General Patton on Lieutenant Kerry

"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 08:10:05 -0500, "George Z. Bush"
wrote:

Ed Rasimus wrote:

Both, however, are military rated pilots. Which places them
considerably above two stripe enlisted journalist assistants with
curtailed combat tours and personal body-guards in terms of their
military service.

Without nit picking too much, why don't we use the past tense in talking
about
the ratings held by the Bush family. Daddy's expired when he was demobilized
at
the end of WWII, and Junior's expired when he deliberately failed to update
his
flight physical. Just one small difference.

Don't know about yours, but my wings don't expire, whether I get a
physical or not. Neither does my similar, but not as highly valued FAA
license. They are lifetime awards. The currency of a flight physical
merely enables me to exercise the privileges. No expirations.

Gee, as if I didn't know that. I didn't say that anybody's wings expired.....I
was talking about the recipient's entitlement to pilot military aircraft. Your
privileges expire when your physical expires.....but you already knew that, and
I'm surprised that you felt so insecure as to feel obliged to parse my meaning
when at least 99 of every 100 former military pilots could figure out exactly
what I was talking about from the words I used.

And while we're at it, I may have missed the early part of this exchange, but
I
thought we were talking about Kerry.....I didn't know he was a two stripe
enlisted journalist assistant. The stripes he had were the kind Navy
commissioned officers wear, I do believe.

We were talking, I thought about presidential candidates. And, we did
discuss the appropriateness of commissioned officers behavior
elsewhere in the thread. Yes, we've recognized repeatedly that Kerry
holds a commission. Surprised he didn't recall the appropriateness of
wearing ribbons with fatigue uniforms.

I can't speak to that but perhaps some memories are less perfect than others.

George Z.

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 17:04:07 -0500, "George Z. Bush"
wrote:


"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
.. .


Without nit picking too much, why don't we use the past tense in talking
about
the ratings held by the Bush family. Daddy's expired when he was demobilized
at the end of WWII, and Junior's expired when he deliberately failed to update
his flight physical. Just one small difference.

Don't know about yours, but my wings don't expire, whether I get a
physical or not. Neither does my similar, but not as highly valued FAA
license. They are lifetime awards. The currency of a flight physical
merely enables me to exercise the privileges. No expirations.

Gee, as if I didn't know that. I didn't say that anybody's wings expired.....I
was talking about the recipient's entitlement to pilot military aircraft. Your
privileges expire when your physical expires.....but you already knew that, and
I'm surprised that you felt so insecure as to feel obliged to parse my meaning
when at least 99 of every 100 former military pilots could figure out exactly
what I was talking about from the words I used.

I think your statement was "'past tense when talking about the ratings
held". My rating as a pilot hasn't expired, nor my FAA license. Your
statement was quite clear.

When you leave active duty, whether your physical is current or not,
you lose the "entitlement to pilot military aircraft". I can't walk
out to the flight line at Buckley, even with a current physical and
strap on an F-16.

I think the parsing is coming from your side. And, piloting military
aircraft isn't an "entitlement." It's an earned privilege.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Ed Rasimus wrote:
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 17:04:07 -0500, "George Z. Bush"
wrote:


"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...


Without nit picking too much, why don't we use the past tense in talking
about
the ratings held by the Bush family. Daddy's expired when he was
demobilized at the end of WWII, and Junior's expired when he deliberately
failed to update his flight physical. Just one small difference.

Don't know about yours, but my wings don't expire, whether I get a
physical or not. Neither does my similar, but not as highly valued FAA
license. They are lifetime awards. The currency of a flight physical
merely enables me to exercise the privileges. No expirations.

Gee, as if I didn't know that. I didn't say that anybody's wings
expired.....I was talking about the recipient's entitlement to pilot
military aircraft. Your privileges expire when your physical
expires.....but you already knew that, and I'm surprised that you felt so
insecure as to feel obliged to parse my meaning when at least 99 of every
100 former military pilots could figure out exactly what I was talking about
from the words I used.

I think your statement was "'past tense when talking about the ratings
held". My rating as a pilot hasn't expired, nor my FAA license. Your
statement was quite clear.

When you leave active duty, whether your physical is current or not,
you lose the "entitlement to pilot military aircraft". I can't walk
out to the flight line at Buckley, even with a current physical and
strap on an F-16.

I think the parsing is coming from your side. And, piloting military
aircraft isn't an "entitlement." It's an earned privilege.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Subject: General Patton on Lieutenant Kerry
From: "George Z. Bush" am
Date: 2/3/04 7:13 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Ed Rasimus wrote:
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 17:04:07 -0500, "George Z. Bush"
wrote:


"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...


Without nit picking too much, why don't we use the past tense in talking
about
the ratings held by the Bush family. Daddy's expired when he was
demobilized at the end of WWII, and Junior's expired when he
deliberately
failed to update his flight physical. Just one small difference.

Don't know about yours, but my wings don't expire, whether I get a
physical or not. Neither does my similar, but not as highly valued FAA
license. They are lifetime awards. The currency of a flight physical
merely enables me to exercise the privileges. No expirations.

Gee, as if I didn't know that. I didn't say that anybody's wings
expired.....I was talking about the recipient's entitlement to pilot
military aircraft. Your privileges expire when your physical
expires.....but you already knew that, and I'm surprised that you felt so
insecure as to feel obliged to parse my meaning when at least 99 of every
100 former military pilots could figure out exactly what I was talking
about
from the words I used.

I think your statement was "'past tense when talking about the ratings
held". My rating as a pilot hasn't expired, nor my FAA license. Your
statement was quite clear.

When you leave active duty, whether your physical is current or not,
you lose the "entitlement to pilot military aircraft". I can't walk
out to the flight line at Buckley, even with a current physical and
strap on an F-16.

I think the parsing is coming from your side. And, piloting military
aircraft isn't an "entitlement." It's an earned privilege.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8



Yeah but once you earn that privilege you are damn well going to fly whether
you like it or not. (grin)



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

On 03 Feb 2004 15:19:24 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

Ed Rasimus wrote:

I think the parsing is coming from your side. And, piloting military
aircraft isn't an "entitlement." It's an earned privilege.


Yeah but once you earn that privilege you are damn well going to fly whether
you like it or not. (grin)

Arthur Kramer

Well, I earned the privilege, but haven't flown as pilot in command in
many years. I never had the urge to go to work for the airlines and
there's nothing (short of maybe "warbird" ops) that would equate with
flying tactical jets.

People often ask, why I didn't go with the airlines and my answer is
always the same, "would you ask Mario Andretti why he didn't start
driving for Greyhound when he retired from racing?"



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

Well, I earned the privilege, but haven't flown as pilot in command in
many years. I never had the urge to go to work for the airlines and
there's nothing (short of maybe "warbird" ops) that would equate with
flying tactical jets.

People often ask, why I didn't go with the airlines and my answer is
always the same, "would you ask Mario Andretti why he didn't start
driving for Greyhound when he retired from racing?"



Ed Rasimus

Same with me. Never could get offered a pilot slot, bad timing, and the
thought of airline flying just does not do it for me.

Looks like I might just end up flying a DC-4 on fires this summer...




Ron
Pilot/Wildland Firefighter

(Ron) wrote:
Ed Rasimus wrote:

Well, I earned the privilege, but haven't flown as pilot in command in
many years. I never had the urge to go to work for the airlines and
there's nothing (short of maybe "warbird" ops) that would equate with
flying tactical jets.

People often ask, why I didn't go with the airlines and my answer is
always the same, "would you ask Mario Andretti why he didn't start
driving for Greyhound when he retired from racing?"

Same with me. Never could get offered a pilot slot, bad timing, and the
thought of airline flying just does not do it for me.

Looks like I might just end up flying a DC-4 on fires this summer...

Haven't flown fighters like Ed but I have flown single pilot IFR
under Part 135 like you and no offense, but that DC-4 position
sounds like just another uneviable, low-pay, low-prestige yet
high-risk flying job. No thanks.

Subject: General Patton on Lieutenant Kerry
From: 362436 (Ron)
Date: 2/3/04 4:52 PM Pacific Standard Time

Looks like I might just end up flying a DC-4 on fires this summer...

Hey be careful. That can be dangerous.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Ed Rasimus wrote:

Well, I earned the privilege, but haven't flown as pilot in command in
many years. I never had the urge to go to work for the airlines and
there's nothing (short of maybe "warbird" ops) that would equate with
flying tactical jets.

I dunno Ed, I know a few guys who flew fighters and this is what one
of them (a former A-7, F-106 and F-16 jock) had to say:

Q: So Jim how does flying a trike compare to flying a fighter on
the fun scale?

A: Equal, but different. Way different. I like all types of flying,
but they are all fun in different ways. Flying trikes is probably the
most natural sensation of flying like a bird, like you dream about,
of any form of powered flight I've ever experienced. Flying
fighters is like flying a Formula I race car with wings, except even
more physically punishing. There's nothing like being at 100' and
seeing the electrical line poles go by at 600 kts +, and there's
nothing like cruising along at 50 mph waving at people and
smelling the new cut hay and feeling like a puppy with your head
out of the car window. I'm happy to have had the opportunity to
experience both. I'd rate them both as 10's, but different forms
of fun. If I had to pick one to experience in life and couldn't do
the other, I'd pick fighters. Fortunately, I didn't have to pick just
one.

People often ask, why I didn't go with the airlines and my answer is
always the same, "would you ask Mario Andretti why he didn't start
driving for Greyhound when he retired from racing?"

I can understand that but I think there may be something else going
on there. In other words, maybe guys like you whom have pushed the
envelope so many times in combat sense deep down that it's simply
time to quit?

From: Ed Rasimus


On 03 Feb 2004 15:19:24 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

Ed Rasimus wrote:

I think the parsing is coming from your side. And, piloting military
aircraft isn't an "entitlement." It's an earned privilege.


Yeah but once you earn that privilege you are damn well going to fly whether
you like it or not. (grin)

Arthur Kramer

Well, I earned the privilege, but haven't flown as pilot in command in
many years. I never had the urge to go to work for the airlines and
there's nothing (short of maybe "warbird" ops) that would equate with
flying tactical jets.

People often ask, why I didn't go with the airlines and my answer is
always the same, "would you ask Mario Andretti why he didn't start
driving for Greyhound when he retired from racing?"



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8



But Ed, just think of the fun you could occassionally have had flying a
tactical profile with a fully loaded 747 as a way of brightening the day. Just
think of the screaming passengers as the noisemaker on your old 105.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired