Rambler 1-1

2Lt Frederick took his fourth and fifth missions with the 563rd today, both strikes against targets in Haiphong and Dong Suong. The first mission went as planned, using a high-low-high tactic to save fuel and avoid MiGs. However, on final approach, 2Lt Frederick's aircraft, F-105D #490, suffered a compressor blade failure, starting an engine fire. 2Lt Frederick shut down the engine and glided the aircraft in for a landing, before turning off the runway and exiting the aircraft. He was not injured, but #490 is a write-off. The second mission was totally uneventful, 2Lt Frederick now flying F-105D #492. The strike went as planned and Frederick then assisted his flight in destroying several secondary targets of opportunity in the area. This resulted in 2Lt Frederick being awarded the Air Medal and a promotion to First Lieutenant. Yes, "In Thrust We Trust" is dead, and not even as a result of combat. Alas, the campaign goes on. Lt. Frederick has not named his new mount yet.

2Lt Ted Frederick (If you've read Rolling Thunder, you know) completed his third mission today with the 563rd "Ace of Spades" squadron out of Takhli RTAFB. It was a two-ship SEAD south of the Hanoi area. Frederick was flight leader with 2Lt Brestel flying on his wing, both pilots in F-105Ds with eight CBU-24s and two LAU-3As each, along with centerline fuel tanks. Frederick sighted several AAA sites and rolled in, designating a target for his wingman. As Frederick pickled two CBUs at an enemy radar site, 2Lt Brestel was hit by several rounds of 23mm ground fire at low altitude and ejected shortly thereafter. 2Lt Frederick continued the mission alone, scoring 7 targets destroyed: 1 radar, 1 recon car, 2 ZPU-2, 3 ZSU-23-2. This was Frederick's first mission with the loss of a wingmate. 2Lt Brestel is listed as MIA. On a less official note, I've already built a bond with F-105 # 490. She is nicknamed "In Thust We Trust", after my second mission, which involved a low-level strike into Haiphong harbor followed by a low-level chase involving four MiG-17s.

Hey, can I get in on this? I know the rules and all that, and I just started a fresh Rolling Thunder Thud campaign in stock SF2:V. Do I have to wait for the beginning of October or something, or can I go ahead and put up my pilot?

Started a Thud campaign, seeing as I'm better at dropping bombs then pinning MiGs. Loaded for bear, low and fast, and a clean getaway.

The man on the far right side of the picture is sitting on a bicycle. Silly mechanic, bicycles are for kids!

Nyehhh... I forget how to do this! It took me three tries and two Phantoms run out of fuel to get this, my first kill in three months. Now to work my way back up from having the enemy AI on "Easy"...

Hey guys, I know I haven't posted around here much, but I'm still an avid lurker. Anyways, today something interesting happened to me, which I think is worth sharing. I have been fortunate enough to land a job at a local motorcycle shop, and I've been working there all summer. One of the liberties I am allowed to take comes at the end of the day, when I help bring the bikes back in to the shop. Needless to say, this is the best part of the day. Anyways, one of the bikes in the shop over the last month has been a '97 Kawasaki KDX 220, a strange animal in that it has a lot of internal components which do the same jobs, but look much different then their counterparts in a '98 KDX 220. Thus, we dubbed the bike The Prototype. The Prototype was bought by my boss for $80 because the top end was toast, and it was missing a gas tank and some panels. Today marked the day it was completed, and it fired up second kick, on the new components and everything. After we were finished in the shop, It was my job to bring it in. Being who I am, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to ride The Prototype, so I hopped on, gave it some choke, and it fired up first kick. Awesome! I took it around the front of the shop, and across the parking lot, gave it the beans to see how it ran. It responded with very quick acceleration and a surprisingly low-end biased power curve, for a 2-stroke. I came to a stop at the end of the parking lot, looking to turn left onto a small residential street to go around the other side of the shop building. I gave it a rev and slipped the clutch, completely neglecting the low-end power. In a snap, the front wheel jumped up. I instantly leaned forward to keep it on the ground, and then the back end kicked out. I just barely had time to countersteer, but it was futile. The back was gone, and in another flash, I was on the left side of my ass, sliding down the street, looking at the front of The Prototype. My arm bent weird and I felt my shoulder pop out, but all I could think of was "SAVE THE BIKE! SAVE THE BIKE!" I hopped up and pushed The Prototype off to the side of the street, then pushed up against the pole I leaned it against and popped my shoulder back in. Long story short, there was no damage to The Prototype, no damage to my ass, thanks to my jeans, and my boss and I had a good laugh over it. He called it a "Learning Experience". In retrospect, I was just happy that I didn't high-side the thing and do more damage to it and myself. Needless to say, I rode home a lot slower then usual!

"Road Rash" is when you sort of get skinned from sliding along the ground, or specifically, the road. I think the technical name is "Skin Abrasions". Fortunately, my jeans were tough enough to take all the damage, saving my legs. If I had been wearing anything less, it would have been ugly.

Well, seeing as there are a few of us here who play MS Flight Sim, I figured we should start a general topic about it. Rather then having a bunch of separate threads, that is. I don't think there are enough of us to justify that. Anyways, I run Flight Sim 2004, bone stock aside from a few add-on planes. I really enjoy it, but I always wondered about a few things. First, there was the stability of the Piper Cub, but that was addressed in another topic. The other plane I was wondering about was the Curtiss Jenny. I have a full-size joystick, rudder pedals and a throttle quadrant, but I still find it next to impossible to keep the J4N straight on takeoff roll. Once in the air with some speed, things even themselves out, but does anybody know any tricks for getting off the ground gracefully?

I just put this together, seeing as I got Gamecam going again.

Had a blast flying the Tomcat through the Grand Canyon, pretending to be in Area 88 or something. Immature, but fun.

I owe my butt to blue jeans and ridin' boots. Three times they've saved me from road rash.

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, the skid mark washed away last night, so I can't show that off. I do have a pic of The Prototype, though. For the record, I was back at work today and I rode the thing again, without crashing, to redeem myself.

I really liked the Eureka 7 animé, same with most of the Gundam stuff, but I don't read much manga. My favorite animé is easily Area 88 though. Oh, and despite my age, I still watch Pokémon. It's just so corny and entertaining, I can't resist!

Happy Birthday!

Yeah, I have heard of the drag 'chute being used in emergencies like that. The idea is that it pulls the tail up in a flat spin, pointing the nose down so the spin becomes recoverable. If I remember right, there were problems with the 'chutes not deploying properly and getting tangled up in the tail, though.

heh, this thread has been on my other frequent forum for a while. Nesher, I'd give your sig a solid 8. The only thing missing is a Tomcat.

True. A boy can dream, can't he? Although I'd much rather go through the trouble of getting in the real thing. The person below me was born a Ramblin' Man.

For some reason, I think I would have more fun breaking the law in a game then enforcing it. ...that reason is probably immaturity

OMG! HE SAID THE "G" WORD! BANHAMMER!

Congratulations!

Jane's ATF on Windows 95. I used to love the intro video! Before that, I played Buck Rogers, but I can't even remember what console it was on.

Aha! I figured out how to use the glideslope indicator on the artificial horizon, just like in the real 727! Good thing, too, because the IFR approach into Eureka, California was hairy to say the least. It's a neat thrill, coming down through clouds, mountains all around you, and not a mile of visibility in front of you. You follow the instruments as best you can, then you break out at 700 feet AGL and poof! The runway is right there, all lined up perfectly. I'm also thankful for the reverse thrust on the big 501-Ds. Eureka does not have a long runway, and there's just water at the end! Actually, the Convair always surprises me at the tight spots it can fit into. Boy, this is fun!

Wow, I don't even know how to use autoland... I just tune into the glideslope on the VOR and hope I see the runway before overshoot. That's why I like the Convair... Nice and slowww... I usually just VFR around in prop-bangers anyway. I always run out of time for the cross-countries.