Writers Harbor

Author: Francis Meyrick

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual – Feedback

    Is that a shark I see below? (a perfectly executed autorotation after another C18 engine failure…) ATTABOYS and BOMBS (A little encouragement, very greatfully received, guys.. thanks! Note: 3/8/2010 Overwhelmingly, I would like to steer clear of the politics. As far as I’m concerned, this manual is an honest attempt to give new or prospective…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch. 3-F “Herding (2) “

    One ace deck helper PART 3 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Handling your helicopter “ Chapter 3-F HERDING (2) When I started herding, I was on my own in a Bell 47, with not much of the faintest clue as to what was going on. Rather unexpectedly I noticed a Hughes 500 twenty yards away, hovering,…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch.3-E “Runaway Blades “

    The Luck o’ the Irish, put (maybe excessively) to the test! PART 3 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Handling your helicopter “ Chapter 3-E RUNAWAY BLADES Runaway blades, or ‘rogue blades’ are one of every helicopter pilot’s worst nightmares. You tend to hear all sorts of stories, and it’s hard to know what’s fact and what’s…

  • The Burning Soldier (2) “The Black Flags of South Armagh “

    The streets of fear: Hatred in a bottle The Burning Soldier (2) Do you remember… the black flags of South Armagh? I read a blog, on the Internet, and it posed the question: “Do you remember… the black flags of South Armagh? “ And in a searing flash, memories resurfaced. Painful memories. Spring. And that…

  • The Burning Soldier (1) “Trial by Fire “

    August 3, 2009 I wrote this a long, long time ago. It’s amazing it survived. Moldering away on some old computer drive… I’ve always thought that, as stories go, it was a long, rambling, confused, hurt, incredibly poorly written, misshapen eunuch of a thing. Well, Katie has been long pushing me to ‘tell more’. I…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch.3-D “Tie-downs and Blade Socks “

    PART 3 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Handling your helicopter “ A good view of the right hand side tie-downs, and the wax I lavished on my baby Chapter 3-D TIE-DOWNS and BLADE SOCKS Typically,you will have four separate tie-downs to anchor your baby on the deck. Two at the front, one left, one right. Two…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch.2-E “Food, food, glorious food! “

    PART 2 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Job offers and job duties “ Fish head soup… yup! Chapter 2-E Food, food, glorious food…..! (You want me to eat….THAT?????) Ha! Food, my friends, food. Let me say two things. 1) All the WILD stories you hear, the outrageous tales, the amazing horror stories, the un-be-liev-able stuff…. Very…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch.2-D “Other duties? Humping fish? “

    PART 2 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Job offers and job duties “ Taiwanese sailors at work moving fish; some of the most hard-working dudes you will ever meet Chapter 2 -D Other duties? Humping fish? Taking the watch? (You want me to do….WHAT?????) So there you are, young sailor, three days at sea, on your…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch.2-C “Your Cabin and your room mate(s) “

    PART 2 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Job offers and job duties “ landing a Hughes 500 from the port side; notice the interesting ‘winglets’ on the end of the floats! Chapter 2 -C Your Job Offer: Your cabin and your roommate(s) (Cockroaches or Carpets?) Let’s face it, you’re young perhaps, anxious for your first job,…

  • Moggy’s Tunaboat Helicopter Manual Ch.3-C “Take-Off “

    Bell 47, a classic work horse PART 3 “Moggy’s Tuna Manual ” “Handling your helicopter “ Chapter 3-C TAKE-OFF You may hear it said that -where Tuna boats are concerned- there are more take-off accidents than landing accidents. If you include all the really unpleasant (and usually fatal) tie-down accidents (see next chapter), then I…