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Posted on 03/09/2006 7:15:31 PM PST by alfa6
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 "Be Quick, Be Quiet, And Be On Time" I knew I wanted to design airplanes when I was 12 years old" says Johnson. "I read every Tom Swift novel I could get my hands on. I read "Tom Swift and his Airplane"; "Tom Swift and his Electric Car" ; "Tom Swift and his Submarine" and I said that's for me." A native of Michigan, Johnson was born in the remote mining town of Ishpeming on November 27, 1910 to immigrant Swedish parents. Kelly was born seven years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight. While attending grade school, Kelly was chided by some classmates for his name; Clarence. The other boys started calling me "Clara". One morning while waiting in line to get into a classroom, one boy named Cecil started with the normal routine of calling me "Clara". Kelly tripped the boy so hard it broke his leg. The boys then decided that I wasn't a "Clara" and looking for a new nickname started calling me "Kelly". The nickname came from the popular song at the time.."Kelly With the Green Neck Tie". From that time forward it would always be "Kelly Johnson". After making his decision at the age of 12 to design aircraft, he went ahead to design his first airplane. Kelly called his first design "The Merlin 1, Battle Plane". Several weeks later he saw his first airplane; a World War I Jenny. His decision was confirmed. He later moved to Flint where his father had a construction business. Kelly graduated from Flint High School, working summers with his father and in the motor test section of the Buick Motor Car Company. By graduation he had saved up $300. He tried to give it to an Instructor at the Flint Airport in exchange for flying lessons, but the Instructor shook his head and probably changed the entire course of Kelly's life. "I've always had the greatest respect for that man," Kelly said later. "He needed that money more than anything else in the world. But instead of taking it, he said, "Look kid..save that money and go to school." Kelly graduated from Flint Junior College and completed his education at the University of Michigan, where he received His Bachelor of Science Degree in 1932. Kelly Johnson worked his way through school by picking up scholarships, washing dishes and helping a professor; Edward Stalker, as a Teaching Assistant. He went on to received his Master of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1933. During this period he picked up small teaching fellowships and augmenting his income by renting the University's wind tunnel to run tests as a consultant on models of Indianapolis racing cars, trains and aircraft. "I made more more money that year than any of the first 10 years I worked for Lockheed." Kelly grins. After graduating froom the University of Michigan in 1932 Kelly Johnson wenr out West to look for work in the aircraft industry. No work was to be found. Ther only encouragement Kelly recieved was from the Lockheed Company which had just come out of bankruptcy. No jobs were available at the time but engineering executive Richard von Hake suggested to Kelly. "Why don't you go back to school and come out again next year? I think we'll have something for you." So back to the U of Michigan for a year to get a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering. Kelly's tuition was paid in part by a $500 fellowship grant and lots of hours at the wind tunnel. Among the projects that Kelly helped with in the wind tunnel was a model of the Lockheed Electra. The aircraft had some stability problems but the university professors and Lockheed execs thought that they were. Kelly Johnson thought otherwise.  He left college in 1933 with a master's of science degree, a used car, and plans to return to Lockheed and the promised job in California. Lockheed executive Cyril Chappellet and Chief Engineer Hall Hibbard hired the young Johnson as an $83 a month tool designer until there was an opening in engineering. Kelly Johnson was asked his opinion of the Electra, the plane that the newly reorganized Lockheed Compamy was banking it's future on. Kelly never one to hide his light replied,"Practically the first thing I told Chappellet and Hibbard was that their plane was unstable and that I did not agree with the university's wind-tunnel report." Back to Michigan U went Kelly Johnson to see if he could do better. It took 72 wind tunnel test but Kelly was able to improve the Electra. The result was the classic twin tail of the Electra line. Also in the design of the Electra was the introduction of "Fowler Flaps that enhanced low speed stability and braking and helped to improve the aircrafts speed in flight. The design of the Fowler Flap earned Kelly Johnson the first of over fifty awards that he would gather over his carrer.In 1937 at the age of 27 Kelly Johnson was awarded by the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences the Lawrence Sperry Award for "important improvements of aeronautical design of high speed commercial aircraft". The Sperry award was given annually "for outstanding achievements in aeronautics by young men."  Also in 1937 Lockheed won the a design contract that would lead to the P-38 Lightning. It was Kelly Johnson's work in the wind tunnel that helped to solve the problems of compressibilty that threatened to end the Lighting program. Lockheed went on to build almost 10,000 P-38s whixh fought in all theaters of the war amd was flown by the two top aces of the United States. In 1938 with Hitler threatning war in Europe the British sent a purchasing commission to the United States to lookk for aircraft to help re-arm England. Among the planes the comission was looking for was a coastal patrol bomber/antisubmarine aircraft. With only commercial aircraft in production Lockheed was not on the original schedule for the British comission. A change of plans however led the British to Lockheed with only five days notice to Lockheed. With only five days to come up with something to present to the British Purchasing Commission Lockheed engineers and shop personell, using the Electra Model 14 as a starting point produced a full scale wooden mockup of a medium reconnaissance bomber. The British were so impressed by the enthusiasm of the Lockheed employees and their mockup that Lockheed was invited to send a group of people to England to confere with the Air Ministry on the proposed bomber. Of course Kelly Johnson was a member of this team. At the meeting with the Air Ministry in England new specifications were requested that would require a major redesign of the proposed bomber. Working for three straight days over a holiday weekend, taking the occasional catnap Johnson redesigned the proposed bomber to meet the new specifications. The British were astounded that the plane could be redesigned in such a short time, especially by such a young engineer. After a week of additional discussions the British called Courtland Goss of to the side to inquire as to wether or not Lockheed would stand behind their young engineer. Courtalnd Goss recalled the conversation thusly... "Mr. Goss, we like your proposal very much, and we very much would like to deal with Lockheed. On the other hand, you must understand that we're very unused in this country to dealing--especially on transactions of such magnitude--on the technical say-so of a man as young as Mr. Johnson. And, therefore, I'll have to have your assurance . . . that if we do go forward, the aircraft resulting from the purchase will in every way live up to Mr. Johnson's specifications." Of course Goss assured the British that Lockheed had every confidence in the capabilities of Kelly Johnson and that the Air Ministry would not be dissapointed with the new aircraft. On June 28, 1938 the British Air Ministry signed a contract worth $25,000,000 dollars for 200 of the proposed bomber plus as many more that could be built and delivered by December of 1939 up to a total of 250 aircraft. At the time it was the largest single order for aircraft that an American aircraft company hed seen. The proposed new bomber was the Hudson, the progenitor of the Venura and Harpoon that came later in WW-II.  In 1943 the "Skunk Works" was born. Lockheed had a contract with the Army Air Forces to develop a jet fighter built around British DeHavilland jet engine in only 180 days. The rush was in response to repoert that the Germans were flying a jet aircraft. Kelly Johnson with the approval of Lockheed President Robert E. Goss, Johnson formed a team of 23 engineers and 103 shop personnel that were mostly pirated from other projects. The team worked in a small assembly shed at the Lockheed plant in Burbank. Some reports indicat that an old circus tent was used owing to the lack of available secure space due to the need of wartime production demands. In a 143 days, 37 days less than the contracted amount the P-80 Shooting Star made it first flight on January 8th, 1944. The Advanced Development Projects team had it's first succes. The nickname "Skunk Works" came from the Al Capp comic strip "L'il Abner" where the denizens of Dogpatch would throw in skunks, old shoes and who knew what else to make that fearsome brew "Kickapoo Joy Joice". The folks at Lockheed started to refer to the building where Kelly Johnson's crew was working as "The Skunk Works" because who knew what they where building.  Just a few of the military aircraft to come out of the Skunk Works ere the T-33 trainer variant of the F-80. The T-33 probanly traiined more pilots to fly jets than any other aircraft. The F-104 Starfighter, the "missle with a man in it" of the late 1950's. The P2V Neptune naval patrol bomber. It was a P2V, the Truculent Turtle, that etablished a non-stop distance record from Perth, Australia to Columbus,Ohio in 1946 of 11,235 miles. Another Lockheed aircraft to benefit from Kelly Johnson's work was the Constellation. The Constellation was a civil airliner that was taken over by the military when WW-II broke out. After the war in became one of the premier piston engined airliners before the advent of the jet airliner. It also was used by the United States military in various forms as well.  It was the 1950s that saw the development what could arguably be two greatest designs of the Skunk Works, Driven by a need to conduct overflight reconnaissance of the Soviet Union in order to collect data on the Soviet military and misasle work the U.S. goverment turned to Kelly Johnson and the Advanced Development Project team. In 1955 the Skunk Works rolled out the long winged U-2. The U-2 could fly at over 70,000ft with a range of 4,000 miles. The U-2 was also a money saver. Johnson's team returned $2,000,000 of the $20,000,000 contract. Lockheed also built 26 of the U-2 aircraft instead of the 20 airctaft that was in the contract.  The other great aircraft to come out of the Skunk Works was of course the SR-71 Blackbird. in 1960 the U.S. Air Force gave the Skunk Works the go ahead to design and build what would become the SR-71. The idea of designing a plane that could fly at sustained speed in excess of Mach 3 was the most difficult challenge thast Kelly Johnson and the Skunk Works team would face. An aircraft that could fly at these speeds would take a whole host of inovations that at the time were basically unknown. Metals, fuel, plastic and wiring were just a few of the problems the the Skunk Works team had to overcome. It all came together however and in 1962 the first of the A-12s made it's maiden flight. The YF-12A flew in 1963 with the SR-71 making it's first flight on December 22, 1964. The SR-71 in the 1970s went on to set records for speed (2,193 mph), altitude (85,069 feet). A New York to London flight of 3,470 miles was accomplished in one hour and fity four minutes. London to Los Angeles a distance of 5,463 miles only took three hours and forty seven minutes. In March of 1990 for it's retirement the SR-71 streaked across the United States in 68 minutes in a 2,400 mile coast to coast flight.  |
LOL Good one!!
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Here is pic of truck dent!!! In front of the neighbors black car on the left was a limb about 6" in diameter and maybe 6' long. Missed my truck, (WHEW) and his car as well. I think maybe I can fix the dent myself as I sure dont wan't to pay the $500 deductible. Hmm, where did I leave that can of Bondo???
Hey MS. Feather have you heard from your brother? The brunt of the storm would have been closet to him than me.
National Weather at the Downtown airport recorded a 59 mph wind gust at the 8:54 update. No wonder the limbs was a fallin! Off to get a nap, I hope, back later tonight.
Oh yeah we got us a Tornadeee Watch till 10pm tonight :-(
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
ROFL! The funniest part about the crackers is that they were those TamTam Passover crackers.
No,alfa, I have not heard from him. I am a little worried. He always goes to church early Sunday AM. I will give him a call later on today.
Wow those limbs sure made a mess. So thankful the damage was not a lot worse.
Just talked to my nephew in MO, my brother was at church this morning. All is okay there for now.
Prayers up for all in the storm areas. Things could get a lot worse according to FOXNEWS.
If you lived in New Orleans, FEMA would probably give you $2000. If you live anywhere else, forget it.
Round 2 is underway, Sirens just went off 5 minutes agao ane we are headed for ther beasement.
Be safe. Prayers up!!
I wish you well. We don't have a basement; I've hunkered under sturdy chairs and a matress in the back hall a few times.
Be safe brother . . . Kris and I will take a moment to lift the safety of you and your family to our Lord.
2:50 pm CST Okay folks we are okay not much happened here most of the storms went just to the north of us. Got to see some pretty neat footage from the news choppers. Fortunately no Tornadees.
Some reports of baseball, tennisball and golf ball size hail in the KC area along with high winds and brief torrential rains.
My son who lives in aouthern Leavenworth county had his truck beat up pretty bad by the strom this morning. And it looks like I will be helping him roof his house as well.
Keep bentfeather's brother and his family in your prayers as they are in the path of the storms more than I have been.
Lucky Me
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Thanks alfa, I am IMing with him now. He is safe. His family lives away from him and in the storm line. I talked to them this afternoon and they were going to the Community Hall.
Done.
Thanks sweetie! My brother is safe for now I am IMing with him.
xoxoxoxoxox
His family is in the line now. Prayers up.
Amen to the power of prayer and He who hears our call.
xoxoxox
1. Wyoming's license plates feature a man on a bucking bronco.
2. Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.
3. Yellowstone is the first official National Park (1872)
4. Devils Tower was designated as the first National Monument (1906)
5. The city of Gillette has the largest High School in the state (Campbell County High School)
6. The first coal mine in Wyoming was in Carbon in 1867
7. The largest coal mine in the USA is Black Thunder located near Wright.
8. Wyoming leads the country in coal production in 1994 with 3 million tons per week
9. The JCPenney stores were started in Kemmerer.
10. The first Dude Ranch in Wyoming was the Eaton Ranch, near Wolf. The Eaton's also came up with the term "dude"
11. The Horse on the Wyoming license plate has a name, "Old Steamboat". It is named after a bronc that could not be ridden back in the oughts or the teens.
12. Wyoming has the lowest population of all 50 United States.
13. Cody Wyoming is named after William "Buffalo Bill" Cody.
14. The majority of Yellowstone Park lies within the boundaries of Wyoming.
15. The Red Desert in south central Wyoming drains neither to the east nor to the west. The continental divide splits and goes around the desert on all sides leaving the basin without normal drainage.
16. The Wind River actually changes its name in the middle of the stream becoming the Big Horn River at a site at the north end of the Wind River Canyon, where each year the Native Americans hold a ceremony depicting the "Wedding of the Waters."
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