From: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com (skunk-works-digest) To: skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Subject: skunk-works-digest V10 #26 Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Sender: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Errors-To: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Precedence: bulk skunk-works-digest Wednesday, July 25 2001 Volume 10 : Number 026 Index of this digest by subject: *************************************************** Re: YF-113G Amelia Earhart plane? Re: Amelia Earhart plane? FAA's Notes on High Flight "Its mission is to be a truck " PSST, WANNA BUY SOME YANKEE SPY SECRETS? Re: "Its mission is to be a truck " SR Manual on-line Re: SR Manual on-line Re: SR Manual on-line RE: SR Manual on-line Re: SR Manual on-line Re: SR Manual on-line *************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 00:51:45 EDT From: Xelex@aol.com Subject: Re: YF-113G Michael Dornheim wrote a small piece in the AW&ST Industry Outlook section (14 May 2001): "The U.S. Air Force' YF-113G aircraft has been identified as a 1970s stealth testbed and as a MiG-23, but both of these are wrong, according to an observer and some USAF documentation. The YF-113G was a 'classified prototype' that was brought from 'design to first flight' in a 'classified flight test squadron' in the 1993-96 time frame. The staement that the YF-113G was a prototype that went from design to first flight rules out the MiG-23 explanation, though the confusion is understandable as USAF MiGs do go by other YF-112 and YF-113 designations, such as the YF-113B and YF-113E. It's not clear which company built the YF-113G, but it was probably not Lockheed. The aircraft was manned." I'm not sure why they rule out Lockheed, although there is some circumstantial evidence to back that up. I have met one of the pilots who flew the aircraft, but he didn't give me any details beyond what we already know. Peter Merlin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 15:46:49 From: "wayne binkley" Subject: Amelia Earhart plane? >Comments from wayne binkley:I just got this this morning and have not >looked at everything availabe at this site,but i thought it might be of >interest to some. >wayne > >This article was forwarded to you from space.com -- http://www.space.com >)2000 SPACE.com, inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. > > > > > >* Amelia Earhart Plane Possibly Spotted By Satellite >http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/amelia_plane_010711.html > >The wreckage of Amelia Earhart's ditched-at-sea aircraft may have >been found. High-resolution satellite imagery of Nikumaroro Island >in the southwest Pacific has detected what may be remains of the >plane resting in water within a coral atoll. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 15:09:01 -0400 From: John Szalay Subject: Re: Amelia Earhart plane? At 03:46 PM 7/12/01, you wrote: > >>* Amelia Earhart Plane Possibly Spotted By Satellite >>http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/amelia_plane_010711.html >> >>The wreckage of Amelia Earhart's ditched-at-sea aircraft may have >>been found. High-resolution satellite imagery of Nikumaroro Island >>in the southwest Pacific has detected what may be remains of the >>plane resting in water within a coral atoll. > > Thats interesting, cause I just posted a couple of snapshots I found in my dad's military service album, of her and her plane taken in Hawaii. They were posted on monday in alt.binaries.pictures.aviation \\ ~ ~ // ( @ @ ) -----------oOOo-(_)-oOOo---------- | john.szalay@att.net | ------------------Oooo.----------- .oooO ( ) ( ) ) / \ ( (_/ \_) I yam whaddIyam. No trees were harmed in the transmission of this message, However, A rather large number of electrons were temporarily inconvenienced. Friends, don't let friends do AOL! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 11:33:07 +0000 From: Robin Hill Subject: FAA's Notes on High Flight High Flight The following is the American Federal Aviation Authority's notes on John Magee's poem 'High Flight' (which he wrote on the back of an envelope after his first solo in a Spitfire). Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth(1), And danced(2) the skies on laughter silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed(3) and joined the tumbling mirth(4) Of sun-split clouds(5) and done a hundred things(6) You have not dreamed of -- Wheeled and soared and swung(7) High in the sunlit silence(8). Hov'ring there(9) I've chased the shouting wind(10) along and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air.(11) Up, up the long delirious(12), burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights(13) with easy grace, Where never lark, or even eagle(14) flew; And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space(15), Put out my hand(16), and touched the face of God. NOTE: 1. Pilots must insure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before aircraft taxi or flight is attempted. 2. During periods of severe sky dancing, crew and passengers must keep seatbelts fastened. Crew should wear shoulderbelts as provided. 3. Sunward climbs must not exceed the maximum permitted aircraft ceiling. 4. Passenger aircraft are prohibited from joining the tumbling mirth. 5. Pilots flying through sun-split clouds under VFR conditions must comply with all applicable minimum clearances. 6. Do not perform these hundred things in front of Federal Aviation Administration inspectors. 7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging will not be attempted except in aircraft rated for such activities and within utility class weight limits. 8. Be advised that sunlit silence will occur only when a major engine malfunction has occurred. 9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a flight emergency is imminent. 10. Forecasts of shouting winds are available from the local FSS. Encounters with unexpected shouting winds should be reported by pilots. 11. Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft. 12. Should any crewmember or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, submit an irregularity report upon flight termination. 13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1,000 feet to maintain VFR minimum separations. 14. Aircraft engine ingestion of, or impact with, larks or eagles should be reported to the FAA and the appropriate aircraft maintenance facility. 15. Aircraft operating in the high untresspassed sanctity of space must remain in IFR flight regardless of meteorological conditions and visibility. 16. Pilots and passengers are reminded that opening doors or windows in order to touch the face of God may result in loss of cabin pressure. ******************************************************************** This email and any attachments are confidential to the intended recipient and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient please delete it from your system and notify the sender. You should not copy it or use it for any purpose nor disclose or distribute its contents to any other person. ******************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 20:44:23 From: "wayne binkley" Subject: "Its mission is to be a truck " an interesting concept(why didn't I think of that). wayne Aerospace Daily: USAF Envisions Wide-Body To Carry, Launch Cruise Missiles By Lee Ewing/Aerospace Daily 16-Jul-2001 9:50 AM U.S. EDT A long-range wide-body aircraft - similar to a modified Boeing 747, Airbus A380 or Boeing C-17 - could be armed with up to 40 cruise missiles to attack targets from outside the threat range of an adversary in a concept under study by the U.S. Air Force. Such a "long-range strike platform" (LRSP) has been added to a key planning document, the Toolbox, developed by the service's Future Concept Development office (XPXC), an Air Force official said in an interview July 12. "Its mission is to be a truck ... carrying a lot of cruise missiles," he said. Because the aircraft would operate far from enemy defenses, it would not require stealth qualities. The aircraft would have a range of at least 9,000 miles, refueling no more than once en route in the air or on the ground, and would have advanced communication systems such as the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS), he added. It would be able to redirect missiles in mid-flight and to stop an attack after launch. In an "anti-access" situation - meaning the U.S. did not have air superiority over the war zone - the long-range strike platform could attack with cruise missiles from a standoff distance well out of range of enemy fighters and missiles, the official said. The cruise missiles would be similar to those in use today. In conflicts where the U.S. did have air superiority, the LRSP could operate closer to its targets and strike them with hypervelocity missiles flying at Mach 5-10, he said. Such an ultra-high-speed missile does not exist today, but research has been conducted on hypervelocity vehicles for 40 years and NASA's current X-43 test program could help pave the way for a hypervelocity missile. Missions for a hypervelocity missile could include destroying missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction (WMD) before they got off the ground, suppressing enemy air defenses, and striking bunkers and other hardened or deeply buried targets, the official said. In situations where the U.S. ruled the sky over and near the battlefield, the LRSP also could employ weapons such the Joint Direct Attack Munition, the Small Diameter Bomb, the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon and the AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile. The method of launching the missiles, which would be carried inside the modified transport aircraft, has not been determined, the official said. "The concept is to open up the back and dispense these things," he said. Some "military academics," he said, would like to see a "B-17," that is, a C-17 military transport aircraft equipped with a loader arm that would be used to drop the missiles from the back of the plane. Another technique, he said, might be to use parachutes to extract the missiles from the rear of the plane, as is done with cargo on many air-drop missions. The long-range strike platform concept is part of the Air Force's Vision Force, which has been described as an effort to build what planners think the service should look like in 2020. It includes programs that are in development, such as the F-22 Raptor air dominance fighter and the Joint Strike Fighter, as well as concepts such as the long-range strike platform for which no mission needs statement has been written. "It's over the horizon right now," the official said. The next step, the official said, is for the long-range strike platform concept to be used in a major war game scheduled for late this year. If the concept appears viable, a mission needs statement could be prepared. If the concept were adopted, the long-range strike platform could be operational in about 20 years, and some version of the aircraft probably could be developed sooner if the need should arise, the official said. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 20:50:58 From: "wayne binkley" Subject: PSST, WANNA BUY SOME YANKEE SPY SECRETS? --1-- PSST, WANNA BUY SOME YANKEE SPY SECRETS? by DAVID H. HACKWORTH Last week, communist China got the Olympic gold. But a few months back, it hit a mother lode of our country's top military secrets -- courtesy of U.S. Navy Lt. Shane Osborne and his recon plane flight crew. This intelligence disaster has been totally covered up -- not from the Chicoms, who know exactly what they got, but from the citizens of this land who lay out a trillion bucks every three years to keep themselves safe from the latest Pentagon-announced bogeyman. The reason for this skullduggery is the Pentagon's survival plan: If the public knows the truth about its screw-ups, they might wake up and demand that more of their tax dollars go toward education, health care, taking care of the nation's vets -- and putting every lost kid in the USA in boot camp. You know, issues that help the people, not the arms' merchants. Word is that Osborne and the rest of the flight-deck crew were so busy keeping their damaged plane in the sky, they plumb forgot to update the intelligence whiz kids in the back about the change in landing plans. The intell bunch, who'd been told the plane was ditching in the drink, went flat-out destroying durable intelligence hardware that could survive the bath. Stuff that could easily be recovered by a Red deep-water salvage operation. They did heroic work tossing gathering devices out a hatch while the broken bird was doing roller-coaster loopity-loops. Except the scenario changed, and the plane landed at a not-so-friendly military spy base. By the time the aircraft rolled to a stop to be greeted by an armed welcome wagon, the hard stuff was at the bottom of the ocean floor. But that still left a lot of critical intelligence materials the spooks either didn't have time to trash or didn't need to because Davy Jones' saltwater locker would do the rest. One key item among dozens scooped up by the Reds was a laptop system known as the "lunch box," which contained the decryption software for a host of supposedly ultra-secure data links employed by our worldwide adversaries. And the bad guys weren't the only targets -- the plane was equipped to prowl the global skies sucking intelligence from friend and foe alike. Ironically, U.S. Navy red tape played a major part in providing Beijing with its coup. A Navy SOP that requires each classified item to be inventoried prior to destruction slowed the shredding effort down. You know, "One each ATPC-104 in seven copies." "Check." "Initial here on all copies." "Check." "All right, let's speed it up. It's just about time for Chinese takeout. One each ATPC-105 ..." One would have thought the Navy would have learned from its last major intell giveaway -- when the USS Pueblo was captured off North Korea 32 years ago. The treasure-trove of secret goodies turned over to our Cold War enemies that time around cost countless lives and did similar damage to our security. Now, besides selling missiles and other military hardware to nations like Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Cuba, China can provide eager shoppers with the latest info on how we've been reading all that rogue mail -- and everyone else's -- along with the latest made-in-China countermeasure devices and techniques. Osborne's flight-deck crew did a great job of wrestling that sick plane to the ground, and the folks in the back went about doing their thing with equal courage. Sadly, it's now a national tragedy that the front didn't keep the back in the loop about what was going down. Congress needs to investigate what happened and also get an answer to the question that many vets are asking: Why didn't the aircraft ditch? If the reason was to minimize casualties, then the Pentagon has it all wrong, because the secrets gained by our enemies have now put tens of thousands of our military personnel at an inestimable risk. And despite the current fad toward risk aversion, the military is all about risk. Sometimes the few must sacrifice for the many. That's why a 37-year-old can retire with a pension for life. Serving your country is a dangerous duty -- or at least it used to be. *** (c) 2001 David H. Hackworth Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc. http://www.hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's home page. Sign in for the free weekly Defending America column there ~ or send a request to sub to THIS weekly mailing directly to . _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 20:06:30 +0100 From: Art Hanley Subject: Re: "Its mission is to be a truck " wayne binkley wrote: > > an interesting concept(why didn't I think of that). > wayne > Actually, this was thought of almost 25 years ago, using 747s to launch cruise missiles. The problem they ran into was that even though Carter proposed it when he canceled the B-1, he didn't seriously intend to develop it so it died. Other problems was that they were too detectable and they often still had to penetrate defended airspace to get in range to launch their missiles. There was also the problem of precision targeting from such a great range (still hasn't been solved, especially in an urban environment) and also what if the cruise missiles had to overfly someone else's territory? Getting close enough to obviate the previous too problems negated much of the concept's advantages, since these things would be extremely vulnerable. If the bad guys got wind of the aircraft launching, they might also be able to intercept them enroute if they owned the right aircraft (can you say SU-30?). On the other hand, they seem to be going ahead with the plan to convert 2-4 Trident subs to cruise missile carriers, which is an Extremely good idea (cheaper, too). Art ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:06:13 -0400 From: Joe Donoghue Subject: SR Manual on-line 742 pages of the SR-71 Flight Manual have been posted at: www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual My Netscape kept getting hung for some reason but I successfully downloaded the whole thing (page at a time) with Internet Explorer. Joe Donoghue ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 20:56:51 +0100 From: Art Hanley Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line Joe Donoghue wrote: > > 742 pages of the SR-71 Flight Manual have been posted at: > > www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual Great find! > > My Netscape kept getting hung for some reason but I successfully downloaded > the whole thing (page at a time) with Internet Explorer. It's the way they implemented Java. They fell too much under the sway of the Demons of Redmond, and apparently used Microsoft's non-standard implementation. The more Java you can turn off in Netscape, the faster it runs (or use a pre-4.0 version). > > Joe Donoghue Art ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 07:48:32 -0400 From: "Weigold, Greg" Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C114FF.BDCE00D8 Content-Type: text/plain If anyone can find an auto-download package that would keep trying a range of pages like 1-1.html through 1-250.html it wouldn't be quite as bad to bring it all down.... Greg W Art Hanley 07/24/2001 15:56 Please respond to skunk-works To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com@SMTP@BlytheExchange cc: Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line Joe Donoghue wrote: > > 742 pages of the SR-71 Flight Manual have been posted at: > > www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual Great find! > > My Netscape kept getting hung for some reason but I successfully downloaded > the whole thing (page at a time) with Internet Explorer. It's the way they implemented Java. They fell too much under the sway of the Demons of Redmond, and apparently used Microsoft's non-standard implementation. The more Java you can turn off in Netscape, the faster it runs (or use a pre-4.0 version). > > Joe Donoghue Art - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C114FF.BDCE00D8 Content-Type: text/html Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Re: SR Manual on-line

          If anyone can find an auto-download = package that would keep trying a range of pages  like 1-1.html = through 1-250.html it wouldn't be quite as bad to bring it all = down....

          Greg W




        Art Hanley <csgn
@home.com>

        07/24/2001 15:56
        Please respond to skunk-works
                =        =20

        To:     skunk-works@netwrx1.com@SMTP@BlytheExchange
        cc:    
        Subject:        = Re: SR Manual on-line  



          Joe Donoghue wrote:
          >
          > 742 pages of the SR-71 Flight = Manual have been posted at:
          >
          > = www.sr-71.org/blackbird/manual

                  Great find!

          >
          > My Netscape kept getting hung = for some reason but I successfully downloaded
          > the whole thing (page at a time) = with Internet Explorer.

                  It's the way they implemented Java.  They fell too = much under the sway
          of the Demons of Redmond, and = apparently used Microsoft's non-standard
          implementation.  The more Java = you can turn off in Netscape, the faster
          it runs (or use a pre-4.0 = version).


          >
          > Joe Donoghue



                  =         =         Art



- ------_=_NextPart_001_01C114FF.BDCE00D8-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 08:17:30 -0700 From: Erik Hoel Subject: RE: SR Manual on-line This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1151C.EBE81E50 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I was able to download the entire site and encode it into a PDF (large - ~105MB) using Acrobat. With Acrobat, instead of opening a file to encode as PDF, you can open a web page. Nice stuff from the folks at Adobe. If you don't have Acrobat, you could always write a little VB or VBA code to do it for you (i.e., bring the pages down as Grag suggests). Erik - -----Original Message----- From: Weigold, Greg [mailto:GregWeigold@mynd.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 4:49 AM To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line If anyone can find an auto-download package that would keep trying a range of pages like 1-1.html through 1-250.html it wouldn't be quite as bad to bring it all down.... Greg W - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1151C.EBE81E50 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Re: SR Manual on-line
I was able to download the entire site and encode it into a PDF (large  - ~105MB) using Acrobat. With Acrobat, instead of opening a file to encode as PDF, you can open a web page. Nice stuff from the folks at Adobe.
 
If you don't have Acrobat, you could always write a little VB or VBA code to do it for you (i.e., bring the pages down as Grag suggests).
 
Erik
-----Original Message-----
From: Weigold, Greg [mailto:GregWeigold@mynd.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 4:49 AM
To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com
Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line

          If anyone can find an auto-download package that would keep trying a range of pages  like 1-1.html through 1-250.html it wouldn't be quite as bad to bring it all down....

          Greg W

- ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1151C.EBE81E50-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 17:20:44 EDT From: SkyeFire@aol.com Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line In a message dated 7/25/01 7:49:24 AM Eastern Daylight Time, GregWeigold@mynd.com writes: > If anyone can find an auto-download package > that would keep trying a range of pages like 1-1.html through 1-250.html it > wouldn't be quite as bad to bring it all down.... > Mmmmm....I'm no expert, but I *think* that the "Leech" function in Go!Zilla (www.gozilla.com) might provide what you're looking for. However, I know that some web sites are specifically protected against Leeching, so it's a crap shoot. OTOH, it's freeware, so what do you have to lose? - -- David McMillan, Imagineer at Large. Chief Systems Analyst and Integration Engineer, Exotic Technologies Division, KUKA GmbH. Mecha and Weapons Design Specialist. "Agent Mulder? My name is Neo. I believe I may be able to show you part of the truth you've been searching for. I should warn you, however -- it's not what you think." - -- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 18:21:17 -0500 From: George R. Kasica Subject: Re: SR Manual on-line >I was able to download the entire site and encode it into a PDF (large - >~105MB) using Acrobat. With Acrobat, instead of opening a file to encode as >PDF, you can open a web page. Nice stuff from the folks at Adobe. > >If you don't have Acrobat, you could always write a little VB or VBA code to >do it for you (i.e., bring the pages down as Grag suggests). > >Erik Erik: If you'd like to send the PDF here to the ftp site I'd be happy to host it for those that want it in that form...or burn to CD and send it here for direct copy locally for download....its up to you. George ===[George R. Kasica]=== +1 262 677 0766 Skunk-Works ListOwner +1 206 374 6482 FAX http://www.netwrx1.com Jackson, WI USA georgek@netwrx1.com ICQ #12862186 Digest Issues at: http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works S L O W E R T R A F F I C K E E P R I G H T tm / \ / \ _/ ___ \_ ________/ \_______/V!V\_______/ \_______ \__/ \___/ \__/ www.habu.org The OnLine Blackbird Museum ------------------------------ End of skunk-works-digest V10 #26 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe in the body of a message to "majordomo@netwrx1.com". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe in the body. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to georgek@netwrx1.com. A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "skunk-works-digest" in the commands above with "skunk-works". Back issues are available for viewing by a www interface located at: http://www.netwrx1.com/skunk-works/ If you have any questions or problems please contact me at: georgek@netwrx1.com Thanks, George R. Kasica Listowner