[subsea]

Our taxi entering the Grand Canal in Venice.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

[subsea]

Gondolas waiting for passengers in Venice, in 2016.

[subsea]

Traffic on a canal in Venice in 2016.

[steamloco76]

The daily Buffalo & Pittsburgh RR “RISI” from Riker Yard, Punxsutawney, PA to Salamanca, NY. 6/30/21
KP with HD DA 16-85WR

Attached Images

       

[subsea]

Gondola station off the Grand Canal in 2016.

[subsea]

Cruising the canals of Venice in 2016.

[subsea]

Gondola station at the Rialto Bridge in Venice, in 2016. Couldn't get to the bridge, let alone over it! Would have taken much less time (and much more money!) to rent a Gondola to use as a taxi to get across the canal!

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

[aslyfox]

hmmm

B-52 Engine Replacement Could Keep Bomber Flying Through Its 100th Birthday
Other improvements have the Air Force contemplating smaller air crews.

It was 75 years ago this June that the U.S. Army Air Forces first awarded Boeing a modest $1.7 million contract to begin work on a new strategic bomber. Later this year, the 76 remaining B-52 Stratofortresses will start to get new engines that just might keep the venerable bomber flying through its 100th birthday.

The “biggest modernization program in its history” will replace the eight Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines that have powered each jet since the 1960s, said Air Force B-52 senior materiel leader Col. Louis Ruscetta.

By the time the replacement is complete, the Stratofortress will have outlasted both of its current contemporaries, the B-1 Lancer conventional bomber and the B-2 stealth bomber. The new engines are intended to enable the B-52 to serve alongside the future B-21 Raider as the airborne leg of the nuclear triad into the 2050s. . . .

B-52 Engine Replacement Could Keep Bomber Flying Through Its 100th Birthday - Defense One

[OrchidJulie]

hmmm

B-52 Engine Replacement Could Keep Bomber Flying Through Its 100th Birthday - Defense One

I am reminded of an encounter with a B52 in the early 1970s... visiting a friend's parents in northern lower Michigan, turns out their house was one or two hills over from an electronic bombing range. Near Charlevoix. While there, I had the otherworldly experience of seeing a B52 come over the house on its practice run to the range...the aircraft seemed to be hardly more than treetop level, the bomb bay doors were open, we could see one or two personnel in the bomb bay, and the most incredible thing of all (besides how unbelievably huge it was), it was nearly silent overhead. I never heard it approaching, only looked up when someone gestured to look up, and there it was. Astonishing.

[subsea]

Sail and power boats moored next to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, in 2016. Boats moored adjacent to a church isn't something you see very frequently!

[subsea]

Barely controlled chaos on the water in Venice, in 2016.

[subsea]

Water taxi waiting for passengers at the Palazzo Genovese on the Grand Canal.

[subsea]

Being followed on one of the wider canals in Venice.

[wtlwdwgn]

hmmm



B-52 Engine Replacement Could Keep Bomber Flying Through Its 100th Birthday - Defense One

I am reminded of an encounter with a B52 in the early 1970s... visiting a friend's parents in northern lower Michigan, turns out their house was one or two hills over from an electronic bombing range. Near Charlevoix. While there, I had the otherworldly experience of seeing a B52 come over the house on its practice run to the range...the aircraft seemed to be hardly more than treetop level, the bomb bay doors were open, we could see one or two personnel in the bomb bay, and the most incredible thing of all (besides how unbelievably huge it was), it was nearly silent overhead. I never heard it approaching, only looked up when someone gestured to look up, and there it was. Astonishing.

I'm glad to see the engine replacement for the BUFF. Not only will it save a lot of fuel but there won't be a lot of smoke.


I used to see a few B-52s when flying out into eastern MT. The airplane was hard to see but I spotted them by their shadows moving across the ground.

[OrchidJulie]

I used to see a few B-52s when flying out into eastern MT. The airplane was hard to see but I spotted them by their shadows moving across the ground.

Years ago they were not uncommon here, as Homestead AFB was a SAC base at the time, but you had to go down near Homestead, 30 miles south of Miami. The usual glide path for landings was over a part of the town, but mostly over farmland or undeveloped land. I never saw one up close then, not until that encounter on the hill near Charlevoix. I still remember it. Homestead is not at SAC base any longer, in fact not even an official AFB. After Hurricane Andrew practically leveled it, it was demoted to an Air Reserve Base.