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CHIEF

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by CHIEF

  1. Old Warbirds are just inherently very dangerous. I was a mechanic at the FBO in Clifton, Texas during college. I knew three people who were killed in a P-51, an 8F8 Bearcat, and another warbird that I can't remember: Don Knapp, in 1989, cool dude. Owned a P-51D, a triple row Wasp F4U that won the 1949 Cleveland Air Race, and, at the time, the only Me-262 (all in parts in crates) known to exist. He ran his P-51 out of gas at the air show at Dyess, in Abilene (his home base) in 1989. My boss' wife was from Abilene, we would go out there every year for the airshow. Her brother was an A&P at the American Eagle repair facility, next door to Don, in the same sized hanger. I was lucky enough to get to sit in the cockpit of both the P-51, and the F4U. Another amazing airshow, we would go to, was in Breckenridge, Texas. My boss and Howard Pardue were pretty good friends. Howard had an extensive restoration facility at the airport. You could walk into his hangar, and there would be partially assembled Spitfires, P-51s, F4Us, you name it. His pride and joy was his 8F8 Bearcat, couldn't wait to get it in the air. Well he did, and it killed him in 2012. His daughter, Kimberly, was killed in a warbird, that she was piloting in 1984, at only 19 years of age. I never wanted to bring it up, and ask Howard what she was flying when she crashed, I guess you could also say I didn't know her personally, but he named his 8F8 after her. One year, my boss had this great idea to fly this piece of shit to Breckenridge: https://www.pietenpolaircraftcompany.com It was all painted up like the Red Baron, Iron Cross, the whole enchilada, from Clifton to Breckenridge, Stephenville was our midway stop to refuel (his wife was waiting with car gas). We had rebuilt the 1935 Lambert five cylinder radial to power it. It didn't have any pistons when we got it, but standard 350 Chevrolet pistons fit it perfectly. At that time, Stephenville had a crosswind runway, and the wind was out of the west, so away we went. On the climb out, the engine sputtered and begin to loss power, we were descending directly into a big power station with huge transformers, heavy gauge wire, etc. Asshole puckering moment, it cleared up after about 5-6 seconds. My boss just looked back, smiled, and winked. The control sticks were two sawed off baseball bats, no instruments, and a float gauge for the fuel level (it had a marked wire, you knew how much fuel you had by how far the wire stuck up out of the fuel cap). There were no trim tabs, so it was like fighting a Grizzly, the whole way. You could look down, and old farm trucks were pulling on you. We flew the highway, and made a deal to switch, as the pilot, at each town we came to (about 12 miles apart). It was absolutely exhausting. The only cool thing was spitting over the side, and realizing you had just spit 3000 feet. I also had the chance to buy a Cassutt from my high school history teacher and aviation teacher's FIL: https://www.cassuttaircraft.com But with less than 100 hours, he said we would have to rename it "Casket". Could have bought it for $5k in 1986. Also had a chance to buy a Pitts Special biplane that had been flooded in the Leon river bottom for $9500 around 1990 from a guy that lost his leg in an airshow accident, and had lost his medical. My Boss nixed that. Like I would have been with those planes, the people flying these warbirds are getting in over their heads. Their money lets them hotrod in hot planes that even airline pilots with thousands of hours aren't qualified to fly. In wartime, this was probably a daily occurrence you never heard about. The flight hours to be competent gets shaved by deep pockets. These planes are not very reliable, Howard was killed due to engine problems, Don had a faulty fuel gauge. It's dangerous enough to fly them with no one else in your airspace. Get them in close proximity and showing off and you get midair collisions. CHIEF
  2. My minor was history, if I took four semesters of a foreign language I would have a B.A. One of the things that really stuck with me, in a military history class, Dr. Pierce (my professor) had a hypothesis that rifled barrels were the most significant development in warfare. He said it was what ultimately won the American Revolution, and was responsible for the carnage of the Civil War. The accuracy of rifled barrels has single-handedly killed more humans than practically anything else. CHIEF
  3. Was about to post the same thing. CHIEF
  4. The protesters need to start taking all of their guns and ammo, then target other police, kill them, and take their guns and ammo. Kind of a domino effect to get armed. CHIEF
  5. So the Russian options are freeze to death in a subzero foxhole or get drone attacked by sitting 2-3 deep around a cozy campfire? I don’t think we have seen the highest daily death rates for Russians yet. They could loose 200k this winter without a single Ukrainian getting within rifle range. CHIEF
  6. Well the kid had minor head injuries, and was released. Probably went and had a triple meat, triple cheese. CHIEF
  7. SB, I happen to have the solution for your esophageal dilemma, it's my solution for when I get the same inevitable diagnosis: CHIEF
  8. CHIEF Jr.'s sleeping spot on fall evenings when it rains. A few beers, some moonshine, a citronella candle for skeeters, and rain hitting a metal roof. CHIEF
  9. I think Pink Floyd sang about him when he took the “Union Jack” during the Falklands CHIEF
  10. If he needs some "broken crackers" to put in his chili, he can find them all whining over on Texags. CHIEF
  11. The Sleeping Giant has holes in his pockets. CHIEF
  12. Does this take into account decreased volume?. Less pies mean you need to make more on your pies if you are selling less pies. CHIEF
  13. Buy a few hundred Toyota Hulux and mount M-134s in the bed. M-134s have been around since 1963, so we should have quite a few available, and 7.62 ammo is cheaper than 20mm. Serves a dual purpose, shoot down Iranian drones, and cut through Russians. Even civilians have a few: CHIEF
  14. Texas is undefeated with Quinn. It's gonna stay that way. You pearl clutchin' motherfuckers better get on the train, or look like the sad motherfuckin' pussies that you are. I don't even know how your anemic, inbred, paranoid ancestors even crossed the Ocean to get to America. They would be ashamed. Be a man, be 40. CHIEF
  15. OOOH TRIXIE. CHIEF
  16. I don’t know. Maybe stealing money from people for exercising their 1st Amendment rights shouldn’t sit well with most Americans. “I may not like what you say, but defend your right to say it,” has gone completely out the window. It’s censorship under the guise of “ misinformation.” Only PayPal gets to determine what disinformation actually is. CHIEF
  17. If the Mississippi schools hold onto Leach and Kiffin, Texas8&4 won't be beating them for a long time. They will be looking up at Alabama, Miss State, Ol' Miss, and probably LSU. With the rise of Georgia, Tennessee, and possibly Kentucky in the East, a conference championship will never be in their cards. CHIEF
  18. Ousted as head coach at Washington. Well, tan, and rested. Maybe he is the "magic bullet" that needs to come in and make PK's defense hit on all cylinders. We still need to get pressure on the QB though. CHIEF
  19. I just wonder if Oklahoma shitting the bed dries up donations and ticket sales. If there was a buyout, would they be able to pay it? CHIEF
  20. One, and it is him. CHIEF
  21. CHIEF
  22. Mrs. CHIEF is in Houston, and doesn't want to drive all the way back to Granbury to pick me up and drive all the way to Austin. Cleburne is a big railroad town. I'm jumping on an Amtrak at 2:52pm and will get off in Taylor at 5:36pm. My BIL's office is about 20 minutes away. You can bring your own booze and snacks on board. Total cost was $23.00. So for DFW peeps its $30 to downtown Austin, then $46 back to DFW on Sunday. Choo-choo is ur friend. CHIEF
  23. CHIEF

    Vivid Dreams

    She is a 56 year old smoke show. Im not sure you want to see that. 56 years old, no kids, and a cat, imagine that. CHIEF
  24. CHIEF

    Vivid Dreams

    That's what I did for quite a while. But for those that consider themselves "spiritual", how can you maintain that lifestyle? This isn't "The Christ Followers" thread, but I wake up between 4am and 6am in the morning now. I pray several mornings for God to let me interact with my deceased Dad. How is he? Can I see him? Can I have a moment with him? God always delivers. If dreams are going awry, I can tell myself, "wake up, this is crazy, it is just a dream." I finally came to the conclusion, if you are terrified of your dreams, and can't subconsciously tell yourself it is a dream, you have cursed dreams. It is up to you, and you alone rectify that with what you consider your creator. Nightmares are no way to go through life, and doing what you must, to not remember dreams is no way to go through life. They are an integral part of life, learning experiences, a look into your future, an introspection into your past, a glimmer at the other side. Do I dream of my old girlfriend? Yes. Do I dream of deceased relatives.? Yes. We spend a 3rd of our lives in bed, sleeping. Make the most of it. CHIEF
  25. I wear mine out. I've been through 4-5. I have my new one, which has probably 15 rounds through it, so I can't see the BB yet. But when it does slow down so I can see it, it will be my ringer. I have two more, brand new, in their boxes in my closet. CHIEF
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