Cop Car's Beat

Upcoming Acquisitions

McConnell AFB, the main entrance to which is about six miles north and 1/2-mile west of our house, is to start taking delivery of KC-46A Pegasus Tankers within the next couple of weeks or so. Construction of facilities to support the KC-46A aircraft and crew/support personnel training mission has been watched with great interest over the past few years. McConnell AFB had been chosen for first deployment of KC-46A aircraft to an active-duty AFB in 2013. Construction of the required additional facilities began in 2014.

Below is a Wichita Eagle photo of two of the new hangars, as they stood in late February, 2016. (The large, round bales of hay are probably on Cessna Aircraft property where it abuts the northern boundary of McConnell AFB.)

The two videos of the KC-46A, immediately below and at the end of this posting, are from a Boeing website. In the video of the tanker in flight, note the appearance of aircraft in addition to the KC-46 aircraft. Can you identify them? (My identifications are at the end of this posting.) I recommend playing the videos from Boeing's website. The quality is better than that of the embedded videos.

 

Below are excerpts from an article published in The Wichita Eagle newspaper.

Air Force accepts long-delayed Boeing tanker, bringing the KC-46 to Wichita soon

By Chance Swaim - January 10, 2019 08:40 AM, Updated January 10, 2019 04:53 PM

The wait is almost over for Wichita’s McConnell Air Force Base. The KC-46A Pegasus tanker could come to town by the end of the month, officials say.

The delivery will happen despite unresolved deficiencies in the long-delayed plane, according to an Air Force spokesperson.

Air Force Cpt. Hope Cronin called the decision to accept the plane from Boeing “a major milestone for our next generation tanker” that will allow the Air Force to begin operational testing and flight training. She also said the plane has deficiencies in its remote vision system that Boeing will fix at its own expense.

….

McConnell was selected as the first active-duty base in the country to receive the new refueling tankers, which will replace KC-135s that have been in service since the Cold War. Boeing said the first delivery to McConnell will be four planes.

Thirty-six of the tankers will come to Wichita eventually, a spokesman for McConnell said. Boeing is on contract for 52 planes. It expects to deliver 179 of the new tankers to the Air Force by 2027.

….

The KC-46A is expected to replace the KC-135 air refueling tankers that dominate McConnell’s two air refueling wings, the 22nd and 931st. It’s expected to be faster, fly farther and be more fuel efficient than the Cold War-era tankers in use today.

The KC-46 can hold 212,000 lbs of fuel for refueling, 12,000 more than the KC-135. It also refuels faster than the KC-135. The KC-46 refuels at a rate of 1,200 gallons a minute compared with 1,176 gallons a minute for the KC-135.

McConnell’s KC-46A Pegasus Fuselage Training Facility has been in use since May, and will train Air Force personnel from across the country.

From the KWCH-TV website: McConnell gives tour of KC-46 fuselage training facility

Posted: Wed 3:37 PM, Dec 12, 2018  | Updated: Wed 4:44 PM, Dec 12, 2018

Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy

ead more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy

Finally, the second video from a Boeing website.

 

____________

My identifications of the aircraft, other than KC-46s, that appear in the first video:

    at 0:33 - F/A-18 Super Hornet

    at 0:51 - AV-8B Harrier II

    at 1:03 - F-16 Fighting Falcon

    at 1:11 - F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-16 chase plane

    at 1:23 - KC-10 Extender and F-16 chase plane

    at 1:27 - C-17 Loadmaster

Please let me know if you think I've screwed up any identification(s). Of all the models in the list, the only one I have never worked with is the C-17 Loadmaster.

Guilty pleasures #2 - Trivia & Sherman

I didn't often go on Twitter (and I cancelled that account a few months ago); but, last February, I was wasting a bit of time one afternoon - checking out some blogs and Twitter. An item had been posted several days previously that I found interesting. I wrote a posting, but failed to publish it.

Military.com‏Verified account @Militarydotcom Jan 27

There has only been one woman from the British royal family to ever serve in the Armed Forces, and she’s the only head of state to have served in World War II. | Queen Elizabeth II's Time in WWII Makes Her the Most Hardcore Head of State

 

The wording could have been clearer. Queen Elizabeth II is the only current head-of-state who served in the military during WWII. For those who are too young to have lived through it: Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne upon the death of King George VI on February 6, 1953. WWII had ended on September 2, 1945; thus, during her WWII military service, Elizabeth was not yet a head of state.

BTW: That's a British L85 battle rifle the Queen is firing - in Surrey England. 1993. 

SHERMAN

For the past few days, Sherman's Lagoon has had an amusing run.

Sherman's Lagoon by Jim Toomey | Comics Kingdom

Some people are not braggards

Sometimes, it seems that we are all braggards. We are amazed when we meet someone (or a group of someones) who don't meet that expectation. For instance, below is a recent xkcd cartoon:

I am reminded of my amazement back in 1982 (give or take a year) when, during a meeting with C-141B pilots at Scott AFB, I asked if they could reliably touch down within the first 500 (or, it could have been 1000 - who recalls?) feet of a runway...and they said, "No!"

Huh? Are you kidding me? 1) I never thought I'd meet a pilot who would admit that they couldn't do something - anything - with an airplane! 2) As a Naval reservist, I was accustomed to thinking in terms of pilots who aimed to touch down on a spot in the ocean.

Fortunately for my mental health, it turned out that the pilots were not untalented. It was the airplanes' fault. USAF pilots were not allowed to practice short field take-offs/landings because there were so few C-141Bs in the Air Force stables that USAF could not afford to allow pilots to put the fatigue history on the ones they had.

 

Beauty Queens

I was never lucky enough to see the XB-70 Valkyrie in flight; I was heartbroken that the plane was never produced - she was so beautiful! Dudette and Bogie (of Bogieblog) may recall seeing the surviving XB-70A #1 on display at Wright-Patterson AFB, at the then-called United States Air Force Museum in the summer of 1970. In 1971, the museum was moved across Patterson Field to sit on "privately owned" property.

The first photo shows the XB-70 while the second photo (because I'm a mother of two beauty queens!) shows Dudette & Bogie with a Lockheed P-38 Lightning. (I'll entertain the notion that I've misidentified the aircraft if anyone thinks they see something that I missed or if my eyes are deceiving me.)

XB-70 Valkyrie: Why Didn't America Build This Mach 3 Monster Bomber?

Dave Majumdar

January 19, 2017

The nail in the coffin was the jet’s exorbitant price tag and lack of mission flexibility—the B-70 couldn’t be adapted for the low level role. Let’s hope today’s shadowy Long Range Strike Bomber fares better.

The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was the largest and fastest bomber ever built by the United States, but the massive six-engine Mach 3.0-capable jet never entered production. Only one surviving prototype sits in a museum in Dayton, Ohio, even as the Boeing B-52 it was supposed to one day replace continues to soldier on.

The following video, produced by The National Museum of the US Air Force and added to YouTube last May, shows testing of the #1 test aircraft. It is just under 14 minutes long.

You may recall that there were only two XB-70s built - for flight testing. The video concerning the demise of the SB-70A #2 is below. A bit over 3 minutes.

 

 

Published on Feb 5, 2011 On 8 June 1966, XB-70A #2 was in close formation with four other aircraft (an F-4, F-5, T-38, and F-104) for a photoshoot at the behest of General Electric, manufacturer of the engines of all five aircraft. With the photoshoot complete, the F-104 drifted into contact with the XB-70's right wing, flipped over, and rolling inverted, passed over the top of the Valkyrie, struck the vertical stabilizers and left wing and exploded, destroying the Valkyrie's rudders and damaging its left wing. With the loss of both rudders and damage to the wings, the Valkyrie entered an uncontrollable spin and crashed into the ground north of Barstow, California. NASA Chief Test Pilot Joe Walker (F-104 pilot) and Carl Cross (XB-70 co-pilot) were killed, while Al White (XB-70 pilot) ejected, sustaining serious injuries, including one arm being crushed as it was caught in the clamshell-like escape capsule as it closed around him just before ejection from the aircraft.

 

"Looks aren't everything."

A few weeks ago, I posted A really old War Horse, the B-52  that engendered a comment string concerning the B-52 and the Russian TU-95 Bear. The following video was posted on YouTube last October and makes the argument for the retention of the B-52. The video is a bit over 17 minutes long with mention of Russian capability at about 14 minutes in. As the audio says at the end, "Why toss out something old, but reliable, that does the job?"

P.S. For anyone who doesn't know, the photo showing military people assembled on the wings of a B-52 is a rough re-enactment of a photo taken by The Little Airplane Company to demonstrate the strength of its new, cantilever-winged Monitor airplane.

Title/Object Name: Cessna Aircraft Company

Creator: Edgar B. Smith

Date Original: 1927

Physical Details: 8 x 10 inches

Description: Seventeen men stand on wing of prototype model of Cessna cabin monoplane. Stunt was to demonstrate strength of airplane without wing struts. Photograph taken August 1927.

Keywords: Wichita, aviation, people, business and industry.

Subject: Wichita (Kan.) -- Pictorial works

Type: Photograph

Collection Name: Dwane Wallace Collection

Repository: Wichita State University Libraries' Department of Special Collections

Date Digital: 2003

Identifier: wsu_ms98-18.21.7.1

The following photo from @Cessna on Twitter shows even more people crowded atop the wing.

 

Needless to say, the gimmick caught on. Before retiring from The Little Airplane Company, I saw a photo of a modern Cessna model with people standing atop the wing. Unfortunately, I cannot pull out the model from memory, so have been unable to find it.

Helping victims of natural disaster

A couple of days ago, I was immensely impressed by friend Hattie of Hattie's Web. Although she is engaged in a fierce battle with cancer, she empathized with the victims of Hurricane Harvey. Further, she was thoughtful enough to enquire about the best means of helping those victims. Kudos!

In several of our local media outlets (TV, newspaper, radio), this morning, appeared a well-written answer to Hattie's question. The news release, from Kansas Division of Emergency Management (KDEM), gave an answer that was so much better than mine. I must share it (below). Although it specifically addresses Hurricane Harvey, the advice holds for nearly any natural disaster. I've worked with the KDEM folks on several Kansas disasters. They do great work!

TOPEKA, Kan. (Release) The Kansas Division of Emergency Management is urging Kansans who wish to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast, to donate money to a reputable volunteer, charitable or faith-based organization rather than sending food, clothing or other goods.

“Too often, well-meaning people send clothing, diapers, and other items to disaster stricken areas, but their donations end up unused or even discarded,” said Angee Morgan, deputy KDEM director. “The reason is that these goods must be sorted, packaged and stored until they can be distributed, which diverts manpower from other tasks and requires a place to warehouse the items. In some areas, there may not be any place available to do this. Also, there is often a surplus of one thing and not enough of another.”

Transporting and distributing the goods also requires manpower that can be better used in other capacities. Food must also be stored until used. If there is no refrigeration available, perishable foods may become unusable before they can be distributed. Even nonperishable goods can be a problem; one can only use so many cans of green beans.

Donating money allows human services agencies to purchase exactly what is needed when it is needed and does not waste resources. It also puts money back into the local economy, helping local businesses recover faster.

Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas

Hunky Husband and I journeyed to Hutchinson, Kansas, yesterday to view the Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas presentation at the Carey Digital Dome Theater, a part of The Cosmosphere. While the story line was weak, the visuals and technical info contained in the 45-minute presentation were well worth our time. The dome-shaped projection surface was not ideal. We both thought that flat-screen presentation would have been better since straight lines would then appear as straight lines. In that way, the trailer (below) is better than what we saw.

I instigated the trip, partly, to check out whether my sciatic pain level would stand the ordeal. It was an ideal check-out since, at any time, I could choose to lie in the back seat of HH's car or, in the case of the presentation, walk out at any time. The checkout gave me more confidence that I should be ready to sit through this week-end's Music Theatre Wichita (MTW) presentation, having bowed out of the two previous presentations. MTW is housed in Century II, a building that the Wichita City Council is considering tearing down. Also under consideration is the building just across the street from Century II, Wichita's main Public Library. Many of us think that would be akin to St Louis tearing down its arch. However, since I don't live in Wichita, no one should care what I think. Below are photos of the two buildings.

Century II was designed by John Hickman who was an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, leader of the Prairie School movement.

Wichita Public Library - Main location, Downtown

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/keeper-of-the-plans/article123758114.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

Declaration of Independence - Descendants

It's about time!

There is a posting on the Military Advantage Blog that is mostly about military pay/benefits. It does, however, include a paragraph on possible registration of women for the Selective Service draft, which is excerpted, below.

Posted By: Tom Philpott April 28, 2016

Military Update: With U.S. forces still at war and House members up for re-election in November, the House Armed Services Committee rejected almost every idea the Obama administration proposed in its 2017 budget request to dampen military compensation and apply dollars saved to other defense priorities.

....

Women Draft Registration — With all combat jobs now open to women, the committee voted 32-30 for an amendment to require women to register with Selective Service System. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who opposes women serving in infantry or Special Forces, said he offered the amendment to spark a debate that the Congress, so far, has avoided.

For those who may think that women get an easy pass in the military

In an article at Military.com, Max Fitness Test, Skip the Tape: Marine Corps Mulls New Body Fat Rules, the following paragraph appears:

"The brief notes that while the male BMI maximum for Marines is 27.5, the most liberal standard allowed within the Defense Department, the female BMI max is the strictest in the department at 25. The proposal would increase the BMI max for female Marines to 26, increasing maximum weight by five to nine pounds, depending on height."

I recall the fitness tests that the US Navy applied to us, annually, when I was in the Reserves. We had to cover 2 miles within so many (don't remember how many) minutes and meet waist to stomach and hip ratios. I don't believe that the US Navy used BMI, then; but, I would have had no problem joining the US Marines on that account. At the time, my BMI was 19 (age 42). We won't talk about what it is now that I am in my late 70s. Fortunately, I'm the anomaly in our family. I'm guessing that Bogie's and Dudette's BMIs are lower now than when they were in their early 40s. They work a lot harder (outside the workplace) than I did at their ages. Good for them!

From the Center for Disease Control:

Measurement Units	Formula and Calculation
Kilograms and meters (or centimeters)	Formula: weight (kg) / [height (m)]2 With the metric system, the formula for BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Because height is commonly measured in centimeters, divide height in centimeters by 100 to obtain height in meters. Example: Weight = 68 kg, Height = 165 cm (1.65 m) Calculation: 68 ÷ (1.65)2 = 24.98
Pounds and inches	Formula: weight (lb) / [height (in)]2 x 703 Calculate BMI by dividing weight in pounds (lbs) by height in inches (in) squared and multiplying by a conversion factor of 703. Example: Weight = 150 lbs, Height = 5'5" (65") Calculation: [150 ÷ (65)2] x 703 = 24.96