"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
When we run low on dog food I take the girls with me to the neighborhood feed store. During chick season (which is a thing, who knew?) they have galvanized tubs of pullets inside the store, and the minute the dogs come through the door they hear them peeping and go straight for them. They […]
Once a year, rich guys with extremely expensive toys train alongside active duty USAF fighter pilots and jets at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona. The annual program at DMAFB is called the Heritage Flight Training and Certification Course, and over the course of a few days civilian and military pilots practice flying close formation. Pilots who complete the […]
When I take visitors around the outdoor aircraft on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, I always say a few words about these Republic F-84s, early jet fighters that show the evolution from straight to swept wings: The aircraft with the barber-striped tail is an F-84C Thunderjet, first flown in 1946 and later employed as […]
I posted this vintage Christmas card to Facebook to amuse my friends. The kid’s woeful expression prompted a few comments. Really, though, if you study 19th and early 20th century portraits, photos, and illustrations, unsmiling faces were the rule rather than the exception. People always looked somber. I started to wonder why that was. Well, for one thing, […]
In July, I posted an Air-Minded Diary titled The Non-Starter Option. In it, I proposed purchasing new F-15s, F-16s, and F/A-18s (all of which are still in production) for the USAF and USN. My argument was that new F-15s, which are far more capable that the older models currently in use, are needed to supplement […]
I don’t know when Veterans Day turned into Veterans Week, but it has, so I don’t feel too bad posting a little of my own veteran history one day early. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was stationed at Soesterberg Air Base in the Netherlands, a brand new F-15 Eagle pilot in the 32nd […]
Gosh, how long’s it been since I last suggested cops should stop tasing, beating, and killing people for no reason? Feels like months. Actually it’s been weeks, which is a long time for me. It’s not that I’ve given up; it’s more like everyone knows what I think anyway, and nothing I say is going to change the […]
“Well, he told me he worked for NASA—he didn’t tell me he had been to the moon and back.”