Eye of the beholder - Two beautiful things

rdw777 wrote:Marvels if engineering both of them…. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a Merlin up close but not a carrier….. Practically a city at sea….. Hopefully only to be used as a deterrent…. Very trying times we are living in….

I spent about an hour on the USS Siapan a carrier docked at NAS Pensacola in 1957 picking up parts for our 2-F-23 flight simulator which was based on the F-80.  I remember the hangar deck as a cavern, you could get lost in here I thought.  The Siapan was used to train NavCads (Naval Aviation Cadets) in carrier approach, landings, and take-offs.

At that time the Navy was transitioning from the F9F Panther which was used in Korea to great advantage and flown by John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.  Lot's of them at Pensacola along with the later more powerful swept wing Cougar.



Yes, Ship killing drones, hypersonic missiles and a big floating target.  But, we tried sinking the USS America a while back and couldn't get it to sink.  Carriers have counter-measures.

The Baby Killer on the loose.  I could write pages.  But know that Russia has the GNP of Texas while we have that GNP plus that of the other 49 states.  We would blow them away and they know it.  Russia can't even keep their single carrier operational.  Sleep soundly and be thankful that you are a citizen of the USA or a NATO member nation.

But, China is building super carriers and are pushing the envelope. The difference is - you can talk with the Chinese. Their economy is based on trade and we are their biggest trading partner. Neither of us want to upset that balance.

When I was a little kid I would also wonder how a ship could float, being metal and heavy. Then I saw one in dry dock and I realized how much you don’t see.

Love the Merlin!

Speaking of ships is why I bought Walt Musciano's book on model ships. Yes, a view of a ship out of water would give a child a different perspective.

F9F Panther would make a good .049 powered Musciano Scientific hollow log styled model C/L prop jet. I think Walt had one he made, photo in a book of it being Dynajet powered.

I downloaded Walt's Douglas B-66 hollow log plan, an interesting out of the ordinary plan.

You don't see prop jets modelled often.

GallopingGhostler wrote:Speaking of ships is why I bought Walt Musciano's book on model ships. Yes, a view of a ship out of water would give a child a different perspective.

F9F Panther would make a good .049 powered Musciano Scientific hollow log styled model C/L prop jet. I think Walt had one he made, photo in a book of it being Dynajet powered.

I downloaded Walt's Douglas B-66 hollow log plan, an interesting out of the ordinary plan.

You don't see prop jets modelled often.

F9F Panther would make a good .049 powered Musciano Scientific hollow log styled model C/L prop jet.

Yes, I think that Walt modeled it, either that or the F-80.  I always keep my eye out for one.  

The F9F Cougar, the only aircraft to share the same model designation with the Panther.  Shown here in trainer colors red and white.  



And the primary trainer version - the F9F-8T.  I crawled all over them while stationed at Pensacola.  Thankfully I signed up for the Aviation (brown shoe) Navy thanks in most part to my control line days. Green stripes instead of white.

My wife came to Pensacola with me in 1956.  A Navy brat, her Dad was an Officer during WW2.  She was used to Navy life.  His ship the battleship USS Utah was sunk at Pearl Harbor and he spent the war on the USS Pyro an ammunition ship in the Pacific theater.  



Contrast with todays Navy F/A18 (Fighter/Attack) Super Hornet.  Managed airflow, mach 1.6.  Two aircraft for the price of one.



Kids 18/19 year olds maintain these, and not much more than kids including women fly them.  This country has a lot to be proud of.