The 1955 M606 Jeep Gift

Last Friday, April 26th, was just an extra work day for me - until I returned home.  Normally, its two 12 hour days a week - but this week, I was given an extra work day for a total of 3 days this week. I have part time job with Enterprise Rent-A-Car as a driver.  We take the dirty cars from the terminal parking lot and drive them to the cleaning bay.  Then bring the clean vehicles back to the terminal parking lot. While I live in Lubbock, Texas:   my job is down in Midland, Texas, at the Midland International Airport (MAF).

The Lubbock crew (as we call our shelves) were late in getting away from Midland and we arrived back in Lubbock about 15-20 minutes after 8pm.  After stopping at a Chicken Express for a late supper, I finally arrived home just at dusk.

My friend Ricky Taylor must have seen the lights of my pickup truck driving up to my place.  I got a phone call and a few minutes later, he was there with his grandson Zander.  Tonight's mission was to make a quick trip to the AutoZone to get some items for his latest purchase - a 1943 Willys Jeep!

For the past 14-15 months now, Ricky and I have been on a Jeep restoration quest - and all by chance too I might add!  Anyway, on the ride back into town, Ricky and Zander told me that the M606 Jeep was now going to be mine to have!

The M606 is also known as the "high hood" or "high top hood" of the Jeep line.  The M606 was mostly used my the Military Police or Shore Patrol when it was in US military service.  I have seen pictures of the M606 being used by the South Vietnamese troops in the Vietnam War.  In civilian use, it was known as the CJ-3B.

What does one say when given a Jeep???  "Thanks for a great Father's Day, Birthday, and Christmas present all in one guys!"

Now comes the hard part... coming up with the bucks to keep restoring it.  The hood is covered with bondo and I would perfer to get rid of all that bondo or get a new hood from New/Old Stock(NOS).  But a new hood would run about $400.00.  Brake system DID work and now it does not.  Lighting system needs work on as well.  I do have the windshield, but it needs to be painted OD Green before being installed back onto the Jeep.

Photos with this post are mine except for what is referred to in the Ref section below.

UPDATE (June 6, 2013):  The following added photos were taken on the evening of June 5, 2013, at Ricky's Auto Repair.

The past few weeks, I had redone the hood - grinding off all the old bondo that was craked all over it.  I took all that off and did the same thing to both front fenders.  The right fender was ok after removing the bondo, but the left one was still in pretty bad shape; so it had to get new bondo added back onto that one fender.

Then the hood and fenders were repainted OD Green.  Then last night, we finally sprayed on the white hood star and two smaller stars on the rear fenders.  We also managed to get the "U.S.A." sprayed on each side of the hood as well as the "TP-25" above each wheel well.  "TP-25" means Tire Pressure - 25 (psi).

Unable to do any more stuff to it since this night Lubbock and the surrounding counties took a massive wind and thunderstorm event.  I was hoping that we could get this jeep ready for the Silent Wings Museum D-Day Observance - but it just was not meant to be.

As for the M606 itself, a spare tire carrier needs to be built.  I also want to get some OD Green pup tent halves and use the cloth from them to make some seat covers for the driver and passenger seats.

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Ref.
1. M606.  Wikipedia.org.  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willys_MB ).
2. M606 Jeep images (from Google Search) ( https://www.google.com/search?q=m606+jeep&biw=1280&bih=675&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8mJ9Ud3vIqWC2gXPsIHIBQ&ved=0CEgQsAQ ).
3. A restored M606.  "Davis64rear" ( http://www.film.queensu.ca/cj3b/Photos/Owners/1964/Davis64/Davis64Rear.jpg ).
4.  Shore Patrol jeep ( http://www.autozin.com/published/files/listing_photo_13409262103105487940.jpg ).

Blizzard of February 25, 2013!

As a life long resident of West Texas, I normally do not see this much snowfall.  First time ever due to bad weather I had to stay overnight with friends since my pickup truck was stuck in their driveway.

The storm was so bad that Interstate 27 between Lubbock and Amarillo had to be closed.

Luckily, we were able to clear the driveway this morning and I was finally able to go back to my place to check on it.  The heaters kept the RV warm inside after all without burning the place down which is a fear of mine since the RV is so old.  Getting in and out of my property required careful driving skills and I still ended up fish tailing on the way out to go to a wi-fi site to update my blog.

I am sooo looking forward to Monday, March 4th.  According to the forecast models, it is suppose to be in the low 70s!

First picture is of my driveway looking south.  The second is the snow bank near my storage sheds.

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Ref.
1. KCBD.com. "Blizzard forces Lubbock businesses to chill out" by Alex Zielinski.  February 25, 2013. (http://www.kcbd.com/story/21347142/blizzard-forces-lubbock-businesses-to-chill-out).
2.  Images are my own.

Biggest Dust Storm for Lubbock in Decades!

I could not believe what was about to strike us - a huge, old fashion Dust Storm. One that I have not seen since the late 1970s. In my younger days (i.e the 1960s-70s), I remember these big brown dust storms - but never lived through one that turned the sky literally 'black.' I remembered my parents telling me about that part of the dust storms from the 1930s.

Looking out one of the garage doors at Ricky's Auto Repair this afternoon, I was amazed. We had to close the doors and get everyone inside before the dust storm hit.

A strong cold front hit Lubbock county about 6pm. Visibility dropped down to between zero to less than a quarter of a mile. That zero visibility at the garage lasted about 2-3 minutes. Wind gusts as high as 74 mph.

The FAA had to evacuate the control tower at Lubbock International Airport and air traffic was directed from a backup control cneter on the ground floor.

Trees were toppled, roofs lost shingles. Rail road crossing gates bent. A small cargo plane was overturned at the airport.

The dust cloud was a by-product of the persistent drought in West Texas. Back on October 6th, the National Weather Service in Lubbock reported that there was a "high likelihood" that 2011 could be the driest on record across the South Plains.

With this blog post are some images that I took with my cell phone camera.

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Ref.

1. News.yahoo.com. "Dust storm roils through Texas South Plains" October 17, 2011. (http://news.yahoo.com/dust-storm-roils-texas-south-plains-023536510.html). ***Yes, the article's title was mispelled by AP.

Radio Control Model Airfields

For the first time in 8 or 9 months, I was finally able to attend a WINGS Miniature Aircraft Society club meeting. Currently, I am not a member of that club due to my current finical status, but I got to touch base with some old friends and to find out what is going on.

The subject of how to attract new members came up and by extension, a discussion on trying to get another field here in Lubbock, Texas, set up. Currently, WINGS MAS has an agreement with Abernathy, Texas; to operate off of that town's small airport runway. The club has put in taxiways and a ramp west of the north-south runway. By the way, the flying site is approximately 4 miles East of the city of Abernathy, Texas on FM2060 at the Abernathy Municipal Airport.

Also, Abernathy is still a functional airport, but with low useage. The few pilots who park their full-scale aircraft out there don't even live in the city of Abernathy.

Link below is to the WINGS MAS website and more information can be gained there.

Lubbock, Texas has another flying site out near Reese Technology Center locally known as the "FM-179" site since its right off Farm Market Road 179. Officially, its a city party of Lubbock named after Col. Davis who was a pilot in the Korean war.

What I took away from that discussion was the need for a small flying site - visible to the public - but not in such a way that can cause a safety issue. FM 179 is just hanging on life support right now since alot of new homes have be built out there. As soon as the cotton field to the north of the airstrip is purchased, that pretty much kills off that site for radio control flight for the nitro/gas power models. Model Helicopters can still fly out there and of course electric models. There is also a grass area that is set up for control line model flying.

On You Tube, I came across this video of a Hangar 9 B-25 Maiden Flight that was filmed at Scobee Field in Houston,Texas. (see embedded video with this article). This size and set up our club would love to have here in Lubbock (or Lubbock County). In fact, I think ten years ago - we as a club were hoping to make FM179 into such a flying site when the opportunity to fly off of Reese Technology Center came up and FM179 improvement plans were set aside when that happened.

The drive to Abernathy take an extra ten minutes than a drive out to FM 179 (or to Reese Technology Center when we were able to fly off that former airbase runways). That extra ten minute drive appears to be some straw that is breaking a lot of club members' backs. I personally have to plan trips out there as if I was taking a cross country trip due to the current cost of fuel. And when I go out, I do not have a plane to fly once I do get out there. That's just makes me a watcher.

That extra ten minute drive means that its harder to plan on having a quick evening flight after putting in a hard day at work. I for one do not know the answer to these questions. Nationally, there is a problem I'm told of attracting new people into the hobby. Why join the AMA and pay club dues when I can fly my super cheap Wal-Mart special out in the park?

Well, I think that the AMA and Radio Control model clubs are for those individuals who want to "go beyond" the Wal-Mart specials. To go on to something like flying a big pattern airplane. To fly a scale model and go to Top Gun. To get into actual turbine jet models.

UPDATE: I posted this blog early this morning. I now have had all day at work to think back over it some. With 20/20 hindsight, I think I can say that Reese Technology Center was the best thing that ever happened to this club - and the worst.

Nothing can compare to a two mile long, 150 foot wide strip of concrete to play with. Lubbock (as of 2 years ago) has no piece of land that (WINGS MAS could use in my opinion), isn't flawed in a major way that will hamper flight operations. There is land to the east of the city, but that puts it near the feedlots (good strong east wind can ruin a picnic), plus it would be under the flight path to Lubbock International Airport to the north, or Town and Country Airport to the south of the city. Both airports are east of the Interstate.

Land west of the interstate the further away one gets just gets even more expensive. Even if the club had a rich sugar daddy and momma to buy a section of land with protected land for our models to fly over, housing developments just keeps on growing southwest of the city. The town of Wolfforth, Texas is a true suburb of Lubbock now. The city limits of Lubbock extend right up to the city limits of Wolfforth. Good land there - just cannot afford to buy it as individual citizens.

So - we have the old rock and a hard place. Like I stated above, I do not have the answers to this problem. But I hope that some can come up with one.

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Ref. WINGS MAS.org (http://wingsmas.org/).

Picture of rc model of F-4 Phantom II from websearch.

Global Guerrilas Blog - Check it Out

I seem to have a theme running here this week.  Just discovered John Robb's Global Guerrillas and you will want to check out this particular post there ( http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2009/02/the-quick-road-to-global-insurgency.html).  He wrote the book Brave New War by Wiley publishing (2007).  To learn more about him, here is his link from that blog ( http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/about.html).  Was surprised to discovered that he took his flight training at Reese Air Force Base located in my home town of Lubbock, Texas.  

Open Source Revolution (i.e Tea Party, Part Two)?

Quoting C.W. Richards who was doing a review of Mr. Robb's book on Amazon.com, "Global guerrillas practice something Robb calls "open source warfare," which means that in the modern environment, people even on different continents can form or join groups, train, and carry out operations much more quickly than in the past or than the major legacy states can today.  As the groups learn from each other (and a sort of Darwinism selects out the unfit), a larger pattern forms, an "emergent intelligence," similar to a marauding colony of army ants, no one of which is very sophisticated, but operating together according to simple rules, they are survivable, adaptable, and in a suitable environment, invincible.

"As Robb summarizes it:  ...the behavior of these insurgencies as a whole seems to learn, achieve goals, and engage in self-preservation, despite the vast differences in how individual groups are organized.(p126)."

How to counter all of this?  Robb's answer is basically improve one's resilience by any means possible.  The federal governemnts provides incentives to homewoners to, for example, energy resilience.  As more people add power generation to their own houses - solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, or whatever, the overall 'national' energy resilience is improved.  Which makes it harder for terrorist groups to stage a raid on - say a oil pipeline and cause a distruption of service that way. 

I can't help but think that we can witness the rise of COBRA for real (or KORBA so that Hasbro doesn't have a cow over their cash cow).  

     

Dumb Thumbs and the Outlook on Life

Today was one of those days that a person can just enjoy living through the experience. Had the day off so was able to sleep in late. I now have TWO jobs, a full time one and a part time one. I much rather prefer to have just a single job, but for the short term, its a must. I need to raise capital for improvements to my property in order to start living full time in my RV by April of 2009. But, I am getting sidetracked here.

Lunch time found me dropping by the local hobby shop (Wings & Things) where I sold off my radio control models and equipment too last year. I had recently discovered a instruction booklet that one of the radios that I had sold to the owner and turned it over to him. Then sat around in the back of the shop with him and several other members of the local flying club (Wings Miniature Aircraft Society) remembering a fellow club member who had recently passed away in an untimely manner. Ed Deaver will be missed. He was into the big 3D IMAC and pattern airplanes and he was nationally recognized too.

While there, fellow club member Steve spoke with me. I was going on about what life had done to me recently and he stopped me and let me know that I really didn't have to give up the hobby(RC flying). And he is right. And, I haven't given UP the DESIRE to fly model airplanes. I still want to. When you are good at flying model airplanes, you're "Smooth on the Sticks." When you screw up, you "Dumb Thumb It(the model airplane)." In his own way, Steve was telling me that I was dumb thumbing it by not setting time aside to relax a bit. What I didn't tell him was that I had a new outlet for such feelings and emotions - drawing now. Something else too - that no matter what, I still had friends in the hobby who care about me and how I was doing.

How can one NOT feel better after hearing some words of encouragement like that.

Well now, after that, it was over to the mother-in-laws house of a fellow Star Trek club member and where our club(the USS Lone Star) parks it full size shuttlecraft replica. Today was to be a work day - and only I and David where the only ones there to remove the Christmas lights from the hull that were put in place for last December's Christmas theme parade "Lights on 34th Street" in Lubbock, Texas. The shuttlecraft also needs some repairs done to it's roof and we talked about how to go about doing that when the club could come up with the money for new plywood. Plus a winch for the heavy rear boarding ramp that is needed. And funds for the Plexiglas's front window. And a new paint job, etc, etc, etc.

To cap off the day, it was over to Freeworld Burritos for the weekly Sketchclub meeting. And there were a whole bunch of new faces there. Maybe nothing really important happened to me today, but it was a pleasure to experience the day anyway. And that's the important thing to take away from this posting.

(Attached picture was taken back in November 2008).

First Night in the New Homestead (Motor home)

Well, due to events beyond my control, I had to move into my unheated motor home about 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Sleeping in a parka, sleeping bag and three quilts, I made it through a cold night in the RV that got down as low as 27 degrees inside temperature.

Once the door to the motor home was opened up to the bright light of mid-morning, the temperature rose quickly into the forties.

This was in due part to having to move out of a rental mobile home that I have been living in for the past two months when the main circuit breaker tripped and almost caught on fire. So – after bumming a room from a fellow Star Trek (Starfleet) buddy of mine, last night, I had to camp out in the RV when no other rooms opened up for me.

I managed to get by by having covered up the roof vents and taping them over with trash bags to try and keep any heat in the vehicle. Since the motor home has some missing toolbox lids in the under carriage, it still got cold in the interior, but it was manageable. Open up the cur tents in the daytime and let in the solar heating.

Why post this information? Survival Tactics and Information. Anyone who is about to go through the same problems that I have been going through might benefit before they lose their own house(and electricity, water, sewer, heating, etc).

EDIT: (Second Night in RV)-
Even colder than the first night. I had almost lost hope about what was I going to do when one of my friends in Starfleet took me into their home for the rest of this week (the Carey's). The replacement part for the single-wide mobile home that I was staying in will not arrive in Lubbock, Texas, until Friday at the earliest and Saturday at the latest.

I tried to get a extentsion on my credit card so that I could purchase a internal, propane powered (a Mr. Heater "Portable Buddy" that Wal Mart carried in stock for $75.87. The cans of propane that would be good for one nights use was $2.37 each or $4.66 for a two pack). I could have purchased the heater, but I am so close to my limit that I would not have been able to get the propane to power it. So, that was out of the question. I did however, put ducktape on the windows on both sides of the RV to cut down on the amount of draft that got around the frames. But, there is lots of work to be done on the RV to make it heat tight such as replace a missing equipment hatch on the left side and repair that compartment's floor. That was where most of the cold air was seeping into the RV was coming from while I spent my two night there.

But, getting that heater in February will be one of my goals. Even though I stil do not have that RV hook up to electric yet, getting that heater will help bridge the gap between my current homelessness and making that RV my home for this year.