.MPG files

While on my MATS Connie trip of '96, I brought along a video camera and shot more footage than a commie spy working as a night janitor at the Pentagon. (A little Cold War humor there. Sorry.) These files are quite large but worth it, IMHO!

Special thanks go out to my friends Les Shearer and John Dickens for their help in preparing these files.

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	A 3-part series from Wichita, TX Part I: Taxiing Into Take-Off Position The anticipation of taking off in the MATS Connie was half the fun of getting there. 0:24 seconds; 3.846 MB
	Part II: Taking Off Granted, this isn't an F-15 going into full afterburner, but those mighty Wright 3350 engines can still drag tens of thousands of pounds of heavy metal off the runway and into the heavens. 0:54 seconds; 8.374 MB
	Part III: Climbing Out Just after breaking ground from the Wichita Falls airport, we get a panoramic view of at the Texas countryside, beginning with adjacent Sheppard Air Force Base. 1:07 seconds; 10.377 MB
	Engine Start-Up Let's face it: jets just don't have 'it'...that thrill of counting prop blades as they turn, reaching ignition on the last blade of the fourth revolution, then seeing the smoke and flames belch out of the exhaust stack as the engine comes to life. (And unlike its bastard cousin, the turboprop, a radial engine 'hums' rather than 'snarls'!) 0:55 seconds; 8.624 MB
	The Cockpit The view of the world from the front office of the MATS Connie makes one long for the good old days before hijackings, unruly passengers, and other ills of our modern society made an in-flight visit to the flight crew an anachronism. 0:23 seconds; 3.645 MB
	Flight Engineer's Instrument Panel Once upon a time, airplanes had a third flight crew member whose job was to operate and monitor the engines. This is his part of the front office. Of special interest is the small cathode-ray tube used to display engine operating parameters via a wavy green line...gleaning nuances from this gadget is an art unto itself! 0:45 seconds; 7.045 MB
	Clouds #1 Flying above a storm cell, it's blue skies above and cotton-like clouds six inches below the propeller tips for as far as the eyes could see. 0:41 seconds; 6.439 MB
	Clouds #2 I liked the first one so much I decided to sneak in a second look! 0:56 seconds; 8.755 MB
	Another 3-part series Part I: The Taxi Turning onto the runway of the Springfield-Branson airport, we caught the Missouri autumn sun at a low angle. The resulting highlights really show off the MATS Connie's highly polished bare metal finish. 0:30 seconds; 5.2 MB
	Part II: The Take-Off As the engines rev up, the beams of sunlight glistening off the wing gives an otherwise routine departure a surrealistic feeling. 1:21 seconds; 11.073 MB
	Part III: The Climb-Out People in the "Show Me" state are justifiably proud of Missouri's natural beauty, and this sequence shows why. 0:55 seconds; 8.626 MB
	The Mighy Miss We followed the Mississippi River, along the Missouri-Illinois border, enroute to the DuPage County airport. Flying at about 6,000 feet is the ONLY way to see America's most famous waterway. 0:31 seconds; 4.788 MB
	Farmland Over The Heartland At the risk of sounding goopy, my nine days with the MATS Connie gave me a greater appreciation of this great country we live in. I have driven across most of it, or traversed it by air at 30,000 feet, but there is nothing to compare to seeing the countryside from this level. As we passed overhead, we crewmembers could only smile at the possible reactions of people in the towns below going about their daily lives when they hear the growl of our radial engines, then they look up to see a triple-tailed wonder from another era. Life is grand! 0:11 seconds; 2.0 MB

Southeast Asia files

	"All For One" Part 1 A 1972 Air Force documentary focusing on the Search And Rescue (SAR) efforts to recover a downed pilot. Mixes simulated combat footage with the real deal. This installment features an H-53, HC-130, A-1, and refueling pix. 8 mb; 47 secs.
	All For One Part 2 Same planes as the previous clip plus an OV-10 and a growling mini-gun spraying the jungle from the door gunner's perch. 11.28 mb; 1:06
	All For One Part 3 A continuation of Part 2. 8.7 mb; 51 secs.
	The Sparrowhawks A Vietnamese-language doc circa mid-60s about a South Vietnamese Forward Air Controller (FAC) unit. 11.5 mb; 1:08
	Thare Orphanage "The Chant" While at NKP during the war years, some of the fellows hooked up with an orphanage in a rural part of northeast Thailand. Twenty-five years later, they have not forgotten what they saw and this has become the 'official' charity of the TLC Brotherhood. This footage was taken in the late 90s by Tommy Thompson, who still lives in Udorn, as he delivered money and gifts. This clip is a lunch-time 'assembly'. 2.8 Mb; 16 secs.
	Thare Orphanage "The Dance" Lovely young Thai girls perform a classical dance for this most auspicious occasion. 7 mb; 41 secs.
	Thare Orphanage Tommy presents a check from the TLC Brotherhood that is graciously accepted by Father Khai. Part I: 6.4 mb; 37 secs. Part II: 11.2 mb; 1.05.