“In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”

[Jocassee]

I thought the discerning audience of the Armed, Polite Society would appreciate these. I took them yesterday while flying over the Champlain Valley in a 172.











Lake George, west of Champlain



The aircraft



yours truly

[Boomhauer]

Nice pics. Are you a pilot?

Been a while since I've been flying...need to get back to it.

[Jocassee]

Nope, I don't fly. I was just taking pictures and getting airsick.

[Boomhauer]

Nope, I don't fly. I was just taking pictures and getting airsick.

Hehe. Both of my sisters got sick on their respective first flights when I took them up.

Some people can get used to it, others can't. I get seasick, but not airsick or carsick.

[AZRedhawk44]

I took them yesterday while flying over the Champlain Valley in a 172.

You're obviously a terrorist.

Don't worry... you were noticed by DHS and will soon have an opportunity to visit the Colorado SuperMax, without bothering with any of that pesky "rights" or "trial" stuff.

[geronimotwo]

is this fort ticonderoga? i know it is somewhere up there, but haven't been to see it. either that or there is another waco about to happen.

[roo_ster]

Love me some star forts.

[Fly320s]

How much they want for it?  In this economy, it must be cheap.

I'll chip in to buy it and turn it into Ft APS.

[Jocassee]

is this fort ticonderoga? i know it is somewhere up there, but haven't been to see it. either that or there is another waco about to happen.

Yeah somehow that didn't make it into the post. That is Fort Ticonderoga, situated on the West (New York) side of Lake Champlain.

[Matthew Carberry]

Note that it was aircraft as small and simple (or more so) as that Cessna that turned the Vauban star design into so much history.

[freedom lover]

I seem to remember the area being much more built up than that during my visit. I'm probably getting some things mixed up. I was around ten when my family went on a tour there.

[freedom lover]

Graves, who are you quoting and what's the context? I may have heard it before.

[Matthew Carberry]

Graves, who are you quoting and what's the context? I may have heard it before.

Ethan Allen as he took the pictured Fort.

Here's a tip.

Just type or cut and paste a quote or a significant part of a quote you want the source of into google; most of the time you'll get your answer.

google is a great search engine, folks should use it more.

[MechAg94]

Note that it was aircraft as small and simple (or more so) as that Cessna that turned the Vauban star design into so much history.

Wouldn't you say advances in artillery had an impact also? 

[Jamisjockey]

In my old job, I got ride alongs with all sorts of people.  Made friends with a Matamoros, Mex. Cop while working in KBRO (damn good friend to have "just in case").  He was a licensed US pilot to boot.  Wifey McMoneybags had the hots for him to boot, so I talked her into going up for a flight along the beach in the 172 he rented.  He let me fly for a bit, he had to correct my rate of climb or descent....when I was supposed to be flying level  ....He looks over his shoulder and informs me that my wife, riding in back, is turning green.  Apparantly the yo-yo climbs and decents were'nt doing her any favors.  She has never been up in another small airplane since.... 

[roo_ster]

Wouldn't you say advances in artillery had an impact also? 

You are very punny!

[Jocassee]

Note that it was aircraft as small and simple (or more so) as that Cessna that turned the Vauban star design into so much history.

The French didn't get that memo until 1939.

[French G.]

The French didn't get that memo until 1939.

But in a brilliant stroke of luck that would prove most useful in the coming months the memo was printed on white paper. 

[Matthew Carberry]

Wouldn't you say advances in artillery had an impact also? 

Yes, but they had howitzers and indirect fire when Vauban was laying out his fortresses.

Overhead spotting to allow precision targeting, precision dive bombing and vertical envelopment are arguably more important than sheer weight of metal however delivered.

[gunsmith]

 Fort Ti is haunted.
As a Boyscout I was on a camping trip there, late at night I was looking out my tent
When about 15/20 yards away what looked like a rev war era militia member with an odd short barreled shotgun or rifle
( blunderbuss? ) he wasn't "real" he looked like he had been drawn with a very fine white neon  pen, and you could see right through him.
The odd thing is, I wasn't really scared, I was shocked. He didn't seem to see our campsite at all but was careful not to bump into trees as he stalked by, gun at the ready...very interesting.

[MechAg94]

Yes, but they had howitzers and indirect fire when Vauban was laying out his fortresses.

Overhead spotting to allow precision targeting, precision dive bombing and vertical envelopment are arguably more important than sheer weight of metal however delivered.

I was thinking in terms of high explosive shells, rifled guns, and much longer ranged guns.  Recoil absorbing systems also that allowed much higher rates of accurate fire.  I'm no fortifications expert though.

[roo_ster]

I was thinking in terms of high explosive shells, rifled guns, and much longer ranged guns.  Recoil absorbing systems also that allowed much higher rates of accurate fire.  I'm no fortifications expert though.

Some of the old-school mortars they used were freakishly large & could toss a really large shell on top of the fort:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Joseph_Paixhans

In 1823, he invented the first shell guns, which came to be called Paixhans guns (or "canon-obusiers" in the French Navy). Paixhans guns became the first naval guns to combine explosive shells and a flat trajectory, thereby triggering the demise of wooden ships, and the iron hull revolution in boat building. Paixhans also invented a "Mortier monstre" ("Monster Mortar"), using 500 kg bombs, which was used to terrible effect in the Siege of Antwerp in 1832. He was also a naval theorist claiming that a few aggressively armed small units could destroy the largest naval units of the time, making him a precursor of the French "Jeune École" school of thought.

The poet Victor Hugo wrote:

    "Terre! l'obus est Dieu, Paixhans est son prophète."
    ("Earth! the shell is God, Paixhans is his Prophet.")

Even that beast did not spell the end of fortresses. 

On another note, we give the Froggies a hard time, military-wise, but they sure did develop some of the key .mil technology over the years.

[Jocassee]

I seem to remember the area being much more built up than that during my visit. I'm probably getting some things mixed up. I was around ten when my family went on a tour there.

Flew back over it again to day while my buddy was doing practice landings and takeoffs at the Fort Ti airport (the term is generous). You are correct, the town is very close to the Fort. Just outside of my picture frame, in fact.

[freedom lover]

Fort Ti is haunted.
As a Boyscout I was on a camping trip there, late at night I was looking out my tent
When about 15/20 yards away what looked like a rev war era militia member with an odd short barreled shotgun or rifle
( blunderbuss? ) he wasn't "real" he looked like he had been drawn with a very fine white neon  pen, and you could see right through him.
The odd thing is, I wasn't really scared, I was shocked. He didn't seem to see our campsite at all but was careful not to bump into trees as he stalked by, gun at the ready...very interesting.

No offense, but if you don't take that post back alot of people will think you're   insane. I can think of a few logical explanations, though.

[RocketMan]

No offense, but if you don't take that post back alot of people will think you're   insane. I can think of a few logical explanations, though.

I can see you have never experienced a haunting, freedom lover.  I, for one, have no trouble believing gunsmith's account.  That comes from having owned a home in Colorado Springs where...interesting...things happened from time to time.
The world can be an unusual place, as you will find out as you grow older.


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