Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. America was already at war with the Empire of Japan and it took four months to plan and execute the Pearl Harbor “revenge attack”, an audacious, risky, and uniquely American “suicide mission” requiring only volunteers (of which there were none lacking), all of whom wanted to—and believed, as most young people […]
Thursday Twofer: Tokyo and Beirut Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers, while most of us are probably too “mature” to put salt in the sugar bowl, cigar loads in dad’s cigar, or tell your spouse with a straight face that you’ve decided to sell everything and become a Tibetan Monk…and then exclaim “April Fool’s Day! (I’ve done all three…and more…and am not
Aviation History Twofer: Okinawa and the Royal Air Force Read More »
Good Saturday morning fellow ECAHF’ers. When I was a kid, we experimented a lot with launching things into the air. We found a pipe that was just the right diameter to have a golf ball slip down. Jammed into the ground at an angle, we’d drop a lit cherry bomb followed by a golf ball
This Day in Aviation History: Aunt Effie and Outdoors Play Time Read More »
Good afternoon fellow ECAHF’ers. We should all celebrate another successful Gala event and the hard work put in by our Tourist and Event Center team led by Pam Holder and Dianna Vaccarella and MC’d by Tom Braaten. It’s a mystery to me, the level of volunteerism and giving of one’s time that so many offer
This Day in Aviation History: Malaysian Flight 370 Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. Happy Leap Year in two days! Speaking of leaping, we’re going to leap between yesterday’s aviation history and today’s aviation history in our “Tuesday Twofer”. First, today’s aviation history. Being the very first at something in our great, big country is a goal many might pursue. But few achieve it. But
Tuesday Twofer: Yesterday and Today Read More »
On January 11th in 1935, according to History.com, “In the first flight of its kind, American aviatrix Amelia Earhart departed Wheeler Field in Honolulu, Hawaii, on a solo flight to North America. Hawaiian commercial interests offered a $10,000 award to whoever accomplished the flight first. The next day, after traveling 2,400 miles in 18 hours,
Amelia Earhart: Hawaii to California Read More »
By: Barry Fetzer, ECAHF Historian Hello, fellow ECAHF’ers. Have you ever been lost? Those of us older than 50 probably can relate to that sinking feeling (no pun intended regarding the below article) when you begin to realize you have no idea where you are. Perhaps in the era of cell phones and GPS, that
On November 29, 1929, American explorer and US Navy Admiral Richard Byrd makes an epic flight to the South Pole. “He, along with his three companions”, according to History.com, “made the first flight (of a human being—feathered “Byrds”…or birds—don’t count) over the South Pole, flying from their base on the Ross Ice Shelf to the
Celebrating a Trailblazer in Aviation: Admiral Richard Byrd Read More »
Good Friday morning fellow ECAHF’ers. It’s easy to forget how many “firsts” the Soviet Space Program had. They “beat the pants” (and the skirts) off of us until all their firsts were pretty much forever buried by America’s first steps on the moon by Neil Armstrong, who coasted along to become the “toast of the
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. “Time,” it is said, “cures all ills.” Time, also, unless we take care to ensure it doesn’t, erases history. New history is created over time, burying the older history. Generations come and go and the experiences—the history—that meant so much to past generations, means increasingly less to succeeding generations. Why? One
Tomorrow in Aviation History: the birth of a WWII Fighter Ace Read More »