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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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