Big Blu

DrDan · Dec 14, 2001

Does anyone know of any links to find out more about this new 30,000 pound bomb that is being developed? Man it should be a "hulk" to deal with... Supposed to be a penetrator into underground things like caves.

Dr Dan

Harv · Dec 14, 2001

Whassup, Dr. Dan? You must have on heckuva stubborn stump there to need that kind of wallop. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Haven't heard about Big Blu yet. If it's top secret, it probably won't be on CNN for another couple of days. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

glennmac · Dec 15, 2001

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash2.htm

DrDan · Dec 15, 2001

Yup that's where I saw it Glenmac. Just thought there might be a more informative piece on it. LOL Look out Iraq!!!

Harv · Dec 15, 2001

Okay, Glenn -- now I've heard of it. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

30,000 pounds and guided??? /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Yikes!!! That sets it apart from the 15,000 pound Daisy Cutter, which is already enough bomb to terraform the mountains of Afghanistan!

Interestingly, there is a bomb called Big Blu 82, which sounds a lot like the Daisy Cutter. Oh well -- what's the fun in having weapons of mass destruction if you can't give them cute names. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Maybe it's just me, but if we could pinpoint exactly which cave our buddy Bin Laden is cowering in, I would enjoy the poetic justice of flying a radio-controlled 747 right into his bedroom. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

Thomas · Dec 15, 2001

If we knew of all the weapons that the goverment and what they could do it would scare the heck out of us..no even mentioning the ones on the drawing board./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Chuck52 · Dec 15, 2001

Turns out not all their weapons are so impressive. My oldest is in the Navy and on a ship I won't identify to protect the innocent. He called last night to say he wouldn't be making it home for Christmas because all leaves had been cancelled. Seems the old rust bucket is supposed to be deployed earliy next year to the middle east and failed a readiness inspection. Not too surprising, as my boy tells stories about men falling through rusted gratings and being able to warp deck plates and see the water. There's lots of old iron out there. Hope we don't hear stories about major naval vessles having to be towed home.

Thomas · Dec 15, 2001

I believe it was on the History Channel when program was done on our moth ball ships..I didn't realize the care they take until they decide to scrap them/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
Than the second half of the program it was about our aircrafts setting in the dersert...miles and miles./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Best wishes to you and your family during the holidays.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird · Dec 15, 2001

<font color=blue>aircrafts setting in the dersert</font color=blue>

We took a tour of Davis-Monthon AFB, Tucson, AZ, in January '90. That's quite a sight to see; sure a lot of aircraft "mothballed".

Jeff396 · Dec 15, 2001

Just moved from there. We used to take everyone who visited on that tour. The tour is no longer run by the military and now goes out of the Pima air museum. If you ever get back I would also highly suggest going to the Titan Missle museum. Apparently it's the last one in existance and they actually take you down into the launch area as well as the upper silo. Mostly retired guys running the tour with lots of interesting info. Well worth the trip!

Jeff

Bird · Dec 16, 2001

Jeff, I didn't know they'd changed. Of course we also visited the Pima County Air Museum while we were there, but they were separate deals and we visited them on different days. For those who like aircraft, those two, as well as the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH, and the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, FL, are well worth taking the time to visit.

Jeff396 · Dec 16, 2001

The tour became so popular that more people would show up than the bus could hold. Also, nobody was there keeping track of who showed up first so it was a mad dash for the bus when it arrived. Sometimes things got a little hot. They then went to taking reservations but in the end I think the military just got tired of running it. On one of our tours a colonal did the tour. I guess he said he just liked to get out of his cage every once in a while and talk to some people. I was especially interested in the area where the CIA would take the commercial airlines and blow them up to try and recreate the damage done in an actual event. Now that would be a fun job!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif We really miss Tucson and not a day goes by that we wouldn't rather be back there. Sadly, the job situation there is aweful. At our last house it wasn't unusual for us to see(in our front yard) bobcat, mule deer, javilina(kinda like a wild bore), coyotes, rattlers, jack rabbits, desert tortoises, hawks, bats, and a very occasional black bear. For someone brought up in the suburbs of Detroit, it was like wild kingdom. The only down side was the scorpions. My wife got stung 3 times and she said it was quite painful. It's pretty much impossible to keep them out of your house as they are like a cock roach with a stinger. Worst part is that the smallest ones (1/4 to 1/2 inch long) called bark scorpions pack the most toxic and painful stings. I was just glad to get out of there before one of the kids got nailed. Anyway, I ramble...I just love talking about Tuscon!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

Attached is one of the many beutiful sunsets we got from our back porch. The center of the city is straight over the high clump of trees about 15 miles away. Great light scenes at night.

Bird · Dec 16, 2001

I didn't know about the changes that were made; at the time we were there, we had to make reservations a day or two in advance. Just that one month (January '90) at the Voyager RV Resort is the only time we've been to Tucson, but we loved it. I wish I could spend every winter there, but don't know that I'd like it during the summer. And I agree about the scorpions. I got stung 3 times one night when I was a kid in Oklahoma; pretty painful stings.

MarkV · Dec 16, 2001

Jeff, Bird,

You guys sure stirred up some old memories for me. I was there in 1966 when my uncle was flying U2’s out of Davis-Monthon AFB. (I never would have remembered the base name) As a 15-year-old it was quite a thing to be around spy planes and see those miles and miles of mothballed planes. My uncle took us on a private tour, so we were able to get up close to many of the old planes. It would have been just fine by me if the folks had left me to play around there for a week.

MarkV

Jeff396 · Dec 16, 2001

Did they still have the WWII stuff there back then?

Jeff

cp1969 · Dec 16, 2001

I worked for a company that bought a B-17 out of the desert, supposedly for less than the value of the fuel in the tanks. Used it for a while as an air tanker, then sold it to a private collector. They also got six C54's (actually they were the Navy version of the C54) from there for about $6k each--this was in 1977. Most had airframe times in the low 30,000 range and they took a lot of work to make airworthy again, but all eventually flew as tankers. They also got some Lockheed PV2's (not P2V's) from there that had less than 300 hrs TT.

Bird · Dec 16, 2001

Charles, shortly before I became commander of the helicopter section of the police department, our head mechanic and chief pilot went out there, got two Bell 47 helicopters (had them shipped back to Dallas) and a DeHavilland Beaver (they flew it back to Dallas). Of course that was nearly 30 years ago./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MarkV · Dec 17, 2001

Jeff,

All the WWII stuff was still around then. As a kid, I was waiting for John Wayne to stick his head out and say 'lets go kid.'/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Any idea when they sent all the vintage planes to scrap?

MarkV

Jeff396 · Dec 17, 2001

I have no idea what or if there is a timetable on scrapping planes. I imagine it has to do with how long anyone is using them making either the possibility of selling them or partsing them out or I suppose bringing them up for a conflict. Now I'm no airplane expert but I think the oldest stuff they have now are from the Vietnam era. Sure would liked to have seen the WWII stuff though.

Jeff

IllMarty · Dec 17, 2001

Hi all,
I painted a water tower onthat base in spring of 87. The tower was right in the middle of the boneyard.I have some cool pics. I will try to scan some and post.B-52 tails by the hundreds. Back then they were mothballing lots of F-4s,F-102s, and F106. Coolest plane on the lot I thought was the Cessna 337 Skymasters. Danny Glover flewone in BAT 21. My dad owned 2 when I was a kid. Marty