People
Testimony of Pilot (8) Neil Armstrong – Research Pilot
Testimony of Pilot# 8 I thought the attractions of being an astronaut were actually, not so much the Moon, but flying in a completely new medium. The pictures above do not represent the common perspective of Neil Armstrong the astronaut and first man to step on the moon. Rather using our characterization of harnessing the sky, they and this post provides a testimony of pilot – Korean War Navy fighter pilot and a NACA/NASA research pilot – related to exploring the hypersonic flight regime existing above Mach 5 and the study of the possibilities of flying a winged vehicle outside [...]
Testimony of Pilot (7): Frederick Trapnell – Test Pilot at War
Testimony of Pilot #7 Aeroplane testing . . . demands for satisfactory results the highest training. It occupies no special place by virtue of this—it merely comes into line with the rest of engineering. Now, one can learn to fly in a month . . . but an engineer’s training requires years. It is evidently necessary, therefore, that engineers—men with scientific training and trained to observe accurately, to criticize fairly, to think logically—should become pilots, in order that the development of aeroplanes may proceed at the rate at which it must proceed if we are to hold that place in the air to which we lay [...]
Testimony of Pilot: Of the Telling of TINS and the Avoidance of Lawyers
Testimony of Pilot #1 You love a lot of things if you live around them, but there isn’t any woman and there isn’t any horse, nor any before nor any after, that is as lovely as a great airplane, and men who love them are faithful to them even though they leave them for others. A man has only one virginity to lose in fighters, and if it is a lovely plane he loses it to, there his heart will ever be. Ernest Hemingway Spitfire by Barrie Clark This Ernest Hemingway quote is from an article he wrote for Collier’s [...]
Remembered Sky: A Naval Aviator Lies in State
You Only Live Twice “My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for 60 years, and especially my fellow Arizonians, thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I’ve tried to serve our country honorably…” John Sidney McCain III A Naval Aviator lies in state today – since 1852 only 30 people have done so before him. Yet social media continues to extrapolate their dislike and even hatred backwards to his military career, no matter the truth of those times – found in [...]
Memorial Day 2015: Mondo and Arlo
Sometimes on days like today, I find myself lost in the abstract -service to country, freedom, sacrifice, the flags, the tombstones of Arlington. The feelings are not wrong, indeed they are most important and necessary, but at the base are people who laughed, cried, drank beer - sometimes too much - told dirty jokes, howled at the moon, chased women, and jousted at a few dragons, all the while loving their wives, kids, dogs, squadron mates, .... and their country. The video below was just published on You-Tube on 14 May. It provides the memorial service on USS Midway in [...]
Not on My Watch – In Memory of Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly
I attended the Celebration of Life for Dave Snako Kelly on Saturday 3 May on-board USS Midway.Hot afternoon but not nearly as hot and humid as it was 42 years ago in the Gulf of Tonkin. Dave and all the rest of us were about to learn about real air war over North Vietnam. We were about to become “these good men.” Dave was a great friend, superb Naval Aviator, member of VA-115 flying the A-6 Intruder off of Midway on the ’72 war cruise. He is also the author of the recently published story of his flying years Not On [...]
A Dawn Like Thunder: In tribute to the men of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8)
Only 30 copies of this movie were made and they were given to the families of Torpedo Squadron 8. The Youtube version comes from the wife of squadron commander John Waldron. http://youtu.be/sPbYilMzWpw Fly Navy, the best Always Have These good men will never be forgotten.
What kind of war was it? – “How do I know, I saw the whole thing backwards!” June 4-7, 1942 at Midway
Battle of Midway, Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise, Serial 0133 of 8 June 1942 At Sea June 8, 1942 From: The Commanding Officer. To: The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet Via: Commander Task Force Sixteen. (Rear Admiral R.A. Spruance, U.S. Navy). Subject: Battle of Midway Island, June 4 – 6, 1942 — Report of. 1.) The attack delivered upon enemy carriers by the torpedo squadrons of our forces is believed to be without parallel for determined and courageous action in the face of overwhelming odds. These crews were observed to commence their attack against heavy anti-aircraft fire from the enemy carriers and [...]
Operation Homecoming Part 9: The POW 40th Reunion
If as Ev Alvarez offers in the interview from Part 8, the POWs have held their last reunion, I want to preserve for further reference the panel discussion. POW Panel at the Nixon Library
Operation Homecoming Part 8: The First and the Last
Beginning on 23 May, many of the Viet Nam POW gathered for a reunion in Southern California centered around the Nixon Presidential Library to celebrate not only their 40th anniversary of regaining freedom but also of their night in the White House as a guest of President and Mrs. Nixon, May 24 1973. As first POW Ev Alvarez notes in the interview below, this may be the last reunion. The Viet Nam generation, particularly those from the earliest days of the war are well into their seventies. The interview includes Alvarez as the first POW and Al Agnew as the last POW released from Hanoi. Al [...]
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People
Testimony of Pilot (8) Neil Armstrong – Research Pilot
Testimony of Pilot# 8 I thought the attractions of being an astronaut were actually, not so much the Moon, but flying in a completely new medium. The pictures above do not represent the common perspective of Neil Armstrong the astronaut and first man to step on the moon. Rather using our characterization of harnessing the sky, they and this post provides a testimony of pilot – Korean War Navy fighter pilot and a NACA/NASA research pilot – related to exploring the hypersonic flight regime existing above Mach 5 and the study of the possibilities of flying a winged vehicle outside [...]
Testimony of Pilot (7): Frederick Trapnell – Test Pilot at War
Testimony of Pilot #7 Aeroplane testing . . . demands for satisfactory results the highest training. It occupies no special place by virtue of this—it merely comes into line with the rest of engineering. Now, one can learn to fly in a month . . . but an engineer’s training requires years. It is evidently necessary, therefore, that engineers—men with scientific training and trained to observe accurately, to criticize fairly, to think logically—should become pilots, in order that the development of aeroplanes may proceed at the rate at which it must proceed if we are to hold that place in the air to which we lay [...]
Testimony of Pilot: Of the Telling of TINS and the Avoidance of Lawyers
Testimony of Pilot #1 You love a lot of things if you live around them, but there isn’t any woman and there isn’t any horse, nor any before nor any after, that is as lovely as a great airplane, and men who love them are faithful to them even though they leave them for others. A man has only one virginity to lose in fighters, and if it is a lovely plane he loses it to, there his heart will ever be. Ernest Hemingway Spitfire by Barrie Clark This Ernest Hemingway quote is from an article he wrote for Collier’s [...]
Remembered Sky: A Naval Aviator Lies in State
You Only Live Twice “My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for 60 years, and especially my fellow Arizonians, thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I’ve tried to serve our country honorably…” John Sidney McCain III A Naval Aviator lies in state today – since 1852 only 30 people have done so before him. Yet social media continues to extrapolate their dislike and even hatred backwards to his military career, no matter the truth of those times – found in [...]
Memorial Day 2015: Mondo and Arlo
Sometimes on days like today, I find myself lost in the abstract -service to country, freedom, sacrifice, the flags, the tombstones of Arlington. The feelings are not wrong, indeed they are most important and necessary, but at the base are people who laughed, cried, drank beer - sometimes too much - told dirty jokes, howled at the moon, chased women, and jousted at a few dragons, all the while loving their wives, kids, dogs, squadron mates, .... and their country. The video below was just published on You-Tube on 14 May. It provides the memorial service on USS Midway in [...]
Not on My Watch – In Memory of Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly
I attended the Celebration of Life for Dave Snako Kelly on Saturday 3 May on-board USS Midway.Hot afternoon but not nearly as hot and humid as it was 42 years ago in the Gulf of Tonkin. Dave and all the rest of us were about to learn about real air war over North Vietnam. We were about to become “these good men.” Dave was a great friend, superb Naval Aviator, member of VA-115 flying the A-6 Intruder off of Midway on the ’72 war cruise. He is also the author of the recently published story of his flying years Not On [...]
A Dawn Like Thunder: In tribute to the men of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8)
Only 30 copies of this movie were made and they were given to the families of Torpedo Squadron 8. The Youtube version comes from the wife of squadron commander John Waldron. http://youtu.be/sPbYilMzWpw Fly Navy, the best Always Have These good men will never be forgotten.
What kind of war was it? – “How do I know, I saw the whole thing backwards!” June 4-7, 1942 at Midway
Battle of Midway, Commanding Officer, USS Enterprise, Serial 0133 of 8 June 1942 At Sea June 8, 1942 From: The Commanding Officer. To: The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet Via: Commander Task Force Sixteen. (Rear Admiral R.A. Spruance, U.S. Navy). Subject: Battle of Midway Island, June 4 – 6, 1942 — Report of. 1.) The attack delivered upon enemy carriers by the torpedo squadrons of our forces is believed to be without parallel for determined and courageous action in the face of overwhelming odds. These crews were observed to commence their attack against heavy anti-aircraft fire from the enemy carriers and [...]
Operation Homecoming Part 9: The POW 40th Reunion
If as Ev Alvarez offers in the interview from Part 8, the POWs have held their last reunion, I want to preserve for further reference the panel discussion. POW Panel at the Nixon Library
Operation Homecoming Part 8: The First and the Last
Beginning on 23 May, many of the Viet Nam POW gathered for a reunion in Southern California centered around the Nixon Presidential Library to celebrate not only their 40th anniversary of regaining freedom but also of their night in the White House as a guest of President and Mrs. Nixon, May 24 1973. As first POW Ev Alvarez notes in the interview below, this may be the last reunion. The Viet Nam generation, particularly those from the earliest days of the war are well into their seventies. The interview includes Alvarez as the first POW and Al Agnew as the last POW released from Hanoi. Al [...]