Tag Archives: USAF Flying

The “Carn’s” Final Flight

As a Flight Commander, a couple things I focused on were; e’spirit de corps and heritage.  I felt an obligation to ‘those who went before us,’ to infuse these concepts into ‘the new kids.’  One of the techniques I used … Continue reading

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“Click-click,” Time for a Beer…

The mic (microphone) button in the T-38 was located on the inside of the left throttle.  Often, when we flew in formation and wanted to communicate using hand signals between IPs, we would ‘click’ the mic button twice – ‘click-click.’  … Continue reading

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“Switch Hitter”

I discovered a poem a few years ago, written by Dan Quisenberry.  It’s a beautiful poem of baseball, entitled “Switch Hitter.”  I related to it right away; albeit from a different perspective.  I related to it from my experience in … Continue reading

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“Is that Legal, Bob”

As I was going through T-38 PIT the second time, Jul – Nov ’82, I had a flight with the squadron commander; our resident “Reg Reader.”  I don’t know if I would rank him up there with the most motivational … Continue reading

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Mentors

Air Force Regulations and manuals (now ‘Operating Instructions,’ soon to be ‘Suggestions’), spelled out ‘the letter of the law’ when it came to day-to-day operations.  Mentors on the other hand, told us ‘how the cow eats the cabbage.’  I was … Continue reading

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Strapping On Jets

My T-38 IP once told me, “You don’t ‘strap in’ a jet; you ‘strap it on.’”  He didn’t make a big deal of it – he just shared this as a ‘matter of fact’ statement.  For whatever reason I knew … Continue reading

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I Got to ‘Stick My Hands Under Mike Webster’s Butt, One More Time’…

Years ago I happened to hear Terry Bradshaw’s induction speech into the NFL Hall of Fame.  As he was speaking, he hesitated a moment, looked up to the heavens and lamented, “What I wouldn’t give to stick my hands under … Continue reading

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“Three’s Inn”

We have a formation we fly, “The Missing Man Formation,” to honor fallen aviators.  It is performed at funerals, various dedications, and other ‘special events,’ with all sorts of aircraft.  Essentially it is flown with four aircraft in “fingertip” formation.  … Continue reading

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Well, Crap…

I first met ‘Joe’ at the 560th FTS in 1982.  He was a ‘nice enough’ guy; maybe kinda ‘anal’ – but conscientious and well meaning.  He tended to ‘micro-manage,’ often overlooking ‘the big picture.’  One evening while we were sharing … Continue reading

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Tommy and the Stan/Eval Nazi

Tommy was a young FAIP who worked for me in the early ’80s as a T-38 Check Pilot in the 56oth FTS at Randolph Field, TX.  He was a good kid; highly motivated, talented and with a great career ahead … Continue reading

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