Category Archives: Life in General

Happy Birthday Southwest!

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Joe Clark

Today is Southwest Airlines’ 40th birthday. The airline traces its first lineage all the way back to the 1967 incorporation of Air Southwest Co., by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. However, the name change and first flight of Southwest Airlines … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Life in General | Tagged Air Southwest Co., Air Tran Airways, airplanes, ATA Airlines, Braniff, cabin announcements, Continental Airlines, Dallas, flying, Happy Birthday Southwest!, Herb Kelleher, Houston, judgment, Morris Air, Muse Air, pilots’ public announcements, Rollin King, San Antonio, serving only Texas, Southwest Airlines’ 40th birthday, the Southwest family, Trans-Texas | Comments Off

Wow! Thanks!

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Joe Clark

I was surprised this week, when I found my blog had attained the distinction of acquiring more readers than I could possibly have imagined. From all over the world! And all this since I started the blog last August. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal, Publishing, Reading, Writing | Tagged a long lost cousin living in Switzerland, a small world, accomplishing everything I want to finish, and South America, baseball and football players, comments, losing discipline, making myself write, MidLifePilot’s Flying Blog, my Cuban grandfathers, my “grand experiment”, pianists, pilots, practicing, private messages, readers, research & writing tools, Russia, staying on top of your game, surgeons, the Caribbean, the Internet, the movie Julie & Julia, the Pacific Rim, the trials and tribulations of learning to fly, this blue marble sitting out and spinning in space, Wow! Thanks! | 4 Comments

Sad Day for the Bomber Boys

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Joe Clark

Monday, June 13, 2011, will remain a sad day for the warbird community. A vintage warrior made her final landing in a cornfield near Chicago. After the landing, all seven aboard the airplane were able to make good their escapes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General | Tagged a $3.5 million restoration, a loss of a national treasure, a sad day for the warbird community, Air Force, airplanes, airshows in Canada transatlantic crossing to visit England, airspeed, altitude, an engine fire, Aurora Municipal Airport, B-17G, discipline, Don Brooks, engine failures, England, flying, Framlingham England, judgment, last landing in an Illinois cornfield, Liberty Belle, military service, Monday June 13 2011, Pratt & Whitney, professional pilots, Sad Day for the Bomber Boys, Sugar Grove Illinois, taildraggers, the 390th Bomb Group, the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Association, The Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum Kissimmee Florida, the Liberty Foundation, The United States Army Air Corps, World War II | 3 Comments

Cedar Key

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Joe Clark

One of my favorite places to fly for an afternoon or evening visit is a place in the crook of Florida’s Big Bend region. Where the coast turns more southerly, there is a sleepy little town called Cedar Key. I like … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged a word of caution for the aviators, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, artists, artwork, bird watching, boating, Cedar Key, Cessnas, floating down the runway, Florida, Florida's Big Bend region, flying, friends, important port in the South, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, instrument rated and current, judgment, kayaking, Las Islas Sabinas, no lights in the Gulf of Mexico, original Florida natives, relaxing, Spanish explorers, the island, the restaurants on Dock Street, the USS Hatteras, the walk into town is only a mile and a quarter or so, the War Between the States, trying to fly in the dark, writing | 3 Comments

The Looming GPS and Smartphone Wars

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Joe Clark

Yesterday, this blog dealt with the situation of the Federal Communications Commission approving LightSquared’s proposal to place a new wireless system into service requiring some 40,000 towers throughout the country. What LightSquared and the FCC neglected or overlooked was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General | Tagged 40000 base stations, 66 members of Congress writing a letter to the FCC, anglers, aviators, current GPS satellite system, drivers, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, FCC International Bureau, FCC International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre, FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, frequency band and power output, Garmin, General William Shelton, GPS Industry Council, GPS LG4 and Government Woes, LightSquared, navigators, new 4G technologies, Philip Falcone, problems with 4G interference, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, refund of $1 billion, significant measured degradation in aviation GPS units Harbinger Capital Partners, surveyors, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), The Looming GPS and Smartphone Wars, Trimble, US Air Force Space Command, wholesale 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless broadband communications network, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, “Experimental Evidence of Wide Area GPS Jamming That Will Result from LightSquared’s Proposal to Convert Portions of L Band 1 to High Power Terrestrial Broadband” | 3 Comments

GPS, LG4, and Government Woes

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Joe Clark

Something in the industries and the government is not quite right. Something’s up. Last January, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) waived their own rules to shotgun an approval through the system for LightSquared, an emerging company in the new 4G … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General | Tagged 40000 base stations, 66 members of Congress writing a letter to the FCC, Air Force, airplanes, anglers, aviators, current GPS satellite system, drivers, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, FCC International Bureau, FCC International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre, FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, flying, frequency band and power output, Garmin, General William Shelton, GPS Industry Council, GPS LG4 and Government Woes, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, LightSquared, navigators, new 4G technologies, Philip Falcone, problems with 4G interference, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, refund of $1 billion, significant measured degradation in aviation GPS units Harbinger Capital Partners, surveyors, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Trimble, US Air Force Space Command, wholesale 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless broadband communications network, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, “Experimental Evidence of Wide Area GPS Jamming That Will Result from LightSquared’s Proposal to Convert Portions of L Band 1 to High Power Terrestrial Broadband” | 3 Comments

Dreams of Waco UPF-7s

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Joe Clark

A very long time ago, my best friend, Paul, rather jinxed me. He introduced me to one of the airplanes I have always wanted to fly, rebuild, own, and showcase: the Waco UPF-7. (Found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRT7fstFxs.) The UPF-7 is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged 220 horsepower Continental radial engine, a loop, a training airplane, a wingover, airplanes, barnstormers, barrel roll, Dreams of Waco UPF-7s, flight training, flying, flying in the cooler air, friends, little wind, memories, my best friend, no turbulence, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, PT-14, rebuilding a classic airplane, the barnstorming era, The best time to fly, the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), The Great Depression, The United States Army Air Corps, the Waco UPF-7, Waco Aircraft Company of Troy OH | Comments Off

D-Day + 66 Years

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Joe Clark

It is difficult to think of the Normandy invasion as having taken place 66 years ago today. Today, a young soldier who hit that beach as an 18-year-old kid is 84 years old. His second lieutenant division officer is now … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged 66 years ago today, an enormous debt of gratitude, anti-aircraft fire, D-Day + 66 Years, German machine gunners, landing craft, LSTs, oral histories, paratroopers, Sainte-Mère-Église France, surviving the war, the 101st Airborne, the 82nd Airborne, the Allied invasion force, the generation who saved the world, the Normandy invasion, the survivors, the Utah Beach landing, Vierville France, we who value our freedoms today, young soldiers, young warriors | Comments Off

$2.2 Billion! Really?

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Joe Clark

The United States Post Office is reporting a $2.2 billion loss for the second quarter. And yes, that is billion, not million, as in nine zeros and three commas. It is a horrific loss—for one quarter. Officials say they may … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal, Publishing | Tagged $2.2 Billion?!, a $2.2 billion loss, a guarantee of delivery, apathy, automated telephone prompts, closure of 2000 post offices, collectin a guaranteed paycheck, cut Saturday delivery, getting to talk to a human, higher postage fees, online tracking system, post office leadership, premium fees, the elimination of 7500 jobs, The United States Post Office, tracking packages in real time, unhappy postal customers | 4 Comments

The St. Augustine Sub Hunters

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Joe Clark

Ardis and I were driving to meet friends for dinner in St. Augustine last night. Whenever we drive down US 1, just south of the airport and north of the Ancient City, I would always slow a little to look … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged a sense of the Apocalypse, airplanes, chasing Russian submarines, chasing submarines for the US Navy, driving down US 1, flying, friends, Grumman, interesting subjects for photographers, metal salvage, military service, Navy, S-2 Tracker graveyard, St. Augustine residents, the ancient city, the high seas, the oldest city in North America, The St. Augustine Sub Hunters, tourists | Comments Off

Search my Blog

Search for:
Subscribe

If you have enjoyed reading my blog, please consider subscribing. Just enter your email address and press "Subscribe."
Delivered by FeedBurner
rss

Subscribe in a reader
Recent Posts
December 2025

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

« Aug
Archives
Archives
Recent Comments
- Marie Palachuk on My Grandfathers
- Ingrid on My Grandfathers
- Joe Clark on The Aeronca Chief
- Lindsay Barra (Knowles) on The Aeronca Chief
- Peter Brown on Gladys Ingle

Category Archives: Life in General

Happy Birthday Southwest!

Wow! Thanks!

Sad Day for the Bomber Boys

Cedar Key

The Looming GPS and Smartphone Wars

GPS, LG4, and Government Woes

Dreams of Waco UPF-7s

D-Day + 66 Years

$2.2 Billion! Really?

The St. Augustine Sub Hunters

Search my Blog

Subscribe

rss

Recent Posts

Archives

Recent Comments

Categories

Interested in placing ads in my blog?

Please email me at

ads@bluewaterpress.com

for details and questions.

Blogroll