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Category Archives: Aviation History
Getting a License
One of the books we produced at BluewaterPress LLC came to us from Captain LeRoy Brown. LeRoy lived the life all pilots would have wished to have lived, if they could have been as lucky. LeRoy, a fine gentleman of proper age, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, aviation history, CAA inspector, Captain LeRoy Brown, cropdusters, discipline, Dr. Leo Murphy, Florida, Getting a License, inexperienced pilots, judgment, L-1011, learning to fly, memories, National Airlines, open cockpit biplanes, Pan American World Airways, professional pilots, Samuel Dellinger, Stormy, taildraggers
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Veteran Airshow Fans
I overheard the Chair of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), Bob Meder, say, “You can tell who the veteran airshow fans are. They’re the ones not paying attention to the show.” I thought about it and concluded he … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, AOPA, barnstormers, Cessnas, EAA, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida, inexperienced pilots, learning to fly, memories, NAFI, open cockpit biplanes, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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The Master Birdman
Ninety-nine years ago today, America lost one of her most cherished heroes. Pioneer aviator Lincoln J. Beachey, died when the aircraft he was piloting at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco on March 14, 1915 suffered structural failure. He … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged 1915, aerial maneuvers, aeroplanes, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, aviation exhibitions, Barney Oldfield, barnstormers, Beachey-Eaton Monoplane, bicycle mechanic, demonstration pilots, flying, Lincoln J. Beachey, March 14, Morane-Saulnier H, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, racing, San Francisco, taildraggers, Taube, the loop, The Man Who Owns the Sky, The Master Birdman, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition
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Model 299
In 1930, aviation remained in the beginning stages of development. Pilots were few, airplanes fewer, and almost every aircraft was small with inadequate performance. Most airplanes were of the biplane design with some sleeker monoplanes starting to come off the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History
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Tagged airplanes, B-17E, B-17G, Boeing, Boeing pilot Les Tower, C.L. Egtvedt, Coast Guard, Douglas B-18, E. Gifford Emery, Edward Curtis Wells, England, flying, Flying Fortress, General William Mitchell, inadequate performance, Major Ployer Peter Hill, Model 299, Pratt & Whitney, Seattle Times reporter Richard Williams, World War II, Wright Field
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Six Days in Space
In 1968 over the Christmas holidays, three Americans orbited the moon for the first time. It is the incredible story of Apollo 8 crewed by Commander Frank Borman, James Lovell serving as the Command Module Pilot, and William Anders piloting … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, History, Life in General
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Tagged Air Force, Apollo 8, black & white photography, color photography, discipline, earthrise, Florida, Frank Borman, James Lovell, judgment, Life magazine, lunar orbits, Mission Control, Navy, professional pilots, Sea of Fertility, Six Days in Space, the Book of Genesis, the moon, William Anders
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The First Lady Lex
Eighty-six years ago today, the first aircraft carrier to bear the name Lexington was commissioned. The USS Lexington was the first of her kind and consequently she became the lead ship of her type, the Lexington-class. Of the class, there … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History
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Tagged 1941, aircraft carrier, airplanes, Captain Frederick Sherman, CV-16, December 7, discipline, Essex-class ships, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, Lady Lex, Marines, memories, Midway Island, military service, NAS Pensacola, Navy, Navy Secretary Frank Knox, Pearl Harbor, sailors, student pilots, The First Lady Lex, the Japanese attack, the Marshall Islands, the Pacific, the Quincy shipyard, USS Cabot, USS Lexington, USS Phelps, USS Saratoga, World War II
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From Cropduster to Airline Pilot – a new book
We have published a new book, a very interesting book. It is the biography of LeRoy Brown, cropduster, National Airlines pilot, and retired of Pan American World Airways. As things happen, one of my colleagues at work, Dr. Leo Murphy, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged checklists, CRM, cropduster, Cropduster to Airline Captain, DC-8, DC-8 Engine Failure in Mexico City, four-engine failure, LeRoy Brown, memory lane of aviation history, National Airlines pilot, no time to declare an emergency, Orlando Apopka airport, Pan American World Airways, safe landings
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Praise and Insults by Hemingway
I am writing again about writing pilots or flying writers. Sometimes it is difficult to decide which are adjectives and nouns when it comes to describing writers who are capable of flying, or pilots who can actually write. On my … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General, Publishing, Reading, Writing
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Tagged airplanes, altitude, editors, England, flight training, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, publishers, sailors, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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4 Comments
The Dawn Patrol
In World War I, the fighters went out at dawn. In short order, the fighter pilots and maintenance crews began referring to this early morning mission as “The Dawn Patrol.” The pilots would rise early, breakfast, and then go out … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, fighter pilots, flying, judgment, learning to fly, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, taildraggers, The Dawn Patrol, waking before sunrise, World War I
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4 Comments
High Flight
My last blog was about the men who saved England, no, indeed the world. The documentary I watched about the pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain moved me. Their story overwhelmingly impressed me because of my realization of … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged airplanes, Canada, discipline, England, fighter pilots, flight training, flying, friends, High Flight, inexperienced pilots, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., judgment, learning to fly, military service, No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, RAF, RCAF, student pilots, taildraggers, the Battle of Britain, the Fleet Finch, training aircraft, Winston Churchill, World War II
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1 Comment