Tank birthday, 55+ years

[Paul B]

I have no idea what they were, we just called them Puff the Magic Dragon.
They mostly used to fly real low to draw fire then the Cobra Gunships would come in for the kill. We also had what was called a Pink Team. Instead of Puff we used a LOH or very small helicopter and they would also fly tree top level very slow to draw fire. (very brave, but stupid job)

Then again the Cobra's would swoop down and blow up the mountain with the help of our artillery.

This is about a Pink Team the year I was there.
https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/snakes-loaches-180964341/
I didn't see these which are called "Puff the Magic Dragon"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_AC-47_Spooky
All I saw was a very small,very slow plane that did flips and figure 8s right near the tree tops

 

[Subsea]

All good, just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something. lol

DC3 was the civilian version of C47. I had a typo, I don’t think you missed anything.

We called it Gooney Bird, until it was armed, than it became Puff the Magic Dragon.

https://www.airforcemag.com/article/1285gooney/

The Grand Old Gooney Bird​

By Carroll V. Glines USAF
Dec. 1, 1985
Trivia Question: What transport aircraft designed to carry twenty-one passengers has hauled more than 100 and has been transformed into a fighter, bomber, amphibian, glider, tow plane, laundry, classroom, crop duster, flying loudspeaker, hospital, wire layer, command post, mobile home, chicken coop, restaurant, fire fighter, and chapel
Answer: The Douglas DC-3, also known in the Air Force as the C-47 (plus other designations) or Sky-train and in the Navy as the R4D. The British called it the Dakota. The airlines referred to it simply as the Three; their pilots called it Old Methuselah, Placid Plodder, Dowager Duchess, Doug, or the Dizzy Three. But the name most commonly applied to this Grand Old Lady of the Skies is Gooney Bird, named after the albatross, a seabird known for its endurance and ability to fly great distances.
Most readers of AIR FORCE Magazine will not need an introduction to the Gooney. It received its baptism of fire during World War II, proved its durability during the Korean War, and demonstrated its unusual versatility during the Vietnam War. And while it is not in the military inventory anymore, it is still plying the world’s airways and doing its duty in other countries in peace and war as it has always done.

 

[Hot2na]

Beautiful day here in Long Island today so I collected 40 gallons of water behind my house.
The alk was 7 and the temp was 40. I didn't test calcium but the salinity is 1.016.
It is crystal clear so I don't have to do anything to it except warm it up and maybe add some salt.

Surprised at the salinity , Paul..My NSW here in DE is around 1.023 - I just warm it , throw a sponge filter in overnight and it's ready to go...All my anemones look fantastic since I added them to the new tank which 100% NSW

 

[Paul B]

Your fish love you.

The Douglas DC-3, also known in the Air Force as the C-47 (plus other designations) or Sky-train and in the Navy as the R4D. The British called it the Dakota. The airlines referred to it simply as the Three; their pilots called it Old Methuselah, Placid Plodder, Dowager Duchess, Doug, or the Dizzy Three. But the name most commonly applied to this Grand Old Lady of the Skies is Gooney Bird, named after the albatross, a seabird known for its endurance and ability to fly great distances.

Subsea, what is the aircraft where the back opened up into a ramp and it didn't close all the way? I flew on it many times from makeshift runways. You would walk up the ramp and they gave you a piece of rope to tie yourself to a jeep, howitzer or the sides of the aircraft. That is the only one I remember in Nam that we used all the time if we had to go farther than a helicopter could take us.

I think it was this C-123K but I could be wrong. It looked like this. I have pictures somewhere and I left country from Tan Son Hhut air base.

C-123K (54-0688) of the 315th TAW photographed during engine maintenance at Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam in 1969. Photo: Tom Hildreth

 

[85173]

Your fish love you.

Subsea, what is the aircraft where the back opened up into a ramp and it didn't close all the way? I flew on it many times from makeshift runways. You would walk up the ramp and they gave you a piece of rope to tie yourself to a jeep, howitzer or the sides of the aircraft. That is the only one I remember in Nam that we used all the time if we had to go farther than a helicopter could take us.

I think it was this C-123K but I could be wrong. It looked like this. I have pictures somewhere and I left country from Tan Son Hhut air base.

C-123K (54-0688) of the 315th TAW photographed during engine maintenance at Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam in 1969. Photo: Tom Hildreth

Paul, another one you might have been on was the Caribou. Similar shaped two engine job, similar looking to the C-123 but with a slimmer fuselage. It was used for short take off landing strips.

 

[Subsea]

Paul, another one you might have been on was the Caribou. Similar shaped two engine job, similar looking to the C-123 but with a slimmer fuselage. It was used for short take off landing strips.

Paul,
My older brother was a Caribou pilot in Vietnam. It’s primary mission was short take off & landing but it was used extensively for jungle defoliate, Agent Orange, which eventually killed him.

 

[85173]

Paul,
My older brother was a Caribou pilot in Vietnam. It’s primary mission was short take off & landing but it was used extensively for jungle defoliate, Agent Orange, which eventually killed him.

Sorry to hear that @Subsea .

 

[Subsea]

Sorry to hear that @Subsea .

I have shared this with a few Vets about Robert. Toward the end of the Vietnam War, the Air Force mission for Caribou pilots changed with a renewal of B52 bombing of Hanoi. Caribou pilots & copilots were slated to cross train as navigator/bombardier of B52. Robert refused to cross train as the one who dropped bombs on civilian targets. He was Leavenworth Prison bound until Edwin Edwards & Russel Long, Chairmen of the Senate military appropriation committee, took up his cause. Instead of serving time at a federal prison, Robert was put in charge of the training program wIth mission accomplished ahead of schedule. He was promoted to major prior to his discharge. I never knew those details about his military career until we buried him 10 yrs ago.

I salute the courage of my brothers in uniform.

 

[Subsea]

@Paul B
Sometimes visiting difficult memories bring about mixed emotions. As I think on those days long ago, I traveled further back to my fathers history as the
”Golden Rule Banker”. It made me appreciate my roots and gave me the silver lining that I needed to lift my mood.

Readers Digest wrote the Golden Rule Banker article in May of 1957. My father died of a heart attack in 1967 at the beginning of my 4 year tour of duty in Air Force. I never knew about the article until 25 years later when a local TV station did a 25 year anniversary celebration of his life in Southwest Louisiana.

 

[Paul B]

Subsea, So sorry about your Brother. I know Agent Orange well, a little to well. I get tested every year for lung cancer and other things as I am only one of about half of my unit still alive from then as we were all targets of that "wonderful" stuff.

My best friend who died a year ago had Parkinsons disease. He was on an aircraft carrier off of Nam where he used to fill the planes with the stuff.

I built and lived on 14 LZs, Firebases or landing zones, whatever you want to call them but they were all clearings in the jungle. This is one of them. You can see a Cobra Gunship in the background as they were a common sight every day. This is how we lived for the year. There were no roads, water, electricity, roofs, walls etc.



These firebases were often cleared with Agent Orange, sometimes while we were there.
(Those are not tents, we didn't have tents, they are poncho's strung together because it rained constantly for 6 months or so)

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday I was talking to someone from my old neighborhood. Not my last neighborhood, the neighborhood I grew up in in Queens New York.

I grew up in the 50s and during the 50s and 60s Humans spawned some very weird people. Some Geezers here may remember "Woodstock" (google it) I lived through that in 69 but luckily I was in the Army then.

Anyway as I was growing up we had this guy who was weirder than most. We had Beatniks and Heads but Charlie was the epitome of weird. Wait, that is his real name, to protect his identity I will call him Tommy.

Tommy spent virtually all of his time leaning against a mail box on the corner a block from where I lived. He wore purple, felt looking corduroys and a leather jacket. I mean I knew the guy for 10 years and that was "all" he ever wore and I am sure it was the same outfit as I am pretty sure Tommy didn't own a washing machine.

He had long hair before it was in style and I am sure it just was because he didn't want to pay to get it cut, besides he had no money or job so his "job" was asking anyone who walked by for a cigarette or a quarter.

I sometimes would have a "conversation" with Tommy and I remember one very well as Tommy was very "smart".
He once said to me (when I was about 8) "Do you know how they make the Atom Bomb?"

I always wanted to know that so I said, "No" How do they make the Atom Bomb?

Tommy got real serious and said the Atom bomb has three parts. He spoke like this:

First there is the Fuuuussse. Then there is the exploooding part. Then there is the match that lights the fuuuuse.

That was one of the longest "conversations" I ever had with Tommy.

In his spare time he would sniff glue. Sniffing glue was a favorite past time for many people then who are all dead now. People like Tommy sniffed glue because he couldn't afford the 22 cents for "Ripple" wine that more secure deadheads drank to get high.

Glue was ten cents and it will get you high. Not the healthiest thing to do and although I like the smell of glue, I wouldn't purposely put it in a bag and stick my nose in it.

Eventually they put something in glue so you couldn't sniff it so people like Tommy starting to sniff "Carbona cleaning fluid". Don't do that because like all those people. it "will" kill you.

Eventually Tommy disappeared and I found out what he did for a living. He stole a TV from his next door neighbor, and sold it to his other next door neighbor and those two neighbors were friends. :cool:

Tommy's story may make many people think I am making that up and that people like that didn't exist. But you would be wrong because there were lot of Tommy's then.

(This is a true story and if you are related to Tommy or if anything about this is derogatory, racist or anything else. please delete it as me or Tommy won't care. )

 

[Paul B]

I took a nice walk this morning (in the rain) and I can't wait for the day I can put my winter coat away. I live about 90 yards from the sea and in the early morning it is cold and damp.

Due to the dampness, there are earthworms all over the streets. Of course I picked up a couple and threw them in my tank. The fish came right over to inspect, especially my copperband but the worm was to big for him to eat and copperbands don't really have teeth like Great White sharks so he didn't eat it. But the anemones really enjoy earthworms.

I am very happy about the health of my tank and each fish kind of "exudes" health. Every scale shines and healthy fish usually have iridescent tinges of color that you don't often see on many captive fish and we often forget that healthy fish are supposed to exhibit that tinge.

(This little 1" gobi and his friend has been with me for a few years now)

These 6 lines you can never get a good picture of as they never slow down and spend a lot of time spawning or looking for each other.
That green patch on his tail glows in the light as does the iridescent blue on his pectoral fins.

Even my corals are very colorful and I don't have the kind of corals that are supposed to be very colorful. There are small places on almost all my (SPS) corals that have small tufts of algae growing out from them but this is completely normal and it is on all corals in the sea. You don't see it there because of the tangs. It is from the tiny tube worms that sprout from small patches and algae grows on the sides of their stems. (I don't photoshop because I really don't know how to :confused:)

I realize I don't have any of those really brilliant colored corals that so many people successfully keep here. I used to have montipora all over the tank but almost all of it was covered in sponge and very little remains.

This guy doesn't know he is supposed to eat algae and never has.

I have not bought any corals in this house and got them all as tiny frags way before I can remember so I have no idea how old any of them are. Most probably came as very tiny pieces that accidentally got with the fish as I don't remember ever buying a coral. (but I am old and don't remember much. Where am I) :unsure: That Hammer is about 8" wide and I fragged it 4 times. For some reason it will only grow on the left side of my tank and slowly dies on the right side. This is interesting and I wish I knew why as it is only one aspect of reefing that we don't understand. My 3 lights are the same and the only difference is that the right side of the tank has a huge powerhead which provides most of the circulation. I don't get it but my SPS all grow better on the right side of the tank.

Gorgonians grow like weeds and will probably grow in my sock drawer.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

The reef looks great @Paul B!

 

[Paul B]

, I just came back from my favorite (but filthy) LFS with 4 fish. A beautiful red tail file, some kind f black gobi with long yellow fins which I have never seen before and 2 cardinals that I have never seen before and neither did the owner and he has that business there for fifty years. They are in the back someplace and I can't get a picture of them right now.

$45.00 for all 4 fish which I think is pretty good. The gobi, whatever it is was ten bucks.

 

[Paul B]

One of the little cardinals came out and I don't like the way he looks. He looks sad and has some ich. I didn't look at him when I bought him and didn't have my reading glasses on anyway so he could have been a Moorish Idol. I don't ever remember seeing this exact species of cardinal even though cardinals are one of the most common, and cheap fish.

If he gets healthy I am sure he will have some bright reds on him. I didn't see the other one yet but I assume he also has ich too but that will clear up.
He was only in the tank 5 minutes here.

 

[NoahLikesFish]

I hope your cardinal gets better, do you have any advice for stocking and rock and equipment for a 20 gallon long like your tank? I Really love your tank

 

[NoahLikesFish]

I love the simple naturalistic approach to the tank too

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Here he is, Apogon aureus, AKA Band-tailed or Ring-tailed Cardinal fish.

 

[Paul B]

Noah. Good Morning.

That little Cardinal will probably get better if he eats. With any new fish we don't know what conditions it was kept and how long it was without food. No one knows what condition the fish is actually in until we get it. But from experience I know this fish was not taken care of .

My tank is 125 gallons, not 20 gallons. But the advice is the same. If you can't get at least some real, live rock, find a different hobby because it won't be worth the trouble.

It is so much easier and healthier to have as much live rock as you can get. Even a little is better than nothing.

Of course I also would not medicate anything but if it is a brand new tank, you may want to quarantine for a week or two. (In a natural looking tank, not a bare tank with PVC pipe fittings.)

 

[Paul B]

Today my knee isn't working and I had to many cortizone shots already as it is coming out of my ears. I need another new knee but I can't get one because I can't be laid up that long so I am nursing it as much as I can.

Of course I put that heating salve stuff all over it as everyone does even though we all know that doesn't do anything except make you smell like a forest.
So to save money, I now just hang those little "Christmas Tree" car fresheners all around my knee in the hope that it fools my knee to just do what it is supposed to do. :p