fighter jet size comparison

found on http://cook-rouge.tumblr.com/

disassembling the B-29 "Fertile Myrtle" around 1985 at the Oakland Airport, CA

https://www.facebook.com/KermitWeeks/posts/1078380942230984

using a tank to lift an MRAP onto a flatbed

an Army mechanic who served from WW2 through Korea was given a toolbox packed with n.o.s. tools as a going away present when he retired

https://hansonmechanical.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/8th-annual-mason-dixon-willys-jeep-gathering/

what a cool display board!

https://hansonmechanical.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/8th-annual-mason-dixon-willys-jeep-gathering/

Unissued Service Squadron kit for a C-47 Skytrain/Dakota. Most of the special tools are still wrapped from the day it was packed.

http://www.usaaf.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1206

Hanson Mechanical put a tool box together as close to a WW2 Jeep tools as possible

the little blue socket set tool box caught my eye, I have a red one just like it. I think it only goes up to 1/2 inch, or 9/16ths

https://hansonmechanical.wordpress.com/2012/08/13/geeking-out-over-ww2-motorpool-tools/

US Army motor pool of 57 Chevys in Germany

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stiffspeed/

at the U boat pens 1957, the port of La Pallice, France
http://www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?http&&&www.usarmygermany.com/Units/ComZ/USAREUR_ComZone%207.htm

This is the 508th MP Bn Motor Pool area at McGraw around 1962-63.  http://www.usarmygermany.com/units/militarypolice/Partials_508th%20MP%20Bn%20g.htm

It's the end of an era at Fort Bragg. The last C-130 Hercules cargo plane based at Pope Field has flown away.

The plane left Wednesday for Arizona and the so-called "Boneyard" where the Air Force stores unused aircraft. It's another step in the deactivation of the 440th Airlift Wing at Pope.

http://www.wral.com/end-of-an-era-last-c-130-leaves-north-carolina-s-pope-field/15818562/

While on the topic of the cargo plane, the first Loadmaster to ever strap a load down in a C-130 did it for the Brass at Langley when Lockheed was showing off the new cargo plane.

And he broke their new airplane, he asked the Lockheed engineer for a load spreader.

The guy went into a tirade about how the new C-130 was designed to not need load spreaders.

He changed his mind when the wheels of the Howitzer went through the floor.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329396

That loadmaster was a remarkable guy by the way, after high school graduation in 1948, James Smith enlisted in the newly created United States Air Force as a Loadmaster Cargo Specialist, rising to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) by 1963, thereby becoming the USAF’s youngest E-9 ever.

And, he invented the ratchet strap.

The city of Warren Ohio is now making purple parking spots, reserved for wounded veterans only. That is damn cool

Although this is the first purple parking spot designated for combat wounded veterans in the city of Warren, officials say there is more to come. In fact, they will be putting one at every city building.

http://wkbn.com/2015/11/02/purple-parking-spots-in-warren-honor-wounded-veterans/

probably the only time a SR 71 was on the freeway

According to HABU.org, the SR-71 seen in the photo – serial number 17958 – was retired in early 1990 and flown to Robins Air Force Base to be decommissioned and placed in the base’s Museum of Aviation. To get it from the hangar to the museum, however, it had to be towed, apparently down U.S. 129, the only four-lane highway we see in the area.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/06/22/warner-robins-georgia-1990/

after a 5 year restoration, this WW2 de Havilland Mosquito was in the air again, over New Zealand

"just pull that vehicle in behind me"

As Christmas 1944 approached, the American forces in the Ardennes Forest were still in disarray and struggling to hold back the German onslaught.

Versions of the story vary, but what is known is that retreating armor came upon a lone infantryman of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment digging a foxhole.

He was scruffy, dirty, and battle-hardened. When he realized the retreating armor were looking for a safe place, he told them, “Well buddy, just pull that vehicle in behind me. I’m the 82nd Airborne and this is as far as the bastards are going.”

 They would indeed hold the line before driving the Germans back over the next several weeks.

http://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/6-badass-military-quotes-created-by-combat

For more true hero stories, both military and civilian: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/hero 

A-10

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/4014/how-a-small-town-girl-ended-up-in-the-cockpit-of-an-a-10-warthog

jet jocks vs slow and steady

https://www.facebook.com/groups/226107027472350/

What a day... a Blue Angel and a Thunderbird - jet jock flying choreography waste of jet fuel and taxpayer dollars - crashed in Colorado and Tennessee

The Thunderbird pilot was part of the demo at the graduation of the current Air Force Academy, around 1pm, after a low pass, he ejected near Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, just after ceremonies at the nearby academy where President Obama delivered the commencement address.

The Blue Angel pilot was taking off in #6 from the Symrna Tennessee airport to join the Navy demo group at about 3 pm, did not change direction from the runway according to the map, seems there was a total engine failure

and seems to have stayed with his plane to keep it from hitting homes, and he died on impact, in a forested area next to a housing area.  http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/06/02/navy-blue-angel-jet-crashes-smyrna/85308972/
https://www.facebook.com/usawtfm/?fref=nf

http://www.greattennesseeairshow.com/#/

So that's a couple tens of millions of dollars and one dead pilot. Just what the hell do we need flying choreography for at this expense? Doesn't this country need to repair some dams, bridges, and roads? 

An Avenger, (torpedo bomber) missing since 1944, was recently located in the waters surrounding the Pacific Island nation of Palau

The Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation founder and chairman Dan Friedkin finances ongoing search and discovery of MIA, at the families request, and scattered among and concealed within the dense mangrove forests, lagoon waters and coral reefs of Palau’s island chain are several dozen U.S. aircraft and the remains of as many as 80 U.S. airmen.

"We have identified 100 cases worldwide that are suitable for recovery and over 200 families have reached out asking for help with MIAs," he said. This case took two months of towing side scan sonar.

“The importance of our mission is reinforced with each new discovery of a missing aircraft," said Eric Terrill, an oceanographer from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, one of Project RECOVER's three founding entities.

Project RECOVER’s goal is finding the final underwater resting places of all Americans missing in action since World War II.

Established in 2012 with initial support from the Office of Naval Research and now private funding, Project RECOVER is a partnership among researchers at the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, and the BentProp Project.

http://www.projectrecover.org/
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/downed-world-war-ii-aircraft-missing-72-years-located-pacific-islands-project-recover

photos from the boneyard

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/aircraft-boneyard-in-tuscon-arizona.html