Posted on 01/27/2005 9:54:04 PM PST by snippy_about_it
Of course you are. I'm doing dishes. ;-)
Boy ain't that the truth.
Why do cats always come off looking evil?
Maybe cause like some folks they are. LOL
The C-47 transport, commonly referred to as "Gooney Bird," was one of four weapons singled out by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as the most instrumental in helping the US win World War II. (The others were the bazooka, the jeep, and the atomic bomb.)
General William H. Tunner was named "Aviation Man of the Year" in 1949 and accepted the honor in the name of the men and women of the Berlin Airlift. He retired from the Air Force in 1960 and published an autobiography in 1964, OVER THE HUMP. The book is out of print, though copies may be found in libraries. Chapter V recounts his experiences during the Berlin Airlift.
Over The Hump
By William H. Tunner
Lieutenant General, United States Air Force
Chapter V: The Berlin AirliftFriday, Black Friday, Friday the thirteenth of August, 1948, is a date many of us who served on the Berlin Airlift wish we could forget. It was a day of black scudding clouds, of driving rain. Weather conditions were not too bad at Wiesbaden as we took off for Berlin, but as we gained altitude to dear the Harz Mountains we soon ran into those heavy, thick German clouds that later caused Bob Hope to remark, "Soup I can take-but this stuff's got noodles in it!" Lieutenant Colonel Sterling P. Bettinger was piloting my C-54, good old Number 5549, which had served me so well on the Hump, and my old friend Red Forman was copilot. I sat on the jump seat behind them and helped them peer at the dark gray nothing ahead through the rain-washed windshield.
The R-2000 was an R-1830 with cylinders with a 5.75 inch bore to increase total displacement to 2,000 cubic inches. The R-2000 was designed for the DC-4/C-54 which first flew in 1942.
Unable to locate either a C-154 or an R-3360. Perhaps a C-124 and an R-4360 will suffice.
The R-4360 Wasp Major was developed during WWII though it only saw service late in the war. It represents the most technically advanced and complex reciprocating aircraft engine produced in large numbers in the U.S. The passing of the KC-97 in the late 1970s marked the end of the large piston engine and the turbocharger in the U.S. Air Force.
The prototype C-124, the fifth C-74 with a deeper fuselage and clamshell nose loading doors, first flew in 1949 and entered service in 1950. Around 450 were built. Used in conjunction with the Douglas C-133, the Globemaster II remained in service until replaced by the Lockheed C-5A Galaxy in 1970.
During its short career, the C-74 participated in the Berlin Airlift, set a record for being the first aircraft to cross the North Atlantic with more than 100 passengers, and was flown at a gross weight of 86 tons - the most weight for any powered aircraft up to that time. The fifth Globemaster had the distinction of being the prototype for the plane that would replace the C-74: the C-124 Globemaster II.
"Tattoo"'s three piece white tuxedo with satin lapels worn by Herve Villechaize in various episodes. He wears the vest, sans coat, in the opening credits when he rings the bell and yells "The plane....the plane!"
Evening stand watie.
Free Dixie!
Evening PE.
Check your FR-Mail
That is one big cat!!
Evening CT.
We did have more nukes that the Soviets at that time.
Eveing Victoria.
Nice graphic. :-)
Thanks for adding more background to the Berlin Airlift.
Good Boxer - Bad Boxer
LOL!
It's a curse! Being sooo sensitive and all.
Berlin "Candy Bomber"
http://www.hill.af.mil/museum/history/candy.htm
One of the many American pilots to fly the USAF C-54 Skymaster during the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49 ("Operation Vittles") was Colonel Gail S. Halvorsen of Provo, Utah. During the operation he became known as the "Candy Bomber" because he repeatedly dropped candy to German children from his aircraft on approach to the runways.
The idea grew out of a chance meeting between Halvorsen and several German school children at the perimeter fence of Tempelhof Airport. While waiting for his aircraft to be unloaded one day he decided to walk to the end of the runway and photograph other C-54s making their landing approach to the runway, a tricky descent over several buildings outside the Tempelhof grounds. While standing at the barbed wire fence he struck up a conversation with the German children gathered outside to watch the giant airplanes land. The hungry children asked if Halvorsen had any gum or candy, and he eagerly gave them two pieces of gum that he happened to be carrying in his pocket. He promised to bring them more gum and candy on his next flight into the airport, saying that he would drop it to them as he passed over them while landing. When asked how they would known which of the huge airplanes was his, he said he would "wiggle his wings" as he approached their position.
True to his word, on his next mission to Tempelhof Airport, on final approach to the runway Halvorsen "wiggled his wings" and had the Flight Engineer push three bundles of sweets through the flare chute on the C-54 flightdeck. (Halvorsen had gathered the candy by talking other pilots into donating their Candy Ration Cards to the effort.) The three small parcels floated down on tiny, homemade handkerchief parachutes, but Halvorsen could not see whether the children caught the packages due to the business of landing. Later, as he taxied the empty C-54 to the end of the runway to depart the airfield, he looked to the crowd of children at the fence. Three white handkerchiefs waved back at him enthusiastically!
Over the next few weeks Halvorsen repeated the airdrops to an ever-growing audience of German children at the fence. Soon he even began to receive letters at the airport, addressed simply to "Uncle Wiggly Wings -- Tempelhof," requesting special airdrops at other locations within the city! Local newspapers picked up the story and his fame began to spread. Back at his home base Halvorsen began to receive mail from other pilots who wanted to help. Candy was donated, handkerchief parachutes were made by volunteers, and the tiny parcels began to fall all over Berlin.
On a brief trip back to the United States Halvorsen was asked by an interviewer what he needed to continue his popular "Candy Bomber" operation. He jokingly remarked "boxcars full of candy!" Sure enough, shortly after his return to Germany a traincar loaded with 3,000 pounds of chocolate bars arrived for "Uncle Wiggly Wings." Thousands of pounds of candy continued to arrive from the United States to support the airdrops. Other pilots volunteered to drop the packages of sweets across the city. After several letters were received from East Berlin "Uncle Wiggly Wings" even made a few drops to school yards there, angering Soviet officials for the "attempted subversion of young minds." When asked about it Halvorsen commented "kids are kids everywhere." He even mailed packages of candy to disappointed children who wrote to say they had never been able to reach the "sweet gifts from the sky" before others got all the loot. No one was to be missed by Utah's "Candy Bomber."
Candy Bomber still delivers
http://www.usafe.af.mil/berlin/uns99207.htm
Released: May 19, 1999
By Tech. Sgt. Joe Bela
USAFE News Service
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS)-- From the Berlin Airlift, 50 years ago, to Operation Shining Hope, the Candy Bomber still delivers.
One man's kind gesture at the end of World War II blossomed into a major operation with one mission -- to airdrop candy to the children of war-torn Berlin.
For the Candy Bomber, retired Col. Gail Halvorsen, the legacy continues.
Halvorsen, one of the Berlin Airlift's most famous figures and the impetus behind Operation "Little Vittles," visited Albania Tuesday to make yet another delivery to the Kosovar Albanian refugees fleeing Serb oppression in Kosovo.
The Candy Bomber made the 4 1/2-hour trek to Tirana aboard a C-130 transport plane from Ramstein's 37th Airlift Squadron. While there, he saw similarities between the nearly 600 U.S. servicemembers supporting humanitarian operations and the airmen who did the same for West Berlin in 1948.
"I saw the same spark in the folks here today. It's reflected in the crews and the ground folks," Halvorsen said. "I was impressed with their professionalism, how they went about their tasks and worked together as a team."
It's the same thing as the Berlin Airlift, he said in reference to Operation Shining Hope. "It's the spirit ... of helping people we don't even know and risking our lives to do it."
Halvorsen's trip included a 30-minute ride aboard a Navy CH-46 helicopter to Camp Hope where he delivered school supplies, toys and candy to the children. The U.S.-built facility is currently home for more than 2,000 refugees, and is expected to shelter up to 20,000 people upon completion.
Although no children had heard of the Candy Bomber, their curiosity alone was enough to draw a crowd. "They just ran out. It was the same in Berlin," said Halvorsen. "Kids naturally know GIs are a 'soft touch' for gum and candy.
"I was amazed to find these children -- who'd been sleeping out in the open just a few weeks before, deprived of their homes -- so upbeat. We have to take a lesson from that," he said.
"These children taught me a lot today. Your heart bleeds for them, but when you see them adapting like that, it renews your faith," he said. "If you have the right attitude, well then, the whole world is a different color. These kids have that attitude."
For Halvorsen, the visit was a great experience he'll never forget -- an experience like the one in Berlin 50 years ago.
The Berlin Airlift and Operation Shining Hope have one thing in common. These (the German and Kosovar) people sacrificed the comforts of life because they believed in the same principle and that's freedom," he said.
"They may not have had enough to eat, but they put aside the hunger for the principle of being free," he said. "We need to understand the trials of people like them and learn to have an appreciation for the little things in life."
I agree. We did what had to be done.
It's on wheels--just come with your trailer hitch. You've already retrofitted the overhead door in your living room, right?
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