Air-Minded: Son of Duck

After my post about the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, I asked some friends if they wanted me to blog about any aircraft in particular.  My niece Rebecca voted for a floatplane, I imagine because she lives in Seattle and sees them all the time … also, of course, floatplanes being so cool.  It happens that […]

Friday Bag of Steak Marinade

The end of the week has come again.  The world’s most interesting couple doesn’t eat much steak, but when we do we eat it on Friday night … and with that in mind I took a flank steak out of the freezer this morning.  This afternoon I’ll put it in a marinade of soy sauce […]

Air-Minded: America’s First Jet Fighter (Updated 9/16/15)

Walking around the outdoor displays at the Pima Air & Space Museum (PASM) the other day, I stopped in front of a dusty relic, a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, America’s first operational jet fighter. I always think of the P-80 (later redesignated the F-80) as a Korean War-era fighter.  It’s true that the P-80 first […]

Friday Bag o’ Fries

My computer’s back from the shop, and what a pleasure it is to work on it again.  Yesterday I typed a post on the other computer at Donna’s desk, where everything is six inches lower.  I couldn’t get through a single sentence without making multiple typos.  It didn’t help that she has her keyboard on […]

He’s Still on Armed Forces Radio?

First of all, I apologize for the blogging slowdown. Over the weekend the fan in the back of my CPR started howling; Monday I took it into the shop to have a new one installed.  They’re running behind and I may not have my computer back for a few days yet.  I’m posting this from […]

Thursday Tea Bag

No, I haven’t turned into a teabagger.  This is one of my periodic “bag” posts, a collection of links and short observations that by themselves wouldn’t get a post of their own. ——————– As a motorcycle rider, I’ve always thought there’s something wrong with law enforcement and the courts when it comes to cagers who […]

Air-Minded: the Super-Duper Sabre

I love the jet fighters of the 1950s.  Built for speed, sleek and swept-back, they were the embodiment of the fantasy planes of comic book superheroes.  The North American F-107, an orphan fighter-bomber abandoned by the USAF, embodies the go-fast exuberance of the period. The F-107 began life in 1953 at North American Aviation as a drawing-board […]

Out with a Bang

The year, that would be.  Out with a bang.  Shot right through the brain. This Christmas we added a compact 9mm pistol to our arsenal, so Polly and I took it and its big brother (a .357 revolver) to an indoor range this morning.  I wanted to get the feel of the new pistol, and […]