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Tag Archives: Navy
Luvin' Speed
Speed is a very relative concept. Airplanes go fast – and slow. Many consider sailboats slow, but yachtsmen can sail them fast. Cars simply take forever to get anywhere, unless the driver is a teenager. Then it is probably just … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Personal
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Tagged airline pilot, airliners, airplanes, crazy drivers, go fast, jetstream, low-level attack pilot, Luvin' Speed, military, Navy, pulling g, risk management, sailboats, speed, teenagers
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Ed’s Hotrod
Occasionally one of my students will ask me which airplane I liked flying the best in the Navy. The answer I always give is, “Depends. If I was going out to deliver weapons, no question – it is the A-7. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A-4, A-7, air combat maneuvering, attack pilots, dogfight, Ed Heinemann, Ed’s Hotrod, fighter pilots, formation flying, Gulf of Tonkin, naval aviators, Navy, North Vietnam, Pratt & Whitney J-52, shooting guns, Vietnam, wings of gold
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Cats, Friends, and Growing Up
My friend, Bill, lost his cat, Mr. Mouse, of 19 1/2 years. That’s a long time for a cat. It is a long time for any kind of an animal. It is especially hard losing a good and faithful companion … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged cats, Cats Friends and Growing Up, EA6-B, friends, Guantanamo, lost friends, Memorial Day, Mr. Mouse, Navy, shipmates, Spike, USS John F. Kennedy, Veteran’s Day
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1 Comment
Night Flight
“You want to fly at night? Well, you just go over to Tampa International or somewhere else to fly at night. I don’t let my airplanes fly at night.” Charlie looks at me like I have lost my mind. “But … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Charles Lindbergh, engine failure at night, flying checks, flying single-engine at night, Navy, Night flight, parachute, picking a good place to land, professional pilots, Tampa International, the old man’s admonition, The Spirit of St. Louis
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1 Comment
Why I Fly?
Why do I fly? Sometimes, something like that is hard to explain, especially to those who do not fly. They say a photograph is worth a thousand words; if that is so, a video is probably worth somewhere upwards of 500,000 paragraphs. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airport bums, barnstormers, Cessna 182, Charles Lindbergh, control over my life, enthusiasm, favorite students, first solo, flying checks, flying machines, flying single-engine at night, homebuilders, I knew I could do it, IFR clearance, instrument flying, instrument pilots, it was time, late afternoon Florida skies, life lessons, little country FBO, mechanics, Navy, Night flight, open cockpit biplanes, parachute, perfecting landings, picking a good place to land, pilots, Piper J 3, predicaments, professional pilots, safe landing, Tampa International, the barnstorming era, what was there to be afraid of?, You’re on your own
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1 Comment
Passing Gas
A pilot spends his or her entire life avoiding other traffic (code for not hitting another airplane in mid-air). And then one day, he or she becomes a military pilot. The next thing you know, someone says, “Go up and … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged Air Force, Army Air Services, Army aviators, avoiding traffic, challenges, DH-4B biplanes, getting aboard, hit the tanker, in-flight refueling, Korea, military pilot, Navy, Passing Gas, Texaco, Vietnam, World War II
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Eastline Brief
Yesterday, my wife found my dzus key. Afterward, I found myself thinking more about the T-28B Trojan which was the first Navy airplane I flew in flight training. Here is another memory I have from that time in my life. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged blind cockpit drills, dodging bullets, dzus key, Eastline Brief, emergency procedures, flight time, flight training, Marines, Navy, solo, T-28B Trojan, training devices, Whiting Field
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Real Pilots
My wife took on one of the most daunting of all tasks: cleaning the garage. For me, there were risks involved. For instance, she might find photographs which could be incriminating, such as the one she found of me with … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged cleaning the garage, cross-country flying, dzus key, maneuvering flight, mementos, Milton Florida, Navy, R1820-86, real airplane pilots, real airplanes, souvenirs, T-28B Trojan, T-34 Mentor, Whiting Field, Wright Cyclone engine
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4 Comments
