Picture of the day

Dark Alley Dan said:
One of the several thousand "known points of failure" on the 1980-85 VW Vanagon is the dreaded Hall Sensor. G'wan and ask me how I know. :) The one VW used is a bit smaller than the USN version, but doubtless a lot more primitive and troublesome. Maybe it worked on subs, but it doesn't work for beans on a Volkswagen flat four.
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Served a very different purpose on the USS Seawolf, fortunately.
 
The A-4 evolved, grew tumours and bulges, but remained a pretty airplane. Like cheekbones and jawline on a beautiful woman, good lines allow an aircraft to always look good.

The A-4 prototype:

A-4X-960_640.jpg


And here's BuNo 160294, the last Skyhawk delivered:

46185839ee9964aaccef75eb8f6a926a.jpg


And thanks to Diopter. The good folks at GoWesty are on a first-name basis with me. We've driven down there twice, slept over in the parking lot once. I've spent enough money with them to keep the place afloat. :)
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
The A-4 evolved, grew tumours and bulges, but remained a pretty airplane. Like cheekbones and jawline on a beautiful woman, good lines allow an aircraft to always look good.

And here's BuNo 160294, the last Skyhawk delivered:

46185839ee9964aaccef75eb8f6a926a.jpg
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That would have to be A-4M BuNo 160264. (BuNo 160294 belongs to a P-3C Orion.)
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
The A-4 evolved, grew tumours and bulges, but remained a pretty airplane. Like cheekbones and jawline on a beautiful woman, good lines allow an aircraft to always look good.

The A-4 prototype:

A-4X-960_640.jpg


And here's BuNo 160294, the last Skyhawk delivered:

46185839ee9964aaccef75eb8f6a926a.jpg


And thanks to Diopter. The good folks at GoWesty are on a first-name basis with me. We've driven down there twice, slept over in the parking lot once. I've spent enough money with them to keep the place afloat. :)
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You and every other VW van owner. That's an operation that will NEVER go out of business. You van owners are a cult like Grateful Dead fans.
 
purple said:
A-4 Skyhawk, AKA "The Tinkertoy Bomber". 40 yrs ago I saw the Israelis using them for airstrikes on the PLO who were holed up in the old Crusader fortress, Beaufort Castle, in South Lebanon.
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I've had the joy of USMC Skyhawks fly right over our hill top position on an exercise with USMCR at the Yakima Military Reservation. It was a simulated air attack and we stood there with our mouths agape at the spectacle. The pilots were grinning like kids.
 
Sharps '74 said:
I've had the joy of USMC Skyhawks fly right over our hill top position on an exercise with USMCR at the Yakima Military Reservation. It was a simulated air attack and we stood there with our mouths agape at the spectacle. The pilots were grinning like kids.
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Ha, ha, ha you were lucky that's all they did. I was on exercise with the USMC in the Mojave desert many moons ago where they used Skyhawks to spray us down with CS gas. They kept asking why that "Canadian marine" was running up to the top of the hill. It was easy; I never had a respirator because they hadn't mentioned that the exercise included a CW scenario.:eek:

CW agent settles in low spots and its quite persistent in the sand where you can kick it up with your boots. Anyway, I did my share of crying while they did their share of laughing.
 
Donny Fenn1 said:
You and every other VW van owner. That's an operation that will NEVER go out of business. You van owners are a cult like Grateful Dead fans.
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I'm afraid so. It certainly operates like a cult. Damn little common sense in play in that lifestyle. Just plenty of sacrifice and muttered oaths... :)

That being said, when she runs well (as she has for the last couple years) there's no better ride. Secondary highways, 90 kph, seeing the country and meeting the people. It's a lovely way to go.

And 'cause it's a military pic thread:

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Perhaps some of you have seen one of these:

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And for those times when you're injured enough for an ambulance ride, but not injured enough to exceed the speed limit...

vw-transporter-t3-sanitaetsfahrzeug-ausrangiert-52045.jpg
 
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The Hall sensor being discussed on the Vanagon and also used in other VW engines is the one inside the distributor,in my repair shop we used to keep them in stock,without one the engine is dead.
 
The population of guys who know the Vanagon and can fix its myriad ailments is diminishing. I see fewer of them each year here in Edmonton. We're lucky to have a mechanic who grew up in one - his dad still owns the one he bought new in '86.

So what if you have a LOT of casualties, too mnay to cram into the Vanagon, but none severe enough to be in any kind of rush to transport to the hospital?

vwlt35ambu_1.jpg


Such a creature makes a Land Rover FC rig look like a rocket car.
 
Subaru, you say?

ultra-light-vehicle-army.jpg


Army’s Ultra Light Vehicle now in survivability testing
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The ULV is hybrid vehicle powered by a diesel engine that drives an electric generator. That generator in turn powers two electric motors that turn the wheels. Two electric motors provides redundancy should one of the motors fail.
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Apparently, the drivetrain is Subaru. Like modernized Vanagons. :)
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
The population of guys who know the Vanagon and can fix its myriad ailments is diminishing. I see fewer of them each year here in Edmonton. We're lucky to have a mechanic who grew up in one - his dad still owns the one he bought new in '86.

So what if you have a LOT of casualties, too mnay to cram into the Vanagon, but none severe enough to be in any kind of rush to transport to the hospital?

vwlt35ambu_1.jpg


Such a creature makes a Land Rover FC rig look like a rocket car.
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Don't worry... When your Vanagon finally throws in the towel, the new king of "Underpowered crap van that inspires road rage from the 50 people stuck behind it trying to crest Roger's Pass" is the Mitsubishi Delica.

And hey, there's even cases of militaries being unconcerned with the speed and reliability of transporting wounded, that use it:

View attachment 258872
Bangladesh Army, Mitsubishi L300 Delica ambulance

The Delica truly is Japan's attempt at engineering an even more dubious transport than the Vanagon. The target market is the same, too. Most commonly seen on Vancouver Island or the BC interior, struggling up even the slightest grade, with a fog bank of weird smelling "cigarette smoke" billowing from the open windows.
 
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