Full Auto MP-40
Was on a trip to Tucson and Lost Wages and took a few minutes out to visit "The Gun Store" on Tropicana Blvd. I was channeling my inner "Where Eagles Dare" (1968, Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton, Ingrid Pitt) and let loose with some 9mm rounds from an MP-40 machine pistol.
The MP-40 being late 1930s/early 1940s vintage wasn't as balanced as the 1960s vintage MP-5 machine pistol that I'm more familiar with, and the MP-40 had a bit of muzzle climb. It did, however, still kick a$$. All rounds on target.
What did my inner "Where Eagles Dare" experience have to do with airplanes? Well, the Tucson part of the trip involved a visit to the Air Force's Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) as a guest of the Missile Defense Agency to see the now-retired YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed. Parts from the YAL-1 are being removed and sent to the Air Force's E-4 fleet (747-200 series) and to NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA, a highly modified 747SP). That's AMARG's job -- to preserve aircraft in storage as a source for spare parts. After my highly successful book with Ron Strong on AMARG, I like to keep abreast of what's happening in the boneyard.
Amarg: America's Military Aircraft Boneyard A Photo Scrapbook
All in all, a good trip.
The MP-40 being late 1930s/early 1940s vintage wasn't as balanced as the 1960s vintage MP-5 machine pistol that I'm more familiar with, and the MP-40 had a bit of muzzle climb. It did, however, still kick a$$. All rounds on target.
What did my inner "Where Eagles Dare" experience have to do with airplanes? Well, the Tucson part of the trip involved a visit to the Air Force's Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) as a guest of the Missile Defense Agency to see the now-retired YAL-1 Airborne Laser Testbed. Parts from the YAL-1 are being removed and sent to the Air Force's E-4 fleet (747-200 series) and to NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA, a highly modified 747SP). That's AMARG's job -- to preserve aircraft in storage as a source for spare parts. After my highly successful book with Ron Strong on AMARG, I like to keep abreast of what's happening in the boneyard.
Amarg: America's Military Aircraft Boneyard A Photo Scrapbook
All in all, a good trip.
No comments have been added yet.
