Duke Maddog

jimbot58

Ok guys, I was searching for photos of the F-8 Crusader (a second project I am starting) and found this web page:

Am I missing the connection here?

Maybe she piloted one...???

That reminds me. I have a couple F-8 Crusaders in my stash. Maybe it's time I pulled one out for this Group Build too.

Is that her flight suit?

jimbot58

Duke Maddog

jimbot58

Ok guys, I was searching for photos of the F-8 Crusader (a second project I am starting) and found this web page:

Am I missing the connection here?

Maybe she piloted one...???

That reminds me. I have a couple F-8 Crusaders in my stash. Maybe it's time I pulled one out for this Group Build too.

Is that her flight suit?

If it is, I think her life jacket is inflated. 

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

jimbot58

Duke Maddog

jimbot58

Ok guys, I was searching for photos of the F-8 Crusader (a second project I am starting) and found this web page:

Am I missing the connection here?

Maybe she piloted one...???

That reminds me. I have a couple F-8 Crusaders in my stash. Maybe it's time I pulled one out for this Group Build too.

Is that her flight suit?

If it is, I think her life jacket is inflated. 

Ken

Mmmmm.... floatation devices....

Something tells me we should quit before we go too far.....

Jim

ROTL... thanks guys I needed that.

Though yeah, we might be headed for trouble with the mods!

Yeah.....I was doing pretty good until I zoomed in to read the article....yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!!  That was a close call!!! LOL

TAD

Hi Everyone!

I hope that EVERYONE is lucky enough to have a 3 day weekend this Labor Day weekend!

I am working on my basement.  Today I will be working on replacing the speakers in the bass cabinets.  These are very large cabinets (30"W x 25"H x 23"D).  They contain 15" woofers.

In addition to that, I will be dropping my wife's car off at the dealership to diagnose what is wrong with it.  I think that it is the timing chain.

Also, I will be mowing my yard and my Mom's yard.  Pretty full day!

Ken

Son Of Medicine Man

Hi Everyone!

I hope that EVERYONE is lucky enough to have a 3 day weekend this Labor Day weekend!

I am working on my basement.  Today I will be working on replacing the speakers in the bass cabinets.  These are very large cabinets (30"W x 25"H x 23"D).  They contain 15" woofers.

In addition to that, I will be dropping my wife's car off at the dealership to diagnose what is wrong with it.  I think that it is the timing chain.

Also, I will be mowing my yard and my Mom's yard.  Pretty full day!

Ken

Yes, lucky enough here, though I just came off another 50 hour work week. I wasted the whole day yesterday sleeping, and today I have decided to get out for the day. I don't care how much I have to do here, I need a break. It is threatening to rain today and if I head up the hill, I could encounter some snow. I don't care about that, either.

Try to take a little time for yourself Ken.

I have done some work on the kits, updates when I can.

Jim

Hello all!

I did get out yesterday on a little excursion to the high country, and by high country, I mean High Country! I went to the top of Mount Evans, only the highest paved in the world! Had to make it this weekend as they usually close it down after Labor Day. It was busy and crowded, but I expected that, and took it in stride! I wasn't surprised to get caught in a snow storm while at the summit! The temps were in the 20's and winds that I estimated to be between 30 and 40 mph, wind chill factor had to be below zero! Quite a transition from the 80 degrees when I left Denver! Needless to say, I didn't take the trail from the parking lot to the actual summit (about another 200 feet of elevation) with the weather. Maybe next year!

Almost like the Arctic!

Wasn't all bad though!

And back to the workbench!

Hollowing out the gunmount in the nose to accommodate the brass parts of the A-10

Various sub assemblies of the F-8:

And partial assembly and seam work on the A-10:

There is also cockpit work, which I'll update later.

Jim

jimbot58

Hello all!

I did get out yesterday on a little excursion to the high country, and by high country, I mean High Country! I went to the top of Mount Evans, only the highest paved in the world! Had to make it this weekend as they usually close it down after Labor Day. It was busy and crowded, but I expected that, and took it in stride! I wasn't surprised to get caught in a snow storm while at the summit! The temps were in the 20's and winds that I estimated to be between 30 and 40 mph, wind chill factor had to be below zero! Quite a transition from the 80 degrees when I left Denver! Needless to say, I didn't take the trail from the parking lot to the actual summit (about another 200 feet of elevation) with the weather. Maybe next year!

Almost like the Arctic!

Wasn't all bad though!

And back to the workbench!

Hollowing out the gunmount in the nose to accommodate the brass parts of the A-10

Various sub assemblies of the F-8:

And partial assembly and seam work on the A-10:

There is also cockpit work, which I'll update later.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Quite the journey there!  Very beautiful pictures!

Looks like you have a really good start on the A-10 Warthog too!  Coming along nicely!

Ken

Wow, that's beautiful Jim, and glad to see you take a little time off there and get to breath some good clean air! The A-10 and F-8 don't look half bad either!

Hey guys!

Just want to start by mentioning that Sept. 1st. would mark the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, the act that is generally said to be the beginning of the Great War. Briton and France declared war on Germany 2 days later. Some say though, that many of the conflicts can be traced back to the 1860's.

Some work on the kits:

PE details:

All those notches match up to the ribs on the wall inside the cockpit. I had to glue carefully to be sure they lined up.

I went to cement the seat into the frame and the stupid thing (frame) broke on me! Don't know why, it broke away from the seam, so it had to be a weak point in the molding process. Repairs:

details:

Assembly of the A-10 engines. not a lot of detail there, you won't be able to see anything up the tail pipe anyway. Just kind of a big nothing:

I am sad that the AF is going to retire these planes.They should have never been an AF plane anyway. With their role as close ground support, they would have been more effective in the Army's hands.

A-10 fact: The gun comprises approximately 16% of the empty weight of the aircraft. If it needs to be removed, a prop must be placed under the back or it would become a tail-sitter!

Jim

jimbot58

Hey guys!

Just want to start by mentioning that Sept. 1st. would mark the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, the act that is generally said to be the beginning of the Great War. Briton and France declared war on Germany 2 days later. Some say though, that many of the conflicts can be traced back to the 1860's.

Some work on the kits:

PE details:

All those notches match up to the ribs on the wall inside the cockpit. I had to glue carefully to be sure they lined up.

I went to cement the seat into the frame and the stupid thing (frame) broke on me! Don't know why, it broke away from the seam, so it had to be a weak point in the molding process. Repairs:

details:

Assembly of the A-10 engines. not a lot of detail there, you won't be able to see anything up the tail pipe anyway. Just kind of a big nothing:

I am sad that the AF is going to retire these planes.They should have never been an AF plane anyway. With their role as close ground support, they would have been more effective in the Army's hands.

A-10 fact: The gun comprises approximately 16% of the empty weight of the aircraft. If it needs to be removed, a prop must be placed under the back or it would become a tail-sitter!

Jim

Some great work there Jim!      Sorry you ran into trouble with the part breaking on you.  It is like adding extra parts to be assembled!

And thank you for the history lesson.  Some very interesting facts there!

Ken

Jim: Look good, very nice work there on the PE. And I couldn't agree more- the A-10 should have been assigned to the Army, makes a lot more sense but you know politics.

BTW: We've got a vintage B-17F flying into the local airport and I'm going to try to get Friday off to go see her. They're offering rides but it's very expensive- still mulling if I should take the plunge or not since I may not have another chance. 

Gamera

Jim: Look good, very nice work there on the PE. And I couldn't agree more- the A-10 should have been assigned to the Army, makes a lot more sense but you know politics.

BTW: We've got a vintage B-17F flying into the local airport and I'm going to try to get Friday off to go see her. They're offering rides but it's very expensive- still mulling if I should take the plunge or not since I may not have another chance. 

The B-17 came through Colorado a few months ago, but didn't stop at the nearby airport due to runway construction. I never had the money or the guts to take a ride, but I get to see it fly right over my house when it does, several times a day for that weekend. Isn't something like 450 bucks?

Jim

Yeah, $450.00 for a half-hour ride. I know these vintage aircraft are expensive to operate but I can find a lot of better things to spend that much money on. Still sitting on the fence.

Gamera

Jim: Look good, very nice work there on the PE. And I couldn't agree more- the A-10 should have been assigned to the Army, makes a lot more sense but you know politics.

BTW: We've got a vintage B-17F flying into the local airport and I'm going to try to get Friday off to go see her. They're offering rides but it's very expensive- still mulling if I should take the plunge or not since I may not have another chance. 

Hi Cliff,

I thought at first that the B-17 you were talking about might be the same one that stopped by here last summer.  But it was a B-17G named "Aluminum Overcast"

Yes, those rides are expensive!  It would be cool to take one, but out of my price range too!

Ken 

Son Of Medicine Man

Gamera

Jim: Look good, very nice work there on the PE. And I couldn't agree more- the A-10 should have been assigned to the Army, makes a lot more sense but you know politics.

BTW: We've got a vintage B-17F flying into the local airport and I'm going to try to get Friday off to go see her. They're offering rides but it's very expensive- still mulling if I should take the plunge or not since I may not have another chance. 

Hi Cliff,

I thought at first that the B-17 you were talking about might be the same one that stopped by here last summer.  But it was a B-17G named "Aluminum Overcast"

Yes, those rides are expensive!  It would be cool to take one, but out of my price range too!

Ken 

I believe there are a couple of these that tour. I think the last one I saw here was painted.

I think Aluminum Overcast was here about twenty years ago. This B-17F is listed as Memphis Belle, supposedly the actual Second World War bomber.

Here

Gamera

I think Aluminum Overcast was here about twenty years ago. This B-17F is listed as Memphis Belle, supposedly the actual Second World War bomber.

Here

I'm confused... Isn't the original Memphis Belle still being restored in Dayton? I thought Ken saw it there when he visited the museum.

I think they are quoting this one as "The Movie" Memphis Belle? Doesn't matter though, any B-17 still flying is impressive enough.

Seat work:

The seat back is actually very dark green, but the photo makes it look black. Some of the PE belts are in place. Obvious touch-ups needed on the seat. I was trying to replicate this:

Most of the photos I found, that part of the seat always looked either black or green so dark it almost looked black. I went for the dark green, mixing a green with gloss black.

More A-10 stuff. Avenger gun turns armor into Swiss cheese:

An F-35 is going to do that to a tank? Hardly!

Jim

jimbot58

Gamera

I think Aluminum Overcast was here about twenty years ago. This B-17F is listed as Memphis Belle, supposedly the actual Second World War bomber.

Here

I'm confused... Isn't the original Memphis Belle still being restored in Dayton? I thought Ken saw it there when he visited the museum.

I think they are quoting this one as "The Movie" Memphis Belle? Doesn't matter though, any B-17 still flying is impressive enough.

Hi Jim,

You are correct.  The "real" Memphis Belle" is at the USAF National Museum being restored.

Here is a picture I took earlier this year:

Ken 

Yeah, looked it up on their site and this B-17 served as a VIP transport during the Second World War and Korea and then ended up painted as 'Memphis Belle' for the movie. Sorry for the confusion.

Jim: Yeah, you have to love that cannon on the A-10 - assuming you're not on the business end of course.

jimbot58

Seat work:

The seat back is actually very dark green, but the photo makes it look black. Some of the PE belts are in place. Obvious touch-ups needed on the seat. I was trying to replicate this:

Most of the photos I found, that part of the seat always looked either black or green so dark it almost looked black. I went for the dark green, mixing a green with gloss black.

More A-10 stuff. Avenger gun turns armor into Swiss cheese:

An F-35 is going to do that to a tank? Hardly!

Jim

Great job on the seat Jim!  (As always!)      Yes, I don't see an F-35 doing the same job as an A-10.  The whole concept of one plane filling the roles of all planes is insane!

Ken

Looks like things are picking up here!  Great seat Jim, good reference pictures.

    The Collins Foundation operates a B-24J "Witchcraft" and a B-17G marked as the "Nine-O-Nine," both of these are OD over neutral gray.  Got to walk thru both of them and take pictures and felt awfully jealous when the paying customers boarded and they taxied down the runway....Too rich for my blood, besides, I got to see them warm up the engines and make the run down the line.....a truly awe inspiring sight!

    And yes, that A-10 is one heck of a plane!  I remember during Desert Storm when they were flying out of KIng Fa'ad International Airport.  A few of them returned to base pretty shot up and it was amazing to see them still in the air.  As Mister T would say "I pity the fool" that was on the receiving end of the Warthog!!!

Ken, you're so right about the all-purpose aircraft the military dreams of; just that, a dream. I worked for a short time on A-10 at the start of my time in the Air Force and remember how impressed I was with it. It was a purpose built design that filled the air to ground role in ways that silenced its harshest critics. I know for a fact the grunts on the ground loved the sound of those things flying in. Bye bye bad guys!

One of my favorite A-10 stories was of a Warthog encountering an Iraqi helicopter. The pilot tried repeatedly to get a missile lock on it, but couldn't get one due to the background desert heat. The pilot then switched over to the GAU-8 gun, lined up on the target and fired a burst. He was surprised when the chopper literately disintegrated. The A-10 took out over 50% of the Iraqi military hardware on its own.

Tal Afar Dave

Looks like things are picking up here!  Great seat Jim, good reference pictures.

    The Collins Foundation operates a B-24J "Witchcraft" and a B-17G marked as the "Nine-O-Nine," both of these are OD over neutral gray.  Got to walk thru both of them and take pictures and felt awfully jealous when the paying customers boarded and they taxied down the runway....Too rich for my blood, besides, I got to see them warm up the engines and make the run down the line.....a truly awe inspiring sight!

    And yes, that A-10 is one heck of a plane!  I remember during Desert Storm when they were flying out of KIng Fa'ad International Airport.  A few of them returned to base pretty shot up and it was amazing to see them still in the air.  As Mister T would say "I pity the fool" that was on the receiving end of the Warthog!!!

That had to be a sight to see Dave!  A-10's loaded up and flying off to do battle.  Hoo Raw!

I agree with you about getting to see one of those old war birds start up and take off.  I didn't get to ride in one, but I did take a video of that B-17G starting up and taking off.  Awesome sight and sound!

Ken

mikeymize

Ken, you're so right about the all-purpose aircraft the military dreams of; just that, a dream. I worked for a short time on A-10 at the start of my time in the Air Force and remember how impressed I was with it. It was a purpose built design that filled the air to ground role in ways that silenced its harshest critics. I know for a fact the grunts on the ground loved the sound of those things flying in. Bye bye bad guys!

10-4 Mike.  When you try to save money and build a "multi-purpose" aircraft, you just end up with a plane that isn't any good at doing anything!

Ken

jimbot58

One of my favorite A-10 stories was of a Warthog encountering an Iraqi helicopter. The pilot tried repeatedly to get a missile lock on it, but couldn't get one due to the background desert heat. The pilot then switched over to the GAU-8 gun, lined up on the target and fired a burst. He was surprised when the chopper literately disintegrated. The A-10 took out over 50% of the Iraqi military hardware on its own.

Yes that gun means business!  Huge bullets at a high rate of speed!  And the bullets are made out of depleted uranium, super hard!

Ken

jimbot58

One of my favorite A-10 stories was of a Warthog encountering an Iraqi helicopter. The pilot tried repeatedly to get a missile lock on it, but couldn't get one due to the background desert heat. The pilot then switched over to the GAU-8 gun, lined up on the target and fired a burst. He was surprised when the chopper literately disintegrated. The A-10 took out over 50% of the Iraqi military hardware on its own.

I'm guessing that Iraqi helicopter crew wished that they had been sitting on the ground when they encountered the Warthog.....at least then they might be able to run for their lives like the guys on the Highway of Death!!