In a May 3, 2012, email, the State Department denied a request by a group of Special Forces assigned to protect the U.S. embassy in Libya to continue their use of a DC- 3 airplane for security operations throughout the country. …
Four days later, on May 7, the State Department authorized the U.S. embassy in Vienna to purchase a $108,000 electric vehicle charging station for the embassy motor pool’s new Chevrolet Volts. The purchase was a part of the State Department’s “Energy Efficiency Sweep of Europe” initiative, which included hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on green program expenditures at various U.S. Embassies.
In fact, at a May 10 gala held at the U.S. embassy in Vienna, the ambassador showcased his new Volts…
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18 Comments!
“In olden days, people who failed as badly as you have would fall upon their swords in apology”
– Serenity
^^Excellent selection, Mojo.
One wonders if the emergency services in Vienna are adequately trained to remove the bodies from the perforated vehicles without causing further loss of life?
Besides, they should be careful about parking semi electric cars in any pool. . .
And when the Volts’ batteries catch fire, the State Department will blame it on a cheesy video.
I got 300 hours as pilot commander in th
DC3C117. And that was on a flight from Beaufort, S.C. to Yuma, AZ! The equipment on the instrument panel I liked best? The ash tray. Probably the oldest and cheapest aircraft in the State Dept. But noooooo to the Seals…. Caution on the Volt sunvisor: “Do not drive in the mountains!” Fortunately, Austria is one big flat steppe!!!!!Rosen sind rot
Veilchen sind blau
Eine Volt zu
fahrenohne Ahnung
Any body on The Porch speak Austrian? Who ain`t a poetic critic?
I can think of some things to do with the electric cars that don’t involve traction, although they do involve testicles and political figures.
Do not drive in the mountains
Its range uphill is probably about three miles, and two miles with AC or heater running.
ColJ – I gotta ask – how did you happen to get to/have to fly a DC3?
<i?Any body on The Porch speak Austrian?
Ja! Vee speel der Austrian, und vee are prepared for any emergency!
The US State Department: You’ve got a terror attack, we’ve got batteries!
Radio Shack is doing a facepalm.
COL Jerry said: ” And that was on a flight from Beaufort, S.C. to Yuma, AZ!”
Hell, that ain’t a flight, that’s a CAREER!”
All I know is, I was an airman in Point Mugu, saying “Ladder’s up, door’s closed, clear aft, standing by to start TWO!”
When we landed in Pax River, they handed me my discharge and said “Thank you for your service Senior Chief.”
And P-3′s are faster than C-117′s…
COL Jerry, SIR! Tell the truth; did you keep tappng the DME window to make sure it wasn’t stuck??
Love the stories!! ^^^^^
Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on green programs. GD Republicans cutting funding for protection. It’s all their fault. Irresponsible Romney opens his big mouth b/4 we had a chance to push someone in under the bus and get everything shredded. All we had to go with was that stupid movie.
Mr.(President) Romney right after you start the procedure to repeal Obama care (’cause he cares) go directly to the State Department and clean house there– or better yet– don’t even wait that long!!!
Dick & Rick,
I was stationed at MCAS Beaufort,SC (next to Parris Island & Home of the Sand Fleas!…) I was operations officer of an F4J squadron AND a TopGun instructor, so I also flew the A4 Skyhawk (MiG-17 simulator…) as an agressor pilot. THEN the Air Station had two C117s (C47/DC3…) for passenger and logistics runs AND were short of pilots! SOOOOO, I got triple qualified as a C117 pilot. Why you may ask? Because I fucking wanted to fly the fuck out of Beaufort via any fucking means; that is why!
Actually, as a fighter pilot I loved flying the old Gooney Bird. Cruising along at 125 knots, not wearing 40 lbs of flight gear, smoking a cigarette and having the crew chief refresh my coffee cup! (…ooh, and being able to walk back to the tail and *point Percy at the porcelyn* when I needed to get rid of coffee…)
Logged 1500 hrs of Gooney Bird time and only had two close calls. One was a right engine fire w 18 pax & 2500 lbs of cargo; made an emergency landing at an international airport in a driving rainstorm. The other was landing the Gooney Bird at Luke AFB w a 40 KNOT crosswind AND an A4 Skyhawk jet turned over on its side in the grass half-way down the runway BECAUSE of that crosswind! (…my landing rollout was entirely on ONE wheel, until I slowed down enough to plant the left wheel and tail wheel down, near the end of the runway ….)
It`s called: Earning your flight pay….
Col. Jerry, SIR, Sounds like us Porch Airdales are doin’ some|
‘hanger flyin’ here at NAS Asylum. On the Porch rather than
in the ‘O’ Club!
I wanna axe the Colonel a question ’bout an old USMC aircraft,
and I don’t want enny youz Porch Minkees sniggerin & laughin’,
‘specially you, MCPO Airdale!
Colonel, have you ever flown in a USMC aircraft called the R4Q?
Since summa youz may not believe me, here’s a coupla linkys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:R4Q-1_USMC_NAN8-50.jpg
And for some fascinating old USMC aviation history, check this out:
http://www.ruudleeuw.com/others-c119-wyckoff.htm
The R4Q I flew in from Naples, Italy to Port Lyautey, Morocco
looked gezakly like the 2nd piccy in the 2nd linky. Stopped in
Sardinia on the way to pick up peeps & pack-up of a Marine
squadron that was evacuating to avoid a rebel/insurgent battle
for the island! A most innerestin’ flight & I was the only sailor
aboard with about 50 squadron gyrenes. Then flew back to the
USofA aboard a USAF C-121 Constellation which took 2 days.
Col. Jerry. SIR, you’ve really got me digging in the books!
Here’s a fascinating linky to a museum that’s still flyin’
the exact type of aeroplane that Col. Jerry talked ’bout
in his comment (13). An R4D/C-47/DC-3. Enjoy!
http://www.maam.org/airshow/r4d.html
I also became a member of this museum because they
are still flyin’ an actual aircraft I worked on & flew in as
a crew member out of NAS Brunswick, ME.
Lance,
No I did not fly the C119, Flying Boxcar. Not sure, but I think the USMC stopped flying it in about 1974. The Crotch used to have 4 squadrons of them, one for each Marine Air Wing. They were replaced by the KC-130 Hercules, a cosmic transport/aerial refueling aircraft. Which we are still flying today. When I commanded Marine Air Group-11 in El Toro (1985-88), one of the 9 squadrons in my group was VMGR-352, a C130 sqdn.The other squadrons were F18 Hornets, A6E Intruders and one A4M Skyhawk squadron.
Volt sells for about $40k. Costs about $90k to make. Administration’s brilliant solution: lower the selling price to $30k.
COL Jerry (#13) I’ve hear that being a pilot is something like 1000 hours of relative boredom, than a minute or so of white-knuckle flying.
R4Q: pregnant P-38.