You Know Nothing, Jon Snow
Shit happens. Life happens. You know nothing, Jon Snow.
Sunday Bag o’ Mules
Mules, local color, wannabes.
Air-Minded: Phantom Evolution (Updated)
Did you think, as I did, that the TFX/F-111 was Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s only joint-service aircraft project? No, there were two others: the F-4 Phantom II and the A-7 Corsair II, US Navy fighters more or less forced upon, but eventually enthusiastically adopted by, the US Air Force. I volunteer as a walking tour […]
Another Sunday, Another Car Show
A friend and I rode our motorcycles down to Tubac yesterday for the annual Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts Collector Car Show. As it does every year, the Tubac Golf Resort opens up its grounds for the show. If you ride down on a motorcycle you get to park on the grass right next to […]
Air-Minded: Converting Jet Fuel into Noise
THROTTLES—IDLE RUDDER AND AILERONS—NEUTRAL STICK—ABRUPTLY FULL AFT AND HOLD RUDDER—ABRUPTLY APPLY FULL RUDDER OPPOSITE SPIN DIRECTION (OPPOSITE TURN NEEDLE) AND HOLD STICK—ABRUPTLY FULL FORWARD ONE TURN AFTER APPLYING RUDDER CONTROLS—NEUTRAL AFTER SPINNING STOPS AND RECOVER FROM DIVE That, if you don’t recognize it, is the boldface spin recovery procedure for the T-37. Student pilots could […]
Air-Minded: the Magnesium Overcast
After ranting about the media I need a palate cleanser. The internet equivalent of a breath mint is a LOLcat. But I’m into airplanes, so I’ll give you a LOLbomber instead. As with the B-58 Hustler I described in a previous post, even though I was around during the B-36 bomber’s heyday I never saw one in […]
Air-Minded: Restoration
After a meeting at the Pima Air & Space Museum yesterday I introduced myself to the leader of the restoration team and asked if I could take a quick tour of his work area, normally off-limits to all but the volunteer staff who work there. He said sure, and even gave me a lift to […]
Attack Imminent
A Tucson friend posted this to Facebook this morning: We’re far enough from the base that we don’t hear the sirens. Actually it’s been years since we’ve heard one, but then it’s been years since we retired from the Air Force. We’re going on base to buy groceries this afternoon; maybe the exercise will still […]