Friday, March 22, 2013

The Friday Flyby - 22 March


Oui, Mesdames et Messieurs, it's time for another "Friday Flyby". Just a couple of notes before we get started. The new logo you see above the awesome Phantom picture is something which I have designed specially for the "Friday Flyby". When you see that logo, you'll know it's an authentic Old AF Sarge Friday Flyby and not some cheap knock-off from a sweat-shop in some dirt poor 3rd World nation.

Now in that logo there are two things I want to point out. Though it is very small, the aircraft depicted is the Lockheed P-2 Neptune, in other words, one of these - 



The reason that particular aircraft is in the logo is simple and goes with the other thing I wanted to point out. Just underneath the Neptune, you may be able to just make out the text "H/T to joeh!". (I don't think you'll be able to make this out on a cell phone, unless you can zoom WAY in.) Anyway "joeh" is our own Cranky old man, who gave me the idea for the "Friday Flyby" theme. The next day I mentioned to (not necessarily your) Uncle Skip that I should include some kind of credit to Joe for the idea. This is it.
And the Neptune? Joe mentioned that his brother had been a Captain in the Navy (back in the day) and "was a navigator in a P something-something following Russian subs for probably 12 hour or more shifts". I kind of assumed (given the time frame) that it was probably the P-2 which Joe was referring to. So it's a tribute to Joe's brother as well, who is no longer with us. So that's the introduction to the new "Friday Flyby" logo along with the back story. Now onto the meat of today's post.

Now the really big news today is this:




It has been one year since I started this blog. At the time, I started out with these thoughts rolling around inside my head:
What the Hell am I thinking? A blog? Isn't that like an every-damn-day kind of thing? I must be out of my mind.
Then there was the reason I was starting. To attempt (in my very small way) to honor the memory of a friend who was no longer with us, a friend who was an amazing writer, Naval Aviator, officer, husband and Dad. (Most of you should know of whom I speak, those who don't should be able to figure it out.) So it's something I wanted to try but because of the reason for wanting to try, I didn't want it to, ya know, suck.

Well, it doesn't, as far as I know, suck. I have some very loyal readers who actually take time out of their busy days to read my sometimes unfocused and chaotic musings, ramblings and "war stories". (That's "sea stories" to my aquatic friends. And you know who you are.)

It's also, dare I say it, fun! Well, it can be. Sometimes these posts seem to write themselves. I get a certain spark or idea and then it just starts to flow. But there are those posts which started well, yet linger still in that half-world of the draft post. Still around but sitting there, waiting. Waiting to perhaps one day be completed and published. Or, perhaps given up on and deleted. (I don't do that much, maybe twice in the entire 12 months I've been doing this. I don't like throwing things away. Ask my wife or take a look at my computer room.)

The writing seems to come fairly easily when that creative spark is there. And it doesn't take much to get the creative "juices" flowing. Sometimes it's provided by my accomplices fellow bloggers. They'll write about something, something which lends itself to copying and expanding upon and I'll do so. Posts like this and this are examples of that.


And totally off topic and completely out of the blue - a little something, hand selected by me, for Virgil Xenophon (old Phantom jock and Friend of the Blog)...
497th Tactical Fighter Squadron 8 December 1965 – 16 September 1974 (F-4C/D Tail Code: FP)
8th Tactical Fighter Wing
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand
(Well it is the Friday Flyby, innit?)


So it's been one year. How about that? For those who wish to reminisce, here's the link to that very first post, one year ago today. One more thing, I just checked, this is post number 301! (Update: No it isn't. Never mind. I went a little dyslexic when I wrote this. It's actually #287, still seems kind of cool to me, but what do I know?)

My hope is that I get to keep doing this and that y'all keep reading. I'll end this post as I ended that very first post, one year ago this very day...



...to honor The Man Himself...

Here's to You Lex!

12 comments:

  1. Happy Blogoversary! Blogging takes on a life of its own. Sometimes it takes over my life, but I enjoy reading and commenting and finding new friends through blogs. I hope you have many more years of blogging.

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    1. Why thank you Ma'am.

      There truth in your kind words.

      I was at your place this morning and see that I need to block out some time this weekend to read your posts about Paris. Too much good stuff there to just gobble down. My passing glance tells me there's much to be savored. I love Paris.

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  2. Happy one year.
    Funny how this grows on ya, huh?

    I was thinkin' Joe's brother could just as easily been the Naviguesser on a Willy Victor or a P-3.
    Not too comfy on either of those two.

    O/T (sort of) - we have a USFS fire base at the Redding Airport so I see P-2s occasionally during the summer.
    When I first moved here they were still using B-17s for aerial work.
    Was that ever loud.

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    1. Thanks Skip. It does grow on you. I'm having more fun than is probably legal!

      You're right about Joe's brother's aircraft. I decided to go with the Neptune as statistically probable, not to mention I really like that air frame. From time to time as a young boy we'd see the occasional P-2 come booming over the hills of Vermont at very low level.

      Wow, you still get to see the P-2s? That's awesome. Though the Forts are very loud, I'd have paid money to see that!

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  3. Well that intro sure cured my dry-eye! Thx, I am very honored. I sent this link to my Sister-in-law. She tried to comment and express her appreciation as well, but non-bloggers always have trouble commenting. She informed me that My brother Jim first flew in the P-2 but transitioned to the P-3 shortly after joining VP-10 in Brunswick, ME in July 1964.

    Congrats on your first blogaversary!

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    1. So my guess as to P-2s wasn't that far off? I think I'll leave the P-2 in the logo, like I mentioned to Skip, I have fond memories of that old gal. And your brother did start in P-2s. Though the P-3 is nice too! My oldest daughter, who started her Navy career as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (ASWO) told me that having a P-3 up on the 'Net when you're hunting submarines is a very nice thing to have.

      You had a great idea, I just kinda fleshed it out a little. So you get the H/T and I always look for ways to honor those who served and aren't with us anymore. Give your Sister-in-law my best wishes and thank HER for what she's done in life. Being a military wife is not easy. So my wife tells me. ;-)

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  4. I used to watch Neptunes fly out of the old Anacostia NAS in DeeSee when I was a kid. I think the P-2 is a most beautiful airframe. They have (had?) one as a gate guard at Brunswick NAS, too.

    Congrats on completing Blogging Year One and MANY Happy Returns, please.

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    1. I love the P-2. I checked Google Maps at the former Brunswick NAS , I see a P-3 on static display but, alas, no P-2. (Did I miss it? Or is it gone? Hopefully it found a good home!)

      I will keep on keeping on as long as I have stories and readers!

      Thanks Buck!

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    2. The P-2 was just inside the front gate, on the left as you drove in, when I was out there in 2006. The base is closed now, it's possible the plane was moved.

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    3. I'm hoping she was just moved and not, well, I'll not go there.

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  5. Happy Anniversary!!
    Yur Blogfadduh would be proud! Steady the course and keep on posting. I appreciate your insight and always look forward to stopping by. Now get that downspout fixed!
    All the best,
    Da Bear

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    1. Thanks Rumbear, I truly appreciate your kind words. I absolutely LOVE your blog, that bit about your cousin looking at a new truck had me LMAO for, well, I'm still LMAO.

      Off to fix the downspout!

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