Scott R Wilson

I have a few stories. I was in Germany in 1981 while I was visiting a friend at Sembach Air Base. I was walking to the upper part of the base from Sembach village on a day with a solid high overcast. A group of half a dozen or so F-4s got into a dogfight just a mile or so East, at maybe 2000 feet altitude. With the gray overcast the afterburners were clearly visible, and the roar of those jets as they chased each other around was way cool. Later we were visiting her Grandmother in the village of Rudenau ( the first u should have an umlaut but I don't know how to do that on my iPhone) near t

http://media.dma.mil/2007/Apr/04/2000502145/-1/-1/0/070404-F-1234S-007.JPG http://media.dma.mil/2006/Oct/20/2000539484/-1/-1/0/061020-F-1234P-005.JPG http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/066/B-58A%20Pilot%20Station.html http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/066/B-58A%20Navigator%20Station.html http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/media/066/B-58A%20Defensive%20System%20Operator%20Station.html

Here are some of the best photos I've come across: http://randolphbrewercom.fatcow.com/b58/photos_dickdirga.php This series shows a few Hustlers on alert with live B43 nukes. The fins on the kit B43s are shaped differently, and the kit's bomb noses appear to be molded with some kind of cover in place. http://randolphbrewercom.fatcow.com/b58/photos_paulwulf.php This video might have some useful details: Another video:

Utley, forgive me for saying this, but you so don't know what you are talking about. The Wings Over the Rockies B-1A is the #3 B-1A. It actually had more flying hours (829.4 hours in 138 sorties) than the other three B-1As when it was retired to Lowry AFB (not Buckley ANGB) for use as a ground trainer at the technical training center that was there before Lowry closed. The dorsal fairing we've mentioned was a temporary installation on B-1As #3 and #4, for a deceptive jamming system called Crosseye. Both airplanes were originally delivered without it, and were originally painted overall whi

Thanks for that, I should've been more specific that smokeless engines didn't start to appear on USAF machines until the very late 70s or early 80s. When I got to George AFB in February 1982 hardly any of the six squadrons' worth of the F-4Es and Gs there had smokeless, and often the few jets that had them had one of each. By the time my tour at Ramstein ended in May 1986 most of our Phantoms were carrying smokeless engines. I was told the earliest smokeless engines in the USAF had been intended for Iran but after the Shah fell we kept them. I have no idea if that story is true but it seem

Actually both #3 and #4 had the dorsal spine for awhile. Here's #3: http://oeigin-www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Rockwell-B-1A-Lancer/2546643/L/ #4: http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/Rockwell-B-1A-Lancer/0985107/L/&sid=7168ec6af81ce7dc54c2098f605c120a The quickest way to tell them apart was the black nose radome on #3, versus the camouflaged nose on #4. Also the rear fuselage of #3 was longer and more pointed. The first three B-1As had an escape capsule while the fourth jet had ejection seats. For the three with the capsule you can make out the stowed stabilizers on the s

Jari's correct, it was an escape hatch. The long strips on the model above and below the round hatch were doubler plates to prevent fatigue cracking and should be sanded down as they are far too prominent on the model. We never used that hatch during maintenance, the only times I ever saw it opened that I can remember were when the jets were inside the hangar during isochronal inspections. For getting on top of the jets for maintenance we used the escape hatch on top of the cockpit, climbed out that one then walked back straddling the air refueling plumbing cover. Scott Wilson 62 AMS 19

Whiskey just posted this on another thread. It shows very nicely how the exhaust area SHOULD look for Phantoms before they got smokeless engines. Smokeless engines began appearing in the early 1980s, and it seems they were replacing the old smokey engines slowly throughout the 1980s. It was not too unusual to see Phantoms during that time with one smokey and one smokeless engine. It wasn't until around 1985 or so that the smokeless engines became predominate. If you model a Vietnam-era Phantom it should look like this photo, not like so many models with all the discolored burnt metal shades:

I took a measuring tape and measured the camouflage extending into the intake of an F-4C at 3 feet. But there are lots of photos of it only going in from a few inches to what looks like about one foot as well, though three feet seems more common. I'm pretty sure all of the Phantoms I worked on between 1980 and 1986 had the camouflage going in three feet, though I've seen photos of some PACAF Phantoms from that same time frame with it only a foot or so in. Other PACAF Phantoms photographed at that same time had it inside three feet. I guess it depends on where and when the Phantom was painted.

The QF-4s also have a smoke system. There was a short probe behind the left engine nozzle in about the same place it was on Thunderbird and Blue Angel Phantoms for putting oil in the exhaust stream to make the smoke. It was much shorter on the QF-4s though. They use the smoke for certain sorties to help people visually acquire the jet. It's been a few years since I talked to the QF-4 pilot who told me about it when I asked about it, and I don't remember the exact circumstances that they use the smoke for.

I'm really looking foward to seeing your models, I hope you post in progress photos. The B-58 is easily my favorite airplane. For other photos of the entry platform you might try watching videos on YouTube and grabbing screen shots. Several videos have good views of it. By the way, in my opinion the fact that the aerial shot of all of the surviving Hustlers at DM except those I listed above doesn't show a camouflaged jet is just more proof that it never existed. I seriously doubt one was painted and later stripped back to bare metal. I suppose it's possible the only camouflaged Hustler

I thought there were 116 built. There are six survivors missing from that photo, presuming the Pima Museum's example was parked in that group. 59-2458 went to the Air Force Museum, 59-2437 was sitting derelict at Little Rock, 55-0665 was left at Edwards, 61-2059 was delivered to Offutt and the SAC Museum, 55-0663 was at Chanute AFB, and 55-0666 was still at Grissom AFB. 55-0668 was later transported from Davis-Monthan back to Carswell in a C-5A, and is now displayed at Little Rock AFB. 61-2080 was towed across to the Pima Museum. 59-2437 sat derelict for many years at Little Rock but was moved

Well worth watching, thanks for posting the link. Scott W.

There was one that crashed in 1996, I recently came across video of the accident:

Try these: http://randolphbrewercom.fatcow.com/b58/photos_dickdirga.php http://randolphbrewercom.fatcow.com/b58/photos_paulwulf.php

I'm guessing you are exaggerating a little for effect. One screw not tightened shouldn't be an issue. A whole row- now that can cause problems: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Express_Flight_2574 While airline flying is statistically one of the safest modes of transportation, it might be interesting to consider that the vast majority of maintenance on the airplanes is done on the overnight shift since the airplanes need to fly in the daytime. The mechanics are often pretty tired from trying to sleep through the day with interruptions by family and outside noises. I spent nine

But it would look so cool next to the big Revell B-1B!

http://www.hphmodels.cz/index.php/en/shop-2/produkty-hph-models/modely-v-meritku-1-48/xb-70-valkyrie-in-scale-1-48-detail

Closest for me was reading a very thick book documenting the Holocaust. There were so many horrific stories that I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I was depressed for weeks thinking about it after I finally put it down. While reading it I found myself crying at some of the stories, and couldn't relate what I'd read to friends without breaking down all over again. Just words on paper, but wow... Scott W.

What a beautiful airplane! The fuselage star and bar looks fine, even if you say it's the wrong size. That's a model to be proud of! Scott W.

I like the smiley faces on the underwing ordnance on these.

I've seen this line of reasoning for other companies being fined as saying such fines only hurt consumers and not the company. But it's a bogus thought. What is conveniently forgotten is that the fined company has competitors, so if the fined company jacks their prices up to cover the fines, they lose their business to the competition. Maybe really the fines might hurt stockholders and the workers, as we see all too often it won't affect the executives. But if the Dept of Justice is serious about jailing executives, maybe they won't be immune after all.

Reminds me of one time while I was in the 526 TFS at Ramstein working on F-4Es. We were on one of our twice a year 30 day deployments to Decimommannu AB, Sardinia, Italy. The RAF ramp was next to ours, and on this occasion they had two FG.1 Phantoms from 43 Squadron and two from 111 Squadron. One of their jets broke and was brought into the hangar we shared. A bunch of us went to look at it and someone remarked about how dirty it was. One of their technicians replied, "What, wash an airplane? Surely you must be joking." Many of our jets had patched and faded paint but we washed them rather

That is correct. Look at photos of the Phantom you are modeling, or Phantoms of the same timeframe. Are the blast panels black? Likely it's soot and not shadows making it that way. Too many guys model Phantoms from the smokey engine days with beautifully heat-stained bare metal blast panels, when just a good coating of soot black is what it really needs to be accurate.

By tail cone you mean the drag chute door? I agree all the fuselage bare metal was titanium. Our sheetmetal guys called the panels "tit panels." I guess the bare metal stabilator skins were also titanium