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Recent Posts
- On Being a Fighter Jock April 27, 2022
- Fighters and Targets March 25, 2022
- Two types of flyers… March 8, 2022
- More Random thoughts from The Pit – Phantom II February 6, 2022
- The Real Air Force January 4, 2022
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Copyright notice- An American Family, 2013- 2022
© John Norvell
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Category Archives: Alaska
More Random thoughts from The Pit – Phantom II
Some sayings from the past: First to the runway is leadF-4, the greatest distributor of MiG parts!First in – Last OutBrief on GuardGo cold mikeMartin-Baker backbreakerBalls to the wallAll I want to hear from you “2” is bingo (fuel expended … Continue reading
Thoughts from the Pit Part Deux
More Thoughts from the Pit Flight Surgeons: The Docs were great, never met one that didn’t look out for the best interest of the jocks. Two things to remember though: you never told a Doc that you passed out. That … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, Air Force, Air Force lingo, Alaska, Alaskan Air Command, American History, Anchorage, Anchorage Alaska, Arizona, Combat, F-4 Phantom II, Fighter Aircraft, Fighter pilot lingo, Fighter pilot slang, Navigator, Navigator Training, Thailand, U Dorn RTAFB, Udorn RTAFB, Veterans, Vietnam War
Tagged Fighter Pilot, GIB
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My special love – The F-4 Phantom II
By 2016 I had not thought about flying fighters for a long time. My good friend from Alaska, the former Capt Jim (now Lt Col retired) suggested we meet in Dayton and go through the Air Force Museum. Jim was … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, 43 TFS, Air Force, Alaska, Alaskan Air Command, American History, Arizona, F-4 Phantom II, F4 Phantom II, F4 PhantomII, Fighter Aircraft, Navigator, Vietnam War
Tagged Air Force Museum, Combat, Udorn
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The View from the Pit
Unlike Undergraduate Navigator Training –UNT, the F-4 backseat AKA “The Pit” was a very different world. At nav school, I sat at a table in a classroom, “flew” our practice mission, and did my computations. In the F-4 Sim, I … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, Air Force, Alaska, American History, Arizona, F-4 Phantom II, F4 Phantom II, F4 PhantomII, Family History, Luke AFB, Navigator, SEA, Vietnam War
Tagged F-training, The Pit
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FUFs, Pecker Pockets, and RCRs
When I graduated from Nav School, I moved on to the backseat of the F-4 and discovered I had to speak a whole new language. First of all unlike Nav School, we didn’t turn left, we made a port turn, … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, 43 TFS, Air Force, Air Force lingo, Alaska, Alaskan Air Command, American History, Anchorage, Anchorage Alaska, F-4 Phantom II, F4 emergency, F4 Phantom II, F4 PhantomII, Fighter Aircraft, Fighter pilot lingo, Fighter pilot slang, Thailand, U Dorn RTAFB, Udorn RTAFB, Vietnam War
Tagged Aircraft malfunctions, RCR, SOF
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On the Road Again
Nearly 50 years ago, I began traveling with my aunt, who often visited me when I was still a bachelor, she had just lost her husband to cancer. Our first adventure occurred while I was in Nav School, we decided … Continue reading
Posted in Alaska, American History, Anchorage, Arizona, Norvell Family History
Tagged Alaska, Auntie Mame, Grand Canyon, Travels with family
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A Picture worth many words
I have been looking at this picture a lot this week. I posted it to several F4 facebook groups. It shows me standing in front of an F4C parked on the ramp at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona … Continue reading
Posted in 13 TFS, 43 TFS, Air Force, Alaska, American History, Arizona, F-4 Phantom II, F4 Phantom II
Tagged Fighter pilots, GIB, SEA, Thailand, Udorn RTAFB, WSO
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Every year Santa came until 2015
Since 1971, Santa Claus has come to my house. That was the first year that a 12 inch-tall standup Christmas card of Santa, holding a pipe with a heart applique in the billowing smoke, arrived in the mail. It … Continue reading
Mach 2
Found this little pin in a box recently. Not much to look at from a distance. Small F4 on it, but its the caption that catches the eye: Mach 2 Club, Phantom II. The first reaction might be: “Is this … Continue reading
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