Bringing back 1981
She once felt the wind rushing against her airframe as she was thrown with a controlled violence into the blues skies of the Pacific Ocean, off of the USS Midway CV-41. Number 1981 was a McDonald Douglas RF-4B Phantom...
Category: Marines
Washington D.C. Fetes Marine Corps Aviation’s 100th Anniversary
A pair of events celebrated the U.S. Marine Corps’ first 100 years of aviation in the nation’s capital during the month of May, 2012. Officially, the dawn of Marine Corps Aviation broke on May 22, 1912 when 1st Lieutenant...
Memorial Day and Arlington Cemetery
This isn’t a holiday that’s always been here. The first Memorial Day was conducted at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1929. The cemetery was built on the estate of General Robert E. Lee after the Yankees stole it...
Thunder over Utah
The first ever Thunder Over Utah air show took place on March 17th and 18th 2012 at the new St. George municipal airport. The new airport opened on Jan 13th 2011 and has become the largest airport southern Utah,...
MCAS Yuma Airshow 2012
The MCAS Yuma played out a little different from the original way I was planning on doing the show. The weather people in San Diego had been predicting a large winter storm to hit Southern California with lots of...
The Flying Leatherneck Museum
It all started on May 22, 1912, when Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham reported for flight training at the Naval Academy at Annaplois, it wasn’t until August 20, at Marblehead, Massachusetts, that Cunningham soloed in a Curtiss B-1 Seaplane and...
Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI 1-12)
Weapons and Tactics Instructor In October 2011, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma was once again home for the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course or as it’s more commonly known as “WTI.” I was fortunate enough to be invited to...
Scottsdale Air Fair 2011
The Scottsdale Air Fair returned Nov. 5th and 6th after an almost 11 year hiatus, due to the events of September 11 2001. I remember this Air Fair as one of the best in the valley, fast jets and...
NAS Oceana’s 2011 Air Show
The 2011 NAS Oceana air show was a roller coaster full of ups and downs… though no fault of the organizers and participants. Tropical moisture invaded the Virginia Beach area, and remained a major impediment to flying for the...
My “Fini” Flight on Fat Albert Airlines
When I was informed by the Blue Angels PAO that I was selected to fly on Fat Albert during their show at Miramar, I was more than overjoyed. I was bouncing off the walls. To be honest, the few...
A Visit to Hawthorne Ordnance Museum
Hawthorne, Nevada is home to the Hawthorne Army Depot, an ammunition staging area during World War II and the largest ammunition storage site in the world. On September 15, 1930, the Secretary of the Navy commissioned the U.S. Navy...
HMLAT 303 – Training the Future of Light Attack
Before HMLAT-303 was established in April 1982, Marine Corps helicopter pilots received advanced aircraft training at their fleet squadron after completing basic flight training. Overtime, the Marine Corps realized that this method of training was a drain on squadron...
