Connie Ends Her Final Voyage in Brownsville.

MH-60 Squadrons

The MH-60 is a cool chopper.  If you're near one of these places you might see them!  Thanks to Lockheed Martin for the image!

CV-64, Constellation nears Her End

Forrestal and Saratoga  have both come to Brownsville, Texas for their final moments, and now Constellation joins them.  What a sad end to such brave ships.  Hopefully one of the other supercarriers will find a home as a museum ship to commemorate the deeds of the many men who served aboard them!  See the latest article here.

Choppers Galore!

I drove past the Yakima airport today and saw something that drew my attention away from the road. There seemed to be a helicopter in the military parking area.  Sure enough!!  Several!  Not just two...but six choppers!  Three Chinooks and three Blackhawks.  

These were not just ANY Blackhawks or Chinooks, thought, there were the attack versions!  MH-60 and MH-47 Chinooks.  All decked out with mini-guns.  What a wonderful end to the afternoon!

A friend of mine mentioned to me to expect to see some Apaches, I'm still watching for those, but this definitely was worth seeing!

Constellation Will Stop Near San Diego

If you're interested in keeping up with Connie on her long trek to death under the cutter's torch, her is an update.

Where To Have A BLAST in London...

Okay, this has nothing to do with the Pacific Northwest, but it IS a very interesting resource for those of you who have a fascination with WWII and the Battle of Britain.  A friend sent this to me and I thought anyone who reads this page might find it cool, too.

Have a look at where bombs fell in London here!

USS Constellation gets one day reprieve.

America's conventional super-carriers held the line between the aging Essex and Midway classes and the modern Nimitz class.  They are about 1000 feet long and their flight decks over 200 feet wide, and weighing about 65000 tons.  These ships were powered by steam, developed by burning petroleum, rather than steam generated by cracking the atom.  Used heavily from the 1960s to to 2000s, these ships were all decommissioned in the past 10 years or so.

The US Navy must be looking at ways to clear pier space or perhaps just to say money, because the conventional-powered super-carriers will soon be no more.  First the USS Forrestal was towed to Brownsville, Texas for scrapping, then the Saratoga, and most recently, the USS Constellation have been slated for scrapping.

Sadly, the day for Constellation to leave her pier is close at hand.  Constellation, which has been housed at Bremerton, Washington for several years, will be towed around South America and all the way to Brownsville, Texas, which is fast becoming a graveyard for aircraft carriers.  Yes, it must be done, but what a sad end to noble ships.  Connie will begin her final journey, this Friday.  August 8, 2014.

Interestingly, the Forrestal was sold for one cent, whilst it appears the government accepted $3 million dollars for Connie...

You can read more here, and here.