Hi Everyone,

Today was a very long day.  Spent it removing everything out of the basement.  I hired a business that specializes in water damage remediation.  They ripped up the carpet, and setup a large (I mean huge!) dehumidifier along with about 5 huge industrial blowers.  The sound is incredibly loud.  Reminds me of my trip to Okinawa when I was about 5 years old.  Flew there on a 4 engine propeller plane.

Ken

mikeymize

BTW Ken, that crash of the Galaxy in S. Vietnam was truly horrible as the PAX were all civilians as I recall. I was TDY at Dover AFB doing an ISO inspection on one our our planes when a B model crashed just short of the runway in 2006. Fortunately, no fatalities.

I was just looking at that Dover crash this morning.  There is a YouTube video someone posted of a simulation of the crash with the actual voice recording from the crew.  From what I understood about it, the C-5 lost an engine during take off, with a full load of cargo and fuel.  Then as they were returning to the runway, the crew accidentally tried to throttle up the failed engine, leaving one of the remaining functioning engines at idle.  This meant they were flying on only two engines.  Then to make matters worse, the crew also extended the flaps at a higher degree than two engines could maintain air speed.  Consequently, the C-5 lost air speed and stalled resulting in the crash.

Here is a link to the video.  It is very interesting:

Ken 

mikeymize

Just getting ready to post some pics and read your post Ken. The fact that many of your reference books are out of print/hard to find would make me upset beyond belief. Even if/when you get the insurance money the pain of finding new copies will only add to the frustration.

On a happier note, I'm including the Lee tank as promised and a pic of my old patch. I will get the other one posted as soon as I find it.

Very cool looking patch Mike!  In my opinion, there are some really good looking patches, some that are "okay", and others that I don't care for at all.  But that one is one that ranks among the really good looking ones.

And very nice picture of your Lee!    .  I have updated the front page.

Ken

jimbot58

Glad to hear the insurance will help, Ken. They can be a pain! Mom had water in her basement one year after rains and a downspout too close to a foundation left a couple inches in the basement. Their ruling was that since the water touched the ground before entering the basement, it was a flood. If the rains had somehow entered through a broken window, that would be different!

Thank you for the kind thoughts Jim.  Yes, I was certain that the insurance company was going to shaft me.  But fortunately not this time!

Ken

Gamera

Gee friggin' whiz Ken, seems like none of us can catch a break. What a friggin' mess. It's good to hear the insurance company did pony up the $1000 but still it doesn't go very far with the whole basement ruined. And those destroyed out-of-print books - what a pain to replace if you even can.

On a brighter note thanks for the information on the Tan Son Nhat C-5 accident, I had never heard of it.   

Hi Cliff,

Thank you for the kind thoughts.  I just could not believe it when I got home yesterday. Fortunately the insurance is paying for it.  I think you misunderstood what I wrote yesterday.  Our insurance policy has a $1,000.00 deductible.  Which means I have to come up with $1,000.00, but the insurance company will pay for the rest.

This is really good since I learned today that both the furnace and the water heater has to be replaced.  That along with the carpet.  The carpet was only a little over 4 years old.  And we had purchased a really high quality carpet.  We spent over $1,000.00 on it alone!  And my basement is not very big.

The furnace is getting replaced tomorrow.  And of course it is going to get cold tonight!  Down to 29 degrees with the wind gusting up to 25 mph.

Ken

BTW Ken, that crash of the Galaxy in S. Vietnam was truly horrible as the PAX were all civilians as I recall. I was TDY at Dover AFB doing an ISO inspection on one our our planes when a B model crashed just short of the runway in 2006. Fortunately, no fatalities.

Just getting ready to post some pics and read your post Ken. The fact that many of your reference books are out of print/hard to find would make me upset beyond belief. Even if/when you get the insurance money the pain of finding new copies will only add to the frustration.

On a happier note, I'm including the Lee tank as promised and a pic of my old patch. I will get the other one posted as soon as I find it.

Glad to hear the insurance will help, Ken. They can be a pain! Mom had water in her basement one year after rains and a downspout too close to a foundation left a couple inches in the basement. Their ruling was that since the water touched the ground before entering the basement, it was a flood. If the rains had somehow entered through a broken window, that would be different!

Gee friggin' whiz Ken, seems like none of us can catch a break. What a friggin' mess. It's good to hear the insurance company did pony up the $1000 but still it doesn't go very far with the whole basement ruined. And those destroyed out-of-print books - what a pain to replace if you even can.

On a brighter note thanks for the information on the Tan Son Nhat C-5 accident, I had never heard of it.   

Hi Everyone,

Time for some "This Day in History!".

I thought that Mike may be interested in this since he was involved with the C-5A Galaxy.

Yesterday was the 39th anniversary of the start of "Operation Babylift".  The very next day, April 4, 1975, there was a horrible crash involving a C-5A Galaxy that was participating in the operation.  Here is a short excerpt from Wikipedia:

The Tan Son Nhat C-5 accident refers to the 4 April 1975^{[Notes 1]} crash of Lockheed C-5A Galaxy serial number 68-0218 participating in Operation Babylift. The C-5 crashed on approach during an emergency landing at Tan Son Nhat Air Base, South Vietnam. The cause was ascribed to loss of flight control due to explosive decompression and structural failure. The accident marked the second operational loss and first fatal crash for the C-5 Galaxy fleet. It is also the deadliest accident involving a U.S. military aircraft.

The full description can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Tan_Son_Nhut_C-5_accident 

The C-5A Galaxy was initially designed just like the C-141A Starlifter in respect to be used as a paratroop transport capable of opening the rear doors to allow the paratroopers to jump out and air drop equipment.  They had so much trouble with the rear doors that this type of operation was stopped for a long time until they could figure out how to fix it.

Ken

Ken, sorry to hear that about the Man Cave. I know Eagle90 has had the same problem with his basement, and yep, his man cave is in there as well. I know you guys have been having it bad over there the past few months. Lets just hope summer comes soon.

I didn't know that about the badges, I had assumed the one in your sig was something you had created. The RAF tends to go for more formal unit patches so I have never really come across that sort of thing. Its a really neat idea.

Hi Everyone,

Some good news.  The insurance company said they would cover the damages.  But I have a $1,000.00 deductible.  But I know there is more than $1,000.00 worth of damage.

Ken

Wow Ken, that bites! Seems we have all had some problems with the weather this last year or more, and you seem to have gotten more that your fair share of it!

We just had a Spring storm here- heavy wet snow that totaled up to 2 feet in some areas. With that came downed power lines and trees. I was just watching the news, and they were talking to some old guy who was explaining how a tree came down and plunged right through the windshield of his car and "Well, it's just ruined now!" he said. Not unusual for this area, but still sucks when it happens.

We used to have a lot of problems with power outages where I live. It was almost a daily occurrence and the city received so many complaints, that they sat down with the power company and told them it was unacceptable, and either fix the problem or face fines against their franchise.  The power company ended up relocating some critical lines and forced some property owners with troublesome trees near lines to have them removed.

Jim

mikeymize

The thing I love about this GB aside from the builds and people of course, are all the indiscriminate tidbits I learn. Those patches are very cool and I had no idea what Ken's moniker referenced until now. When I was on active duty we had "Eagle Keeper" patches as maintainers. The pilots had "Eagle Driver" ones. I still have one of each. I heard other pilots called the F-15 guys Ego Drivers as a good-natured slam....just some trivia I thought I'd pass on.

That is very cool tidbits you just gave us Mike!  Thank you for sharing that.   

Ken

I forgot to add that we are expecting a lot more rain tonight and tomorrow.  It is very possible that the water will come back up in my basement.  There is nothing I can do to stop it.

Ken

jimbot58

Here's the other badges:

Ken, I knew very little about the 101 when I began this project and certainly never knew your nick was in honor of your Dad. Hope I can honor him as well in some small way with my Voodoo build!

I know everybody has different reasons for choosing their nicknames. Mine is pretty dull- I had been viewing the forum off and on for a while, but one day there was a question I wanted to post or something I wanted to respond to. So I just used the first thing I thought of. I didn't plan on sticking around and never thought I would still be doing this almost 1400 posts later.

Nothing to update on the 101 tonight. I was pretty beat when I got home.

Ken, I haven't noticed you adding much about your Hoosier lately- Hope you haven't run into any snags with it...

Jim

Thank you for the recognition Jim!  I just simply assumed that everyone knew what those patches were and why I was using it for my avatar.  I was used to seeing them since I was a kid.

I have been busy, working on computers for extra cash, and tending to my seedlings.  But I was also just taking a small break from building.

Thank you Jim for the nudge to get me back to the workbench!   

Unfortunately, it is not going to happen now for a few days.  We had some torrential rain this morning, and received about 2.5 inches of rain in about 3 hours time.  The ground was already full of moisture, so we had flooding like I have NEVER seen here before.

I am inside city limits and on the city sewer system.  The sewer actually backed up into my basement and flooded it.  This all happened while I was at work.  By the time I got home, the water had just gone back down.  But the water was still standing at the top of the floor drain.  About an hour later, the level in the drain had gone down to normal.

The water was at one point 5.25 inches deep.  I could tell by measuring the water line it left.  I had so much stuff sitting on the floor that is now completely ruined.  Mind you, this is a finished basement.  It is my "Man Cave".  I had 2 large stacks of reference of reference books sitting on the floor.  Now gone.  A large majority of them were hard to find out of print publications.  I am sick to my stomach right now.

I don't know if our insurance will cover the damages.  I will call them tomorrow.  We did not have flood insurance, since we do not live any where close to a river or stream.  This has never happened before.  I am hoping that since the water came in by way of the sewer, the insurance company will cover it.  I will find out tomorrow.

Ken

The thing I love about this GB aside from the builds and people of course, are all the indiscriminate tidbits I learn. Those patches are very cool and I had no idea what Ken's moniker referenced until now. When I was on active duty we had "Eagle Keeper" patches as maintainers. The pilots had "Eagle Driver" ones. I still have one of each. I heard other pilots called the F-15 guys Ego Drivers as a good-natured slam....just some trivia I thought I'd pass on.

Those are cool Jim, thanks for posting them.

Does the 58 in your ID have any significance? Birthyear maybe? Mine, well I couldn't come up with anything better and had just watched a Japanese monster movie the week before- so whatthehell why not?

Just assuming Ken has been busy with work, Ken, Ken???

Here's the other badges:

Ken, I knew very little about the 101 when I began this project and certainly never knew your nick was in honor of your Dad. Hope I can honor him as well in some small way with my Voodoo build!

I know everybody has different reasons for choosing their nicknames. Mine is pretty dull- I had been viewing the forum off and on for a while, but one day there was a question I wanted to post or something I wanted to respond to. So I just used the first thing I thought of. I didn't plan on sticking around and never thought I would still be doing this almost 1400 posts later.

Nothing to update on the 101 tonight. I was pretty beat when I got home.

Ken, I haven't noticed you adding much about your Hoosier lately- Hope you haven't run into any snags with it...

Jim

Very cool find there Jim, nice to be able to see all the detail there in the badge.

10-4 Jim!  That is the patch that the mechanics and crew chiefs would wear that were assigned to a Voodoo squadron.  The pilots patch was a variation that said "Voodoo One-O-Wonder", and the back seater would wear one that said "Voodoo Scope Wizard".

Ken

Ok, Ken! I think I just made a connection here! Am I correct?

Jim

Gamera

Jim: Those look good, and thanks- I'd have sanded the darn seams off! I forget that sometimes the real thing has a seam on it!

As to the whole modern OS I think Apple's story is that Microsoft 'stole' it from them. From what I've read... well it's a little different. The modern point and click interface was invented by Xerox for their office mainframe computers. They called it the Xerox STAR- I don't remember what it stood for. Most of the home computer companies on seeing this started to write their own copies. Commodore had the Magic Desk, GEOS, and Amiga OS, Atari had TOS, and of course Microsoft did Windows and Apple did their own version. Apple did get their product to market first on what was probably the worst computer ever made the horrid Apple Lisa that almost killed the company. Over the years Apple has started claiming they invented it the same way they claim they invented the home computer, the MP3 player, and about a hundred other things- but it in fact was the first copy of Xerox's idea.

Or so I've read, if I'm wrong here correct me Ken!

Very interesting information there Cliff!  Actually, you know a lot more about the history than I do!  Even though I was working on and using the Microsoft products and computers back then, information like that did not come out until later.

The only thing I know is that Microsoft (aka Bill Gates) was very very good at Marketing!  Rarely did he have the best product, but his marketing strategy was incredible.  He usually took ideas and software from other inventors and would purchase them at a ridiculously low price or flat out steal them or copy them (same thing).

That is what happened to Novell.  Novell's Network Operating System was vastly superior to Microsoft's first few attempts.  Then Microsoft basically copied the interface from Novell and put them out of business by way of marketing.  Novell's security was fantastic.  Today we are still dealing with security flaws in Microsoft's products!

Ken

jimbot58

A bit of WIP tonight.

Cementing up the after-burners-I had to work carefully to actually preserve the seams down the center. The photos I have seen of the 1:1 version, there is a visible seam showing on the cans. I applied the cement carefully and did not squeeze, so I wouldn't force out that bead of molten plastic.

The nozzles are not cemented yet, just being used to hold everything in alignment. I need to tweak the fit on the lower one.

Interestingly enough, I was trying to find a photo to illustrate, and ran across this. It's the same squadron my kit is modeling. with a different tail number. I'm printing this one out for my own reference. I just hope my project can come close to looking like this....

Hard to see in this photo, but it looks like a row of rivets follows that seam. Don't think I want to go to that level.

Here's the photo I was looking for. Hmmmm...there is an offset seam on the nozzle. Might have to try and scribe one......

I'm printing this one out too for reference.

Seems like when you search for images, you get a lot of other people's model builds and museum pieces that the burner cans have been replaced with fakes. Some are decent and some look....fake!

Ken, here is a website for you:

VOODOO!

Lastly, repainting the inside gear doors. As before, I'm using the Testors Dark Red in the little square bottles. It's a gloss, but I will tone it down a bit with some dullcoat as it looks too shiny right now. Glossy is good for now as the masking film sticks pretty good when I go to do (the voodoo, that I do) on the outside of the doors

Jim

Excellent attention to detail Jim!      Great pictures too!  Thank you for that link!

You probably already know this so forgive me if you do.  The inside of the flaps are red and white and the inside of the air brakes are also red.

Here is a picture of a RF-101C getting ready to take off with the flaps extended.  If you look close you can see the colors.  This picture was taken by my Dad at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon Vietnam, circa August 1964.

 Ken

Jim: Those look good, and thanks- I'd have sanded the darn seams off! I forget that sometimes the real thing has a seam on it!

As to the whole modern OS I think Apple's story is that Microsoft 'stole' it from them. From what I've read... well it's a little different. The modern point and click interface was invented by Xerox for their office mainframe computers. They called it the Xerox STAR- I don't remember what it stood for. Most of the home computer companies on seeing this started to write their own copies. Commodore had the Magic Desk, GEOS, and Amiga OS, Atari had TOS, and of course Microsoft did Windows and Apple did their own version. Apple did get their product to market first on what was probably the worst computer ever made the horrid Apple Lisa that almost killed the company. Over the years Apple has started claiming they invented it the same way they claim they invented the home computer, the MP3 player, and about a hundred other things- but it in fact was the first copy of Xerox's idea.

Or so I've read, if I'm wrong here correct me Ken!

A bit of WIP tonight.

Cementing up the after-burners-I had to work carefully to actually preserve the seams down the center. The photos I have seen of the 1:1 version, there is a visible seam showing on the cans. I applied the cement carefully and did not squeeze, so I wouldn't force out that bead of molten plastic.

The nozzles are not cemented yet, just being used to hold everything in alignment. I need to tweak the fit on the lower one.

Interestingly enough, I was trying to find a photo to illustrate, and ran across this. It's the same squadron my kit is modeling. with a different tail number. I'm printing this one out for my own reference. I just hope my project can come close to looking like this....

Hard to see in this photo, but it looks like a row of rivets follows that seam. Don't think I want to go to that level.

Here's the photo I was looking for. Hmmmm...there is an offset seam on the nozzle. Might have to try and scribe one......

I'm printing this one out too for reference.

Seems like when you search for images, you get a lot of other people's model builds and museum pieces that the burner cans have been replaced with fakes. Some are decent and some look....fake!

Ken, here is a website for you:

VOODOO!

Lastly, repainting the inside gear doors. As before, I'm using the Testors Dark Red in the little square bottles. It's a gloss, but I will tone it down a bit with some dullcoat as it looks too shiny right now. Glossy is good for now as the masking film sticks pretty good when I go to do (the voodoo, that I do) on the outside of the doors

Jim

Gamera

Jim: Looks good! And neat paint mixer there, no need to be pretty since it's going to get paint splattered on it anyway!

Ken: Wow, MS-DOS 3.3. As said I was still using my C-64 back then.

Funny story I read some time back on how Commodore founder and CEO Jack Tramiel screwed over Bill Gates when he negotiated to pick up a version of Microsoft BASIC back when the first home computer the Commodore PET came out in the late '70s. Tramiel paid a one time payment to use the BASIC version instead of a royalty for each copy. Gates figured it wasn't a big deal since Commodore would have to buy a new version sooner or later. Commodore then went and put that same version of MS BASIC on every PET, Vic-20, and C-64, over fifty million computers over almost ten years.  Gates NEVER sold anyone anything with a one time flat fee ever again!

Wasn't there a story that Apple actually came up with the 'Windows' concept or some parts of it? Apple tried to sue but lost? I seem to remember watching some program one night.

Jim: Looks good! And neat paint mixer there, no need to be pretty since it's going to get paint splattered on it anyway!

Ken: Wow, MS-DOS 3.3. As said I was still using my C-64 back then.

Funny story I read some time back on how Commodore founder and CEO Jack Tramiel screwed over Bill Gates when he negotiated to pick up a version of Microsoft BASIC back when the first home computer the Commodore PET came out in the late '70s. Tramiel paid a one time payment to use the BASIC version instead of a royalty for each copy. Gates figured it wasn't a big deal since Commodore would have to buy a new version sooner or later. Commodore then went and put that same version of MS BASIC on every PET, Vic-20, and C-64, over fifty million computers over almost ten years.  Gates NEVER sold anyone anything with a one time flat fee ever again!

jimbot58

Did finally get the chance to work on the 101 with mixed results. Tried to do a bit of painting, but the airbrush Gods were not favoring me tonight. The brand new bottle of Aircraft Gray I bought did not seem to want to thin correctly and spray, plus the airbrush was mis behaving as well, and ended up needing a tear-down and cleaning. The parts I was trying to paint went into a Simple Green bath for stripping.... The bottle of paint ended in the bin. I have an old bottle I have been using, and it worked fine. I just thought a new bottle would be nice, but thanks to Testors usual inconsistency......

So I worked on those flaps instead and about have them sized up and ready. Just a few adjustments and I can mount them. Just need them just so perfect....

By the way, I'm not eating that tub of margerine! It holds water for wet sanding!

I also worked on a side project: I built a motor powered paint mixer years ago, using a "C" battery holder, electric motor, and a switch from Radio Shack. The mixer paddle itself is nothing more than a paper clip. I know I could buy one ready made for about 10 bucks, but where's the fun in that? Anyway, the switch broke sometime back and needed to be replaced. Some soldering and epoxy, and it is restored to working status. I can put up the toothpicks now.

I know it's not pretty, but it does work!

The Voodoo is looking really nice Jim!   

Sorry to hear about your paint problems.  And by the way, that paint mixer looks awesome!

Ken

jimbot58

Gamera

Jim: At least you missed MS-Dos... ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I remember it seemed I had a different boot floppy for every other piece of software I had. Meddling around with Config and System files and mucking about with EMS and XMS memory... when I first started using Win98 it was a breath of fresh air. I've had my issues but I don't ever want to go back to the bad ol' days!  

Seems I remember hearing horror stories about that. I heard that playing a simple game could mean having a stack of floppies in front of you that you would have to change constantly.

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! I say as well! Just finished my 2013 taxes and it was a PITA for a simple return! I had two W-2's because of the company changing ownership and all that. Plus it asked questions about about the small cash inheritance I received back in 2012. (Online tax service I use) Plus there is a city head tax for the privilege to have the honor of working in the fine city of Denver!

There are also questions about the Trust and income from that. I know it's going to be a nightmare when I ever get to settle Mom's estate. Contrary to the advise from friends, I plan to hire an accountant to work all that out-there's no way I can do that on my own!

Maybe I can sit with the model for a brief time this evening......

Jim

P.S. Yes there are some refunds due. Meager, but better than nothing, or having to pay!

That is something I still need to do.  Taxes.  We always end up paying, that is why I haven't started yet.  Every year I have payroll increase the amount they are taking out, and every year we still have to pay more!

Ken