And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
R-3350 Turbo Compound radial engines. 4 18 cylinder engines (144 spark plugs). Compound because they used power recovery turbines that converted exhaust velocity directly into torque. This was the end state of radial engine technology before gas turbines took over.
I Remember the Air Force had some of these at Homestead AFB in south Florida in the mid to late 70's before they were finally scrapped....used to love to hear 'em rumbling around on the apron, heading to the washrack to get the salt off, or taxiing out to the runway....then full power and pull the gear up under and like magic, flying....majestic is the word....
Few people today remember that the North Koreans shot down a Navy EC-121 ninety miles off the coast of NK in 1969, killing all thirty one Americans aboard. That was just over a year after their 1968 attack and capture of the USS Pueblo, killing one sailor and imprisoning the crew for eleven months. These attacks, and other criminal acts, should not be forgotten.
I can state without fear or favor that I remember the EC-121 shootdown. There was a mission spun up to remove the NK Fighter Base from the map. My father was going to be in charge of CSAR for the returning planes. LBJ Stopped it and either the Soviets or the Chinese (can't remember that part) intervened and calmed the NK's the heck down. It was a very close call. Among the other criminal acts of NK was the Axe Murder Incident that launched Operation Paul Bunyan in 1976. A good friend was an MP on the DMZ at the time and he says to this day that he was sure he was going to die.
R-3350 Turbo Compound radial engines. 4 18 cylinder engines (144 spark plugs). Compound because they used power recovery turbines that converted exhaust velocity directly into torque. This was the end state of radial engine technology before gas turbines took over.
ReplyDeleteMy friend was a FA on the -121 during VN. He said they never completed a flight with all four running.
ReplyDeleteRichard McCullough used three of these to fly investors to his newly founded Lake Havasu City.
Was your friend in VR-7 Det A? We had the last 4 AF C-121C's in AF inventory and flew Med Evac out of Viet Nam.
DeleteThat was a beautiful plane. And still is.
ReplyDeleteI Remember the Air Force had some of these at Homestead AFB in south Florida in the mid to late 70's before they were finally scrapped....used to love to hear 'em rumbling around on the apron, heading to the washrack to get the salt off, or taxiing out to the runway....then full power and pull the gear up under and like magic, flying....majestic is the word....
ReplyDeleteFew people today remember that the North Koreans shot down a Navy EC-121 ninety miles off the coast of NK in 1969, killing all thirty one Americans aboard. That was just over a year after their 1968 attack and capture of the USS Pueblo, killing one sailor and imprisoning the crew for eleven months. These attacks, and other criminal acts, should not be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteI can state without fear or favor that I remember the EC-121 shootdown. There was a mission spun up to remove the NK Fighter Base from the map. My father was going to be in charge of CSAR for the returning planes. LBJ Stopped it and either the Soviets or the Chinese (can't remember that part) intervened and calmed the NK's the heck down. It was a very close call. Among the other criminal acts of NK was the Axe Murder Incident that launched Operation Paul Bunyan in 1976. A good friend was an MP on the DMZ at the time and he says to this day that he was sure he was going to die.
Delete