Another native Iowan. I was stationed at Ft. Riley,KS from '92- '95. I took leave and went to Michigan for a 4th of July race and visit friends who lived in N. MI. I had to drive an extra 90+ miles to get back home and then on back to KS due to water being over so many main highways !! And now people never learn. Don't build on the flood plains!! It's God's land and HE WILL want it back from time to time. It's not IF but WHEN will it get wet again!!
I arrived there in August of 1990 for Basic.Watching this footage it is amazing how much of it i have no memory of.I do remember the heat and getting smoked in the 'bark pits'.
Hi all: just want to let you know there are some great "history" comments (not just mine😂) if you click on all the comments made to other comments. In 26 years on active duty, I never once ran across someone who was also stationed there. Before all the "old heads" pass on, perhaps someone can start a new thread in chronological order so we can all " track" what happened and when? For example, I was there from Jun 1970 to Jun 1971. While there, I worked in JOC and part time unloading the first barge that arrived with supplies to build the storage bunkers for the chemical munitions, worked the asphalt crew, worked a month or so as a night watchman on the dredging rig leased (I think) through Dillingham Corp, sold popcorn and beer at the outdoor theater, and - briefly - helped the club NCO keep his files and books straight. And YES, I did get some work done at my Air Force job🤗👍
Hahaha! Great memories! Was there with Southwest Research Institute from 87 to 89 when the pilot plant was under construction. That’s where I was introduced to “sashimi” by some of the Filipino people. Went deep sea fishing and beer consuming while at it. Again, great memories. Thanks for this great video.
It makes me so angry that instead of the US government turning the island into a private getaway for successful rich people, they hired a demolition crew to tear down the buildings and leave almost nothing. That to me is a pathetic travesty
I personally believe that was a waste 🗑 for destroying all those buildings. Even if they don't use them they can come back for any emergency services build up.
Smart to use blades with a wider chord to utilize the extra power in the long-stroke YS. Probably better stability too with more mass in the rotor disc.
These kids today wouldn’t even know how to fly it. These are using the old futaba mechanical gyros. No heading hold or stabilization here boys. I flew kalt back then with a enforcer and a baron. Then the futaba 401 came out and we thought we’d hit the jackpot!
Great how the Japanese competitors were willing to divulge what they had done to their models to be better and smoother. I still love to get out my 25 year old Raptor 30 V1 for that nitro sound and smell...👍
I've been flying a Raptor 50 that I picked up a few years ago. I never had the money to fly them when they were "state of the art" but even after years of flying really nice electric helis, the nitro raptor is my favorite. It's such an experience to operate and fly. It's loud, it blows smoke, it stinks...and it makes the most amazing sounds when you throw it around. It's heavy and has a great presence in the air. I love it.
Some of this man's recollections conflict with what I know. Operation Dominic was in 1962. Within the past week I have seen at least one video was on the internet describing that operation including film of the rocket blowing up on the launch pad in July of that year. It did contaminate that part of the island. I was there between June and Aug 1963 on a project for the AEC to measure the ocean currents over the reef while other members of our group were on a ship outside the reef measuring currents there. There did not appear to be much going on, A small contingent of Navy personnel was there and several hundred contractors working for Holmes and Narver. My quarters were a deserted multi unit apartment building,. We each had our own. There were several to choose from. It was just a place to sleep and bathe. When we first arrived, I had no what they did on the island or of the accident or just why we were measuring currents on this remote atoll. When I learned of the accident I did wonder how they dealt with the radioactive contamination. Someone had said they disposed of it by bulldozing it into the ocean. Why we were there was starting to make sense. Where would that radiation go if it was in the water? Two of jxus would spend 30 hours at each location on a very primitive pontoon boat made from 55 gallon barrels welded together measuring currents at various locations in the atoll. While off duty it was common to go swimming so I swam in a number of locations over the reef. No one suggested that might not be a good idea. In hindsight, I wondered if I had become exposed to radiation. We were informed that there was an area of the island we were not allowed to go but there was no mention about the water. At the time I only had a secret clearance and determined 'I did 'not have a need to know'. The area where the explosion occurred was clearly marked off limits and special permission was needed to go there. A senior member of our group and a good friend was asked to go into that area for a reason unknown to me.(Didn't have proper clearance) About 15 years later we had gone our separate ways but I would learn he had died of cancer in his early 40s and his son was born in 1966 with a minor birth defect. I wondered if there was a connection to his entering into that area. I never experienced any problems, until perhaps now. I have CLL. Probaby totally unrelated. Maybe not. In exploring what is now available on the internet I saw just recently that after 25 years, 30 people who had been tasked to deal with the contamination had died of cancer. I don't know if my friend was included in that group. Maybe he should have been. He had no direct role in that: Just gone into the area , on two occasions, if I remember correctly. We were in Honolulu in August writing a report on our work for the AEC when the nuclear air test ban treaty was signed. Was there another launchpad explosion in 1964? I have no idea. I do know. To me it seems unlikely. Wouldn't rule it out either. In 1964 dredging expanded the island to more than double the size when I was there to it's present size. Would they be doing atmospheric testing while that was going on? Or perhaps another explosion is why they dredged more 'soil' to bury contaminated debris. The only launchpad explosion I am aware of was prior to the test ban treaty. I would not be surprised if the total investment over 80 years in that Atoll exceeds a trillion dollars. Until I discovered recent videos I was mostly unaware of Johnston since my time there. I did see Walter Cronkite standing in front of rows and rows of stack barrels of agent orange on the evening news one time. I never expected I would see a reporter doing a story from there. I smiled when someone mentioned Wednesday was still Prime Rib night years after my time there. We planned that after being out on the raft for 30 hours, we would be back ashore for that. Sure beat cold cuts and a can of pineapple juice we might have on the raft.
1994, DS Blankenship and DS Collins. 2 maniacs but good DSs. Special shout out to DS Fererbe, a fucking beast and DS Grove, who one sunday night, put on trashbags with the platoon and did partner resisted PT in the "house of paim"- day room to music (The Eagles).
Great to see this! Thanks for sharing. I love how everyone is there for the sport, simple comments and seem to be enjoying and talking about the competition.
Now THIS IS helicopter flying! Not that crazy out of control stuff these kids do today with their non-crystal dsmx fancy dancy radios and non-flybar flybarless rubbish. When i was a kid, we had to fly twice as far, both ways, uphill.
😂😂 yea but todays radios and equipment allow for much more control … and more crisp movements … I bet a lot of these guys would love to have had our equipment back then … especially the ones actually doing the stunts … I’ve also noticed a lot of these guys are older gentlemen … I feel like back in these times rc helicopter was more of a gentlemen sport like golf …😁
Shut up. Lol. I like you. I'm a 3d pilot and the entire time I'm watching this video I keep thinking how I enjoy this flying more and I wish I could have been at these events. I don't like the stick banging helicopter flying today. But I do enjoy mixing it up new and old in the same flight. I really like the FAI fuselages
Boy to take one of my modern helis back to these days. Imagine bringing my specter v2 nitro back in time there minds would be blown lol. I also still own all my flybar helis well most of them. Some of them I need stupid little parts that either are impossible to find or cost way to much on eBay from people trying to make a buck
I'm an Iowa native, I was born in Des Moines, Iowa @Mercy Hospital and my family and I lived in Indianola, Iowa until the age of 7 when my family and I moved south to the small town of Osceola, Iowa, just 20 minutes south of Indianola. I've lived and grown up in Osceola from the age of 7 until present day, I still live in Osceola and I'm now 34 yrs. old! During the great flood of 93' I was 5 yrs. old at the time and I don't really remember a whole lot from that age, especially about the flood! I would like to thank you Mark, for the time and effort that you've put into this interesting video covering those fateful events that shocked the Midwest and that ruined a lot of homes and uprooted thousands of people and families who ended up homeless until the proper authorities could temporarily house and shelter them. As for James Scott, I personally think that he got rail-roaded and unfairly sentenced to life in prison, especially because of the lack of evidence to convict him, but everyone will always have their own personal opinion's on this matter! Thanks for the amazing content and God Bless you and your family! 🙏😉👍🫡 🇺🇲🤝🇺🇦💯🎗 🇺🇦🇺🇦 SLAVA UKRAINI! 🇺🇦🇺🇦 & 🇺🇦🇺🇦 HEROYAM SLAVA! 🇺🇦🇺🇦
Nice video! I was the score keeper for one of the judges so I saw every flight of every round looking over the shoulder of the judge. Also, I was able to take pictures while doing so. The real fun was at the Chesapeake City Park during practice sessions.
I think the craziest thing about all of this is that Des Moines Water Works Park still hasn't been relocated, despite being along the Raccoon River which can't really have flood controls like the Des Moines River can (thanks to the massive flood plains it meanders through). Oh and since 1993, Des Moines Water Works supplies the water to many many more ppl across Iowa. In 93, we were able to go to my dad's cousin's house in Altoona to take baths because Altoona got their water elsewhere. But now? Altoona is on Des Moines' water - just like most communities in Central Iowa. It's a completely predictable disaster just waiting to happen. Again. And next time, it'll be even worse because most of Central Iowa gets their water from Des Moines Water Works. Per the Des Moines Register: "Des Moines Water Works produces 80% of the water consumed in the 700,000-population metro, and a majority of it is used by residents of suburban cities that buy it at a wholesale rate set by the Des Moines utility. " www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2022/03/01/central-iowa-water-works-document-lays-out-rules-utility/6974139001/
I was 7 years old at the time. I don't have many memories of the event, but I do remember the clubhouse in the sportsball park along I-80 being submerged and only having one brick visible above the waterline beneath its roof. I remember Dad bringing home a bunch of paperwork from his office in Downtown Des Moines (he worked at Norwest Bank at the time). And I remember getting in trouble for trying to watch the news covering the flooding. I don't remember having to wait in line to get water or having to go to Dad's cousin's house in Altoona to take baths. A friend of mine who also lived on the Eastside at the time remembers having to shower in a trailer. It does explain why Mom will keep multiple gallons of water (in old milk jugs) frozen tho - in case of a water shortage, she can just pull them out and let them thaw.
