Model Airplanes

Some people devote themselves to model airplanes. Others prefer model trains. Alan Abramowitz builds election models — formulas that use data, economic and otherwise, to predict the outcomes of presidential political contests.

In August, the Emory University political scientist took President Barack Obama’s approval rating and stirred in the second-quarter gross domestic product. Over this, he sprinkled the “time for change” factor — eight years of White House rule by Democrats.

“Basically, you lose the advantage of incumbency that you had in the previous election,” Abramowitz said. “Put that all together and you came out with a modest Republican advantage.”

But instead of giving a late summer nod to Donald Trump, Abramowitz disavowed his own numbers and forecast a November victory by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. His model, he decided, was predicated on a mainstream candidate who was running a competent campaign.

“It seemed to me that [Trump] didn’t satisfy either one of those conditions,” Abramowitz said. In his own defense, the academic noted that his model was intended to predict the national popular vote – not Electoral College balloting.

“As it turned out, [Trump] did under-perform – because Clinton is going to end up winning the popular vote by about one percentage point,” Abramowitz said.

A man dressed in

Article source: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/11/12/a-presidential-campaign-that-turned-on-what-we-refused-to-see/

Some people devote themselves to model airplanes. Others prefer model trains. Alan Abramowitz builds election models — formulas that use data, economic and otherwise, to predict the outcomes of presidential political contests.

In August, the Emory University political scientist took President Barack Obama’s approval rating and stirred in the second-quarter gross domestic product. Over this, he sprinkled the “time for change” factor — eight years of White House rule by Democrats.

“Basically, you lose the advantage of incumbency that you had in the previous election,” Abramowitz said. “Put that all together and you came out with a modest Republican advantage.”

But instead of giving a late summer nod to Donald Trump, Abramowitz disavowed his own numbers and forecast a November victory by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. His model, he decided, was predicated on a mainstream candidate who was running a competent campaign.

“It seemed to me that [Trump] didn’t satisfy either one of those conditions,” Abramowitz said. In his own defense, the academic noted that his model was intended to predict the national popular vote – not Electoral College balloting.

“As it turned out, [Trump] did under-perform – because Clinton is going to end up winning the popular vote by about one percentage point,” Abramowitz said.

A man dressed in red-white-and-blue sits on the curb during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Even so, the episode fits neatly into a 2016 presidential contest that turned on what we refused

Article source: http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2016/11/12/a-presidential-campaign-that-turned-on-what-we-refused-to-see/

To Remember. . .

The Army Air Corps of the 20’s became the Army Air Forces in 1941; which was separated from the Army in 1947 to create the U.S. Air Force we know today. By whatever name, generations of youth watch them fly and get hooked. David Daniel Freeman was one. He loved a high school pre-flight course on theory of flight, air foil dynamics and other properties of flight physics. His “Prop Busters” club experimented with building and flying (crashing) wooden model planes.  

World War II defined his boyhood near the U.S. Navy Submarine base in New London, Connecticut.  Nazi U-Boats off the coast, discovery of a German rubber raft buried on their shore, food and gas rationing, scrap metal and paper drives, blackouts, autos with black taped headlight slits and “We Want You!”— recruiting posters were his life.  He could identify

Article source: http://www.fairfieldsuntimes.com/news/article_d13bc702-a84d-11e6-bed3-f7d5da70b269.html

Charles Johnson was just a boy when his cousin died flying a P-51 fighter plane over the Philippines during World War II, but those events changed the course of Johnson’s life.

“He was actually my inspiration,” Johnson said.

His cousin, William Thomas “Billy” Tudor, graduated from Henry Clay High School in 1940.

Billy played trumpet and was “a very intelligent person” who had a lifelong love of airplanes and dreamed of attending West Point, his younger brother, Kenneth Tudor, said..

Instead, Billy attended flight school in Georgia and became a second lieutenant.

He flew P-40s in Asia, then completed 50 combat missions over Africa before being sent to the Pacific.

On Jan. 8, 1945, Billy Tudor, 23, took his last flight, a bombing and strafing mission over Mindanao.

A letter from Brigadier General H. B. Lewis to Tudor’s parents the following year described how Tudor had bombed several targets successfully when he “suddenly called in that he had spotted an enemy barge hidden away near the shore. The planes immediately began the attack and encountered enemy fire from the nearby town of Surigao.

“While making his last pass over the target, Lieutenant Tudor was evidently hit by this fire, as his ship suddenly pulled into the sky and collided with that of his flight leader who had just finished his attack. Both planes were destroyed on impact and the pilots killed.”

The letter says the plane dropped into the bay and the body was not recovered “at that time.”

But a 1948 letter from Rudyard Hansen, who described

Article source: http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article114051753.html

Allison M. Roberts Staff Writer @A_M_Roberts

Lt. Col. Wallace Storey

Lt. Col. Wallace Storey was a pilot in the 8th Air Force and 384th Bomb Wing from August 1942 until October 1945. Storey, 93 of Spartanburg, fought in France and Germany during World War II. During his career, Storey has received numerous air and combat medals and the European Theater medal.

Storey left active duty in 1945 and was an Air Force Reserves pilot until 1982, when he retired.

I was interested in aviation from the time I was a little toddler. I built model airplanes in high school and built flying models. I had a field to fly them in. I never had enough money to buy engines. You could fly them with little engines but I didn’t have that kind of money.

I went to Greenville High and graduated in 1940. We had grown up hearing about World War I about how awful it was. Any war is awful but they had pictures like “All Quiet on the Western Front.” I had that (war) vividly on my mind when I went to see that picture. It showed an American soldier wounded as he was climbing out of the trench and he grabbed hold of the barbed wire. A shell hit him and there was nothing but the arms hanging there. That had an impression on me. I thought if I ever got into a war — if we ever have one — I want to be in

Article source: http://www.goupstate.com/news/20161110/world-war-ii-veterans-recall-military-service

About another 15 planes, including a couple 7-foot planes, soon will join them, Bernie Kapinus of Morris, a member of Stone City Post, said.

“They’re not exact replicas, but they’re pretty close,” Kapinus said. “I think it’s a good tribute to the veterans.”

Other noteworthy items at Stone City Post include a World War II helmet, a working World War II GPS and – outside – a World War II cannon and tank.

But perhaps the item Pasteris most wishes to show off is a mannequin wearing the uniform of Dominic Carugati of Joliet. Carugati served in France during World War I and became a charter member of Stone City Post. Carugati died in 1967.

According to Pasteris, Carugati’s family – Nate, Roy, Mary Jo and Don Fazio – donated the uniform to Stone City Post. Pasteris would like more donations from other veterans and their families – whether or not they have a connection to Stone City Post – because the community need to see the memorabilia and learn the stories behind them.

“To me, it’s living history,” Pasteris said.

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: Open House and Free Lunch

WHEN: Nov. 11. Lunch begins at 11 and continues until the food runs out.

WHERE: Stone City VFW Post 2199, 124 Stone City Drive, Joliet

ETC: New members and donations of memorabilia always welcome.

KNOW MORE: Call Stone City Post at 815-722-7122.

Article source: http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/11/08/joliet-vfw-honors-veterans-throughout-the-building/a4kbed/