A picture to make you cry

bookworm_020 · 01-31-11, 04:20 PM

It's always sad to see well known and much loved aircraft been cut up. I saw footage of the F-111's here in Australia been cut up and it gave me the same feeling.

Sledgehammer427 · 01-31-11, 04:39 PM

when the US started getting rid of the surplus aircraft in the Air force after WWII, my ex girlfriends Uncle J.K. (J.K. Havener, if the name rings a bell) was sitting in a theater one afternoon after his tour, and they showed a Marauder getting blown up, of all the planes they had to blow up, it was his, they even zoomed in on the nose art.

He was dragged out of the theater screaming every profanity at the top of his lungs as loud as he could.

I look at pictures like these and I could only imagine his pain.

Jimbuna · 01-31-11, 04:48 PM

Was posted on a predomintally Brit forum two days ago and believe me the shock and awe/disdain was unprecidented.

AVGWarhawk · 01-31-11, 04:53 PM

Sorry to say they all eventually get put out to pasture and then dismantled. I see it as an end to an era.

Growler · 01-31-11, 05:17 PM

I think of all the warbirds lost to scrapheaps of history, and it makes me sad.

So many aircraft that have served nobly, carried crews through weather thick and thin, survived damage in the air and on the ground, with so many stories to tell... to wind up drying out in the desert sun before being turned into exported scrap.

It's why I will always support the preservation of historic vessels and aircraft, and urge everyone to do the same. These artifacts are our collective stories, and will be all we have of them once those who crewed them are gone.

Hakahura · 01-31-11, 06:14 PM

It's a national disgrace that my government has given up on long range MPA and ASW. There is no replacement on the horizon let alone the cash to pay for it.

But after 4 years of skimming knuckles, getting soaked in fuel, drenched in hyd oil (don't get me started on the crew "rest" system) whilst fixing the Mighty Hunter, I kinda feel it got what was coming.

Not to say that I didn't have a good time travelling the world fixing it.

bookworm_020 · 01-31-11, 08:07 PM

At least the RAAF is preserving some of the F-111's here in Australia. The local RSL club got an ex-army Leopard 1 tank for its memorial.

It looks pretty good surrounded by an anchor, a 40mm Bofors gun and an Aircraft propellor. It sit right next to the garden which holds the ashes of former servicemen and their partners. (The ashes of the servicemen are put into a wall with a small plauqe attached, the partners have their ashes scatted over the rose gardens surrounding the walls)

I'm glad to see that the Australian defense forces are preserving items that many servicemen and women has served on in one form or another. Regardless if it is in a museum, a memorial or an artifical reef, it can still serve a use or a function long after it comes off the front line.

01-31-11, 04:20 PM	#1
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	It's always sad to see well known and much loved aircraft been cut up. I saw footage of the F-111's here in Australia been cut up and it gave me the same feeling. __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"

01-31-11, 04:39 PM	#2
Sledgehammer427 PacWagon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Drinking coffee and staring at trees in Massachusetts Posts: 2,908 Downloads: 287 Uploads: 0	when the US started getting rid of the surplus aircraft in the Air force after WWII, my ex girlfriends Uncle J.K. (J.K. Havener, if the name rings a bell) was sitting in a theater one afternoon after his tour, and they showed a Marauder getting blown up, of all the planes they had to blow up, it was his, they even zoomed in on the nose art. He was dragged out of the theater screaming every profanity at the top of his lungs as loud as he could. I look at pictures like these and I could only imagine his pain. __________________ Cold Waters Voice Crew - Fire Control Officer Cmdr O. Myers - C/O USS Nautilus (SS-168) 114,000 tons sunk - 4 Spec Ops completed V-boat Nutcase - Need supplies? Japanese garrison on a small island in the way? Just give us a call! D4C!

01-31-11, 04:48 PM	#3
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,712 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Was posted on a predomintally Brit forum two days ago and believe me the shock and awe/disdain was unprecidented. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

01-31-11, 04:53 PM	#4
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,281 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	Sorry to say they all eventually get put out to pasture and then dismantled. I see it as an end to an era. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road

01-31-11, 05:17 PM	#5
Growler A long way from the sea Join Date: May 2005 Location: Iowa Posts: 1,913 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	I think of all the warbirds lost to scrapheaps of history, and it makes me sad. So many aircraft that have served nobly, carried crews through weather thick and thin, survived damage in the air and on the ground, with so many stories to tell... to wind up drying out in the desert sun before being turned into exported scrap. It's why I will always support the preservation of historic vessels and aircraft, and urge everyone to do the same. These artifacts are our collective stories, and will be all we have of them once those who crewed them are gone. __________________ At Fiddler’s Green, where seamen true When here they’ve done their duty The bowl of grog shall still renew And pledge to love and beauty.

01-31-11, 06:14 PM	#6
Hakahura Grey Wolf Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Posts: 785 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	It's a national disgrace that my government has given up on long range MPA and ASW. There is no replacement on the horizon let alone the cash to pay for it. But after 4 years of skimming knuckles, getting soaked in fuel, drenched in hyd oil (don't get me started on the crew "rest" system) whilst fixing the Mighty Hunter, I kinda feel it got what was coming. Not to say that I didn't have a good time travelling the world fixing it. __________________ Sir Humphey Appleby, GCB, KBE, MVO and MA. Britain's Greatest Orator, well bar that Churchill fellow.

01-31-11, 08:07 PM	#7
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	At least the RAAF is preserving some of the F-111's here in Australia. The local RSL club got an ex-army Leopard 1 tank for its memorial. It looks pretty good surrounded by an anchor, a 40mm Bofors gun and an Aircraft propellor. It sit right next to the garden which holds the ashes of former servicemen and their partners. (The ashes of the servicemen are put into a wall with a small plauqe attached, the partners have their ashes scatted over the rose gardens surrounding the walls) I'm glad to see that the Australian defense forces are preserving items that many servicemen and women has served on in one form or another. Regardless if it is in a museum, a memorial or an artifical reef, it can still serve a use or a function long after it comes off the front line. __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"