23 July 2007 – Steeljaw Scribe

Reflections: Smuggler’s Blues (III)

BySteeljawscribe 23 July 200722 December 2009

Panama. Two months into this endeavor and the novelty has worn off.Â Standing in the hangar at Howard AFB, the LCDR surveys the flight line â€“ what little of it he could see through the sheets of rain, and does some mental calculations. â€˜Do I make a mad dash for the plane and wait inside for…

history lessons

Sixty Years Ago – The Beginning of the End of an Era

BySteeljawscribe 23 July 200723 July 2007

23 July 1947: VF-17A becomes the Navy’s first all-jet squadron with the initial delivery of 2 x FD-1 Phantoms at NAS Quonset Point, RI and the era of props on carriers begins to close. This followed by a year, the first carrier ops of a jet with a FD-1 onboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Taking subsequent…