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Comments on: Rivet Ball https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/ On-line Opinion Magazine...OK, it's a blog Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:04:27 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 By: Bryan https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33150 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:31:15 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33150 Almost every airframe purchased since the end of World War II had more to do with politics, specifically where something was built and who the Congressional delegation was, than military needs and requirements. When he was Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich was requiring the Air Force to buy C-130s every year because they were built in his district. The V-22 Tiltrotor was pushed by Senator Carl Levin because parts were built in his state. Every piece of equipment that makes it to the military inventory is pushed by politicians in leadership positions, usually on the Armed Services committees of the House and Senate.

]]> By: Kryten42 https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33146 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:01:51 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33146 They give you training and tell you the truth about the risks, but it isn’t “real” until it happens.

Now you know why they have two engines.

Correct! 🙂

And may I add, I enjoyed your story, and felt the pain. And I agree with the sentiments above. You have a gift, don’t minimize it! 😉

Thanks you. 🙂

BTW, you know as well as I do that the C-5 was a purely Political decision. The USAF didn’t even want them, but DOD and the Politicians didn’t want Lockheed going broke. And the Poli’s with a vested interest wanted all those jobs for their constituents the C5 provided. Although it was such a bitch of a project, they had to hire a lot of technical talent from BAC (which I believe is where the Lockheed-BAC links and corruption began). I still remember watching a demonstration flight, and a wheel fell off! Murtha related how he was surprised to witness a wheel fall off of a C-5 Galaxy during a demonstration. When he sought an explanation, Murtha said he was told, “That’s why we put 15 wheels on it.”

Yup! LOL

]]> By: Bryan https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33136 Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:00:33 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33136 They give you training and tell you the truth about the risks, but it isn’t “real” until it happens.

Now you know why they have two engines.

]]> By: hipparchia https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33128 Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:40:37 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33128 well, the dog sucked me right in, but i continued reading with some trepidation. given your familiarity with russian literature, i wondered if he was going to be a chekhov’s gun. then i got to your introduction of lu, and i knew that things were going to end badly.

i wish there were some way to apologize to all those who have had to return from somewhere when their friends didn’t make it out. you’d think that preventing the next war would be a proper atonement, but we’re not doing so hot on that. sorry.

on the other hand, i’m not sure when i’ll forgive you for one thing, 😈 the mental image i now have of you guys flying through the air escorted by one of these guys.

]]> By: Steve Bates https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33107 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:08:42 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33107 Very glad you are still among the living, Bryan. And yes, your Shemya article is very well written.

]]> By: Bryan https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33094 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:48:14 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33094 I think it is important to include the minor oddities, like the dog on Shemya. You need the color after you sketch the outline. Everyone can relate to these things, while most people have never been escorted by a Yak-28P at 20,000 feet or seen a missile re-enter the atmosphere from 40,000 feet.

]]> By: hipparchia https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33090 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:54:36 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33090 it may be easy, but even people who write what they know don’t always succeed in taking the reader on the journey with them.

]]> By: Bryan https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33089 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:53:59 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33089 Oh, Kryten, I grew quite fond of the C-5 when I was stationed at Rhein-Main. There they were – ailing, trying to recuperate while spending weeks away from home waiting for someone to send the right parts.

They were a bit of a running joke when they were first deployed because almost everything was a depot fix and all you could do is swap out black boxes until you found a combination that seemed to work. People would say within the hearing of the C-5 crews that the best way of telling a C-5 from a C-141at a distance was if it actually took off it was a 141. 😉

]]> By: Bryan https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33087 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:42:58 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33087 It’s easy to write what you know…after a few decades to sort through the dark parts.

]]> By: hipparchia https://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/comment-page-1/#comment-33084 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 01:15:59 +0000 http://whynow.dumka.us/2008/01/13/rivet-ball-4/#comment-33084 i was just thinking the same as michael.

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