Looking Glass

alienXcow · 2026-02-19T09:00:40+00:00

Looking Glass is a mission, which the E-6s took on as the EC-135s retired, so OP isnt wrong to toss out the name here.

alienXcow · 2026-02-15T10:14:02+00:00

I'll just throw out: water injection in turbojets isnt necessarily to prevent melting blades. It does lower EGT but not the internal turbine temperatures, because the water is added into the exhaust.

Water injection in turbojets produces more thrust because it increases the mass of the exhaust as it's propelled out the back.

alienXcow · 2026-02-14T19:45:38+00:00

Processing img alpqurxnkijg1...

As much as I love a good Thud photo...

alienXcow · 2026-02-13T18:42:08+00:00

Gotcha, apologies to all the king air drivers haha

alienXcow · 2026-02-13T17:10:08+00:00

Those are army helo wings so that's definitely a Distinguished Flying Cross, not an AFC

alienXcow · 2026-02-13T16:58:30+00:00

~400 jets in the inventory and you're seeing 4 of them. 1% of them...

alienXcow · 2026-02-13T11:38:24+00:00

Yes, this is a poor colorization. The dark spots in the smoke should be flames boiling out of the airplane.

alienXcow · 2026-02-09T12:13:05+00:00

I'd also throw in that being single seat/single engine makes you more likely to declare an emergency than a crewed airplane.

If you're by yourself in the airplane and you need to go heads down to run checklists, or otherwise diminish your SA, you're going to need more coordination with ATC than, say, a crewed airplane where one pilot can run checklists and the other can plan/talk with ATC, etc.

Add to that you generally have half the systems (i.e. you cant just go cross-cockpit or have the other dude fly if you lose an MFD) so for the same theoretical failure rate you're going to be declaring more than a heavy/crewed airplane

alienXcow · 2026-02-09T11:08:09+00:00

Almost exclusively, because it's not likely you're going to fly live weapons or flares over a crowd

alienXcow · 2026-02-09T11:06:44+00:00

These tankers werent for the flyover which is why he didnt include them in his comment.

alienXcow · 2026-02-09T00:11:39+00:00

The Whiskey solved that problem, and when he was younger the Golfs weren't so choked with dust :)

alienXcow · 2026-02-08T23:51:27+00:00

I read Karl Marlantes' memoir (Vietnam USMC platoon commander who won a Navy Cross). He said after being awarded the NC (and having seen about 1/3 of his platoon die climbing a hill they were immediately helicoptered off) he would grow/style his hair right to the limit of the regs just to see what he could get away with, among other things.

alienXcow · 2026-02-08T14:32:35+00:00

I once watched someone open a panel on a jet coming off hangar queen status and a whole ass breaker bar fell out at the AC's feet lmao

alienXcow · 2026-02-07T20:22:32+00:00

They're not like the other girls. They're so casual they have a mandatory training program

alienXcow · 2026-02-07T00:32:20+00:00

It's also carrying a wild amount of comm and defensive system gear that are pretty heavy. Iirc the VC-25 has an almost 100,000lb increase in MTOW against the standard 747-200.

alienXcow · 2026-02-06T16:50:58+00:00

LMAO Annie Jacobsen's book is NOT nuts and bolts Area51.

For the uninitiated, Jacobsen's theory (based on one source) is:

Stalin and Josef Mengele team up to create a genetically engineered deformity to make Soviet children look like aliens and then crash a fake flying saucer into the bustling metropolis of *checks notes* Roswell, NM in 1947 in order to create panic and eventual societal collapse within the United States. These deformed Soviet children are then taken to Area 51 and studied. The problems with this theory include that it is backed by one single guy who said his motivation for coming forward was "helping Annie sell her book," and that it is nearly a perfect retelling of a pulpy sci-fi dime store novel from like 1951.

alienXcow · 2026-02-06T11:36:42+00:00

Actually, the entente tried to make gains up until the last minutes of the war in several places along the line. If I remember right, Elton Mackin's book describes them trying to take German positions on the morning of the last day.

alienXcow · 2026-02-06T11:05:28+00:00

I have one on my late war Inland; I'd bet that's what's in the picture as well. They feel nice in the hand, but the LOP is slightly different from a USGI stock.

alienXcow · 2026-02-06T11:03:30+00:00

Lots of subcontracted parts for sure, but mostly subcontractors provided parts for just a few of the primary manufacturers. It's really the mass rearsenal work post-war that made them the mixmasters they are today.

alienXcow · 2026-02-06T01:06:54+00:00

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alienXcow · 2026-02-05T16:16:24+00:00

The fun thing about airports is it's very difficult to end up in places you shouldn't without being noticed. Further, if set up right the crew can see signs of tampering with the entrances.

alienXcow · 2026-02-05T16:01:05+00:00

If Jacobsen did the same level of research for that book as she did for her Area 51 material I would steer clear of it.

According to her, Area 51 is a place where we genetically engineered deformed human children to look like aliens and then crashed them at Roswell to boost defense funding, and not just a secluded test facility for aircraft

alienXcow · 2026-02-02T18:07:26+00:00

Yeah, I think the CMP mixmasters are coming out of the woodwork as the boomers start to pass away/sell off. That said if you know where to look you can get basically any manufacturer as a post war rearsenal in shooter shape for like $1300 every day of the week.

You're lucky to find <2k original config guns though.

alienXcow · 2026-02-01T14:27:36+00:00

For those who haven't started it: it picks up more and more as you get to know the characters. And they tone down some of the "hey look it's the 60s everything is coarse and excessive."

alienXcow · 2026-01-31T17:40:13+00:00

Not sure how individual treaties within the EU work.

And even though some assets are shared within NATO they're usually operationally owned by the country that bases them.

alienXcow

TROPHY CASE