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The Flying Circus Toy Shop: Recommendations
The Flying Circus Hey Mom, when I grow up I wanna be a fighter pilot …………… Son, I’m sorry, but you can’t do both … of flight jackets, patches, aircraft pictures, models, books, watches, coffee mugs, ‘I luv me walls’ and old toys and … of history, memories, and of the friends The “Remembered Sky” Enterprise [ 😉 ] includes this site, a Facebook page of the same name, a collection of flight jackets, coffee mugs, ball caps, old flight suits, model airplanes, pictures, and the museum-ish office/library/computer center referred to as the Toy shop or Pilot Lounge. I have [...]
Missmus Bismus #4: Epilogue
Testimony of Pilot# 26 I never would have made it if I could not have laughed. It lifted me momentarily out of this horrible situation, just enough to make it livable. — Viktor Frankl All I claim to know is that laughter is the most reliable gauge of human nature. — Feodor Dostoyevsky At the ‘Prom’ – Mike ‘Manny’ Bader, Kent Bader, Ed ‘Boris’ Beakley, Paulette Beakley The four part Missbus Bismus series is based on memories brought on by the Christmas season and particularly those of 1972 during the Vietnam War. I’ve tried very hard to center the writing [...]
Missmus Bismus #3: Shangri-La…found
Testimony of Pilot# 25 The comic and the tragic lie inseparably close, like light and shadow. Socrates The human race has only one effective weapon, and that is laughter. Mark Twain Shangri-La is a fictional place sought and wished for by many, described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. He describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley amongst high mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. USS Midway and Airwing Five had deployed seven weeks early because of the North [...]
Missmus Bismus #2: The Ornaments
Testimony of Pilot# 24 Missmus Bismus, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas USS Midway in San Diego Harbor. Photo by Sandi Whitteker. Remembered Sky was introduced on September 15th of 2012 and the first post included the introductory piece of Ghosts Of Christmas Past written for Christmas 1999 in relation to the upcoming first meeting over the holidays with “Frenchy”- fellow Naval Aviator and my future son-in-law. Ghosts offered the words of writers like James Michener and Herman Wouk as Christmas “ornaments” collected over a career and love affair with flying and Naval Aviation. Originally sent along the old-boy naval aviator e-mail chain, it was [...]
Missmus Bismus #1: The Ghosts of Christmas Past
Testimony of Pilot# 23 “It is required of every man,” the Ghost returned, “that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world—oh, woe is me!—and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!” Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens) Missmus Bismus, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas The back wall in Boris’s toy shop, the domain of Elvis the Elf, fixer [...]
Complete Series List: 1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier
Blown Slick Series #13 1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier Any assessment of future air power must certainly take into account China’s growing defense capability, objectives, and ongoing operations in the South China Sea. This suggested that a reasonable context should include a review of the Japanese island chain or co-prosperity sphere, that first year of WW II in the Pacific, and most certainly the emergence of aircraft carrier warfare. This context is provided as a sub-series posts reviewing the four major carrier battles throughout 1942 – Blown Slick #13 – 1942 the Year of the Aircraft Carrier. [...]
“Tales of the South Pacific” – Conclusion* > 1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 30
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 30 Life is rooted in narrative, humans construct their lives and shape their world in terms of these memories. Storytelling taps into existing knowledge and creates bridges as a means for sharing and interpreting experiences. Facts can be understood as smaller versions of a larger story, and thus storytelling can supplement analytical thinking and demonstrate the potential of human accomplishment. This is the concluding post for a two year effort focused on carrier aviation in 1942. The final piece borrows the title of James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1947 book Tales of the South [...]
“1942” – Part 29 – Afterword by Barrett Tillman
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier Series Blown Slick Series #13 Part 29 Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp, Hornet, Saratoga and Enterprise held the line. Herein is their June 19–20, 1944 pay-off story. Thanks to Barrett Tillman for all the help during this series and for permission to use this portion of his book Clash of the Carriers. JEB at RS Air Battle Of The Philippine Sea by John Hamilton (Naval History and Heritage Command) The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Adapted from Clash of The Carriers by Barrett Tillman By any measure, the United States would dominate its Pacific enemy, yet [...]
“1942” – Part 28 – Reflections (6 of 6); CAS
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 28 The story of how the Marines developed a close air support system needs to be told. It is a story that is distinct from the volumes of literature written about the controversial strategic bombing campaign or the more glamorous air-to-air battles that raged in the skies of Europe and the Pacific. It tells of the commitment to support the ultimate instrument of National policy: a soldier or Marine on the ground. The story of Marine CAS is important because it shows how a force, while constrained by lack of money and hindered by administrative [...]
“1942” – Part 27 – Reflections (5 of 6); Land Based Air
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 27 “However the danger exists that the more important and more fundamental fact may be lost sight of that the land plane bases and the operating units thereon should be available in supporting positions before the operation is undertaken at all. It is only by this provision in advance that the risking of carriers in restricted covering positions can be avoided.” Adm Bull Halsey The term “land based” in regard to World War II requires some context. Of note is the differences between how air power was applied in European and the Pacific theaters. The [...]
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The Flying Circus Toy Shop: Recommendations
The Flying Circus Hey Mom, when I grow up I wanna be a fighter pilot …………… Son, I’m sorry, but you can’t do both … of flight jackets, patches, aircraft pictures, models, books, watches, coffee mugs, ‘I luv me walls’ and old toys and … of history, memories, and of the friends The “Remembered Sky” Enterprise [ 😉 ] includes this site, a Facebook page of the same name, a collection of flight jackets, coffee mugs, ball caps, old flight suits, model airplanes, pictures, and the museum-ish office/library/computer center referred to as the Toy shop or Pilot Lounge. I have [...]
Missmus Bismus #4: Epilogue
Testimony of Pilot# 26 I never would have made it if I could not have laughed. It lifted me momentarily out of this horrible situation, just enough to make it livable. — Viktor Frankl All I claim to know is that laughter is the most reliable gauge of human nature. — Feodor Dostoyevsky At the ‘Prom’ – Mike ‘Manny’ Bader, Kent Bader, Ed ‘Boris’ Beakley, Paulette Beakley The four part Missbus Bismus series is based on memories brought on by the Christmas season and particularly those of 1972 during the Vietnam War. I’ve tried very hard to center the writing [...]
Missmus Bismus #3: Shangri-La…found
Testimony of Pilot# 25 The comic and the tragic lie inseparably close, like light and shadow. Socrates The human race has only one effective weapon, and that is laughter. Mark Twain Shangri-La is a fictional place sought and wished for by many, described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. He describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley amongst high mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise, particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia – a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. USS Midway and Airwing Five had deployed seven weeks early because of the North [...]
Missmus Bismus #2: The Ornaments
Testimony of Pilot# 24 Missmus Bismus, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas USS Midway in San Diego Harbor. Photo by Sandi Whitteker. Remembered Sky was introduced on September 15th of 2012 and the first post included the introductory piece of Ghosts Of Christmas Past written for Christmas 1999 in relation to the upcoming first meeting over the holidays with “Frenchy”- fellow Naval Aviator and my future son-in-law. Ghosts offered the words of writers like James Michener and Herman Wouk as Christmas “ornaments” collected over a career and love affair with flying and Naval Aviation. Originally sent along the old-boy naval aviator e-mail chain, it was [...]
Missmus Bismus #1: The Ghosts of Christmas Past
Testimony of Pilot# 23 “It is required of every man,” the Ghost returned, “that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world—oh, woe is me!—and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!” Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens) Missmus Bismus, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas The back wall in Boris’s toy shop, the domain of Elvis the Elf, fixer [...]
Complete Series List: 1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier
Blown Slick Series #13 1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier Any assessment of future air power must certainly take into account China’s growing defense capability, objectives, and ongoing operations in the South China Sea. This suggested that a reasonable context should include a review of the Japanese island chain or co-prosperity sphere, that first year of WW II in the Pacific, and most certainly the emergence of aircraft carrier warfare. This context is provided as a sub-series posts reviewing the four major carrier battles throughout 1942 – Blown Slick #13 – 1942 the Year of the Aircraft Carrier. [...]
“Tales of the South Pacific” – Conclusion* > 1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 30
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 30 Life is rooted in narrative, humans construct their lives and shape their world in terms of these memories. Storytelling taps into existing knowledge and creates bridges as a means for sharing and interpreting experiences. Facts can be understood as smaller versions of a larger story, and thus storytelling can supplement analytical thinking and demonstrate the potential of human accomplishment. This is the concluding post for a two year effort focused on carrier aviation in 1942. The final piece borrows the title of James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning 1947 book Tales of the South [...]
“1942” – Part 29 – Afterword by Barrett Tillman
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier Series Blown Slick Series #13 Part 29 Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp, Hornet, Saratoga and Enterprise held the line. Herein is their June 19–20, 1944 pay-off story. Thanks to Barrett Tillman for all the help during this series and for permission to use this portion of his book Clash of the Carriers. JEB at RS Air Battle Of The Philippine Sea by John Hamilton (Naval History and Heritage Command) The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Adapted from Clash of The Carriers by Barrett Tillman By any measure, the United States would dominate its Pacific enemy, yet [...]
“1942” – Part 28 – Reflections (6 of 6); CAS
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 28 The story of how the Marines developed a close air support system needs to be told. It is a story that is distinct from the volumes of literature written about the controversial strategic bombing campaign or the more glamorous air-to-air battles that raged in the skies of Europe and the Pacific. It tells of the commitment to support the ultimate instrument of National policy: a soldier or Marine on the ground. The story of Marine CAS is important because it shows how a force, while constrained by lack of money and hindered by administrative [...]
“1942” – Part 27 – Reflections (5 of 6); Land Based Air
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 27 “However the danger exists that the more important and more fundamental fact may be lost sight of that the land plane bases and the operating units thereon should be available in supporting positions before the operation is undertaken at all. It is only by this provision in advance that the risking of carriers in restricted covering positions can be avoided.” Adm Bull Halsey The term “land based” in regard to World War II requires some context. Of note is the differences between how air power was applied in European and the Pacific theaters. The [...]