My Navy friend, Joe Obusek, sent me a list of language expressions and their origin. Although quite familiar with the expressions I had no idea where they originated. The list follows: ****************************** Early aircraft throttles had a ball on the end of it, in order to go full throttle the pilot had to push the throttle […]

For you long-time blog readers, you may remember the story I posted in June 2019 about a flight my crew made to Sigonella, Sicily. Here’s a brief review of that experience. My squadron had been deployed to Rota Spain in 1967. I was proud to be one of our squadron’s junior officers (LT) given responsibility […]

The Cleveland, Ohio, Lake Erie waterfront in the early 1840s, particularly just east of the settlement was a hazard to shipping because of its shallow, rocky nature. Ships leaving Cleveland harbor heading that direction needed to stay at least a couple miles offshore. Because of the shallow conditions, winds of even modest force whipped the […]

Formality in the military varies from service to service and from outfit to outfit. Submarine crews wore civilian sweaters and shoes, but that would not be tolerated on an aircraft carrier with an Admiral aboard. Aviators were regarded by sea-going Navy men as rather cavalier and casual in their speech and manner. The difference between […]

   T-34 Mentor My first experience controlling an aircraft occurred on December 5, 1962. It was in the Navy’s basic trainer, the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor. I was introduced to basic manuvers, stall recovery, spins, and I flew my first solo in the T-34. Flight hours in the T-34 were 34.6.   T-28 Trojan The North […]