Monthly Archives: October 2010

A Very Important Flight

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Joe Clark

One of the great perils of flying is weather. Particularly in the early part of the last century, weather was extremely hazardous. When the weather went “down,” flying became dangerous. It was dangerous because aviators were incapable of landing on instruments … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History | Leave a comment

The Perfect Flying Season

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Joe Clark

The perfect flying season is here. There are two times the flight weather environment becomes perfect and those times are fall and spring. Fall more so than spring, but still, spring is good. What makes fall and spring the perfect … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged checkpoints, clear skies, fall, flight weather environment, flying conditions, frontal activity, light winds, outside air temperature, spring, sunrise, sunset, The best time to fly, The Perfect Flying Season | Leave a comment

Ed’s Hotrod

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Joe Clark

Occasionally one of my students will ask me which airplane I liked flying the best in the Navy. The answer I always give is, “Depends. If I was going out to deliver weapons, no question – it is the A-7. … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged A-4, A-7, air combat maneuvering, attack pilots, dogfight, Ed Heinemann, Ed’s Hotrod, fighter pilots, formation flying, Gulf of Tonkin, naval aviators, Navy, North Vietnam, Pratt & Whitney J-52, shooting guns, Vietnam, wings of gold | Leave a comment

21st Century Thievery – Part Two

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Joe Clark

If you find yourself a victim of identity theft you must become immediately proactive in correcting the problem. This is one time you do not want procrastinate. Start fixing the problem and start on it now. If the theft was … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General | Tagged 21st Century Thievery, computer theft, computers, criminals, cyberspace, financial crime, identity theft, modern day robbers, normal lives, protecting yourself, steal identities, the Internet, thieves, victims of crime | 2 Comments

21st Century Thievery – Part One

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Joe Clark

Thieves have been a part of life since Biblical times and there appears to be little we can do about it. When a friend or relative becomes the victim of crime, we help them the best we can, give thanks … Continue reading →

Remember When

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Joe Clark

Remember back when traveling by the airlines was something really special? Everyone dressed in their very best to “take a flight” somewhere. Passengers were well mannered, the food was good, the airline employees were happy, and massive radial engines made … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General | Tagged 18-cylinder radial engines, “Connie”, Eastern Airlines (EAL), Howard Hughes, Lockheed Constellation, Orville Wright, P&W Wright R-3350, Pan American World Airways (PA), Pratt & Whitney, president of TWA Jack Frye, Remember When, Trans World Airlines (TWA), traveling by airliner, TSA | 2 Comments

Impressions

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Joe Clark

I remember the first time I saw the Blue Angels. I was working the line fueling airplanes at the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, so I was standing atop my fuel truck. I watched the team arrive and fly their practice … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged airmanship, aviators, “the best of the best”, Blue Angles, excitement and enthusiasm, F6F Hellcats, Impressions, June 1946, LCDR Roy “Butch” Voris, Lead, NAS Jacksonville, naval aviation, seat in the fleet, wingmen | 1 Comment

Navigation

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Joe Clark

Getting around the world is a fascinating exercise. At first, a person’s total awareness of his or her environment is the extent of as far as they can see, usually not much further beyond their crib or bedroom at first. … Continue reading →

Posted in Flying, Life in General, Personal | Tagged A-4, backyards, Caribbean Sea, Cuba, degrees, globe, GPS, Guantanamo Bay Cuba, Haiti, Hawaii, Jamaica, nation, nautical miles, navigation, neighborhood, Pacific Ocean, seeing beyond the horizon, sextants, state, statute miles, TACAN, the ancient Polynesians, the South Pacific | 1 Comment

My Maternal Grandfathers

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Joe Clark

Yesterday, I wrote about my paternal grandfathers. Today, I must tell the stories of my mother’s fathers and their fathers. Their stories are just as interesting and possibly more critical to my being here than those of my Cuban ancestors. … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal | Tagged Camp Rathbun, Co. G 15 Alabama Infantry, County Road 18, Dothan Al, Elmira NY, England, Florida, Highway 231, Mississippi, My Maternal Grandfathers, my paternal grandfathers, Northern Aggression, prisoner of war, South Alabama, South Carolina, Southerners, The South, The War, The Wilderness, the Wiregrass | Leave a comment

My Grandfathers

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Joe Clark

Every now and then, you have to stop and think about how you got here. In my case, I came from England, on both sides of my family, but not directly. My father’s family came to America from England by … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal | Tagged America, Bahamas, England, half-Cuban, Letter of Marque, My Grandfathers, Nottingham, pirates, pretty Cuban girls, San Francisco de Paula Regla Havana Cuba, Spanish galleons, Straits of Florida, the Caribbean, the King of England, think about how you got here | 1 Comment