Friday, July 20, 2012

The Spirit of St. Louis

I have read a lot of books on aviation, but by far this is the absolute best and the most essential for anyone that flies, wants to fly or is just interested in aviation or adventure. In fact, I think everyone that is thinking about becoming a pilot should read this book first and then re-read it after they have their license. That is what I did, in a way. I first read this book when I was 19, in August of 1988. At the time I was a student pilot (my 2nd of 5 attempts to get my license!) I rarely read books more than once, but 24 years later I read this one again. This time I read it, I am no longer a student pilot, but a "real pilot" having finished my license last October.
For pilots, it is important to note, that before Lindbergh was famous, he was a flight instructor here in St. Louis. Reading the book, is like having Lindbergh as your flight instructor and in that regard, there is no finer instructor or anyone better than him. Lindbergh's greatness lies in his modesty, honesty and total lack of ego as far as flying goes. He fully admits and explains the many mistakes he made as an inexperienced pilot and even as seasoned pilot. Even as a very experienced pilot, with thousands of hours of experience and army training, he admits that he was worried about his landing in Paris in the Spirit because he hadn't landed it at night before and was afraid he would stall it, but of course he didn't, but so many pilots are only into boasting and busting the chops of anyone that dares ask a "stupid question" or makes a mistake. Of course, the boasting and attacking come from insecurity, which I honestly think all pilots have their whole careers to a certain extent. Admitting our weaknesses and mistakes and working to improve will actually keep us alive and safe...I think ego kills pilots and their passengers in some instances, so in my opinion it is not only annoying, but actually dangerous.
I made 140 entries on my notes while reading this book of things I want to remember, found interesting or thought would help write this review. But, this is one of those times when the book was so great, the knowledge so much and the interesting tidbits so many, that I will have to make a more general than specific review of this book.
It is a beautifully written book. My particular copy is the first printing of the paperback from 1953. The book was written, in part, to help Lindbergh restore some of his reputation after his involvement in the anti-war movement of the late 30's and early 40's as well as some of this not so politically correct statements about race. The book did win the Pulitzer Prize and later his reputation was further helped by having Jimmy Stewart play him the movie adaptation of the book.
Lindbergh was not a perfect person and definitely had a darker side, such as his other families with children in Germany that weren't well known until recently. But, we are dealing with a pilot and a flawed human being like we all are and suddenly becoming the most famous man in the world in 1927 after completing the first flight non-stop from New York to Paris would be a lot to take on for anyone. Also, I always suspect that the loss of his first child in the kidnapping case, changed who he was and not for the better and that is understandable.
In my opinion, you can certainly make the argument that Lindbergh was the greatest pilot of all time. In any case, I am confident that he is at least the equal of my other two candidates: Erich Hartmann and Neil Armstrong. These three share humility as well as greatness.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island

Another stop on our vacation to Alabama was Dauphin Island. While on the Island we toured Fort Gaines. This is one of the many forts that are located on the barrier islands along the gulf of mexico. This one was built in 1821 and is most well known for the battle of Mobile Bay and the famous order of Union Admiral David Farragut : Damn the torpedoes-full speed ahead!
As you can see from my photo, the views from the fort alone are worth the price of admission.



USS Alabama

I totally recommend visiting the USS Alabama (Battleship Memorial Park) in Mobile, Alabama. We visited the gulf last week and this was definitely one of the highlights. The first thing that strikes you is the size of the battleship. The tours on the ship are self guided and as soon as we went below decks there was a distinct smell, a bit like the smell of aircraft, but unique...I am guessing unique to WWII Navy ships and maybe even ships today; a bit musty, electrical and historical all together. I know this is one of my Grandpa Murphy's favorite places probably because he served in the Navy during WWII on the USS Sampson ( Destroyer DD-394) and the USS Milledgeville (Frigate PF-94). I thought that he would surely recognize the smell of the ship and I thought of him when I saw the motion picture locker since one of his duties in the Navy was showing films on board in addition to radio operations and various repairs of electronic equipment. All of this reminds me I should call him, he just turned 86 on Monday...
Anyway, in addition to the Alabama they have a hangar of historic aircraft that I found interesting and they have a B-52 and B-25 on the grounds....and I almost forgot...they have a submarine too the USS Drum, but as you can see from the picture Teddy was a bit in the red zone on this morning due to the heat and a seizure that afternoon we didn't know was coming. But, we managed the park and would love to go back.In fact, the only reason we went to Alabama this year was because Teddy liked to say Alabama and decided that it was his favorite state...so since he was motivated to visit, we used this to take the longest vacation since he was born and it all worked out pretty well. Teddy insisted that we both buy USS Alabama ball caps and we both wear them all the time now!