Avatars

[NSTG8R]

I also had a pilot tell me a wild story from the late sixties involving an F4, a belly tank and a towboat that he was on... o_O

Commercial-grade Molotov Cocktail!!

 

[Jambe]

If you don't know what my avatar is, click on it.

 

[BilgeRat]

Actually, it went like this. They were running northbound some miles below the JB Bridge. A group of F4's (he wasn't sure how many) were coming in low and practicing "bombing runs" with his tow being the "target". Weellll, somebody got a little into the red mist and accidentally toggled the (oh, so fortunately!) empty belly tank. He said it skipped off of the barges, hit the forward end of the second deck of the boat shattering the door at the forward end of the compainonway, flew the length of the second deck, and demolished the aft end of the companionway. (nobody hurt, thank dawg...) The F4's immediately disappeared. Soon, three helicopters were hovering around them, then they disappeared. A couple of hours later, when they were landing the tow in the fleet above JB Bridge, here comes the USCG and a couple of harbor tugs. The tugs brought the company people, and the CG had a boatload of Air Force officers and one very red faced pilot. Evidently, the damages were taken care of, he said the boat was out of service for a couple of weeks while the shipyard rebuilt the second deck quarters. The fate of the F4 pilot was unknown... The pilot of the towboat told me that overflights by F4's ended too...

I wasn't there (still in high school), so I can't verify any of this, but our radar man at Valley Line did corroborate it; he worked for McDonnel Douglas at the time. I was on board with this pilot in the early eighties when we were hit by an empty gasoline tanker who was erroneously trying to pass us in a bend above Cairo. Great guy, really enjoyed working with him.

 

[ElioDigger]

my smart car with my little trailer. Because sometimes you just need a little more space.....

 

[Chaz]

My new one is my pet tortoise Fred out in the snow. She is a Sulcata and weighs almost 60lbs.

 

[NSTG8R]

My new one is my pet tortoise Fred out in the snow. She is a Sulcata and weighs almost 60lbs.

The reptiles out here aren't real fond of snow.o_O We do have 60 pounders (Snapping Turtles), but you wouldn't want one as a pet.

 

[NSTG8R]

Actually, it went like this. They were running northbound some miles below the JB Bridge. A group of F4's (he wasn't sure how many) were coming in low and practicing "bombing runs" with his tow being the "target". Weellll, somebody got a little into the red mist and accidentally toggled the (oh, so fortunately!) empty belly tank. He said it skipped off of the barges, hit the forward end of the second deck of the boat shattering the door at the forward end of the compainonway, flew the length of the second deck, and demolished the aft end of the companionway. (nobody hurt, thank dawg...) The F4's immediately disappeared. Soon, three helicopters were hovering around them, then they disappeared. A couple of hours later, when they were landing the tow in the fleet above JB Bridge, here comes the USCG and a couple of harbor tugs. The tugs brought the company people, and the CG had a boatload of Air Force officers and one very red faced pilot. Evidently, the damages were taken care of, he said the boat was out of service for a couple of weeks while the shipyard rebuilt the second deck quarters. The fate of the F4 pilot was unknown... The pilot of the towboat told me that overflights by F4's ended too...

I wasn't there (still in high school), so I can't verify any of this, but our radar man at Valley Line did corroborate it; he worked for McDonnel Douglas at the time. I was on board with this pilot in the early eighties when we were hit by an empty gasoline tanker who was erroneously trying to pass us in a bend above Cairo. Great guy, really enjoyed working with him.

WHOA!!

And thus, the idea for "pilotless" target drones was born!

 

[Chaz]

The reptiles out here aren't real fond of snow.o_O We do have 60 pounders (Snapping Turtles), but you wouldn't want one as a pet.

Fred will wander around in the snow for about 10-15 minutes before heading back in to her warm shed. She will get up to around 120lbs or so. Fred is not even 5 yet, when I got her at a few weeks old she weighed 2oz.

 

[NSTG8R]

Fred's going to be a very confused little girl. ....And it's not because of the snow.

 

[OctoberGlory]

Fred's going to be a very confused little girl. ....And it's not because of the snow.

Too funny! Perhaps Fred is short for Fredericka.