Maintaining this space is a lot more work than I realized it would be. Much of that is internally-driven, some of it externally - by those bassid spammers and such. And some of it is simply self-inflicted.
One of the reasons I invited Dusty and Bill to join the team was to spread the load. That way I wouldn't have to continually try to find stuff (this is where the self-abuse comes in... I'm driven to get something up every day... though I do try for *quality* stuff...).
And that's been working pretty well. The tone of the blog has gotten a little lighter with Bill's presence, and it has broadened out, even if I've let myself get surrounded by aviators - and that is reflected in a broader readership - which has resulted in some of you guys sending stuff that I can use, further making life easier. I begin to see the problems faced day-to-day by newspapers...
Anyway - I brought all this up to share this, the kind of email that makes it worthwhile:
John,Back in the 60's my best friend, still is, was an airline pilot with a number of mutual friends serving as military pilots, 'Nam and all. Short story long, we used to pick up the 'Nam bound guys at Travis AFB, and take them out for as much fun as we could find in the SF Bay area, usually a lot, before taking them to SFO for their final stage flite to 'Nam.
These were all fighter pilot guys, mostly F-100's, so there was never a shortage of the NS,TIW stories.
Tnx for bringing all these heroes back into my thinking. Pre websites and emails, we got a lotta snail mail thank you's from the greatest bunch of American's you could ever know.
BTW, we all had POW bracelets in those days, I was, well he was, lucky enough that I was able to send mine to him on his return. An indescribable feeling.
Enough too much to drink rambling, thanks for everything, your actions and
your capability to bring forth positive memories.Mike D.
Speaking for all of us - you're welcome, Mike.
Speaking of Bill - I was rummaging through the National Archives (scrup'ls are wonderful hackers) and came across a picture of Bill doing some early work in Army aviation. It involved aircraft recovery and towing, apparently. No wonder we prefer helicopters for this sort of thing these days...
ARAV-30-1369 Pioneering Army aviators, led by 2LT William Tuttle, are shown here demonstrating in-flight tow hook-ups for disabled aircraft.
Or something like that. Muffy said that's what it said, anyway.
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