Memoir

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] The final act of “My Life in the Blue Suit” began in June 1974 with the Fairchild C- 123K “Provider,” an airplane with a most unusual lineage. In 1943 the Chase Aircraft Company contracted to build assault gliders for the Army Air Forces; their first prototype […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] When I returned to the Ohio State University in June 1969 after 18 months of Air Force active duty in Korea, I joined a group of flight instructors that provided classroom instruction for general-aviation pilots preparing to take FAA written examinations. The program was sponsored by […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] On Jan. 23, 1968, the USS Pueblo, a small, U.S. Navy, intelligence-gathering ship, was sailing off the east coast of North Korea doing her thing, when she was accosted by several North Korean warships. Our naval authorities and the Pueblo’s crew insisted she was well outside […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] In 1942, The Ohio State University purchased 1,412 acres of flat farmland and forest 10 miles north of campus, the purpose of which was to develop an airport. Only those administrators with expansive imaginations could have envisioned that parcel of land becoming a significant part of […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] Following our second near-transcontinental journey in two years, the Taylor family bought a new home in Columbus, Ohio, and I began traveling the state representing the same company I had worked for in Oregon. My largest customer — who provided about half my income at the […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] In late February 1959, having fulfilled my commitment of four years of active duty in the Air Force, we headed north from Tampa, bound for Akron, Ohio, and a major change in lifestyle from military to civilian. We were excited to get home and begin again, […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] Flying a KC-97 during an aerial refueling embodies all the basics used by a good formation leader; for example, don’t move the tanker any more than absolutely necessary, make all movements as smooth as possible, and — unique to the KC-97/B-47 combination — fly as fast […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] During the 1950s, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) was the ultimate deterrent to nuclear war, the keeper of the peace and no doubt had a quieting effect on the rattle of Russian nuclear sabers. Considering SAC’s world-wide responsibility, security was a huge player in day-to-day operations […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] We arrived in Tampa, Fla., home of MacDill Air Force Base, with the expectation that our household goods would follow soon thereafter, but we were not prepared for the several weeks we had to live with what we were able to carry with us from Oklahoma. […]

[AVweb‘s reprint of Dick’s memoir began with the Introduction.] March 1956. On the move again, this time headed for Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, for advanced flight training.Nancy and I surrendered our rather sparse collection of household goods to a mover in Enid, Okla., and packed the bare necessities in our station […]