Identify the Aircraft
Bullet Points:
** Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it. -Robert Frost
** What the USMC wants — The Marines originally envisioned a vessel that would each carry about 75 Marines and their gear, would resemble a commercial vessel, and could beach itself for shore-to-shore operations. The service was looking to buy 35 units for about $100 million to $130 million apiece starting in FY22.
The Navy — which must manage and buy this shipbuilding program despite it being a Marine Corps priority — postponed the start of the program to FY23 and then to FY25, at first citing a too-tight shipbuilding budget and then citing a need to reconsider the survivability and lethality of the ship, which would support Marine Corps operations but be crewed by Navy sailors. Amid this debate over requirements, the cost ballooned to perhaps $350 million a copy.
** Which US State is most and least innovative?
** No hurricane has ever crossed the equator.
Surly Arrives
Identify the Leader
Mineral Production (2022)
Reflection Canyon
Reflection Canyon, Utah – On an extension from Lake Powell, Reflection Canyon is accessible via a challenging hike that is rough and in a remote area.
Identify the Aircraft:
Vultee XP-54
Wow, that was fast, Surly – are we quantum computing now?
No, just pattern reorganization working well.
Recognition. Obviously need more coffee.
You know, the Cray was built in a circle to maintain the shortest distance for computation…Surly is an AI Cray. Kle is similar.
But here’s the caveat; the Master Programmer still holds the top spot, without him we would have no idea of the Savants among us.
May I suggest you switch to Italian espresso? The morning reboot will be both faster and more effective.
When I worked in Milano, my co-workers were all espresso addicts. Triple shot in the morning, triple shot mid-morning, triple shot after lunch as a pick-me-up, and one mid-afternoon. I waited for them to keel over from heart attacks.
Yep, the splendidly nicknamed Swoose Goose.
Something else it turned out we didn’t need, and the engine never materialized for.
-Kle.
Designed for an engine that didn’t work out. Like all the other super-pusher fighters.
Though it would have been interesting to see the plane powered by a jet engine.
That was one of a number of failed designs around the early 40s. Most of them died on the vine due to engines not working out, underperformance, or overly complicated (and impractical) systems.
Re the monkey bars, we had those, and a metal slide that was probably 15 feet high, with a ladder with no handrails, and dirt at the end of the slide… We survived!!!
A lot of those boys probably joined 82nd or 101st Airborne, no big deal jumping out of a plane.
And they heated up to a bazillion degrees in the Summer sun!
And no one whined. We had the best playground “apparatus”.
X2 DRJIM. Sometimes it was so hot that it peeled the skin from your hands.
Aircraft. I will continue to bow to my betters, Congrats again Surly.
Ships. What military program has not grown exponentially from original concept of user to final design. Brings new meaning to the phrase “gilding the lily”. I don’t think we have had a original successful design of aircraft or ship since the B 52 have we? I couldn’t think of one right off hand.
Hurricanes (Typhoons). I never realized how much more often typhoons appeared in the Pacific vs the Atlantic. Makes sense though; larger body of water gives the storm the opportunity to gain more energy.
Innovative states. Hmm Sounds a bit hokey to me. For example ND is not innovative at all according tho the article but needs STEM grads the most.
ND is a quickly evolving state at every level.
A-4 Skyhawk come to mind.
The Pacific is much bigger than the Atlantic and has much more water surface in the Tropical zone, along with much bigger circular currents. Typhoons (hurricanes in the Western Pacific) have just a huge area of sun-drenched water to build strength over.
Since DC is showing how innovative they are at increasing taxes and regulations, it’s not surprising that they rate high on this chart.
The bloated federal government spends a lot of money in the DC area to buy votes and insure domestic tranquility. Thus, the chart is skewed. There are a lot of federal workers who pull down significant salaries and would be deemed as hard-core unemployable elsewhere.
Cochise?
No – but he looks like his mother…
Well, “BANG!” goes my guess.
Wait…looks like his mother…Whistler?
Reflection Canyon
1976, when Lake Powell was full, we spent a week there on a houseboat. Much of the week was in that canyon. One of the better periods of our 25 year marriage, we decompressed from a hectic period in our lives. The stark beauty of that place is something to behold.
The houseboat had a 165 hp stern drive. Fast, but used a lot of fuel. Trip (not voyage, I’m a landlubber) planning was essential.
I’m suspicious of the “innovative States” list, since the “winner” is not a State.
-Kle.
My thought too.
Oregonians invented the Phillips head screw, and the pallet and forklift (same guy).
it would be a neat trick, though, for a hurricane to cross the equator and reverse the direction of spin.
Ah, the Marine Ship. Could not conceive what the Navy would specify for a new cargo vessel if given a situation like WWII where cheap, quick and good were the requirements.
What the Marines need is basically a shallow hulled gunned frigate/transport. Cheap, reasonably armed, able to carry a company and their stuff, and hold a helo and boats. Which is mostly what they wanted. But trust Big Navy to screw it up.
I”d suggest something like the Italian San Giorgio mini LPD, or the Singapore Navy Endurance LPD. Not cheap, not fast, versatile and as built cannot back up on a beach, but still very useful.
Quanah Parker.
That was my guess after the hint.
Yes
Parker and Charlie Goodnight became good friends. Oliver Loving was not available for comment……
If driving thru Amarillo, a visit to the Goodnight grave is worth the efforting. He’s in the Goodnight Cemetary in what’s left of the town of Goodnight not far east of Amarillo. Cowfolk tie their bandanas and gimme caps into the chain link fence surrounding the plot. It is not a bad way to be remembered, when you think about it.
Comanche: A history of a people by Fehrenbach was a great read. I gained a new appreciation for the Anglo and Spanish settlers of the south west and the ability of the Comanche to resist from the mid 16th century to the mid 19th.
The loss of the buffalo made life on the prairie almost impossible for all of the native tribes.
No doubt.
Parker was also able to cobble together, at the end, many of the former warring tribes (less the Apache) to face the Anglos. An impressive feat.
Fehrenbachs books are very good and accessible reads.
He was also to cut a decent deal for himself and his family with the cattlemen (and the 6666 Ranch). As you point out, the story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son, Quanah is one of the more interesting in the already interesting annals of the Old West.
That last one.
You all be safe and God bless.
I see where Billy Waugh has passed away.
He was a legend – larger than life – and at the same time a mentor who took time out to share his hard-earned wisdom with those around him. RIP.