Niagra Falls

[Modlerbob]

Previously I checked out Niagra Falls from the air and it was pretty cool but today I had an idea I wanted to check out. So I loaded a Grumman Goose and took off from a small Buffalo airport and flew to the Falls and then downstream a couple of miles where I turned around and landed in the river. I then taxied upstream to the falls. It looked pretty cool so I then turned around again (it was tight) and took off. At that point I realised I didn't get any screen shots of my adventure. Since handling the Goose was somewhat difficult I switched to an experimental amphib called the stingray and repeated the flight. There is a structure in the river just downstream of the falls that I have never noticed in any of the footage of the falls. I assume it is an observation tower. Here are some images.

[Fozzer]

Niagra Falls.....

...a bit like Humpty Dumpty!.... ...!

.... ....!

Excellent shots...good for Bungee-jumping!

Paul.... ...!

[Hawkeye07]

Nice shots of Niagara Falls! Thanks for making me home sick !! Just joking...sort of... I was born and raised about 15 minutes away from there. Interesting story about the area that many people don't know including many local inhabitants on either side of the gorge. Just about 250 meters above the Horseshoe Falls (the one on the right half of your forst shot, is an old steel freight barge caught on the rocks about midstream. It's been there for over 60 years that I personally know of. Here's the story about how it got there as told to me and my classmates by our 5th grade teacher whose father was on that barge when it ran aground. The barge was transporting goods up the Niagara river by way of towlines and a tug. The lines snapped and the barge started moving with the current downstream towards the Falls. Once the barge or anything else goes so far down the river there is no stopping it from going over the Falls because the current is so strong and the rapids above the Falls are very treacherous too. So the barge traverses the rapids and is heading towards Horse shoe Falls late in the evening when darkness is closing in. Suddenly the barge runs aground just as the men aboard were resigning themselves to their fate. The barge and crew are now faced with the prospect of breaking loose at any moment and continuing their journey over the Falls and to their certain doom. All night the crew were hold up in the barge waiting for possible rescue and listening for the sound of tortured steel and grinding rock which signaled the barge was breaking up or shifting off the rocks. It finally got the better of one crewman and he tried to swim to shore. Needless to say he never made it. But in the morning a shotline was fired across the rapid current and a rescue of the remaining crewmen did occur. The barge itself? Well as I said, it's still there.
I'm not sure if you can see the barge in google maps birds eye view mode but the last time I visited my family in the area I took my granddaughter to the Falls and showed her the barge. That was in 2006.

Another fact about the Falls...Whenever someone goes over the Falls rarely do they find the body right away. The current below the Falls in the Niagara Gorge is very, very powerful and the usual situation is that the body will come to the surface exactly three days later near the Maid Of The Mist sight seeing boat dock directly across from the American Falls. The Maid Of The Mist is the boat you see in the first two shots. Interesting story about the name too.


Hawkeye

[CHUCK79]

I'm not sure if you can see the barge in google maps birds eye view mode but the last time I visited my family in the area I took my granddaughter to the Falls and showed her the barge. That was in 2006.
Hawkeye

Still there! I was surprised at how easy it was to see

[Hawkeye07]

That's it! Here's a little closer shot. The barge is approx 120 feet long.



Hawkeye

[Hawkeye07]

Out of curiosity I searched the web for any more info and found this in Wiki:

On August 6, 1918, Gustave Luffberg and Frank Harris were aboard the scow dredging up sand banks from the Niagara River upstream of the waterfall. When tugboat captain John Wallace brought the Hassayampa over to bring the scow back to shore however, it broke loose and began floating downriver rapidly towards the falls.[1]

There are conflicting reports whether Luffberg and Harris were able to release the false bottom of the scow to dump their load of sand and silt - but regardless, the boat got caught on a rock shoal 838 yards (766 m) from the edge of the falls, leaving the two Niagara Falls Power Company employees stranded in the middle of the raging torrents of water. Later reports suggest that Luffberg had tied a rope between himself and the scow as a safety precaution lest he fall overboard while the scow was still beached, while Harris tied one between himself and a free barrel.[1][2]

Since a rescue boat was out of the question, the Niagara Falls (Ontario) Fire Department tried using a grappling gun to shoot a life line out towards the barge, from atop the roof of the Toronto Power House while awaiting the arrival of the US Coast Guard from Youngstown, New York to bring a heavier grappling gun. When the US Coast Guard did arrive, they managed to send a lifeline over to the barge, and both marooned men made it safely back to shore via breeches buoy, 17 hours after they first found themselves drifting towards the falls. The hero of the day was noted riverman William "Red" Hill Sr., who tirelessly ventured out to free the tangled breeches buoy line several times throughout the night, and eventually assisted the men to safety. Hill was awarded the Carnegie Medal for his efforts. Hill and his sons would be involved in many other river rescues and recoveries in the next several decades.[1]

At present the scow still remains in place, highly visible, caught on the shoal just out of reach of the Niagara Falls. There is now a plaque across from it on the Canadian side, explaining the history of the wreck.

So it seems no one went mad and jumped overboard according to this account. Here's more pictures of the barge also from Wiki but these are from quite a few years ago.

[Modlerbob]

Hawkeye, I assume you were either the pilot or aircrew in Navy E-2s. My older brother was trained as one of the radar operators in the E-2 during his active duty stint in the Navy reserve. He also lived in upstate NY working for Niagara Mohawk Power company after his service in the Navy.

[CHUCK79]

Funny how some photos (sim or not) can bring back so many memories..............great set, Modlerbob and great history, Hawkeye

[Bass]

I need to go and have look

[Hawkeye07]

Hawkeye, I assume you were either the pilot or aircrew in Navy E-2s. My older brother was trained as one of the radar operators in the E-2 during his active duty stint in the Navy reserve. He also lived in upstate NY working for Niagara Mohawk Power company after his service in the Navy.

Hi Modlerbob! Actually I was an Aircraft Electrician (Aviation Electrician's Mate to be more precise) in the Navy and I spent 8 years in the E-2C's. Was your brother an AT (Avionics Tech)? Very few enlisted Radar Operators were assigned to the E-2's when I was in back in the 70's & 80's. My first squadron only had two and the other two squadrons I was in didn't have any. You had to be a pretty sharp cookie to qualify and it was usually in addition to your regular duties as a maintenance tech fixing airplanes. Not only did you have to act as a radar operator in an Airborne Command and Control situation but you were also the airborne systems troubleshooter when things went belly up.

Hawkeye

[Modlerbob]

Actually, after having served 8 years in the Air Force my brother got out, finished college and then enlisted in the Navy as a NFO ensign. His stint in E-2s was brief due to chronic air sickness. He finished his active duty on board the USS Albany doing essentially the same job in the ship's CIC.

I think maybe I have crossed paths with you before in one of the online combat sims. I was either Pogo or Mavwreck.

[Hawkeye07]

I can certainly sympathize with your brother. The backend of an E-2 is cramped and only has 3 small windows (8" diameter) which are behind you when you are sitting facing the console. And the Hummer flies like a truck; definitely needs better shocks. I flew in the backend several times and almost lost my cookies once also. Luckily it was just a gas pocket.




"I think maybe I have crossed paths with you before in one of the online combat sims. I was either Pogo or Mavwreck."

I'm not sure if we have or not. I haven't been in any of the online combat sims. I used to log into the "Aircraft of WW2" website but that was quite a while ago. Maybe there?