Ode to The Sponge

[Paul B]

Quote:
During Vietnam, 5000 American helicopters were destroyed out of 12,000 deployed.

I guess that includes the two I crashed in.

Quote:
@Paul B is this the one you learned to fly?

Yes, I used to fly that one, but I was not a pilot and was not supposed to fly it. The pilot was always with me but between us we usually were drinking a bottle of "Wild Turkey" as we were flying so it didn't matter who was flying.

 

[Subsea]

Quote:
During Vietnam, 5000 American helicopters were destroyed out of 12,000 deployed.

I guess that includes the two I crashed in.

Quote:
@Paul B is this the one you learned to fly?

Yes, I used to fly that one, but I was not a pilot and was not supposed to fly it. The pilot was always with me but between us we usually were drinking a bottle of "Wild Turkey" as we were flying so it didn't matter who was flying.

Paul,
You were a “wild one” and still are, just not as crazy wild. Did you say “Wild Turkey”?

 

[Paul B]

Yes "Wild Turkey".
My Capt friend who used that chopper would wake me at 4:00 or so am and say. :BALDASSANO, I GOT WILD TURKEY, LETS GO FOR A RIDE and off we would go.

WE would fly under low bridges, skim the tops of trees, cruise 18" over a dirt road at 100 mph, head straight to the windshield of a logging truck to watch the loggers jump off, (probably half of them were VC)

We would get shot at, we would auto rotate, we would fly backwards. etc. "Wild turkey" makes you do some strange things, especially early in the morning. (I think it's Bourbon and I have no idea where he got it)
Remember this was 500 miles into the jungle in a war zone and we figured we were going to die anyway, which tends to change your aspect on life.
In Nam we also had few rules as "commanders" were reluctant to give orders when everyone had one or two loaded weapons on them and were not afraid to use them.
But when we had to, we did what we were paid to do and I think we saved a lot of lives. We were all good fighters and no one tried to run away
(Like some people have been known to do today)

 

[Subsea]

Sub, I flew in Hueys a few times a week because the places I was at in Nam never had a road. I loved those things and sometimes I would lay on the skids as we were flying (not easy and very stupid)
As for auto rotating, I did that in this LOH. But it was not a training exercise. I think we took a fifty caliper round through the transmission which is a big plastic thing between the seats. (I think. I didn't stay around to autopsy the thing after we crashed)
Because of the experience of the pilot I didn't get very hurt in the crash and also didn't get shot while running away.


@Paul B

It seems to me that riding the helicopter skid strut at 18” above dirt road and 100 mph is akin to Slim Pickens riding a nuclear bomb as bombardier/navigator in Dr Strange Love.

Description
Release date: January 29, 1964 (USA)
Was

 

[Paul B]

I didn't ride the skid on the LOH, it was too small. Only on the Huey's.
I was 19 and didn't have any fear. Or brains apparently

We did a lot of things in Nam people wouldn't or can't do today.
But we also didn't have any snowflakes or Sissy, Girly men there.

 

[Rybren]

I spent a few summers fighting forest fires in Northern Ontario back in the mid 1970s. Because most of that area is wilderness with no roads, we got to most of the fires by helicopter - mostly Hueys flown by guys who had been flying them in Nam.

Those guys were indeed somewhat on the crazy side of normal. Ohh, there's a bridge; let's see IF we can make it under it. Ohh, there are some guys fishing in the middle of the lake; let's see if we can scare them enough to make them jump out of the boat. Ohh, there's a logging truck full of logs; let's see if we can land on top of it while it's moving.

Good thing I was young and invincible.

 

[Paul B]

Being this sponge thread warped into a war thread (no one reads it anyway) I am sure you saw this 40 or 50 times, but I am waiting for dinner and I am getting bored.
I made this (aprox) 30 round magazine for my M-16. The normal ones come with 18 rounds but the enemy had AK-47s that held 22 rounds so I figured I would even the odds.

I could (and did) fire this thing fully automatic with all 30 rounds. The only problem was it would get to hot to hold and I had to wrap an empty sand bag around the barrel. to hold it. But the thing never jammed and worked flawlessly.
Some genius in Washington who had more degrees than a thermometer decided the M-16s were to heavy so they took all of our steel bolts and replaced them with aluminum. That saved maybe a tenth of an ounce and made the thing jam all the time. So instead of giving us our old steel bolts back, they added a little push thing on the side that was called an Assist. I think the weapon was then called an M-16 A1. We called it a death trap.

I am sure the military guys today is not allowed to do anything, especially DIY or you would get a demerit. We could do most anything and carry a cross bow or sling shot if we could get , or make one.

 

[VR28man]

Nice @Paul B . Good to know that someone I know used the original (pre-A1) M16. It's alleged it was issued mostly to the Air Force, but it's good that a grunt or two seems to have gotten them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Colt_AR-15_&_M16_rifle_variants
https://bpullignwolnet.dotster.com/retroblackrifle/ModGde/RflGde/604.html

The A1, for reference
https://bpullignwolnet.dotster.com/retroblackrifle/ModGde/RflGde/603A1.html

I love the field expedient magazine. One of the great things NATO did when they adopted the 5.56 cartridge was standardize a 30 round mag, which is way better (though sometimes at home I like the small svelte 20 rounders). The newer heavy duty polymer 30 rounders are way better than the basically disposable aluminum ones IMO. But nevertheless mags are supposed to be essentially disposable......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STANAG_magazine

 

[Paul B]

We all had the original M-16s but the flash suppressor was a little different. Eventually we got the M-16 A1 s but I still used my much bigger magazine. I forgot how I made it or how I reconfigured the springs inside not to jam. Remember I was in the jungle and never had access to tools (except a pliers because I was a COMMO Chief. ) I also never had a roof, walls, floor or I Phone. Just mud, rain and bamboo to work with except for an an occasional crashed helicopter.

 

[Hermie]

Great news to the fellow Sponge heads here, I think two of my sponges are having babies. They've developed what appear to be sponge buds:



@Brandon McHenry

 

[Paul B]

Yaaaaa. I don't think they are "Sponge Buds" But they are very cool

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Great news to the fellow Sponge heads here, I think two of my sponges are having babies. They've developed what appear to be sponge buds:



@Brandon McHenry

If I had to guess I’d say it looks like a pineapple sponge growing on your larger sponge. Hard to tell with the picture though.

 

[Hermie]

I'll try to get a better picture

 

[Hermie]

I don't want to move the rear sponge yet but I got a video:

There are three of these I can see right now, 1 on each orange sponge I have and 1 at the base of one of the orange sponges. The reason I think they are budding is that I haven't introduced any corals or other sponges but I assume the orange sponges could have "come in" with some pineapple sponge cells on their bodies although I never detected that at any point.


and a random video of their osculum. these sponges were sold as agalas clathrodes but I think they are axinellidae family:

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I don't want to move the rear sponge yet but I got a video:

There are three of these I can see right now, 1 on each orange sponge I have and 1 at the base of one of the orange sponges. The reason I think they are budding is that I haven't introduced any corals or other sponges but I assume the orange sponges could have "come in" with some pineapple sponge cells on their bodies although I never detected that at any point.


and a random video of their osculum. these sponges were sold as agalas clathrodes but I think they are axinellidae family:

Pineapple sponges just seem to appear. I’ve attached a picture for you to compare to what you see.

 

[Hermie]

We have a winner ;Sorry