General Patton on Lieutenant Kerry

On 04 Feb 2004 02:00:52 GMT, (B2431) wrote:

From: Ed Rasimus

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?"

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

Got a ride of a lifetime in a VC-9 while at Hq USAFE running
exercises. Took a site survey team of twenty guys to Ovar Portugal to
look at the base for an F-111 deployment. On departure the F-111 guys
wanted to get some airfield photos, problem was a 500 foot ceiling in
light rain.

Sitting in the big leather first class arm-chair after takeoff with
the steward handing me my first scotch on the rocks, we took off (the
base is right on the Atlantic Coast) stayed low over the water, bent
around and return to overfly the base. Did three circuits, all below
the 500 foot ceiling. Thought he was going to put the wingtip in the
water, but that guy could sure make that ol' heavy dance.

The only part attractive about the 747 run came up when I was asking
ex-F-105 type Cal Tax, now Delta Captain what he grosses. The answer
was about $375K per year, but he does some extra on-call flying for
time-and-a half so it goes up nearer to $450K. I could do that, yes I
could! Nahh, too old now.


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

"George Z. Bush" wrote in message
...
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

George, that is probably the smartest thing you have managed to say in this
thread...nothing.

Brooks

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.

So, you're an Air Force pilot, is that it? Aren't you slipping an unwarranted
present tense assumption in there? You're no more an Air Force pilot than I
am.....that's what I used to be when I had a valid AF flight physical.
Nowadays, I'm only a former Air Force pilot, and that's exactly what you are as
well.



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.

Like I said, 99 out of 100 former AF pilots knew what I meant from the words I
used. You seem to be the only one who feels a need to redefine my meanings from
my words. Maybe I'm misusing the word, but I call that "parsing" or maybe just
nitpicking an easily understood meaning.

George Z.

PS - During a momentary brain fart, I may have reposted a message without adding
any comments to it. My apologies for taking up your time looking at something
you'd already seen.