What a small world controline is.

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-04 AT 07:55 PM (CDT)
 
Back in 1973 when I was a AMS in the USN. I was stationed at NAS Millington For A school. I was flying a Ringmaster with a G21 35 on pressure, 8X8 prop. Almost as fast a combat wing. We had a flying circle between the hobby shop and the chapel.
I recived a note from a guy on here that rememberd me and the Ringmaster.He had told me he was so impressed he bought some combat engines and planes.The reason for the Rinmaster was storage space.I eaven took it abord ship.Some people here talk about wind,try flying on the deck of a aircraft carrier.Pretty windy with a 15 knot head wind. Those were fond memories.

Hey I was a kid back then and each time we went out to the base my mom always droped me off there. I would watch folks fly when she shopped. I saw a lot of guys fly and you might have been one of them.

Paul

Cool--i was at NAS Millington for AVA and TDA schools and flew control line there also. It was the spring of 1970. I had flown some prior to going into the navy, and then found an old voodoo somebody left in the hobby shop. Resurected it, flew it some, then left it for the next guys.

And talk about really small worlds, I found out at the Nats, that back in the late 70's, Bill little and I lived in the same town in NC AND OUR WIVES WORKED ON THE SAME HOSPITAL FLOOR!

Life is grand!

Regards,

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-04 AT 08:06 PM (CDT)
 
Here is some of the email exchanged

Anyway, if you're the one, your flight impressed me so much,
>>>I went for Fast Combat in a big way. Within months, I had
>>>acquired Fox Combat Specials, baby pacifiers, etc., etc. -
>>>something about a screaming sub 2 second lap echoing between
>>>the hobby shop and the chapel that brought crowds.
>>>
>>Sounds like me.Knock out girl freind cause I brought her out
>>there alot. The ringmaster was as fast as a combat wing.
>
>Wow! I owe you a lot. My goal was to get a combat plane
>(or any plane) faster than that Ringmaster you had. I
>finally did it, and eventually started going to some
>contests. A couple of other guys and me flew against the
>Nashville Rats - Mack Henry and his bunch. Turns out Zuriel
>Armstrong wrote me a few notes when I joined the forum. He
>came through the NAS hobby shop a couple of years after you.
> By that time, we were all flying full-bore combat, and some
>stunt, too. Sounds like he was as impressed with us as I
>was with you. Funny how it all connects.
>
>Not sure I understand what you meant about the girl - but
>several us were as impressed with her as with the plane.
>Did you end up marrying her?

Edit: I am sure that Ringmaster was a 100mph plus airplane.

Talk about amazed!! I wish I had known Curt when he was living here, would have had someone to fly with!
Bill <><

Larry, little Jeff, me, Mike, and a bunch of other guys whose names I can't remember thank you.

Not wanting to hijack your thread, I started another one with some pics for the memories.

Man this brings back memories. I had never seen a control line plane fly and what became my best friend had a Green Box Nobler and took me to Millington NAS. I learned to fly between the hobby shop and the chapel. I didn't know you could fly at a place that didn't have a walking path throught the middle of the circle. I used to go into the hobby shop and drool over the Ruffy kits and Noblers. We would also go to the hobby shop by the Memphis airport that was a little converted house. I remember Lester and Herman and all the cool stuff. Now I'm trying to find a source for fuel im my own state. It's still as fun as ever though.

Lester Goldsmith and Herman Rieban!!

I took many of you guys to his hobby shop! Lester got so successful he built his own building several years later. The OS 40SF I put in my Super Sportster (pictured on my first post) I ordered from him, even though I lived in Atlanta at the time.

I was told he sold the whole store and building and got out of the business. Then I saw a post somewhere on the Internet where he's big in FAI Team Race right now.

I haven't seen Lester in years. He did sell the "New" shop and it is still around as far as I know. About a year ago I went by the old shop and it is still standing. Brought back alot of memories and trips to the shop in the old VW Van. That's a whole post all by itself.

Sparky, you age date yourself and me with that time frame. About the time you were doing that I was finishing up a year and half in Uncle Sams Yacht Club over in the Tonkin Gulf. Alot of memories of that era and the days that I thought a "Healthy Tan" was a good thing. Paying for that now.

Bill

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-04 AT 09:26 PM (CDT)
 
>Sparky, you age date yourself and me with that time frame.
>About the time you were doing that I was finishing up a year
>and half in Uncle Sams Yacht Club over in the Tonkin Gulf.

I was with first VF1 F4s then VF124 and finaly VF211 F14s Hard to belive those F14s are 30 plus years old now.

I was on the USS Manatee AO-58 helping to keep all the ships on the gun line fueled. Prior to going over we were pumping one night to the Kitty Hawk doing REF training. We ended up pumping straight black oil over the side for 8 hours. Not a good idea. We were right off San Clemente and thats where EX President Nixon had his summer White House. 2 days later we were all on his beach scooping up that mess. No sense of humor!

Bill

Remember Z-Grams? Admiral Zumhwal for those who don't know. He had strange ideas.

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-04 AT 09:37 PM (CDT)
 
Absolutely! Longer hair, beards and civilian clothes for liberty. I liked that guy! What I didn't like was when he tried to change the uniforms so we all looked like Chief Petty Officers. I had alot of bucks tied up in my Sea Farer blue jeans!

Bill

Robert, I was at Millington for A school (ADJ) the summer of 1976. I was following my Dad's footsteps (ADR) 1953 at Millington. I wish I had known that there were C/L guys there, I had flown the previous 2 years in Florida and Colorado, just prior to finishing high school and joining the USN. I let a bunch of years go by before picking up a handle 2 years ago, now I am really having fun learning the stunt pattern. Dave Markley

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-04 AT 11:26 PM (CDT)
 
>I was on the USS Manatee AO-58 helping to keep all the ships
>on the gun line fueled. Prior to going over we were pumping
>one night to the Kitty Hawk doing REF training. We ended up
>pumping straight black oil over the side for 8 hours. Not a
>good idea. We were right off San Clemente and thats where EX
>President Nixon had his summer White House. 2 days later we
>were all on his beach scooping up that mess. No sense of
>humor!

My Dad was on AO62 Tuluga WW2
This is a picture of my Dad Awarded shadow box. He flew speed and got a second place at the Canadian Nats with BALL # 13 engine.

Richard Storick presents a shadow box, containing parts of a Japanese kamikaze plane that struck USS Taluga in 1945, to Capt. Juan Chavez, USN, Commander, Military Sealift Command Pacific. In 1972, USS Taluga became USNS Taluga, MSC’s first Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force ship. The shadow box will be displayed with other donated memorabilia in the civilian mariners’ Taluga Lounge at the APMC Customer Service Unit in San Diego.
IT2 Jeffrey Plummer, USN, photo

His ship was the only tanker hit by Kamikaze that didn't sink. So I'm told.
He doesn't look to bad for 80. Must have been real fun to fly on white gas.. Glad I didn't have to do it.

The Taluga was homeported with us at the Long Beach Naval Station. I remember when it was switched over to a USNS status.If your Dad had been on board it in 1972 he might remember a Emergency Breakaway that we had with it and the USS Haliakala. Bad day for sure. The Manatee was decommissioned in August of 1973 and I got a 4 month cut. The Manatee was sold to Gillette and melted down so we could cut off those beards Zumwalt let us have. My Dad was also a Navy man and a Pearl Harbor survivor. Unfortunately we lost him 2 years ago at age 81. Your Dad is looking good for sure!

Bill

Hey Crash: we were on the Kittyhawk in Yokosuka last week! She's being refitted for another five years of service. Japanese still do not want nuclear around, but with Korea going nuk, they are changing their minds. Kittyhawk still in great shape, Yokosuka completely changed in mod times, except for old town. The Atomic Bar still standing tall, same ole this and that. Hayden

Hayden L. Bridge

Very small indeed. I was a company comander, company 32B at Millington in the late 70's. I had 325 AMS students in my company. At least once a week one of them, upon being transfered to a sea command, would drop off a Tutor, Mustang, Magician, etc in my office. I helped a few of them get their planes ready for flight. All I had to do was buy wheels, engine and tank for them and my son and I sure flew a lot of different models. Being a black shoe among all the airdales was not new. My first ship was the USS Lexington, CVA 16 out of San Diego. Made her last Wespac curise in 61/62, thence around the horn to Brokklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, natch. Then late one night we pulled out, went to Bayonne, stepped the main mast, and headed for Norfolk and Yorktown Roads for ammo and nukes and a Marine Detachment. Only three ships in all of Norfolk NOB. A tanker, full and taking on stragglers, a DD and ATF doing the same. The next day we heard JFK speech about the Cuban Crisis. A very interesting 20 years. While in Pensacola, the Navy brought the NATS winners aboard for a SECNAV one day cruise and I was a tour guide because I mentioned I flew model planes. Got to meet Dawn Cosmillo and watched her do a demo flight on the flight ceck before we got underway. That got me back into CL again. Fly Navy.

I remember the Cuban crisis! Our submarine was due to take some sub-school students out for training. We got up in the middle of the night, off-loaded practice torpedos and on-loaded warheads. Sailed off to the North Atlantic for a month or so. Long month!

Got to fly CL a few times at the sub base in Groton, CT. We were out to sea most of the time.

My father was at NATS Millington in the early '60s as an avionics instructor. He has a plank on the Saratoga and was Crew Chief for the first airplane assigned to it. He was an NCO assigned to early Polaris missle guidance systems. CWO-4 W.T. Little, Jr., Gulf of Tonkin Yatch Club memeber, retired from Pensecola NAS about 20 years ago, still lives there in Milton.
Been a long time ago.
Bill <><

I was a civil service worker over at the termainal/hanger areas from the first part of January 1974 till about September of 1974 and flew there too. The story of my work was short periods of employment at one base then move to another. I left a two tone green T-Bird II there when I moved. And I gave someone a ratty black ringmaster as I could not take either one.