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Biker, Happy Joan of Arc Day!

H

Huon

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May 12, 2004
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Goatboy said:
As Commandant Lassard used to say; "Many, many, many." lets shift tack shall we?

This axe-gun should keep Pa happy when off zombie hunting dont'cha think?
jydvy_1-tfb.jpg
Click to expand...

You think the writing is on the wall?

Pa's anti-zombie arsenal is fairly comprehensive, it has to be with the things wandering loose in his basement. I don't think he has one of those axe guns though.

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Goatboy

Goatboy

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Biker Happy Battle of Stamford Bridge Day.

On this day in 1066 The Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire in England on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada of Norway (Old Norse: Haraldr harðráði) and the English king's brother Tostig Godwinson. After a bloody and horrific battle, both Hardrada and Tostig along with most of the Norwegians were killed. Although Harold Godwinson repelled the Norwegian invaders, his victory was short-lived: he was defeated and killed by the Normans at Hastings less than three weeks later. The battle has traditionally been presented as symbolising the end of the Viking Age, although in fact major Scandinavian campaigns in Britain and Ireland occurred in the following decades, notably those of King Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark in 1069–70 and King Magnus Barefoot of Norway in 1098 and 1102–03.
The death of King Edward the Confessor of England in January 1066 had triggered a succession struggle in which a variety of contenders from across north-western Europe fought for the English throne. These claimants included the King of Norway, Harald Hardrada, who assembled a fleet of 300 ships, probably carrying about 15,000 troops, to invade England. Arriving off the English coast in September he was joined by further forces recruited in Flanders and Scotland by Tostig Godwinson. Tostig was at odds with his elder brother Harold (who had been elected king), having been ousted from his position as Earl of Northumbria and exiled in 1065, and had mounted a series of abortive attacks on England in the spring of 1066. In the late summer of 1066, the invaders sailed up the Ouse before advancing on York. Outside the city they defeated a northern English army led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia and his brother Morcar, Earl of Northumbria at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September. Following this victory they received the surrender of York. Having briefly occupied the city and taken hostages and supplies from the city they returned to their ships at Riccall. They offered peace to the Northumbrians in exchange for their support for Harald's bid for the throne, and demanded further hostages from the whole of Yorkshire.
At this time King Harold was in Southern England, anticipating an invasion from France by William, Duke of Normandy, another contender for the English throne. Learning of the Norwegian invasion he headed north at great speed with his houscarls and as many thegns as he could gather, travelling day and night. He made the journey from London to Yorkshire, a distance of about 185 miles, in only four days, enabling him to take the Norwegians completely by surprise. Having learned that Northumbrians had been ordered to send the additional hostages and supplies to the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge, Harold hurried on through York to attack them at this rendezvous on 25 September. Until the English army came into view the invaders remained unaware of the presence of a hostile army anywhere in the vicinity.

The Vikings were at an enormous disadvantage. Their army was divided in two; with some of their troops on the west side of the River Derwent and the bulk of their army on the east side. They were not expecting English intervention, and since it was an unseasonably warm day for late September, they left their armour behind at their ships. The English army arrived and annihilated the Vikings who fought a futile defence on the west side of the river. By the time the bulk of the English army had arrived, the Vikings on the west side were either slain or fleeing across the bridge. The English advance was then delayed by the need to pass through the choke-point presented by the bridge. A later folk story has it that a giant Norse axeman (possibly armed with a Dane Axe) blocked the narrow crossing, and single-handedly held up the entire English army. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that this axeman cut down up to 40 Englishmen. He was only defeated when an English soldier floated under the bridge in a half-barrel and thrust his spear through the laths in the bridge, mortally wounding the axeman.
Whatever the delay, this had allowed the bulk of the Norse army to form a shieldwall to face the English attack. Harold's army poured across the bridge, forming a line just short of the Norse army, locked shields and charged. The battle went far beyond the bridge itself, and although it raged for hours the Norse army's decision to leave their armour behind left them at a distinct disadvantage. Eventually, the Norse army began to fragment and fracture, allowing the English troops to force their way in and break up the Scandinavians' shield wall. Completely outflanked, Hardrada at this point was killed with an arrow to his wind pipe and Tostig slain, the Norwegian army disintegrated and was virtually annihilated.
In the later stages of the battle, the Norwegians were reinforced by troops who had been left behind to guard the ships at Ricall, led by Eystein Orri, Hardrada's daughter's fiancé. Some of his men were said to have collapsed and died of exhaustion upon reaching the battlefield. These men, unlike their comrades, were fully armed for battle. Their counter-attack, described in the Norwegian tradition as "Orri's Storm", briefly checked the English advance, but was soon overwhelmed and Orri was slain by a Saxon warrior. The Norwegian army routed, pursued by the English army, some of the fleeing Norsemen drowned in the rivers.
So many died in an area so small that the field was said to have been still whitened with bleached bones 50 years after the battle
​
 
crosslandkelly

crosslandkelly

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Quite an epic battle from the reading of it.

On this day in 1973,
Skylab 3 safely splashed down and was retrieved. A new record was set of 59 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes.

During the approach phase, a propellant leak developed in one of the Apollo Service Module's reaction control system thruster quads. The crew was able to safely dock with Skylab, but troubleshooting continued with the problem. Six days later, another thruster quad developed a leak, creating concern amongst Mission Control. For the first time, an Apollo spacecraft would be rolled out to Launch Complex 39 for a rescue mission, made possible by the ability for the station to have two Apollo CSMs docked at the same time. It was eventually determined that the CSM could be safely maneuvered using only two working thruster quads, and the rescue mission was never launched.

The crew, during their first EVA, installed the twin-pole sunshade, one of the two solutions for the destruction of the micrometeoroid shield during Skylab's launch to keep the space station cool. It was installed over the parasol, which was originally deployed through a porthole airlock during Skylab 2. Both were brought to the station by Skylab 2.

Skylab 3 continued a comprehensive medical research program that extended the data on human physiological adaptation and readaptation to space flight collected on the previous Skylab 2 mission. In addition, Skylab 3 extended the astronauts' stay in space from approximately one month to two months. Therefore, the effects of flight duration on physiological adaptation and readaptation could be examined.

View attachment 22960View attachment 22961View attachment 22962
 
crosslandkelly

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Great tv news though, such drama.
A few pics of my Boone kit. Surprisingly comfortable to carry.

View attachment 22998 View attachment 23002 View attachment 23003 View attachment 23004

Kit list in bedroll from Left to Right.
1 Hobo stove and 10cm 3piece billy and home made UCO lantern.2 Jute ridge line and cotton twine,Spoon knife, Whittler, hygene kit and Laplander. 3 Spare shirt and 2 pairs socks. 4 small piece of roll mat,and 2 ltrs water. All rolled in a small ground sheet, 2 Yugoslavian wool blankets and a DD 3x3 tarp. total weight 7.3 kilos. Food carried in a Swedish army gas mask bag. 2.2kilos. Belt with Mora robust, Opinel
No8, 1ltr canteen, Kuksa and pouch, containing fak, tinder box, torch and nightlights.
 
H

Huon

Native
May 12, 2004
1,327
1
Spain
crosslandkelly said:
Great tv news though, such drama.
A few pics of my Boone kit. Surprisingly comfortable to carry.

View attachment 22998 View attachment 23002 View attachment 23003 View attachment 23004

Kit list in bedroll from Left to Right.
1 Hobo stove and 10cm 3piece billy and home made UCO lantern.2 Jute ridge line and cotton twine,Spoon knife, Whittler, hygene kit and Laplander. 3 Spare shirt and 2 pairs socks. 4 small piece of roll mat,and 2 ltrs water. All rolled in a small ground sheet, 2 Yugoslavian wool blankets and a DD 3x3 tarp. total weight 7.3 kilos. Food carried in a Swedish army gas mask bag. 2.2kilos. Belt with Mora robust, Opinel
No8, 1ltr canteen, Kuksa and pouch, containing fak, tinder box, torch and nightlights.
Click to expand...

Que chula!

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crosslandkelly

crosslandkelly

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Man of Tanith said:
Twas a good kit you had there Colin and I'm gonna mimic it in some senses.
Although I'm afraid over the shoulder didnt look the comfiest to me.
Click to expand...

Cheers Sam. The over the shoulder carry was very comfortable, weight distribution is great. I just didn't like the pillow constantly on my left shoulder, also it got very warm. Same stuff, but different carry next time.
 
crosslandkelly

crosslandkelly

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On this day in 1997

STS-86 - . Call Sign: Atlantis. Crew: Wetherbee; Bloomfield; Titov, Vladimir; Parazynski; Chretien; Lawrence; Wolf. Payload: Atlantis F20 / Spacehab-DM. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Wetherbee; Bloomfield; Titov, Vladimir; Parazynski; Chretien; Lawrence; Wolf. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: Mir. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-86; Mir NASA-5; Mir NASA-4; Mir EO-24. Spacecraft: Atlantis. Duration: 10.81 days. Decay Date: 1997-10-06 . USAF Sat Cat: 24964 . COSPAR: 1997-055A. Apogee: 381 km (236 mi). Perigee: 354 km (219 mi). Inclination: 51.6000 deg. Period: 91.90 min. Atlantis was launched on a mission to the Russian Mir space station. The TI rendevous terminal initiation burn was carried out at 17:32 GMT on September 27, and Atlantis docked with the SO (Docking Module) on the Mir complex at 19:58 GMT. The crew exchange was completed on September 28, with David Wolf replacing Michael Foale on the Mir crew. On October 1 cosmonaut Titov and astronaut Parazynski conducted a spacewalk from the Shuttle payload bay while Atlantis was docked to Mir. They retrieved four MEEP (Mir Environmental Effects Payload ) exposure packages from Mir's SO module and installed the Spektr solar array cap. The MEEP experiments had been attached to the Docking Module by astronauts Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford during Shuttle mission STS-76 in March 1996. In addition to retrieving the MEEP, Parazynski and Titov were to continue an evaluation of the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), a small jet-backpack designed for use as a type of life jacket during station assembly.

Atlantis undocked from Mir at 17:28 GMT on October 3 and conducted a flyaround focused on the damaged Spektr Module to determine the location of the puncture in its hull. The Mir crew pumped air into the Spektr Module using a pressure regulator valve, and the Shuttle crew observed evidence that, as expected, the leak seemed to be located at the base of the damaged solar panel. Final separation of Atlantis from Mir took place around 20:28 GMT. After two landing attempts were waved off on October 5 due to heavy cloud cover, the crew fired the engines to deorbit at 20:47 GMT on October 6 and landed at Kennedy Space Center at 21:55.

View attachment 23010View attachment 23011
 
Goatboy

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Biker, Happy Stanislav Petrov Saves The World Day!
Biker, on this day in 1983 - Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov averts a worldwide nuclear war.
Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (born c. 1939) is a retired lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. On September 26, 1983, he was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile was being launched from the United States. Petrov judged the report to be a false alarm, and his decision is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war. Investigation later confirmed that the satellite warning system had malfunctioned.
There are questions about the part Petrov's decision played in preventing nuclear war, because, according to the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation, nuclear retaliation requires that multiple sources confirm an attack. In any case, the incident exposed a serious flaw in the Soviet early warning system. Petrov asserts that he was neither rewarded nor punished for his actions.
Had Petrov reported incoming American missiles, his superiors might have launched an assault against the United States, precipitating a corresponding nuclear response from the United States. Petrov declared the system's indication a false alarm. Later, it was apparent that he was right: no missiles were approaching and the computer detection system was malfunctioning. It was subsequently determined that the false alarm had been created by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds and the satellites' Molniya orbits, an error later corrected by cross-referencing a geostationary satellite.
Petrov later indicated that the influences on his decision included: that he was informed a U.S. strike would be all-out, so five missiles seemed an illogical start; that the launch detection system was new and, in his view, not yet wholly trustworthy; and that ground radar failed to pick up corroborative evidence, even after minutes of delay.
Petrov underwent intense questioning by his superiors about his judgment. Initially, he was praised for his decision. General Yury Votintsev, then commander of the Soviet Air Defense's Missile Defense Units, who was the first to hear Petrov's report of the incident (and the first to reveal it to the public in the 1990s), states that Petrov's "correct actions" were "duly noted." Petrov himself states he was initially praised by Votintsev and promised a reward, but recalls that he was also reprimanded for improper filing of paperwork under the pretext that he had not described the incident in the military diary.
He received no reward. According to Petrov, this was because the incident and other bugs found in the missile detection system embarrassed his superiors and the influential scientists who were responsible for it, so that if he had been officially rewarded, they would have had to be punished. He was reassigned to a less sensitive post, took early retirement (although he emphasizes that he was not "forced out" of the army, as is sometimes claimed by Western sources), and suffered a nervous breakdown.
In a later interview, Petrov stated that the famous red button has never worked, as military psychologists did not want to put the decision about a war into the hands of one single person.
The incident became known publicly in the 1990s upon the publication of Votintsev's memoirs. Widespread media reports since then have increased public awareness of Petrov's actions.
There is some confusion as to precisely what Petrov's military role was in this incident. Petrov, as an individual, was not in a position where he could single-handedly have launched any of the Soviet missile arsenal. His sole duty was to monitor satellite surveillance equipment and report missile attack warnings up the chain of command; top Soviet leadership would have decided whether to launch a retaliatory attack against the West. But Petrov's role was crucial in making that decision. According to Bruce Blair, a Cold War nuclear strategies expert and nuclear disarmament advocate, formerly with the Center for Defense Information, "The top leadership, given only a couple of minutes to decide, told that an attack had been launched, would make a decision to retaliate."
Petrov has said he does not regard himself as a hero for what he did that day. In an interview for the documentary film The Red Button and the Man Who Saved the World, Petrov says, "All that happened didn't matter to me — it was my job. I was simply doing my job, and I was the right person at the right time, that's all. My late wife for 10 years knew nothing about it. 'So what did you do?' she asked me. 'I did nothing.'"
​
 
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