A recently donated blueprint of the AGM-69A Short Range Attack Missile:
I’ve made available to above-$10 subscribers and patrons both the full resolution scan of the above, as well as a processed clearer B&W version. If you’d be interested in helping to preserve aerospace history such as this, as well as receiving bonus content like this, please consider signing up either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.
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Snerk:
In some ways the 1980’s were FREAKIN’ AWESOME. Coming out of the truly dire 1970’s, what with Viet Nam and the end of Apollo and inflation and malaise and Iran and OPEC and the environment going straight to hell and Jimmy Carter and disco, the sudden arrival of optimism and Ronald Reagan made the world seem a better place. Even though expanded spending on disastrous social welfare programs torpedoed the deficit and the Soviets were still lurking around the corner with ten thousand nukes to turn the planet into a blasted hellscape… hey, no more Carter. People were proud of the US again; Viet Nam veterans were starting to be (rather belatedly) celebrated, as was the military; the US returned to space with the Shuttle; computer technology finally broke into the home market; Hollywood started cranking out some outstanding flicks that are still beloved even unto today. The world looked like it just might have a shiny future.
But then… sigh.
Growing up as a kidling in the 70’s, I was constantly bombarded by a culture saturated in the hedonism of the 60’s and the 70’s. The hippies and yuppies and their sex, drugs and rock & roll made it look like adult life was filled with nonstop partying, that once my cohort got over the hump of adolescence, we, too, would be having nothing but fun. Those my age were not quite sure what it was all about yet, but we were sure that once we got about to high school we’d have it figured out and we’d all be having a blast.
But then… wouldn’t you know it, the boomers had to go and destroy that, too. Right abut the time that girls started to seem interesting… AIDS. AIDS freakin’ 24/7. After school specials. In-school propaganda. News reports of DOOOOOOOOOM. Want a little taste of what we had to go through? Here:
Feh.
That was clearly some religious indoctrination of some kind, but even in the statist-est of state schools we got the same message, just without the Bible-bangin’ (and sometimes with). Coupled with the Satanic Panic and the sudden rise of Stranger Danger, freakouts over D&D and rock music, it’s no wonder that Generation X turned into the generation of “meh.” It was impossible to stay panicked all the time (even with air raid drills that we all knew wouldn’t do a damn thing once Soviet nukes started falling), but the constant drumbeat of “if you try to have fun, you’ll die” did a dandy job of draining the joy out of many regular aspects of existence.
Longer version of the creepifyin’ original:
Now just imagine what todays younguns are gonna be like when they grow up, after having been burdened with the Commie Cough and being told that their whiteness is evil and that objectivity is racist and that their history should be erased.
Poor little bastards.
Watch the video and decide whether this guy, had it not been for the intercession of a random car, should have been charged with multiple counts of first degree murder.
Yikes.
Well, the good thing is that thanks to President Elect Manchurian Candidate, there’ll soon be a few million more drivers like him on our streets.
A while back someone on ebay was selling vintage glossies of concept art of lighter than air cargo lifters, something that got studied with some seriousness in the 70’s and 80’s. As always, money was spent, progress was made, projects were cancelled and nothing came of it.
And here it is:
Or just plagiarism?
Cats are awesome.
Below is a photo of a case for the transport of a display model, circa 1956. To figure out how big the model inside the box is, I need to know how big the box is. And oddly enough, figuring out how big a sixty-plus-year-old box is from a single photo is a little tricky. However, it’s *entirely* possible that this was an off the shelf item… and it might even be something that someone has. Not likely, but at least possible. So, on the off chance someone can nail this thing down for me… $100.00 (one hundred US dollars) worth of my downloadable stuff for whoever first is able to show me exactly what box this is and, importantly, how big it is. Photos of an actual item with a ruler would work. Photos/scans of a catalog that shows and describes it would work.
It could be more vaguely defined by going after some of the components. I suspect the three-digit locks might be pretty well standardized. Definition on those or maybe the handle would be useful if the box can’t be defined… useful to the tune of $15 in downloads.
The winner also gets clued in on just what the frak I’m doing here, and a copy of the results.
