R. I. P. Doc Watson

There's no mystery in my mind as to who was the greatest country and traditional guitarist over the past fifty years. He died yesterday at the age of 89.

Doc Watson made the wooden box with strings sound like no other before him. He could do it all.

He first received recognition as a traditionalist with his phenomenal flat picking renditions of mountain fiddle tunes like "Black Mountain Rag." This video is from 1991 (that's Jack Lawrence with him) but Doc explains that it was back in the late '50s that he first learned to pick the tune. Interesting to note that he learned it first on a Les Paul electric when he was playing in a rock and roll band!

Doc also recorded some of the contemporary "folk" singers' material from the '60s; this one is "I Can't But Wonder Where I'm Bound" by Tom Paxton.

And here's Doc doing his version of Jimmy Rodgers' "Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia." That's Jack Lawrence on the first run and Doc saves his magic until the second.

Finally, here's Doc with his grandson Richard as they perform the song that seems to get rediscovered with every generation, "House of the Rising Sun."

Rest in peace, Doc Watson. 1923 - 2012.

Remembering Those Who Serve

For most of us these days, Memorial Day is a holiday for family and friends together for food and fellowship. Sometimes as we enjoy the cookouts and the fun, we forget what the day is all about.

Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember those who died while serving in our armed forces.

It's also a time for remembering heroes. For the last two years on Memorial Day I posted the same essay, one which honors America's most decorated soldier in World War II, Texas born Audie Murphy.

But I think others should be remembered on this day too. Not only the recognized heroes and those who died. But the ordinary service men and women who've done and still do their jobs without much recognition. In a way, they're heroes too. They're the seamen, the petty officers, the privates, the corporals, the sergeants, the warrant officers, the airmen, and senior airmen. They've carried the water, cooked the meals, drove the trucks, typed the letters, repaired the machinery, sent the messages, pumped the fuel, and kept the whole operation that provides our defense functioning smoothly.

This is my grandson, Erich, who's in the Navy. He's one of those ordinary heroes I'm talking about. There are thousands and thousands of others like him.

When I was an adolescent, I remember becoming aware of the various branches of service, the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Air Force, and the Marines, and what their roles are in protecting our country. I remember seeing those movies during the late '40s and early '50s that featured a story about a particular service. One important facet of all those movies was the prominent use of the song that we associate with that service. Sometimes the song would be used throughout the movie. In other movies, the song would provide background at the climactic moment. Always, those songs evoked a sense of pride in our country and our people.

Many people today, especially the elite, think such overt patriotism is out of fashion and only for the uneducated. They think such displays are mawkish and inappropriate because America in their view is not really a special country.

Some even question whether using the word "hero" is appropriate when applied to soldiers who die in service because using the word is supportive of or justifies war.

This is America, so they have a right to think that and to say that. I just hope they don't totally forget that those who serve guarantee them that right. That's why on Memorial Day I like to remember all of those who have served and who still serve today as well as the fallen. And it's also why I still enjoy listening to the "old fashioned" service songs. These songs remind me of all the ordinary Janes and Joes and Erichs who keep us safe. I believe they're heroes too.

Ashley Judd and the Reactionary Democrats

Kentucky basketball fan and motion picture actor Ashley Judd was in the national and local news a few weeks ago. She was very upset because some critics had noticed her "bloated" face (she explained it was caused by medication she was taking for a sinus infection), and a few of her critics even implied that she may have had plastic surgery.

Judd hit back with a piece in the Daily Beast in which she said her critics' responses illustrated that we still live in a patriarchal society. Since most of the people who criticized her physical appearance were women, she of necessity had to define such a patriarchal society as "a system in which both women and men participate." She also condemned the media for its "all knowing" stance on issues like this.

Ms. Judd, a graduate of the University of Kentucky and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, also went on NBC's Nightly News and said the criticism was really about "hatred of women." I didn't view the newscast so I don't know if she offered an explanation as to how or why her female critics would be expressing such hatred of their own gender.

In related news, Ms.Judd was recently selected as a delegate to the Democratic convention from Williamson County in Tennessee. (BTW, Williamson, just south of Nashville, is, according to Forbes in 2010, the 17th richest county in the U.S.) The Williamson Democrats also selected a Hispanic to be a member of their delegation, Vilma Cueva. From the NewsChannel5 story,

Todd Sharp, a county Democrat, said the selection of these delegates represents the party's respect for women and Hispanics.

I wish Ms. Judd well in her role as delegate, and I suspect she probably has other future political aspirations as well.

But, I wonder. Are the Democrats in Williamson County not part of that patriarchal system she says we're still operating under? Just wonderin'.

I wonder also if Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Governor Nikki Haley and the five other female state governors, as well as Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayer, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg would agree that our system is still "patriarchal."

Most liberals would agree that Ms. Judd is on solid ground by continuing to make these arguments. But how '70s can you get? It's like, Here, hold my joint while I check my mood ring to see how much Watergate has upset me. I'm afraid that kind of thinking doesn't cut it with me any more. It just seems so uncool, so unhip, so old fashioned. Reverends Jackson and Sharpton, for example, seem to enjoy playing '70s politics and thus are still tiresomely beating the same old dead racist horse, even though we've got a black President, a black Supreme Court Justice, a black Attorney General, two black governors, numerous black congress persons, black mayors, black police chiefs, etc. Come on guys, give it a rest.

I respect Judd as an actress and she certainly has a right to speak her mind on any issue, but it seems to me her old fashioned "patriarchy" argument, which assumes that patriarchy is a "social construction," dates back to the early '70s and Kate Millett's book Sexual Politics. I'm guessing Judd must have read that book at some point during her time at UK or at Harvard. In my mind, the Millet argument was pretty much refuted back in the day when Steven Goldberg made the case that patriarchy (1) is more a result of inherent biology and genetics than social conditioning, and (2) patriarchy is a "universal feature of human culture."

As Wiki points out, Goldberg has his critics. But my real point is that these issues were relevant forty years ago, and resulting positive changes occurred. All you have to do is open your eyes and look around you. Women have had growing successes in all fields over the past four decades and are today an ongoing and essential force in business, government, and society in general. The patriarchy has been modified and that's good.

But it's apparently not good enough for Ms. Judd. She apparently wants to keep beating the old patriarchal horse in the same way Jackson and Sharpton continually whack away at the old issue of "racism" that liberals now conveniently define as only applicable to whites.

What does she want, a matriarchal society? One where women call all the shots and men make the coffee? What do Jackson and Sharpton want, a racist society where blacks can impugn whites continuously with no moral consequences? One where the entire federal budget is devoted to payback for injustices suffered by their ancestors and perceived injustices still permeating American society today?

This whole continuation of '70s issues tells me where Democrats are really at today. Conventional wisdom says Republicans are mired in the past, don't like change, etc. while Democrats are progressive, forward thinking people. But I'm sorry guys, it just ain't so any more. The world has turned. Time has passed. Truth is, the "progressives" are the ones whose ideas are looking tired and worn out these days.

While Democrats and most journalists and Ms. Judd are stuck in the past with their arguments against patriarchal societies and the need for more massive government spending (which goes back to at least Johnson's Great Society and some would say all the way to FDR's New Deal), today's Republicans are looking to the future and the consequences of all that accumulated national debt on our children and their children.

Progressives (and journalists) of today liked the '70s. That's when they were young and the fire of idealistic change burned in their hearts. Today they think that wild and crazy time would be nice to return to. But that's really a kind of escapism. What they see in the future is frightening because it's a consequence of their failed polices. So they either resort to denial or escapism. The deniers ignore the monster coming into the room and keep talking the same old line about a bigger government solving our problems. The escape artists turn away from the monster and talk about the things that made them feel good in the past. To me, either approach is REACTIONARY.

Conservatives are not afraid to look at the future, especially our financial future, even though it looks pretty bleak right now. They have proposals on the table to deal with this problem. The Democrats, however, prefer to talk about redistributing the wealth, class warfare, and patriarchal societies while ignoring the National DEBT.

I don't know about you, but I think Ms. Judd is a member of the wrong party if she wants the kind of change that will have a real impact on our future.

Back Again

It's been a good while since I last posted. I thank the small number of you who check in here from time to time and hope you haven't given up on me yet.

We've been busy with several spring time projects around the house and in the yard, and I've put a lot of time into getting a new mystery novel ready for publication.

We're about to finish our household projects and Dream Country has just been published in e book form on Smashwords. You can buy it there in several e-formats, and it's available on Kindle now as well (click on the link to the right); Smashwords is distributing it and it will soon be available on the Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple and other devices. The novel will also be published later this spring in paperback by Word Clay.

Dream Country is a mystery but it goes in a slightly different direction than Blood Country which was more in the traditional private eye category. The new novel, which I label a "psychic mystery," has already been reviewed and received 5 stars from Terri Tumlin from Readers Favorite website. Here's Ms. Tumlin's review which also provides some basic plot and character information.

"Dilly Renfro is an interesting woman. She is a lesbian and one of a pair of twin daughters of rich country singer Doyle Renfro. Dilly has had dreams that predict the future ever since she was shot in the head a year ago. Now she has a new illegitimate black half-sister, Pearl, and in a dream sees her murdered. The dream is true and around the murder swirl a fascinating cast of characters--some suspects, some striving to find out the truth. Preacher and Cowboy are a couple of street people who were near Pearl's building when she was murdered. Tyrell, Pearl's ex-boyfriend, was actually in her apartment. And then there are the Renfros--Dilly's siblings, who have financial as well as personal motives for perhaps wanting Pearl dead. Harry Hardin, the alcoholic but sober lawyer, tries to help Dilly, but doesn't know what to make of her dreams.

"Dan Jewell has written a jewel of a book. The plot is fascinating. The characters are complex and well-drawn. The psychological element of the story line adds, but doesn't overwhelm the other elements of the plot. It is the kind of book that pulls the reader to care for the characters and it is surely a page turner."

100th Anniversary of the Titanic Disaster

On April 15, 1912, 100 years will have passed since the great ship Titanic went down, ending the lives of 1,514 people and becoming seared forever in the public's memory and imagination. In the century since the disaster, artists of all types have used the event as inspiration. They have created a huge body of work that is a testament to the sinking of the Titanic's profound impact on humanity.

The ship's name was taken from mythology, from that race of gods called the Titans and perhaps this choice indicates that its designers and builders thought they and the British nation they represented, were ready to assume the mantle of the gods and rule over Nature with their unsinkable ship. Instead of becoming gods, they (and the magnificent ship their pride built) crashed into one of Nature's dumb, indifferent icebergs.

I'm not blind to the similarities between our current situation in the U.S. and the sinking of the Titanic. The USS United States is presently on course to collide with a gigantic iceberg of debt. Our current captain apparently doesn't care about the danger of this iceberg and wants to make it even bigger. He apparently thinks our ship of state is unsinkable and that we can keep increasing the size of government and that gigantic iceberg of debt. That way lies disaster. I'm voting in November to change captains and course. I hope my fellow passengers recognize the dangers and act in a similar fashion. I also hope we aren't too late.

There are numerous videos on YouTube about the Titanic and I found this one interesting because of the images presented of the ship and its construction and the music, "The Mosquito's Parade," which is said to be one of the songs the famous White Star orchestra would have played on that fateful voyage. It's bright and cheery and in direct contrast to the tragedy that followed.

Two years after the ship went down, the novelist and poet Thomas Hardy wrote his famous poem, "Convergence of the Twain," not focusing on the individual and human suffering of the passengers but on his contempt for the wealth, vanity, and technological power of Britain. He of course also saw in the event a good example of what he called the Immanent Will, the all powerful, but, at present, blind force that drives the universe. 

Though Hardy's novels seldom end happily, he was not, he stated, a pessimist. He called himself a "meliorist," one who believed that man can live with some happiness if he understands his place in the universe and accepts it. He ceased to be a Christian; he read Charles Darwin and accepted the idea of evolution; later he took up Arthur Schopenhauer and developed the notion of the Immanent Will, the blind force which drives the universe and in the distant future may see and understand itself. This notion is not very optimistic for any one man's life, but it does leave room for hope.

I enjoyed this video of Hardy's poem from You Tube; it's basically a slow scrolling transcript of the poem with an excellent musical selection ("The Chamber" from Incompetech) to underscore the words.

I usually include a selection from country music when I do a post like this and this time I've chosen one of the unsung pioneers of the country music field, Ernest V. "Pop" Stoneman. Mr. Stoneman's 1925 song "The Titanic" sold thousands and thousands of copies and helped establish this kind of music with the public and as a major category in the commercial music industry. He had a most  interesting life; you can read more about him here and here.

The News from Nashville This Week

1. Predators 3-Red Wings 2...Hockey fans in Nashville went wild after Wednesday night's opening playoff 3-2 victory over the Detroit Redwings, smashing and overturning cars, and setting fire to homeless people.

I made that part about the rioting up. But the Preds did defeat the Wings in a very rough (17 penalties) game with goalie Pekka Rinne getting 35 saves and defenseman Shea Weber getting fined $2500 .

Hockey fans are a special breed, and yes, Nashville fans are rowdy and loud but not destructive like certain basketball fans in that state to the North of Tennessee. (To any geography challenged readers, that would be Kentucky.) Which leads me to the next story...

2. Kentucky Man Gets On Opry...Speaking of Kentucky, one of that state's citizens made a brief stop in Nashville this week that  turned into a longer stay and an 'appearance on the Opry.' According to the Yahoo news story...


Police say he [William Todd] traveled there on a Greyhound bus from Kentucky before beginning his unprecedented crime spree. Upon arriving in Nashville, he allegedly broke into a local business called The Slaughterhouse, where he stole a Taser, revolver and shotgun. He then proceeded to steal a T-shirt from the Slaughterhouse before burning the business to the ground.


According to the news story, Todd allegedly committed ten felonies in nine hours in Nashville


After crashing his stolen cab into a local parking garage, Todd then quickly held another taxi driver at gunpoint. When police finally apprehended Todd, he was hiding atop Opryland, partially submerged in a water-cooling vat. The Metro Fire Department was brought in to assist in Todd's removal from the vat, using a bucket and ladder truck.

Okay, so he wasn't actually on the Opry, just on the Opryland Hotel which is nearby. And he was on the roof in a water cooling vat, not on stage.

When arrested, Todd had several water soaked original songs folded in his back pocket which he said he planned to show to singer Wynnona Judd in hopes of getting a recording contract. Not true. I just made that part up.

But, you just never know who's gonna get off the bus in Nashville.

Back Blues

This will be a short post. I haven't felt up to blogging since last Saturday a.m., the day I got up with some bad pain in my back. If you've had this problem, you know what I'm talking about. You tend to tense up in anticipation of the pain as you try to stand or sit or move and that just adds to the problem.

I've had problems with a couple of herniated discs since the late '90s and had three or four major flare ups starting in 2000. That one in 2000 was a doozy and took a couple of months to subside. Besides my regular doctor, I even visited a chiropractor, which helped.

The other episodes since then have been manageable with pain meds (including cortisone injections) and a few exercises the physical therapist gave me. I feel sure this episode is not major, but it's painful and pretty well incapacitating nonetheless. I had hoped to avoid the doctor and the cortisone (those shots really wire me up for a couple of days), but I'm going tomorrow.

I've started a couple of other posts that I might get around to tomorrow but I just wanted to let you know I haven't fallen off the ends of the earth. At least not yet.

Time for some "Back Ache Blues." An original by Derek J. Holak. His lyrics are right on the money.

Doyle Dykes - What a Friend

Happy Easter.

I Can't Explain It

I just finished a great cup of coffee and I'm starting on my second as I write this. The first cup was New England decaf, as is the second, but this one I've laced with about a half bottle of Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino to clear away the cobwebs. I know, I know. What's the point of drinking decaf if you're going to add a caffeinated beverage to it? Why not just start with a cup of regular coffee and be done with it. Can't say exactly. I gave up trying to make sense of everything I do years ago.

Spring has definitely sprung here at the Post. As a matter of fact, Spring started springing over a month ago, way back in late February when our little patch of buttercups out by the shed popped out. I can't explain what was going on with these hardy flowers, but they survived two different hard freezes, I'm talking low twenties, and yet still stayed strong and beautifully yellow for almost four weeks. Usually they last about half that time. Maybe "no pain, no gain" works for flowers too. This pic was made at the end of February. They had already been out a week, survived one cold snap, and still looked that way about 3+ weeks later. Again, I can't 'splain it, but I like it.

On the automobile front, I mentioned that we sold the Jaguar to Joyce's brother who reports that he is enjoying the car down in sunny Florida, especially since he can drop the top. Soon after we sold the Jag, we made another automotive change back in late October. Our main vehicle, a 2009 Toyota Avalon, was continuing to give us problems. We decided to trade and first looked at the Buick LaCrosse sedan. It was (is) a very nice car, but seemed a little less roomy inside than what we had in mind. The salesman suggested we try an Enclave.

An SUV? What? One of those big old people haulers?

Well, we never thought we'd like an SUV, but we fell in love with it. Actually, only I fell in love. Joyce is a little more realistic about cars, and didn't exactly fall in love, but really liked it. So we leased a black one and we're enjoying the heck out of it.

We've taken three fairly long trips in it already, including two to Texas. On the highway we're getting 24 mpg, which ain't too shabby for a nice large vehicle like the Enclave.  The ride is smooth and the cabin is quiet, I mean really quiet, even at 75 mph. There's also that Sirius radio thang, which we've enjoyed immensely. There's even a dedicated Bluegrass station. And among all the choices, Joyce found one under the Jazz heading called "Escape" that she loves. And we got room inside. Lots of room.

We've never owned an SUV before, but we have owned three station wagons: A '57 Ford Country Sedan, a '72 Pontiac, and a '75 Toyota Corolla. So our decision to buy an SUV was not entirely unprecedented. A station wagon is not exactly a Sport Utility Vehicle, but it's in the same general "non sporty" category in my book of categories. I realize that "Sport" is part of the name, but you know what that's all about: marketing. "Sport" is relative. An SUV is sporty if compared to a van. But compared to a BMW M coupe or a Corvette, not so much.

Now Joyce and I have always liked fairly sporty cars. So, even though our going for the Enclave was not unprecedented, it's still something of a mystery. I can't explain it. It just happened.

I like my decaf mixed with a little Mocha Frappuccino. Buttercups don't usually last over a month, especially after a couple of hard freezes, but mine did this year. I like sporty cars, but I also like the Enclave. Like I said above, you just can't make everything make sense.

Some things come straight out of your gut brain. Not everything is logical. But The Who's 1965 classic 'splains it better than I...

Cumberland Post Gets $1 Million Federal Grant, Endorses Obama

The Cumberland Post is pleased to announce that we are the recipients of a $1 Million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The money will be used to develop windmill driven power for using computers to access and blog on the internet. The Post made no application for the grant but we were contacted by the Obama Administration yesterday. An enormous black, hybrid powered Escalade pulled into our driveway and delivered a package which included a kit for developing the experimental windmills, a check for $1 Million, and a letter and contract. Sec. Stephen Chu himself was driving and made the delivery.

After carefully examining the kit materials, the Post has decided to accept the government proposal. Here are the windmills we'll be using in this experiment.

We like the patriotism shown by the two with the American flag motifs and we deeply appreciate the international and diverse appeal of the other two.

Also, in related news, we have decided to endorse President Obama for a second term. Those of us on the staff have noted in the past that reasonable people do sometimes change their minds and that's the case this time. Although we disagree with almost all of Obama's policies and despise his racially divisive approach, we think he makes a lot of sense in certain areas. Nobody's perfect.

The Post will be offline for the next four weeks as we take the first of several vacations, this one in Aruba.

R.I.P Earl Scruggs

Banjo legend Earl Scruggs passed away yesterday in a Nashville Hospital. He was 88.

Wiki says (and anybody who knows a little bit about American country music and bluegrass knows as well), Scruggs perfected and popularized the three finger picking style on the five string banjo. The style is now called the "Scruggs Style."

One of his most famous and influential compositions is "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," which has become a standard among bluegrass musicians. Wiki says if you can deliver a convincing rendition of this tune, you are recognized as an "intermediate" level banjo player. Well, I don't know about that. I do know it's one of the most challenging pieces to be played on the instrument.

Scruggs wrote the tune back in the late '40s when he and Lester Flatt were members of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, and I first remember hearing it on the Flatt and Scruggs local TV show in the Nashville area in the '50s. It became instantly recognizable nationally after it was used frequently in the 1967 movie "Bonnie and Clyde."

The influence he had on other musicians and their respect for him is displayed in this video of his famous tune. Yes, that's Mr. Leon Russell on the organ. I think you'll recognize quite few of the other musicians as well.

I regularly watched the Flatt and Scruggs TV show back in the '50s. The show was on right before supper time and I associate the old Flatt and Scruggs sound with images of my Mother in the kitchen frying pork chops or mashing potatoes or making some biscuits with Martha White Flour. I can almost hear that sizzle and smell the chops in the skillet now.

Flatt and Scruggs were together from the late '40s until 1969 when they decided to go their separate ways. The decision was pretty much Earl's because he wanted to play some more contemporary material and Lester wanted to stay with the traditional stuff. Lester hired most of the Foggy Mountain Boys and started a new band called Nashville Grass. After Earl left, he created the Earl Scruggs Revue with his sons. Both men enjoyed success after the split. Lester Flatt died in 1979.

Even though they split and they're both gone now, they remain forever united and alive in my memory. Here's a couple of songs from those golden days, "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms," and "My Blue Ridge Cabin Home."

(Note: This is off on a tangent and I probably mentioned it before, but T. Tommy Cutrer, the emcee on the second video, was one of the candidates in the 4th District (my district) Democratic primary that 28 year old Al Gore won back in 1976. Gore won the primary election with just a little over 30 percent of the vote. Cutrer finished a close second. I've often wondered if history would have been a little different had there been one less candidate in that primary. My guess is Cutrer probably would have won, as for what Gore would have done after that, who knows.)

Amazing '30s Airplane: Bugatti 100P

Take a look at a fantastic airplane.

It looks like a plane that might have been flown by a 1930's-1950s comic book hero whose mercenary force assisted the world's free nations in their fight against the evil statists in Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union.

Air Commander Jake Savage and his squadron of Bluehawks.

Okay, so there was no such comic book character. But there was a real plane.

It's a Bugatti 100P which was designed in the late '30s and was being built to compete in the 1939 Deutsche de la Meurthe Cup Race. Wiki says that the plane was not completed by the September 1939 deadline and was put in storage "prior to the German invasion of France."

Ettore Bugatti started work in 1938 to design a racer to compete in the Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup Race, using engines sold in his automotive line for co-marketing. His chief engineer was Louis de Monge, whom Bugatti was partnered with before. Bugatti also approached by the French Government to use the technology of the racing aircraft to develop a fighter variant for mass production. The aircraft was the source of five modern patents including the inline engines, V tail mixer controls, and the automatic flap system. ^[1]
...
The Model 100 had an unusual inboard mounted twin engine arrangement driving forward mounted twin counter rotating propellers through driveshafts. The aircraft also featured a 120 degree V-tail arrangement and retractable landing gear. The construction was mostly of wood, with sandwiched layers of balsa and hardwoods, including tulipwood stringers covered with doped fabric.

For an excellent overhead schematic of the Model 100's engine layout, etc. click here.

Somehow the plane survived the war and over the next several decades was sold and resold several times. During that time both original Bugatti were pulled and used in race cars. The plane (minus engines) was restored by the EAA Airventure museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where it is on static display today.

But. That's not the end of the story. There's another Bugatti 100P that's being constructed right now by Scotty Wilson and Greg Carlson of Oklahoma. There are some great photos and lots of information on this painstakingly researched and constructed airplane at these two sites.

The first is The Blue Dream, Le Reve Bleu The Bugatti 100p Project.

The other is the Bugatti Aircraft Association.

When completed, the project plane will be correct in every detail except the engines, which will be twin Susuki Hayabusa motors modified and developed by Radical Performance Engines of England.

And guess what? The plane has also been in a comic book, Firehawks, illustrated by Herb Trimpe who worked on "The Incredible Hulk" and "The Wolverine." I haven't read the comic but the images of the plane on the cover and pages shown in the link look great--except for those red stars on the plane's wings and body. I don't know about you, but I have some bad memories associated with that red star.

On a slight tangent, something about the Bugatti 100P reminds me a little of the Bell P-39 Airacobra WWII fighter plane. These planes looked great but presented problems in combat. They were, however, used quite successfully by the Russian Air Force (with red star markings!) which found their nose mounted cannons quite effective against German soft armor. Here's a pic of the Airacobra in case you've forgotten what they looked like.

Back to the airplane under discussion: the Bugatti 100P. This airplane was originally designed to reach speeds up to and slightly over 500 mph. It will be interesting to see if the modern Bugatti 100P with its twin RPE Susukis can achieve that speed.

Air Commander Savage, your plane will soon be ready.