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Air-Minded: America's First Jet Fighter
I'm a volunteer docent at Tucson's Pima Air & Space Museum (PASM), where I conduct walking tours of historical aircraft one day each week. Wandering around the outdoor displays last Wednesday, I...
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Air-Minded: Son of Duck
After my post about the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, I asked friends if they wanted me to blog about any aircraft in particular. My niece Rebecca voted for a floatplane, I imagine because she lives in...
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Air-Minded: the C-130 Replacement that Wasn't
In the recent presidential campaign, candidate Mitt Romney asserted that the US Navy today has fewer ships than at any time since 1917. It turned out that a campaign advisor named John Lehman,...
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Air-Minded: Phantom Evolution (Updated 9/24/13)
Did you think, as I did, that the TFX/F-111 was Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's only joint-service aircraft project? No, there were two others: the F-4 Phantom II and the A-7 Corsair II, US Navy...
View ArticleTraveling back in time in a time machine
On Friday I had the opportunity to do something that tens of thousands of people used to do, but now only a few of us get to experience. I traveled back to the past in a time machine. To be more...
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Air-Minded: Thundercraft (w/2 Updates)
Scroll to the bottom of this diary to see updates added on 10/29/13 and 10/30/13.I originally planned to put irony quotes around the word Thundercraft, since no USAF pilot I know would be caught dead...
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B-18 "Bolo" bomber on our land in Hawai'i
Coming across an intact WW2 bomber while hiking through the jungle is a unique experience. Finding a large aircraft lying in a gulch on your own property is a sure way to inspire you to discover the...
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Air-Minded: Douglas F3D Skyknight
Dear Kossacks, I wrote this for my own blog, Paul's Thing, with the intention of cross-posting it here to reach a larger audience. Two days ago, while looking up additional information on the aircraft,...
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Air-Minded: Flying Chainsaws
McCulloch: it's not the first name to spring to mind when you think of aviation, but it's not a name you should ignore, either.The McCulloch Motors Corporation was founded in 1943 to make small...
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Air-Minded: Move Your Tail
A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of Jacqueline Cochran to my Facebook page, along with a note explaining that she was the first woman to break the sound barrier when she flew an F-86 Sabre past...
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Midair Over the Grand Canyon
Artist impression of mid-air collision over Grand Canyon in June 1956 - credit Anynobody via WikipediaThe endless mantra from the right wing is that government regulation is always a negative. Yet we...
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Air-Minded: Sweeping Changes
Originally posted at Paul’s Thing.When I take visitors around the outdoor aircraft on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum, I always say a few words about these Republic F-84s, early jet fighters...
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Air-Minded: Air Force One Folklore & Fact (Updated)
Update (2/27/18): I put this diary up yesterday. This morning I found better photos of Queenie, the first jet Air Force One used by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, substituting them for the original...
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Air-Minded: The Acorn Days
I frequently write about flying, aircraft, and aviation history. I couldn't do it without studying what others have written or said, but apart from including brief quotations from sources in my...
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