TheList 7471

To All.

Good Wednesday Morning March 11, 2026.

Nice weather here today with clear skies and climbing to 77 for a high today and 91 tomorrow . I hope that your week has started well

.A bit to unpack today but there is no test at the end

Warm Regards,

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HAGD

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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)

Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/.    Go here to see the director's corner for all 94 H-Grams. 

March 11

1778—During the American Revolution, the Continental frigate Boston captures the British ship Martha in the North Atlantic 1941—President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act, which permits delivery of war materials to Allied Powers on credit or lease.

1942—Lt. John Bulkeley, commander of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 3, helps Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Rear Adm. Francis W. Rockwell, as well as their families and others, escape the Philippines in motor torpedo boats PT 32, PT 34, PT 35, and PT 41. For this action, along with other operations in the Philippines during the start of World War II, he receives the Medal of Honor. From Skip I met him a couple of times when I worked at CNAP. He was the INSURV LEAD and did all the aircraft carriers. I followed him from the deepest spaces like the fuel pump room at the bottom  to the top of the mast and every place in between. When we did the second one he said Oh you again? I stayed with him again and he actually started talking with me. Very cool and I learned a lot from him.

1945—The U.S. Navy begins use of LCVPs (Landing Craft, Personal Vehicles) to ferry troops across the Rhine River at Bad Neuenahr, Germany.

1845—George Bancroft takes office as the 17th Secretary of the Navy. Although he serves in that position only 18 months, he establishes the Naval Academy at Annapolis and encourages the growth and importance of the Naval Observatory.

1965—Operation Market Time (Coastal Patrol Force) patrols begin off the South Vietnam coast. The objective is to interdict enemy efforts moving supplies to South Vietnam by sea.

 

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This Day in World History  March 11

 

0537 The Goths lay siege to Rome.

1649 The peace of Rueil is signed between the Frondeurs (rebels) and the French government.

1665 A new legal code is approved for the Dutch and English towns, guaranteeing religious observances unhindered.

1702 The Daily Courant, the first regular English newspaper is published.

1810The Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise.

1811 Ned Ludd leads a group of workers in a wild protest against mechanization.

1824 The U.S. War Department creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Seneca Indian Ely Parker becomes the first Indian to lead the Bureau.

1845 Seven hundred Maoris led by their chief, Hone-Heke, burn the small town of Kororareka in protest at the settlement of Maoriland by Europeans, in breach with the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi.

1861 A Confederate Convention is held in Montgomery, Ala., where the new constitution is adopted.

1863 Union troops under General Ulysess S. Grant give up their preparations to take Vicksburg after failing to pass Fort Pemberton, north of Vicksburg.

1865 Union General William Sherman and his forces occupy Fayetteville, N.C.

1888 A disastrous blizzard hits the northeastern United States. Some 400 people die, mainly from exposure.

1900 British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury rejects the peace overtures offered from Boer leader Paul Kruger.

1905 The Parisian subway is officially inaugurated.

1907 President Teddy Roosevelt induces California to revoke its anti-Japanese legislation.

 

1918  First cases reported in deadly Spanish flu pandemic

1930 President Howard Taft becomes the first U.S. president to be buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

1935 The German Air Force becomes an official organ of the Reich.

1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorizes the Lend-Lease Act which authorizes the act of giving war supplies to the Allies.

1942 General Douglas MacArthur leaves Bataan for Australia.

1965 The American navy begins inspecting Vietnamese junks in hopes of ending arms smuggling to the South.

1966 Three men are convicted of the murder of Malcolm X.

1969 Levi-Strauss starts to sell bell-bottomed jeans.

1973 An FBI agent is shot at Wounded Knee in South Dakota.

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev is named the new Soviet leader.

1990 Lithuania declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

2011  Fukushima nuclear disaster

On March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan causes massive devastation, and the ensuing tsunami decimates the Tōhoku region of northeastern Honshu. On top of the already-horrific destruction and loss of life, the natural disaster also gives rise to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant... .

 

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Thanks to the Bear and Dan Heller. We will always have the url for you to search items in Rolling Thunder

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER …

. rollingthunderremembered.com .

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 Thanks to Micro

From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..March 11 . .

March 11: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1030 

 

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 . Thanks to Bill…Another Ward Carrol interview that is great. It was in the List a while back but worth the repeat if you missed it.

This 100-year old WWII pilot is incredibly articulate.  AWESOME!

 

Watch This 100-Year-Old Badass B-17 Pilot Describe Flying into Hell

 

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 Thanks to Nice News

. . Forget winter or spring — it's fish doorbell season. For the uninitiated, that means it's the time of year when people all over the world help fish in the Netherlands get through a boat lock in the city of Utrecht so they can reach their spawning grounds. Here's how you can participate: Next time you have a spare moment, tune into the livestream, and when you see a fish reach the lock, ring the doorbell to alert the operator to let the swimmers through. It's way more rewarding than using your free time to scroll social media.

 

 

 

            Must Reads

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•           Affordable ways to care for older loved ones from afar

 

•           All aboard Goose Airlines! Each spring, Canada geese take to the skies to migrate north

 

 

            Health

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Forgiving Others Is Good for You, Study Finds

 humanmade/iStock

 

Offering forgiveness to someone who's hurt you is often easier said than done — but recent research adds to a body of evidence suggesting it can actually be a gift to yourself as well as the person you're giving it to.

 

In a study published earlier this year, researchers analyzed data from more than 200,000 people across 23 countries, measuring participants at two points roughly a year apart. The team first assessed how often people forgave others, then followed up on well-being outcomes such as health, happiness, relationship quality, and financial stability.

 

They found the habit of forgiving was most consistently linked to better psychological and social well-being, including higher optimism, a stronger sense of life purpose, and greater relationship satisfaction. Those who forgave more readily also tended to feel more grateful and more motivated to promote good in the world.

 

While the improvements were modest, lead study author Richard Cowden said forgiveness can have a ripple effect — and it can be practiced. He told PsyPost: "If we consider these findings alongside intervention studies that show forgiveness can be cultivated, strengthening people's capacity to practice forgiveness more consistently (when safe and appropriate) may benefit well-being." Learn how to use a five-step model to cultivate forgiveness.

 

 Good Luck on this one. There are a couple out there that I just can not forgive…skip

 

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Thanks to 1440

 

Good morning. It's Wednesday, March 11, and we're covering Beirut under fire, seeing through mice's eyes, and much more. .

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Lebanon in Crossfire

Roughly 700,000 people in Lebanon, including about 200,000 children, have been displaced as Israeli airstrikes on Beirut continued yesterday. Many are sheltering in schools and stadiums (see photos). Lebanese officials say the death toll is rising by roughly 100 people a day, with at least 570 people killed as of yesterday.

Israel began bombing Lebanon last week after Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, attacked Israel in retaliation for the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  Lebanon's government has called for talks with Israel aimed at disarming Hezbollah and postponed parliamentary elections by two years. The country, which borders Israel to the south, was already struggling to recover from a nearly 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah that officially ended in 2024, though UN experts reported continued strikes in Lebanon after the ceasefire.

In Iran, state officials say more than 1,300 civilians have been killed, as US officials report striking over 5,000 targets over 10 days (see breakdown), with roughly $5.6B spent on munitions in the first two days. The Pentagon has also reported seven service member deaths and about 140 wounded.

 

 

The Eyes of a Mouse

Scientists have reconstructed videos of what mice are seeing by analyzing their brain activity, a new study revealed yesterday. The research could lay the groundwork for understanding how different animals experience visual input.

In recent years, researchers have used fMRI scans to monitor human subjects as they watch images or films. They then recreate those images, including with the help of generative AI tools like Stable Diffusion (see study, w/photo). In the latest study, researchers showed 10-second videos to 10 mice, reconstructing frame-by-frame visuals by analyzing the brain activity of five mouse subjects. Instead of using fMRI scans, which analyze blood flow, these scientists used single-cell recordings, aiming to capture the activity of individual neurons in the visual cortex (about 8,000 neurons per mouse). The goal was to capture more a precise measurement of brain activity.

The team then compared pixel-level data between the original and reconstructed videos. .

 

Runway Safety Lapse

South Korean airport operators built a concrete mound at the end of Muan International Airport's runway to cut costs, according to a government audit released yesterday. The decision violated safety standards and contributed to the 2024 Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people.

A report released earlier this year used computer simulations to reconstruct the Boeing 737-800's belly landing and collision (see analysis) with a solid concrete mound after a bird strike left its landing gear inoperable. The audit found the airport had used solid concrete rather than collapsible materials to support a localizer antenna—a navigation aid that guides landing aircraft—because reshaping the surrounding terrain would have been more expensive. Investigators also determined that airport officials falsified inspection reports for 16 years to conceal the defect.

The audit identified 14 similar localizer installations at nine airports nationwide that did not meet government regulations. Officials said they are working to replace those with compliant structures.

 

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

 Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo scores 83 points in 150-129 win over Washington Wizards, marking second-highest scoring effort in NBA history after the late Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game from 1962 .

 

Italy purchases portrait of a young Pope Urban VIII, painted by Baroque painter Caravaggio around 1598, for roughly $35M, one of its largest payouts for a single artwork .

 

> Arnold Schwarzenegger to revive 1980s "Conan the Barbarian" franchise, also in talks to return to "Predator" franchise and star in sequel to 1985 film "Commando" .| Universal Pictures secures deal to produce Bon Jovi biopic .

 

 

Science & Technology

> Blood test identifies women at higher risk for dementia up to 25 years before symptoms appear, enabling better preventive care and monitoring .

 

> Ancient parrot DNA reveals Amazonian parrots were transported across the Andes centuries before the Inca Empire—evidence of a long-distance trade network that challenges assumptions about regional isolation in pre-Incan societies .

 

> Transportation Department approves eight electric aircraft pilot programs across 26 states .

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March 10, 2026          

Geopolitical Futures: The Eclipse of the Islamic Republic

 

            The Eclipse of the Islamic Republic

 

Regardless of the result of the war, Iran will never be the same again.

 

By: Hilal Khashan

 

U.S. President Donald Trump last week demanded an unconditional Iranian surrender to end the joint U.S.-Israeli operation that started on Feb. 28. For the Iranians, this condition – as well as Trump's initial support for a Kurdish intrusion into Iran from Iraq – evoked memories of historical indignities that shaped their national psyche. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded by saying that Iran will never surrender to the United States and Israel.

 

Trump justified his decision to wage war on Iran by saying there were imminent threats to the American people, but there are those who don't support this view. Through Omani mediation, Iran made unprecedented concessions, including reducing uranium enrichment to below 3.67 percent, allowing the return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to inspect nuclear facilities and not stockpiling enriched uranium. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, views the conflict as an opportunity to establish Israel's power in the Middle East. It is clear, then, that Trump and Netanyahu are seeking not only to restrict Iran's nuclear program but also to overthrow the regime itself.

 

Inside Iran, the public has had mixed reactions. Despite having a core base of public support, the regime is not popular among much of the population, especially in urban centers. Though Iranians do not generally accept the motives for launching a war on their country, they are torn between their aversion to the regime and their lack of faith in Trump's and Netanyahu's motives. Most Iranians view what is happening today as Trump's attempt to dominate their country's resources and neutralize China's rising economic and technological power. Even if the regime in Tehran survives this war, Iran will be fundamentally changed, and its road to recovery will likely be long and turbulent.

 

Legacy of Humiliation

 

The Iranian people view what is happening to their country today through the lens of the historical humiliation they suffered through repeated incursions by greater powers over centuries. The rise of Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century coincided with an unprecedented political, social, economic and military weakness in Persia. The Sasanian Empire exhausted its material and human resources after decades of war against the Byzantine Empire. The internal political situation of the Sasanian state deteriorated rapidly after the execution of Shah Khosrow II in 628. In 633, Muslim Arabs began to attack Sasanian lands and took control of Persia following the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah in 636 and especially the Battle of Nahavand in 642.

 

The Persian people rejected the Arab invasion. Persian intellectuals partly blamed Islam for their country's backwardness and Bedouins for destroying Persian civilization. Persian nationalist thinker Mirza Aqa Khan Kermani (1854-1897) called Islam a strange religion imposed on the noble Aryan nation by a handful of barefoot, desert-dwelling lizard-eaters. Iranian policy since the 1979 revolution, including efforts to spread chaos in the region and destabilize Arab states, has partly been rooted in this sense of superiority over others.

 

In 1828, following its defeat by Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Persian War, the Qajar state (present-day Iran) signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay. As a result, it was forced to cede the regions of Yerevan and Nakhchivan to Russia, pay reparations, grant Russia numerous economic and customs privileges and rights, and fix the border between Russia and Persia at the Aras River. In 1856, British forces occupied Kharg Island and the port of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf as part of a military campaign against the government of Shah Naser al-Din in response to his occupation of the city of Herat in Afghanistan. The operation ended with the Iranians' defeat and withdrawal from Afghanistan. The humiliation continued with the CIA-sponsored coup in 1953 that overthrew the government of Mohammed Mosaddegh and reinstated the shah in Operation Ajax.

 

Trump's comments on the war last week followed in this tradition. In an impromptu statement, he said he would welcome an incursion of Kurdish forces from Iraq into Iran, clearly unaware of the broader implications of this suggestion. Trump later walked back his comments, saying he did not want "to see the Kurds get hurt or killed."

 

Complex Political System

 

Trump and Netanyahu have misread the nature of the Iranian regime and its capacity for survival. In an address to the Iranian people, Netanyahu explicitly called on them to seize what he described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, hoping that internal forces could help overthrow the regime. The U.S. and Israel presented the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the removal of the architect of regional destabilization. For Israel, the operation was the culmination of a long-standing objective: to strike at the ideological heart of the Islamic Republic. The U.S. portrayed it as a necessary step to prevent further escalation and protect its forces.

 

However, the U.S. and Israel failed to take into account Iran's ability to withstand severe pressure. In its 47 years of existence, the Iranian regime has dealt with wars, blockades, economic sanctions and internal discontent, all of which have given it the ability to adapt and endure. The country's first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, established an institutional system based on a network of interconnected security, religious and military institutions, aimed at increasing resilience and durability.

 

The deliberate complexity of Iran's political system grants its officials considerable room for maneuver, allowing them to forge compromise and preserve the gains of various factions within the power structure. It appears that the political establishment will attempt to repair the system and minimize, as much as possible, the damage inflicted by the U.S.-Israeli attack. However, many government bodies are now concerned about being able to direct and manage power. From the Guardian Council to the Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Discernment Council, the authorities of many bodies appear to overlap, which could cause friction in the future. The first two are tasked with overseeing the constitutionality of parliament's actions and selecting the supreme leader. The Expediency Discernment Council, meanwhile, is tasked with resolving any disagreements that may arise between parliament and the Guardian Council.

 

Whither the Islamic Republic

 

Even before the U.S.-Israeli operation began, Iran was under immense pressure. Sanctions have drained its economy, Israeli operations have weakened its regional network of proxies, and internal unrest, particularly among young people and women, has undermined the image of stability cultivated by the regime. Strategically isolated and economically burdened, Tehran has faced unprecedented internal pressures since 1979. The Iranian leadership refused to reform the political system, fearing it could suffer a similar fate to that of the Soviet Union following Mikhail Gorbachev's attempt to restructure the political and economic system there.

 

Israel recognized the Iranian regime's rigidity early on, launching a broad campaign of covert and overt operations against it, including cyberattacks, sabotage of nuclear facilities, assassinations of scientists and security officials, and deep infiltration into the ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Each operation sought to weaken Iran's capabilities while also narrowing Washington's room for maneuver. Intelligence provided by the Israelis convinced the United States that diplomacy had reached a dead end and that resorting to military action was not only justified but inevitable. The debate in Washington gradually shifted from whether to launch a strike to when and how to do so.

 

Iran answered the U.S.-Israeli military campaign with missile and drone strikes targeting multiple theaters of operation, including U.S. bases in Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf, as well as Israeli military installations. Airspace across the Gulf region was closed on several occasions, energy markets experienced sharp fluctuations and insurance premiums for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz rose significantly. The Gulf states now find themselves in the crosshairs of a confrontation they neither initiated nor desired. The delicate regional balance they spent years creating, combining close security partnerships with Washington and cautious reopening of communication channels with Tehran, has collapsed. The situation raises deep concern about the regional balance of power that resulted from Iran's strategic collapse and the emergence of Israel as a dominant regional power.

 

The overthrow of the Iranian regime, if it were to happen, would not necessarily mean stability in Iran. The best evidence of this is what happened in Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria – countries in which the collapse of the state led to widespread chaos, cross-border violence, refugee flows and the spread of armed groups. Iran, the most populous and strategically located of these states, has a population of more than 90 million and a complex ethnic and political makeup. It is also situated at the crossroads of global energy, making unintended consequences to an attack highly likely.

 

Iran's strategic weakness has opened the country not to political transformation but rather intensified competition for power and gaps through which internal and external forces can infiltrate. The removal of the supreme leader, which the ruling elite had prepared for due to his advanced age, could accelerate the regime's decline but will not lead to its immediate collapse. There is no doubt that nationalism is a formidable force in Iran, especially when ignited by foreign aggression. Furthermore, the IRGC remains cohesive, powerful and deeply entrenched in Iran's political and economic structure. While some segments of the population celebrated Khamenei's death, others rallied around the flag. What makes it difficult to predict how the situation will unfold, however, is the complete deadlock in both the economic and diplomatic spheres. The collapse of the country's currency triggered the recent protests, signaling that the economy could no longer withstand further pressure and that the government was incapable of managing the crises it was facing.

 

The security crackdown will be even more violent than what we saw earlier this year if the displays of jubilation over Khamenei's death witnessed in some Iranian cities turn into an attempt to overthrow the regime. The airstrikes targeting security headquarters and their leaders aim to weaken any attempt to revive the instruments of control and excessive coercion upon which the regime relied in previous decades. However, striking the security apparatus with such ferocity is no guarantee that alternative instruments (supported by the paramilitary Basij or similar groups) will not emerge to keep the regime intact. The regime will face tough tests of its ability to make concessions, abandon efforts to outsmart internal and external adversaries, and refrain from offering empty reform proposals that it knows are impossible to implement.

 

While airstrikes on the regime's headquarters, communications hubs and control points continue unabated, it's far from certain that the regime will fall by airstrikes alone. The security breaches revealed by Khamenei's assassination have not been adequately addressed. But these breaches alone cannot topple a regime that has infiltrated the country's social and economic institutions for the past five decades. Its base of support in rural and poor areas remains strong, and it continues to manage regular state affairs.

 

The Iranian people's reaction to the current conflict differs from their reaction to the 12-day war last June, when the majority of Iranians condemned the Israeli attacks and expressed some support for the political system. This time around, supporters of the government have been gathering nightly in town squares for both spontaneous and planned rallies, backed by government-affiliated institutions. The gatherings last about three hours, as they wave Iranian flags and chant slogans against the U.S. and Israel. These meetings are countered by a segment of young people who insist that this war is directed against not the Iranian people but the regime. They argue that the primary targets of the attacks are military and security sites and centers of forces involved in suppressing popular protests.

 

This segment of society has largely been unable to express its views due to internet shutdowns. However, the messages and images that have gotten out have prompted security agencies to issue repeated warnings that anyone cooperating with opposition media outlets abroad will face repercussions. These individuals are waiting for an opportune moment, when the security apparatus is severely weakened, to launch a second wave of street protests aimed at overthrowing the regime. It appears that the regime senses this danger, hence its call for its supporters to take to the streets under the banner of mourning Khamenei and condemning the U.S.-Israeli attacks. Its anxiety reached such a point that one member of parliament threatened that all protesters would be killed if anti-government demonstrations broke out during the war. For this reason, nighttime checkpoints have been deployed in many Iranian cities.

 

Regime survival does not mean that Iran will be the same as it was before the war. Iran needs to rediscover itself, and the Iranian people need to determine what they want the country to be. Obsession with imperial revival has brought disaster to Iran and its people. The 1979 revolution aspired to get rid of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's repressive regime, imperial thinking and desire to make Iran the policeman of the Gulf. However, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini hijacked the revolution and established an Islamic Republic against the secular orientation of Iran's staunchly nationalistic people. For the ruling elite and its popular base, the regime's survival, however fragile, will be a victory. But survival will not last long because momentum has been lost. Catchy slogans won't be enough to subvert the Iranian people, who are eager for change, freedom and a dignified life.       

 

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. From the archives and well worth the read. What an incredible man…skip

Thanks to Dr.Rich

The incredible Winkle Brown - EAA

Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown (1919 - 2016)

First pilot to land a pure jet on an aircraft carrier. First to land a tricycle gear airplane on a carrier. First to land a high-performance twin on a carrier. First deck landing of a twin-engine jet on a British carrier.

 

Few would argue with the contention that Eric Brown is the greatest test pilot who ever lived—except, of course, for Brown himself.

First pilot to land a pure jet on an aircraft carrier. First to land a tricycle gear airplane on a carrier. First to land a high-performance twin on a carrier. First deck landing of a twin-engine jet on a British carrier. A pilot with 487 different aircraft in his logbook, including 55 captured German planes in World War II. The only Allied pilot to fly the "suicidal" Messerschmitt Me-163B under rocket power. A naval aviator who saw combat over the Atlantic, survived being torpedoed and went on to become arguably the greatest test pilot of all time. No ordinary mortal then, this Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Royal Navy.

Assigned to No. 802 Squadron at Donibristle in Fife, Brown was briefly detached to No. 810 Squadron, flying an obsolescent Blackburn Skua dive bomber in a sortie against oil tanks in Norway. He was back with No. 802 in time for the arrival of the first Grumman Martlet (F4F Wildcat) aircraft under the Lend-Lease agreement.

Brown encountered a portent of things to come when, during a training flight on May 14, 1941, bad weather forced him down at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Next morning he observed "a small propellerless aeroplane being pushed out…it took off to a screaming note of some power source unknown to me, climbed away smoothly and then seventeen minutes later returned to land." He had witnessed the maiden flight of Britain's first jet aircraft, the revolutionary Gloster E.28/39.

Soon after that, No. 802 joined the auxiliary carrier HMS Audacity, a 5,600-ton cutdown former German merchantman with a tiny 420-by-60-foot flight deck grafted on top, but no hangar for its six Martlets (nightly maintenance was carried out on deck by hooded torchlight). Despite the carrier's "terrifying smallness," Brown made his first-ever deck landing with characteristic aplomb: "I pulled back the throttle lever. There was a bump. I was down….After that it was easy."

Audacity's main task was countering France-based Focke Wulf Fw-200 Condors that were bombing Allied convoys, and searching for U-boat wolf packs in the Bay of Biscay. Brown accounted for two Condors in audacious head-on attacks, recalling of the first: "I just blazed away at him as we rushed on to what looked like the inevitable conclusion….It was close enough to see the windscreen around the two German pilots shatter. As debris flew off the nose I took violent evading action."

April 1943 brought a dramatic change of scene, with Brown detached to RAF Kenley to teach the Canadians of Nos. 411 and 416 squadrons how to deck land a Spitfire (for an anticipated supporting role in the Salerno landings). In exchange for the Canadians' reluctant cooperation, he participated in fighter sweeps over occupied Europe, escorting U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17s and becoming involved in wild dogfights with the Luftwaffe.

Although he scored no further confirmed victories, one incident stood out in his memory. The Spitfires were escorting 100-plus Flying Fortresses when a swarm of Focke Wulf Fw-190As suddenly appeared. Just as abruptly, the sky emptied except for Brown and a lone Fw-190, which immediately attempted to get on his tail. For what seemed like hours, the two evenly matched opponents sought desperately to outmaneuver each other, with both failing to gain the crucial advantage. No shots were fired, and eventually, low on fuel, they broke off the combat. The German waggled his wings in a chivalrous farewell, and a sweat-soaked Brown returned the salute. He has often wondered about that German pilot, reflecting, "You always hoped you'd come up against a guy who'd just come out of flying training school, but seldom did."

Back on seaborne trials, by the end of 1943 Brown had racked up almost 1,500 deck landings. In January 1944, after moving into experimental aviation with a posting to Boscombe Down, he was almost immediately dispatched to Italy to fly as many captured Italian aircraft as possible. The Macchi M.C.205V Veltro particularly impressed him—"a Ferrari of the skies," he called it, comparable with the North American P-51 Mustang and Fw-190 of the period.

On March 25 Brown made the first deck landing of a modified de Havilland Mosquito, twice the weight of any aircraft previously landed on a British carrier. Because of its wooden construction, he said, "Some pessimists predicted it would come apart at the seams." But the calm Brown brought the big Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered twin in for a perfect three-pointer at 78 mph, practically hanging on the propellers.

Early in 1944, U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle had sought Farn borough's help with transonic flight testing. American fighters flying top cover over B-17s had been suffering heavy losses after they dived to intercept German fighters and lost control before they could engage the enemy. Tests by Brown and others established that the P-51B Mustang, with its laminar-flow wing, could achieve a tactical Mach number of 0.78, compared to the Lockheed P-38H Lightning's 0.68 and the Republic P-47C Thunderbolt's 0.71. As a result, Doolittle recommended that his Eighth Air Force be supplied only with Mustangs.

Asked to name the greatest fighter aircraft of WWII, Brown declared that there was "not a whisker between" the Spitfire Mk. XIV, Fw-190D and P-51D. Next came the Grumman F6F Hellcat, then the Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero and Nakajima Ki.84 Frank. He deemed the Zero probably the best fighter in the world for the first three years of the war, although its lightweight agility was gained through a frightening indifference to pilot survival. He considered the Messerschmitt Me-109G inferior to the Spitfire Mk. IX and the P-51C, but added that pilot quality would always win out.

The Thunderbolt Brown judged as good for ground attack, the Lightning best suited to reconnaissance. Conceding that the P-38 had succeeded as a fighter in the Pacific, he explained that he felt this was partly attributable to the poor quality of Japanese pilots by that late stage of the war. 

Brown entered the jet age in the summer of 1944, flying a Gloster Meteor. He found its tremendous speed and perfect visibility a revelation, although its poor takeoff performance made it unsuitable for carrier operations. A Bell P-59 Airacomet, acquired by Farnborough in exchange for a Meteor, he considered "a terribly ponderous aeroplane," before deciding that the de Havilland Spider Crab, later Vampire, seemed the best of the lot. Brown would score a historic first with a Vampire, making the first-ever landing on a carrier of a pure jet aircraft on HMS Ocean on December 3, 1945. However, the type never entered naval service due to inadequate fuel capacity and poor engine pickup.

Brown's heavy involvement in the testing of jet aircraft brought its inevitable crop of engine failures and forced landings. He remembered: "My sudden materialisation, inevitably in shirtsleeves, in a plane without a propeller, asking for fuel which they had never heard of, protesting to be a naval officer flying an RAF machine from a civilian establishment, was a shock. I was often virtually arrested." Eventually an Avro Lancaster mother plane from Farnborough would appear with the urgently needed fuel.

In the chaotic months after the fall of the Third Reich, the German-speaking Lt. Cmdr. Brown was very much in demand. He got flight briefings by personally interrogating aircraft designers such as Willy Messerschmitt, Ernst Heinkel and Kurt Tank, and later Hanna Reitsch.

Placed in charge of the RAE's Enemy Aircraft Flight (EAF), he flew 55 different German airplanes, most at Farnborough, but others in the formerly occupied territories. To assist him, Brown recruited two former Luftwaffe technicians from an Arado Ar-234B squadron in Norway. Together they flew all over Europe in a Siebel Si-204D light twin, which they used as a flying workshop, inspecting ex-Luftwaffe aircraft before flying them back to England. Sometimes the only guidance Brown had were notes compiled from interrogated Luftwaffe pilots.

The undoubted peak of Brown's EAF phase was his self-authorized flight in a rocket-powered Me-163B Komet interceptor at Husum—having given the members of an anxious German ground crew a note absolving them of all responsibility. Following a "thunderous" engine run to familiarize himself with the rocket motor, he recalled: "I was away on the take-off run….After jettisoning the trolley and retracting the skid, the Komet accelerated very rapidly to 450 mph to set up a 45 degree climb—all of this felt like being in charge of a runaway train." After simulating an attack on a bomber at 30,000 feet, and with all rocket fuel expended, he glided safely back to Husum, where he was greeted by a very relieved ground crew.

Brown assessed the Komet as "Probably more lethal to its pilots than to its enemies….a tool of desperation, but a delight to fly." He was the only Allied pilot ever to fly one under rocket power.

Another highlight of Brown's time with the EAF was his flight in the Ar-234B jet, "a magnificent aeroplane of which no real equivalent existed in the Allied order of battle." Then the Messerschmitt Me-262A, which despite it shortcomings he rated as "the most formidable aircraft of World War II…a pilot's aeroplane which had to be flown and not just heaved into the air…it was thoroughly exciting to fly" (comparable for "sheer exhilaration" to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II).

The postwar years saw Brown involved in projects too numerous to list in full, but including tests on "rogue" aircraft such as the Avro Tudor I, the first pressurized British transport; the General Aircraft GAL.56 tailless glider; and the de Havilland D.H.108 Swallow, which had killed test pilot Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. After remaining at the forefront of naval flight testing, he returned to Royal Navy duty in December 1949 with No. 802 Squadron, flying Hawker Sea Furies.

In mid-1951, Brown went on exchange duty to the Flight Test Division of the U.S. Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Md., where his CO was U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Marion Carl. There he flew American jets such as the Grumman F9F-2 Panther, McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee and North American F-86 Sabre, which he admiringly dubbed "the Spitfire of the jet age." To the U.S. Navy he passed on the principle of the angled carrier deck and, flying a Panther, he demonstrated the new British steam catapult from the deck of HMS Perseus, then tied up in a Philadelphia dockyard.

Brown's last service flight drew an appropriately dramatic line under a unique career. He was flying a Westland S-55 Whirlwind helicopter on a search-and-rescue mission during heavy February snows when it suffered an engine failure at 800 feet. He recollected that, after going into autorotation and lacking visual references on the snow-covered ground, "I noticed a three-stranded wire fence and thought if I could hook my tail skid to the wire I might make a safe arrested landing, and so it transpired." That simple.

In retirement, Brown became chief executive of the British Helicopter Advisory Board. He also tested flight simulators, in 2007 traveling to Ft. Worth, Texas, to test Lockheed-Martin's F-35 Lightning II simulator. Moreover, he continued flying well into his 70s, and lectured regularly in the UK and Germany.

Asked how he had survived when so many other test pilots perished, Brown credited his relatively short stature. It had saved him from death or serious injury in several incidents when taller pilots, unable to extricate themselves from the cockpit, might easily have been killed. But most crucial of all was his insistence on meticulous preparation. Smiling mischievously, he said that he had never subscribed to the old RAF dictum, "Kick the tyres, light the fires and the last one off is a sissy."

Finally, on the origin of the nickname "Winkle," Brown confided that by Royal Navy tradition he inherited it only after Lt. Cmdr. Eugene "Winkle" Esmonde, VC, another FAA pilot of short stature, was killed while leading a Fairey Swordfish attack during the "Channel Dash" by German battle-cruisers on February 12, 1942.

Winkle Brown's incredible career would defy belief as an adventure story, the man himself was utterly unassuming. Although he would strenuously deny it, Brown is an aviation legend, someone who if he is not incontrovertibly the greatest test pilot ever, has certainly never been surpassed in airborne versatility.

By the end of his 33-year flying career he had flown 487 different types of aircraft (not including type variants) and become the undisputed world deck-landing virtuoso.

 

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This Day in U S Military History

11 March

1916 – USS Nevada (BB-36) is commissioned as the first US Navy "super-dreadnought". USS Nevada (BB-36), the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships; her sister ship was Oklahoma. Launched in 1914, the Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets, oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the "all or nothing" armor principle. These features made Nevada the first US Navy "super-dreadnought". Nevada served in both World Wars: during the last few months of World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, to protect the supply convoys that were sailing to and from Great Britain. In World War II, she was one of the battleships trapped when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, making the ship "the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal and depressing morning" for the United States. Still, she was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, forcing her to be beached. Subsequently salvaged and modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Nevada served as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and as a fire-support ship in four amphibious assaults: the Normandy Landings and the invasions of Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At the end of World War II, the Navy decided that Nevada was too old to be retained, so they assigned her to be a target ship in the atomic experiments that were going to be conducted at Bikini Atoll in July 1946 (Operation Crossroads). After being hit by the blast from the first atomic bomb, Able, she was still afloat but heavily damaged and radioactive. She was decommissioned on 29 August 1946 and sunk during naval gunfire practice on 31 July 1948.

1958 – A B-47 bomber accidentally drops a nuclear weapon over Mars Bluff, South Carolina. The conventional explosive trigger detonates, leaving a crater 75 feet wide and 35 feet deep.

1967 – U.S. 1st Infantry Division troops engage in one of the heaviest battles of Operation Junction City. The fierce fighting resulted in 210 reported North Vietnamese casualties. Operation Junction City was an effort to smash the communist stronghold in Tay Ninh Province and surrounding areas along the Cambodian border northwest of Saigon. The purpose of the operation was to drive the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops away from populated areas and into the open, where superior American firepower could be more effectively used. Junction City was the largest operation of the war to date, involving more than 25,000 troops. The first day's operation was supported by 575 aircraft sorties, a record number for a single day in South Vietnam. The operation was marked by one of the largest airmobile assaults in history when 240 troop-carrying helicopters descended on the battlefield. In one of the few airborne operations of the war, 778 "Sky Soldiers" parachuted into the Junction City area of operations 28 miles north of Tay Ninh City. There were 2,728 enemy casualties by the end of the operation on March 17.

 

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

 

KELLOGG, ALLAN JAY, JR.

Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps (then S/Sgt.), Company G, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. place and date: Quang Nam province, Republic of Vietnam, 11 March 1970. Entered service at: Bridgeport, Conn. Born: 1 October 1943, Bethel, Conn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a platoon sergeant with Company G, in connection with combat operations against the enemy on the night of 11 March 1970. Under the leadership of G/Sgt. Kellogg, a small unit from Company G was evacuating a fallen comrade when the unit came under a heavy volume of small arms and automatic weapons fire from a numerically superior enemy force occupying well-concealed emplacements in the surrounding jungle. During the ensuing fierce engagement, an enemy soldier managed to maneuver through the dense foliage to a position near the marines, and hurled a hand grenade into their midst which glanced off the chest of G/Sgt. Kellogg. Quick to act, he forced the grenade into the mud in which he was standing, threw himself over the lethal weapon and absorbed the full effects of its detonation with his body thereby preventing serious injury or possible death to several of his fellow marines. Although suffering multiple injuries to his chest and his right shoulder and arm, G/Sgt. Kellogg resolutely continued to direct the efforts of his men until all were able to maneuver to the relative safety of the company perimeter. By his heroic and decisive action in risking his life to save the lives of his comrades, G/Sgt. Kellogg reflected the highest credit upon himself and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.

*ETCHBERGER, RICHARD L.

Rank: Chief Master Sergeant, Organization: U.S. Air Force, Company: Detachment 1, Division: 1043d Radar Evaluation Squadron, Born: 5 March 1933, Departed: Yes (03/11/1968), Entered Service At: Hamburg, Pennsylvania, G.O. Number: , Date of Issue: 09/21/2010, Accredited To: Pennsylvania, Place / Date: Phou Pha Thi, Laos, 11 March 1968. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Chief Etchberger and his team of technicians were manning a top secret defensive position at Lima Site 85 when the base was overrun by an enemy ground force. Receiving sustained and withering heavy artillery attacks directly upon his unit's position, Chief Etchberger's entire crew lay dead or severely wounded. Despite having received little or no combat training, Chief Etchberger single-handedly held off the enemy with an M-16, while simultaneously directing air strikes into the area and calling for air rescue. Because of his fierce defense and heroic and selfless actions, he was able to deny the enemy access to his position and save the lives of his remaining crew. With the arrival of the rescue aircraft, Chief Etchberger, without hesitation, repeatedly and deliberately risked his own life, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire in order to place three surviving wounded comrades into rescue slings hanging from the hovering helicopter waiting to airlift them to safety. With his remaining crew safely aboard, Chief Etchberger finally climbed into an evacuation sling himself, only to be fatally wounded by enemy ground fire as he was being raised into the aircraft. Chief Etchberger's bravery and determination in the face of persistent enemy fire and overwhelming odds are in keeping with the highest standards of performance and traditions of military service. Chief Etchberger's gallantry, self-sacrifice, and profound concern for his fellow men at risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

 

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for March 11,  FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY

11 March

 

1912: Lt Frank P. Lahm opened an Army Air School at Fort William McKinley, Philippines, with two volunteer students, Lt Moss L. Love and Cpl Vernon L. Burge, who later became the first enlisted pilot. (24)

1918: Lt Paul Baer, 103d Aero Squadron, received the first Distinguished Service Cross awarded to an Army Air Service member for attacking seven German pursuit planes. He destroyed one. (8) The Navy's General Board approved Capt Alfred A. Cunningham's plan to form the 1st Marine Aviation Force with a mission to bomb German submarine bases in Europe. (10)

1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act to provide war materiel, including aircraft, to friendly nations. Under this act, the U.S. supplied over 43,000 aircraft to its allies in World War II. (21)

1945: Eighth Air Force dispatched 1,079 bombers to attack Essen, Germany. This raid posted the greatest weight of bombs, 4738 tons, on a single target to date. (24)

1952: KOREAN WAR. Fighter-bombers dropped 150 tons of bombs and approximately 33,000 gallons of napalm on a four square mile supply storage and troop training area near Sinmak, Korea. Fifth Air Force operations officers reported this to be the most intensive napalm attack on a single area in the war. Also, through 12 March 10 B-29s struck the Sinchang-ni choke point, 10 miles east of Sunchon, Korea, with 91 tons of high explosives, rendering the point unpassable. (28)

1957: A Boeing 707 set a transcontinental speed record for passenger flight with 42 passengers and 10 crewmen by flying 2,335 miles from Seattle to Washington DC in 3 hours 48 minutes. (24)

1959: The Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King first flew. (5) 1960: Cape Canaveral launched NASA's Pioneer V satellite on a Thor-Able rocket into a solar orbit between Earth and Venus. (24)

1964: The 500th Minuteman ICBM rolled off the assembly line at Air Force Plant No. 77 at Ogden, Utah. (5)

1967: US Navy fighters attacked North Vietnamese targets with television-guided Walleye glide bombs. This attack introduced electro-optical/television precision-guided weapons into the Vietnam War. (21)

1974: The YF-16 attained Mach 2 for the first time in test flights at Edwards AFB. (3)

1986: An Air Force Program Management Directive sought a night and under-the-weather surface attack capability for the F-15. (30)

1990: The Navy conducted its last Trident II missile test from the submerged USS Pennsylvania near Cape Canaveral. It was the first shot from the Pennsylvania and second demonstration and shakedown launch in the program. This test allowed the Navy to reach an initial operating capability with the missile on schedule in late March. (8: May 90)

1991: Operation ARC WIND. Returning from DESERT STORM, AFRES C-130 Hercules aircraft began flying reservists from ports of entry in the US to their home units. (16)

 

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