The night time is the right time

I have many interests.  One of my earliest and most enduring is aviation.  I love all things airplane.  As a kid my uncle would tell me stories about his time flying B-17's in WWII. 

I later joined the Confederate Air Force (vintage warbird restoration group) and got "up close and personal" with the machines and people I'd read about throughout my formative years.

Later I trained and became a docent at a local aviation museum, my "specialty" becoming commercial airline history.  I still read Air Transport World online.  While most people want to live far away from airports, I actually like living close enough where I can see the big beautiful birds coming and going.

Where I live now is not too close, and not too far away, but juuuuust right.  I spend hours on my north-facing terrace watching the airliners approaching DFW Int'l from the north and east.  Some of the aircraft types are distinctive enough to identify at a distance:  Boeing 747, Airbus A340.  Some require some study:  Boeing 777 vs Airbus A330.  Some are simply too small and too far away for me to make out the differences:  Boeing 737 vs Airbus A320.

Last night about 9 pm I went out for a breath of fresh air and saw planes stretched out for 30 miles to the northeast, headed to DFW to my southwest.  With 5 miles separation, I could see 6 planes lined up to land at any give time.  That tiny speck in the sky in the photo above is #3 to land, probably on Rnwy 17C.

With real-time internet info available today I could actually look up each aircraft type, airline, flight number, city of origination, etc, but sometimes it's just best to not know.  A little mystery is still fun.

And besides, that would be almost like work.  For me, work ceases at 6 pm.  Evening time is MY time.  :)

S

Bonding with the British

In my previous post I recounted my dad's first experience at being a soldier.  He made the fateful decision to NOT re-enlist and instead go back home and marry his honey.  Life was good.

Before long he heard of a very good job opportunity with Dallas Air College, owned by a "Major Long".  It was 1940, the Brits were at war with Germany, and things were looking grim.  The US officially professed neutrality, but our sympathies were definitely with our English cousins.

The British desperately needed pilots.  Theirs were getting killed faster than they could train replacements.  Problem was, the skies over England were a war zone.  There was really no safe place to train.

That was when the plan was hatched to very quietly send Royal Air Force (RAF) cadets to the US to learn to fly.  They were first de-commissioned by the RAF and sent to Canada where they were issued visas to come into the US, 50 at a time.

Major Long, probably because of his previous military experience and connections, was chosen to establish Terrell Aviation School about 30 miles east of Dallas for the purpose of this clandestine training.   They needed flight and ground school instructors, dispatchers, etc, and dad was hired as a navigation instructor and flight dispatcher.  It was very intense training, with 2 years worth of school compressed into just 7 months.

In his off hours the instructors taught dad to fly, but his eyesight wasn't up to par and he couldn't be considered for formal military pilot training.  (I obviously inherited his eyesight DNA.)

The Brits were here as civilians until December 7, 1941.  After that time we were officially wartime allies, uniforms began being worn, and the operations at Terrell became No 1. British Flying Training School, one of 6 set up in the US.  At Terrell alone they trained 2,300 RAF pilots.  Many were later killed in action, several became Air Marshall's (Generals), and at least one won the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military honor.  Dad became good friends with many of the British instructors and cadets, and I think this is why my dad (and I) became serious Anglophiles.

Although proud of helping the British get through those tough days, dad eventually tired of the training role and joined the US Army again, hoping to become an Air Force (Army Air Corp as it was then called) gunner.  He wasn't accepted as a gunner because he was under weight.  Imagine that!  (That is one gene I definitely did NOT inherit.)  Because of his previous military and flight school experience he was sent to Sheppard Field (Today Sheppard Air Force Base) NW of Dallas to....train American pilots.

He was heartbroken at the time, but considering the mortality rate of pilots and aircrew, in retrospect he probably cheated death once more.   To his credit, Dad pointed out that during his time at Sheppard Field not one enemy plane made it north of Wichita Falls.  ;)

In later years the No 1. BFTS Association was formed comprised of all the Brits and Americans who worked and trained together at Terrell during the war.  They had yearly reunions, alternating between festivities in the UK and here in Texas.  Once I used my Confederate Air Force connections to have a number of WWII-era T-6 Texan ^ training aircraft give rides to our now elderly RAF friends.  It was great seeing all those smiling British faces.

I have a No 1. BFTS scrapbook full of photos, but it's buried somewhere deep in my warehouse.  Maybe some other time I'll attempt to uncover it.

So dad survived, I'm here, and now you're stuck with me.  :)  

S

Me from A to Z

Shades of JournalSpace!  These sorts of personal expose's were common back "in the day", but I haven't seen one since JS permanently crashed.   This exercise was at the suggestion of my friend Suldog, and at his request I'll play along.  Here's me, from A to Z:

Age:  62 chronologically, much less emotionally.  K sometimes says I'm a "stick in the mud", and I'm sure I am at times, but most of the time I'm having too much fun to act my age.  That may be because I pretty much toed the line as a kid and now I'm making up for lost time.

Bed Size:  Queen.  To me a King is just too big.  They're so big you can stretch out and never even know you're in bed with anyone else.  I like to think snuggling in a Queen bed is the perfect way to promote world peace.  *I can't imagine why that line hasn't worked better?*

Chore I Hate:  Yard work, hands down.  I hate mowing, edging, weed-eating, trimming shrubs, raking leaves, fertilizing, spraying for various bugs and lawn diseases....all of it.  All so it can look good for maybe 3 days until it starts looking shaggy again?  Talk about an exercise in futility!

Dogs?  I love dogs, pretty much all dogs.  But I only want a small to medium sized dog for myself.  Big dogs have too much going in one end and coming out the other.  My love of dogs is odd since my parents didn't have dogs and therefore I was never around one as a kid.  Right now we have a Yorkshire Terrier (Luke), and before him we had a Miniature Schnauzer (Emma), a West Highland White Terrier (Tara), and many years ago (pre K) I had an American Eskimo (Tahsha).  Dogs bring me much happiness.  :)

Essential start to my day:  A cold beverage.  Right now I'm partial to Trader Joe's Latte's and Mocha Cappuccino's.

Favorite color:  I'm easy.  I like green, blue, red....there's no color in particular I plan my wardrobe or room furnishings around.  If it looks good in context, I like it.

Gold or Silver?  Silver.  It's less flashy than gold.  I'm not a flashy person.

House or Apartment?  For 35+ years I owned my own home(s), but for the last 4 years I've had an apartment and I LOVE IT!  In fairness, at certain times in my life, such as when I had small children and they needed a safe place to play, a house was perfect.  But I'm long past that now.   A house again someday?  Never say never. *wink*

Instruments played:  AM radio, FM radio, Quadraphonic stereo, 8-track, cassettes, CD's and iPods.  I'm accomplished in them all.  ;)

Job title:  Until last fall, President of Park Place Custom Homes.  That sounds impressive until you read my job description:  "Responsible for every shitty detail if no one else can be found to dump it on."  Now I'm semi-retarded.

Kids:  Three daughters; Kristan, Andrea, and Erica.  Today all are grown, well educated, and gainfully employed.  *happy dance*  They've also blessed me with four grandkids (Austin, Colby, Parker, and Blakely), with one more (Reese) on the way.

Live:  If that's a long "i", yes I am.  Otherwise, in Frisco, TX, a far-northern Dallas suburb.

Married:  Happily, to the lovely and talented "K".  Six years so far and counting.  :)

Never Again....will I ever sign my name to a mega-million dollar bank note.  Been there, done that, (successfully) escaped by the skin of my teeth.  I don't trust #$%& bankers.  "He who has the gold makes the rules", and the rules are 100% tilted in their favor.  Always!

Other Fun Facts:  I love history (college minor), and in particular aviation history.   For a while I was a docent at a Smithsonian-affiliated aviation museum.  I was also very active for nearly two decades with the Confederate Air Force, today known as the Commemorative Air Force.  I traveled the country on their behalf and had a great time, but what I did was extremely dangerous and about 8 years ago I figured I'd pushed my luck long enough and hung up my chocks.  

Pet Peeves:  People who throw cigarette butts on the pavement, people who make messes and leave it for someone else to clean up, f__ked-up renditions of the Star Spangled Banner, people who pull in front of me on the road and then just poke along, cops who get all bent out of shape when I do 54 in a 40....

Quote:  "Character means doing the right thing, even when no one is watching."  (author unknown)  Also: "Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." (Winston Churchill)

Righty or Lefty?  Righty, although I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!

Siblings:  One, Todd.  Good guy, business partner, extremely competent, totally trustworthy.  He's 11 years younger than me (can you say "Oops"), so we were never close as kids.  Especially after the time I put him in the clothes dryer and gave him a couple of spins.  (Oh stop it!  You know you'd have loved to do the same thing to your kid bro/sis.  You just didn't think of it.)

Time you wake up:  Wake up around 5:30 (thanks to Luke the Wonder Dog), feet hit the floor about 6.

University attended:  Texas Tech University, class of '72.  Nine of the happiest years of my life!  (Kidding....I made it in 4.)

Veggies I dislike:  Pretty much all of them, especially those that have a color...yellow, green, red, orange...yuck! The blue ones aren't too bad.  And I do like jalapenos.  (When I was a kid to get my mother to quit bugging me I convinced her a jalapeno was a green vegetable.)  

What makes you run late?  Very few things.  I'm extremely punctual.

X-rays?  Sure.  For dental work, of course.  And on my head to see if I was "normal"....oh, and to check out my sinuses, and on my back, and on the typical assorted adolescent broken bones. 

Yum foods?  Steak!  Mexican!  Italian!  Banana pudding!  Pecan pie!  Ice cream!  (I'll stop there as this post is already waaaay too long.)

Zoo animal (favorite):   I'm not really into zoo's all that much, but I'd have to say it would probably be one of the birds of prey.  I find them fascinating.

OK, that's me.  Now as Jim (Suldog) challenged me, I'm challenging you to do one of these on yourself.  I think it's a pretty cool way to learn more about your blogging friends.  

Hope you enjoyed.  :)

S

The Dynamic Duo, house cleaning, and found treasure

Yesterday while going through all our earthly possessions in the process of packing K ran across some old photos, one of which was taken at her parent's house on Christmas Day 2006.  It shows both of my dogs together, the dearly departed Tara Belle (the Westie) and Emma Belle (the Mini Schnauzer):

Luke....you've got some large shoes....er....paws to fill, my boy.

She also found my old name patch from my Confederate Air Force days, and a campaign button from my unsuccessful run for General Staff (Board of Directors):

As it turns out I lost by 3 votes, from an organization which at the time had around 8,000 (?) members.  The guy I lost to was a retired USAF Colonel, his last assignment that of being responsible for maintaining the Air Force's Special Air Mission (SAM) fleet of aircraft.  You might be more familiar with it (them) as Air Force One.  Oh well....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every time we wash clothes we struggle to find enough clothes hangers for everything as they come out of the dryer.  They can't just disappear into thin air, so where do they go? (Hanging out with those socks that disappear one at a time?)  K and I have both been cleaning out our closets, ridding ourselves of clothes we say we're gonna wear again some day but of course never do.   I took a huge carload of stuff to Goodwill, which means I freed up a few extra hangers:

Now we have 78 to spare.  :)

I've had good luck the past few weeks selling stuff on Craig's List.  I made a bundle selling four framed, signed & numbered aviation art prints, and yesterday K's old stationary bike.  Good riddance!  Now I really need to sell my big 'ol oak desk and file cabinet.  They're way too heavy to move.  I also need to sell the monster pre-lit artificial Christmas tree K just had to have a few years ago.  It's in the storage room downstairs in a box that I do not want to store in our new, more compact place. I'm trying to make room in there for a bicycle.  (K, if you read this, I'm buying a bicycle.)  It looks like we're paring down nicely and should be able to fit in our new 100+ sq ft smaller place with ease.

All in all it was a productive weekend.  How was yours?

S

The Versatile Blogger Award

Yesterday I was honored (and shocked) to learn that my friend Steve the Chubby Chatterbox nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.  To think that someone as creative and articulate as he would nominate lil 'ol me is quite humbling.  Thank you, Steve.  :)


According to nomination protocol I'm supposed to share 7 interesting things about myself ("interesting" being relative) and then pass on my nomination for the award to a few others I find deserving.  So without further adieu....


1.  I had a loving, stable childhood.  Two parents (no stand-ins), both very caring and ultra-ethical, only three public schools, culminating in a B.A. in BS from Texas Tech University.  My dad had an outrageous sense of humor, so on those occasions when I go totally bonkers just know I'm helpless....it's my dad's genes running amok inside me.  For 30-something years my brother and I have been partners building Park Place Custom Homes (.com if anyone cares).


2.  Politically I'm all over the map.  My conservative friends think I'm a card-carrying Socialist, while my liberal friends think I'm just to the right of Attila the Hun. So which is it?  Both, depending on the issue....with a heavy dose of cynicism mixed in.  I firmly believe our elected officials at all levels (and of BOTH parties) care about themselves first, those who bribe contribute to their re-election campaigns second, while We the People rank somewhere down there with the family pet....maybe even a notch below.


3.  I've had a life-long interest in aviation.  When I was 8 years old my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told them I wanted to have a party on the observation deck of Dallas' Love Field.  Back in the mid-80's I joined a WWII aviation heritage group then known as the Confederate Air Force.  We acquired, restored, and then flew our 130+/- aircraft at airshows all across the country.  I was a marshaller, leading a group of around 50 others who organized and ran the flight line at these shows.  I was the Ramp Boss at events from California to Maryland, Iowa to the very southern tip of Texas.  It was a very challenging (volunteer) job, basically run like a huge jigsaw puzzle based on aircraft size, turning radius, etc.  Over the years I worked closely with the US Navy Blue Angels, the USAF Thunderbirds, the RCAF Snowbirds, and the RAF Red Arrows.  That all came to an abrupt end when....


4.  ....I had several back-to-back detached retinas in my left eye which, long story short, left me with no peripheral vision on that side.  When you're literally working just a few feet from giant whirling propellers capable of turning you into sausage in the blink of an eye, situational awareness is critical.  With no peripheral vision on one side I decided it was time to hang it up.  I then studied and became a certified docent at a local aviation museum, but frankly I found it boring.


5.  I've attended both Citizen's Police and Fire Academies, giving me just enough knowledge of what they do to be dangerous. It was a blast, and very "hands-on".  I've also completed (for real) Aircraft Rescue And Fire Fighting (ARFF) training at Dallas' Love Field and DFW International Airport.  I was first to arrive at several airshow crashes, but the damage was catastrophic and there was little I could do when I arrived on scene.  Very sad.


6.  Back in 1992 I was invited to experience a "trap" (landing) and a "cat shot" (takeoff) on the USS Forrestal, a US Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf of Mexico at the time.  It was a fun ride, lemme tell you!  Yes, that makes me a "tailhooker", no pun intended.  (Well...maybe a little.  ;) 


7.  I met my wife Kelly (aka "K") online, but not the way you might think.  I was reading an aviation blog and it said "for further info on this topic read XYZ@Journalspace.com", so I linked over.  JS said I had to have a membership to read there so I signed up.  Later while surfing JS I saw a photo of a weed on a blog, the blogger asking what it was and how do you control it, so I answered.  Later posts were also interesting so we began visiting.  Come to find out she was living far away at the time but was from near Ft. Worth, Texas (I'm from near Dallas).  More talk, then a meet, then....  :)  And to think if I had linked over to Journalspace just a few seconds earlier or later I probably would never have seen her weed photo and cry for help.  It was fate, I tell ya!


Are you bored to tears yet?  I thought so.  


Now please allow me to nominate a few other bloggers I find interesting:


Oddball Observations....Bruce writes about....well....oddball observations.  He's had an interesting life and has some interesting opinions, too.


Charleston Daily Photo....Joan shares some of the interesting sights and history of the Charleston, SC area.


Suldog....what can I say?  Jim is just not right!  In a good and humorous way, though.


Now y'all close your computers and get to work.  :)


S

A little piece of me died yesterday....

....when I saw this on the news:

This was a WWII-vintage B-17 that crashed yesterday in Illinois.  Fortunately everyone on board escaped, but another piece of history has been lost forever.  

For 20 years beginning in the mid-80's I was very involved with a group known then as the Confederate Air Force.  (It has since changed it's name to the Commemorative Air Force.)  I was a "Ramp Boss" and I led our group of marshallers as we volunteered many of our weekends attending airshows across the country.  We didn't make money at it, but the shows did pay our expenses so it was a relatively cheap hobby.  

After the show planes landed the air traffic controllers would turn them over to us to park on the show ramp, which was a fairly complex undertaking.  It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle....every plane had to go in a certain spot for it to work, space being very tight.  During those years I worked with many hundreds of different planes, probably including this one, and their crews.  Whenever one goes down it really hurts.  I'm not familiar with this plane under this name, but they do change hands and get renamed with some regularity.

If you've never been up close to one, and I mean within just a few feet, with engines running, and heard and felt those huge radial engines turning, and seen the looks on the pilot's faces as if they were saying, "Please get me out of this cramped, scary ramp", then you probably won't understand the affection I have for the planes and their crews and the history they keep alive. 

I'm afraid the world is now one step closer to having none of these beautiful historic aircraft left for us to admire.  And their original WWII crews?  These now-elderly gentlemen are dying at the rate of 1,000 a day.  Of course it's inevitable, but it's still sad.

S