Category Archives: History

An Instant in Time, A Crossing of Paths

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Joe Clark

I was the lucky winner in the fall of 1984. Somehow, I won the squadron lottery to represent the outfit in Las Vegas at the Annual Convention of Naval Aviation—Tailhook. In September, when it was time to go, I travelled … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged 1986, a complete psychological study of the human condition, a friendly face, a friendly politician, a special place in history, An Instant in Time A Crossing of Paths, Annual Convention of Naval Aviation, Atlanta, boating, dropPING a couple of bills on games of chance, fishing, flying of jets Monday through Friday, Geraldine Ferraro, Guantanamo, her vice-presidential run for the White House, Las Vegas, lobster diving, lucky winner, Norfolk VA, racquetball, running into old friends, sailing, scuba diving, tailhook, Walter Mondale, watching people, wingman | 1 Comment

The Last V-bomb Casualties

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Joe Clark

It is almost always bad to be last. If you are the last casualty of a war, that means you survived all of the worst of the times, saw the light with the coming end of the war, and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, History, Life in General | Tagged anti-aircraft fire, barrage balloons, England, German V1 and V2 attacks, German V2 rocket, gyroscopic guidance system, Ivy Millichamp, Life in London during the war, London, pulsejet engines, RAF pilot, Spitfire, the last casualty of a war, the last civilian killed by a V2, The Last V-bomb Casualties, very little warning before the explosion, “Buzz Bombs”, “Doodlebugs”, “tipping” | 1 Comment

The Smell of Sunshine

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Joe Clark

To me, traveling from one point precisely to another is fascinating. Navigation is easy to understand when traveling on the surface of the earth. It is a simple matter of following directions. In other words, you can travel down Highway … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged a little too cocky, becoming lost, checkpoints, determine direction, draw a line on a chart, following directions, Fort Meade, going from point A to point B, holding airspeed, Lake Wales, measure distance, navigation, navigation at sea, new student pilots dependent on GPS, Piper Cub, setting a heading, technology failure, the compass rose, The Smell of Sunshine | 4 Comments

Sky King!

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Joe Clark

As a bit of humor, yesterday I posed the question of Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie knowing one another. By the time I finished writing at the end of the piece, I realized the true answer to the question would determine the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged airplanes, an old Cessna T-50, baby-boomers, Cessna 310B, Cessnas, Florida, Florida’s Beeline Expressway, flying, Gloria Winters, his niece Penny, influencing more young girls and boys into aviation, judgment, Kennedy Space Center, Kirby Grant, Lassie, learning to fly, NASA, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, Rin-Tin-Tin, Ripcord, Schuyler “Sky” King, Sky King!, STS–16-A, The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin, the shadows of Mercury Gemini and Apollo, the Sky King Youth Ranches of America, the Songbird, the Space Shuttle Challenger, The Whirlybirds | 6 Comments

The USS Langley, CV-1

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Joe Clark

This day in 1922 was a very important day in the records of Naval Aviation. Eighty-nine years ago, the United States Navy launched their first aircraft carrier. (Found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SSd_zPTYFQ.) The USS Langley, also known as CV-1, first served as … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged aircraft carrier, Commander Joseph Reeves, Commander Kenneth Whiting, Eugene Ely, flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, LT Virgil Griffin, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, military service, naval aviation, Navy Yard Norfolk, professional pilots, Samuel P. Langley, the United States Navy, The USS Langley CV-1, USS Birmingham, USS Jupiter AC-3, Vought VE-7, “flight deck”, “seaborne aviation” | 1 Comment

Eastern Flight 1320

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Joe Clark

Sixty-eight passengers and a crew of five prepared for take off in the evening of St. Patrick’s Day, 1970. The flight, Eastern Airlines Newark to Boston Shuttle, Flight 1320, departed a little before 8:00 p.m. In the cockpit, the captain … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged .38 caliber revolver, airplanes, an outstanding job of flying, deranged gunman, discipline, Eastern Flight 1320, Havana Cuba, hijacking, James Hartley, John J. Divivo, judgment, Newark to Boston Shuttle, professional pilots, Robert Wilbur Jr., St. Patrick’s Day 1970, true heroes | 53 Comments

Happy Birthday, Pan Am

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Joe Clark

Today in 1927, Key West birthed Pan American World Airways out of a small maintenance hangar near Duval Street in Key West. Kelly McGillis, the actress who co-starred with Tom Cruise in Top Gun, presently owns the building purportedly to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged 2001 A Space Odyssey, airplanes, Boeing 747, Clipper flying boats, Clipper Juan T. Trippe, Duval Street, flying, Fokker monoplanes, Happy Birthday Pan Am, Havana Cuba, Juan Trippe, Kelly McGillis, Key West, Lockerbie Scotland, Pan Am, Pan Am 103, Pan Am 73, Pan American Airways, Pan American World Airways, pilots, professional pilots, SCADTA, Stanley Kubric, Tenerife, the first Boeing 747 to carry passengers, the unofficial flagship airlines of the United States, the worst aviation accident in history, Top Gun, William Allen, World War II | 1 Comment

Have We Forgotten?

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Joe Clark

He is an old man now, the man sitting at the wooden table. His hair is remarkably dark for his age and belies the wrinkles of his face. He sits listening to the swing music, the music of his youth. … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, History, Life in General | Tagged an old man now, another life long ago, childhood sweethearts, England, Have We Forgotten?, I got to come home, married more than 53 years, memories, military service, old friends, prisoners of war, Saving the world, The Eighth Air Force, the good memories, the music of his youth, The old airman, the Veterans Affairs Department, the young ones, World War II veterans | 1 Comment

The Flying Fort Becomes Operational

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Joe Clark

One of the airplanes I have always liked is the B-17. When I was a kid, I studied as much about the B-17 as possible; I believed it was the airplane that saved the world in World War II and … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, History, Life in General | Tagged airplanes, Army Air Corps, B-17, B-17 Flying Fortress, Edward Curtis Wells, Europe, Gifford Emory, heroes of all of the free world, Langley Field VA, Les Tower, Major Peter Hill, military service, Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet engines, reporter Richard Williams of the Seattle Times, Second Bombardment Group, The Flying Fort Becomes Operational, the Model 299, the Pacific, World War II, Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines | 2 Comments

The Passing of Frank Buckles

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Joe Clark

Frank Buckles has passed. He finished his work in this life last Sunday. He was 110 years old. In 1901, he was born in a Missouri farmhouse on the first day of February. He lied to recruiters to get into … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment, an extraordinary life, Charles Town WV, doughboys, Frank Woodruff Buckles, Japanese, Philippines, prisoners of war, RMS Carpathia, RMS Titanic, survivors, the family Bible, The Great War, The Last Doughboy, the last surviving veteran of World War I, the last survivor, United States Army, veterans, World War I, World War I veterans, World War II | 1 Comment

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Category Archives: History

An Instant in Time, A Crossing of Paths

The Last V-bomb Casualties

The Smell of Sunshine

Sky King!

The USS Langley, CV-1

Eastern Flight 1320

Happy Birthday, Pan Am

Have We Forgotten?

The Flying Fort Becomes Operational

The Passing of Frank Buckles

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