Air-MInded: Wings of Freedom Photoblog
The Collings Foundation is a private non-profit that, among other things, tours the country with a fleet of WWII-era aircraft. Last weekend its Wings of Freedom Tour stopped at Marana Regional Airport,...
View ArticlePaul's Book Reviews: Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult
“The future was coming nearer, one relentless goose step after the next. Juliet could still remember when Hitler had seemed like a harmless clown. No one was amused now. (“The clowns are the dangerous...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Fitting In, Part II
Women flew for the military during World War Two as members of the WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots), primarily to ferry new aircraft to combat theaters overseas. The program was shut down when the...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Call Sign Protocol (Wait, What?)
From Military.com: Navy to Change Pilot Call Sign Protocol After Minority Aviators Report Bias:"The head of naval aviation has directed the creation of a new process for approving and reviewing pilots'...
View ArticleAir-Minded: PASM Photoblog XVI
For the past few months, the restoration yard at Pima Air and Space Museum was dominated by two huge Boeing airliners, a 747 and a 777. I'd point them out to visitors on my tram tour, joking that I...
View ArticleOut of Sight
Yesterday's story about the Navy attempting to hide the USS John S. McCain* during Trump’s visit to Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan is still unfolding ... affirming my resolve to avoid commenting on...
View ArticlePaul's Book Reviews: Escapism, Mostly
The Kochs were unusually single-minded, but they were not alone. They were among a small, rarefied group of hugely wealthy, archconservative families that for decades poured money, often with little...
View ArticleThe Master Mind at Work
The Master Mind*, a very stable genius, tweets: xFor all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon - We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Singin' the Jackie Kennedy Blues
So yesterday, Donald Trump finally gave us a glimpse of the paint schemes he's considering for new Air Force One aircraft.I was prepared to hate anything he came up with, but I have to say these...
View ArticleEvangelical Pigs ... in Spaaace!
The Mississippi politician we learned about yesterday, the one who won't allow a woman reporter onto his campaign bus unless she brings along a male chaperone, comes from the same strain of evangelism...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Histories & IDs
USS Saratoga (CVA 60), 1965 (photo: Wikimedia Commons) Yesterday, while helping Pima Air and Space Museum visitors board the tram for the first tour of the day, a woman asked if we had any aircraft...
View ArticleSunday Bag o' Sputnik
People old enough to have watched the Moon landing on live TV have been sharing details of where they were and who they watched it with. My own memories are hazy. Of course I remember watching Neil...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Starfires, Scorpions, Mighty Mice
This post has been on the back burner for a while. I really should stop jumping around and take a more chronological approach to the aircraft I write about on Paul's Thing, but then again if I tried to...
View ArticlePaul's Book Reviews: Fiction, Science Fiction, Mysteries, DNFs
“Leroy bet me I couldn’t find a pot of gold at the end, and I told him that was a stupid bet because the rainbow was enough.” —Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle 4 of 5 stars The Fated Sky (Lady...
View ArticleB-26 Marauder
Something new spotted in restoration at Pima Air and Space Museum this Monday.The photo shows a few restoration projects under the sun shade in front of the main restoration hangar. Three have been...
View ArticleThe Old Gray Mare, She Ain't What She Used to Be
All week the middle of my lower back, the part where you'd put your saddle if I was a horse, has been stiff and sore. I get up like a codger, all bent and twisted, and have to stretch and strain to...
View ArticleAir-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...
View ArticleGrifters Gonna Grift
Yesterday's story in Politico, Air Force Crew Made an Odd Stop on a Routine Trip: Trump's Scottish Resort, has raised a thick cloud of smoke. Rachel Maddow devoted her entire opening segment to it last...
View ArticleAir-Minded: Losing My Cherry
Pima Air and Space Museum recently added a Cessna 172 to its collection. Seeing it out on display for the first time brought back a host of memories. PASM's Cessna 172 (my photo) You see, it's the...
View ArticleNeutrality in the Commons
A friend sent this photo of a sign in the lobby of a VA hospital. He thought I'd be interested. And I am.I've written a few posts about what should be allowed to screen on common area televisions on...
View Article
