Breeds like Dumbos, known for their floppy ears, are described in detail, while new parents ask for advice: What's their hygiene?
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Families will enjoy the film together, and kids will want a plushy little Dumbo (modeled on the plushy Dumbos seen in the movie being hawked from a table outside the circus, in true Disney parks style) to fly around the living room.
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They burrow underground only to pop up randomly elsewhere; they snatch unsuspecting dumbos out of cars by their heads; they dive-bomb volcanoes in hot pursuit of the beacon that summoned them (a plan executed by our heroes that results in one of the best moments on Zoo or television, period).
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At the final bombing mission on August 14, 1945, 9 land-based Dumbos and 21 flying boats covered a surface and sub-surface force of 14 submarines and 5 rescue ships.
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Also, the original Dumbos has hinged ears that were supposed to flap, but failed, due to a number of mechanical problems. So, the ears remained stationary until the mid-1960s, when new Dumbos were given casts with no hinges for movement. The attraction was given another slightly "newer" modification around 1978. During his 1957 visit to Disneyland, former United States President Harry S. Truman politely declined a ride on Dumbo the Flying Elephant, due to the elephant being a Republican symbol.
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"World Battlefronts: Battle of the Seas: The Lovely Dumbos", page 1 and page 2. Retrieved on September 6, 2009. were sent aloft in the Pacific War to patrol likely areas where American airmen might ditch.
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Time, August 6, 1945. "World Battlefronts: Battle of the Seas: The Lovely Dumbos", page 1 and page 2. Retrieved on September 6, 2009. By extension, "Dumbo" became the unofficial nickname for any air-sea rescue aircraft, including flying boatsMorison, 2007, p. xxvi.
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Air-sea rescue by flying boat or floatplane was a method used by various nations before World War II to pick up aviators or sailors who were struggling in the water.Time, August 6, 1945. "World Battlefronts: Battle of the Seas: The Lovely Dumbos", page 1 and page 2. Retrieved on September 6, 2009.
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Tokyo Disneyland's photo spot differs from its three counterparts; the character is shown in his regular outfit from the original film, with a pink saddle blanket and Timothy Mouse in his hat. All of the Dumbos, with the exception of the newer Dumbo in Walt Disney World (which was added with the New Fantasyland expansion), spin counterclockwise. The newer Dumbo in Walt Disney World spins clockwise.
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Based on the character from the 1941 animated feature, the 16 ride vehicles each resemble Dumbo, and are mounted on articulated armatures connected to a rotating hub. The passengers ride in the "Dumbos" and can maneuver them up and down with a joystick that operates a hydraulic ram. The ride itself rotates counterclockwise at a constant rate. A figure of Timothy Q. Mouse, currently voiced by Chris Edgerly, rides atop the central hub.
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Boeing SB-29 Retrieved on September 6, 2009. where A-3 lifeboats were carried by Super Dumbos over the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. From the beginning of the Korean War, the A-3 lifeboat was kept shackled underneath an SB-29 waiting in constant readiness on the ground at each rescue airbase. Inside of the aircraft, however rainwater could enter the boat and pool within an open end of the deployment parachute's bag.
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This permitted the rescue of crews who were downed in seas that were too high for the Catalinas to land and pick them up. The Dumbos would frequently accompany strike aircraft, orbiting off the coast during the attack, so as to be in position to accompany distressed aircraft on the return flight. If needed, the life boat, whose engines gave it a range 500 miles, could be dropped to crews that ditched or bailed out of their aircraft.Tilford, p.
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In 1990, the attraction was updated with the 16 rainbow-colored vehicles (and Timothy's magic feather) originally intended for installation at Disneyland Paris, after an incident during which a bracket support broke. During the 1992 Disneyana convention, one of the original ride vehicles sold for US$16,000. Like other remaining 1955 attractions, one of Disneyland's Dumbos was painted gold in honor of the park's 50th anniversary in 2005. During that same time, Timothy's magic feather was replaced by the whip.
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In November 1944, the squadron began operating from the Philippines. Initially the Army was unable to support its OA-10s, and for several months, they were supported by the Navy's seaplane tenders, and . This support continued even after the arrival of the squadron's ground echelon. During the last four months of the war, the squadron began to operate Boeing SB-17 Dumbos, which were equipped with a 27-foot long life boat with survival equipment that could be dropped to downed aircrews, in addition to its Catalinas.
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Morison, 2007, pp. 510–511. On any one large-scale bombing mission carried out by Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, at least three submarines were posted along the air route, and Dumbo aircraft sent to patrol the distant waters where they searched the water's surface and listened for emergency radio transmissions from distressed aircraft. At the final bombing mission on August 14, 1945, 9 land-based Dumbos and 21 flying boats covered a surface and sub-surface force of 14 submarines and 5 rescue ships.
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The squadron was first activated at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on 17 October 1952, when Air Rescue Service expanded its existing squadrons into groups and replaced their flights with new squadrons. The squadron absorbed the mission, personnel and equipment of D Flight of the 2d Air Rescue Squadron. The 34th flew the Boeing SB-29 Super Dumbo, a rescue version of the B-29. Its Super Dumbos accompanied Boeing B-29 Superfortresses of Twentieth Air Force, providing strike force rescue escort for bombers flying combat missions to Korea until combat operations ceased in July 1953.
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Marion, p. 19. The squadron's Boeing SB-17 Dumbos and SC-47 Skytrains were used in the search role, with the C-47 "Gooneybirds" being commandeered on occasion to fly critical supply missions. Early in the war, both these planes began to be replaced by SB-29 Superdumbos. When the war began, Air Rescue Service's newest plane, the Grumman SA-16 Albatross amphibian, was not on the strength of any unit in the Pacific. To remedy this, a detachment of four Albatrosses from the 5th Rescue Squadron at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado was dispatched in July 1950 to augment the 3rd Squadron.
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3–4 Initially, because of the aircraft available to the unit, now called the 3rd Air Rescue Squadron, efforts were limited to short range missions. The squadron's H-5 helicopters could operate from Korea's many rice paddies, sometimes escorted by the unit's L-5 Sentinels, which also flew aeromedical evacuation missions from small unprepared fields. Because of the limited resources of the squadron, it was augmented by crews and aircraft of the 2nd Air Rescue Squadron at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. The augmentation by the 2nd was particularly in the form of Boeing SB-29 Superdumbos, which operated offshore from strike areas, much as the SB-17 Dumbos had during World War II.Tilford, p.
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In the last eight months of World War II, Dumbo operations complemented simultaneous United States Army Air Forces heavy bombing operations against Japanese targets. On any large-scale bombing mission carried out by Boeing B-29 Superfortresses at least three submarines were posted along the air route, with Dumbo aircraft sent to patrol the distant waters and listen for emergency radio transmissions from distressed aircraft. At the war's final B-29 bombing mission on August 14, 1945, 9 land-based Dumbos and 21 flying boats covered a surface and sub- surface force of 14 submarines and 5 rescue ships. A Navy PBM Mariner flying boat rescues Lt. (jg) J. M. Denison, shot down while operating from the escort carrier USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) in 1945 Once Iwo Jima was taken by American forces, Dumbo missions had less distance to fly and could range closer to Japan, or remain on station for longer periods of time.
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Tifford, p. 9 The unit also dispatched SB-17 Dumbos to orbit offshore while Boeing RB-29 Superfortress aircraft flying reconnaissance missions over China were over hostile territory. The squadron frequently provided similar precautionary coverage for fighter aircraft making overwater flights.E.g., mission reports collected at Air Force History Index. Retrieved 10 May 2015. Air Rescue Service SH-19 In 1952, the unit was expanded to group level as the 2d Air Rescue Group and its lettered flights became air rescue squadrons. A and B Flights at Clark were replaced by the 31st and 32d Air Rescue Squadrons, while C and D Flights at Kadena transferred their mission, personnel and equipment to the 33d and 34th Air Rescue Squadrons.See (giving stations for flights.) The group provided rescue support for units of Thirteenth Air Force and the southwest Pacific until 1955, when it moved to Wheeler Air Force Base. With the move, the 33d Squadron, now at Naha Air Base, was transferred to the 3d Air Rescue Group (which now controlled all rescue units in Fifth Air Force's area) and the 2d Group gained the 76th Air Rescue Squadron in Hawaii.
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