Category Archives: History

The Doolittle Goblets

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Joe Clark

Few know the story of the Doolittle Goblets. In 1959, the city of Tucson, AZ gave a wonderful gift to the men who flew the first mission against the Japanese mainland on April 18, 1942. The gift? A set of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History | Tagged A set of 80 sterling silver goblets, Air Force, airplanes, Colonel Richard E. Cole, discipline, Florida, flying, friends, gunner of aircraft No. 7., inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Hite, Major Edward Joseph Saylor, Major Thomas C. Griffin, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, pilots, professional pilots, Staff Sergeant David J. Thatcher, the Air Force Academy, The Doolittle Goblets, the “Goblet Ceremony”, Tucson AZ, World War II, “Hennessey Very Special” | 4 Comments

The Doolittle Raiders

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Joe Clark

Sixty-nine years ago this morning, 80 very brave men in 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. They and their leaders planned the mission well, but as they steamed toward their targets, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History | Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, discipline, flight training, Florida, flying, judgment, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, pilots, World War II | 11 Comments

Jerrie Mock Returns Home

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Joe Clark

Today, 47 years ago, Jerrie Mock returned from her trip. It was a special trip and she was no passenger. She was the pilot. And the only one onboard her 1953 Cessna 180 she named the “Spirit of Columbus.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History | Tagged 1953 Cessna 180, 1970), a rough running engine, airplanes, Airplanista, Amelia Earhart Memorial Award, bad weather, Cessnas, Charles Lindbergh, Columbus OH, Dan Pimental, electronic magazine, fatigue, Federal Aviation Administration Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, First Flight, first to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans solo., first woman to cross the Pacific Ocean in a single-engine aircraft, flying, her book titled Three Eight Charlie (Lippincott, Jerri Mock Returns Home, judgment, Kill Devil Hill, Louis Bleriot Silver Medal, pilots, professional pilots, radio malfunctions, taildraggers, the first solo circumnavigation of the globe by a woman aviator, the first woman to fly from the US to Africa via the North Atlantic, the first woman to solo around the world, “Spirit of Columbus” | 5 Comments

Flyboys

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Joe Clark

OK, have you seen the movie, Flyboys? If not, why not? You call yourself an aviation aficionado, right? Well then, you have to see this movie. The amazing thing about the movie is not the story, but story of these … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged airplanes, American flyers, aviation aficionados, Flyboys, flying for France in World War I, Frank Buckles, full-scale Nieuport 17s, gone west, Holden MO, Lafayette Escadrille, military service, open cockpit biplanes, original time schedules, pilots, Robert Baslee of Airdrome Aeroplanes, taildraggers, the 103rd Aero Squadron, the Escadrille Américaine 124, the movie Flyboys, the US Army Air Corps, The Valiant 38, the War to End All Wars, Verdun on May 13 1916, World War I, World War I aviation | 2 Comments

Columbia

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Joe Clark

Yesterday I wrote about the Shuttle Program coming to an end and all the remaining vehicles being retired. As always, it made me think about the first Shuttle launch I ever witnessed with my own eyes. I wrote about that … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, History, Personal | Tagged a good safety record, Air Force, Columbia, Florida, images of the vehicle streaking across the sky, January 16 2003, landing in Florida on February 1, local law enforcement, lost communication, military personnel, military service, NASA, Navy, professional pilots, regular citizens, Saturday shortly before 9 a.m., search for debris, the Civil Air Patrol, the first Shuttle launch I witnessed, the loss of Columbia, the Shuttle Program, “anomalies” | 3 Comments

The Shuttles

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Joe Clark

It is difficult to hear the Space Shuttle program has reached the end of the run. After a 30-year span, NASA will retire the remaining vehicles – all of which will go to museums around the nation. Discovery, the oldest … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged Atlantis, Captain Kirk, Challenger, Columbia, Commander Dick Scobee, Commander Rick Husband, David Brown, Discovery, Endeavor, Enterprise, Gene Roddenberry, Gregory Jarvis, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Los Angeles, Michael Anderson, NASA, Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the Air and Space Museum, the California Science Center, the First Teacher in Space, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Navy's aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, The Shuttles, the Space Shuttle program, the Starship USS Enterprise NC-1701, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, William McCool | Comments Off

The First Shot

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Joe Clark

This morning at 4:30 150 years ago, Lieutenant Henry S. Farley fired the first shot in the War Between the States when he let loose a single 10-inch mortar round at Fort Sumter. According to David Detzer’s book, Allegiance: Fort … Continue reading →

Posted in History | Tagged Allegiance: Fort Sumter Charleston and the Beginning of the Civil War, Captain George S. James, Charleston Sc, Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, Cummings Point, David Detzer, first official casualties of the War, Fort Johnson, Fort Moultrie, Fort Sumter, Lieutenant Henry S. Farley the first shot in the War Between the States, Major Robert Anderson, Private Daniel Hough, Private Edward Gallway, Roger Pryor, The First Shot | 2 Comments

Manned Spaceflight Turns 50

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Joe Clark

Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Space Program launched Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into a singular orbit around the Earth in their spacecraft, Vostok 1. The space race was on and Russia was in the lead, having flown an orbital … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged a dangerous dose of possible nuclear annihilation, advancements in artificial limbs, Air Force, airplanes, Alan Shepard, computers, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, Cuba, enhanced radial tires for cars, Florida, Freedom 7, going back to the moon and on to Mars, improved baby foods, improved water purification, infrared ear thermometers, landing on the moon first, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), Manned Spaceflight Turns 50, Marines, military service, Navy, new technologies, President John F. Kennedy, Sputnik, Tang, Teflon, tempur foam (think Tempurpedic beds), the Soviet Space Program, Vostok 1 | 1 Comment

The Rhythm of Life

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Joe Clark

From the book of Ecclesiastes, came a folk song written in 1959 that became popular in the mid-1960s. It referred to every thing having a season. A time to sow, a time to reap. A time to work, a time to … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged admire and respect strangers, adversity, an open mind, destined to go to war, Ecclesiastes, folk song, insurmountable sorrow and pain, Our place in the tide, patience, pleasurable days on the beach with those we love, protest war, The Rhythm of Life, the seriousness of adulthood, to every thing there is a season, to recognize flows, wide open eyes | 2 Comments

Today is Michael’s Day

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Joe Clark

Today Michael Monsoor would have been thirty years-old. He was born in Long Beach, CA and was the third child of four. Michael was a typical California kid, playing tight end on the Garden Grove High School football team. He … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged a typical California kid, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, Coronado CA, Delta Platoon SEAL Team Three, discipline, Golden Trident, Great Lakes IL, he gave his life to save his fellow teammates, Iraq, military service, NAS Sigonella, Navy, Navy SEALS, Quartermaster “A” School, Ramadi, the Bronze Star, the Silver Star, the son of a former Marine, Today is Michael’s Day | Comments Off

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Category Archives: History

The Doolittle Goblets

The Doolittle Raiders

Jerrie Mock Returns Home

Flyboys

Columbia

The Shuttles

The First Shot

Manned Spaceflight Turns 50

The Rhythm of Life

Today is Michael’s Day

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