Missile-equipped farm plane spotted in Ukraine

 Missile-equipped farm plane spotted in Ukraine

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, August 5, 1945. Enola Gay and Necessary Evil

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, August 5, 1945. Enola Gay and Necessary E...: 

Sunday, August 5, 1945. Enola Gay and Necessary Evil.

The 20th Air Force dropped 720,000 leaflets over twelve Japanese cities.  Conventional bombing raids continued.

Gen. LeMay officially confirmed the atomic mission for the next day.

Paul Tibbets named the lead plane in the Hiroshima bombing mission the Enola Gay, after his mother.  This was done over the objection of the planes normal designated pilot, Robert Lewis, who wanted to name the plane  "The Pearl Harbor," "The Avenger," or "The USS Indianapolis".  Lewis also wasn't happy about being moved to the co-pilot's seat for the mission.

Lewis would return to civilian life after the war, and died in 1983 at age 65.

The B-29 that would take photos on the mission would be named Necessary Evil.  It featured, as many plans did, a buxom woman, albeit one clothed in a bikini, as nose art.

The Chinese 13th Army captured the town of Tanchuk. The Chinese 58th Division took Hsinning (Changchun).

Paul Ferdonet, the "Radio Traitor" of Stuttgart, was executed in France.

His pro Nazi broadcast had actually dwindled after 1942.

Oddly enough, today would have been Loni Anderson' birthday.  She passed away yesterday.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 4, 1945. Tibbets briefs his crew.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, British Army, Burma, Espionage, Imperial Japanese Army, Music, Operation Silverplate, Railroads, Swing Music, U.S. Air Force, USSR, War Crimes, Weapons, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, August 1, 1915. Max Immelmann shot down h...

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, August 1, 1915. Max Immelmann shot down h...: 

Sunday, August 1, 1915. Max Immelmann shot down his first aircraft.

Max Immelmann shot down his first aircraft.

Like most of the famous aces, he didn't survive the war.

Irish nationalist Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.  Patrick Pearse delivered a graveside speech including the phrase "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace".

The Endurance broke up.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 31, 1915. The Russians.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Art, Battle of Jastków, Battle of Kara Kilisse, Central Powers, Imperial Russian Army, Ottoman Empire, Polish Legion, Russia, World War One

Roads to the Great War: Our Favorite World War One Aviation Novels

Roads to the Great War: Our Favorite World War One Aviation Novels: From the Staff and Contributors of  Roads to the Great War Order *  HERE Order *  Here Order *  HERE Order HERE Order HERE Order HERE Order ...

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, July 1, 1915. Synchronization Gear.

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, July 1, 1915. Synchronization Gear.: 

Thursday, July 1, 1915. Synchronization Gear.

South African forces under Louis Botha defeated German colonial forces at the Battle of Otavi in German South West Africa with assistance from Canada, Great Britain, Portugal and Portuguese Angola. 

The Battle of Gully Ravine started at Gallipoli.  Two Victoria Cross awards would occur due to today's actions.

German fighter pilot Kurt Wintgens became the first person to shoot down a plane using a machine gun equipped with synchronization gear, starting the "Fokker Scourge".

Of the event, he wrote:

Dear Karl:

Unfortunately I gave you the wrong address last time, for during my voyage to Mühlhausen I got a different destination and for the time being I am with the Bavarian (unit) Abteilung 6b. Up to now nothing of real interest happened. In Mannheim I had tested the machine and then from Strasbourg by air to the Front, where lately a (Morane) Parasol fighter monoplane à la Garros had made its presence felt.

I had flown to the Front a couple of times without seeing an opponent, until yesterday evening when the big moment came. Time: 6:00 o'clock. Place: east of Lunéville. Altitude: between 2,000 and 2,500 m. Suddenly I notice a monoplane in front of me, about 300 m higher. And at the same moment he had already dived in front of me, fiercely firing his machine gun decently. But as I, at once, dived in an opposite direction under him, he missed wildly. After four attacks I reached his altitude in a large turn, and now my machine gun did some talking. I attacked at such a close distance that we looked each other into the face.

After my third attack he did the most stupid thing that he could do – he fled. I turned the crate on the spot and had him at once, beautifully, in my (gun)sight. Rapid fire for about four seconds, and down went his nose. I could follow him until 500 meters, then, unfortunately, I was fired upon from the ground too hotly; the fight (now) being far over the French lines. Hopefully, I'll soon meet a biplane.

Cordial greetings and so long,

Your friend,

— Kurt"

He'd be killed in action in September, 1916.

The US Navy started the Office of Naval Aeronautics.

The United States Forest Service combined the Jemez National Forest and Pecos National Forest in northern New Mexico to establish the Santa Fe National Forest, which luckily for us today was not hacked up to be sold by Sen. Mike Lee.

The Moapa National Forest was absorbed into the Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada, which fortunately Mike Lee has to keep his hands off of for the time being.

New York City established in the Child Welfare Board.

Blues great Willie Dixon was born.

Last edition:

Wednesday, June 30, 1915. Armenian massacre.

Labels: Armenia, Armenian Genocide, boats and ships, French Army, Gallipoli, Mexican Revolution, Ottoman Army, Ottoman Empire, Shabin-Karahisar uprising, Texas (El Paso), Victoriano Huerta

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, June 30, 1975. Changes in the Service.

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, June 30, 1975. Changes in the Service.: 

Monday, June 30, 1975. Changes in the Service.

Women could no longer be involuntarily discharged from the United States Armed Forces as a result of pregnancy, by orders of the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

30 June 1975: The last operational Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport in service with the United States Air Force, 43-49507, was retired and flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

This Day In Aviation.

Last edition:

June 28, 1975. Death of Rod Serling.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Health, In Memoriam, Paratroopers, Personalities, Smoking, television, The written word, tobacco, World War Two

 

1950 Aircraft Radio Technician

This Day In Aviation, May 2, 1925. The Douglas C-1

This Day In Aviation, May 2, 1925.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, April 17, 1945. Flak Bait.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, April 17, 1945. Flak Bait.:   The B-26 Marauder Flak Bait, which completed 200 missions on this day. Winston Churchill eulogized the late Franklin Roosevelt in Parliame...

 

Tuesday, April 17, 1945. Flak Bait.

 

The B-26 Marauder Flak Bait, which completed 200 missions on this day.

Blog Mirror: Laying Telephone Wire by Air, 1945

 

Laying Telephone Wire by Air, 1945

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, March 8, 1910. First pilot's license issued to a woman.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, March 8, 1910. First pilot's license iss...: 

Tuesday, March 8, 1910. First pilot's license issued to a woman.

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, March 2, 1925. Delta Air Lines. . .

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, March 2, 1925. Delta Air Lines. . .: 

Monday, March 2, 1925. Delta Air Lines. . .

Huff Daland Dusters Inc., a crop dusting company, which would ultimately become Delta Airlines, was founded.

The United States and Estonia signed an agreement for mutual most-favored-nation treatment in customs.

Last edition:

Monday, March 1, 1915. Locusts.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Aircraft, Dardanelles, Imperial Russian Navy, Ottoman Empire, Palestine

Shameful.

Absolutely shameful

January 31, 2025

This one is shameful beyond all measure:

This is, frankly, shameful in the extreme:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

SUBJECT:       Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety

On January 29, 2025, a commercial aircraft and a military helicopter horrifically collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  American families today woke up without their loved ones after what should have been a routine trip, and the entire Nation mourns the loss of the victims.

This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  The Obama Administration implemented a biographical questionnaire at the FAA to shift the hiring focus away from objective aptitude.  During my first term, my Administration raised standards to achieve the highest standards of safety and excellence.  But the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous “diversity equity and inclusion” tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with “severe intellectual” disabilities in the FAA.   

On my second day in office, I ordered an immediate return to merit-based recruitment, hiring, and promotion, elevating safety and ability as the paramount standard.  Yesterday’s devastating accident tragically underscores the need to elevate safety and competence as the priority of the FAA. 

Consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of January 21, 2025 (Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation), I am further ordering the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (Administrator) to review all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made during the prior 4 years, and to take such corrective action as necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety, including the replacement of any individuals who do not meet qualification standards.  This review shall include a systematic assessment of any deterioration in hiring standards and aviation safety standards and protocols during the Biden Administration.

Consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of January 21, 2025, the Secretary and the Administrator shall take all actions necessary to reverse concerning safety and personnel trends during the prior 4 years, instill an unwavering commitment to aviation safety, and ensure that all Americans fly with peace of mind.

Shameful.

Trump is pitting people against each other on racist grounds.  He's an embarrassment to the country.

Lex Anteinternet: Equipment of the Vietnam War, National Museum of Museum of Military Vehicles. UH-1.

Lex Anteinternet: Equipment of the Vietnam War, National Museum of M...: 

Equipment of the Vietnam War, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Dubois Wyoming.

UH-1 "Huey", a helicopter synonymous with the Vietnam War.

Hueys came into use in a major way during the war, and remained in use for many years thereafter. They were still the predominant helicopter when I was a National Guardsmen in the 1980s, and even now I'll occasionally see an Air Force example in Cheyenne in operation.

Blog Mirror: Pilot Makes Emergency Landing On I-25, Fixes Plane, Then Takes Off Again

Pilot Makes Emergency Landing On I-25, Fixes Plane, Then Takes Off Again

Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or les...

Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics 2024. The times more or les...: 

September 7, 2024

The Natrona County International Airport had its busiest month in a decade.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, September 6, 1924. Putting down in Boston.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, September 6, 1924. Putting down in Boston.:   

Saturday, September 6, 1924. Putting down in Boston.

 

And of course, it was Saturday.

Last edition:

Friday September 5, 1924. Back in the US.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Calvin Coolidge, First Around The World Flight, Maine, U.S. Air Force

Lex Anteinternet: Space National Guard? Spare us.

Lex Anteinternet: Space National Guard? Spare us.: 

Space National Guard? Spare us.

The time has come to create a Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force.  So as president, I will sign historic legislation creating a space National Guard.

Donald Trump, yesterday, at the National Guard Association Convention.

The Space Force is frankly absurd and ought to be abolished, with its enlisted men folded back into the Air Force and its officers assigned permanent duty at Tasty Freeze drive up windows. 

But a Space Force National Guard?

Please, no.

Of course, if a bill like that passes through Congress, and as goofy as Congress has been in recent years, it probably would, no State Governor is going to turn down the chance to have the Mos Eisley Space Guard station put in their state, so every state will end up with a squadron of "Guardians".

The Space Force is flat out dumb.  It's duties belong in the Air Force.  One of the unfortunate legacies of the Trump administration, however, is this absurd new branch of the service.

Would that sanity would reign and it would go away.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, August 27, 1924. First flight of the USS Los Angeles.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, August 27, 1924. Color photos over the...: 

Wednesday, August 27, 1924. Color photos over the wire.

The German built, due to reparations, USS Los Angeles made its first flight.

The Lost Angeles over Berlin, 1924.

She was the longest serving rigid airship, serving, with interruptions, until 1939.

Last edition:

Monday, August 25, 1924. Ratifying the Dawes Plan and questionable movies.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 at the Movies, Camping, Dawes Plan, Diplomacy, German Weimar Republic, Movies, Politics

Painted Bricks: Aviator statue. Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Aviator statue. Cheyenne, Wyoming.:  

Aviator statue. Cheyenne, Wyoming.