

Here is the GAU-8 unmounted from the A-10

And here is what it can do, this is the top hatch of a M-113 APC. It is more than an inch thick of armored steel. The holes in it were smooth as glass. Scary.

The C-47 Skytrain "Gooney Bird", the transport workhorse of WWII.

Military Technology: Chili Grenade

Here is a new one. A scientist named R.B. Srivastava developed a new less lethal grenade for the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization. It gets its power from the amazingly hot bhut jolokia chili pepper. This pepper, grown in the northern Indian state of Assam, is like the vegetable world's little chemical weapon. To give you an idea of its power, we can use the Scoville scale, usually used to judge the heat of hot sauces and the like. An average jalapeno pepper measures about 10,000 Scoville units. Previously, the scale topped out at 577,000 with the Mexican red savina pepper. The bhut jolokia pepper is rated at 1,001,304 Scoville units. That makes me want to throw up.

The red death of the vegetable world

The seeds are ground into a fine pepper and would be dispersed over an area about 5 meters square. Mr. Srivastava states:

"The chili grenade is a non-toxic weapon and when used would force a terrorist to come out of his hideout. "The effect is so pungent that it would literally choke them."

Personally, I hope this does not make it to our shores so that the police could use it on college students who are acting stupid. Because, in my mind, this thing certainly constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. They are also thinking of using the bhut jolokia for some other uses like a personal defense spray for women. I've always thought that they should make a spray based on wasabi. But it is my idea, and if you make one, I will sue the shit out of you.

"The chili paste could also act as a major repellent against wild elephants."

OK, folks. That makes it official. Anything that hurts an elephant, you want no part of.

The Red Army

Ha ha

Don't be upset though, Russians/Soviets, you get an A for effort.

More Museum of Aviation

To start off, a F4 Phantom. Note that this one has a M61 Vulcan 20mm gun pod mounted under the right wing, as the F4 was the first US fighter to be manufactured without an on board gun.




Here we have one of the weirdest looking planes ever, the F-104 Starfighter. It certainly must have the smallest wings. They are extremely thin and unlike most fighters of its day, not in the swept or delta shape, but rather, a trapezoid. The F-104 was used in Vietnam as a air superiority fighter, but apparently was not very successful or well liked by its pilots.





Here we have a C-130 Hercules, which is pretty much the most useful transport aircraft ever designed. More than 2,262 have been produced and they are in the service of at least 40 or 50 nations. They first flew in 1954 and will likely be a major component of military airlift for at least another 25 or 30 years, perhaps many more. The C-130 is a very rugged aircraft and can land on very short and poorly maintained airstrips if there is a need. There are even versions with skis that they use to fly to scientific bases in Antarctica. It fulfills all sorts of roles, from general cargo airlift to paratrooper transport to electronic warfare (EC-130H Compass Call), to aerial refueling, to transporting light armor like the Marine Corps' LAV III and the Army's Stryker. Crazy folks in the Air Force even fly the C-130 into hurricanes to gather atmospheric data. If you are sitting there thinking he left out the AC-130 Gunship, scroll down.




This is an older version of the gunship, an AC-130A. The Gatling guns, both 7.62mm and 20mm, were removed, likely to be transferred to another aircraft, but the Bofors 40mm guns were still mounted.




This is the big one folks. The B-52 Stratofortress. Oddly enough, it did not seem as big as I had imagined it. But it is still seriously big.


And to end, another F4, this one has two Red Stars for two MiG kills over Vietnam.

Guns of the Cartels

As the Drug War in Mexico has intensified, there have been many "experts" who blame the violence on the availability of firearms in the United States. While it is certain that the violent drug cartels are smuggling guns south of the border, I for one, do not believe that legitimate gun dealers in the United States are the primary source of guns for the cartels.
To back up this claim, I would like to show you a great many of the weapons seized from the Narcotrafficos in the last few months and years. You will see that they come from all over the world. My personal belief is that the incredibly corrupt Mexican Law Enforcement and Army are the main sources of their weaponry. While semi-automatic rifles and pistols are available in the US, grenades, rockets and machine guns certainly are not. Another thing worth mentioning is that organizations that smuggle hundreds of tons of cocaine a year can smuggle guns just as easily.

Swastika-marked Walther P38s. Not from America.

I always pick up a couple of grenades, an anti-tank rocket or two and a silenced submachine gun at Wal-Mart.

Don't you?

I'm don't know where these grenades were manufactured but I am almost certain they are not an American design.

This gold plated 1911A1 is chambered in .38 Super, a very unpopular cartridge in the US, but popular in Latin America, where many countries have laws against owning a weapon chambered in a "military" cartridge.
(Usually the 9mm NATO or .45 ACP)

Gold plated, short barreled AK? Available at every gun store in Texas.
(sarcasm)

.38 Special, 1911, and a sawed off shotgun. Didn't save its owner however.

This guy didn't make it either
The weapon is a Beretta 92FS, manufactured in several places around the world.

German MG42 with anti aircraft sights.

Another 1911A1 in .38 Super. The Jesus grips are a nice touch, but I bet they would hurt when you shoot it.

AKs and FN PS90s. The FNs are likely from the US though. They are well liked by the Narcos for their ability to pierce soft body armor. They are known as "Matapolicias" (Cop Killers)
Also there is a 40mm grenade launcher and several grenades. Not the type of thing you can legally buy anywhere.

Commando 10" M16 with a drum magazine

.50 caliber rifle mounted in the back of an SUV

More M4s, including a 7.5" barreled version

So there you go. Like I said before, there is no doubt that there are many firearms being used by the cartels that came from the US, but blaming the gun laws of the United States for the actions of bloodthirsty people with no morals and a vast, global criminal empire is, in my opinion, asinine.

Aircraft Nose Art

I really love the aircraft nose art of WWII. I think its great because it showed the individuality of the men that flew and maintained these machines, even during a time of anxiety and death. Also, the cool ones were mostly naked women. That's nice too. Anyway, I am guessing that some of you like the Americana/pinup art as much as I do, so I will show you some of my favorites.

B-29 Superfortress

B-17G Flying Fortress

B-29

?

B-26C Invader

While it is not "Nose Art", this is just too cool. And I don't even like Budweiser.

And to close, the famous "Memphis Belle" the first B-17 to complete 25 missions over Fortress Europe

Greatest Weapons of Fiction: Auto 9

This one comes from that greatest of Distopean science-fiction films, Paul Verhoeven's 1987 masterpiece, RoboCop.

This weapon was based on the real-life Beretta 93R, which was a development of the famous Beretta 92 pistol, in service with the US Armed Forces as the M9. The movie version is given an extended barrel and compensator/ barrel weight/ heat sink to lessen the recoil and muzzle rise of a small weapon firing a burst at a high cyclic rate. The prop masters also added a large front a rear sight set.

The real 93R is a select-fire pistol chambered in 9x19mm NATO round and firing from a 20 round detachable box magazine. Unlike the 92, the 93R is a single action pistol. The "R" stands for Raffica which translates to "burst" in Italian. There are two modes of fire, semi-automatic and burst. The burst is of three rounds, firing at approximately 1100 rounds per minute. The designers opted for a burst mode rather than a true full automatic to help minimize muzzle rise and its attendant ammunition wastage.

Soviet Engineering

Works for me.

UH-72 Lakota

This is the newest helicopter in the arsenal of the United States Army, the UH-72 Lakota.
Built by the American Eurocopter division of EADS North America. The planned order for the Army is for 350 aircraft which will be manufactured in Columbus , Mississippi. The Lakota is set to replace the aging UH-1H Hueys as the primary light utility helicopter. The Army continued its long tradition of naming its helicopters after Native American tribes. The UH-72 was designed to accomplish a wide variety of missions, from Medevac to counter narcotics to resupply. A large number of aircraft purchased will be for the Army National Guard units and for the Department of Homeland Defense. Smaller numbers of Lakotas have been obtained by the Navy, the United States Military Academy and the armed forces of Malta.


In the near future, an armed version of the Lakota may to replace the Army's OH-58D Kiowa scout helicopters. The evaluation is to occur sometime in 2010. The UH-72 is being procured as a commercial off the shelf unit (COTS) which will simplify the procurement process. EADS North America has entered into an agreement with Sikorsky to provide logistics support.

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 pilots
• Capacity: 8 troops or 2 stretchers and medical crew
• Length: 42 ft 7 in (13.03 m)
• Rotor diameter: 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
• Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.45 m)
• Disc area: 1,023 ft² (94.98 m²)
• Empty weight: 3,950 lb (1,792 kg)
• Useful load: 3,953 lb (1,793 kg)
• Max Takeoff weight: 7,903 lb (3,385kg)
  
• Powerplant: 2× Turbomeca Arriel IE2 turboshafts, 738 shp (551 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed 145 knots (167 MPH, 269 KPH)
• Range: 370 nautical miles (426 miles, 685 km)
• Service ceiling: 18,000 feet (5,791m)
  

The Boneyard

You definitely want to click on this and zoom in

Since we will be featuring a great deal of planes this week on Homemade Defense, I thought I would share these amazing photos of the airplane graveyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona. The site is currently called the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. There have been planes stored at the base since 1945, when they took possession of a number of Army Air Corps B-29s and C-47s following the end of WWII. The site was chosen for its low humidity and high altitude, which slows the rate of decay down amazingly. With little to no precipitation, these airframes can sit outside in the elements for decades with only minor damage. The alkali soil also cuts down on the corrosion and rust of the steel parts. AMARG also is fairly unique among military bases in that it makes more money than it costs to run the base. For every $1 the federal government spends operating the facility, it saves or produces $11 from harvesting spare parts and selling off inventory.

If you take a closer look at the pic above, you can clearly distinguish many different types of aircraft. There are dozens of B-52s, some with their wings cut off so that the Soviets could verify their retirement as a part of arms treaties. Their is a line of B-1 bombers down the left center of the lower half, to the right are some assorted helicopters, mostly UH-1 Hueys and CH-47s . In the top section, you can see some Navy aircraft, including the F-14 Tomcat in the center and some E-2C Hawkeyes in the bottom, near the bisecting road with F-111 Aardvarks to the right.

The site is massive, spread out over 2,600 acres, and it has over 4,400 aircraft in its inventory. This includes hundreds of B-52s and over 700 F4 Phantoms. While many of the planes and helicopters at AMARG will never fly again, some are stored for possible future use. For example, from 2006 to 2008, five mothballed CH-53Es have been reinstated from AMARG due to combat losses in the War on Terror. From time to time, older aircraft are activated to replace others lost in accidents, combat, or those that have reached their maximum number of flight hours. With modern aircraft, the avionics, radars, targeting pods, etc. can cost as much as the airframe its self, so this makes good sense. There are four categories of aircraft at the Boneyard. "Parts Reclamation" are aircraft that are kept for parts to keep others of their type in flying condition. "Excess of Department of Defense Needs" are aircraft awaiting sale, mostly to foreign Air Forces, either whole, or in parts. "Long Term" storage is for aircraft that are being kept intact for possible future use. Many of these planes can be restored to flying condition in a matter of hours or days. The last category is "Flying Hold", which is for aircraft that are in a shorter term storage than the long term. Some aircraft have been rebuilt for use as remotely operated flying targets for Air Force and Navy fighter aircraft.


You can see how potentially useful airframes like these Hueys, Phantoms and Warthogs are protected from the elements as much as possible. Aircraft entering storage are carefully preserved. First, the plane is disarmed. Then, all classified equipment, ejection seats and so forth is removed. The aircraft is emptied of all fuel and the lines are filled with light oil and drained to form a protective barrier in the tanks and lines. To protect the aircraft from dust, high temperatures and and sun damage, it is tightly sealed. Sometimes this means putting up a sun shield over the windows and other times the airframe is wrapped in white plastic or even sealed with a vinyl compound called spraylat. Then it is towed to its storage position. Just like in the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I have read that a number of Vietnam-era jets (probably F4 Phantoms) have been sold to Turkey in the last several years. While the F4 will never be a front line fighter aircraft again, it can serve well as a light tactical bomber or even stand in as a dedicated close air support platform. And if you have the right friends at the Pentagon, you can probably get them for a song. Congress has oversight on what types or aircraft and parts can be sold to whom, which is why the F-14s at AMARG will likely sit there until the desert swallows them up. The F-14 is currently only in service in the Air Force of Iran so the Government is not selling any Tomcat parts to anyone. (After they accidentally sold some spare parts to Iranian agents. Whoops.)

The Boneyard in May 1992