Nostalgia

[keith]

That was cool, rth. Merci.

Yeah. Robert Downey credit!

[johnpcapitalist]

This was a cool video. Unfortunately, the reality of the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was far below the hype. In particular, they had problems with propeller reliability that led to several crashes. The fuel costs per mile were high -- they were concerned with that even in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Overall hull losses, whether from propeller issues or from pilot errors were extremely high as a percentage of the fleet, even by the standards of the day.

The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major engines were pushing the limit of piston engine technology. There were 4 banks of 7 cylinders, and the rear cylinders typically overheated because it was impossible to move enough cooling air past the cylinder heads because it got heated by the first two banks of cylinders. They used all sorts of water injection and other clever techniques to boost cooling but it was just not enough. The engines were quite reliable but they were underpowered and the engineering compromises needed to cool them reduced altitude, speed and range significantly. It was fortunate indeed that the jet age was already on the horizon and that jets would soon follow.

Net result was that these planes were quickly demoted from flagship airline usage and ended their service lives fairly quickly. The military variants (freighter and tanker) did have a bit longer service lives but that's because the military faced less cost pressure to keep them running. The KC-135 tankers that replaced them in the early 1960s are still in use today as the backbone of the USAF aerial refuelling capability. The KC-46A Pegasus is finally coming on line, but they're facing problems with the cutting-edge technology for the remote vision system for the boom operator, which has put the program behind schedule for full mission capability. So we're still depending on airplanes that were in some cases flown by the grandfathers of the current pilots.

[Frater I*I]

So we're still depending on airplanes that were in some cases flown by the grandfathers of the current pilots.

My JROTC instructor was a B-52 pilot, the aircraft that he flew was one of the last made and rolled off the line the same year he was born....

[johnpcapitalist]

My JROTC instructor was a B-52 pilot, the aircraft that he flew was one of the last made and rolled off the line the same year he was born....

My boss was also a BUFF pilot in the 1991 Gulf War and said that a couple of people he served with who went into the family business tried to get themselves assigned to Dad's plane, but no luck.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

B-52 bombers were born the same year Foggy, my twin, and I were born. The bomber's maiden flight was in April.

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

Amazing footage of a man who witnessed history:

Witness to Lincoln assassination

Edit: On April 14, 1865, when Seymour was five years old, Sarah Cook, his nurse, along with his godmother Mrs. Goldsborough, who was the wife of his father's employer, took him to see Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., where they sat in the balcony across the theater from the presidential box.[2] He saw Lincoln come into the box, waving and smiling. Later, "All of a sudden a shot rang out ... and someone in the President's box screamed. I saw Lincoln slumped forward in his seat." Seymour watched John Wilkes Booth jump from the box to the stage. He remembered that, not understanding what had happened to Lincoln, he was very concerned for Booth, who broke his leg in the jump.[2]

In 1954, Seymour gave his account of the assassination to the journalist Frances Spatz Leighton.[2]

I've Got a Secret appearance

Edit:
Seymour on I've Got a Secret in 1956.
Two months before his death, Seymour appeared on the February 9, 1956, broadcast of the CBS TV panel show I've Got a Secret.[3] After arriving in New York City he suffered a fall, which left him with a swelling above his right eye. Host Garry Moore, after bringing Seymour on stage, explained that he and the show's producers had urged Seymour to forgo his appearance on the show; that Seymour's doctor had left the choice up to his patient; and that Seymour very much wanted to go on.[4]

During the game, Seymour was first questioned by panellist Bill Cullen, who quickly surmised from Seymour's age that his secret was somehow connected with the American Civil War, then correctly guessed that it had political significance and involved a political figure. Jayne Meadows then guessed that the political figure was Lincoln, and finally that Seymour had witnessed Lincoln's assassination. The rules of the show were that he would win $20 for each of the four panellists who failed to guess his secret. Since the secret was guessed by Jayne Meadows, the second of four panellists, he would normally have won only $20 but the host decided to award the entire $80 jackpot to Seymour for his courage in appearing on the show. Also because Seymour smoked a pipe rather than cigarettes, the show's sponsor, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company gave him a can of Prince Albert pipe tobacco instead of the usual prize of a carton of Winston cigarettes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_J._Seymour

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

[AndyinPA]

[humblescribe]

A little Puffin' Billy for all you 50s and 60s kids:

[pjhimself]

[Flatpoint High]

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

This was funny then (maybe):

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

[keith]

I was gonna put this in Music-Free-For-All, but then I thought the Nostalgia could use a little musical interlude.

For the pedantic among you out there, this is not the version from the original recording, but it is, perhaps, even more nostalgic.

[AndyinPA]

[humblescribe]

One of my personal favorites; especially the coda.

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]

[pjhimself]