DrunkenBlog

Doctor StrangeCow

Awhile ago, I mentioned in an off-hand way that someone in the Canadian Air Force had embarked on a quest to get The Cow in places he should probably never ever be. Well, he pulled it off.

Unfortunately, he has to be very careful about details, so we're going to have to call him 'drunkensoldier'. Be sure to give this guy some love, as I'm still too dumbstruck to gush appropriately. Click for larger...

"Pictures of the engine that powers the CF18, an F404 turbofan engine, in the engine test facility."

OMG. Dude. OMG. So cool. OMG.

You know, a lot of people don't really care for the design of the PowerMac G5s, with the word 'cheese-grater' often being used. Personally, I think they damn beautiful, but perhaps big blue funnels (in that exact shade of blue) are due.

"A horizontal stabilizer (h-stab), which is the bit of the tail that is parallel to the ground."

"An inboard trailing edge flap, this is part of the back edge of the wing."

"A CF18 in the paint bay, letting the yellow primer coat dry."

"A whole bunch of external fuel tanks for CF18s."

"A crappy photo of a CF18 in the fuel tank repair facility."

The language barrier could cause some problems here. drunkensoldier later informed me that 'crappy' in Canada means 'Cool as hell' as well as "Another beer please, and could you away my empty?" depending upon its usage.

"A CF18, occassionally with me."

This one is almost a duplicate, but I was thoroughly charmed by the "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" tag.

"A CF18 that has lost its engines (it's used for training ground crew)."

"Some bombs and missiles."

drunkensoldier wasn't at his most descriptive here, and I'm certainly no help in this area. If you know what you're looking at, feel free to fill us in in the comments.

I really don't know which is more amusing in the next one: The Cow or the sign.

"Some pics of whatever was on the ramp."

"An M61 gun system from a CF18."

Like I mentioned, drunkensoldier has to be a little careful about details, so I asked him to let me know verbatim what I could give in terms of backstory of these pictures:

In honour of 01 June 2005 being Canada Day I present you with the DrunkenBlog Cow's latest exploits.

As far as a big story goes, there probably isn't much to tell. Taking these pics took maybe two hours of my time over an extended lunch break. I also spent a few hours planning and getting passes, but the only moral that I can draw out of the story is that it is good to know the right people, and that power is a good thing to have.

I realize that this is a fairly absurd way to spend my time (and, indirectly through my salary, the Canadian taxpayer's dollars). But it was a fun distraction from the daily grind, and I enjoy being moderately subversive every now and again.

I have only been reading your site for a few months, but I enjoy most articles that you write (even if I skim some of the longer technical bits - I wouldn't even call myself an amateur programmer). Keep up the good work.

drunkensoldier is underselling his hack a bit, or rather the richness of the circumstances that allowed this absurdity to take place, and he may well have peaked The Cow. I guess there's always Space Shuttle Cow or Hubble Cow, but it's probably all horizontal from here.

 Posted by drunkenbatman
    July 01, 2005, at 03:07 AM