Model Airplanes

Red Bluff While some shrink from adversity, others tackle it head on and Russell Myer falls into the latter category.

About 12 years ago, Myer was diagnosed with macular degeneration, an incurable eye disease that causes vision loss. At first the deterioration of his eyesight was more of an annoyance than a handicap, he said, but within a few years even the simplest tasks required extensive magnification.

That’s when Myer took up model railroading — a hobby that requires precision and keen attention to detail.

“I just wanted to see if I could do it,” Myer said.

He could.

A 6- by 12-foot layout in Myer’s Red Bluff garaged is crammed with more than 100 buildings, multiple tracks and sidings, vehicles, city streets, landscaping

Article source: http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/article/ND/20171207/NEWS/171209844

Scott Calzolaio MetroWest Daily News @scottcaz

MILFORD – On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Davey household on Ford Island in Hawaii smelled of fresh waffles accompanied by the light laughter of Thomas and his brother playing innocently in their bedroom before breakfast.

The islet in the center of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, was always quiet on Sunday mornings, so when the sound of low-flying airplanes caught the attention of the young Davey brothers, they rushed outside to see what the commotion was.

“When the planes came in to drop the torpedoes, they had to come right over my house,” said Thomas Davey, 85, of Milford. “A couple came close to the trees they were flying so low.”

Sitting on his couch in a Milford apartment, surrounded by photos and model airplanes, Davey recalled the day he witnessed the Pearl Harbor attacks from his own backyard with the same intense clarity of the tragedy 76 years ago.

When the boys saw the planes, they knew they weren’t American.

“I ran inside and told my mother, ‘those are Japanese planes, wake daddy up,”’ he said.

Davey’s father, Thomas Davey Sr., was a Public Works Officer in the Civil Engineer Corps who was stationed on the island two years prior, in 1939.

The younger Thomas then ran back outside and the brothers watched while the first bombs were dropped; the attack had begun. American forces soon fired back, woken by explosions and gunfire.

“It got very scary,” Davey said. “My father came out

Article source: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20171207/milford-pearl-harbor-survivor-recalls-planes-waffles

As crews work around the clock to battle the wildfires that have broken out around the area, air support has proven to be an integral piece of first responders’ attack plan. These are just a few of the aircraft being used to battle the blazes:

Boeing 747

The modified 747 is equipped with a 24,000-gallon tank and a pressurized system that can shoot flame retardant at high pressure or simply disperse it while flying over a fire.

Unlike helicopters that can hover above a fire, the 747 must approach at 140 knots and pass between 400 and 800 feet above the flames to deliver its massive load.

DC-10

The only wide-body jet airliner in use for fire service, the DC-10 used by Cal Fire used to fly for Pan Am and American Airlines. It can carry 12,000 gallons of flame retardant that, when dispersed, creates a cloud 300 feet wide and a mile long.

According to Cal Fire, one DC-10 drop is equivalent to 12 drops from an S-2 air tanker. Because of its size and the infrastructure needed to support its operation, this jet is only used for extended missions.

Grumman S-2T

Known for its speed and maneuverability, the S-2T was a U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare airplane in a past life. Cal Fire now has approximately two dozen of the turboprops in its arsenal. The aircraft can cruise at speeds of 305 mph with a 1,200-gallon payload commonly used for initial attack delivery.

UH-1H

Dubbed the “Super Huey,” the UH-1H was once used by the Army for troop and

Article source: http://abc7.com/technology/meet-the-planes-and-choppers-used-to-fight-wildfires/2747606/

The events of that day reverberated far beyond the Hawaiian islands. As radio broadcasts spread the news across the continental United States, thousands of American men rushed to enlist in a war that would spread across Europe and into Africa and the Pacific. Among the people who took their place in World War II was Bill Thorns.

By Jim Thompson | 315-4445 | @Jimtnwfdn | jthompson@nwfdailynews.com

SANTA ROSA BEACH — Seventy-six years ago today, a Japanese sneak attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor took the lives of more than 2,300 American military personnel, most of them sailors, and destroyed or damaged 19 ships. The attack prompted the entry of the United States into World War II.

In the years since, the anniversary of the events of Dec. 7, 1941, has prompted nationwide reflection focused largely on the survivors of the horrific attack. But three-quarters of a century removed from that fateful day, it’s a sad truth that large numbers of the people who survived the attack have passed on. In all of Northwest Florida, no more than a few survivors remain to tell the tale of the attack.

But the events of that day reverberated far beyond the Hawaiian islands. As radio broadcasts spread the news across the continental United States, thousands of American men rushed to enlist in a war that would spread across Europe and into Africa and the Pacific.

Among the people who took their place in World War II was Bill Thorns.

Now a resident of Somerby,

Article source: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20171207/local-man-among-those-who-answered-pearl-harbor-call