Category Archives: History

The Master Birdman

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Joe Clark

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 | 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 | Comments Off

I Hate Yesterday

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Joe Clark

Yesterday, we started a new season of Daylight Savings Time (DST). I have survived another passing of the start of DST, but I remain just as vexed by the change today as the first time I experienced it many years … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged accidents, airline pilots, Austria, Benjamin Franklin, circadian rhythm, Daylight Savings Time (DST), dozing off, driving fatalities, Entomologist George V. Hudson, Germany, Hungary, judgment, Losing sleep, sleep deprivation, sleeping routine, time change, too irritated, too sleepy, too tired, US Department of Transportation | 4 Comments

Model 299

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Joe Clark

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 | 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 | Comments Off

Six Days in Space

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Joe Clark

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 | 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 | Comments Off

The First Lady Lex

Posted on December 14, 2013 by Joe Clark

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 | 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 | Comments Off

Amazing Grace

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Joe Clark

As with many mornings, I woke a little after 5 a.m. and began working. When I turned on the computer, the Google page lit up with something that referred to the age of 107. I had a hard time thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged Amazing Grace, COBOL, computer, computer languages, Dave Letterman, Digital Equipment Corporation, Google, Harvard University, math and physics, military service, Navy, Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, the Mark I computer, USS Hopper DDG-70, Vassar College, World War II, Yale | Comments Off

Hurricanes and Emergency Diverts

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Joe Clark

Thirty years ago this month, I checked into my first operational squadron in Gitmo. They gave me the “gouge” about flying in the Caribbean, including divert/bingo information for any reason when we could not return to Guantanamo. I gathered up … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged A-4 Skyhawk, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cuba, discipline, divert/bingo information, flying, friends, Gainesville, Gitmo, Hurricane Kate, hurricanes, Hurricanes and Emergency Diverts, Jamaica, judgment, Kingston, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, Norman C. Manley International, old friends, professional pilots, the Caribbean, The Gators, the “gouge”, Weather guessers | 2 Comments

Planes and New Pilots

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Joe Clark

A long time ago when I was a little kid, every Sunday evening I watched a wonderful television program called Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. All of us watched programs that were varied and entertaining. I am sure this … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged commercial pilots, Disney’s Planes, distractions, dwindling pilot starts, Flight instructors, imagination, involved with flying, little kids, new blood, old geezers, personal flying, pilot in command, Planes and New Pilots, private pilots, professional flying, regulations, renting airplanes, shrinking pilot population, simulated flight, student pilots, technological advancements, the mystique of flying, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, youth in aviation | 2 Comments

From Cropduster to Airline Pilot – a new book

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Joe Clark

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 | 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 | Comments Off

Praise and Insults by Hemingway

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Joe Clark

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 | 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 | 4 Comments

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Category Archives: History

The Master Birdman

I Hate Yesterday

Model 299

Six Days in Space

The First Lady Lex

Amazing Grace

Hurricanes and Emergency Diverts

Planes and New Pilots

From Cropduster to Airline Pilot – a new book

Praise and Insults by Hemingway

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