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Generations

Call this one – “Generations.” From the left — my Grandpa (father’s side), first generation American of German descent who left his home in Illinois to join the Army and head off to the War to End All Wars, serving in France with the AEF. Next my Grandpa Jack – Army, Signal Corps who served…

“That’s One Small Step for A Man…” Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012)
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“That’s One Small Step for A Man…” Neil Alden Armstrong (1930-2012)

Sad word today that Neil Armstrong – Naval Aviator, test pilot and first man on the Moon, has passed.  Neil Armstrong typified the “quiet professional” whose coolness in extremis events were exemplified in flying the X-15 and especially so on orbit as commander of Gemini VIII when things suddenly went very, very wrong (@ the…

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Midway 70 Years Later and the Dauntless on My Desk

In every battle there is a moment when the combatants, and the world, seem to catch their breath. It is a fleeting moment, lost in the blink of an eye. But in that same blink, everything changes. Such moments are borne of desperation, of courage, of plain dumb luck. But they are pivotal —  for…

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Pearl Harbor – 69 Years Later

“AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR.  THIS IS NOT A DRILL” Sixty-nine years ago those words ushered in a period of unbelievable agony, trial, effort and sacrifice.  What was once before was forever changed afterward.  Jack-booted thugs bent on their “Final Solution” strode cobblestone streets of the land distantly remembered as the forebear of a new nation,…

Reflections on the E-2 Hawkeye’s 50th Anniversary
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Reflections on the E-2 Hawkeye’s 50th Anniversary

This Thursday, 21 October 2010, marks the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the first purpose built AEW aircraft, the E-2 Hawkeye (actually, it was the YW2F-1).  Designed around the radar, rather than adapting an existing airframe, the Hawkeye symbolized function over form – from the 24ft “rotodome” prominently perched over the fuselage, to…