smoketrailcharlie

RC Ken Thanks for your Service.I spent 24+ years as an Artilleryman so as you may guess some time was at Ft.Sill and your home of Lawton.I'm sure it has changed a bit since I was there 60-61.Wish I were young enough to do it again. Don't know if I would do it ,Just wish I were young enough.Keep those legs moving my friend. Smoke trail Charlie.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Ah! The wash down 4 Motrin with a Red Bull and walk it off routine! My son was forced retired from the Army several years back with back and shoulder injuries. The busted a sergeant in charge of PT when his doctor, a senior rank, found out he was forcing him to violate his orders. He is on 90% disability with the VA now and they still can't fix the back or the shoulder.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I wonder if we could get a group rate to relocate?! Poor Telemaster, they will blame him for the neighborhood for going to h3ll in a hand basket!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Yep, I started my career as a cannon cocker pulling tail on artillery. Then I changed my MOS to supply. But the Artillery never lets go of their own. I still remember the laugh that my First Sergeant had when he gave me the news about my orders to go to school to change my MOS. He said " SGT Isaac, you might be getting out of the Artillery, but the Artillery ain't letting loose of you that easily. I have your order for assignment after school." I looked at him and said, you're kidding. and he said.... "You got it, you're going straight back to Ft. Sill after you change your MOS!!!!!" He was laughing his ass off!!!!

Ken

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

All First Sergeants have a sadistic sense of humor, I think it's a job requirement!

smoketrailcharlie

Please be kind,I retired as 1SG..Started humping Jo's when I was 17 years old,Gunner Chief of section,Chief of Smoke 1SG. I would do it again in a heart beat.Before I retired I wrote a poem Redlegs Farewell.If you want i would send you a copy.Don't think I should post it here.Keep em flying.Hot glue and Duct tape.Smoke trail Charlie

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

What guns did you work on?? I did the 8" in the Guard. Then when I went active and to Ft. Lewis and went to the motor pool I had the shock of my life when I saw that I would be working on the towed 155mm 198. Damn I hated that piece of junk. Nothing worse that trying split trails and bury spades in a Yakima winter in the middle of night!!!!! Or sitting out in the back if the truck all night long with a round rammed waiting to shoot it down range. I was at Ft. Lewis for 18 months and we went to Yakima 3 times while I was there. But a huge part of that was because 3 weeks after I got to Ft. Lewis we went to Yakima and the Battalion failed an ARTEP. So we spent the next 5 months training to re-take the damn thing. A lot of that training was done right on Ft. Lewis. They thought that they were doing us a favor as "we were going home every night". If you could call it that. But we had to be in the motor pool at 5 a.m. to roll out by 7. and then we would roll back into the motor pool somewhere around 7 or 8 at night. Then by the time we download equipment it was 9 or 10 by the time we got home. All I could do was just eat dinner, shower, and go to bed. I would have rather stayed in bed!!!!. We spent so much time out there that we quit filling in our spade holes, it made laying the guns a whole heck of a lot quicker since we were coming back to the same firing positions all the time. Advance party would just pull us in, we would split trails, drop the spades in same holes, call smoke on the phone, and bam the piece would be laid!!!!!!!!.

In that 18 months I was there we did 3 30 day Yakima trips, and to top that off in 1988 we were deployed for 38 days to Yellowstone to fight the forest fires there that year. I'll tell you what, I hated fighting forest fires when I did it as a civilian and was paid $14/hour doing. I sure hated it even worse when I was a PFC in the Army doing everything by the numbers!!!! But I did get some perks. My dad was in the Forest Service and was one of the communications specialist responsible for setting up all the communications for the Forest Service to use out there. On the first fire we were on he set up his commo tent right across from where we were set up. I got real popular because my dad had 2 tv's and 4 outside line phones that he could let people use. He also gave me a radio that I could use to keep track of what was going on. The only other people that had a radio on our team was our Lieutenant and the civilian team leader!!!! The Army and the Forest Service had the local paper do a picture and a quick story about my dad and me meeting up at the fires as PR for human interest and all that!!! I thought it was cool to just come off the fires each day and sit and chew the fat with my dad!!!

Ken

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Well in the defense of First Sergeants I will say the do have the unenviable task of putting up with Shave Tails and keeping them alive long enough for their sergeant to wise them up.

smoketrailcharlie

They say life passes quickly when your having fun.Or sleep in the mud tween the trails of a gun. That is the opening to my poem. I was on 75mm pack howitzer 105 Towed 155 towed M109 self propelled.M110 SP. 8 1nch M107 175mm.Boy do I recall digging Spades in and digging commo wire in frozen ground.Two tours in Nam .Been around, again thanks for serving Smoke trail Charlie.Pearl Harbor Day .Thanks two all who served

acdii

Well had my cath lab today and no blockage found, yeah. OTOH that is a boo because they still don't know why I get chest pain and short of breath climbing a flight of stairs. For now Nitro patches will be tested. My right arm aches now and the numbness is finally dissipating from my thumb. They went through the wrist but prepped the legs too so I look like a smurf from the waist to the knees. They said I would be knocked out, didn't happen and holy crap did it hurt when they went up the arm.

So at least I know I can exercise without having a heart attack and pretty much ignore the chest pains, just work through it. I finally met my deductibles, and of course it resets Jan1, which means if there are to be any more tests I hope they are before the end of the year.

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

hay acdii clad you got through it ok when they did mine about 15 years back I was lucky they found my problem installed 2 stents and have not had any problems sense except getting old they told me at 82 the would not do any more stress test as it is to risky.
So all I will say do what ever the doc tell you to do.

Cheers Bob T

Telemaster Sales UK

Actually the area would benefit from a bit of immigration.

Lourdouiex St Pierre is the main village in the commune of Lourdouiex St Pierre which includes another 75 villages and hamlets. The population was at its highest in 1846 with 2237 residents. The population slowly declined afterwards as young people moved out of what is an extremely rural area to find work in the towns and cities, a process which continues to this day. In 1911 the population was still above 2000 but it fell by three hundred to 1880 at the next census in 1921. There are eighty-eight names on the local war memorial which would explain part of the decline. Between 1921 and 1990 the population remained above 1000 but it fell to 923 in 1999 and to 784 at the last census in 2013.

There is quite a large British community in the area, mostly retired people like me but quite a few of working age.We all take advantage of cheap property prices caused by the depopulation. For example, I am in the process of buying a three-bedroomed house for 55,000€ or about $59,000US or less than £46,000 Sterling.There are also smaller numbers of Dutch and Belgian residents. I call the Dutch, "hirondelles" or "swallows" because they arrive in the late Spring and go away again as soon as the leaves start to fall! Within the model flying club last year out of a membership of twenty, we had three Belgians, two Dutch and a solitary Englishman, me! One of the Belgians has subsequently died, one of the Dutchmen has sold his house and returned permanently to Holland, the other who kept on crashing his model, has not re-joined. However, having put on a couple of flying displays this year we've gained some more French members and another Englishman, Dan, who is a better builder and flyer than me but who can't speak a word of French so I have to translate for him all of the time which is a bit of a pain! .

smoketrailcharlie

Telemaster,Sound like my kind of living.Actually very similar to where I now live,The town I live in is about 300 or so.Nice peaceful valley surrounded by timber covered mountains.L came here from Colorado about thirty years ago and would not change it for all the tea in China.We have a nice garden ,three horses,chickens a corgie and a cat.We have our swallows here also.Folks from warmer climes as southern California we call snow birds. As soon as the weather cools a lot of them are gone.I had to give my best horse away this spring as I am getting to old to ride anymore. I broke her when I was 73 years old.She was such a good horse ,too good to just stay in the pasture all day.My other horses are getting too old to ride so I just sit and watch them.I have seen so many new foam Gliders on the market that I think I will give it a try before I build balsa..I still fly my hellis but can't seem to master collective pitch.I do fly single blade flybarless ,My parts count isn't quite like it was when I first started. Keep em flying Smoke trail Charlie .

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

It's tempting hang out in it like Cliff and Norm hung out at the bar in Cheers. but I would go nuts without a ,LHS to feed my addiction. I hang out in LHS like Norm and Cliff do at the bar in Cheers.

acdii

yeah, my wallet would need to be left at home.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I'm married had 4 kids and now have 4 grandsons the only thing in my wallet iare moths and the poor ba$tards have already starved to death!
(Granted I did just blow all my hobby funds on a few new tools and a sweet Cessna 195 short kit.)

acdii

There is a Hanger 9 Giant P-51 at my LHS with full retracts. Thats why I leave it at home! LOL

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I can see the danger in taking your wallet!

trainermaster80

My Feedback: (5)

I hope all you guy's on this thread recover from your ills.
today 12/8/16 i am 88 yrs old. yea i have some medical issues too. quadriple by bass & i am on my 2ND pace maker.
building & flying model airplanes as long as the Master Pilot up stairs allows me to.
eat your wheaties guy's & exercise as much as you can.
best wishes to you all & merry christmas & happy new year & great model flying in 2017. i have enjoyed these post & the Dynaflite Super Decathlon post especially.
TRAINERMASTER80 FRANKIE

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

What LHS do you hang out in?? Mike's Models??

How is he doing?? Is Mike still hanging on? Last time I was in there he was hanging on by a very thin thread, but still in business. I know it's hard for any LHS to stay in business these days competing against the internet. I try to swing as much of my business up to Mike as I can. But I really have to do some serious planning in order to do it since I have taxes, gas, and toll charges to take into account when I buy something from him. I know that he will match a price I find on the internet, but I tell Mike that I'm not interested in that. I would rather see him stay in business because he has something that I can't get on the internet. A human being that can look at something and give you over 40 years of experience when they make a recommendation on what you need, and that to me beats any discount that he could give!!!!

Ken

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Yep that's the place! Unfortunately the string is getting even thinner for Mike I'm really hoping he has a decent Christmas this year but I doubt it. I throw as much business as I can his way I think the C-195 short kit is the first thing I haven't bought from him in a year.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

It's so sad how the internet is killing a great LHS like Mike's models. The experience that Mike has is simply unable to measure. And he is absolutely THE best guy in the world. I don't think there is a stranger that ever walks out of that shop. They may walk in as somebody that Mike doesn't know, but if you give him a chance he'll get to know you and you walk away feeling like a life long friend. I love going up there and spending time with him. I never felt that way at weird Mike's (that's what we called the shop that used to be at 240 and Penn before it was bought out), the Realm was so-so but it wasn't as good as Mike's.


As a side note, when the Realm died the second time around a shop down here in Duncan bought out all their inventory. They made a good run trying to be a good LHS. Our club down here in Lawton tried to support them when we could. But now they are closing up there doors as of the 31st of this month and will be out of business. Personally I was never impressed with them. We have a very small LHS here in Lawton that has very limited plane stuff, but they are more of a RC car shop and that is their focus. They have an indoor track in their shop and then they have two outdoor tracks just outside of town. When I was President of the club down here I went to the shop and tried to work out a relationship with them and their answer was "well we can order anything that you need". I told that that with that attitude they weren't going to get much business because we can order it ourselves. And if we order it from Tower we can usually get a good bargain with discount codes, free shipping, and no sales tax. But if they wanted to start stocking stuff we would be more than happy to get a list of stuff that we would like to have. Stuff like props, hinges, and other small stuff that you break and need in a hurry on weekends. But they kind of lost interest in that. They were only interested in the big ticket stuff like plane kits and stuff like that. So we just keep ordering for ourselves off of the internet and let them do their car stuff. And as far as fuel sales go, our club makes a bulk fuel purchase once a year from Byron and we get a great price on doing it that way.

Ken

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

That is Mike's problem he use to stock a lot of stuff but he doesn't have the resources to be able to do that anymore. The guy down on the south side I240 Penn Oklahoma Hobby and Radio Control has got inherited money so he doesn't have to make anything. He is building a new building down on South Walker south of I240 with an indoor race car track. Judging by the way his stock has been dwindling I don't think he cares much for airplanes.

If its as cold in Lawton as it is here, here is a short video to make you feel better about the weather. One look and your first words will be glad I'm not in Montreal!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bhh...layer_embedded

Greybeard1

With the hobby shops I used to use closed now, and the only alternative is driving into Milwaukee, I don't have a lot of choice. The local shop here in town, more into craft supplies, plastic models, and HO trains than aircraft. There's a shop in Lake Geneva, closer, but not much but RTF electric, nothing of any interest to me. Got a Moonraker from Balsa USA today, ordered it two days ago, their service is good. Ordered two engines on line, curiosity things, ASP, never saw one of them before. But I think after that, until I run out of K&B 40's, it's going to be mostly Balsa USA. They sell a pretty complete assortment of the other supplies, and with their service, I can't complain. Their address is in state, and maybe I'm doing more by supporting them than using some of the other suppliers as long as the hobby shops went belly up. Some of the other stuff I have to go to other suppliers, such as Tower, but I keep that to the minimum. But it would be nice if someone that knows the aircraft business would open a decent shop locally. Thing of the past, I guess.

Rich.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

From what I have heard a new hobby shop has like a 10% chance of lasting past the first year.