Seen here is is Impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye doing the walk of shame to the courthouse in handcuffs. She is South Korea's first female president who has been put on trial for abuse of power and corruption. She faces Life in Prison if convicted. While there is much talk of impeachment of the current American Resident of the United States for similar conflicts of interests and abuses of power, it is unlikely should the current FBI investigation turns up any evidence of collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice would result in a prison sentence. That being said, current and former members of the Trump Regime may face criminal indictment. Their positions does not put them above the law. Just ask former convicted members of the Nixon administration. Only time will tell.
Somewhere east of the Korean Peninsula, the American Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser U.S.S. Lake Champlain collided with a 65 foot Korean fishing vessel 502 Nam Yang. This occurred at 11:50 am local time on May 9th. While there were no injuries reported, the extent of the damage to the port side of the ship the cruiser has not been released to the public. Both the U.S. Navy and the South Korean Coast Guard are investigating. It is reported that poor visibility, a lack of a working radio and GPS system on board the Korean boat, and failure to heed warnings played a part in the incident. Both ships were able to get under way and safely head to port. U.S.S. Lake Champlain is currently operating as part of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group.
This last weekend of May 6-7th 2017 saw the 60th anniversary of the Planes of Fame Air Show. It is one of the premiere vintage war bird airshows in the world. It is one of the only airshows where you can see up to two Japanese A6M Riesen Zero fighter planes that actually fly including one that is 100% original complete with its Sakae 12 engine. But this year saw the addition of a 3rd Zero that for reasons not stated did not fly.
This particular A6M3 Model 22 Zero is somewhat of a curiosity. It's tail code is A1-112. This plane was last seen flying over Kumamoto Japan to help uplift the spirits there after the recent natural disaster there.
There was no sign or any owner present that could tell us anything about this plane except for this small flyer written in Kanji taped to one of the propeller blades so we did some research.
According to the Pacific Wrecks website, they noted that there have been some false claims including having been recovered from a wreck in Papua New Guinea in the late 1980's and another stating it had been built by Mitsubishi in 1943. But it turns out this was one of three replica Zeros that were built in Russia during the 1990's for the Santa Monica Museum of Flight.
So as the story goes, this replica Zero which is powered by a Pratt & Whitney engine was constructed for around $300,000.00 USD. Mind you, that's 1990's money. She was last sold for $1.9 million USD. It is currently under private ownership and is said to be based in Mojave California.
While it is not a true original, it still retains the aesthetic of Jiro Hirokoshi's vision and remains a delight for Zero fans world wide despite not having it's familiar yellow stripe painted on it's forward on its wing.
We hope to see her fly in formation with her two original older cousins at a future.
Until then please enjoy this footage we found of this plane flying in Japan.
“American Mishima” is the work of Louis Rosas, the son of Mexican Immigrants, whose father served in Vietnam for the US Army and who grew up on glamorized war films and military aviation in the sleepy seaside plains of Oxnard, Calif. With an early fascination of the Second World War embedded in his young mind during the post-Vietnam era, it was his exposure to Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic Ran (Toho, 1985) that changed his views of war while creating a lasting impression of Japanese culture and history. Further inspired by the works of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, Rosas would go on to study Japanese language and swordsmanship, which led him to the practice of Shingon Buddhism and Shinto. Rosas is also a former student of Shinkendo, the ideal and practice of the samurai code of Bushido in the modern world, which helped shape the creative force that is “American Mishima.”
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