Wapsi Square Forum

jwhouk wrote:Surprisingly, they don't take up that much space. Probably around 300 sq. meters.

The problem is mostly getting them in position.

Or worse, getting them out of that position.

It can get awkward when an aircraft which has made an emergency landing at an airstrip that is just barely long enough to land at has to then try to leave the place, unless it's a VTO/L.

Duct tape some JATO's to it, it'll be fine.

GlytchMeister wrote:Duct tape some JATO's to it, it'll be fine.

If that duct tape is good enough to do the job, it's going to be hell to get it to release when you're done with it. Might have to use O2F2 in place of Goo Gone to get the adhesive residue off of the wings.

Dave wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Duct tape some JATO's to it, it'll be fine.

If that duct tape is good enough to do the job, it's going to be hell to get it to release when you're done with it. Might have to use O2F2 in place of Goo Gone to get the adhesive residue off of the wings.

That would also remove the wings from the universe...

But I think you underestimate the power of duct tape. Once you've watched all of the MythBusters Duct Tape specials, you might think otherwise.

With enough duct tape, I think you could make a structure that would keep a JATO attached and at least stable enough to make it work.

I was trying to find a photo of the trainer jet we had outside my former institution back in the 1970's-90's, but it's very difficult to track down.

Found it.

jwhouk wrote:Found it.

Looks to be a P-80 Shooting Star.

However, I am curious about the "institution", two rolls of barbed wire and flowers???

jwhouk wrote:Found it.

T-33....lovely old thing.

That "institution" was Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales, Wisconsin.

And, until politics intervened, my workplace until five years, eight months ago.

The plane was removed about a decade ago, ostensibly to replace it with the new gatehouse/visiting area. Which, sadly, was only in use for a grand total of a year and a half.

Just Old Al wrote:

jwhouk wrote:Found it.

T-33....lovely old thing.

You sir, are correct. I did not research thoroughly. The wingtip tanks are T-33, not P-80.

I did note the canopy was not quite P-80, I attributed the shape to a later version.

But I am still curious about the institution.

jwhouk wrote:That "institution" was Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales, Wisconsin.

And, until politics intervened, my workplace until five years, eight months ago.

The plane was removed about a decade ago, ostensibly to replace it with the new gatehouse/visiting area. Which, sadly, was only in use for a grand total of a year and a half.

Ah. Interesting. Must have been boys that were energetic and creative in a way that irritated the locals, hence the wire?

And I see that it is just up the road from Lake Geneva. My grand-dad was from Walworth.

Hansontoons wrote:

Just Old Al wrote:

jwhouk wrote:Found it.

T-33....lovely old thing.

You sir, are correct. I did not research thoroughly. The wingtip tanks are T-33, not P-80.

I did note the canopy was not quite P-80, I attributed the shape to a later version.

We were both right, given that the T-33 was a derivation of the P-80 (also known as what do you do with a bunch of REALLY disappointing fighter aircraft...).

And who doesn't like a P-51 or three?

The basic story about the plane is, it was donated to the school back in the late 1960's - the reasons are lost to time. It stood where that photo shows it, right in front of the old hospital building, until the late 1990's. The engine had been long removed before then.

The problem we had was that the visiting area was located up the hill and to the right of that building in the background, and we had a few children of visitors think it was some sort of climbing toy... The Wisconsin DOC then sought out bids for scrapping the thing. I believe it was just torched up and towed out (it wouldn't have fit through our sallyport anyways).

At least they didn't do like the RAF did, and have a Grand Slam bomb on display by a base's front gate for years before somebody asked, "Hey, did we ever actually get around to fully disarming that thing?". . .

After I graduated, they mounted an unloaded missile out front of the high school. The rumor, of course, was that it was aimed at another high school a few hilltops away.

Our sports teams were the Rockets. The town was on the main line of the B&O railroad, and the teams used to be the Mainliners. They changed that in the 1960s, for some reason.

Couple of shots off the back deck this evening. Sort of sums up the time of year around here. No snow but a little melancholy. Trees bare, light fades quickly. But that is winter, a time to reflect, rest, and wait for rejuvenation in the spring.

And if you support Paul on Patreon, you'd be gritting teeth right now because now you have to wait until Wednesday for the next update! Unless he posts early again...

I recall this park on 19th, in San Francisco, having a war plane installed... (We lived some thirty miles south, on 'the Peninsula', just on the northern border of what would become 'Silicon Valley', some decades later...).

Growing up in a 'Stop the War' culture, I've developed a very, seeming dispassionate, 'interesting outlook on the Warriors themselves vs the need for War, esp in the Modern Era'.
(Of course, it's always been the Modern Era, for those swimming in their own times...).

I like weapons; the efficiency of a well developed Katana or M1911 Automatic is an achievement of human engineering.

That will likely be seen out of context, but there is more to it: I dislike causing others harm.

Taken at face value they seem at odds, but I've worked it out, internally, for myself.

The Fighter Jet was a very interesting part of the backdrop of my youth (although I seem to recall there being an earlier airplane there, way back when...). *

Here are some links to the history and subsequent life of said Machine of Destruction, according to some, and Tool to be Used as Intended, by others..

http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2012 ... hoto-91087

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/art ... 521798.php

The Pacific Coast Air Museum had just two aircraft on display when the Navy called in early 1993. An old war plane needed to be moved, and the military wanted the fledgling Santa Rosa museum to pick it up. "I remember saying to somebody, 'I hope it's not that old airplane on 19th Avenue,' " remembers Lynn Hunt, a museum board member who was there. "And it was. In even worse shape than we remembered."

* Ah hah: "There were three planes at the Larsen Park playground: A World War II recon camera plane (from 1959 to the mid-60s), a Navy FJ-Fury jet fighter (1967 to the early 1970s) and the F-8 Crusader in 1975. The F-8 was removed in 1993; officials said they didn’t have $40,000 for a lead paint abatement and restoration."

I think this is the type of plane I recall: http://www.boeing.com/resources/boeingd ... 80x436.jpg

Lastly, doing a perfunctory Google Search for links and stuff to fill in my spotty memory (I was a kid, and stuff's happened since then...), I came across the following:

I’m going to take a break from local landmarks for a month or so and do some other things on The Big Event. I’ll come back in late May/early June with your lost landmarks request list, and a follow-up on the Hamm’s Brewery sign. <---

(If you've seen the film 'Sneakers'. you've seen the (failed) negotiations, including a VW Karmann Ghia, at the former Mills Brothers Coffey location... In the local vicinity was the afore mentioned Hamms Brewing sign.)

s'cuse me, in a bit of a metaphorical way, "I'll be in ma bunk...".

TazManiac wrote:

I recall this park on 19th, in San Francisco, having a war plane installed... (We lived some thirty miles south, on 'the Peninsula', just on the northern border of what would become 'Silicon Valley', some decades later...).

Growing up in a 'Stop the War' culture, I've developed a very, seeming dispassionate, 'interesting outlook on the Warriors themselves vs the need for War, esp in the Modern Era'.
(Of course, it's always been the Modern Era, for those swimming in their own times...).

I like weapons; the efficiency of a well developed Katana or M1911 Automatic is an achievement of human engineering.

That will likely be seen out of context, but there is more to it: I dislike causing others harm.

Taken at face value they seem at odds, but I've worked it out, internally, for myself.

The Fighter Jet was a very interesting part of the backdrop of my youth (although I seem to recall there being an earlier airplane there, way back when...). *

Here are some links to the history and subsequent life of said Machine of Destruction, according to some, and Tool to be Used as Intended, by others..

http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2012 ... hoto-91087

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/art ... 521798.php

The Pacific Coast Air Museum had just two aircraft on display when the Navy called in early 1993. An old war plane needed to be moved, and the military wanted the fledgling Santa Rosa museum to pick it up. "I remember saying to somebody, 'I hope it's not that old airplane on 19th Avenue,' " remembers Lynn Hunt, a museum board member who was there. "And it was. In even worse shape than we remembered."

* Ah hah: "There were three planes at the Larsen Park playground: A World War II recon camera plane (from 1959 to the mid-60s), a Navy FJ-Fury jet fighter (1967 to the early 1970s) and the F-8 Crusader in 1975. The F-8 was removed in 1993; officials said they didn’t have $40,000 for a lead paint abatement and restoration."

I think this is the type of plane I recall: http://www.boeing.com/resources/boeingd ... 80x436.jpg

Lastly, doing a perfunctory Google Search for links and stuff to fill in my spotty memory (I was a kid, and stuff's happened since then...), I came across the following:

I’m going to take a break from local landmarks for a month or so and do some other things on The Big Event. I’ll come back in late May/early June with your lost landmarks request list, and a follow-up on the Hamm’s Brewery sign. <---

(If you've seen the film 'Sneakers'. you've seen the (failed) negotiations, including a VW Karmann Ghia, at the former Mills Brothers Coffey location... In the local vicinity was the afore mentioned Hamms Brewing sign.)

s'cuse me, in a bit of a metaphorical way, "I'll be in ma bunk...".

I grew up in Campbell, and graduated from San Carlos High. I laid track across Winchester between Campbell and Los Gatos in the Summer of 1969 then worked for the Billy Jones RR in Oak Meadow Park in LG.

Sage, I'm currently typing this from the land that used to contain Ravenswood High School,...

That said, hows about some pictures?

As soon as I ge the workbench set back up, I'm going to do some Soldering!





Aaaaaannd:

I have two frequency divider circuits I scavanged from some busted up but high-end speakers...

Still deciding where they are going to go...