Fight’s ON: Aerial Attack in California

Posted on January 16, 2025 by Ed

Testimony of Pilot #38

Vegetation fires, or wildland fires, are the closest thing to military aerial combat a civilian pilot will ever get. 

Thanks to Ray “Drifty,” DiLorenzo, a former California fire pilot now living in Montana. And to Skip Leonard for the post in his daily “List.” This is a unique and most important story telling about a different kind of flying than those of us he and I mostly write about – fast mover aviation by Navy, Marine and Air Force fighter/attack/strike fighter pilots. This type of ” Attack” down in the weeds and canyons with high gust winds in a big mutha like a DC-10 is a tale worth knowing about. Hat tip, for sure! Continue reading →

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December 7, 1941 – a day for remembrance and teaching

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Ed
Good Saturday morning December 7, 2024. . .
Over the last 32 years I have asked my students of all ages what happened on this day in History and I have found that as the years went by fewer and fewer of them knew what this date meant or even what Pearl Harbor was all about. Very discouraging. History is something that you need to remember so you will not make the same mistakes again. I fear we are still doing that today.       Skip Leonard.. The List

This day in Naval and Marine Corps History

1941 – In one of the defining moments in U.S. history, the Japanese attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet and nearby military airfields and installations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and remove the U.S. Navy’s battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empires southward expansion. The U.S. is brought into the World War II as a full combatant.

  • As the Japanese attacked Midway Island, 1st Lt. George H. Cannon remains at his post until all of his wounded men are evacuated, though severely wounded himself. Because of his dedication to his men, Cannon dies due loss of blood from his wounds. For his “distinguished conduct in the line of his profession”, Cannon is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Continue reading →

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Fight’s On: The Aviator Cancer Examination Study (ACES) Act – H.R 4886

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Ed

Testimony of Pilot #37

On October 15, 2021 Commander Thomas ‘Boot’ Hill, Navy F-4 and F-14 fighter pilot, passed away from esophageal cancer. A-6 pilot Capt. Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly died from melanoma of the brain on 16 March 2014. Randy Anderson, Navy F-8, F-4, and Air Guard F-105 pilot died from Glioblastoma – brain cancer – 0n 4 Dec 2007.

Randy was my best friend out of college and roommate for the first half of flight school, until he got married and we went off to two different air stations for advanced flight training. ‘Snako’ and I were in the same airwing in Airwing Five on USS Midway for Linebacker I & II, he in Intruders and me in Corsairs – participants in many of the same Alpha Strikes into North Vietnam. Snako’s writing from his book Not on My Watch is an integral part of rememberedsky. I didn’t know CDR Hill, but after he was diagnosed with cancer, and began studying the connections of aviation and cancer focusing initially on Naval aviators, he eventually became involved with the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association (RRVA) and its Aviator Medical Issues Committee (AMIC). There he worked closely with a longtime friend and supporter of this website, retired F-15 pilot, Air Force Col Vince ‘Aztec’ Alcazar.  Aztec is now the lead for AMIC. Continue reading →

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Battle of Midway – The Legacy

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Ed

… a fundamental transformation in naval power had just taken place. Carriers usurped the prime strategic role of battleships in that their principal opponents were their enemy counterparts, and they should only to be committed to battle in the proper circumstances .. Lundstrom, John B. Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway & Guadalcanal

Attack on the Akagi by R.G. Smith

On the anniversary of the Battle of Midway (June 4-5 1942) , Rememberedsky offers some reflection on the battle particularly in context of sea-based airpower given current tension and potential conflict in the South China Sea. Continue reading →

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Last of the Few

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Ed

Testimony of Pilot #36

I’m 104 and the last survivor of the Battle of Britain – I want to live to 106 to see my crashed plane fly again.

Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway is the only surviving pilot of the 2,937 who helped to win the Battle of Britain.

Group Captain Paddy Hemingway.103, is united with a World War11 Hurricane at Casement Air base Baldonnel Near Dublin Ireland Paddy baled out of his Hawker Hurricane over the Thames Estuary After after a dog-fight with German Me 109 fighters. He landed safely near Pitsea his aircraft diving into Fobbing Creek Essex.

“I’m not a great man – I’m just a lucky man.” Continue reading →

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Hymn to a Humble Hero

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Ed

Testimony of Pilot # 35

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National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day -Reflections

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Ed

Testimony of Pilot #34

War and remembrance
No matter the old, “smart” decision makers
No matter the politics
Or “statecraft” of the DC pundits
It was our war
We fought it
Some lost years
Some lost lives
Some lost family
As young’uns we never set out to buy
but still …
We own it
Band of brothers and sisters
WE SHALL EVER BE

National Vietnam Veterans Memorial Day is today, March 29th, and it is also the 50th Anniversary of this special memorial observance. This is the purpose:

“As we observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, we reflect with solemn reverence upon the valor of a generation that served with honor. We pay tribute to the more than 3 million servicemen and women who left their families to serve bravely, a world away from everything they knew and everyone they loved. From Ia Drang to Khe Sanh, from Hue to Saigon and countless villages in between, they pushed through jungles and rice paddies, heat and monsoon, fighting heroically to protect the ideals we hold dear as Americans. Through more than a decade of combat, over air, land, and sea, these proud Americans upheld the highest traditions of our Armed Forces. Continue reading →

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INNOVATION IN ATTACK AVIATION: The A-7 Avionics Case

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Ed

Blown Slick Series #16

The A-7A/B should be recognized as the end of the line for pure, iron bomb dive bombers including most famously the Dauntless and the A-1 Skyraider, and the A-7D/E as the  beginning of a new era of attack a/c – same airframe and aerodynamics but with a major improvement in the systems/avionics. It is not unreasonable to state that the F/A-18 and F-35 have at their core a technical and operational capability that is Corsair II D/E in design concept technically and philosophically – what we now characterize as “strike fighter.” (F-16, F/A-18, F-35)

The story of the A-7 evolution is a central piece of RG Head’s book, reviewed in the previous post. The following is an excerpt by RG from that story.

The Navy developed the A-7 Corsair II in 1963 to replace the venerable A-4 (A4D). In 1965 the Air Force joined the program, and together they developed the A-7D and E with a revolutionary avionics/weapons delivery system. This is the story of that innovation. Continue reading →

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Book Review: US Attack Aviation: Air Force and Navy Light Attack 1916 to the Present

Posted on November 13, 2022 by Ed

Blown Slick Series #15

The “attack” mission combines the capabilities and objectives of air interdiction, close air support, strike, and what has come to be known as strategic attack.

     “This is a story about flying. It is told by naval aviators, Air Force fighter pilots, and the men who built the airplanes they flew. All served our country with honor. This narrative on attack aviation is a part of our history, an important link from those who were the pioneers of early aviation. They invented ways to use the airplane, built it, maintained it, extended its range, and made it lethal against America’s adversaries. … This story is told using a wide sweep of history over a century, but with concentrations on several case studies that characterize the evolution, technology, and tactics of the time. … The heroes in these stories are the aircraft and the young men (and now women), warts and all, who debated, built, flew, and fought with these aircraft.

These are their stories and their history. We owe them our freedom.” RG Head

Continue reading →

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Blown Slick Series update

Posted on November 10, 2022 by Ed

Blown Slick Series# 14

“… it has been decades since the last significant contribution to airpower theory. Given the shifting character of war and rapid technological change, a solid modern airpower theory will be required for the West to achieve strategic success in future conflicts.” Reviewing Airpower Reborn;The Strategic Concepts of John Warden and John Boyd  by JP ‘Spear’ Mintz

This is an update on the series begun in early 2015 Blown Slick; Light Attack Fast Pursuit Airpower Analysis by Boris.

Since January 2020 I have been primarily focused (and leveraging RememberedSky posts) on supporting my long time friend RG Head (PhD, Brigadier General USAF, Ret) on his just released book US Attack Aviation – Air Force/Navy Light Attack/1916 to Present.

The following is an update on the series and precursor to a  book review which will follow shortly. Continue reading →

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