Voyager3
Active member
I was. I may have lost my wallet in Ithaca. Is there a sticker for that?
Don't Throw Your Life Away - Battling Marine Debris from Alaska to Panama
- Thread starter Voyager3
- Start date
I was. I may have lost my wallet in Ithaca. Is there a sticker for that?
danfromsyr
Adventurer
Watkins Glen State park... lovely gorge..
they run vintage race cars thru the streets on the 'old course' in September each year during vintage week.
they run vintage race cars thru the streets on the 'old course' in September each year during vintage week.
cesarcaligula
New member
What a nice trip, love your photos
Voyager3
Active member
Beautiful isn't it? I did drive some of the old course in the Jeep. It says sport on the side of it after all, I just have to take care of this wheel hub again.
Thanks so much, I've got more to catch up on. from the week or so before Expo. Not many shots from the show itself because I was pretty busy running around helping make it happen, but I'll get shots up of potentially my favorite day of the trip at the National Museum of the United States Air Force to see my favorite plane, something I've wanted to see since I was a kid. It did not disappoint.
Same here! And thank you so much for your generosity. I'm so grateful that the few frustrating moments of human delinquency are so soundly offset by the many more moments of human caring. I'll be sure to use that chair well on the downtime.
Voyager3
Active member
Alrighty then. Where were we? Watkins Glen. Yes, I remember, the site of my only check in by the police while parked somewhere for the night only to check in and see if I was alright. He didn't care I was there overnight. Well having not found my wallet anywhere and calling everywhere I had been in the previous couple days I had given up had to go backwards into eastern PA to a Wells to get a temporary debit card. Again. Seems like not that long ago in the western part of the continent I had to swap all my cards out due to thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges. Driving though PA I thought I would head through Lock Haven to the Train Station Restaurant I remembered going to 5 years ago where I had an amazing chili burger, but alas......they were un-open.
But, I did see something on the roads that made my day. Let's see how your left field your cartoon memories are. Hopefully someone here gets this. I really want this one to work. I can give one extra clue, but I really don't want to.
Got it?
What would the Jeep Cartoon be called? "Check Engine" or "Check Gauges"? I assure you I checked everything, it's all fine.
Because I was in Ohio now headed for one of my favorite days of the trip.
Ohio has Interstates. The rest of the northeast does as well, I've seen the signs for them, but I haven't used many since being in the country again. That's not where the trees are.
Look at that off road action
But, I did see something on the roads that made my day. Let's see how your left field your cartoon memories are. Hopefully someone here gets this. I really want this one to work. I can give one extra clue, but I really don't want to.
Got it?
What would the Jeep Cartoon be called? "Check Engine" or "Check Gauges"? I assure you I checked everything, it's all fine.
Because I was in Ohio now headed for one of my favorite days of the trip.
Ohio has Interstates. The rest of the northeast does as well, I've seen the signs for them, but I haven't used many since being in the country again. That's not where the trees are.
Look at that off road action
Voyager3
Active member
I have to warn you guys now. These next posts will be picture heavy and take some time. I went somewhere I've been wanting to go since I was a child. And for the whole day, I was awestruck like a child, taking in everything I could. I was however, well aware of the knowledge I entered the building with and how I could improve it. I talked at length with several of the older volunteers that make museums like these even better. I became such a fixture in the museum from open to close when they had to kick me out that they would round corners and say things like "There he is again" or "he's still here" in great humor and then we would talk about whatever I was looking at, share stories and history, and I could learn even more. I. Loved. It. So, here we go an attempt to show you what it's like to go to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
That back there is a Caquot Type R observation balloon. Used in the first world war, two passengers and equipment could be lifted to 4000 feet in good conditions while tethered to the ground to gain a view 40 miles deep behind enemy lines. It was used primarily by the Americans directing artillery fire, spotting airplanes, and military traffic by road and rail. They were made in great numbers in WWI and limited in WWII. This one was built in '44 and is believed to be the last surviving example, and after being located by British and American balloon veterans, presented to the museum by the British Ministry of Defense, repaired by museum personnel with the assistance of Goodyear Aerospace has been on display since '79.
This is a reproduction of the Kettering Aerial Torpedo. Internal preset pneumatic and electrical controls took care of guidance, then timers shut off the engine and jettisoned the wings, and the ordinance fell on the target. That was the plan anyway. Fewer than 50 were built by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company before the armistice and none saw combat. Cool to see the idea developed before the V1.
Restored Caproni Ca.36 bomber. These remained in service with the Italian Air Force as late as 1929 and were built in Italy, France, Great Britain and the U.S.
This makes me want to put a 1,570 cubic inch V12 into something....
Kellett K-2, this was the first autogyro tested by the Army Air Corps. Top speed of 100, stall speed of 24 with a useful load of 609 pounds. And great looking.
Boeing P-26A Peashooter. Army Air Corps first all metal monoplane in regular service. Also the last to have an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and external wing braces.
More to come, this will take a while. I have to skip a lot still, but I want to share.
That back there is a Caquot Type R observation balloon. Used in the first world war, two passengers and equipment could be lifted to 4000 feet in good conditions while tethered to the ground to gain a view 40 miles deep behind enemy lines. It was used primarily by the Americans directing artillery fire, spotting airplanes, and military traffic by road and rail. They were made in great numbers in WWI and limited in WWII. This one was built in '44 and is believed to be the last surviving example, and after being located by British and American balloon veterans, presented to the museum by the British Ministry of Defense, repaired by museum personnel with the assistance of Goodyear Aerospace has been on display since '79.
This is a reproduction of the Kettering Aerial Torpedo. Internal preset pneumatic and electrical controls took care of guidance, then timers shut off the engine and jettisoned the wings, and the ordinance fell on the target. That was the plan anyway. Fewer than 50 were built by the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company before the armistice and none saw combat. Cool to see the idea developed before the V1.
Restored Caproni Ca.36 bomber. These remained in service with the Italian Air Force as late as 1929 and were built in Italy, France, Great Britain and the U.S.
This makes me want to put a 1,570 cubic inch V12 into something....
Kellett K-2, this was the first autogyro tested by the Army Air Corps. Top speed of 100, stall speed of 24 with a useful load of 609 pounds. And great looking.
Boeing P-26A Peashooter. Army Air Corps first all metal monoplane in regular service. Also the last to have an open cockpit, fixed landing gear and external wing braces.
More to come, this will take a while. I have to skip a lot still, but I want to share.
Last edited:
Voyager3
Active member
A coupe artifacts before going back to actual airplanes. I noticed a lot of people walking by display cases very briefly and moving on without understanding the stories behind these things. For example, those little streamers at the bottom, the pieces of an American flag? When the United States entered WWI, Captain Frederick Libby of Colorado, then flying for the British Royal Flying Corps cut streamers out of an American flag, tied them to the struts of his plane and flew them over enemy lines. He later transferred to the US Army Air Service. He returned to the States and in October '18 auctioned them off in an event to raise war bonds where they were bought by the National Bank of Commerce for $3,250,000, a number more like $58 million in today's money. Imagine being part of the throng of people clamoring to see and touch the first American flag to cross enemy lines held by the aviator that flew with them in some of the first air battles of the war against the likes of Manfred von Richthofen, aka the Red Baron. Imagine coming to this museum and walking past it and not stopping to appreciate that.
This small aviator had a fun story, too. He was born in the trenches and was injured flying a message out from the frontlines of the Meuse-Argonne drive to headquarters at Rampont 25 miles away. With shells bursting all around and bullets whizzing past, the bird got his bearings and 25 minutes later arrived at Rampont. A bullet had pierced his breast, he had taken shrapnel, and his right leg was missing, but the message tube was intact, holding onto the remaining ligaments of his torn leg. He was nursed back to health and named John Silver after the pirate from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Funny how this whole trip seems to be making graceful arcs back itself, isn't it? After bring retired in 1921 and serving as a mascot to the 11th Signal Company, he lived to be 17 years and 11 months old and was presented to by the Army Signal Corps to the museum in 1935.
This is the last known Martin B-10, the first all metal monoplane bomber produced for the US Army Air Corps in quantity, which after years of searching was found in Argentina. As a gesture of friendship between the two countries the Argentine Navy presented it to the museum as a gift to the country on behalf of Argentina on August 21, 1970.
Here is where one man was telling another about the Tiger Moth while looking at and pointing to the Hawker Hurricane below. I very politely got his attention and pointed up.
Ah, the "Zero". These kept us busy for a while.
The story of the Doolittle Raid is a great one. B-25s taken off from a carrier to fly a one way bombing mission over Tokyo to hopefully land in China. Jimmy Doolittle let his little band of 80 volunteer airmen to the first attack of the Japanese mainland of the war. It was such a secret, the crews themselves didn't know the target until the planes were loaded on the ship. All but one plane crash landed or the crew bailed out. The mission had much more value in boosting morale at home than damage done to the enemy and the stories of how they survived, or in some cases didn't survive is well worth looking up. Of course, this isn't Doolittle's actual B-25, but I was about to get a taste of just how serious this museum was.
Here's another eye opening example of the collection's quality. When they have a B-17 display with that famous name on it I have to turn to the older gentleman volunteer there and ask, "Is that..."
To which the answer is, "Yes, that's the real Memphis Belle."
Patches of different green and the off colored rudder etc. are all from research photos of everywhere it was damaged and repaired during its service career. They even made the star exactly as crooked as it was when it was originally applied. While the Memphis Belle was not actually the first bomber crew to complete 25 missions, (there were a few before, remember how risky these jobs were and how many air crews were lost in bombing campaigns regularly), it was the first to do that and fly home where it went on a bond tour. But after that, the story is less glamorous. After the war it sat waiting to be scrapped in Oklahoma with other surplus bombers, but in 1946 it was purchased by the city of Memphis, and it was displayed outside a National Guard armory getting weathered and vandalized until 1977 when it was moved to a local airport for restoration by the newly formed Memphis Belle Memorial Association. It lived under a canopy from '87 to '02 and despite the dedication, limited resources for care and display prompted its release to the National Museum where from 2005 until just this past spring where it finally ended up here on May 17th of this year, seventy five years to the day after the crew's 25th mission.
This small aviator had a fun story, too. He was born in the trenches and was injured flying a message out from the frontlines of the Meuse-Argonne drive to headquarters at Rampont 25 miles away. With shells bursting all around and bullets whizzing past, the bird got his bearings and 25 minutes later arrived at Rampont. A bullet had pierced his breast, he had taken shrapnel, and his right leg was missing, but the message tube was intact, holding onto the remaining ligaments of his torn leg. He was nursed back to health and named John Silver after the pirate from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Funny how this whole trip seems to be making graceful arcs back itself, isn't it? After bring retired in 1921 and serving as a mascot to the 11th Signal Company, he lived to be 17 years and 11 months old and was presented to by the Army Signal Corps to the museum in 1935.
This is the last known Martin B-10, the first all metal monoplane bomber produced for the US Army Air Corps in quantity, which after years of searching was found in Argentina. As a gesture of friendship between the two countries the Argentine Navy presented it to the museum as a gift to the country on behalf of Argentina on August 21, 1970.
Here is where one man was telling another about the Tiger Moth while looking at and pointing to the Hawker Hurricane below. I very politely got his attention and pointed up.
Ah, the "Zero". These kept us busy for a while.
The story of the Doolittle Raid is a great one. B-25s taken off from a carrier to fly a one way bombing mission over Tokyo to hopefully land in China. Jimmy Doolittle let his little band of 80 volunteer airmen to the first attack of the Japanese mainland of the war. It was such a secret, the crews themselves didn't know the target until the planes were loaded on the ship. All but one plane crash landed or the crew bailed out. The mission had much more value in boosting morale at home than damage done to the enemy and the stories of how they survived, or in some cases didn't survive is well worth looking up. Of course, this isn't Doolittle's actual B-25, but I was about to get a taste of just how serious this museum was.
Here's another eye opening example of the collection's quality. When they have a B-17 display with that famous name on it I have to turn to the older gentleman volunteer there and ask, "Is that..."
To which the answer is, "Yes, that's the real Memphis Belle."
Patches of different green and the off colored rudder etc. are all from research photos of everywhere it was damaged and repaired during its service career. They even made the star exactly as crooked as it was when it was originally applied. While the Memphis Belle was not actually the first bomber crew to complete 25 missions, (there were a few before, remember how risky these jobs were and how many air crews were lost in bombing campaigns regularly), it was the first to do that and fly home where it went on a bond tour. But after that, the story is less glamorous. After the war it sat waiting to be scrapped in Oklahoma with other surplus bombers, but in 1946 it was purchased by the city of Memphis, and it was displayed outside a National Guard armory getting weathered and vandalized until 1977 when it was moved to a local airport for restoration by the newly formed Memphis Belle Memorial Association. It lived under a canopy from '87 to '02 and despite the dedication, limited resources for care and display prompted its release to the National Museum where from 2005 until just this past spring where it finally ended up here on May 17th of this year, seventy five years to the day after the crew's 25th mission.
Voyager3
Active member
This thing might be exactly what you think it is. A WWII air to air missile. The Germans tried many things to ward off the eventual defeat including developing this Ruhrstahl X-4. The warhead was "tuned" to the vibrations of a bomber's engines and it was controlled from the fighter it was launched from by a nearly 4 mile long wire. about 1,300 were built but the factory got bombed, go figure, and attention was turned to other projects. But there you go, the Germans doing their really forward-thinking development of technologies that would become standard.
Like when they were flying the Me-262 faster than a B-17 turret could turn to aim at them, but made really operational too late and squandered in roles they were never meant to fly. Lucky us.
More full circle, just like the C-46 I found in the NWT many moons ago. This is what I was standing behind, freezing in the prop blast.
And when I asked the nice man if there was a B-29 in here because I thought I saw the tail earlier he said "We don't just have any B-29, we have the one that ended the war."
So they do. Here is Bockscar. The plane that dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki.
CanucksRedRocket
Observer
Love the museum pics!!! i wanna go there and check it out. i went to a really cool Aviation museum in New Zealand, but they didnt have anything hardcore like that b-29 lol