So why and wuzz up with this fetish of radio?

Although many can drop into a radio studio and talk smack with OTR haulers all night and even get away with a lot of it, making those on the other side of that speaker (YOU) think he or she is genuine, it takes someone that’s been there even still there to understand you and the needs YOU have to be coming out of your radio.

For me the big slam came one early Sunday morning, after spending the night previous crawling up Lost Trail Pass just outside of Salmon Idaho. Upon leaving Salmon that Saturday, it was raining terrible but the three of us running empty gave no mind to it. Up about 15 miles into the pass , it decided to drop snow. 2 to 4 inches an hour. Dual and three railer chains didn’t help.

After we reached the feedlot all three trucks were loaded, by bobtail, with 93 head of fat bulls. In the attempt to skid up Lost Trail Pass pushing a bit I blew the diaphragm of the injector pump out. Meaning no idle, and no power. 50 MPH, was me forward velocity.

After putting fuel in at some tiny truckstop near Spencer Idaho, we inched back towards U.S. 93.

All of us were pooped. So my second seat bedded down in the single bunk sleeper, me up front trying to sleep while keeping my foot on the go peddle to get heat, I turned on the radio. Amongst all those radio shows from so many overnight radio shows, I finally landed on KSL, 1160 AM, with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing.

That moment, I knew what I had to do.

Be the true voice of the American Trucker on radio.

It takes a serious knowledge to combine road skill and radio skill into a comprehensive and believable radio show, much less a 24/7-365 radio station, dedicated to trucking.

But even gear splitting truckers want variety. So with my life flying, love for Hazzard, HazzardAyre Radio was put together, although not as HazzardAyre at first.

The first stage was a thing we called Dixie Diesel Radio.

Dixie Diesel Radio quickly became the pride of most OTR truckers on radio. Even passing Bill Mack’s Midnight Cowboy show, The Truckin Bozo, and even Dave Nemo’s Road-Gang . Dixie Diesel kicked butt on all comers and became the mark for all to try to copy but never duplicated.

As time went on, in mid 2009 in the then home of KDOH FM 93.3 West-Point Idaho, one of my interns put the words Hazzard, together with Ayre(for AyreWolf) and instead of duplicating efforts, the development of HazzardAyre began.

By mid year 2010 KDOH(Dukes-of-Hazzard) AM 10/90 Buhl Idaho, that HazzardAyre took flight. And has been the foundation of Confederate Star Media, ever since.

However late in 2011 the squall of many OTR haulers reached my ears and as such Dixie Diesel Radio has been brought back into the Wolf-Pack of radio programs, on The Confederate Star Network.

So that’s what lit the fyre under my britches to get inside your radio, every night and why the off beat anti-establishment kinda trashy style of radio continues to be the soul, and major effort here in the Knytes-of-Anarchy.

The rest of this story, Friday morning.

L8R Ya’ll

 

2 Peter 1:5-8“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Quote of the Day:
Commerce is the great civilizer. We exchange ideas when we exchange fabrics.
--Robert Green Ingersoll

Home is where Hazzard is:

There is an old adage that says home is where your heart is. There is an accompanying saying that says, Hazzard is not so much a place on Earth, but a place in the heart.

For me I discovered the love of Hazzard, and my own southern heritage, in 1978 shortly after Mom through many circumstances and me in the sweat shop of what was Valley Towing and Radiator, of Twin Falls got LexiBelle. Shortly there after Jimmy, myself, Ricky, Allen and Karl opened up Pat & Jims Speed and Custom Shop downtown Hagerman Idaho.

This went until mid 1981, in search of props for display of another hot rod an old Dodge Charger in need of love caught my eye.

He came home to Hagerman, was transformed into the General Lee, that no car, hot rod or cop car in the state could catch.

Shortly thereafter the men met at the Snake River Grill, then known as the Polish Palace, and in late 1982 the Hazzard County Knytes(Knights) was formed from the images of both the Dukes, and a hit movie at the time called the Hollywood Knights.

The club spun off one sibling in late 1999, for those who love old iron vintage big rig trucks. Then one year after the second sibling , that was co-sponsored by Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz , called the Deere Dazzlerz was brought to life. In 2001 the last sibling was brought to life as what is now the AyreWolvez.

I moved away back to Utah, wanted to stay out of Idaho, but in need again for on air talent remembering an old Vo-Tech broadcast essentials course at BSU, thought maybe they might have student interns to hire.

One of my associate producers, who was getting a divorce, and unbeknownst to me was running away from a nose candy charge, moved with me back to go nowhere Idaho.

In 2008, finding member numbers near the original site of the clubs creation to be low, the decision was made to rename the organization but too, keep part of our roots.

On TV was the Sons of Anarchy. Good to the community, but despised by those not in knowing.

A rework, and the Knytes-of-Anarchy was formed, and so it goes.

However, even though there are those who dislike bikers, hot rodders, rat rod truckers and so on, they don’t spit on us when we deliver toys from our toy runs, fund raiser for food banks and other charities, the spur in local bank accounts of food vendors and motels etc from our jamborees etc. Nope they don’t bite us then, but the rest of the year, its crap all over us.

If it we5re not the brotherly love I have with and for the members of this club and all, I would have shit canned this area a long time ago.

In the place of statements of being scammed, I will say this, neither I nor the club have ever, ever asked someone to do anything that they were not well paid for.

Do not judge that you know nothing really of. Sure my outwardly appearance is shabby, sure LexiBelle(named after Col. Boyington’s Corsair) LiL Lexi looks like and runs like shit.

I admit that, but since the time I moved from Utah, I have not had a place or time to fix my own rigs. Hell it was only three months ago, when I found a place that would suitably house Hazzard County Choppers, and Dixie Towing, not to mention KDXB and me.

Okay granted, the possible buy of KBAR which because of a few hardly dry behind the ears girls curtailed that. But that possible buy, pushed the radio bit a bit more than we were ready for.

So up went the ad on Craig’s List, which I ain’t doing again. Hell I can’t run the shop, go tow, fly, and still do radio to the degree that Two full powered FM’s and possible AM would require.

Example, waiting on the same little snot nosed girls to show Sunday, two calls came in for tows. Cost me $180.00. While that was bad enuff, still $180.00 is $180.00 that’s just start up costs. The $2.00 a mile to Twin Falls by one of those calls would have been a good hunk of change for me. As it was had to hand that call off to Charlie.

The fact that , while on air , when such a call comes in, means, I can’t just turn off the station and go tow. Especially with two full power FM’s and the potential AM. I needed in studio help.

The fact that at even 21 years old these three little immature girls couldn’t handle it, nor were Hazzard County style aptitude or attitude is not my problem. They bugged out, but to say I scammed them, bullshit.

If you add the fact that in 25 hours each day, I also need to somehow get some sleep, eat, occasionally go to the head(bathroom) and maybe shower and shave, you could say, if the Knytes and all don’t kill me it’d be a blessing.

So why do I serve the club? Simple, the club deals with club members over anyone or anything else. The club puts money in my pocket through building bikes and old skool rat rods and trucks, plus towing.

I don’t serve the club, the club takes their projects of rydes elsewhere. That means I loose money.

With making a mere $3,500.00 a month in Military pension and Social Security I need all the extra money I can make until that $850, million dollar suit between the Montgomery Foundation and the old Flying J people. Which means by next year sometime I sit with , well , $850,million . Which through the love of the club will be put in the club. We got an interest payment on that last month, but any how. That’s why I serve. But that $850,million can go to another state and help others as good as it can Idaho. I do not care, as my former affection for Idaho is chipping away every month.

Any mile, it comes down to this; I love Hazzard, Hazzard is a place in my heart, but I do not have to remain in Idaho, when multiple doors get slammed in my face.

Why the Knytes were renamed, next time, here on HazzardAyre.

L8R Ya’ll

Quote of the Day:
If you want to be miserable, think about yourself, about what you want, what you like, what respect people ought to pay you and what people think of you.
--Charles Kingsley

Isaiah 25:1“[Praise to the LORD] LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Once we were Eagles

The beginnings are not all clear. Some things I can tell, others by and because of honor I will keep private.

In our part of the world, the traditional hot rod was not a car or truck or bike. No Our hot rods had wings, flew hard and flew quick.

With nearly 70% or better of the working people of Layton Utah being military of either Air-Force or Marine, it was not unusual that we as the youth had visions of air craft cockpits, rather than automotive dashboards.

It was in this view that myself, and a few others assembled albeit somewhat against DoD regs, but in 1968 through the Boy Scouts, and cub scouts, troupe 303 and the Eagles Flying Club, was formed. We collected the plastic models of, as well as the history of military aircraft. On occasions we got near free rein to go up on Hill Air Force Base to view some of the , then state of the art warbirds. From the F-4 Phantom, to the X-15 we saw it, smelled it, sat in it.

In 1971 My Mom & Dad had served their duty and decided to move , again albeit against my better judgment, to Idaho. Over the previous years it was through my Dad, a man who my dad was in partnership with on a motel country club in Burley here called the Ponderosa. Through the Eagles, gave to the city of Burley an old fighter aircraft that today greets all to that airport.

Once we had moved here, efforts to bring about a Idaho charter of the Eagles, was more miss than hit. We signed 6 kids, from the Hagerman, Wendell, Twin Falls area of Idaho.

It was on one of the information campaigns that I got my first taste of radio.

My Dad made some sort of arrangement with Al Lee, of Lee Family Broadcasting, and I had a 30 minute bit on then KFMA 92.7, now Z103 FM Jerome.

However in 1974 it was agreed that the Eagles would be grounded for another operation that would consume my life, and the TeenAge Truckers Association 4-H club was born. The TTA lived until mid 1978 when it was felt an all inclusive organization not just of OTR trucking was needed.

In 1981 through a search of props for a diorama for the 1981 Salt Lake City AutoRama that I discovered ye old General Lee, and the rest of that is history.

The Eagles however were not be seen, until the spring of 2000. Just at the time I had pretty much gave up on going bassackwards in Idaho, and after finding a group of F-4-U Corsairs in Jerome, the might young men of valor gathered at a beer bar in Jerome Idaho, and the Eagles were reborne as The BlackSheep Aviation Association. Over the following months the BlackSheep was reformed as the AyreWolvez, Military Aviation Association, as I took the imagery of the 214 and applied that to our Utah unit of my own company, BlackSheep Toewing.

All from an idea and model airplanes.

In true spirit, we too , Once we were Eagles.

L8R

Quote of the Day:
Every successful enterprise requires three men - a dreamer, a businessman, and a son of a bitch.
--Peter McArthur

1 John 3:18“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

That time of the month

Congrats go out to Pisano publications for an excellent issue of Rebel Rodz this month. As one of Pisano publications eager readers of most of its titles, the two we here at Cooter’s Rat Shaq/Hazzard County Choppers get into the most are of course EasyRiders, InTheWind and of course Rebel Rodz. As Pisano publications newest retailers as well as readers and enthusiasts we don’t sell much of the tattoo titles, and Road Iron, but most here buy the rest. Our shop has been in business for nearly 35 years. With 5 shops, two in Idaho Two in Utah and one in Wyoming, we have been building streetable iron both two and four wheels, from scratch, with old skool sweat and creativity.

In 2001 I discovered a company in Jerome that built from scratch as well as restored military warbirds, mainly F-4-U Corsairs. From that discovery and some old loves of my own in battle birds myself, I thought hey I can do that. So in early 2002 I opened what is AyreWolf Aviation. That equated to doing a radio show on the hobby of military warbirds, and as they say, the rest is history.

Prior to that, in late 1974 a group of rural gearheads in the tiny town of Hagerman Idaho, got together through our speed shop there and started a old skool hot rod club. In 1980 with a recent trip by the club to the Salt Lake City AutoRama that year we pledged to have a ride in the 1981 show. Once built a 69 Chevy Caprice, in search of props for the display, found an old Dodge Charger, that some kid was trying to build into a somewhat duplicate of ye old General Lee. He was going on an LDS Church mission, needed cash, we dug the car, $1,500.00 was paid and an era was about to be born, none the least an empire began.

Once the General Lee was in Hagerman, a redoux of the engine into a more potent power plant, paint correct, off to the 81 SLC AutoRama and we brought home a trophy.

A car mag owned then by the same as Truckin Magazine, took a photo of our General, the temporary fame propelled our little club, into a frenzy.

The club went from 10 founding members to 1000 in three mountain west states. Once Warner Brothers Studio’s and production staff of the Dukes caught wind of us, instead of suing, they put their arms around us, and for 5 great years we field prepped just about if not every, General Lee, Cop car, Jeep, villain car , truck, and motorcycle that was used on the show.

The club needed a good name. At the time there was a hit movie running called the HollyWood Knights, that starred such notables as Tony Danza, Fran Dreschler Robert Wuhl. We re-engineered the movie title, and HollyWood was replaced with Hazzard County, Knights was re-spelled as Knytes, and again as they say the rest is history.

In 2008 with some of the Hazzard County magic tarnishing, the club met, drank maybe too much brew, but on the TV was a show about renegade bikers called Sons of Anarchy. Again some rework, and the Knytes of Anarchy was born.

Today with just under 10,000 members across the nation and Canada, South America and Europe, with two basic cores or loves. Them being tricked out rides of all kinds, including military warbirds, and Confederate America.

This month , Rebel Rodz did a pictorial of old warbirds and a rod.

Again congrats to Pisano Publications for such an issue.

L8R Ya’ll

 

Quote of the Day:
The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
--Anonymous

John 13:34-35““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

 

In but not out

It’s a sad truth. Not everybody, and even not everyone who lives in our coveted southern states, will align themselves with us here in the Knytes-of-Anarchy, The AyreWolvez, or our respected radio and TV network HazzardAyre Radio, Confederate Star TV. However with so many things on the verge of collapse in this nation, is it a time for none alignments, bickering or just shunning a group, because we do the same things they do, just a bit more aggressively?

When the Son’s of Confederate Veterans dissolved their support and gave us the boot, I truly felt both sadness, rejection and hurt. That a group I got the Knytes to get together with , would pitch a bitch over something as simple as a modification of their logo, which in all reality we did first anyway. Then with Ray’s email wanting not to affiliate with us, again I felt hurt, disappointment and betrayal. But as my mom used to say, if they don’t want to swing on our gate, fine. Get out of our yard.

As such, the Knytes-of-Anarchy, will not align, or be in any kind of affiliation, other than our own organization. We’ll still carry the fight for Dixie, and the Southern Confederate Movement, but we’ll do it our way. Piss on anybody else. I no longer care about outside groups.

Here’s what happened, and I’ll bet I’m closer to the truth, than what Ray told me.

He is disillusioned by the racy spicy gals we use for poster gals. More over though , Ray got a call from somebody at the SOCV, since they have this very wrong opinion, of the club. Many of the SOCV think we are racist and full of hate. Hate is not accurate, since we are more troubled with the condition of the nation. I don’t care if the President of the Union States is black, red, yellow or purple. If anyone is in that big chair with that big red button under their finger, and doing what they’re doing to this nation, yes I’m pissed, but not hateful. Are we racist? No, again the Knytes-of-Anarchy welcomes membership from all races. As long as they are in agreement of our principles and views as we are, I don’t what band, tribe, or nationality they are. As long as they love go fast hot rod cars, tricked out trucks, and stretched out V-Twin bikes, I have no problem with them being members. Ethnicity is not a factor of membership in the Knytes-of-Anarchy, or any of our organizations family organizations. Including the Hazzard County AyreWolvez.

As I close , for a business that had in view the money we planned to spend with Ray’s ad firm, to shut the door on us is to me a oh well your loss. Further, any body of any kind that preaches allegiance to God above that would close the door on someone, is not telling the whole truth. But then like I read on a T – Shirt, one time, get-em all, let God sort it out.

If you wondered where I was last night into early morning. The reason we were not on air was the tower on Harrison went bunk, so we need to do some fixing, but we are just about there.

Withy Ray’s company though out of the picture, we need to find another web site designer. So I’m rolling up to Portland to see what Abacast’ bunch can do.

So see ya’ll l8r,

 

 

John 13:34-35““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

What we don’t tech in schools

B4 ya’ll turn em loose, get em ready first.

Example, go to the Maverick Store for fuel, go to pay with company card, gal behind the register had no idea of how to do that. Really? It’d be like me sending someone out in a toew truck without training them how to drive it, much less use the carrier bed or hoist.

One just does not do that.

Another example; if you send someone up in a ayrecraft, ya’ll don’t send em up without some flyte experience. Ya’ll just don’t do that. If your into trucking even with hauling taters, most farmers will not send out obvious greenhorn drivers without seeing if they can drive the damn truck.

Yet countless times I see people re-entering the job market, that are not trained or even have half a brain. It’s not entirely their fault. After all, for most of them their money comes once a month, they get their EBT food stamp card and are okay for a week or two. They have no ambition to go out , find a job, put in the training needed to learn a skill or attain employment where they have to perform or it’s the boot out the door. Its just easier for them to just go collect the state and/or Federal money, sit back and rust. Then there is America’s educational system.

George W’s No Child Left Behind was and is a great idea. Teacher merit pay is the right path to follow. But Idaho said no way and is currently bitching through the courts to get a reprieve from that program. Reason? Idaho does not have the parts to fulfill the educational mandates that will put the skill sets inside the craniums of today’s kids, in school. And forget post Secondary schools. Our kids and all states fall in this mixture, the kids just do not have the basics to compete with a global marketplace. Nor one of technology and so on. They just are stupid.

There was once a time raising taters and corn, showing a calf at the fair, and learning how to sew in the case of Home-Ec(Homemaker Education) or in FFA (Future Farmers of America) of which I am an alumni, but thing is in FFA guys learned to fix tractors, grow crops, girls learned to be happy homemakers and all was well. TV was one maybe two channels on an outdoor antenna, or rabbit ears, and computers? Huh, that was something out of Jules Vern or Star Trek.

Then America changed. The Internet, satellite TV for rural populations, cable for urban populations, and all of our people got caught up in a twister cloud, of new needs without the ability or ease in tyme to get the skill sets up to deal with them. Some places just said we, ain’t doing that.

Okay then, there were a few of us wanting to go beyond life on the farm. For me I  chose military service. Namely the Navy. After much testing I was approved for being an E7, Internal Communications Specialist. I took my physical in Boise, stayed over night at the Shilo in Boise, woke up the next day, went to San Diego California. On the 2nd week I was there, it was discovered that a slight almost un noticeable physical defect of my anatomy. So the Navy sent me home. Through three recruiters, Senator(at the time) Frank Church, My dad through his pull through the higher ups in the Pentagon, my butt was in a C-3 headed to Paris Island, followed by Pensacola Florida for flight training, and spent the rest of my military career in an aviator, both AV-8’s and l8r on as a rescue helo pilot.

Then of course Iraq, and being recalled, and put into what is called the F-I-R-M, and the rest is military confidential, of which I can’t comment.

But I got out, I saw the rest of the world, beyond Hazzard, beyond Idaho and or Utah. I saw the world, from 20,000 feet at mach 7.

The fact is I made it.

The rest can, but I made many friends, many acquaintances , and grew the little hot rod club we started in Hazzard in 1981 of 10 rusty rural gear heads to just under 10,000 members world wide.

The rest as you know is history, but we keep growing. Why? Becuzz education and training is key. We hold education seminars all over the nation even the Mountain West on things from, toewing skills training, to aviation skills training.

We reach out to our area schools, teaching things that are not in the curriculum of most schools. From things not printed in school text books of the great war between the states, to Military history.

But the thing is it gets extremely frustrating when I see so many that have flat gave up.

L8R Ya’ll

 

Quote of the Day:
Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.
--Goethe

John 3:16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

They say they don’t but we know they do

If you have read on a regular basis , HazzardAyre or WyldAyre, here you know that I do not mince words. I call it as I see it.

I have been barking for some time, that the areas local media does nothing if anything at all about or on private or personal aviation, and damn little on those of us who rebuild vintage warbyrds.

However , I have see or is the proper here saw? Any flyte, saw that two area TV channels actually did a couple of diddy’s on aviation. One was on KTVB the other on Idaho Public Television.

While I applaud any inclusion of the media in our hobby, the other hobby, that is more than a hobby is OTR trucking, and that includes toewing.

There are those of us who consider our beasts of commerce to be more than a chariot that carries the loads. Many of us truly love our trucks. In fact, the Knytes-of-Anarchy was formed because of our love of old skool trucking, toewing and even the old skool trucking/trucker lifestyle. The way we look at it, truckers are bikers with more wheels and steel.

Yet , I’ll be damned if I see much more than a rare bit on the news or say Idaho Outdoors on Idaho Public Television, on our affection and our industry.

While short bits have been done on the violation of commercial haulers texting and using cell phones on the road, how about the rest of the story ? Like the rising costs of diesel, impacting our industry? How about doing an article on the bill killing the split speed limit in Idaho. That being running 65mph for trucks, while the rest of the motoring public fly’s by us at 75mph plus?

Hell the only way I learned of the split speed limit was reading a bit in LandLine online. Even though for many reasons I am no longer a member of OOIDA, which may change soon, by the way. Still OOIDA and LandLine, does one helluva job reporting the news of the industry. But why not the area media getting involved?

That’s why we initially went to the trouble of creating our radio network, and building a TV network, to deliver to those, that deliver for America, the information they and yes even I need to run a truck and make a buck.

With all that said , you watch and see some news organization in Idaho will now do a bit on trucking and/or toewing.

They never , ever contact me directly, but they do read this and the rest of our blogs and bet your next coffee , that they will copy us, if they can.

Dixie Diesel Radio returns to the Confederate Star Network.

That in my next report.

L8R Ya’ll

Quote of the Day:
Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image.
--Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

John 3:16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.