Bladecutter
"Pursuit of Shape"
The kind of Guy Skister is:
I have pontificated at length before casually making this post.
I dont know how many of You are aware of what Ski has dialed in for me.......not just Ski, but His Constituents, Colleagues, Superiors as well. Most of You know Ski is AF Retired, but works in the still classified F-22 Raptor program @ Edwards AFB (Edwards Dry Lake) home to the AF version of Top Gun..........the hottest hardware, the hottest Test Pilots. Most of You know that i grew up in aviation & flew some fairly neat **** myself.....that my Father was a Very hi time Pilot with a diverse Life long career in aviation from the time He was Twelve yrs old......well over 40,000 hrs logged, lost logbooks & unlogged time would probably put Him near 50K hrs. Within that career, during WW ll, Dad was a Test Pilot for Douglas A/C & Martin A/C......flew the hottest **** of the time.....the most Notorious(& my # one favorite) the Martin B-26 Marauder(Widomak'r). A very fast medium bomber(rougly same size & bombload of North American B-25, & near 100 mph faster @ or over Military gross. Highest return rate of combat a/c in WW ll. A very capable aircraft, but also potentially very deadly.....to Pilots & Crew if not properly lead.
Sacrifice in lift is made for greater speed......the early 'shortwing' B-26 wing loading was 54 lbs per sq ft. Control surface areas were minimal,,,,a twin w/ P&W twin wasp (two rows of nine cyl each) R-2800 radials swinging NON counter rotating, 14.5 ft Curtiss Electric 4 blade props. Torque & P Factors were Very tall. This all makes for a ship that is very unstable @ low speeds. The landing speed of a Marauder is 135-140 mph. Thats about the same as lndg spd of a Boeing 737.......consider how much larger the 737 is than the widomak'r...........coming across the fence @ 140 mph in a relatively small airplane isnt for neo phytes, or anyone that frights easily....Trust Me,,,,,**** is Very Busy. The biggest scare of the Martin is losing the right engine @ low altitude/low airspeed....take off, clearing 50 ft obstacle & initial climb out being in the most critical windows. This all in days before wind tunnels & CAD......it was run wut ya brung & find out if it works. What im getting to is a common bond with Skister & the Edwards Top Gun.......AIRPLANES!!!
Many of You know that after 3 yrs of what i thought was pushing kidney stone, it was discovered i have bladder cancer.
Ski has arranged a Very Special thing for me......with the approval of Who must be one Cool CO.
They ordered a 'Ceremonial' Flag & on September 20th, about 2pm Pacific, the flag was loaded into weapons bay of an F-22.....vertical climb to 10,000 ft.......then continued climb out to 60 K plus & set about on a sortie in Interest of National Defense
Now the Flag is folded in Traditional Triangle, being packed in a presentation case with engraved plaque, accompanied by a Letter from the United States Air Force!!
Me?? Holy effing Hannah.....im still falling off the couch...i get up & i fall right back down. In all Sincerity....
I have cried, more than once......this does not escape me by any means, i am So Moved by the Enormity of this act.....this Tribute.....jeez, im just an old ragbutt hippie Who spouts off a lot. That Ski thinks this well of me feels real Nice....but the fact that Others have put forth in this Effort, that it was approved by USAF.......one of the Biggest, most Meaningful things to ever come my way.......this will not go casually by.....im already
asshole & elbows into a piece to Give Ski & Edwards.
Ski,,,,,,,You have Truly Blown Me Away..........Hope to hell You make it to FF VN Oct 29. Im gonna rattle my Brother's cage, see if we cant fly out to Mojave in near future ....We gotta meet Eye to Eye my Brother......
Forever, Thank You Man......jimi
I have pontificated at length before casually making this post.
I dont know how many of You are aware of what Ski has dialed in for me.......not just Ski, but His Constituents, Colleagues, Superiors as well. Most of You know Ski is AF Retired, but works in the still classified F-22 Raptor program @ Edwards AFB (Edwards Dry Lake) home to the AF version of Top Gun..........the hottest hardware, the hottest Test Pilots. Most of You know that i grew up in aviation & flew some fairly neat **** myself.....that my Father was a Very hi time Pilot with a diverse Life long career in aviation from the time He was Twelve yrs old......well over 40,000 hrs logged, lost logbooks & unlogged time would probably put Him near 50K hrs. Within that career, during WW ll, Dad was a Test Pilot for Douglas A/C & Martin A/C......flew the hottest **** of the time.....the most Notorious(& my # one favorite) the Martin B-26 Marauder(Widomak'r). A very fast medium bomber(rougly same size & bombload of North American B-25, & near 100 mph faster @ or over Military gross. Highest return rate of combat a/c in WW ll. A very capable aircraft, but also potentially very deadly.....to Pilots & Crew if not properly lead.
Sacrifice in lift is made for greater speed......the early 'shortwing' B-26 wing loading was 54 lbs per sq ft. Control surface areas were minimal,,,,a twin w/ P&W twin wasp (two rows of nine cyl each) R-2800 radials swinging NON counter rotating, 14.5 ft Curtiss Electric 4 blade props. Torque & P Factors were Very tall. This all makes for a ship that is very unstable @ low speeds. The landing speed of a Marauder is 135-140 mph. Thats about the same as lndg spd of a Boeing 737.......consider how much larger the 737 is than the widomak'r...........coming across the fence @ 140 mph in a relatively small airplane isnt for neo phytes, or anyone that frights easily....Trust Me,,,,,**** is Very Busy. The biggest scare of the Martin is losing the right engine @ low altitude/low airspeed....take off, clearing 50 ft obstacle & initial climb out being in the most critical windows. This all in days before wind tunnels & CAD......it was run wut ya brung & find out if it works. What im getting to is a common bond with Skister & the Edwards Top Gun.......AIRPLANES!!!
Many of You know that after 3 yrs of what i thought was pushing kidney stone, it was discovered i have bladder cancer.
Ski has arranged a Very Special thing for me......with the approval of Who must be one Cool CO.
They ordered a 'Ceremonial' Flag & on September 20th, about 2pm Pacific, the flag was loaded into weapons bay of an F-22.....vertical climb to 10,000 ft.......then continued climb out to 60 K plus & set about on a sortie in Interest of National Defense
Now the Flag is folded in Traditional Triangle, being packed in a presentation case with engraved plaque, accompanied by a Letter from the United States Air Force!!
Me?? Holy effing Hannah.....im still falling off the couch...i get up & i fall right back down. In all Sincerity....
I have cried, more than once......this does not escape me by any means, i am So Moved by the Enormity of this act.....this Tribute.....jeez, im just an old ragbutt hippie Who spouts off a lot. That Ski thinks this well of me feels real Nice....but the fact that Others have put forth in this Effort, that it was approved by USAF.......one of the Biggest, most Meaningful things to ever come my way.......this will not go casually by.....im already
asshole & elbows into a piece to Give Ski & Edwards.
Ski,,,,,,,You have Truly Blown Me Away..........Hope to hell You make it to FF VN Oct 29. Im gonna rattle my Brother's cage, see if we cant fly out to Mojave in near future ....We gotta meet Eye to Eye my Brother......
Forever, Thank You Man......jimi
yup ski is a very good guy ,Blade the best to you ,and thanks for sharing this nice thread 
