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Air-Minded: PASM Photoblog XXII
I made one of my periodic treks to Pima Air and Space Museum this morning, wanting to see if anything's changed. The answer: not much.My last two PASM visits, documented in earlier photoblogs, were in...
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Air-Minded: MIDAIRs & ZELLs & FOD, Oh My!
I started riding motorcycles when I was 15, and still ride today. Over the course of 60 years, cagers (car drivers) have tried to kill me more times than I can count. Two came close, scoring direct...
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Air-Minded: Son of More With Less
In a recent diary I described big changes to U.S. Air Force's undergraduate pilot training (UPT) program -- big changes from my era, that is, when I spent more than a year in UPT, followed by three...
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Sorry Ohio. NC is still where the first flight took place.
Having grown up in NC, and having lived in Ohio, I’m well aware of the consternation over NC’s claim to “First In Flight.” We’ve got it on our license plates, our quarters, T-shirts, just about...
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Air-Minded: Prophecy Fulfilled
When I started working there as a tour guide in 2011, Pima Air and Space Museum had a robust volunteer program. I was proud to become part of it. PASM's volunteer docents were, almost without...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Story Time
I first posted this on my personal blog, Paul’s Thing, in May, 2007. I retold the story at a friend's retirement party yesterday and forgot a couple of details, so I looked it up this morning to...
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Air-Minded: the Last Step's a Doozy
This will be a short post, inspired by this photo of an F-15A taxiing in after landing from an air defense alert scramble at Soesterberg Air Base in the Netherlands.Been there, done that (photographer...
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Royal Canadian Air Force Moose Milk
The holidays are upon us, so in order to assist those aviators and airport bums who enjoy entertaining at home, I present the secret recipe for the concoction known to Royal Canadian Air Force...
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Air-Minded: Roger That!
Here's a fun article sent by a friend who served with me at Soesterberg Air Base in the Netherlands. It brings back fond memories.American aircrews who fly regularly in Europe are familiar with the...
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Air-Minded: Go Fish
I'm following news reports of January's "landing incident" aboard the USS Carl Vinson, wherein a Navy F-35C pilot misjudged his carrier landing approach in the last seconds, struck the ramp, and...
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Air-Minded: Skid & Patches
Names are traditionally painted below the canopies of U.S. Air Force fighters: pilot/aircrew on the left side, crew chief on the right.Friends ask me about this often, wanting to know whether I always...
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Air-Minded: Speedbrake Chaff
The F-15 Eagles in service today are equipped with countermeasures dispensers which pump out chaff and flares to defeat or decoy enemy radar and heat-seeking missiles. Chaff and flares can be dispensed...
View ArticleI am on television!
Yes folks, there’s no living with me now. I’ve had my Andy Warhol designated 15 minutes of fame. I made it onto a TV show.If you watch the show Air Disasters on the Smithsonian channel I am featured in...
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Air-Minded: PASM Photoblog XXIII
I visited Tucson's Pima Air and Space Museum this morning. Here I am in front of one the new exhibits, which I'll get to in a moment.I was a volunteer docent and tour guide at PASM for nine years,...
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Air-Minded: Hack
I've written a bit about wristwatches lately (here and here, if you're interested). Even though GPS and computers do all the work today, student pilots are still taught to calculate speed the...
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Air-Minded: A High-Speed Abort by Any Other Name
Whew, that was close!How close? This close.Photo by @Lloydyy22 on TwitterFriday, during practice for a scheduled Sunday exhibition at Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield in the United Kingdom’s West...
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Air-Minded: Habu
This photo, posted to an F-15 Eagle Facebook group this morning, brought back memories of my time at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, during the final two years of SR-71 Blackbird operations at the...
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Air-Minded: PASM Photoblog XXIV
I was a volunteer docent and tram tour guide at Tucson's Pima Air and Space Museum for nine years, quitting just days before PASM shut down for the Covid pandemic in March 2020. I'm just a member now,...
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Air-Minded: Zulu Nostalgia
I read something yesterday and had a nostalgia attack. There are days I really miss the Air Force!According to a report in The War Zone, F-16 Viper pilots from Alaska Air Command's 18th Aggressor...
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Air-Minded: First Blooding
I've avoided writing about the first aircraft accident I investigated for the U.S. Air Force. The official report I and the other members of the mishap board wrote is privileged information. The clock...
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