RDUCON 2011

[mmittenzwei]

I think that the R12 submission by Tony & all  was a 4.0 job. I can't imagine a better presentation from a local Chapter. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[Anthony Leger]

Here is a quick list of events that occured in 1911 which could be rolled into a what happened 100 years ago in 2011... some real notable entries in there as well for a theme(s).... comments welcome.

Dec 14th - South Pole 1st reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen
Dec 10th - Calbraith Rogers completes 1st crossing of US by airplane (84 days)
Nov 18th - Britain's 1st seaplane flies
Nov 5th - Calbraith Rodgers arrives in Pasadena completing 1st transcontinental airplane flight (49 days) (left Sheepshead Bay, NY, Sept 17)
Nov 3rd - Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T.
Oct 24th - Orville Wright remained in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina setting a new world record that stood for 10 years.
Oct 23rd - First use of aircraft in war: an Italian pilot takes off from Libya to survey Turkish lines during the Turco-Italian War.
Sep 29th - Italy declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
Sep 25th - French battleship Liberte explodes at Toulon Harbor, 285 killed
Sep 18th - Britain's 1st twin-engine airplane (Short S.39) test flown
Aug 31st - Anthony Fokker's demonstrates aircraft "Snip"
Aug 22nd - Mona Lisa stolen from Louvre (Recovered in 1913)
Aug 1st - Omar N Bradley (18) begins education in West Point
July 1 – The presence of the German warship Panther in the Moroccan port of Agadir triggers the Agadir Crisis, escalating pre-WW1 tensions; a subsequent climbdown rallies German militancy.
Jun 26th - Nieuport sets an aircraft speed record of 83 mph (133 kph)
Jun 15th - Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (became IBM in 1924) is incorporated.
May 31st – The hull of the White Star Line's new flagship, Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast.
May 30th - 1st Indianapolis 500 car race, Ray Harroun wins in the Marmon 'Wasp.' at 74.59 MPH (120 KPH)
May 26th - 1st Indianapolis 500 auto race is run
May 16th - Zeppelin "Deutscheland" wrecked at Dusseldorf
May 16th - Remains of a neanderthal man found in Jersey UK
April 30 – Sparks from a burning hayshed ignite the Great Fire of 1911, destroying much of downtown Bangor, Maine.
Apr 12th - 1st non-stop London-Paris flight (Pierre Prier in 3h56m)
Mar 29th -The M1911 semi-automatic handgun designed by John Browning becomes the standard-issue handgun in the United States Army, and is subsequently widely used in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
Mar 8th - 1st International Woman's Day
Mar 3rd - 1st US federal cemetery with Union & Rebel graves opens, Missouri
Feb 17th - 1st hydroplane flight to & from a ship (Glenn Curtiss, San Diego)
Jan 30th - The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane  rescue at sea, saving the life of John McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
Jan 28th - Frenchman Henri Rougier wins 1st Rally of Monte Carlo
Jan 26th - Glenn Curtiss pilots 1st successful hydroplane, San Diego
Jan 18th - Eugene B. Ely does the 1st shipboard landing of a plane (Tanforan Park to USS Pennsylvania)
Jan 16th - Pandora becomes 1st 2-man sailboat to round Cape Horn west to east

[Anthony Leger]

How about a theme of Where Eagles Dare....Eagle has landed...other Eagle related movie themes....

[Ryan K]

How about Sounds of the South. Sorta like the NC theme but expended to include the other states in the our region.

[BenB]

There was an entire squadron (482nd FIS) of F-102s based at Seymour Johnson in the late '50s, each named "City of..." after an NC city. Then there was the F-15E named "City of Goldsboro, for anyone wanting to build a Revell F-15E kit. 

The Marines (IIRC) had a training squadron of SBDs based at Pitt County (Greenville) airport in the '40s. Kinston had a squadron of T-28s as part of an Air Force pilot training program during the late '40s.

The 4th FIW based a section of F-86As at Maxton in 1948.

The 444th FIS kept a detachment of F-101s and F-106s at Wilmington during the '60s.

Piedmont named a lot of their planes after local cities.

There were a couple of brothers who built a flying machine at the Outer Banks.

Ben

[Herk]

Now that we have filled the ships category filled - what other "Carolina Connections" can we make?

How about this for Armor and dioramas -

Army War Games - The Carolina Maneuvers
by Louise Pettus
Lancaster County was one of 16 counties in the two Carolinas in which the U. S. Army staged maneuvers from Oct. 6 to Nov. 30, 1941. More than a half-million troops were involved, nearly one-third of the entire U. S. Army.
The Carolinas were chosen for the exercises in mock warfare for a number of reasons.
The rolling terrain and numerous streams were considered ideal. There were adequate highways, yet the population was not so concentrated as to interfere with the soldiers training of the civilian routines.
Besides Lancaster, other S. C. counties involved were Chester, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Kershaw, Marlboro, Richland and York. The soldiers fought over an area that formed a rough triangle anchored by Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Jackson in South Carolina and Fort Benning in Georgia.
At one point, a line of more than 2,500 military vehicles stretched from Fort Benning to Rock Hill, a distance of 425 miles. On Nov. 16, two divisions that numbered 40,000 men moved through Fort Mill. It took 36 hours for the column of trucks, light tanks, artillery and 500 mounted cavalrymen to pass through the town. Army Air Corps airplanes droned constantly with as many as 20 in one formation.
An engineering unit built a pontoon bridge across the Catawba River just north of SC 5 where it enters Lancaster County. The Red Army and the Blue Army fought over control of the bridge on the Lancaster County side of the river.
The high school students of Van Wyck were fascinated by the soldiers (not much older than the students) who raced through the school's classrooms, spilling out of open windows and doorways.
Further north the Spratt Bridge over the Catawba river (U. S. 21) was captured and Rock Hill "fell to the enemy."
Headquarters for the maneuvers was at Camden's fine old resort hotel, the Kirkwood, which was also used as a press center.
The Blue Army was designated the defender. The numerically superior Red Army was the invader. Umpires determined casualties, who made up about 20% of all participants.
The umpires also decided on prisoners of war, who were handled as they would under wartime conditions. The prisoners were taken 50 or 60 miles behind enemy lines and were held until they could be exchanged between the army headquarters.
Tested for the first time was the tank destroyer battalion equipped with the latest model tanks, half-tracks with guns, jeeps and swamp buggies.
The army had on hand 12 field guns that were produced too late to be used in World War I. The guns fired a projectile that weighed 345 pounds. The guns were extremely accurate and in one test missed a target automobile that was parked nine miles away by only 25 feet.
The maneuvers were a Monday through Friday war. Weekends were for rest and recreation. Homes, churches, and civic organizations opened their doors to soldiers. After roughing it for five days, the soldiers were delighted to take showers, sleep on mattresses and share home-cooked meals. The USO and the YMCA offered recreation along with reading and writing rooms.
Local businesses thrived. Perishables such as milk, eggs, produce and ice were in high demand.
Gen. Lesley McNair held a press conference in which he said that the troops "can fight effectively, but warned that losses would be "unduly heavy" at the present level of training. He warned that the army was especially vulnerable to attacks from the air.
Four days after the general's press conference, which signaled the end of the Carolina maneuvers, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

[Ryan K]

Ships - USS North Carolina (BB & SSBN), USS Raleigh (CL & LPD)

Steve, you missed a few named for places in NC. Course that doesn't include the 22 Ferry boats the state uses. 

• Alamance (AKA-75): County.
• Albemarle (Schooner c.1862, Ironclad Ram exCSN c.1864, AV-5): Town & sound.
• Asheboro (PC-822): County seat of Randolph County.
• Asheville (Gunboat #21, PF-1, PGM-84, SSN-758): City.
• Bladen (APA-63): County.
• Blue Ridge (Screw Steamer c.1918, AGC-2, LCC-19 exAGC-19): Mountains of WV, VA, NC, &
GA.
• Bogue (CVE/ACV-9): Sound.
• Canton (AK c.1918): Cities in IL, MA, MS, NC, & OH.
• Cape Lookout (AK c.1918): Point of land in WA & NC.
• Carolina (Schooner 1813): Named for both former British colonies.
• Carteret (APA-70): County.
• Caswell (AKA-72): County.
• Catawba (River Monitor c.1865, ATA-210): River.
• Charlotte (Schooner c.1862, CA-12 ex-North Carolina, PF-60): Cities in NC and MI.
• Charlotte (SSN-766): NC City.
• Chatham (Side Wheel Steamer c.1864, AK c.1918, AK-169): Counties in GA and NC; many
cities and towns in the United States.
• Colington, (AKS-29 ex-AG-148 ex-LST-1085): Island.
• Core (CVE/ACV/AVG-13): Sound.
• Croatan (CVE/ACV-25): Sound.
• Currituck (Screw Steamer c.1862, AV-7): Sound of NC & VA.
• Duplin (AKA-87): County.
• Durham (LKA-114): City.
• Edenton (AK #3696 c.1918, PC-1077, ATS-1): City.
• Edgecombe (AK #3894 c.1918, APA-164): County.
• Fort Fisher (LSD-40): Fort at port of Wilmington, site of Civil War battle.
• Graham County (LST-1176): Counties in AZ, KS, & NC.
• Granville (APA-171): County.
• Greensboro (PF-101): City.
• Guilford (APA-112): County.
• Harnett County (LST-821): County.
• Hatteras (Side-Wheel Steamer c.1861, Steamer c.1917): The inlet.
• High Point (PCH-1): City.
• Hiwassee (AOG-29): River.
• Hyde (APA-117): Counties in NC & SD.
• Iredell County (LST-839): County.
• Kitty Hawk (APV-1, CV-63): Village near where Wright Brothers made their famous flight.
• Lenoir (AKA-74, PC-582): County & town.
• Nantahala (Steamer c.1918, AO-60): River.
• New Berne (Screw Steamer c.1863): City & port (now spelled New Bern).
• New Hanover (AKA-73): County.
• Norlina (Screw Steamer c.1918): Town.
• North Carolina (Ship-of-the-line c.1824, ACR-12, BB-55, SSN-777): The state.
• Nottaway (ATA-183): River in NC & VA.
• Onslow (AVP-48): Bay.
• Parkersburg (T-AO/AO-163): Towns in IL, WV, IA & NC.
• Pasquotank (AOG-18): River.
26
• Pender County (LST-1080): County.
• Pitt (APA/LPA-223): County.
• Raleigh (Frigate c.1776, C-8, CL-7, LPD-1): Capital city.
• Rockingham (APA-229): Counties in NH, NC & VA.
• Stokes (AKA-68): County.
• Tyrrell (AKA-80): County.
• Wautauga (AOG-22): River of NC & TN.
• Yancey (AKA-93): County.

[Herk]

We could do something like "The Carolina Connection"

-  Aircraft @ NC WWII training basies ie A-20 Havocs in Greensboro, CG-4 Gliders at Camp MacKall (my Dad was there with the 139th Airbourne Engineers and refers to them as "Hermans with no Motors"), Preddy Mustangs, etc. 
- Cars - NASCAR - Richard Petty, Dale Earnhart. 
-

Ships - USS North Carolina (BB & SSBN), USS Raleigh (CL & LPD)

I know it is close, but making the connection between IPMS and North Carolina at the Regional contest would be strong incentive for getting the Regional and something of a challenge to the participants in making their entries.

Steve

[Ronv]

All, I just looked at the New Bern Contest and one of their themes is "Carolina on our minds", anything related to NC...... person, place or thing.

Do we need to think of something new??

RonV

[Bill L2]

I vote for the NC Theme!

But I kinda liked the "Grumpy Old Men" theme, then the following year we could have "Grumpier Old Men", followed the year after by the "Bucket List". Who would we get to play Ann-Margret?

RonV

Or a "Bucket List" theme. What kits would you like to build before you kick the bucket! Build them now and put them on display.

[Ronv]

I vote for the NC Theme!

But I kinda liked the "Grumpy Old Men" theme, then the following year we could have "Grumpier Old Men", followed the year after by the "Bucket List". Who would we get to play Ann-Margret?

RonV

[Bill L2]

The North Carolina theme would be very nice. There are alot of possibilities. Preddy Mustangs, SJ aircraft throughout the years, first flight, USMC air and ground forces based in NC, US Army Units in NC, USS NC, etc etc etc. I like it!

[BenB]

I like it, too. 

[Ryan K]

I kind of like "North Carolina". Something new and different, with lots of options available in all genres.

I like that too, anything with a Tarheel connection. 

[NormSon]

I kind of like "North Carolina". Something new and different, with lots of options available in all genres.