Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Two Swans A O K
It's a cold sunny day with a light wind from the SE. My fingers hurt from the cold for the first half hour. The lake is up 6 inches from the winter low and moving about in the marsh is easier. The turtles are not out today, returning to wherever they go like groundhogs that have seen (or not) their shadows. I head ccw around Union Bay. A small yellow seaplane lands near me, an unusual occurrence on the bay. I'm not sure it is legal, but it doesn't matter as the airplane had no registration numbers - which is definitely not legal. Over in the NE lagoon, their is a medium sized hawk, but I can't ID it. As I leave the lagoon, one eagle flies in and perches by the lunch counter. I'm paddling west along the shore and scanning for stuff when I see the tail of an otter going under. It must have seen me and I stop to see where it will surface. It didn't see me, because it comes up just 10 feet away and rolls on its back to eat, then it sees me and it's gone. As I get past the north point, a herd of coots starts thrashing and a moment later the eagle comes from behind me and begins hunting a coot that has dove. This time, the coot makes a long underwater swim (for a bird without webbed feet) and comes up when the eagle is looking in a different direction. The coot makes its escape and the eagle circles stubbornly for a few minutes until it finally gives up. As I head back to the put-in, I see 7 herons together in the sun where I had seen so many last week. Geese are making noise again today also. The last two swans, both gray are still here. Today, I used my new paddle, an ottertail shape that I just finished. It feels good with a good balance and just about the right amount of dig.
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
D U K W Design 402
The DUKW was conceived by the military who felt they needed an amphibious truck. In the early stages of World War II the military was enlisting the help of civilians in an effort to get military product from concept to production to the theater of war as quickly as possible. To that end three men were tapped for this project: Rod Stephens, Jr., Dennis Puletson and Frank Speir, all with specific talents. The first thing they did, and a smart move on their part, was to analyze what trucks currently in production could be used as a basis for the vehicle. To that end a GMC military six-wheel truck that was already in production as a military transport was selected and modified for their purposes, thus saving months, if not years off design and development time. 20,000 of these vehicles were produced by General Motors between 1942-1945 for all branches of the military.
The three men were awarded the Presidential Metal of Freedom for their efforts, the highest civilian award presented by the White House.
Rod's forte was in training men to use the vehicles. He was also instrumental in developing uses for the DUKW. Here two are used with a cross-bracing apparatus to transport a small tank across water and that's Rod showing them how it's done (in the natty overcoat). Note the tank's barrel has been removed for shipping.
Here's an image of two units being used to transport a truck across a lake. Incidentally I believe the truck they are transporting is the very same GMC chassis used for the DUKW.
And here we see a crane in use and some jury-rigged form of stabilizers.
Here's the same set up in the water.
Here's a schematic.
If you're interested in this subject make sure to read the chapter about the DUKW in Rod's book. Click here to access the book. It's the final chapter starting on page 99.
And finally here's the vehicle in use.
Friday, 10 March 2017
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