Purely alliteration: "Republic Rainbow." I guess 'ThunderSnap' or
'Thunderflick' didn't make the cut.

Republic went from a generation of "thunder"-craft to a 'Rainbow'. Very odd...

It was a photo recce bird that
could outrun prop fighters, or at least go fast enough to avoid
interception.

I think it used it's beauty to avoid destruction by enemy fighters. Who'd
shoot at such a vision?

After the war it was evaluated as a high-speed airliner
by alas, too few seats,

- known as the Dornier 17 Syndrome. "Its a passenger aircraft, as long as you
don't mind riding in these shackles..."

One of them is
sitting on the bottom of the ocean south of Eglin AFB.

Tragic. Do you know the particulars of its ditching?

what are you and your family doing in the
oven of the USA?

We just finished three years in Austin and returned to San Diego - where its
about 30 degrees cooler than any part of Texas! (I just wish the schools were
better, otherwise, I'd have no complaints about livin' in paradise.)

At least my brother (ex-swabbie!) after leaving
Corona del Mar this April resettled in Colorado!!

My sis, retired zoomie officer, is someplace in Los Angeles. No accounting for
taste.

v/r
Gordon
=============insert Dave's list=====
Advice given to RAF pilots during W.W.II. When a prang (crash) seems
inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity
as slowly and gently as possible.

The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill
you. (Attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot)

A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to its
maximum. (Jon McBride, astronaut)

If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash
as possible. (Bob Hoover -renowned aerobatic and test pilot)

If an airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it; ride the *******
down. (Ernest K. Gann, author & aviator)

Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death I Shall Fear No Evil For I am at
80,000 Feet and Climbing.(sign over the entrance to the SR-71 operating
location Kadena, Japan).

You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3. (Paul F.
Crickmore - test pilot)

Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you.

There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime. (Sign over
squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970.)

The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and a
good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few
opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same
time. (Author unknown, but someone who's been there)

"Now I know what a dog feels like watching TV." (A DC-9 captain trainee
attempting to check out on the 'glass cockpit'of an A-320.)

If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.