Me:
Sergeant, for your information, I studied electronics at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

Serge:
Ahh, I graduated Boot from there. So, you're a MOS 2841? Didn't you spend time at 29 Stumps?
Did you complete the Navy NEETS course?
It's available online here: http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/index.htm
I completed a predecessor course called AFTA (Advanced First Term Avionics) at NAS Memphis. I was MOS 6657.

We have to be rather cautious around here, as most 1st-time posters have experience that's limited to plugging an appliance into an outlet. We want people to come back, which is doggone difficult if they get killed.

Not knowing anything about your level of training or experience, the error was made on the side of caution. You should appreciate that.

But seriously, there IS a good bit of engineering that goes into designing a safe, efficient and low-EMF emission transformer. I don't bother with it, because there is such a variety of them on the market that can be purchased quite inexpensively. If you can find one even close to your intended application, you're way ahead of the game - rather than trying to manufacture one by yourself.

Thanks for your Service.
S/F

Me again:
Hello again, Sergeant Wookie. Sorry that I didn't answer this post earlier, but of course that thread had to be shut down because some nut wasn't following proper internet etiquette. I'll keep an eye on him, though.

I also went to boot camp in San Diego, and, if I remember correctly, my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty, for those unfamiliar with military terminology) was 2600. Anyway, I was a radio repairman.

I didn't spend any time at Twenty-Nine Palms, but I think that my dad did. Dad was a fighter pilot in World War Two. He was in the Navy, though. Wouldn't that be El Torro?

I'm not sure what the official name of the course was that I took, but I was sent to Basic Electronics fitst, and then I was given three choices: Radio, Radar, or Data Processing. Again, I chose Radio, which I knew meant that I would be going to Vietnam.

Well, I guess that I've given away my age now. The last time I checked, though, the Soviet Union no longer exists, so I guess we must have done some good, huh?

And Sergeant, I want to thank you for your service, also. My rank at discharge was E-4, by the way, and I was nineteen at that time, in 1969.

You were quite correct in discouraging me from plugging into the mains directly, by the way, and I do appreciate that. I will be vigilant in discouraging anyone from following in my footsteps.

Again, for the uninitiated, your S/F means Semper Fidelis, which, in Latin, means "Always Faithful", the motto of the Marine Core, which every Marine, and every former Marine, is familiar with.

Semper Fidelis to you, to, Sergeant Wookie.

Mike Mandaville

Austin, Texas

 

Mods: since we're quite off topic for this forum, would you please move to the Other Topics area?

Me again:
Hello again, Sergeant Wookie. Sorry that I didn't answer this post earlier, but of course that thread had to be shut down because some nut wasn't following proper internet etiquette. I'll keep an eye on him, though.

The MAF indicated there was a loose nut behind the keyboard.
Corrective action: Tightened BFA on the nut.

I also went to boot camp in San Diego, and, if I remember correctly, my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty, for those unfamiliar with military terminology) was 2600. Anyway, I was a radio repairman.

OK; I gleaned that 2841 MOS from current designations; they've changed quite a bit from the Vietnam-era MOS's. We have some PRC- field radios in our local Museum that you are undoubtedly familiar with

When I went through Boot in '74, most of the Quonset huts had been removed, and the concrete foundations were in the process of being torn out.

I didn't spend any time at Twenty-Nine Palms, but I think that my dad did. Dad was a fighter pilot in World War Two. He was in the Navy, though. Wouldn't that be El Toro?

There were a LOT of bases during WWII which no longer exist; even El Toro is gone now. You should request a copy of his SRB.

This link will tell you how:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/standard-form-180.html
From his SRB, you should be able to tell fairly accurately where and when he was stationed. Many Naval Aviators did initial training in Texas, and then went to NAS Pensacola. My step-Grandfather flew F-4U Corsairs during WWII (Capt Don Aldrich, USMCR); after he'd shot down 18 Zeroes and 2 Betty bombers (between VMF-215's three top aces they downed 60 Japanese aircraft) they pulled him off combat duty and sent him on a war bond tour, then assigned him as an instructor pilot at Quantico, VA.

I'm not sure what the official name of the course was that I took, but I was sent to Basic Electronics first, and then I was given three choices: Radio, Radar, or Data Processing. Again, I chose Radio, which I knew meant that I would be going to Vietnam.

I chose Radar because it sounded more interesting than radio - besides, I'd be working on aircraft, which I'd been fascinated with from an early age.

Well, I guess that I've given away my age now. The last time I checked, though, the Soviet Union no longer exists, so I guess we must have done some good, huh?

You guys sure did

And Sergeant, I want to thank you for your service, also. My rank at discharge was E-4, by the way, and I was nineteen at that time, in 1969.

I EAS'ed in 80 - but still occasionally provide final honors to departed Brothers.

If you ever find yourself in the Orlando area, please stop in to the National Vietnam War Museum, aka "The Bunker"
Website: http://nwmvocf.org/

We've nearly completed restoration of an A-4B Skyhawk attack jet that first saw service with VMA-225 in 1958, then was transferred to the Navy and flew in Vietnam when you were there.

Here it is at it appeared at the end of March:

Looks mighty good for a 51-year-old airplane. I'm heading over to the Museum in a bit to take some more photos; it's just a few kliks from where I live.

We have lots of toys over there; a bunch of M151 "mutt" Jeeps that were retired from the USMC, a few Deuce & 1/2s, a 5-ton truck, a Navy PBR, a UH-1 "Huey" "slick" helicopter that was flown in Vietnam and DS1, and lots of other stuff.

 

Let an old armyman break in on this marine talk. I was in the cavalry, just missed Nam. I drove a lot of that stuff you're talking about. My license was for anything from jeeps to APCs to M-60 tanks. I drove a 2.5 truck and much more, qualified on lots of weapons. It was fun, but back then I didn't know it was so fun. I wish I could do it all over again, even boot camp!

 

Mike, I read through your home brew transformer post and I must admit that when I read it I hated your guts. I couldn't help but think that this guy takes the term obnoxious to new heights! However, I give a wide birth to my fellow Nam vets, as all of us have an attitude disorder.

By the way when I saw the photos of your HB transformer I called a co-worker (and friend of mine), who's also a forum member. We both marveled at the work involved. We both thought that you were a bit insane, in an admirable sort of way. It takes the term "Field Expedience" to new levels!

Welcome Home Buddy!

588th Combat Engineer Bat. Class of 66
Toured Quinan, Happy Valley, Natrang and a good part of the Delta.
Based in Bhen Chat near Chu Chi (HQ of the Big Red 1). When men were men and women were women and the term Metrosexual didn't exist.
PS: No garentee on the spelling of these places. It didn't seem important at the time. BTW, we both ETS'd at the same old age of 19 and both E4,s!

One of these days the wife and I are going to visit the VN museum that Sgt. Wookie has mentioned and I'm going to let him know we're coming. The Serge is only about 5hrs from me, maybe 4 if I fly low.

So, are we going to be pleasant here to fore?

 

Now I feel worse that I didn't get there last year. My wife ran a senior class through Mouse World, but I managed to get the flu just in time to have to cancel.

That scooter is really pretty. Amazingly smooth restoration. I saw any number of them at Cubi Point - they were about as beat up as a destruction derby car.

If you get up north sometime, try to get by the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Oh. I think it's worth it just for the Boeing PT-26 Peashooter the have on display. There's a F-4 cockpit you can climb into, too.

 

It was fun, but back then I didn't know it was so fun. I wish I could do it all over again, even boot camp!

Ain't that the truth!

Definition of Fun:
Uncle Sam is letting you play with a M2 .50Cal "Door Maker". You can shoot all you want and the ammo is free!

As far as wanting to do it all over again is concerned.. Nah! The military has become some kind of politically correct social experiment. Call me old fashioned but I would like to know that the person covering my back can piss while standing up.

 

Mike, I read through your home brew transformer post and I must admit that when I read it I hated your guts. I couldn't help but think that this guy takes the term obnoxious to new heights! However, I give a wide birth to my fellow Nam vets, as all of us have an attitude disorder.

CDRIVE, on the day I was born, when the doctor held me up to identify my sex, I peed in his face! This is according to my mother, and my mother doesn't lie. I look at it this way: He had just pulled me out by the head, held me upside down, and whacked my bare ass. I must have figured it was payback time!

By the way when I saw the photos of your HB transformer I called a co-worker (and friend of mine), who's also a forum member. We both marveled at the work involved. We both thought that you were a bit insane, in an admirable sort of way. It takes the term "Field Expedience" to new levels!

Yes, I think that the term "field expedience" is the one which applies here with precision, though I cannot claim credit for the construction of the welder. And, by the way, here is a picture of this welder's "helmet"!:

Welcome Home Buddy!

588th Combat Engineer Bat. Class of 66
Toured Quinan, Happy Valley, Natrang and a good part of the Delta.
Based in Bhen Chat near Chu Chi (HQ of the Big Red 1). When men were men and women were women and the term Metrosexual didn't exist.
PS: No garentee on the spelling of these places. It didn't seem important at the time. BTW, we both ETS'd at the same old age of 19 and both E4,s!

I was in the First Marine Division, First Tank Batallion, B Company to start out with, and then I transferred to Headquarters Company. In both cases, there were Army Companies nearby, though I don't know which ones. When I was at Headquarters, we were on the outskirts of Da Nang, within sight of the Da Nang Airport. Hill 34, I think they called it, Cherry Hill. Two weeks before I left the rockets came in, and we were no longer Cherry Hill!

One of these days the wife and I are going to visit the VN museum that Sgt. Wookie has mentioned and I'm going to let him know we're coming. The Serge is only about 5hrs from me, maybe 4 if I fly low.

Yes, I would like to visit the museum also. And the close proximity to Disney World is very convenient. In World War One, Walt Disney was too young to join the military, so, like Earnest Hemingway, he drove a Red Cross ambulance.

So, are we going to be pleasant here to fore?

I guess we'll have to. There's some thread-locker around here!

 

Great. Two Jarheads. I said this with a smile note!

My martial arts instructor is a tired marine. He is a tired SEAL. It's a good class.

Not real pretty, but if you're fighting for your life eyeballs are acceptable targets.

 

By buddy surmised that that thread was a chain puller and I guess he was correct.

 

Let an old armyman break in on this Marine talk. I was in the cavalry, just missed Nam. I drove a lot of that stuff you're talking about. My license was for anything from jeeps to APCs to M-60 tanks. I drove a 2.5 truck and much more, qualified on lots of weapons. It was fun, but back then I didn't know it was so fun. I wish I could do it all over again, even boot camp!

We have an M113 APC, too. Carb is in the process of being re-built; it was sitting for a couple of years and it got really gunked up. Backfired through the carb when coming off idle. I think there's more wrong than that though; after they re-built and re-installed it the first time, they got a real nice fireball out of it. I have a feeling the float may have a hole in it.

Yeah, there was a lot of fun stuff going on. Being on a ship (USS Forrestal) got boring after a couple of weeks, but we had an airshow for the Secretary of the Navy, including a "drag race" between a Vigilante and one of our Phantoms; our Phantom finished way ahead of the heavier Vigilante; was well above Mach I as they passed close by our port side about 150 feet off the water. The shock wave dang near knocked me on my keister! Got to see one of our planes launch a "practice" (no warhead) AIM-9 Sidewinder heatseeker missile that hit a parachute flare dead-center, which I thought was mighty cool.

Back at MCAS Beaufort SC, the Phantoms would almost always take off in pairs. It was most spectacular near dusk, with 20 feet of blue-orange flame spouting from the afterburners. Boy, were those bad boys noisy!

 

Back at MCAS Beaufort SC, the Phantoms would almost always take off in pairs. It was most spectacular near dusk, with 20 feet of blue-orange flame spouting from the afterburners. Boy, were those bad boys noisy!

Funny you should mention it. I've never seen a solo Phantom, except when sitting on the tarmac. They were always flying in pairs. An awesome bird of prey! Their gull wing, like their predecessor, gives them a slick looking signature.

 

Now I feel worse that I didn't get there last year. My wife ran a senior class through Mouse World, but I managed to get the flu just in time to have to cancel.

That IS too bad. Another time, perhaps. It's still a pretty good drive from Mouse World to the Museum, takes nearly an hour depending upon traffic.

That scooter is really pretty. Amazingly smooth restoration. I saw any number of them at Cubi Point - they were about as beat up as a destruction derby car.

One of our members researched the complete history of the aircraft, got all of the manuals for it, spent his own money to buy replacement instruments and various components to restore the cockpit. Not many display aircraft have the cockpits restored; this one looks like you could hop right in and fly it. Many of the original panels were in bad shape; the aircraft was retired from the Navy in 1971 from NAS Memphis; it then spent 29 years in an Alabama city park until they finally got tired of looking at all of the pigeon poop on it. It was shipped to Orlando via rail disassembled, and one of the members who was in the USMCR at the time got the plane from the railroad siding to the Museum with the help of a large truck, some USMCR buddies, and some donated time from a company that had a crane.

We cannibalized a few A4's in this process; one that had crash-landed and been abandoned in a field somewhere near Lakeland, and a couple more that the Navy had in Pensacola that were going to be used as bomb range targets; the deal was we could take any component that we had a replacement for. We also got a new tailhook (those things are scarce as hens' teeth now) and a fresh set of tires. A local machine shop donated time and materials to make up a set of 20mm gun barrels complete with muzzle brakes out of stainless steel to the exact exterior specifications of the originals. Only one is currently mounted; on the starboard side (not shown).

It's taken several years and a lot of volunteer man-hours and donated dollars to get it looking like it does now; virtually identical to how it did while flying over Vietnam in '67. I took this photo yesterday:

Too bad the overcast cleared, or I could've taken a much better photo.

When were you in the PI? Did you get your Snoopy patch? The one for "50 Missions Over S__t River"? Damned shame it got closed down. Many of the artifacts from the Navy O-club were yanked out before the base was closed down, and they re-created the O-club atmosphere at the National Museum of Naval Aviation. That's a fantastic museum to visit, if you get the chance.

If you get up north sometime, try to get by the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Oh. I think it's worth it just for the Boeing PT-26 Peashooter the have on display. There's a F-4 cockpit you can climb into, too.

I'm going to hit the AF Museum on my way back to FL; roughly the 12th of June

 

Funny you should mention it. I've never seen a solo Phantom, except when sitting on the tarmac. They were always flying in pairs. An awesome bird of prey! Their gull wing, like their predecessor, gives them a slick looking signature.

Actually, I can't remember what the original Phantom looked like A Google search for FH-1 Phantom photos shows that it had relatively straight wings. It was the F-4U Corsair that had the gull wings; hence the nickname "The Bent-Wing Bird". The bend at the wing root was to allow shorter landing gear struts, yet allow sufficient ground clearance for the huge 3-bladed propeller. They were then upswept towards the tips to give stability. It turned out to give a good performance boost, as the area at the wing root was more aerodynamic than other aircraft of the day; it was the first single-engine piston plane to exceed 400MPH in level flight.

The F-4 Phantom II initially had a stability problem; it looked like they needed to angle both wings up by 5°. Instead of doing that (which would've been a prohibitively expensive redesign) they just angled up the outboard (folding) wing panels by 12° to get the desired effect.

Here's a couple shots of the Phantoms I worked on; the first photo was taken in 1975 right about when I joined the squadron:

Another 'bird, all painted up for the 1976 bicentennial deployment on the Forrestal. I'm actually in the picture, but mostly hidden by the landing gear. We were checking out the RF signal that fed the Sparrow missiles.

 

Used to have F4's over the roof every day in pairs out of NAS Oceana. Must have been reliable engines because there was never a crash in Virginia Beach. I even learned to sleep through the noise.

Got to Olongopo often enough, but just settled for my Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club patch.

 

It was the F4U Corsair (mostly Pacific Theater) that I was referring to as the Phantom's predecessor. A distant relative would be more accurate I guess. I've always thought of the Phantom as another gull wing (even though the wings didn't pitch down from the fuselage) because of this profile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:McDONNELL_DOUGLAS_F-4_PHANTOM_II.png

The term gull wing refers to the wing tips in regard to the rest of the wing. These planes were actually inverted gull wings because a Gull's wing tips actually point down.

By the way, I googled Gullwing and the search returned both the Corsair & the Phantom.

 

I should follow this advice myself!


Moderator removed the image as the caption was not using acceptable language.

Sorry Mike - we keep it all family-friendly. Otherwise a worthwhile thought.

I accept that. As Clint Eastwood once said, "A man's got to know his limitations"!

 

Its really too bad 451 was de-activated... such an accomplished history. Used to see them on Westpac in Iwakuni.