"When I do not want to say things in real life I often say them here." — Mimi Smartypants
There I was at 30,000 feet
Halfway through my post-surgery physical therapy sessions at Tucson Orthopedic, and already starting an off-the-books PT regimen at Anytime Fitness. I dropped by this morning to spend half an hour on the stationary bicycle and some of the leg machines, the ones that help with bending and straightening my new knee. Getting over the top of […]
Work continues on Pima Air & Space Museum’s IL-2 Shturmovik. The fuselage is largely finished, the engine is in, the wings have been fabricated from original blueprints and are awaiting installation, and the propeller, damaged when the Shturmovik’s pilot crash-landed on a frozen lake near the Russian village of Zamejie on January 28, 1944, is being hammered […]
See my earlier speculations on the possibility of new F-15s for the USAF: The Non-Starter Option? Non-Starter Option Revisited The first post addressed three “legacy” fighter aircraft still in production for overseas customers (F/A-18, F-16, and F-15), and wondered if the US military might be talked into extending the lives of its own fleets by buying new ones. […]
Progress report: my knee still aches (with occasional sharp nerve twinges) and I still walk like Festus, but the home exercise routine is going well, the outpatient physical therapy at the orthopedic institute even better, and the swelling has almost disappeared. Tomorrow I see the surgeon who replaced my knee and who will, I hope, […]
I steeled myself for a stern lecture and a return to white pads and tape, but the dermatologist’s nurse practitioner (the nice one!) took one look at my skin graft Tuesday and said “Let your nose shine out upon the world for all to see.” So here it is, in its bumpy, slightly discolored, W.C. […]
I included an image of Pima Air & Space Museum’s Curtiss F6C-4 Hawk in a recent Air-Minded entry. At the time it was still in restoration, and the photo wasn’t mine. The Hawk is now on display, just inside the main entrance, and I’m able to share some of my own photos: The Curtiss F6C Hawk was […]
The first woman military pilots knew — or quickly learned — what kind of culture they were getting into, which explains the “keep your head down” ethic they embraced (and probably still do since their numbers remain so small).
I’m a docent at Pima Air & Space Museum, where I conduct tram tours of our outdoor display aircraft. When welcoming visitors at the start of the tour, I ask if anyone wants to know more about any particular airplane. Nine times out of ten, the one people want to hear about is our former Air Force […]