In article ,
nt (Krztalizer) wrote:


This, I am very curious about. During several of the multi-platform ASW
ops I flew on in the mid 80's (84-87), the S-3's experienced computer
data dumps and withdrew from the ex. I have to wonder how this problem
could have been left to remain chronic for so many years (given that you
saw it a lot years earlier)? Was the cause ever determined?

They told us that the computer just plain couldn't hold a load - Mid-east
heat,
cat strokes, 18 year old maintainers, it all takes its toll...


Makes sense. We rarely had problems with our ASW avionics package not
performing in the same Mid-East heat and 18 year-old maintainers
(although minus the cat shots). Any ideas why the VS community didn't
scrap what they had and go with something which actually worked?



...wondering when we'll ever get OUT of the Mideast for good - leave that
region
to the people who want it, if we would pour every resource into finding
alternatives to fossil fuels.


This ain't gonna happen as long as the big oil companies (and the people
in power they are in bed with) continue to poor money ("lobbying") our
government to thwart or slow down usage and even examination of
alternate energy sources or do things like give tax breaks to people who
buy gas-guzzling SUV's.

At a time when everyone else on the planet realizes that personal vehicles
need
to be as small and efficient as possible in urban environments, we get to
deal
with the new Mercury Leviathans and Cadillac Pachyderms. It seems silly that
so many folks are willing to pour that much of their gas money down the
drain.

And even more silly is a current government which falls over itself to
give them tax breaks for buying such gas guzzlers and which does
everything it can to stymie alternative energy research.



Every port we ever went to where we needed
to go ashore via boat, the boats were always of the local chartered
ilk...and not always seemingly seaworthy.

Singapore had good harbor transport

We were screwed out of Singapore. Our ship took some sort of E-7 an
above vote on whether to give up an Australia port of call for two Asian
ports (Thailand and Singapore). Much to the vast majority of the ship's
disappointment...the vote passed. Of course, we ended up not getting
those two ports either.


--Mike