Debris found in Southern CA Desert - Anyone know what it might be?

In article ,
says...


OM wrote:

...The next project is to find that pilot and see if you can get out
of him just what happened. Provided, of course, that's all that fell
of that particular plane.

To me it looks like the motor might have exploded; the obvious question
is "where is the rest of the plane?" It couldn't have flown very far
without its tail. What's really annoying about this is that I used to
have a book ("Last of the Gunslingers" IIRC) entirely about the
Crusader, but gave it away to make more bookshelf space...and it might
of had a list of Crusader crashes in it.
I seem to remember a Crusader getting nailed by its own Sidewinder that
hang-fired after release...either that, or was shot down by a wingman by
accident with a Sidewinder...and blowing the tail off is what a
Sidewinder would do.

Also, recall that several different types of planes have been used as
unmanned drones in target practice over the Southern California desert.
Not only do you need to test new weapons, to make sure they'll work
properly, you also need to train crews on the actual use of these
weapons. Which means you occasionally need to be able to shoot down
real jets.

Does anyone know if the Crusader was ever used regularly in drone
service?

Doug

In article ,
om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy... _facility.org says...
On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 01:37:57 -0500, Pat Flannery
wrote:

Ever see the cool looking supercritical wing test F8? Or is this the one
you are referring to?

...Pat here has violated sci.space.history's 3rd Rule: When
referencing something "neat-o", "cool-looking" or
"holy****ing****lookithatgoddamnthing!!!!" in appearance, links to
photos must be supplied in the post, or the poster risks being cast
into Killfile Hell with the Maxsons, CT, and the rest of the unwashed
scum."

Shame on you, Flannery. You know better.

Yeah, well -- you know that being THAT creative takes a toll on a
person. In Pat's case, it's obviously a toll on his memory.

I love the way you put that last reference, OM -- I think most people
would be surprised at how many things have been named (even formally)
based on such remarks. On the fictional side, there's Larry Niven's
Mount Lookitthat, but in the real world, there are also many examples.
Such as Montevideo in South America -- the word literally means "I see a
mountain," and the port was named because those were the first words out
of the mouth of the bosun (or whatever) who first spied it.

Doug

In article ,
Doug... wrote:

Yeah, well -- you know that being THAT creative takes a toll on a
person. In Pat's case, it's obviously a toll on his memory.

I love the way you put that last reference, OM -- I think most people
would be surprised at how many things have been named (even formally)
based on such remarks. On the fictional side, there's Larry Niven's
Mount Lookitthat, but in the real world, there are also many examples.
Such as Montevideo in South America -- the word literally means "I see a
mountain," and the port was named because those were the first words out
of the mouth of the bosun (or whatever) who first spied it.

Doug


I had a friend in college who was a geology major. He says there is a
place in our state (Tennessee) that is named Bumpas because when it was
first settled, the hilly, shale-covered terrain caused lots of slips,
slides, falls and broken bones. Being the hard-working yet-uneducated
folks that they were, they named their little village . . . yep, you
guessed it . . . "Bump Ass". As the town expanded and got
semi-civilized, the newcomers were shocked and eventually the town's
name was gentrified into Bumpas.

Or so my friend swears . . .

--
Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D.
Reformed Aerospace Engineer
Columbia Loss FAQ:
http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html

Herb Schaltegger wrote:
I had a friend in college who was a geology major. He says there is a
place in our state (Tennessee) that is named Bumpas because when it was
first settled, the hilly, shale-covered terrain caused lots of slips,
slides, falls and broken bones. Being the hard-working yet-uneducated
folks that they were, they named their little village . . . yep, you
guessed it . . . "Bump Ass". As the town expanded and got
semi-civilized, the newcomers were shocked and eventually the town's
name was gentrified into Bumpas.

Or so my friend swears . . .

It comes from the French bon pas, which means good step.
Bumpas/Bumpus are also not too uncommon British and
French surnames.

Doug... wrote:

Yeah, well -- you know that being THAT creative takes a toll on a
person. In Pat's case, it's obviously a toll on his memory.


Actually it was late, and I wanted to hit the sack....which contrary to
some people's dirty minds, does _not_ have a Firewoman in it....on the
other hand, I am not going to comment on rumors that it might have an
amorous, ambidextrous, animatronic, and autoerotic "Rubber Maid" named
"Frisky French Fifi" in it.


I love the way you put that last reference, OM -- I think most people
would be surprised at how many things have been named (even formally)
based on such remarks. On the fictional side, there's Larry Niven's
Mount Lookitthat, but in the real world, there are also many examples.
Such as Montevideo in South America -- the word literally means "I see a
mountain," and the port was named because those were the first words out
of the mouth of the bosun (or whatever) who first spied it.


Carlsbad Cavern has a load of recently discovered features named after
things in Jules Verne's "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" IIRC. As to
what "Frisky French Fifi's" features are named after, I'll leave it to
the imagination....let's just say that there are few hotter volcanic
craters than the one of "Mount Etna". :-)

Pat

(Henry Spencer) wrote:
(Amusing related item... I was told once about an A-7 maintenance
procedure that was a little misleading. The procedure itself was really
thin, a few pages, so if you glanced at it, you'd think "we'll be done
before lunch". Trouble is, these procedures can include others by
reference. Step 1 in this particular procedure was "remove wing, see
procedure XYZ". And procedure XYZ was an inch thick...)

That's quite frequent, it happened in a lot of the procedures we did
on the birds especially.... Step 1 of replacing the guidance system
(after about three pages of warnings, cautions, and notes that
essentially boiled down to "don't do this casually") was "After
gaining acess to the equipment section...". Gaining acess to the
interior of the bird was a lengthy procedure in it's own right.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

Doug... wrote:

real jets.

Does anyone know if the Crusader was ever used regularly in drone
service?


Some F8A's were converted as drone control aircraft as DF8L's, but I
haven't found any info on ones that were converted to target drones as such.

Pat

On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 13:29:04 -0500, Pat Flannery
wrote:

Oddly enough I came across a photo of it while looking at more photos of
F8s than I ever want to see again...but as you demand it, I will again
immerse myself in the sea of Crusader photos, so you can see it:
http://photo.starnet.ru/Thematic_Wal...mages/F8_3.jpg
Bet you didn't know that the F8 was a "shturmoviki", did you? Ilyushin
must have done some pretty severe mods to the original Il-2 design...

....For some reason when I look at that damn thing, the word "seagull"
pops into my mind, and I suddenly have an urge to throw a few dozen
Alka-Seltzers in the intakes :-P

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

OM wrote:

l-2 design...



...For some reason when I look at that damn thing, the word "seagull"
pops into my mind, and I suddenly have an urge to throw a few dozen
Alka-Seltzers in the intakes :-P


I want to know what the "cheek bulges" on the side of the forward
fuselage are all about.

Pat

"OM" om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org wrote
in message ...

...For some reason when I look at that damn thing, the word "seagull"
pops into my mind, and I suddenly have an urge to throw a few dozen
Alka-Seltzers in the intakes :-P

Do Alka-Seltzers cause seagulls to explode? Must give that a go next time
I'm at the cricket.