Category: Blip on the Radar

A Blip on the Radar Part 43: “Vertical Flight, without a Helicopter” In my dreams, in common with many people, I have achieved amazing feats of levitation, and flying under my own power. Sailing through the sky, accepting that my spontaneous flying abilities were perfectly normal. Invariably, these experiences were pleasing and relaxing. They seemed…

A Blip on the Radar (42B) Part 2: The Peacemaker who tried Our net boat bumped against the hull of the purse seiner, and a sailor, alerted by the noise of our arrival, poked his head over the side. He recognized me. I had worked a three month vacation spell there, covering for the resident…

THE PEACEMAKER WHO TRIED – Part 1 Part 1: Three Little Words I don’t like fighting. It seems such a primitive, savage, somewhat crude pastime. Whether it be physical, emotional, psychological or the result of business competitiveness taken to the extremes of what Testosterone charged males are capable of, I find it unsatisfying. Politics increasingly…

“I always do a good pre-flight. Always. Yep. I’m good…” A Blip on the Radar Part 41: Dropping a Missile I soloed some forty four years ago. If there is one thing I (might) have learned by now, it’s that we always seem to do stupid sheeee stuff. No matter how hard we try, no…

A Blip on the Radar Part 40: The Duel Of all the duels I have fought, including a strange, oddball jousting session with another helicopter, and sundry other Testosterone indulgence events, the one that comes to mind tonight is one I lost. My opponent, more resourceful than I, although knocked backed against the ropes, recovered…

Forgetting to undo one tie-down… the one millionth pilot to make this same old mistake A Blip on the Radar Part 39: I could have been a Librarian There was a period of time in Oz and New Zealand, when, if I understand correctly, Federal student loan programs were very readily available for those wishing…

A Blip on the Radar Part 38 B: The Fisherman’s Legacy I posted a link to what turned out to be only the first part of this story on Facebook. I belong to the two groups, “Tuna Pilots” and “Tuna Spotter Pilots”, and I usually post a link to any new story there. I also…

A Blip on the Radar Part 38: The Missing Fisherman As you grow older, you inevitably witness tragedies. It’s part of the Great Learning we experience on this little, blue, pipsqueak planet of ours, lost in the Immense Universe. We are small, tiny in fact, short-lived, but we matter. Our lives matter. Our kindness matters.…

A Blip on the Radar (Part 37) THE PILOT WHO HATED ME Truth is stranger than fiction. Much. Stranger. I look back, many, many years now, decades in fact, and I still see the incandescent, glowing red hot fury in the eyes of a fellow pilot. I see the angry fists, and I feel the…

A Blip on the Radar (Part 36) “All Our Mother “ Light in the Darkness, perhaps When it comes to scuba diving, one of the cardinal rules is: never dive alone. Always have a dive buddy along with you. You never know what you might encounter. If you train with any accredited dive training organization,…