Modeled after Trasformers toys, Robosaurus is a transforming dinosaur robot, with the driver (or “pilot”) sitting in the head of the ‘bot, with the ability to transform from a 48-foot semi trailer into a futuristic Tyrannosayrus Rex.
It was created by inventor Doug Malewicki in 1989 and is currently owned and operated by Monster Robots, Inc. It is used at motorsport events and air shows to eat and burn vehicles with a flame shooting out of its nostrils.
On May 20, Robosaurus performed at March Air Reserve Base, California, home of the 452d Air Mobility Wing (452 AMW), during the 2-day March Field AirFest 2012 air show.
Here are some of the most interesting images of the robot as it shoots fire out for the crowd.
They were taken when the 457th FS AFRC (Air Force Reserve Command), from NAS Forth Worth JRB, Texas, was on a TDY (Temporary Deployment) to Portland ANGB, Oregon, in August of 2008 for DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) with the local based 123rd FS of the OR ANG. It was their last day there, they were all packed up and all of a sudden the foam suppression system for the hangar they were operating out of went off.
“Spare parts, computers, and other materials got covered. Our Vipers were out on the flightline. It was a mess, but allowed for us to get a good game of flag football in while the fire folks cleaned it up” the 457th FS’s airman says.
Image courtesy of 457th FS member
It looks like this kind of incident is rather frequent, therefore, what about an in-depth check of all the fire suppression systems before a new “foam party” takes place in one of those hangars sheltering some costly stealth planes?
First of all, a visitor recounted that something like that happened with a C-135 VIP transport at Hickam AFB many years ago. They put it into the fuel cell hangar, and left the cockpit windows open. It rained that night, the roof leaked, and the fire suppression system went off. They found the cockpit filled with halon.
Then, a pilot sent me the following picture taken in 2011 at Charleston AFB, South Carolina, when a fire suppression system went off inside a huge C-17 hangar.
Obviously, the size of both the hangar and the C-17 is such, that the U.S. airlifter was far from being submerged by foam.
According to “youmustvotenato”, the user who posted it to Reddit, the following picture was taken after the fire suppression system base went off because of a spark from a welder set.
Clearly visible in the image an F-15 belonging to the 85th TES (Test and Evaluation Squadron), an F-16 of the 40 FLTS (Flight Test Squadron), and an A-10 (most probably belonging too to the 46th Test Wing): based on the the tail codes, the hangar must have been one used by the 46th TW at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
Image credit: via youmustvotenato / Reddit
The foam generators suspended from the ceiling released suppressant similar to soap that submerged the planes in the hangar. It takes two minutes to fill a 90,000 square-foot hangar with more than three feet of two percent high-expansion biodegradable foam.
Here’s a video showing how fire suppression systems work.
“Operation Delawor” is an episode of The Big Picture, a series of films produced by the U.S. Army and ran on the ABC-TV from 1951 to 1964. The television program featured exercises, battles, weaponry and famous soldiers’ biographies.
Filmed in April 1964, “Operation Delawor” (from a Persian word meaning “courageous”) recounts of a 3-day exercise during which an entire U.S. Army airborne brigate was airlifted to Iran with all its heavy equipment to train with the local Imperial Armed Forces.
Along with 2,300 troops and 550 tons of material of the 101st Airborne Division from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, even two F-100 squadrons from Cannon AFB, were deployed to Iran with the support of KC-135 tankers and C-130 cargos.
The exercise featured a combined air drop, an amphibious attack on Kharg Island involving also a U.S. dock landing ship, two destroyers and eight helicopters, and Close Air Support by the F-100s operating from Vahdati AFB with air cover provided by the Imperial Iranian Air Force F-86s.
Min. 23.00 has some interesting air-to-air and activity with Forward Air Controller footage.
In 1964, the U.S. and Iranian military “learned how to work together as a combined joint team involved in a common enterprise”. About 50 years (and a captured stealth drone) later, they could be called to fight each other any time.
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