Smokey Bear turned 80. He was flown from New Mexico as a cub to begin his long career. Good afternoon fellow ECAHF’ers. Who doesn’t know about Smokey and his enduring message of fire safety? Smokey is one of the most successful marketing ideas of all time. And like most things, timing had a role in […]
Smokey Bear is Part of Aviation History! Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. Most of us fly. Well, at least most of us fly for business or pleasure on commercial airliners. But few of us have been inside an Air Traffic Control (ATC) airport control tower or in an enroute ATC facility controlling flight operations. What happens in these facilities is not “controlled chaos”
The FAA is Fired on this Day in Aviation History Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. While few of us send letters anymore, we may still hear complaints about the cost of first-class postage going up. In fact, some of you may be unaware that the price for a first-class stamp just over a week ago on July 14, 2024 went from 68 to 73 cents. “Five
Airmail Took Some Time Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. We cannot and should not allow today’s major aviation history event to go by unnoticed. With less computer power than a modern, mid-sized car, today in 1969, like all of you alive at the time were too, I was glued (as a 16-year-old) to big floor console color TV with no
On This Day in Aviation History: the Moon Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. Aviation history includes some wonderful moments of success, joy, grit, and triumph, all events we should celebrate. Unfortunately, like life, aviation history also includes tragedies, horrible mistakes, overconfidence, and incomprehensible sadness. And if we’re to be a truly great nation, we must be honest with and acknowledge our mistakes, be self-aware
Today in Aviation History: The USS Vincennes Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers. Twenty years. That’s a long time. While a few of us may live longer, 20 years is a fourth or less of most of our lives. And how far we’ve come in that time. Twenty years is indeed a long time, but then again, it’s not that long. The past 20
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers on this 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings at Normandy, France. According to the US Defense Department, “thousands of U.S. paratroopers died during their drop behind enemy lines at Utah Beach, having been shot out of the sky by enemy fire or weighed down and drowned in flooded marshlands.” Brothers were
D-Day at 80: A Legacy of Air Power Read More »
Good Saturday afternoon fellow ECAHF’ers. I hope you have (or “had” if you’re just reading this on Tuesday) an enjoyable Memorial Day Holiday, and did more than merely enjoy BBQ’s and family, but also recalled the sacrifices of the fallen men and women of our armed forces. I have to admit a certain amount of…well…let
On This Day in Aviation History-JFK Calls for Congress to Support the Space Program Read More »
Good morning fellow ECAHF’ers and happy Hump Day and May Day! Many of us remember when flying cars were predicted to be a future “certainty”. Same with Dick Tracy’s wrist radios and futuristic video telephones where you could actually see the person to whom you were speaking. HAHAHAHAHA! What were we thinking? Oh. Wait a
From Dreams to Reality. This Day in Aviation History: Flying Cars Read More »
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 »