A Reunion
Tucson is a great place for bicycling, at least during the months where the temperature doesn’t approximate the surface of the sun.On a recent weekend layover I found myself in Tucson with a rented...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Ramming Speed
Cross-posted from my personal blog, Paul’s Thing:Initial news reports of the downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea strongly suggested a Russian fighter pilot had intentionally rammed it. That...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Know Thine Enemy
In another major study, scientists determine water boils at 100°C.I'm in codger mode, triggered by social media selfies and videos taken by gloveless military pilots in single-seat fighters. When did...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Whoa Nellie!
An F-15 pilot earned a tactical callsign yesterday.Landing mishap: Oregon ANG F-15D Eagle in irrigation canal (photo credit: unknown)Probably not, though. It's true that tactical callsigns often...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Nostalgia
I came across a neat photo of a former home:Company town, military styleThat, right there, is where I spent the first four years of my flying career: Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma. I was there...
View ArticleAir-Minded: To Fly, Fight ... and Twerk?
I don't know about this.Click to linkIt's an Instagram post from the manager of an entertainment act hired for a recent U.S. Air Force open house & air show. I tried to embed it but my version of...
View ArticleAir-Minded: the End of the Whip
This won't be any kind of organized Air-Minded post, more a collection of thoughts & memories. But there's a theme, and it's flying in formation.F-15 Eagles from Kadena AB, Japan, flying to Tyndall...
View ArticleAir-Minded: PASM Photoblog XXVI
I dropped by the Pima Air & Space Museum yesterday. As you may know from prior posts and photoblogs, I was a PASM volunteer docent for almost ten years, right up until the week before the COVID...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Mid-Airs on the Ground (Updated)
Update: I’ve corrected this diary. A source I had relied on posted incorrect information, which I repeated. The source has since updated and corrected that information, and I have edited this diary to...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Speed Is Life ... But How Much Speed? (Updated)
Last week, speaking at the Singapore Air Show, Boeing's F-15EX program manager said the new version of the Eagle is capable of Mach 3 in a clean configuration. I questioned that claim, and did so...
View ArticleAir-Minded: PASM Photoblog XXVII (Updated 3/26/24)
photo: Paul WoodfordIt must be spring, because I made the first of two annual treks to Pima Air & Space Museum today. I like to take advantage of the pleasant outdoor weather in early spring and...
View ArticleWe Have Met the Enemy (and He Is Us)
I posted a photo of U.S. Air Force aggressor aircraft to Facebook. Friends were intrigued. I answered some of their questions in comments, but it's a subject worth exploring in more detail, and my blog...
View ArticleAir-Minded: the Big Reveal (Corrected)
Here's a tweet that caught my eye.xAn interesting video showcasing the emotional reactions of U.S. Air Force pilot trainees upon learning the types of fighter jets they will be flying.(U.S. airforce is...
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