Author Archives: Joe Clark

Leftovers

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Joe Clark

Leftovers. You have to love ’em. Especially if they have been hanging around the ’fridge for a while and they age appropriately—mixing in flavors in on top of flavors. Sometimes the leftovers are wonderfully tasty and you might think it cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying | Tagged 100-LL, 100-octane, 150-hp Lycoming, 80-octane, airplanes, alternate destinations, an unsafe practice, Cessna 172, critical thinking skills, day VFR fuel reserves, destinations, discipline, engine problems, excess fuel, flight planning, flying, flying instruments, general aviation airplanes, holding patterns, holding time, how many approaches, judgment, Leftovers, minimum fuel, night and IFR fuel reserves, options, pilots, pilots can never have too much fuel, Piper Cherokee, professional pilots, the ATC environment, useable fuel, weather below minimums | 2 Comments

E. B. White

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Joe Clark

I had to come into my office to restart the computer when our network went down. As I was waiting for it to come back online, I looked down to my right and saw my copy of The Elements of … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal, Publishing, Reading, Writing | Tagged a “little” book, aspiring writer, Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White, journalism students, reading, research, self-published pamphlets, Stuart Little, The Elements of Style, The New Yorker, the University of Florida, William Strunk Jr., writer, writing | Comments Off

Life Only Began Yesterday

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Joe Clark

It was a moment one can only describe as profound. We were driving northeast on Pacetti Road thinking about the recent visit of the grandkids. All of a sudden, the realization hit us like a runaway logging truck hurtling down … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged Cardenas Cuba, centuries, Cuba, decades, England, grandkids, Highway 16, instant “connections”, Life Only Began Yesterday, lifetimes, Pacetti Road, Saint Augustine, Saint Johns County, Spain, Tampa, the age of 30, the loss of a friend, the Pacettis, the passage of time, the passing of a grandparent, the Triays | 2 Comments

Seventy Years

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Joe Clark

Seventy years ago this morning, 80 brave men took off from the USS Hornet on what would later become known as the Doolittle Raid. It is hard to imagine babies were born, lived their entire lives, and died having lived … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History | Tagged 500-pound high explosive bombs, 500-pound incendiary bombs, 80 brave men, Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, Admiral Yamamoto, Afghanistan, American history, an extraordinary display of airmanship, April 18 1942, B-25B Mitchell, bailing out, Beirut, China, Grenada, Hawaii, Iraq, James H. (Jimmy) Doolittle, Japan, Kobe, Lexington to Gettysburg, Nagoya, Normandy, Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, Purple Hearts, Russia, sacrifice, secret mission, Seventy Years, sneak attack, the Air Force Museum in Dayton OH, the Ardennes, the Chosin Valley, the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Doolittle Raid, The Eighth Air Force, the Ia Drang, the Japanese army, the sleeping giant, the Twin Towers, the USS Hornet, Tokyo, volunteers, World War II, Yokohama, Yokosuka, “Toujours Au Danger!” | 2 Comments

Late Night TV

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Joe Clark

It was a miserable night. At 4:30 a.m., the bladder was demanding, the sinuses had a headache working, and after a trip to the head and a glass of water chasing an Aleve, the next thing was tossing and turning. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged A Matter of Trust, All About Soul, Allentown, An Innocent Man, Baby Grand, baseball, Billy Joel, Goodnight Saigon, I Go To Extremes, It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me, Last Of The Big Time Spenders, Late Night TV, miserable nights, Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song), Piano Man, She’s Always A Woman, She’s Right On Time, The Downeaster 'Alexa', The Entertainer, the greatest American game, The Last Play at Shea, The River Of Dreams, We Didn’t Start The Fire | Comments Off

The Magic Plastic Wheel

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Joe Clark

Ernest K. Gann, the aviation writer of the Twentieth Century, once wrote about the plastic E6-B flight computer that resided in his top pocket of his uniform shirt. Other pilots had other favorite places in or on their uniform for … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Personal | Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, discipline, E-6B, Ernest K. Gann, flight calculators, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, military service, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, training aircraft, whiz wheels | Comments Off

Ready, Set, GO!

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Joe Clark

Yesterday, I wrote about my time. Well, there is something more to this time of year than just getting up early and enjoying the mornings. The one great event of this time of year, for all pilots, is the annual … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, aviators, barnstormers, Cessnas, classic and antique airplanes, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, homebuilts, inexperienced pilots, kitplanes, Lakeland, learning to fly, memories, oshkosh, Ready Set GO!, student pilots, Sun ’N Fun, taildraggers, training aircraft, young aviators | Comments Off

My Time

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Joe Clark

This time of year is my time. There is nothing better than the early morning cool, listening to the birds, and feeling the cool damp of the morning while drinking coffee in the sunrise. When I was learning to fly … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal, Writing | Tagged a Sam Lyon’s painting, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, an escapee housecat, cats, Cessnas, early morning cool, early morning writing, early spring, flight training, Florida, flying, flying in the early morning, friends, learning to fly, listening to the birds, memories, military service, most pleasant flying memories, Navy, productive times, Reveille, rising early, sitting outside, sunrise, taildraggers, the delightful things I could see, the first cup of coffee, watching Cubs taking off, watching the fog on the lake, writers | Comments Off

The Sun and Blankets

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Joe Clark

We are finishing one of the roughest weeks of the year. Indeed, the Monday morning of this week has statistically become the most dangerous Monday of the year. As we make our way to Friday, many are relieved to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal | Tagged changing clocks, Daylight savings time, falling back in the fall, sleepy drivers, springing ahead in the spring | Comments Off

Pattern Discipline

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Joe Clark

Flying the landing pattern is one of those simple tasks that makes use of all the fundamentals of flying. It also uses other skills and disciplines–along with math and physics–and a “dash” of common sense. The start of a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying | Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessnas, discipline, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, landing, learning to fly, pilots, professional pilots, short field landing, soft field landing, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft | Comments Off

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Author Archives: Joe Clark

Leftovers

E. B. White

Life Only Began Yesterday

Seventy Years

Late Night TV

The Magic Plastic Wheel

Ready, Set, GO!

My Time

The Sun and Blankets

Pattern Discipline

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