We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:04:42 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Okay, a disclaimer: technically, this isn't Plane Pr0n, it's Helicopter Pr0n, but it *is* an exposé of some of the fiddly bits. Y'see, my collection differs from John's in that my items are either obsolete, non-functional (and uneconomically repairable), and/or of "no further military value"--and (except for the weaponry) they all are souvenirs of odd things that occurred in the course of one of my flights. In a couple of instances, they were the *cause* of the odd things that occurred, hence, the non-functional aspect. This thing is still functional. Yeah--a water gauge. It's from the instrument panel of one... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html Wed, 05 Apr 2006 07:07:02 -0600 LOL. I know what water buffaloes are, having seen a few in my time. I was just bein' obnoxious about refilling canteens in the air, is all. So...when do we plan a feast in honor of the Armorer's Return? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43559 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43559 Thu, 06 Apr 2006 11:20:11 -0600 Cyclones, if memory still serves. Rotary snarlers are all air-cooled, but some of the fighters they powered had a water-injection system for short-term RPM boosts.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43540 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43540 Thu, 06 Apr 2006 05:45:25 -0600 Hmm... CH-37 Mojave, or H-34 Choctaw? Were those piston-powered monstrosities also water cooled? I'm not aiming insultingly far back in the hardware timeframe am I? :( http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43538 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43538 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 23:29:44 -0600 ps- On a personal note: had I lately (or previously) been exploited by submitting to the demands of the hideous and hypocritical government taskmasters at AKO I would never admit same; yea verily, my friends- I would gladly fling myself into the Flaming Vortex of Unending Immolation (TM) rather than suffer that indignity... Neffi out. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43535 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43535 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 21:07:43 -0600 Hmmmm... looks like *someone* blew a gasket and thereby mixed cooling water with lubricating oil (and introducing cylinder compression into the cooling system, no less). Wait- that was me, with my '68 F-150 several years ago! Never mind... Close? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43534 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43534 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:34:38 -0600 On a serious note, did we have a water cooled engine helicopter? On a non-serious note, is it the officers helicopter complete with showere stall and flushing toilet? Did we help propagate the rice fields? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43533 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43533 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:25:51 -0600 Darn. I was kinda hoping Maggie'd stop by. "It's for the spa in the cargo bay. And if it's not, it should be." http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43532 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43532 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:22:09 -0600 Buffalo... fdcol63 - Nope. The airstream cools the mini quite nicely. The pilot manually limits the bursts to avoid overheating the gun, although you *do* get an interesting barrel configuration after a runaway gun... Spray rigs all have the gauges mounted directly on the pump--this gauge was on the pilot's instrument panel.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43530 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43530 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:09:43 -0600 It isn't for a defoliant system, is it? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43527 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43527 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 17:14:27 -0600 So, it prolly not being for and ICE-engined bird... hmmm. Spray-bird? Like the ones that spray for insects, or the ones that sprayed that sticky crap for NBC training? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43524 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43524 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 15:23:58 -0600 I'm guessing probably a water-cooled mini gun on an attack chopper. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43521 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43521 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:37:15 -0600 water buffalo didn't have to be airborne... just positioned off to the side of the helipad to fill whatever it was the Chief is sending us on this snark hunt for... BCR - somebody call Carborundum - he's prolly *got* the accident reports! Bill - Well, not all the ICE birds were radial engined (ICE being more my point, bad choice on the two that rolled of the top of my head). But I figured it wouldn't be *that* easy anyway. ]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43520 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43520 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:13:14 -0600 That's IT! The chopper was a water buffalo! *attendant snark on why water buffaloes were airborn will be appreciated* http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43518 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43518 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:57:09 -0600 never mind the wreckage. I wanna see the accident reports! "Just happened to impact flock of very lost Canada Geese. Nosir, they don't usually migrate through the Mekong Delta. I was rather surprised myself, sir. But not as surprised as the water buffalo I landed on." http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43514 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43514 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:14:45 -0600 *dashing in to get out of the snow* *peering up at guesses* John - Nope. No water injection on radial-powered helicopters. Neffi - I see you used to write captions for AKO. Barb - We used to just slosh the mud off in a convenient swamp. JMH - Ah, yes--the curse of the misplaced decimal point. Of course, the zipper actually *is* that long until it's sectioned for use on each batch of flight suits... *nipping off to make corrections* http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43513 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43513 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 11:54:35 -0600 I enjoyed learning that two inches equals 512mm. Thus the zipper is now 6912mm long. Cheers JMH http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43510 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43510 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:23:13 -0600 I dunno either, John, but it smells like a snark ;-) I'm still goggling at the thought of adding 500+ pounds of water plus the weight of the tank, in order to wash off 100 pounds of mud. Sounds goofy to me. Then again, weirder things have happened, I suppose! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43509 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43509 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:19:50 -0600 Gad, Neffi, that one is so well done I can't tell if it's snark or not...! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43508 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43508 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:04:42 -0600 Water pressure gauge for the Goldberg In-Flight Debris Amelliorating System, Type III Mark I (Pat.Pend.) Early experience in helicopter operations from muddy locales (rice paddies and such)convinced The Smart Guys (O-6 and above) of the need to remove the 20 - 30 pounds of muddy goop left clinging to chopper skids after take-off. The installation of a pressurized 100-gallon stainless steel water tank and a system of piping and spray nozzles permitted the whirly-jockey to flush the excess weight from the skids whilst airborne, thus restoring proper weight-and-balance and aerodynamic efficiency to his bird... Pre-deployment test and analysis exercises of the system were disappointing however and led to several demotions and other disciplinary measures; after which no-one could be found who had originally endorsed the idea and so the project was scrapped (along with the modified aircraft that survived the testing schedule). Goldberg was arrested and exposed as an agent for the NV government after carelessly exposing his "I (heart) HO" tattoo and was exiled to Dubuque for life. C'mon Chief- give us a TOUGH one next time! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43505 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43505 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 09:37:18 -0600 Chickasaw and Choctaw come to mind.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43504 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2006/04/whatsis.html#comment-43504 Wed, 05 Apr 2006 09:36:18 -0600