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About 80% of general aviation aircraft fly using Lycoming engines. Clearing the trees at the end of the runway. Leaving 4500ft for 6500ft. Maintaining airflow and generating lift across the wings. All are impossible without a reliable engine. Lycoming powers my training aircraft and so fuels my quest for a private pilot certificate. This blog is a record of my thoughts and experiences on life, flight, and learning.

09 February 2008

National WWII (D-Day) Museum

While in New Orleans, I had to take a quick trip to the National WWII (D-Day) Museum. I'm a big WWII buff, especially the European theater, from all sides of the conflict - English, French, US, German, Russian, Italian - it's a very interesting period of world history. This museum was interesting in that it told the story of WWII fairly well through photographs, battlemaps, audio, video, and had a number of artifacts. Originally built as the D-Day museum, it was founded by Stephen Ambrose, who wrote such books as Citizen Soldier, D-Day, and Band of Brothers. It's also based in New Orleans, LA because the landing craft (Higgins Boats) that carried so many thousand brave soldiers to storm the Normandy beaches on D-Day were built by the Higgins company of New Orleans. There were a lot of artifacts about the Higgins boats, but it was a good general overview of the conflict. While we were there, the staff kept buzzing about a $300 million expansion that was being built across the street. Since the original museum was built merely as a D-Day Museum, it didn't have enough room to adequately cover North African, European, Pacific theaters of operation. It was definitely worth a visit, and will be really worth a visit when the expansion is complete.
A Higgins Boat, or LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel)

Check out the U-G-L-Y welds on the armour plating on this Sherman Tank!

Seven Steps to be a good citizen and control inflation. I wonder if we'll see posters like this again?

Nothing like a little devalued currency - Steel Pennies were minted during the war.

Plans for a Higgins Boat - build your own!

Personal Message from the British Commander, Bernard Law Montgomery on the eve of D-Day

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