Posted on 09/30/2001 6:02:48 PM PDT by RonDog
On the 21st of this month, I ran across a message somewhere on usenet that said something along the lines of "Well, looks like the terrorists lost the toss". This sat in my head for a bit, and I morphed it into the "The terrorists have won the toss, and have elected to receive". Now all I needed was a good photo of a 52 or something. Originally, I had intended to find an image I had seen before of a 52 doing a carpet bombing mission from about 300 feet. I couldnt find that one, but found the one below. A bit of cut/paste/etc in photoshop, and I had the image.
I mailed it out to a dozen or so of my friends, and posted it on one website, the Dead Goat Saloon. How it spread from there is anybody's guess. Ive recieved dozens of emails about it.
Free Republic has a long thread about searching for me. :)
Original Image
Congratulations to ALL the FReepers who helped track down Bob McCown, and the original B-52 photograph from Barksdale Air Force Base!
Leni
It's pretty awesome.
So the B-52 can carry a maximum of either 51 or 45 munitions, depending on which pylon is mounted under the wings. However, the AGM-28 pylon is no longer used, so the B-52 currently carries on HSABs, limiting the external load to 18 bombs, or a total of 45 bombs.
I've had several Freepers ask for the source of this graphic which was forwarded to me in an email. I would like to contact the original source. Perhaps some Freeper can help.
Good idea! And, I know JUST the gal...
Not a dumb question. It's a rotary launcher for cruise missiles.
Any hope of getting the spelling error corrected?
Already done by LBGA. From the previous thread
Hey RonDog! Nice to see you! I can't help any more than to show the pic that was posted on 9/25 that I saved. I always send pics of current events and editorial comment to my son, so I saved it when it was first posted, I think by Teacup.
Here is the one that showed up on RaceBannon's thread on 9/27 (also shown at the top of this thread):
Here is the one that was created on 9/25 and posted:
Here is my correction of that 9/25 pic. I only corrected it because I didn't want my son to "i" comes before "e" EVEN after "c." ;-)
Notice on the 9/25 pic the sig in the lower right corner is blurry, but apparently says "Bob." In the one you posted, it looks to me like the sig was corrected because the background is different, but it probably is the same "Bob."
I could tell that the one you posted was not the one I corrected and posted to RaceBannon's thread when his didn't show up because the "e" is in front of the tail on mine and the "d" is in front of the tail on the one you posted here.
I first saw the original pic without the text on Yahoo Photos the day before it was posted here. It was a file photo, one of many of our war planes and ships which I looked through when trying to find a pic for the "Warm and Fuzzy" thread. Obviously, someone else saw those pics on Yahoo and was super creative.
Great inspiration - great picture. My brother told me about this picture in a phone conversation. He was so impressed I had to search for it. (It would never occur to him to send me the link.) I'm sending the picture out to relatives and friends.
You are not alone. The response to this image has been INCREDIBLE!
Since nationally syndicated conservative talk host Hugh Hewitt described this image on his radio show last Friday, citing Free Republic as his source (!) (mentioning a post by ASA Vet in particular), his webmistress, Lynne (the WebXena) has been DELUGED with reqeusts for a link.
Here is what she posted on www.HughHewitt.com:
By overwhelming demand, here's the link to "The Terrorists have won the toss and elect to receive!" You will need to scroll down on the page to see the photo.
As it happens, she linked to a DIFFERENT thread on Free Republic than the one with ASA Vet's post, but it is still on FR:
If the Taliban won?
Posted on 09/28/2001 10:12:35 PDT by Demosthenes
BRAVO! So glad that we know the source of this great image & message.
And here is he, in his own words, Mr. Bob McCown, from www.rmccown.org/bob/index.shtml:
I'm your average everyday computer type, working 10-12 hour days and living on pizza and Thai takeout. Ive been involved with computers since around 1978. For the past 18 or so years, I have been working with PC's, in C, C++, and more recently (6-8 years) in HTML, ASP, PERL and Java. I am currently a Principal Software Engineer/Technical Lead working on applicatoin delivery systems (resume' below) for a startup.
Ive created quite a stir with my "Terrorists" image. Go here to see a bit about it.
I also do freelance computer graphics and Webpage design, using Kinetix 3D Studio R4 and Max 2.0, Character Studio, Animatek WorldBuilder 2.0, Adobe Photoshop, Fractal Design Painter, and assorted other tools. I am also a regular contributor to, and "Highway Department" for, the Studio City 3d project.
I'm not married (been there, done that), and have a wonderful 8 year old son (not from the marriage, with Pamela, a longtime, but now ex-partner). I have long hair (Currently down to the small of my back).
As reported by guttersnipe, that ORIGINAL image has been SO popular over the years that the Image Library on the website of the Eighth Air Force at Barksdale Air Force Base has a "right click disable" feature on the actual B-52 image.
(You can still see it online there by going to the link above, then clicking on Image Library, and B-52.)
BTW, Im printing it on a shirt not (spelling corrected, yea yea).
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store/productdetail.aspx?prodno=1532346
-=Bob
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This is getting to be a habit!
(Nationally syndicated talk host Hugh Hewitt's producer (generalissimoduane) just joined FR a few days ago.)
Now, we can claim you as one of our own!
You have joined the rarified ranks of such creative minds as FR's own Registered, who popularized the wildy popular "SoreLoserman" image last November.
One small request, though, Mr. Bob McCown, the "newbie" FReeper:
Can you also talk to abner about doing some T-shirts?
SHE is our favorite T-shirt artist here on FR. (You have e-mail.)
RonDog is our resident PR guy. LOL! Welcome to FR.
Ron, you are too much!
I guess that this means it was OK to post this thread as "Headline News," right? ;)
(I was GOING to post it as "Extended News" but that sidebar is down. What's up with THAT?)
Also, Mr./Ms. Sidebar Moderator, can you please notify the powers that be about our "newbie" FReeper?
Thank you.
Nope. That job is taken by Clinton's A Liar. (But I help a little!)
Since becoming operational in 1955, the Boeing Stratofortress B-52 has been the main long-range heavy bomber of the Strategic Air Command. Affectionately known as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fella), it first flew on April 15, 1952.
Nearly 750 B-52s were built when production ended in October 1963, of which 170 were D models. The D models were modified to carry conventional bombs externally, and later series had provisions for Hound Dog air-to-surface missiles and Quail decoy missiles.
On January 18, 1957, three B-52Bs completed the world's first non-stop round-the-world flight by jet aircraft, lasting 45 hrs., 19 mins., with only three aerial refuelings en route.
A B-52 also made the first known airborne hydrogen bomb drop over Bikini Atoll on May 21, 1956.
Engines: Eight Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines. Weight (max. takeoff): 420,000 lb. Speed: Maximum 597.68 mph.
Armament: One M-61 20mm gun in General Electric rear turret with Emerson ASG-21 automatic fire control system.
Your graphic is awesome ..... and we're glad that it did get out of hand .... :-)
Dittos for me. Welcome to Free Republic, Bob!
Can you post a link to it? Thanks!
Welcome Bob. I love your pic. Great work.
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