Ken, i was at Eglin AFB when the B-52 was on alert there. The ground effect at the end of the runaway was awesome. About 2 blocks from my house was the overrun for the north-south runway. When those bombers came in low on a very cold humid day, the house at the top of the hill, and closest to the overrun, would vibrate. House stayed empty for about 4-5 yrs. They finally moved the 52s and brought in the fighters; then some officer bought the house.
Full thrust, baby! For some reason, Put Put, I pegged you as AF! "Off we go into the wild blue yonder!"
Yea Ken, i grew up in an AF town. Worked as a civil service engineer for many yrs and recently retired. Now i get to work a little and play a lot... I knew the clean cut, good looks and brains of AF experience would shine even thru the electon circuits!!!
Us~ Air Force! I'll never forget, shortly after getting to Hurlbert Field, my new roommate and I went out for a drive. We wanted to get out of the "dorms" and explore the base. (and drink some beer) We went across 98 (the deadliest straight highway in America) into the base picnic area that butts up to the Inner Coastal Waterway. We went on down this sandy road that turned and went back up towards 98. It wasn't much of a road, so we just parked it, got out, had our 32oz beers, drank, shot the breeze, admired the intense heat and water, got back in the car to go. I couldn't help but notice the telephone poles that were right next to the road we had stopped on. They were kinda tall where we were, but as they got closer to 98, they kept getting smaller... We no sooner got in when we heard an engine sound. It kept getting louder and louder, and bigger and bigger! In my mind, I saw an out-of-control pleasure boat with the captain slumped over the wheel heading right for shore. (which we were less than 15 yards from) I was afraid to turn around. Just when I thought it couldn't get any louder, it was like a big hand pushed down on the car, and about that time a C141 ZOOMED right over our car and straight down that row of telephone poles! We both hopped out to look! What was really cool was listening to the "prop wash" following that aircraft! It sounded like hitting a l-o-n-g metal wire with a stick. The sound reverberated through the air after the plane had gone. Too cool! Then we thought~ CRAP! We're parked on an approach to the runway!!!! Needless to say, we almost buried the car in sand trying to get out of there! Ah~ Good times! Sorry for the long story, but you started it, Ken!
i live in alamogordo, nm. home of the stealth. you can't get a haircut in this town unless it's high and tight. jon
Yea Zig, been to that spot. Only once though for a little "beach" party. That was in the 60s. we preferred some of the Eglin range to the Hurlburt area. But, i grew up 2 blocks from the Eglin overrun and sometimes would go down there and just sit and wait for the fighters to come roaring over. The jet jockeys liked to crank it up down there on takeoff. The neighbors finally complained to get them to stop. With Eglin's 14000 ft runway, they got a great "rolling" start takeoff! Hope you enjoyed the area, it was a great place to party and enjoy the beaches back then. Now, we have several thousand vacationers per sq mi.
Man, how we digress! Here's proof that they shouldn't have had Huck brakes on B-52's. Remember the movie "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"? Major T. J. "King" Kong (played by the ever so talented Slim Pickens) rode the payload all the way down on the Rooskies because it had Hucks! If it had had Bendix brakes, no worries! But then again, it would have ruined the ending! For you youngsters who have never seen it, rent it some night! It's way cool
Dr. Strangelove Yep ; That is a great movie and created quite a stir when it camoe in....1962 was it ? (so long ago) . It was a pretty low budget film too but great writing and acting made it an instant classic .
Slim Pickens. The only person that could make the word "shit" into three syllables. (Sorry about that on this G rated site) In the 60s I twisted wrenches on BUFs for 3 years in Oklahoma, Okinawa and Guam. As much as Nate admires these 45+ year old machines, the currently flying versions have been extensively updated from how they were equipped when the rolled out of the plant the first time. A lot like what Kevin has done to his almost 50 year old truck. When I did manitenance on B-52 Auto Pilots, compass systems and start trackers all the electronics were tubes.
Huck a Buck Any way to change the rear backing plates over to Bendix setup- I looked and I think my backing plates are welded or permanetly attached to the rear axle housing. I'd like to upgrade without changing my original rearend. Craig
You bet I did! 18 years old- money- could buy anything from the "package store". I really loved this little bitty bar, called "The Office". It was East of Hurlberrt's gate, down 98. It wasn't more than 20X40, had a pool table, served food, had beautiful bar maids... It was my home away from home. Nothing was much neater than to be standing on the shore of East Pass in the evening and have dolphins go swimming/jumping along just 20 yards or so off the shore. Good times. I know! This is a serious thread about Huck Brakes! It's put-put's fault!
Rear Huck To Bendix I'm sorry to tell you I don't know I've never upgraded one (not even my own truck) so I've not had the fun (?) of finding out if it's a bolt up deal....
Huck To Bendix I can't believe you never did one of these. I guess you probably just changed the rear out for better gears anyway. I was so hoping you had one of your great solutions for me. Now I don't know where to turn. Okay then what's a good donor rear end with Bendix brakes, highway grears and right width? Do I have to change transmissions to use an open drive line? What fits up to a box stock 235 six banger? mo money, mo money, mo money..... Thanks anyway Nate!!!
Well Craig ; here's what I'd do : get the drum to drum rear end off a '51 ~ early '54 as it'll still be a Torque Tube and will also have Bendix brakes and be a bolt up deal . If you want to change the final drive , you'll have to hunt up some Patrick's gears.... that's a whole 'nother ball of wax . Just installing the correct size TALL rear tires will help your 235 make decent highway speeds .
Up to Speed Okay, I knew you had a solution. Now if I can just find that 51-54 rearend! Thanks for all the help guys...
knees knockin Damn Nate, you got me runnin scared now bout my Huckies! all these bad stories, reminds me of my 68 mkll jag with the tuned up 3.8 and e-type head on it, went like a cat with a fircracker up its jacksy but hit the brakes........................was like retarding the timing, the brake pedal was only there to make you feel like you were doing something to stop you hitting that car in front. Or the 55 olds rocket i had with my ex on board who was 8 and 3/4 months preggers and the brake pivot pin fell out just coming up to a busy set of lights at 5o mph, i put it on 2 wheels turning left to avoid a double decker bus crossing my path and my roof broke the mirror hangin on the side of the bus, the marks on my roof from the mirror were bout 2inches off centre of the roof or the time i was driving a 20 ton truck....... well you get the picture, im scared now.
You guys talking bout aero engines, please guys if you ever get the chance, stand close to a WW2 Rolls Royce Merlin engine from a Spitfire when it fires up, ive dabbled in all kinds of engines from classic racing Ferraris to top fuel hemis but the sound of a supercharged Merlin spluttering into life is like the most beautiful sound ever, they sound awesome screaming overhead but standing right next to it is just jaw dropping!
Huck Brakes Neil (others too) : Not to worry ! Huck brakes are O.K. , not great but O.K. , just remember to never , EVER turn the drums and use the soft lining when you have the shoes re-lined . Bob Adler mentions the correct lining # in his book and if you ask for it , it costs no more but works far better . Your AD will stop O.K. unloaded if you keep everything in sharp adjustment , now of this Bullsh*t brake pedal 3" off the floor jazz Don't be askeert ! we're all manly men here (except that one guy we call 'Sally') and are not afraid to drive our old deathtrap trucks ! . BTW Neil ; DON'T wa$te your hard earned $ on re-pop Fentons - they're crapola and tend to leak easily . if you simply *must* have them and a proper split manifold will not do , look up other InLiner enthusiasts as they often have a set they gave up on ever trying to get to fit and will sell cheaply ~ the secret is to use those funny looking bell washers GM used on the ThinWall InLine 6 Bangers from 1963 ~ 197? . BTW : split exhaust manifold should still be one piece and the halves should breathe to-gether (NO restrictor) unless you just want to make lots of noise . 'K ? . all calmed down now ? good .
Link to a good writeup on upgrade Here's a link to an interesting write-up on converting the front brakes to Bendix. http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/FrontHucktoBendix.htm Still looking for a good write-up for the back. I'll be everyone's "Huck"leberry on this project!
HUCK Brakes and HUCK Rivets... Having owned several old Chevrolets and dealing with locked Huck brakes on a 38 and 49 brought me to this site. The B-52 comments reminded me of something I learned during 40+ years in aircraft maintenance with the Air Force and contractor aircraft maintenance. A popular type of blind rivet used in jet intakes and other areas is a Huck Rivet; (don't know if there is any relation). We used to say about Huck Rivets, "If you can't buck it, Huck it! If you can't Huck it, #### it!!!"
