Day to Day Life images

[Edward]

TSgt Ralph Madera, was awarded the DFC for patching and landing a crippled B-24 (he was not a pilot) after flack killed or wounded almost all on board. The fuselage was almost cut in half, and bomb arming wires were used to splice the control cables.

Colorized by me:

View attachment 21333

good grief!!!! talk about quick thinking, innovative and resourceful.. and he wasn't even a pilot! now THAT should be in a movie!

using the bombing wires to splice and rig the control cables was really smart!
I used to drive big French Percheron draft horses pulling carriages of 16 people on tours of the streets of historic Charleston. These horses range in height from 15 to 19 hands high and weigh around 2000 lbs. They are funny, clumsy somewhat smart and full of attitude.. like a big dog... well, the harness and tack is all leather and gets a lot of abuse and exposure to the elements especially rain, sun and humidity... well, on tour one of the belly bands that holds one of the traces that holds up one of the shafts of the carriage broke causing the carriage shaft to drop (this is bad lol!) many horses will panic or see it as an opportunity to shake the entire tack off and run free.. of course he is still mostly strapped to the carriage so we could have had a temporary runaway carriage issue. (I can control a horse in almost any situation so I laugh when I see runaway horse carriage scenes in old western movies... they usually don't get far if you know how to handle this kind of thing and are even the least bit experienced with horses and everyone in those days were! ...
Anyhoot I was lucky and the horse was calm and didn't notice or care so I basically drove him to a curb facing a tree (which distracts the horse because now he wants to eat the leaves!) and I carefully got off the carriage (not the best situation to be in when there are 16 tourists on board) pulled off my leather belt and tied it to the broken piece and used the buckle to hook it onto the trace buckle keeping the trace line and shaft were they should be... I was then able to continue the last stretch of the tour and get the carriage load back to the office and let me tell you just how big of a man I felt when the owner and manager watched me pull in and they immediately noticed my belt was holding the entire tack on the damn horse! lol! they were mighty impressed that I even thought to do such a thing and told everyone that this is why its a good idea to always wear a belt to work! LOL! To me it was just instant reaction and solution to the situation and it just happened really fast and I didn't think a whole lot of it. probably took me all of 30 seconds to do...I had just hoped it would hold until I landed safely at the cross ties of the barn! lol!

 

[B-Man2]

TSgt Ralph Madera, was awarded the DFC for patching and landing a crippled B-24 (he was not a pilot) after flack killed or wounded almost all on board. The fuselage was almost cut in half, and bomb arming wires were used to splice the control cables.

Colorized by me:

View attachment 21333

Man ..!! That’s some photo,I’m guessing the door gunner didn’t survive that blast . What a back story. Wonder where he was in the aircraft that he survived all that . Also wonder who flew the plane while he was doing all the cable repair work. Must have been in auto pilot. Thanks Greg.

 

[ausreenactor]

We never hear the tails of what happened inside the aircraft that didn't make it back. They would be the amazing stories of brotherhood and camaraderie.

 

[Flightengineer]

What is this wizardly you have performed? Well done.. Program or you have 'skills'?

I join the admiration and the question, Greg.

 

[ausreenactor]

I join the admiration and the question, Greg.

Why did I picture a Conga line in my head..... In glorious Pana-Vision.....??

 

[Greg Gale]

Thanks I simply used Photoshop to color it. One layer per color - it can get fussy sometimes, but I enjoy the process.

 

[Micawber]

good grief!!!! talk about quick thinking, innovative and resourceful.. and he wasn't even a pilot! now THAT should be in a movie!

using the bombing wires to splice and rig the control cables was really smart!
I used to drive big French Percheron draft horses pulling carriages of 16 people on tours of the streets of historic Charleston. These horses range in height from 15 to 19 hands high and weigh around 2000 lbs. They are funny, clumsy somewhat smart and full of attitude.. like a big dog... well, the harness and tack is all leather and gets a lot of abuse and exposure to the elements especially rain, sun and humidity... well, on tour one of the belly bands that holds one of the traces that holds up one of the shafts of the carriage broke causing the carriage shaft to drop (this is bad lol!) many horses will panic or see it as an opportunity to shake the entire tack off and run free.. of course he is still mostly strapped to the carriage so we could have had a temporary runaway carriage issue. (I can control a horse in almost any situation so I laugh when I see runaway horse carriage scenes in old western movies... they usually don't get far if you know how to handle this kind of thing and are even the least bit experienced with horses and everyone in those days were! ...
Anyhoot I was lucky and the horse was calm and didn't notice or care so I basically drove him to a curb facing a tree (which distracts the horse because now he wants to eat the leaves!) and I carefully got off the carriage (not the best situation to be in when there are 16 tourists on board) pulled off my leather belt and tied it to the broken piece and used the buckle to hook it onto the trace buckle keeping the trace line and shaft were they should be... I was then able to continue the last stretch of the tour and get the carriage load back to the office and let me tell you just how big of a man I felt when the owner and manager watched me pull in and they immediately noticed my belt was holding the entire tack on the damn horse! lol! they were mighty impressed that I even thought to do such a thing and told everyone that this is why its a good idea to always wear a belt to work! LOL! To me it was just instant reaction and solution to the situation and it just happened really fast and I didn't think a whole lot of it. probably took me all of 30 seconds to do...I had just hoped it would hold until I landed safely at the cross ties of the barn! lol!

Ah now you're talking! Proper horseman's make do and mend approach, many a time I've used baler twine to get out of trouble. We have Percherons around here but Shires and Suffolk Punch heavies outnumber them but not so many Clysdale's.

I'm a Suffolk Punch person myself, one of my mares and her foal...

Apologies for the off topic diversion. Normal service will now resume.....

 

[B-Man2]

Nice photo Steve!
I’d want to play around with that little one .

 

[Edward]

Ah now you're talking! Proper horseman's make do and mend approach, many a time I've used baler twine to get out of trouble. We have Percherons around here but Shires and Suffolk Punch heavies outnumber them but not so many Clysdale's.

I'm a Suffolk Punch person myself, one of my mares and her foal...

View attachment 21338

Apologies for the off topic diversion. Normal service will now resume.....

very cool Micawber! well, to further the derail I would like to add that I drove a Suffolk Punch team for 9 months giving carriage tours at a plantation! great horses! I also drove Belgian draft ... sadly I've never actually ridden a horse only driven. one of my favorite things I used to do occasionally at the plantation was long reining. walk behind and drive the fully tacked horse out to the carriage and later unhitch the horse from the carriage, holding the lines and walk them from behind steering the horse to the paddock where someone else would cross tie so we could take off the tack. seems sketchy as hell! lol! good times! I haven't worked with horses in about 12 year or so though...

Long Reining - like this: (not me in photo)... sadly I have no photos of me working with drafts

 

[B-Man2]

very cool Micawber! well, to further the derail I would like to add that I drove a Suffolk Punch team for 9 months giving carriage tours at a plantation! great horses! I also drove Belgian draft ... sadly I've never actually ridden a horse only driven. one of my favorite things I used to do occasionally at the plantation was long reining. walk behind and drive the fully tacked horse out to the carriage and later unhitch the horse from the carriage, holding the lines and walk them from behind steering the horse to the paddock where someone else would cross tie so we could take off the tack. seems sketchy as hell! lol! good times! I haven't worked with horses in about 12 year or so though...

Long Reining - like this: (not me in photo)... sadly I have no photos of me working with drafts
View attachment 21342

This is cool stuff... The skills some of you guys have are surprising . Cool job Ed!

 

[Edward]

This is cool stuff... The skills some of you guys have is surprising . Cool job Ed!

https://www.sqpartbooks.com/product-page/art-of-edward-reed.


I used to be "somebody" lol!

I haven't done any art in about 10 years now... just got burned out and no money in it.

I was a Contributing Editor for Airbrush Magazine from 1995 to 1998, an Editorial Advisor/Contributing Editor for the internationally distributed German publication Airbrush Art & Action from 1998 to 2003, and the Editorial Advisor/Contributing Editor for Art Scene International magazine from 2003 to 2009 (also out of Germany).
I started creating pinup art in 1988. I wrote many instructional articles on the subject of how to create pinup art for Airbrush Magazine, Airbrush Action, Art Scene International, and Airbrush Art & Action and a couple of books that are now long out of print. In 1997 I designed the FH-10 Freehand Pinup Shield for ARTOOL Products Company, which is still sold in art supply stores today. I see monkey money residuals. lol!

the books The Art of Edward Reed: Portraits & Pin-ups, was published by SQP in the spring of 2008, and Atlantica: A School of Mermaids was published by SQP in 2013. I also illustrated covers and interior art for many of their compilation art books for a few years. photographed some of my own models but mostly either worked with other photographers for reference material or just built my pinup girls from scratch. I can post some of my art here later if you like. I have a lot of work reminiscent of Vargas and Petty my main sources of inspiration.

 

[B-Man2]

Very impressive Ed!
What a colorful group of diverse people we have on VLJ!

 

[Edward]

Very impressive Ed!
What a colorful group of diverse people we have on VLJ!

Thanks! It was fun while it lasted. Was a hobby for me but Just got lucky on a few things with it. In the end it became way too much work for not enough money... took up a lot of time and after a while wasn’t worth doing. For a while I could wow and amaze my friends and family lol!

 

[ausreenactor]

Thanks I simply used Photoshop to color it. One layer per color - it can get fussy sometimes, but I enjoy the process.

Holy crap! How long did it take for that one pic?

 

[Edward]

Enlisted in the USAAF and with the mighty eighth! What a cute girlfriend... hope he made it home to her... oh I can hear the creek of that gate and the slam of the wood when it closes!

 

[B-Man2]

Enlisted in the USAAF and with the mighty eighth! What a cute girlfriend... hope he made it home to her... oh I can hear the creek of that gate and the slam of the wood when it closes!
View attachment 21414

Nice photo ... I’m with you, be great to know that he made it back ok.

 

[ausreenactor]

Ground crew? Probably.

 

[Edward]

Brigadier General James H. Doolittle, USAAF
Poses beside an Army Air Forces recruiting poster alluding to his April 1942 bombing raid on Japan.
Photograph was taken circa 1943.

 

[B-Man2]

Never saw that one before,
Thanks Ed!

 

[Micawber]

Brigadier General James H. Doolittle, USAAF
Poses beside an Army Air Forces recruiting poster alluding to his April 1942 bombing raid on Japan.
Photograph was taken circa 1943.View attachment 21722

Seeing the General there reminds me of a local chap who sadly passed last year and someone I was pleased to call a friend. What's the link? Well during the war young Percy became something of a mascot for the 388th BG H at Knettishall, so much so that they made him a sized down uniform of his own to wear. Percy Prentice was a good old boy who always had time to pass the time of day. Years later he tended the 388th BG memorial and could often be seen down there keeping it looking just so.

Apologies for the fuzzy photos but that's all I could find at present. First photo is of Percy with the General. Second just prior to the unveiling and dedication of the additional wings to the memorial just a few years ago, an event that was well attended, me included. Rest In Peace mate.