Monday, April 24, 2017

Rare Operational B-29 FiFi Upclose

Recently, the B-29 "FiFi" made it's return to the Camarillo Airport's WWII Aviation Museum for a one week visit. The vintage bomber built in July 1945 was recently featured in the AMC drama Better Call Saul. It is one of two B-29's in the world that can still fly. 
For those who may not be familiar with this plane, it entered service too late for WWII. She served with the Navy was later slated to be used for target practice until she was recovered from China Lake in 1971. 
Using parts from other B-29 wrecks at China Lake, this B-29 was eventually brought back to life.
 And here's yours truly doing his best "Major Fudge Talbot" impression.
We are told that members of the cast of Better Call Saul made an appearance on Sunday April 23rd. If you have not seen the show, its about a shady lawyer who will stop at nothing to get new clients. In the following clip, we see Bob Odenkirk's character Jimmy McGill, (also known as Saul Goodman) films a commercial with a retiree posing as a WWII hero. While we do not in any way endorse STOLEN VALOR , this still made for great comedy and provided a spotlight for this amazing vintage aircraft. Please enjoy!

To learn more about this aircraft, visit FiFi on Wikipedia

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Trump Team Misplaces Carrier?

There are times one must ask what kind of crazy world are we living in today? Seriously! After a week that saw North Korea call out the Trump Regime's bluff by launching a missile (which failed), tensions on the Korean Peninsula nearly reached a boiling point with the announced deployment of the USS Cal Vinson's carrier group. It's hard to guess if this is more laughable or just plain reckless to make such an announcement of sending force when in fact the fleet went somewhere else. While this must have made for great laughs by the Anti-Trump Resistance movement here at home, Koreans on both sides of the DMZ are likely not laughing. It's still not certain if the White House deliberately intended to fool the North Koreans or just simply did not know themselves. In any case, it's embarrassing considering Trump himself declared he knows more than his generals do. Chances are this won't be the last SNAFU on the part of the Trump Regime. Hopefully it does not get anyone killed. Then again, consider who we are talking about with his finger on the button. A position no man-child should wield yet here we are, watching two overgrown children armed with nuclear weapons toying with people's lives. You just can't make this shit up!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Lawsuit Against Chino Air Show May Ground Zeros

In what has been called an unwarranted underhanded move, Chino Airport tenants Yanks Air Museum and Flying Tigers Aviation have filed a lawsuit to stop the annual Planes of Fame Air Show. This was filed 30 days before the event. This air show has been held every year for the last 30 years at the Chino Airport. The annual event attracts military aviation enthusiasts and warbird history buffs alike from all parts of the country to see the rarest collection of WWII & Korean War fighter aircraft take to the skies and dazzle crowds. Yanks allege that they lose money each year and further claim the event obstructs their ability to do business. This of course has angered many in the warbird community who regard this as a frivolous lawsuit to ground the beloved air show which features two of the world's only flying Japanese A6M Zero fighters. Yanks has no flying aircraft in their museum nor has participated in the air show years. All parties in the suit claim they love aviation but those suing POF claims they don't like how the air show is being run. One could guess they want a bigger piece of the action for themselves. Internet reaction has been fierce and Yanks has become very unpopular as a result. While we do not expect the air show to be canceled, we call this suit  for what it is. Frivolous and Underhanded. 
POF has an on-line petition SAVE OUR AIRSHOW which at last count has over 14,650 signatures in support of the POF Air Show. We hope this case is thrown out of court and look forward to seeing over 40 vintage aircraft take to the skies and the Zeros fly once more. Please show your support and sign their Petition. Thank you!

Pyongyang Posturing

This week has seen the U.S. Third Fleet change its plans. In the recent wake of increased tensions with the DPRK, the Navy canceled the scheduled port of calls in Australia and re-directed the U.S.S. Carl Vinson (CV-70) and it's carrier group to take up station within the sphere of the Korean Peninsula.  Under normal circumstances this would seem like routine posturing to let the rogue nation and it's "Dear Leader" that the United States stands ready to defend it's South Korean & Japanese allies. What is troubling is not so much the threats coming out of Pyongyang but rather from our own new regime of amateurs whose sole foreign consistency has been its own unpredictability. Particularly when Trump claims to know more than his generals and takes his foreign policy advice from his handbag designer daughter and inexperienced son in law. This makes for a dangerous mix especially when you count the PRC's recent deployment of 150,000 ground troops along North Korea's northern border. We at American Mishima are counting on Secretary of Defense "Mad Dog" Mattis and our Naval Commanders in the Third Fleet to use caution and not indulge the impulsive whims of our unpredictable part time leader who spends more time golfing at his Florida resorts and Tweeting threats than actually governing. This should make for interesting conversation in Beijing and nervousness in Seoul & Tokyo. As we have said many times, may cooler heads prevail.