by captjim » Fri Jan 17, 2020 3:01 pm
Pete. Captjim here again. I waited for a while before I posted this comment. Some of the other simmers provided some personal background, so I thought I would do the same. My first experience in flight came while I was in the US Navy at the Sub Base, New London, CT. (1955). I actually logged in 9 hours in a J3 Piper Cub flying out of a cow pasture north of Norwich, CT I was really into this activity and my instructor said that I would solo very soon. So we took off and flew for a few miles until we were over a small lake. He said that today we are going to practice some off power stalls. I asked what were these, at which point he turned off the motor, pulled back on the stick and let the plane stall with the nose straight up. It then fell off to one side. He recovered the plane, restarted the motor and we went back to the cow pasture. After he pried my hand off the stick and we scrapped the rubber off my hand that was the end of my career as a airline pilot. I am 85years old. Spent 6yr in the USN; 12yr in the USAF. 4yr in the US Army. Retired as a CWO-2, CID agent. Went to work as a DIS Agent with the Defense Investigation Service for another 22Yr and retired again. Went to work as a defense contractor for another 12 yr. and decided that was enough. I live in Dayton, OH the homer of the USAF Museum. My children, grand children and great-grandchildren always say Grandpa we don't want the hear all that boring stuff again. Captjim