Horological Meandering

In keeping with my earlier threads on Navy SEALs, this series of posts contains stories from USAF Fighter Pilot / Captain / Rolex Owner Morris B. Parker III. (To us he's just Uncle Brownie): Here are a few of his tall tales, taken from his memoirs that I ...  

COMBAT READY IN GERMANY The entire 49th Tactical Fighter Wing was relocated from France to Spangdahlem, Germany in the summer of 1959. Before we could “sit alert” at Spangdahlem, we had to be certified Combat Ready. This meant we needed to possess in-dept...  

REFUELING Rotations to Europe, along with Temporary Duty Assignments to Alaska, required our pilots to fly long distances, far beyond the normal range of any fighter aircraft. When we were fitted with four external fuel tanks under our wings—our maximum l...  

COMBAT IN VIET NAM Our group only had one sortie north of the DMZ. The target was about 75 miles north of Da Nang and about five miles inland from the Gulf. The intelligence officer showed us a picture taken by a photo reconnaissance plane. It was strange...  

Thank you & a great read. Best Mally

cazalea Thanks for the high angel tales. Your friend is lucky to survive the infamous Lawn Dart that is the Starfighter. Stubby wings and high wing-load, high stall speed and crazy landing speed, vibration prone nose wheel. Some air forces lost a quarter ... 

... since the Starfighter was transformed into something that it never was intended to be: What was designed as a super-sonic daylight interceptor with the task to attack enemy bombers at high altitude in a single, high speed pass, found itself in the rol... 

Thanks for the observations Marcus. They are consistent with what i have read. Capt Parker said that some forces (including the USA) put men in planes, in combat during WW II, with as few as 70 hours total flying experience! They certainly couldn't do tha... 

. . . a resident Jordanian lawyer I met at a party made a scathing comment about the Widow-maker. It was only later that it dawned on me he might've had a personal connection to one of the many Jordanian pilots who lost their lives flying the F-104. Wistf... 

... that on ground, thick protectors had to be mounted in order to prevent the ground crew from being hurt when hitting the edges. I love that plane, and still have three unbuilt model kits from 1/72 to 1/32 hidden in that infamous closet since a decade o... 

... just saw that you mentioned this in your excellent writeup ... Marcus

like boys everywhere, having fun flying your models! NASA's beautiful "hot rodded" F-104 Cazalea ...  

... but I fear the modifications necessary are more than I want to do. Marcus

I only read the first part. Will return to slowly read and appreciate the rest. Maybe I will end up hunting for a pilot watch even though I can never be a pilot! (I fear heights ... A lot !) Cheers Robin

Hello flight-loving PuristS, Here's a bit more about Capt. Brownie Parker's flying experiences in the USAF in the 1950's and 1960's: THE F-104 STARFIGHTER The F-104 Starfighter was designed by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, unarguably the most talented aeronau...  

Going back for a more complete read. Thanks for the great contribution as always. Bill

PS: will come back & read the other parts, and then bookmark them ! Real reading pleasure ! Best, hs

Thanks for sharing. Very informative. Dave

stories that justify another episode. Remembering the lives of those who went before us and those who are still with us is a worthwhile endeavor. Cazalea ...  

Please rejoin me for a few more stories about flying an F-104 around Europe in the 1960's: HOW SLOWLY CAN YOU FLY? On two occasions we were involved in war games with the Navy’s Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. The Navy thought if they maintained rad...  

... I think I need that book! Marcus