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Tag Archives: memories
Cruising
We have the ability today to stay in contact immediately with anyone around the globe. Facebook is a case in point. As I was thinking of a topic for tonight’s blog, I stopped in on Facebook to check in and … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A-7E Corsair, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, at sea, Cruising, discipline, Facebook, flying, flying around the boat, friends, helicopter pilots, judgment, landing signal officer (LSO), memories, military service, Navy, nighttime operations, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, pilots, professional pilots, rescue swimmers, sailors, tactical jet aviators, the deck was pitching and rolling, the guy who bought the beer at the last port of call, “ball call”, “getting aboard”, “Roger ball!”, “We’re going to the ship!”
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4 Comments
Headwinds and Tailwinds
We were at the Thomasville fly-in and the weather had been okay, not great, but just okay. There was a high overcast and it was cool for October. And it was windy. As we were getting ready for the return … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, Cessna 170B, discipline, Florida, flying, friends, Headwinds, judgment, memories, pilots, professional pilots, taildraggers, tailwinds
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1 Comment
Sealord and the Atlantic
It is the day after Mother’s Day and for her treat, I take Ardis to dinner at the Reef Restaurant on the beach. As is always the case, whenever I look out to sea, my mind wanders back a couple … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged 2 v 1 Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM), ACM was much more subjective, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, bombs are better, discipline, disliked rushing or hurrying, dropping bombs, flight training, Florida, flying, I gave him the thumbs up, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, learning to fly Corsairs, memories, military service, my mind wanders back a couple of decades, NAS Cecil, NAS Cecil Field, Navy, out of the chocks, pilots, professional pilots, sailors, Sealord and the Atlantic, student pilots, the disembodied voice inside my helmet, the final knock-it-off of the day, the O-Club, training aircraft, “a hung ordinance approach”, “Sealord”
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1 Comment
A Lesson in Ricochets
One day, the weapons instructors introduced us to the technique of firing live rounds. Now this is a little different from going down to the rifle range and learning to shoot; what we were going to do was learn how … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A Lesson in Ricochets, airspeed, altitude, Cuba, discipline, experienced instructors, firing live rounds, flight training, flying, friends, Guantanamo, guns pattern, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, learning to shoot, live fire exercises, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, never overfly the target, pilots, professional pilots, pushing 540 knots, sailors, salty lieutenants and lieutenant commanders, student pilots, TA-4J Skyhawk, the weapons instructors, tracer rounds, tracers ricocheting in all directions
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4 Comments
Florida Authors
Last evening, we enjoyed a delightful dinner with co-workers and friends. The surprise of the evening was talk about Florida authors. In “the olden days,” the foremost Florida novelist was John D. MacDonald. He lived in Sarasota and completed many … Continue reading →
Posted in Life in General, Reading
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Tagged a delightful dinner, a graduate of the University of Florida, a prolific writer, A Purple Place for Dying, Auburn, Captiva, Carl Hiaassen, co-workers and friends, Coleman, crime stories, Doc Ford, Double Whammy, editors, Florida authors, Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, his sailboat No Mas, Hoot, John D. MacDonald, Killing Mister Watson, La Florida, Marion “Doc” Ford, memories, Miami, Miami Herald, modern-day writers, mysteries, Naples, Newbery Honor, Nightmare in Pink, North of Havana, Orange Crush, Peter Matthiessen, Ponce de Leon, publishers, Quick Red Fox, Randy Wayne White, real-life Florida fishing information, Sanibel Flats, Sanibel Island, Sarasota, Serge A. Storms, Skin Tight, South Florida, Tampa Tribune, Team Rodent, The Deep Blue Good-by, the Everglades, the Land of Flowers falling in love with Florida…, the New York Times bestseller list, the sugar industry, the Sunshine State, Tim Dorsey, Tomlinson, Tourist Season, Travis McGee, Triggerfish Twist
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3 Comments
The Cessna 120 and 140
One of the best airplanes Clyde Cessna’s company put out was the little 140. The 140 also has a little twin, the Cessna 120. Both airframes are very similar, with only slight differences. The most notable difference is the 120 … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged a stall speed of 39 knots, a wing area of 159.3 square feet, airplanes, Cessna 150, Cessnas, Clyde Cessna, Continental C-85 engine, conventional landing gear, flight training, flying, gross weight of only 1450 pounds, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, monocoque fuselage, pilots, professional pilots, seeing over the nose, student pilots, taildraggers, The Cessna 120, The Cessna 140, the Cessna 140A, the Cessna taildraggers, three-point landings, training aircraft, tricycle landing gear, wing loading of only 9.1 pounds per square foot, “metalized” wings, “S-turning” during the taxi
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2 Comments
Flying at (Density) Altitude
I am a Florida boy who learned to fly at mean sea level. As such, I do not care for a couple of things. The first is cold, the second is high density altitude. Many pilots do not understand the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, discipline, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, military service, mountains, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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9 Comments
More Books About Flying
After finishing yesterday’s blog about books on the subject of the Doolittle Raid, I began thinking of other books written of flying that all serious pilots should read. There are so many great novels and historical accounts written of flying that once … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal, Reading
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Tagged a very unconventional life, Beryl Markham, British East Africa, England, Ernest Hemingway, flight training, flying, friends, great novels and historical accounts about flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, Kenya, learning to fly, memories, More Books About Flying, mountains, Mt. Kilimanjaro, one of the most talented writers ever, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, West with the Night, writers
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3 Comments
Books About the Men and the Mission
Over the last couple of days of writing about General Doolittle and his raid, many who know me have stopped and talked specifically about the men and the mission. To each, I have recommended a couple of books. The first … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Reading
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, aviation in America, Bob Considine, Books About the Men and the Mission, Carroll V. Glines, discipline, Doolittle’s Raid, Florida, flying, friends, General Doolittle, I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, instrument flying, Jimmy Doolittle’s autobiography, judgment, memories, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, Phyllis Thaxter, pilots, professional pilots, Spencer Tracy, Ted W. Lawson, the first raid against Japan, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Van Johnson, World War II
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3 Comments
Flying the Ercoupe with Maurice
Down at the airport where I first worked as a flight instructor, my friend Maurice kept trying to get me to fly in his Ercoupe. For the pilots unfamiliar with the Ercoupe, it is a lovely little airplane powered by … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a slight wind right down the runway, airplanes, Cessnas, Ercoupe, flight training, flying, Flying the Ercoupe with Maurice, inexperienced pilots, judgment, landing in a crosswind, learning to fly, learning to fly in tailwheel airplanes, Maurice, memories, no rudder pedals, perfectly calm days, S-turning on final, slipping the airplane, taildraggers, take her around the patch, the limp windsock, the windsock, Time to fly the Ercoupe, training aircraft, watching a tailwheel pilot fly an Ercoupe
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