Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Classics

2025 Cops Who Care
 Classic Car Run

Today, we attended the annual Cops Who Care Car Show and Toy Drive. The weather was great and the show was well attended by both cars and visitors. The toy table wasn’t doing too bad either — gonna be a lot of happy kids this Christmas.

When I was a kid in the late 1940s, my folks had one of these Ford Coupes modified with a bench seat for their three little boys to sit behind the driver/passenger seat. It’s a 1933 Year Model, same as Dad and Mom’s.

Also, when I was a kid, there were a lot of these Studebakers on the road as I recall. This Convertible is a member of the local Studebaker Club in the Hassayampa Valley.

We enjoyed the time spent at the Wickenburg Community Center today and look forward to attending again next year.

07 Dec 2025 by Arizona Charity Classics Nostalgia Notions Photography Something Shiny 0

USS Brooklyn March 1943

Eighty-one years ago, during WWII, in Casablanca harbor, my father was stationed aboard the USS Brooklyn as an Electrician’s Mate, Second Class. Dad went on to become a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Navy.

USS Brooklyn CL-40 in Casablanca harbor – March 1943

The first of the nine Machine Gun Cruisers*, USS Brooklyn was commissioned in September 1937. With a primary armament of fifteen 6”/47 guns in five triple turrets, each 6”/47 gun had a maximum rate of fire of 8-10 shells a minute. Theoretically, a Brooklyn-Class cruiser could fire a total of 120-150 6” rounds a minute at a target.

USS Brooklyn survived WW2 and was put into reserve in 1946, in 1951 she was transferred to Chile, where she was renamed O’Higgins. Serving for 40 years in the Chilean Navy, she was sold for scrap in 1992, but foundered and sank while under tow to shipbreakers in India. One of her 6”/47 turrets is preserved at the Chilean Navy base at Talcahuano.

LIFE Magazine Archives – J R Eyerman Photographer

*Machine Gun Cruisers typically refer to naval vessels equipped with multiple machine guns for anti-aircraft and anti-small craft defense. The Brooklyn-class cruisers, for example, were armed with several M2 Browning machine guns alongside their main artillery, enhancing their combat capabilities during World War II.

I find the installation and use of the .50 BMG M2 Machine guns to be particularly interesting:

The .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) round is one of the most widely used service ammunition. Also known as the .50 Browning and the 12.7x99mm NATO, it is currently listed as military ammunition for the U.S. and at least 30 other countries. However, civilian shooters also enjoy .50 caliber shooting – using this rifle round for long-range hunting and shooting competitions. Developed in the early 1900s by John Moses Browning, the .50 BMG is a scaled-up version of the .30-06.; No stranger to military and law enforcement use, .50 BMG ammo has been fired from WWII fighter aircraft and is still used today on helicopters and ground vehicles.

Once the DOJ and the SCOTUS gets off their collective asses and removes the infringements on ALL firearms and accessories, we might want to own one of those. The ammo, however, is quite expensive and could burn through your weekly allowance in one quick hurry when you go down to the range to have some fun.

10 Mar 2025 by Classics Firearms Military Nostalgia

2024 Cops Who Care
   Classic Car Run

Damsel and I attended the annual “Cops Who Care” Toyz for Totz Car Run and Show today. We were early, and the entire field had not yet shown up, but since we were both a little under the weather, we did not stick around too long. However, Between Damsel’s Camera and my Samsung phone, we managed a few good shots of some of the action.

First, who can remember 55¢ Big Boys and 30¢ shakes from Bob’s Chain in the 60s? Good times.

And how about this good lookin’ 1957 Ford Panel Truck?

And there were many other old classics, most notably this old red and yellow roadster …

… and a seldom seen REO roadster. Click on any image to enlarge.

Before leaving, we deposited a couple of unwrapped toys for the kids that benefit from the Car Run.

08 Dec 2024 by Arizona Charity Classics Nostalgia Photography Something Shiny

Classic ’58 Chevy Convertible

We may have posted a classic Chevy like this one years ago on the Minstrel site when we saw it in Torrance back then. Today, however, this classic rolled up into the parking lot while we were collecting mail from the PO Box. A very nice gent allowed as how he would be OK with Damsel taking these photos of his treasure.

Images: 1958 Classic Chevrolet Impala Convertible with Continental Kit in mint condition – credit Damsel – click on any image to view enlarged.

29 Aug 2024 by Arizona Classics Nostalgia Photography

2024 Wickenburg Fly-in
and Classic Car Show

Damsel and I attended the 29th Annual Wickenburg Fly-in and Classic Car Show at the local airport. We have gone to this event just about every year since we moved here 13 years ago. This one, in spite of not much sunshine and under mostly cloudy skies, was the largest we have seen to date in fly-in aircraft, classic cars and attendees. We had traffic jams both coming in and going out of the airport.

Since the show was an order of magnitude bigger this year, we only can post a few highlights here. Below are some photos of a few of the classic cars . . .

1958 Chevrolet Convertible w/Continental Kit:

1958 Edsel:

1955 Hudson(!) Metropolitan:

There were hundreds more.

And for the aviation part of the show (again just a small sample) . . .

Classic Stearman biplane (Boeing) with Continental seven cylinder radial engine:

An Army Blackhawk Helicopter flew in:

And, finally, a MTOSPORT Gyroplane:

That’s it for this post. There were so many great classic cars and aircraft that we took photos of and may post about some of those later.

21 Jan 2024 by Arizona Aviation Classics Notions

A 1947 Pontiac Woody
Station Wagon Anaglyph

This is a throwback to Saturday, November 08, 2008 when the Coast Guard Lighthouse at Point Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Southwestern Los Angeles County, California held an open house. Damsel and I were attending the open house on a nice sunny November Day.

Other than the lighthouse and grounds tour, one gentleman drove his 1947 Pontiac Station Wagon (not a true “woody,” but with painted on planks) onto the lighthouse station as an exhibit. I used a little pocket camera, a Canon Powershot A510IS to take an image pair to later render into a 3D image.

You will need your red/cyan 3D glasses to view the above anaglyph image. If you don’t have a pair, then you can view the 2D version here.

The encounter with this old classic was very nostalgic for me since I learned to drive in a 1951 version of this car, a Pontiac wagon with a straight-eight engine which is the same type of engine that was in the classic wagon seen above.

25 Feb 2023 by Bob's 3D Stuff Classics Nostalgia

The 2023 Wickenburg
Fly-In and Car Show

Damsel and I attended the Fly-In on Saturday morning (01/21/23). This event Changed from October to January for unknown reasons, but regardless there were lots of people in attendance. There was so much traffic and cars that we wound up parked in the boonies several hundred yards out and had to walk into the airport proper.

There were hundreds of old and special cars and dozens of fly-in aircraft. Damsel and I took a lot of photos, but only four of the more interesting ones appear below. Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

1947 Consolidated Vultee L-13

This was the most interesting fly-in of the day. It is a 1947 Consolidated Vultee (now Convair) model L-13 fixed wing single engine. The Engine is a LYCOMING R680 Reciprocating Radial producing 215 Horsepower. The Weight is Less than 12,500lbs and the cruising speed is 92mph. As you can see from the photo above (courtesy Damsel), it was a very popular exhibit.

Shelby GT 500 KR

Shelby GT 500 KR. Some references to this muscle car show that these could produce 900 horsepower. That is a lot. This one was nice with blue racing stripes over light gray. Photo Courtesy Damsel.

Medevac Air Ambulance

This helicopter usually parks at the helipad next to our local Wickenburg Community Hospital. We often see it flying in and out of the area since our house is less than a mile south of the helipad. It is a 2004 Eurocopter (formerly Aérospatiale) AS-350B-3 single engine air ambulance configured helicopter. I spoke with one of the pilots who said they are “keeping busy” with routine and emergency transports.

1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe

And finally, this very clean 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe was nostalgically reminiscent of the borrowed Chevy Bel Air Convertible I used to fetch my date to the Senior Prom in high school days (1961).

Damsel and I both had fun with our outing this year in spite of the crowds and parking situation. Our next outing will be “Gold Rush Days” in February. Stay tuned.

22 Jan 2023 by Aviation Classics Nostalgia

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