piper17

The original photo is, I believe, of a KC-97 which was a tanker aircraft utilized by the USAF. It was a tanker version of the Boeing B-29. It had reciprocating, radial engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, R-4360-59 Wasp Major. The "guppy" aircraft are in the two photos appear to have turbo-prop engines. If the airframe is based on the C-124, the "guppy" aircraft in these pictures would have been re-engined in addition to the other modifications since the original C-124s had P&W R-4360 radial engines also. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Not a Mossie. Picture of one attached. I don't think it is a Dehavilland - at least I can't find a photos on a DH aircraft resembling this one. Not a Heron, Dove, Dubb etc. Anyone recognize the aircraft registration number - what country? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Not "Who", "Guess Who" "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

It is. Now, if we could just get the federal government to enforce the immigration laws that are on the books!!! "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

OFR point level 5 for me, too. I also had a terminal opening on my Navy Conical that was crammed into a Super Pro reserve container (chest mount but the Super Pro harness had high D rings). I had bent the top pin about 90 degrees on exit on the top of the C-182 doorway. Opening shock was fine as I recall...much less than the shock I could have expected if I had NOT deployed the reserve. Several other chest-mounted reserve deployments but they were cutaways except for the one when I had the reefing line on my Strato-Star wrap around the top flap on my main container. The Navy Conical was in a chest-mounted Pop-Top reserve container....the pilot chute easily cleared the reefing line and MA-1 in tow. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

"So just like the 1st Amendment doesn't allow you to shout "fire" in a crowded theater, so the 2nd has limits too, that the courts have upheld." Please cite specific cases. I'd be very interested in seeing what has actually been "upheld" by the courts. Please skip the usual "Brady bunch" fictional "cases" and misinterpretations. Just the facts, please. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

If you've fired 2,000 rounds in the last few weeks, that would equate to 40 boxes of ammo (50rds/box). If the price difference is $3-$4 per box, then you are talking $120-$160 price difference. Not an insignificant piece of change. 9mm, .357Sig, .40, .45acp are all fine rounds and I own pistols in all of these calibers. I'd prefer to carry a .45acp (I prefer making big holes, too) but they tend to be bigger and heavier than desirable, especially in summer or climates where it is warm most of the time. I had a Para Ordnance Covert Carry (.45acp) with the LDA trigger but after it failed twice in about 100 rounds (requiring a trip to the factory repair center each time), I put it on consignment at my favorite "toy" store and bought the Springfield XD sub-compact. Now, if Springfield comes up with a .45acp sub-compact, I'll be trading in my 9mm! ;>) Guess it all depends on what you intend to use it for, personal experience, and personal preference. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Actually, the .357 Sig round is being used by quite a number of law enforcement agencies in this country...including at least one federal agency. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

While the .40 will give better stopping power in many cases, the 9mm should do just fine with the right ammo. Where the 9mm gets a bad rap is in the military role when it is required to use ball ammo. If the military could use jacketed hollow point ammo, it would perform a lot better...but not nearly as well as a .45acp. I own a bunch of firearms and while my favorites for shooting are .45acp (Colt 1911 & Colt LW Commander both with extensive gunsmithing done to them by Clark Custom), I really like the Springfield XD sub-compact in 9mm I just bought. While I was debating between the 9mm and the .40, I settled on the 9mm for controllability and the fact that it is cheaper to shoot...so I will shoot it more. The two guns are the same size and price. I've owned Glocks but wasn't thrilled with them (just my personal preference and a recurring failure to feed issue with the Glock 23 (.40) despite a trip back to Glock) and I own a Sig P-239 in .357 Sig. The Sig is a really nice piece and I carry it during the winter. I bought a used Colt Cobra revolver (alloy version of the Detective Special) earlier this year. It is .38 special only (no +P) and is very concealable. Since .38 special is one of the calibers I reload (I shoot .38 for Cowboy Action Shooting), it is quite cheap for me to shoot also. For overall concealability, power, ergonomics, the Springfield XD is my personal favorite, hands down and will be now my primary carry pistol. I guess I will have to start reloading 9mm now. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Howard, Wasn't 7070 the Loadstar that Nate Pond flew at Turners Falls, MA one year ....1977, I think? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Back in the days of rings & ropes Strato Stars, I jumped a Canadian made wedge-shaped main container that was a copy of the Jerry Bird system. Late one afternoon on a skydive, I pulled the ripcord, the pilot chute and reefing line started to go but before lifting the bag out of the main container, the reefing line wrapped around the long top flap of the main container, giving me a pilot chute (and many feet of reefing line) in tow. This was in the days of shot and 1/2s which I activated (at terminal - pilot chute doesn't slow one down very much) and finally had to fire my chest-mounted reserve (Pop-Top) despite the fact that the main hadn't (couldn't) leave. Thankfully, the reserve cleared all the crap above me and has an "uneventful" landing on my Navy Conical. Fun is.... "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Actually, the Colt Commander has the same size grip as the full-size 1911. Takes the same mags and stocks. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

If you can draw that conclusion from my earlier posting, you seem to have a problem with reading comprehension. My point is that EVERYONE has an opinion and people who observe or experience the same things can have different opinions about them. Just because one person has an opinion about something, it doesn't necessarily make that opinion "right". It is just that person's opinion and others can have completely different opinions about the same thing. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Wow! You mean someone has a different opinion. What an amazing concept. Hard to believe that different people can see things differently. I have opinions about liberals as, I would guess, you do as well....and they are probably quite different. Opinions are, as they say, like A-holes, everyone has one! "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

The Marine general is probably right...but when was the last time the USMC conducted an amphibious landing? You train for the war you are fighting, not for the one you might or might not fight at some other time. I was trained at Ft. Benning in 1967-68 to fight in RVN...small unit patrolling etc for a jungle/tropical environment. Of course, if we were fighting a war in Europe, the training would have been for naught. It didn't serve me particularly well in Korea. If you know you are fighting in Iraq, you train for that...not for an amphibious landing on Saipan. Geees, use your head. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Well, if the US Army was willing to take back a former 1LT (Infantry and Armor) from 1967-1970, I would be happy to go. When did you serve? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I was going to respond myself but when I came across this at www.blackfive.net, I thought it said it all! Does 12 Captains trump 7 82nd ABN NCOs? Posted By Uncle Jimbo Today marks five years since the authorization of military force in Iraq, setting Operation Iraqi Freedom in motion. Five years on, the Iraq war is as undermanned and under-resourced as it was from the start. And, five years on, Iraq is in shambles. As Army captains who served in Baghdad and beyond, we've seen the corruption and the sectarian division. We understand what it's like to be stretched too thin. And we know when it's time to get out. What does Iraq look like on the ground? It's certainly far from being a modern, self-sustaining country. Many roads, bridges, schools and hospitals are in deplorable condition. Fewer people have access to drinking water or sewage systems than before the war. And Baghdad is averaging less than eight hours of electricity a day. Since the 7 NCOs from the 82nd ABN writing in the NY Times didn't trigger the cut & run required we now get to hear from the dozen Captains, I assume followed by a pack of privates and ending with "two turtlenecks and a beer in a tree" I'll disclaim as usual, and the left will ignore that as usual, I believe these people have every right to voice their opinion. That is undisputed, the question is how much weight should their thoughts carry. Jules Crittenden points out what is likely the single biggest factor in evaluating them. Only one has been in Iraq since 2005, the other 11 all served very early in the war and obviously their experiences would have been largely negative. What would an OpEd from 12 officers currently serving in al Anbar, or Diyala sound like? We had very little success prior to this Spring and these officers got to live through our mistakes and see friends and comrades die for what seemed to them little progress. But the fact that this group includes no one who has been in country since the surge began makes it clearly an outdated viewpoint. I don't dispute that many of the difficulties they catalogue still present problems, but to completely discount the huge changes in the security situation, the Anbar Awakening, and even more important the recent alliances forged with Shiia sheiks is patently unfair. We have plenty of hard work left in Iraq, and to follow the advice of these 12 would ensure that the civil war they expect comes and with that the collapse of any influence we had in the region. Their plan? Oh wait they don't have one, beyond "Run!". There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is to leave Iraq immediately. A scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war, and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition. We will be conducting a scaled withdrawal because our plans are coming to fruition and we are winning. And although there will be more US casualties before we win, those will reinforce victory, not be added to the rolls of the defeated. Already much of Basra is pacified after the British have withdrawn, Al Qaeda in Iraq is crippled and has no prospects of re-building, casualties country-wide are at their lowest in years and momentum is solidly in our favor. I know where these folks got their defeatism and it is sad that we have taken as long as we have to unscrew ourselves, but their voices sound eerily out of context and time. This OpEd should have been published last year. Now we fight a battle scarcely recognizable from this trip down bad memory lane. They end with a fair statement. America, it has been five years. It's time to make a choice. I choose Victory! "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I just bought a Springfield XD sub-compact in 9mm, put 110 rounds through it, and I love it. I found it to be extremely accurate. The 9mm with the right ammo should do the trick and the XD is quite concealable. Probably nothing wrong with the XD in .40 either but I haven't tried one yet. I own a Sig P-239 in .357Sig which I also like but it is heavier, bigger...more suited for winter carry. I have a LW Colt Commander in .45acp but, again, it's big, heavy (even if it is "light-weight"), and not very concealable unless it is winter. I owned Glocks 17 (9mm) which worked fine but is large and a Glock 23 (.40) which did NOT work reliably even after a trip back to Glock. I sold it and bought the Sig. I don't think you can go wrong with the Springfield XD sub-sompact in 9mm or .40. Great price, reliable, concealable, shootable. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I am still trying to figure out where people get the idea that the federal government needs to provide them healthcare...with MY tax dollars. Why do I have to pay the healthcare costs of smokers, obese people, drug abusers, and the children of people who make $80K+ a year? Healthcare by the federal government...anyone remember the Walter Reed hospital scandal earlier this year??? Anyone ever deal with the Internal Revenue Service, the FAA, the VA etc. What has the federal government EVER done well? And you want to turn your medical care over to a bunch of government employees who, in large part, are government employees because they can't find decent employment in the private sector. No thanks. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

Your. Escape. System. ? "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

It is, I believe, a cruciform design. Lemoigne, Reuter, Puskas, Fox and a number of other names in the business have patents on this type of canopy. Don't know who the jumper is in the picture. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I HOPE that our US Army and CIA terrorize the Iranians and other terrorist-breeding grounds! "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

How about some details about the "unusual sex practices"......I wonder if they are still considered "unusual" today. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I jumped a Wilga in Indonesia when I was demonstrating new parachute equipment to the Indonesian military in the early 1980s. We put three jumpers in the aircraft and, as I recall, this pretty much filled it. The long, spindly landing gear would be for rough-field operations...avoiding prop strikes. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling

I don't remember when but it was stopped as a result of a radio DJ trying to get military aircraft for some function and raising a stink when he was turned down...at least that is one story I heard a bunch of years ago. I remember being able to jump Army UH-1s and Dehavilland Beavers or Otters when we first competed at West Point/Walkill - early mid 70s. Later, we had to bring our own aircraft..a piston Porter and C-182. That would have been in the late '70s - early '80s. "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"...Rudyard Kipling