Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Uncle Bob the Corsair pilot, heroes don't always die in battle

HAMB member MAZOOMA wrote about his Uncle Bob, I have to repost it.

Uncle Bob with his Corsair.

He was killed one month after I was born when an airman in another Corsair, who my uncle was training over Riverside, clipped my uncle's wing. The other pilot bailed out and parachuted to safety.

Uncle Bob stayed with his plane because it was headed into a school playground. He managed to guide what was left of his plane into a dirt lot killing him instantly. I still have the letters from eye-witnesses that were mailed to my grandparents saying how they could see him struggling to get the plane away from the crowded playground. Many people from the neighborhood where the crash took place made the drive to Monrovia where his funeral was held. All came to pay their respects for a man they would never meet.


Via: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=446547&page=14

Junkyard circa 1966

Yeah, 60's vette convertible

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

One of the most impressive photos I've seen, the Oct 1895 Granville-Paris Express wreck

The engine careened across almost 98 ft of the station concourse, crashed through a 2 foot thick wall, shot across a terrace and sailed out of the station, plummeting onto the Place de Rennes 33 ft below, where it stood on its nose. All on board the train survived, five sustaining injuries: two passengers (out of 131), the fireman and two conductors; however, one woman on the street below was killed by falling masonry. The accident was caused by a faulty Westinghouse brake and the engine drivers who were trying to make up for lost time. A conductor incurred a 25 franc penalty and the engine driver a 50 franc penalty.
Via: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Train_wreck_at_Montparnasse_1895.jpg

442 in the baja

from http://www.savetheenzos.com/ via a photography cool site: http://photofinish.tumblr.com/page/2

this moron is clueless, burns out his trans, and thinks the smoke is from the tires. Another rich person that hates their car. What a tool

James Cagney's 1934 V12 Auburn on ebay (not gonna sell I bet)




They want $300,000, I doubt anyone is going to want it that bad. Cagney made a movie with it, and it's a great car, but when you tie up a 1/3rd of a million dollars, and it's not a good investment in light of car values having lost the crazy auction prices brought on by speculative real estate imaginary values.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Motorcycle photos I stumbled onto


interesting bunch of photography specific blogs out there powered by Tumbler, here's a couple interesting shots

This was a moment that was caught perfectly, pilot in the plane, rescue person on the way up the tree http://t-s-k-b.tumblr.com/
I can't get the link to this source, it was H Edge .Tumbler.com yeah, just try to find it when you need it, right?
above via: http://cyclop.tumblr.com/ a site dedicated to bicycles

I posted the velodrome shot because it's a moment of history when it mattered to a lot of people to be there for bike races, either to be fans, or spectators. Just put velodromes and biek racing right up there with pole sitting, listening to radio shows, musical movies, and the other kooky things America was hooked on for entertainment

Magnetic brain found another image of the Austin Grassi Fuel Cuda

The above was posted yesterday... gotta check out http://magneticbrain.blogspot.com/ for great dragsters!
Above was one I found on Magentic Brain in January: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/finally-50s-and-60s-blog-about.html

Interesting images from "small answers without question" piccole.rispostesenzadomanda.com

Above: Mile a minute Murphy and somebody else on home trainers... competitively. Interesting set up to see who is ahead!
I've seen one other shot of this, I wish I'd saved it., this is a BMW

Life magazine ventured into covering the Southern Califonia scene in 1957, drag racing in the aquaducts, and car clubs at the drag strip



Road Runners SCTA jacket

above: Pacers of Long Beach

Above: the Hi-Domes of San Francisco



Source: Life Magazine archives