1/35 UH-1H Huey By lmagna

[lmagna]

Thanks for the link Sam

I do have some kind of Chinese rip off visor similar to the one you like that was given to me. It kind of works but I am not all that happy with it either. So long as I am still living with my wife I want to keep track of what may be coming at me from the side as well. If you can't hear her then you need to watch out for her!

 

What I rigged up last night was a magnifying lamp that I got somewhere around the beginning of recorded history. It has been sitting in the basement for probably twenty years but after some hesitation the florescent light started up and it worked. It was OK, still not perfect, but I think I like it better than the optivisor or other alternatives I have tried so far. I do find that I have my nose plastered against the lens but at least my hands are not there as well. I do wish it had LEDs instead of the florescent though. I will keep trying it out for a few more days and if I like it enough then I may be investing in a 21st century equivalent.

 

Unless the restaurant is quiet and I sit on the proper side, conversation is pretty much a waste for me. I hate many of the modern restaurants designed to look, (and sound) like a warehouse. With the open ceilings that have the air conditioning pipes and stuff exposed. The ambient noise  in those places seems to be amplified to the point that conversation is impossible even for people with good hearing!  

[Roger Pellett]

Yeah, me too.  My hearing was tested several years ago and hearing aids were prescribed.  Expensive!  In these “industrial space” restaurants they seem to pick up ambient noise much better than conversation at the table annoying my wife who thinks that since I am wearing my “ears” I should be hearing everything that she has to say in her ladylike modulated voice.

 

Ken, it is my understanding that the VA will provide hearing aids for service connected hearing loss.  

 

Roger

Edited March 15, 2020 by Roger Pellett

[lmagna]

17 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

In these “industrial space” restaurants they seem to pick up ambient noise much better than conversation at the table annoying my wife who thinks that since I am wearing my “ears” I should be hearing everything that she has to say in her ladylike modulated voice.

Exactly!!!  Also probably the main reason I have not pursued the idea of a hearing aid. They would probably work OK when I am sitting around home, but so does listening a little harder. It is in the real world where filtering out the excess noise is required where they would offer no help.

[CDW]

Just now, lmagna said:

Exactly!!!  Also probably the main reason I have not pursued the idea of a hearing aid. They would probably work OK when I am sitting around home, but so does listening a little harder. It is in the real world where filtering out the excess noise is required where they would offer no help.

My hearing is terrible once the person speaking turns their back and continues to speak. I have come to the conclusion that maybe I have unwittingly learned to read lips in some casual way.

[knightyo]

The new hearing aids are now adjustable thru your phone.  You can apparently adjust them while in restaurants to focus on sound coming from directly in front of you, so you can hear your admiral better.

 

Alan

[Jack12477]

8 minutes ago, knightyo said:

The new hearing aids are now adjustable thru your phone

Assuming you have one of those newfangled Smart phones and not a simple flip-phone that just makes/receives phone calls 😁😎 like a lot of us old fossil luddites carry 😊

[mtaylor]

In addition to turbines, jets, gunfire, let's add loud music, loud car exhaust.  And then to top it off, there's the normal hearing loss from just getting older.  

[mtaylor]

2 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Yeah, me too.  My hearing was tested several years ago and hearing aids were prescribed.  Expensive!  In these “industrial space” restaurants they seem to pick up ambient noise much better than conversation at the table annoying my wife who thinks that since I am wearing my “ears” I should be hearing everything that she has to say in her ladylike modulated voice.

 

Ken, it is my understanding that the VA will provide hearing aids for service connected hearing loss.  

 

Roger

Medicare (with supplemental insurance) picked up the whole bill for my hearing aids.  Just wish they did glasses also.

 

[Roger Pellett]

Wow, they didn’t pay for mine.  Of course different  state’s insurance rules can vary.  Maybe Oregon’s offer different coverage than Minnesota.

 

My wife also refuses to understand that I can’t hear her with her back to me and her head in the refrigerator.

Edited March 15, 2020 by Roger Pellett

[lmagna]

2 hours ago, CDW said:

turns their back and continues to speak.

If they do that to me they may as well be talking to themselves most of the time. The same as when my wife is in the kitchen. It is strange that she will try and say something to me from the kitchen when I am in the living room even though she is aware of my hearing, but will scold me for trying to say something to her over the same sound pathway. It appears that in her opinion, sound travels better one way than the other.

 

36 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

Medicare (with supplemental insurance) picked up the whole bill for my hearing aids. 

I had no idea they did that, I wonder if my supplemental does? My supplemental does cover eye exams but not the glasses. I have come to the conclusion that medicare does not cover much of anything old person related.

 

2 hours ago, knightyo said:

The new hearing aids are now adjustable thru your phone.

What they need Alan is some kind of noise canceling circuit that cancels out unwanted noise like shooting earmuffs or the new fancy earphones. 

[marktiedens]

Hi guys - I am also a member of the bad hearing club!  however,I finally broke down & got some hearing aids - the fancy ones that I can pair to a smartphone.   So,the next thing on my list is to get a smartphone.   I had quit  going to the movie theaters because I couldn`t understand half the dialogue,plus when I watched tv that`s all I did was watch it - couldn`t hear a lot of the dialogue.  I am still getting used to them,but am happy with them overall.  The bad thing is my medicare plan only covered a bit over half the cost.  I don`t why they cost so much other than they are considered a "medical device".  I think if you took a pair of tweezers & tagged them as a medical device you could sell them for 5 times the normal price!!

 

Mark

[lmagna]

For doing TV when the family is watching some kind of family thing or whenever I don't want to bother others with the volume I need to understand normal conversations on the TV speakers I bought these: https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-RS-195-Wireless-Headphone/dp/B00SJ4INFI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19Q8P9KDE53NC&dchild=1&keywords=sennheiser+rs+195&qid=1584247986&sprefix=sennheiser+RS+195%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-1

 

A little expensive but GREAT sound and I can now listen to everything they do, (Not that I always want to) without blasting them out of the room or missing anything that is not exploding. I can even go to the restroom or get a cup of coffee in the kitchen and still hear the program.

[Edwardkenway]

1 hour ago, lmagna said:

If they do that to me they may as well be talking to themselves most of the time. The same as when my wife is in the kitchen. It is strange that she will try and say something to me from the kitchen when I am in the living room even though she is aware of my hearing, but will scold me for trying to say something to her over the same sound pathway. It appears that in her opinion, sound travels better one way than the other.

That sounds exactly the same as my wife🤨, but as everyone I talk to mumbles, my hearing is fine😏😉

[lmagna]

I have come to the conclusion that my hearing is fine as well, but no one talks to me anymore!

 

Well it does not look like much but here is some updates on the pilots. Obviously a lot more to go but I just wanted to show that I am getting at least a little time to work on this stuff.

[Edwardkenway]

They look good to me!!😁

[lmagna]

Thanks Edward

They are coming along OK, but are incredibly detailed so I find myself trying to highlight the details by picking different shades for their uniforms and gear that are as close to the real thing as possible yet not just one color. Hopefully it will all work out in the end. Figures are another thing I have never done before and there are going to be a lot in this build.

[Canute]

Lou, you got a pretty good fade going on with the flight suits. They didn't stay green for long. And we always had salt stains under our arms. Flying under a greenhouse made for some beat looking flight suits, also known as "goat bags". You smelled like that animal after a flight.

[lmagna]

3 hours ago, Canute said:

You smelled like that animal after a flight.

Heck we mostly smelled like a goat BEFORE getting airborne! We probably had it slightly better than you as we flew with the screen doors open and had lots of air circulation. If you had sweated enough before taking off you could even get a little cold as your suit dried out. Not real cold, but kind of a refreshing cold.

 

That has been what I have been trying to create but don't really know how. Between the wear and tear of the environment on any kind of cloth or leather and the constant washing, no two uniforms looked the same. My hooch maid washed a uniform consisting of everything from skin on out on a daily basis, in a bucket, and cleaned the boots that I was not wearing as well. Even though I of course had them, we as a rule did not wear jungle boots when on flight status. If we caught fire it was thought that the leather boots would not melt onto your ankles like the jungle boots would, so she kept a pretty good coat of polish on them to try and slow down the rot. I did the same with my .45 holster. Most of the pilots wore S&W .38 revolvers in a shoulder holster that believe it or not was made by some Papa San close to the base, probably from water buffalo hide. They were really quite well made. 

Edited March 15, 2020 by lmagna

[Canute]

Lou, I think we had canvas uppers, so we flew in jungle boots.  Mama-sans did a good job keeping the 2 pair of boots spiffy, but they wore out the goat bags and everything else pretty quick. I bought new stuff about every  2 months. The fire retardant goat bags, made of Nomex, were pretty shot for fire issues after about 6 months, I think. Heck, they all got scrubbed in a steel basin, with a stiff bristle brush, on a wood slab. What a life, eh?

[lmagna]

I think it was pretty much the same for our stuff. About two months at best. Not really a big deal really, just turn in the old and get a new that looked just like the old in a few weeks. We were told that the uppers on the jungle boots were nylon, and the material looked like nylon at least to me. That was what was being done and said when I came in country so I did not question it and went and got  a couple of pairs of leather boots issued along with all of my other gear. I think my first set lasted OK but the other set didn't make it through monsoon season! 

[Old Collingwood]

16 hours ago, lmagna said:

I have come to the conclusion that my hearing is fine as well, but no one talks to me anymore!

 

Well it does not look like much but here is some updates on the pilots. Obviously a lot more to go but I just wanted to show that I am getting at least a little time to work on this stuff.

Those are looking great Lou  - they are  even creating a personality - one chatting while the other ignores him.

 

OC.

[Canute]

OC, that's the way of things in a multi man person a/c. The F-4 had 1 UHF radio and hot/cold mic. We usually flew hot mic and clammed up when the radio was yakking. When I snagged some helo rides in Europe, we went cold mic, but had  2 or 3 radios going. UHF, VHF and FM. The tanker had UHF, VHF and HF which we only used crossing the Pond heading to Europe, Interphone was hot mic with a 4 way party line going. The order of precedence was pilot, nav, boom and copilot. Copilot was usually an LT with near zero exprience.

[Old Collingwood]

4 minutes ago, Canute said:

OC, that's the way of things in a multi man person a/c. The F-4 had 1 UHF radio and hot/cold mic. We usually flew hot mic and clammed up when the radio was yakking. When I snagged some helo rides in Europe, we went cold mic, but had  2 or 3 radios going. UHF, VHF and FM. The tanker had UHF, VHF and HF which we only used crossing the Pond heading to Europe, Interphone was hot mic with a 4 way party line going. The order of precedence was pilot, nav, boom and copilot. Copilot was usually an LT with near zero exprience.

Thanks for the explanation ken,  bet those refueling  buddy-ups  were quite an experience, being under the tail of a 135.

 

OC.

[Canute]

I forget how close we got but definitely within 50'. Not as close as we'd get flying close formation with another fighter, but that was off a wingtip. Needed to do that if flying in heavy weather. Good way to wear out the guys on the wing. The pilot for sticking so close and the backseater becoming a verbal instrument panel/weather observer/whatever else the pilot needed. Fun, huh?

[mtaylor]

Ah... yes... Flight suits, gloves and boots.   We could trade in our flight suits and gloves regularly, as they were nomex.  We were told not to wash them but return them.  I suspect they dry cleaned them somehow.   Full boots in the air.  Jungle boots on the ground.

 

 

[lmagna]

It was pretty much as Ken said in helicopters, Without the close formation flying, except when coming into an LZ. there was no need, (Or desire ) to be that close to the rotors of another helicopter when in transit It just wears you out keeping the proper distance. Plus it makes all of you an easier target being all bunched up. It was bad enough trying to land and take off a mass of helicopters in a sometimes small and almost always rough LZ without running into each other. I always kind of compared it to a slightly controlled LeMans race start!

 

We had multiple radios and pretty much used an open mike on one of them. The pilots could talk to one another and we could follow in the back so we pretty much always knew what was going on. We seldom said much except to announce something out one side or the other that was out of the pilots vision, or incoming, or to announce that everyone was loaded, or most importantly to watch the ground under the skids and let them know if there was a big rock or tree stump or something else we didn't want to land on. They could also talk and hear other aircraft and sometimes we would use the FM to pick up Armed Forces Radio Network or a couple of other stations that played good music. You know, full military use type stuff. If they didn't want us to listen to music why did they put the radio in the chopper in the first place? 

[lmagna]

If I had to turn my gear in for cleaning I would have been turning it in almost every day Mark. How long did you have to wear your suit before you turned it in?

[Old Collingwood]

6 minutes ago, lmagna said:

It was pretty much as Ken said in helicopters, Without the close formation flying, except when coming into an LZ. there was no need, (Or desire ) to be that close to the rotors of another helicopter when in transit It just wears you out keeping the proper distance. Plus it makes all of you an easier target being all bunched up. It was bad enough trying to land and take off a mass of helicopters in a sometimes small and almost always rough LZ without running into each other. I always kind of compared it to a slightly controlled LeMans race start!

 

We had multiple radios and pretty much used an open mike on one of them. The pilots could talk to one another and we could follow in the back so we pretty much always knew what was going on. We seldom said much except to announce something out one side or the other that was out of the pilots vision, or incoming, or to announce that everyone was loaded, or most importantly to watch the ground under the skids and let them know if there was a big rock or tree stump or something else we didn't want to land on. They could also talk and hear other aircraft and sometimes we would use the FM to pick up Armed Forces Radio Network or a couple of other stations that played good music. You know, full military use type stuff. If they didn't want us to listen to music why did they put the radio in the chopper in the first place? 

"Roger that"

 

OC.

[mtaylor]

41 minutes ago, lmagna said:

If I had to turn my gear in for cleaning I would have been turning it in almost every day Mark. How long did you have to wear your suit before you turned it in?

I had 3 issued.  Turn around by the paraloft was 2 days which worked out.  Sometimes, used them 4 days or more in a row.  Depended.  Honestly, I don't think anyone cared if we smelled bad... but with all the other smells over there, no one would notice anyway. There was a head piece available but I didn't know anyone who even checked them out from the paraloft.

 

The last day I flew, I ended up being very upset and generally pissed off a things (wasn't a good day in the air....).  Dropped my MG off at the armory, went to the paraloft and dropped off my helmet, gloves, and told them I was done flying.  I was reminded to bring my flight suit back (and the others).  To demonstrate my mood... I took off the flight suit, tossed it on the counter and walked back to my hooch in my underwear, carrying my rifle, and .45 in the holster.  Now that I think about it... no one talked to me as left the hanger, they just kind of backed away. 

[lmagna]

You would have drawn no attention at my first camp. We had a central shower that serviced all the surrounding hooches. When we showered we just walked to and from the showers wearing nothing but a towel and thongs. No women outside of a couple of Mama Sans and then only if you were getting a shower in the daytime so who cared?

Edited March 16, 2020 by lmagna