Life is a journey, one step followed by another…
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) Above Photo: An F-14 Tomcat aircraft waits behind the blast deflector panels as another F-14 from Fighter Squadron 84 (VF-84) prepares for launching during flight operations aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS CARL VINSON (CVN-70)…. Read more#212—“Down Time,” Part 2: USS Kitty Hawk (On-duty)
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) By the time you read this blog post, I’ll have just turned a young 71 years old. I don’t know about you, but when I make another trip around the sun, I count my many… Read more#206—Those Things That Stay With You …
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) I’m writing a multi-part series of articles about a US Navy cruise in the Pacific, commonly known as a “Westpac.” I made one Westpac in 1975. It made quite an impression on me and it’s… Read more#189—Westpac ’75: It’s Not Just a Job…
April 1977—USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)Somewhere off the Coast of California “Hey Chet… You ready for this?” I was sporting my new, brightly colored jersey… this one is yellow. My new “home” is no longer the Crash Crew, but now I’m… Read more#172—Change of “Scenery” (Red to Yellow)
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) Someone recently asked me what my favorite plane was when I was in the Navy. Not an unusual question for a Navy veteran, but it came from a young’un, probably not yet a teen. She… Read more#158—My Favorite Navy Jets (70s version)
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) They say working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the most dangerous job in the world. You’ve heard me say this before… while I agree that working on the flight deck is… Read more#136—What Makes the Flight Deck So Exciting?
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) My Navy “career” was a short four years. Actually, it was 3 Years, 11 Months, & 29 Days, But Who’s Counting? It may have been short, but during those formidable years, 1973-77, I learned a… Read more#132—The Navy That Stayed with Me Through the Years
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) “What the hell took you so long, Chet?” Borne was his usual self—always smiling, cracking a joke, and making light of the moment. He knew the chow lines were often long enough to finish a… Read more#124—Nighttime on the Flight Deck, Part 1: Launch
There are times in our lives when the past seems to merge with the present. For me, this was one of them. I recently returned from a reunion of USS Kitty Hawk veterans, held in San Diego. Many of these… Read more#120—Merging the Past with the Present
NACES seat test using a McDonnell YF-4J Phantom II at the US Navy Naval Weapons Station China Lake, CA (1987). Official US Navy photo.