Yup. From the time I was six. Planes and modeling ran in the family - Dad's dad was a Master Mechanic/Gunner on DH-4s at the end of WWI, Dad was a Navigator on 17's and 29's in WWII, and I first took the controls of a real plane (a 172) when I was nine. I'd read ALL of the fighter pilot autobiogs from Roland Garros (WWI) right through to Jack Broughton (Thud Ridge), so flying was eeeeaasy. Had to quit flying in High School though - bad eyes, and needed the money for college.
worked with a guy who's eyes were so bad that even corrected, he didn't qualify for a commercial license. He did fly Privately. Soloed in his dad's P-51 at 16. His dad was a B-1 Bomber pilot.
My eyes aren't great, but they are correctible to the 20-20 - 20-40 range. Sadly, those little First Class Pilots Certificates mandate 20-20 vision, and I don't think I can pull off an Edward Mannock (WWI pilot with a glass eye who flew SE-5s), or a Robert L. Scott (God Is My Co-Pilot), who stole an eye chart, memorized it, and lied his way through an eye exam to get transferred from flying transports to flying P-40s. I'm probably too honest to do something like that anyway.
Ironically, just a month or so after I turned 35, the U.S. Air Force began accepting degreed engineers who wore glasses into Air Force Reserve Pilot training.
Up to age 34.
In F-15s!
*sigh* - At least I've got some ground down footpegs and a handful of trophies to recall my glory days.
Does this count? http://www.militaryimages.net/photopost/data/642/TactiCool.JPG
ReplyDelete"They're all effing BROWN, now drop it!"
ReplyDeleteWelp, I totally fail.
ReplyDeleteI can live with that.
Ummmm ... Desert Tan and Flat Dark Earth both have real FS numbers and Coyote Brown doesn't?
ReplyDeleteBoxStockRacer
@ BSR: Heh. Scale-modeler?
ReplyDeleteyeeeaaaahhh... I bought what was billed as a "Desert Tan" Bail-out Bag from LA Police Gear, and got what looks to me more like Coyote...
ReplyDeleteDesert Tam?
ReplyDeleteApposite:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=1406
Oops, fixed it:
ReplyDeleteColours by sex.
Worked gun store retail for years: Most pathetic lament from grown men: "This camo doesn't match!"
ReplyDeleteYou may also be tactically metrosexual, too.
ReplyDeleteNow that is just hilarious :)
ReplyDeleteStaghounds,
ReplyDeleteHeh,heh, that chart is excellent!
B Smith:
ReplyDeleteYup. From the time I was six. Planes and modeling ran in the family - Dad's dad was a Master Mechanic/Gunner on DH-4s at the end of WWI, Dad was a Navigator on 17's and 29's in WWII, and I first took the controls of a real plane (a 172) when I was nine. I'd read ALL of the fighter pilot autobiogs from Roland Garros (WWI) right through to Jack Broughton (Thud Ridge), so flying was eeeeaasy. Had to quit flying in High School though - bad eyes, and needed the money for college.
BoxStockRacer
BSR,
ReplyDeleteworked with a guy who's eyes were so bad that even corrected, he didn't qualify for a commercial license. He did fly Privately. Soloed in his dad's P-51 at 16. His dad was a B-1 Bomber pilot.
Will:
ReplyDeleteMy eyes aren't great, but they are correctible to the 20-20 - 20-40 range. Sadly, those little First Class Pilots Certificates mandate 20-20 vision, and I don't think I can pull off an Edward Mannock (WWI pilot with a glass eye who flew SE-5s), or a Robert L. Scott (God Is My Co-Pilot), who stole an eye chart, memorized it, and lied his way through an eye exam to get transferred from flying transports to flying P-40s. I'm probably too honest to do something like that anyway.
Ironically, just a month or so after I turned 35, the U.S. Air Force began accepting degreed engineers who wore glasses into Air Force Reserve Pilot training.
Up to age 34.
In F-15s!
*sigh* - At least I've got some ground down footpegs and a handful of trophies to recall my glory days.
BoxStockRacer