Good Morning

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 08/03/2020 at 09:05 • Filed to: good morning oppo, wingspan

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It’s Monday, Oppo, and time to catapult ourselves into a new week.

A Douglas A3D-2 Skywarrior launches from the waist catapult of USS Saratoga (CVA-60) during NATO exercise Operation Strikeback in September 1957, while a McDonnell F3H-2M Demon is loaded on catapult 2. A Douglas F4D-1 Skyray awaits its turn to be launched.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was a huge undertaking that tested NATO’s response to an all-out Soviet attack. It included 200 warships, 650 aircraft, and 75,000 personnel from the United States Navy, the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy, the French Navy, the Royal Netherlands Navy, and the Royal Norwegian Navy. Even the ocean liners Queen Mary and Ile de France took part as duly-flagged target ships.

Though the exercise was considered a success, the Americans suffered numerous casualties through accidents and crashes. A Skyray crashed while attempting to land on Saratoga , and two Grumman S2F Trackers collided in midair during the rescue operation. A total of eleven men were lost. Then, two more Skyrays crashed in midair off the coast of Norway. Two days later, an A3D Skywarrior suffered a gear collapse while landing aboard USS Forrestal and its three-man crew was killed. The Skywarrior did not have ejection seats, and pilots joked that “A3D” stood for “All Three Dead.”

pip bip - choose Corrour > ttyymmnn 08/03/2020 at 09:30

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can you catapault me 6 weeks into the future then?

Just Jeepin' > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/03/2020 at 09:46

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Only 6 weeks? I’m thinking 2-3 years.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Just Jeepin' 08/03/2020 at 09:47

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just to get us through the current Covid lockdown here in Oz (again)

Just Jeepin' > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/03/2020 at 09:50

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You know it won’t be the last...

pip bip - choose Corrour > Just Jeepin' 08/03/2020 at 09:52

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we’ll see. most of oz is Covid free. 

Just Jeepin' > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/03/2020 at 09:54

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Good luck. Hopefully you’re right.

On the other side of the pond, we’re fucked.

ttyymmnn > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/03/2020 at 10:09

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Sadly, no. 

Roadkilled > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/03/2020 at 10:21

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That’s easy! We will stretch a giant rubber band between two trees, load you into the sling and catapult you into the air. The next thing you know, you will be coming out of a coma in the hospital and it will be six weeks later.

I’m not sure this is what you mean, but hey, it does let you skip the next month and a half.

user314 > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/03/2020 at 10:47

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Eh, that requires slingshotting around the sun, which is not advisable without a Warp-capable starship.

jminer > ttyymmnn 08/03/2020 at 12:24

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Good Morning!

Unrelated question - I found a book while cleaning my office and wondered if it was of any interest to you. It’s a textbook ‘The Airplane and Its Engine’ published in 1940. There is definitely a lot of technical information in it, but also a good deal of diagrams and photos. Bought it because it is an interesting snapshot in time and I’m an aircraft fan but we’re chucking things we don’t really need right now and it doesn’t make the cut. I’m happy to ship it to you for you to thumb through and cut apart to scan the pics. It only has a mild old book smell and is in good shape for its age.

ttyymmnn > jminer 08/03/2020 at 12:28

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I would love to have that, and would happily reimburse you for the shipping. Shoot me an email at my screen name @ the mail of G and I’ll give you my address.

Thanks!

jminer > ttyymmnn 08/03/2020 at 12:39

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Email Sent!

I always thought it was interesting and hope you can find a few nuggets of info in there for you too.

ttyymmnn > jminer 08/03/2020 at 12:45

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Looking forward to it. Thanks for thinking of me. 

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > ttyymmnn 08/03/2020 at 13:19

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I wish I knew more about naval fighters - especially the early jet-engined fighters. I have pretty extensive knowledge on jet fighters from the USAF, NATO, and the USSR, (I read SO. MANY. BOOKS. when I was a kid, and would watch Wings every Sunday night on Discovery) but I gave up learning about US naval fighters because my brain couldn’t make things fit simply because of the naming convention.

When naval aircraft fell in line with the USAF naming conventions, my brain could make sense of those. Naturally, being a USAF brat, I know my fighters and bombers better than the ground attack jets...but I know Skyhawks, Corsairs, and Intruders just fine, because the coding makes sense. An F4H and an F4U are two completely different aircraft that aren’t remotely related? Who thought of that? That’s like having two cars named P4N and P4G, except one is a Nissan Sentra and the other is a Surburban.

ttyymmnn > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious 08/03/2020 at 13:36

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This book is a must-have. Sure, it’s a little dated (the F/A-18 is only shown as an artist’s concept, with a photo of the YF-17) , but the information on the newest fighters is easy to find on the Internet. Jones also has a similar book on both USAF fighters and bombers. I own all three. I’ve had the USAF book for 40 years. These three volumes are often cited on Wikipedia.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Roadkilled 08/03/2020 at 18:02

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Load me up

I’ll give  it a crack

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > ttyymmnn 08/03/2020 at 18:31

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I have the USAF Jones book! I read that sucker cover to cover multiple times. It was sourced heavily in my 6th grade research paper on the F-15. ^_^ Now that I know there are other volumes, I’mma hunt for them.

ttyymmnn > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious 08/03/2020 at 19:28

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Buy used on Amazon, or Alibris. The bomber one is interesting for all the bombers they didn’t build.