General control line discussion > AS TIME GOES BYE
MEMORIES ON THE NAVY NATS- SHARE YOURS
Frank Imbriaco:
I was fortunate to attend 5 Navy NATS from 1968-1972. With this being NATS week and all, here's a few of my recollections of those really big events.
- Sleeping in hot barracks with scratchy bed sheets and the woolen blankets, which of course, no one used.
I think it was around $1.25 a day
-Waking up at 5 am to a reveler . Live trumpet and song " revelee, revelee, revelee- the smoking lamp is lit, revelee "
- Eating three squares a day in the mess hall - really good food , unbelievably cheap and lots of it. Hey, what the heck is SOS anyway ? This Italian kid had no idea.
-The monstrous hangars and the all night bull sessions. Watching repairs and guys building under the lights that always seemed too dim. The big celebrities would occasionally appear in the evening-Carl Goldberg, Hal DeBolt, Phil Kraft, on and on.
-The incredible Navy airshow- Blue Angels, the Flying Farmer( J-3 Cub antics), Warbirds, and static display. Military aircraft as far as the eye could see.
-The opportunity to watch other events. I had never witnessed free flight or R/C aerobatics, Man, I thought I had died and gone to heaven !
Dan, my flying pal and fellow UMAC'er, and I had just graduated from a "New Joesy" high school in June 68. We were suppossed to be getting ready for college in the fall, but heck, the NATS was something we had always talked up and I dreamt about since I started flipping props in 1961 .Nothing else mattered(well ,almost- I still couldn't wait each month to see the center fold spread in Playboy. It was my older brother's subscription ( mom was furious), her not knowing ,of course ,that I read it, too.).
We crated our models, sent them to Olathe, Kansas by Greyhound bus, and took our first commercial flight ever from Newark to Kansas City . Mom insisted I wear a tie and a nice shirt. (everyone dressed up to go on an airline in those days).
The trip for Jr. & Sr. winners to Pensacola NAS. Got to go in 1969. A John Wayne style Navy DC-8 prop with canvas seats along the length of the fuse, (non- pressurized cabin) and five hours in rain and hail from Willow Grove to Pensacola. Going out for a ride on a PT boat in the Gulf. The USS Lexington was under repair(bummer); previous years winners got to fly their models on the deck of the aircraft carrier ! Winners got to sleep in the NAVAL officers air-conditioned quarters, ate in the officer's dining hall, and swam in the officer's pool at Pensacola, oogled their dauhters. Man , we were treated like royalty and it was all free !
-It was really neat to interface with Navy people all week long. To be sure,things were still happening on the base and they made us feel very welcomed.
-A few downers...
-Having an in-grown toe nail partially removed at the infirmary at Glenview NAS. It was free, but man, did it hurt !
Don't think the Navy doc used anything to numb it up.
-Getting canned twice from summer jobs because I was gone over a week to go to the NATS.
-Saying so long to new friends- Most I've never seen or heard from again
john e. holliday:
Too bad the powers to be thought the Navy Sponsored NATS was not worth the money. My first NATS was 1964 in Grand Prairie Texas Naval Air Station. It was out in the middle of nowhere. George and Dorethy Watkins drove me to the NATS. I stayed in the barricks and they stayed at a little motel just off base. Civilian ladies were not allowed to stay on base. The Meriwethers were there and also were my heros in competition even tho I was in my 20's and Wayne was a Junior, Ron was a Senior. Eating Navy chow at the mess hall and swimming in the Navy pool were some highlights for this old farm boy that had just moved back to the big city. Yes SOS(s--t on a Shingle) was one of the meals. Traded mine for an orange and bottle of milk. The work hangar was one of the main sites. We set up a location not too far from Dunkin&Wright who were team racing. Got to fly Riley Wooten in second round of combat. Also made two complete official flights in Navy Carrier.
Final day was the show with George Aldrich and Don Still flying Stukas in formation stunt. Some of the winners of the prior week flying there planes. Then the award ceremony for the champions. Neal Armstrong presenting the awards. Then while the Meriwether's stayed behind for Wayne's Navy cruise, Mom & Pop Watkins and I headed home. I think I slept all the way. Besides George would not let no else drive. The next NATS was 1970 but that is another story. Did I mention that is the NATS I first met Larry Scarinzi(1964).
afml:
"The trip for Jr. & Sr. winners to Pensacola NAS. Got to go in 1969."
Hi Frank!
I was there WITH YOU on that same trip to Pensacola!
Just have a little different memory of the details. LL~ LL~
Still have some of the "stuff" from the 69' Nats.
Watching the Lunar landing while attending the NATS was AWESOME! y1
And then to visit where the Astronauts trained was awe inspiring!
We should compare notes from 69' LL~
"Tight Lines!"
Wes
Frank Imbriaco:
Wes,
It was fun, wasn't it ? As far as recollection of details( yours and mine), it no longer really matters... What matters most is that the Navy sure treated us very, very well.
afml:
--- Quote from: Frank Imbriaco on July 19, 2010, 12:52:35 PM ---Wes,
It was fun, wasn't it ? ... What matters most is that the Navy sure treated us very, very well.
--- End quote ---
TONS OF FUN!!!
Yes, Frank, the Navy treated us VERY WELL!
Take a plane load of kids from PA to FLA for almost a week, feed us, watch over us, take us everywhere, and BRING US BACK? LL~
Yep! The Navy treated us VERY WELL! y1
"Tight Lines!"
Wes
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