FReepers track down Bob McCown, creator of B-52 image: "Terrorists have won the toss..."

Bob McCown/Zoftware by Design ^ | 09/30/2001 | Bob McCowan

[anniegetyourgun]

Great pic, Julie!

[RonDog]

Great inspiration - great picture. My brother told me about this picture in a phone conversation. He was so impressed I had to search for it. (It would never occur to him to send me the link.) I'm sending the picture out to relatives and friends.

You are not alone. The response to this image has been INCREDIBLE!

Since nationally syndicated conservative talk host Hugh Hewitt described this image on his radio show last Friday, citing Free Republic as his source (!) (mentioning a post by ASA Vet in particular), his webmistress, Lynne (the WebXena) has been DELUGED with reqeusts for a link.

Here is what she posted on www.HughHewitt.com:

By overwhelming demand, here's the link to "The Terrorists have won the toss and elect to receive!"  You will need to scroll down on the page to see the photo.

As it happens, she linked to a DIFFERENT thread on Free Republic than the one with ASA Vet's post, but it is still on FR:

If the Taliban won?
Posted on 09/28/2001 10:12:35 PDT by Demosthenes

[JulieRNR21]

Thanks, annie but I can't claim any personal credit for it....and I would like to locate the original source.

[RonDog]

BRAVO! So glad that we know the source of this great image & message.

And here is he, in his own words, Mr. Bob McCown, from www.rmccown.org/bob/index.shtml:

I'm your average everyday computer type, working 10-12 hour days and living on pizza and Thai takeout. Ive been involved with computers since around 1978. For the past 18 or so years, I have been working with PC's, in C, C++, and more recently (6-8 years) in HTML, ASP, PERL and Java. I am currently a Principal Software Engineer/Technical Lead working on applicatoin delivery systems (resume' below) for a startup.

Ive created quite a stir with my "Terrorists" image. Go here to see a bit about it.

I also do freelance computer graphics and Webpage design, using Kinetix 3D Studio R4 and Max 2.0, Character Studio, Animatek WorldBuilder 2.0, Adobe Photoshop, Fractal Design Painter, and assorted other tools. I am also a regular contributor to, and "Highway Department" for, the Studio City 3d project.

I'm not married (been there, done that), and have a wonderful 8 year old son (not from the marriage, with Pamela, a longtime, but now ex-partner). I have long hair (Currently down to the small of my back).

[RonDog]

Here is the ORIGINAL (un-retouched) image, from the previous thread:

As reported by guttersnipe, that ORIGINAL image has been SO popular over the years that the Image Library on the website of the Eighth Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base has a "right click disable" feature on the actual B-52 image.

(You can still see it online there by going to the link above, then clicking on Image Library, and B-52.)

[PUGACHEV]

I once walked under a B-52 with its bomb bays open that was on display at an air show. To be honest about it, it didn't look like all that stuff would fit in there. What was most interesting were that the electric motors and machinery and etc. were obviously all so old. It really looked like something out of the '50s, it was a different style that we haven't see in consumer products for 40 years or more. It was like looking at an old manual typewriter. But, as it turns out, I suppose they were built to last, although I doubt anyone thought they'd last this long.

[Charles Henrickson]

Song Parody: "Hello Mullah, Hello Fatah (Camp Osama)"

[rmccown]

Howdy
OK, Ron found me. To tell you the truth, I hadnt intended this thing to get out of hand. I saw similar text, found a photo and whipped it out, and sent it to a dozen or so friends. It amazes me how this stuff gets sent around.

BTW, Im printing it on a shirt not (spelling corrected, yea yea).

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store/productdetail.aspx?prodno=1532346

-=Bob

[Jefferson Adams]

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Times like these we could use the Big Belly D which could carry 84 500 pounders in the bay and 24 750 pounders on the pylons. That's 60,000 pounds of ordinance, per airplane.

[RonDog]

Congratulations, Bob McCown, for registering as a brand new FReeper!

rmccown

member since September 30th, 2001

This is getting to be a habit!
(Nationally syndicated talk host Hugh Hewitt's producer (generalissimoduane) just joined FR a few days ago.)

Now, we can claim you as one of our own!
You have joined the rarified ranks of such creative minds as FR's own Registered, who popularized the wildy popular "SoreLoserman" image last November.

One small request, though, Mr. Bob McCown, the "newbie" FReeper:
Can you also talk to abner about doing some T-shirts?

SHE is our favorite T-shirt artist here on FR. (You have e-mail.)

[Sidebar Moderator]

WELCOME!!!

[JMJ333]

Welcome to FR. Great graphic.

[abner]

Bob, its always someone named Bob, isn't it?

RonDog is our resident PR guy. LOL! Welcome to FR.

Ron, you are too much!

[RonDog]

WELCOME!!!

I guess that this means it was OK to post this thread as "Headline News," right? ;)
(I was GOING to post it as "Extended News" but that sidebar is down. What's up with THAT?)

Also, Mr./Ms. Sidebar Moderator, can you please notify the powers that be about our "newbie" FReeper?
Thank you.

[RonDog]

RonDog is our resident PR guy.

Nope. That job is taken by Clinton's A Liar. (But I help a little!)

[Valin]

It really looked like something out of the '50s,
There's a reason for that

Since becoming operational in 1955, the Boeing Stratofortress B-52 has been the main long-range heavy bomber of the Strategic Air Command. Affectionately known as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fella), it first flew on April 15, 1952.
Nearly 750 B-52s were built when production ended in October 1963, of which 170 were D models. The D models were modified to carry conventional bombs externally, and later series had provisions for Hound Dog air-to-surface missiles and Quail decoy missiles.
On January 18, 1957, three B-52Bs completed the world's first non-stop round-the-world flight by jet aircraft, lasting 45 hrs., 19 mins., with only three aerial refuelings en route.

A B-52 also made the first known airborne hydrogen bomb drop over Bikini Atoll on May 21, 1956.
Engines: Eight Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines. Weight (max. takeoff): 420,000 lb. Speed: Maximum 597.68 mph.
Armament: One M-61 20mm gun in General Electric rear turret with Emerson ASG-21 automatic fire control system.

[KneelBeforeZod]

well I'm glad to see being a new freeper is a good thing now, and not blasphemy.

[Fred Mertz]

Good job, Bob. Welcome to FreeRepublic!

[habs4ever]

Congrats on your new found notoriety, and welcome to FR!