Iron Modeler

Category: History time

  • Karma Five-Two

    In addition to being Tax Day here in the U.S., 15 April is also the anniversary of what is now being called "The first shot in the International War on Terror."  I'm speaking, of course, of the 1986 bombing raid on Libya, otherwise known as Operation El Dorado Canyon.

    For those who don't recall life before MTV, a PC in every home, and satellite television, here's a capsule history for you to chew on.  In the late 1970's and early 1980's, Libya's leader, Muammar Al-Gadhafi, started expressing anti-Western and anti-American sentiments to the world.  One of the things he did was to declare the entire Gulf of Sidra as Libyan territory, while the rest of the world respected the international standard of 12 nautical miles as the limit to territorial waters.  The United States Navy would conduct operations there, and in 1981 two Libyan SU-22 Fitters tired to intercept two F-14A Tomcats of VF-41.  They came out on the short end of the deal; the Tomcats handily dispatched both Libyan aircraft.

    Tensions continued to escalate through the early 1980's.  In 1986, the LaBelle discotheque was bombed; three persons were killed (two of them American) and a few hundred were injured.  Investigations pointed to the Libyans as the driving force behind the bombings, so President Ronald Reagan gave the approval to bomb targets inside Libya.

    The original raid was planned to use only U.S. Navy assets, but the target list expanded quickly and by the time it was close to being finalized, it was realized that there weren't enough Naval aviation assets to do the job.  So, the operation was expanded to include F-111F's from the 48 Tactical Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath and several of the then-new EF-111A Raven Electronic Warfare aircraft with the 20TFW based at RAF Upper Heyford. 

    In order to make the shortest flights possible, the Aardvarks and Ravens would have to fly through French, Spanish, and Italian airspace.  All three countries refused to allow the overflights, so the mission was planned to fly around the Iberian peninsula and along the coast of North Africa before striking their targets.  The longer flight path would also require a tremendous amount of tanker support, which added more complexity to an already complex mission.  In late 1985 Operation Ghost Rider, a simulated attack against targets in Canada, was flown by F-111E's from the 20TFW to prove the various aspects of such a long mission; the lessons learned were passed along to the Lakenheath group.  (Trivia:  Libya could have been the combat debut of the F-117, but the plans were scotched because the Pentagon didn't want to let the Stealth cat out of the bag should something bad happen…the Wobbly Goblin's combat initiation would have to wait for Operation Just Cause, the invasion of Panama.)

    As the various groups of aircraft flew in to their target areas, the Libyans became aware that something was up (it is also widely believed that they were tipped off), and some of the anti-aircraft batteries started to return fire.  Reports vary, but as the Karma cell of F-111F's exited the target area, the aircraft with the call sign Karma 52 (F-111F S/N 70-2389) was lost.  It was not confirmed until all of the aircraft marshaled at their assigned tanker, but nothing changed–Karma 52 was missing.  The crew, Captains Fernando Ribas-Dominicci and Paul Lorance, were listed killed in action during the raid.  Stories have varied over the years, but it is fairly certain that the airplane was hit by AAA and the crew ejected.  Due to the altitude, it is presumed that the escape module parachutes did not fully deploy and the capsule hit the water hard.

    After denying that they held the remains of the crew, the body of Ribas-Dominicci (initially identified as those of Captain Lorence) was returned to the family via the Vatican in 1988.  An autopsy performed showed that Ribas-Dominicci had minor injuries and that the cause of death was drowning.  The remains of Captain Lorence are still unaccounted for.

    So, why the interest in this one-time, one-night raid?  Well, in short because it is still such a mystery.  What actually happened to Karma 52?  Did they indeed get shot down, or did the airplane somehow fail?  Did the crew eject?  If so, did the capsule fill with water and sink, taking Captain Lorence to a watery grave?  Was the crew unconscious after the escape module landed?  Did Captain Ribas-Dominicci exit the capsule and then drown?  And, finally, what happened to Captain Lorence?  Stories have circulated that the Libyans have both pilots' flight suits and helmets, plus parts from the aircraft, in Gadhafi's home in Tripoli.  Where are those artifacts now? Surely, somebody has the answers–but with the events in Libya over the past few years I fear that the answers–many of them, at least–have died with Col. Gadhafi and other members of his leadership council.

    Also, in my years in aviation, I have come to be acquainted with more members of the Aardvark community than any other.  My interest in the F-111 goes back to when I was a kid.  The airplane was just plan old neat to me–then and now.  The 'Vark is gone now, retired after Operation Desert Storm, but the stories of the F-111 and her crews live on.

    And so, every year on 15 April I stop and remember the loss of two Americans, crewmen on an F-111 flying a mission that, it was hoped, would stop Libya's terrorist activities.  Whether or not we accomplished that is up to history.  In any case, Gadhafi is gone now, Karma indeed caught up with him.

    As always, thanks for reading.  Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

  • 1984

    Greetings!

    Now, before you get all excited and start running about, I'm not referring to George Orwell's vision.  Rather, I'm looking back 30 years and remembering some of the things that made 1984 a sort of comeback year for me…

    For starters, I found myself unemployed and not in school for the first time in my life on New Year's Day in 1984.  I had taken my leave from the Harvard of the Sky–engineering physics and I didn't get along, especially when physics had backup on the beat-down in the form of Calculus 3.  Between those two courses, I had a dismal GPA for the Fall 1983 semester and decided that engineering as a career for me wasn't in the cards.  I went down to the AFROTC Detachment (I had an AFROTC Scholarship at the time) and spoke a bit with my advisor.  He and I talked for about an hour, and both came to the conclusion that all the summer terms in the world weren't going to suddenly make me a mathematical genius.  My math skills were pretty good, but not good enough.  So, I didn't register for spring semester and came home.

    Funny how things can happen–I went looking for a job on 2 January 1984 and was hired almost immediately as a parts driver for a local HVAC parts house.  After a week or so of that, one of their systems engineers found out that I wasn't just doing this because I didn't know any better, and I would sometimes be called in to watch how home and industrial HVAC systems are engineered–so many square feet of space called for so many tons of capacity, so many BTUs were required to heat X amount of space, etc.  It was all pretty neat stuff, and I appreciated all they were doing for me.  Between parts runs, I learned quite a bit–and was tempted to pursue a career in that.  But aviation, once it wiggles down into your blood, tends to have a strong pull…

    I worked there all summer.  One day I got a phone call from one of my advisors at Embry-Riddle, wanting to know what I was doing and what my plans were.  At the time, I was still trying to just chill out a bit and leave the stress and, well, disappointment of engineering behind me (and earn some coin, but that should be obvious).  I let them know what I was up to, and that I had several things banging around in my head, and that I'd let them know when the time came.  That time came in June–I took a Friday off work and drove back to Daytona Beach.  I met with some folks, and found out how easy it would be for me to come back–I never formally withdrew from the school, so I was still carried on their rolls.  I first visited my AFROTC friends.  We spent a few hours speaking with some of the other Department Chairmen, and after speaking with the man heading up the Avionics program, my mind was made up.  I would return in August.

    With my future now decided, I went back to work.  I don't say this to be self-congratulatory, but I was the hardest working parts driver/stock man/all around helper that location had.  I know this because the higher-ups told me so.  They were especially let down when I gave them my notice, but when I told them that my two choices were to learn–unofficially–from them, or go back to school and learn aviation electronics, I think it got them to understand.  I was told that if I needed summer work, they would be there.  So, I ended my employment with them in mid-August.

    Remember that 1984 was an Olympic Games year, too–back when Winter and Summer games were held in the same year, no less.  The Winter games were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.  I paid little attention to them, because work and the time difference made keeping track of the events a bit difficult.  What saddens me know is to see what has become of the venues built for the Games–most of them are crumbling, the result of the unrest, fighting, and other issues between the ethnic factions that finally led to the break-up of Yugoslavia into its constituent Republics.  Sad…

    The Summer games, on the other hand, were different–they were held in Los Angeles in 1984.  The overshadowing news was that the Soviet Union, acting in response to the West's boycott of the 1908 Games, had decided to sit 1984 out.  They, along with the majority of Eastern Bloc countries, sat at home while the Games went on.  The reason I remember it so well was than coverage of most events came on right as I was getting back to the house after work, so I could pay attention to all of them.  It was the last Olympic Summer games that I really paid close attention to.  Since then, various reasons have kept me from watching…

    On the modeling front, I actually started to keep a log of kits I completed.  The first for 1984 was the ESCI 1/48 scale Fieseler Storch.  It was an easy build until I got to the part about sticking the wings to the greenhouse.  I used 5-minute epoxy, and got a fairly decent result–I amazed myself that I didn't wind up with epoxy all over everything! 

    I next turned my attention to a Tamiya 1/48 Brewster Buffalo.  It was probably the quickest "serious" model I had built to that point–everything just clicked together.  I was tempted by the early Navy scheme, but I settled on the Dutch scheme, because my metal finish techniques were sorely lacking and I didn't want to ruin the model.  My impressions of Tamiya airplane kits would be reinforced soon…

    Next on the hit parade was the Nichimo 1/48 scale Ki-43 Oscar.  If you read opinions on this kit, they're all almost universally positive.  And for good reason–the kit packs a lot of detail into a small airplane, the fit is superlative, and this all in a kit dating from the late 1970's.  I tried some weathering techniques on this one–I used a silver Tamiya paint marker to prime seams back then, and I would paint the seams and rub the excess paint off with a paper towel.  I reconed that if I added blotches of silver here and there, I could "chip" the Polly S paints I was using for the camouflage.  It worked out fairly well, I think, and I kept trying to expand my horizons from that model on to the next, and the next…

    This was also the summer when I attempted to build Monogram's 1/48 scale F-84F.  For a reason or reasons lost to history, I cannot recall why I never finished the model.  All I have from that model is the dolly and a few bits and pieces.  After that, I wound up building Monogram's 1/48 scale F-100D in Arkansas ANG colors.  I did that because, as I said before, my metal finishes at the time looked like dog poop…

    Last for the summer, I decided to refinish a Monogram 1/48 scale B-17G that I had built in the late 1970's, maybe 1979.  I had airbrushed it, but it was one of my first airbrushed models and looked the part.  There were visible seams and some other issues with the model, so I took it down from the shelf and started working on the bad areas.  Within a week, it was ready for paint again.  I had used a Microscale sheet to finish the F-100 and was suitably impressed–first time using them, you know.  So, I went in search of a sheet for the B-17.  I found one I liked (unit and aircraft are again lost to history–I didn't log how they were finished, just that I finished them) and set to work.  I used a combination of Polly S and Tamiya acrylics for the finish, and this one was the best, to that point, airbrushed finish I had ever laid down.  The model went back on the shelf, an old girl in a new dress.

    (That Tamiya Buffalo would also get a re-work in the early 1990's–which is how it still resides, hidden away in a box upstairs…)

    I returned to good old Humpty Diddle in August.  I had to register for classes.  I had remembered to change my major and catalog at the Registrar's office when I was there in June, so half my battle had been won.  Then I get to the registration lines.  I think it is a universal college policy that beginning of the semester registration is meant to be as huge a pain in the ass as possible to all involved.  See, during my engineering days, I had to re-take a few courses.  As far as the Aeronautical Studies/Aeronautics courses were concerned, I was through with all of my math classes by virture of my Calculus I and Calculus II courses.  During those engineering semesters, I had managed to complete all but maybe one or two Humanities/History courses, too.  I was only looking to register for the required Physics and first semester Aero Studies courses.  I couldn't get into any of the Electronics courses since all the sections were filled, so I settled for what I could get.  After I got through that, I had to go play housing lottery.  After about two hours of back-and-forth, I managed to get into Residence Hall 2, aka Dorm 2, aka "The Embry-Riddle Holiday Inn".  I had lived here through my engineering days, so I know what to expect.  I met the roommates and suitemates (two rooms to a suite, three people to a room), all of whom were Aero Science guys (they were all working towards pilot certificates)–except one.  He was in engineering.  He was a quiet kid, and engineering wasn't any kinder to him than it was me.  I kinda felt sorry for the kid…after all, I'm now the older, wiser me…

    Classes were literally a breeze.  By the end of that semester, I would have all my prerequisite courses behind me and the next three and a half years would be solid electronics and avionics courses, along with the Aero Studies courses.  See, there was no single avionics major, you took a major and added avionics.  You could take an Aviation Maintenance major and avionics (you wound up with an Airfram and Powerplant certificate and the avionics degree) or Aeronautical Studies with avionics, which is how I went.  Basically, you took all the ground school courses for flight, but no flight courses.  So, I learned basic aerial navigation and meteorology to go along with my electron theory.  Over the years, the school changed how they treated avionics until finally phasing it out a few years ago in favor of an Electronic Engineering degree program…

    More modeling?  You bet–I had spare time, so I decided to build a Tamiya 1/48 A6M2.  This was another fall together kit, it was done in a week.  Yep, a week.  Needing something else to occupy my time, and figuring that the ESCI Storch was a cool kit, so I decided to build ESCI's 1/48 scale Hs-123.  Now that one was a challenge–first serious biplane, first masked camouflage scheme with Polly S, and the kit was rife with minor warpage–typical of ESCI's kits of that era.  Well, I managed to beat it into submission, and painted it up as a Spanish Civil War machine.  I may still have it in a box here somewhere, too, and I was sure to pick up the AMTech "enhanced" reissue of the kit a few years ago.  After all, who else is likely to do an Hs-123 in 1/48 scale?

    The best part of the year?  Going back to school.  I never had any intention of *not* going back to school–my father wouldn't abide it.  He was always pushing for education-I guess it stems from the fact that he had a GED when he started working, and worked hard in correspondence classes to earn a degree.  Dad was a self made man, and he did so through hard work and trying to better himself.  I was thinking about these "good old days", and once again realized what my parents did to make sure my brother and I were ready to face the cold, cruel world–the sacrifices they made to put us both through post-secondary education, the hard work they put in to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, and lights on in the house.  So, by going back to school–even though I wasn't overtly pushed–I was doing as they wanted. 

    On reflection, maybe I should have worked for a year after high school, then gone to college.  Maybe I should have examined engineering closer and realized that it was a bit beyond my abilities.  You can reach for the brass ring, and if you grab it on the first try, great.  I seem to reach for the ring, get a light grip on it, and then lose that slight grasp.  Rather than giving up, I'll take a breather and try again.  I usually grab that sucker for all I'm worth on the second go around, and once I have it in my grasp I never let go–I seem to cherish it more when I do that.  It has worked for me my entire life…

    Oh, yeah.  The Apple Macintosh also goes on sale in 1984, Constatin Chernenko succeeds Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Pierre Trudeau steps down as the Canadian Prime Minister, and Marvin Gaye's father shoots and kills the singer. 

    Musically, Van Halen released their "1984" album, giving us "Panama", "Hot For Teacher", "I'll Wait", and "Jump".  Duran Duran were touring, suppoting "Seven and the Ragged Tiger", which gave us "The Reflex", "Union of the Snake", and "New Moon on Monday".  Meanwhile, Prince and the Revolution topped the Billboard Top 100 with "When Doves Cry".  What was #100?  "Yah Mo Be There", by James Ingram and Michael McDonald…

    (I can't poke too much fun–my beloved Jethro Tull released "Under Wraps".  Not one of their best albums ever.  By far.  Even Tull's then-bassist Dave Pegg said the songs cut from 1983's "Broadsword and the Beast" would have made a better album.  Trivia time–it was the only Tull album with no live drummer–drum machines were used instead.  Doane Perry would be hired shortly after this album and was their full-time drummer until 2011.  He still occasionally tours with them.)

    The big news items in the United States for 1984, though, were generated by President Ronald Reagan.  In August, during a sound check for a radio broadcast, he says "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever.  We begin bombing in five minutes".  He alos is re-elected (with George H. W. Bush as his Vice President) in a landslide victory in November, beating Democrats Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, carrying 49 states and 59% of the popular vote.

     Oh, and as an aside:  When you get an ROTC scholarship, you are basically sworn in as enlisted personnel.  Because I vacated my AFROTC scholarship, a Review Board convened.  It was decided that I wasn't vacating the scholarship for any reason other than it would be a waste of money to have me keep banging my head against a wall as an egineering student.  For my troubles, I received a package from the United States Air Force sometime in April.  Now, some fellow scholarship recipients were receiving orders to attend basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas.  I was slightly concerend until I opened the envelope.  I was granted an Honorable Discharge from the United States Air Force.  As an Airman Basic.  No orders.  One of my roommates at the time wasn't as lucky–his orders appeared a week after he got home in December, 1983.  He showed the Air Force, though–he went down and joined the Army before the Air Force caught up with him.  Many who knew this guy swore he joined the army only so he could get a good, up close look at an M1 Abrams tank so he could build a superdetailed model of one…

    I hope this finds all of you in good health.  Thanks for reading, and be good to one another.  I bid you Peace.

     

     

  • A Catalina Story

    Any fan of World War Two warbirds knows the Consolidated PBY Catalina/Canso–the ungainly-looking, high wing flying boat/amphibian patrol aircraft.  Well, I made the acquaintance of a few of these aircraft in my career, the first of which was a Boeing-Canada built PBY-5A Canso that the company I worked for acquired back in 1989 or 1990.  She wasn’t much to look at–after the war, she had been modified to what was known as 28-5ACF and was to have been used as a freight hauler or firebomber.  During that change, she had her waist gun blisters replaced with cargo doors, and she had the later “clipper” nose fitted that eliminated the gun turret and window–these modifications removed a lot of the character that made a PBY a PBY.  But I got to do a little avionics work on her, and other than reminding yourself that there are lots of places to bang your shins or whack your head in this old girl (and there are two kinds of people who work around flying boats–those that have knocked their head or shins on something, and those who will!), it was more or less a joy.  Yes, there was oil all around, too–any radial-engined airplane will have a film of oil covering most of the airplane after too long, and this PBY was no exception.

    Doing some research, it seems that my first PBY was a bit of a celebrity.  She was born as Construction Number 22022 and went to the Royal Canadian Air Force as RCAF9793 sometime in 1943.  After the war, she kicked around a bit–she carried, at one time or another, the following registrations: YV-P-APE, OB-LDM-349, HK-996X, HP-289, HR-236, N6108, and TG-BIV.  I knew her as November Five Four Zero Four Juliet.

    One of her claims-to-fame?  She was used by Southern Air Transport for a while, and while under their employ she served as a communications relay aircraft during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion.  To top that, she was also supposedly used in the Pearl Harbor attack movie “Tora Tora Tora!”.  To put the cherry on top of her career, she was used for a time by oceanographer Jacques Cousteau…

    (Do a Google search on “N5404J” and you will get dozens of hits.  Really.  I could post the information here, but I’ve been working one of those weeks of half-days–seven days, twelve hour shifts.  I’m feeling a bit lazy this Sunday…)

    Zero-Four Juliet  stayed with us for a year or so.  I’m not sure what we did to the airplane up until 1990, but there came a time where the maintenance guys went to work doing some sheet metal work.  They were adding seat rails and a passenger floor to the airplane.  They were also re-routing all of the overhead fluid lines–we were told that she was to be ferried to New Zealand, where she would haul passengers, and you can’t have volatile liquids (read: 100 Low Lead Aviation Gasoline, aka 100LL AVGAS).  As it turned out, she was actually going to be brought to New Zealand to be used as a flying museum.  Unfortunately, it would not come to pass–at least, not for Zero Four Juliet.  The airplane left our facility sometime in late 1993.  I heard little about her until a friend told me that she crashed in January 1994 while en route from Hilo, HI to Papeete in French Polynesia.  She sank in the Pacific.  Fortunately, the occupants were rescued.

    A post from The Warbird Information Exchange, which came from The Catalina Group of New Zealand’s website:

    N5404J, serial number 22022, was built by Boeing of Canada and had the RCAF Serial 9793. It was originally a Canso A (PBY-5A) but at the war’s end was modified in Costa Rica to 28-5ACF status. Its blister windows and nose turret were removed, the former replaced with flush hatches; the latter with a “clipper” nose. Registrations have included: YV-P-APE, OB-LDM-349, HK-996X, HP-289, HR-236, N6108, TG-BIV, N5404J.

    It took part in the ill-fated “Bay of Pigs” operation in Cuba during which, while circling the invasion area and operating with the code name “Swan Island”, its mission was to act as a communications relay aircraft. It was also used in making of the film Tora, Tora, Tora, flying in pre-war US Navy colours both as 24-P-4 and 24-P9 representing PBYs from VP-24 based on Ford Island, Pearl Harbour. It was hired at one time by renown marine biologist Jacques Cousteau on one of his ventures (Jacques Cousteau’s son, Philippe was killed in PBY-6A Catalina N101CS –”Flying Calypso” in a water landing accident).           

    N5404J’s last registered owner was The Catalina Company (NZ) Ltd under which the registration ZK-PBY was reserved but never taken up as the aircraft forced landed and sank in mid-Pacific early on January 14, 1994 during a ferry flight to New Zealand. For the whole fascinating story order a copy of Catalina Dreaming from this site today!

    My second encounter with a Catalina happened about the same time–it was the airplane now known as N4NC, and maybe I’ll tell you about it (and other hangar stories) some time…for as Zero Four Juliet was a workhorse, Four November Charlie was a flying yacht.

    There was yet another Catalina I knew, too–N7179Y, a PBY-6A–and (as of September of 2009) she resides in the restoration facility of the Lake Superior Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force.  She was flipped on her back during a storm some 12 years ago.  It is a shame, too–Seven Niner Yankee lived through Hurricane Andrew in 1991 with nary a scratch.  It appears as if they will combine the best parts from Seven Niner Yankee and another PBY-6A.  I haven’t been able to dig up anything more current…

    Thanks for reading, and, as always, I bid you Peace.

  • Spring is here…

    Back when I was a kid living in Florida, the arrival of spring went largely unnoticed.  Face it, when winter temperatures rarely duck below 40 degrees, there isn't that much difference between seasons.  You knew it was Spring when you woke up at 6AM to temperatures in the mid-80's (and humidity to match).  And sure, we lived in Ft. Lauderdale, so there was that big college crowd.  But as a kid, what did I know from Spring Break?  All we knew was that the beach was crowded with a bunch of semi-conscious and half drunk college kids, and a new batch arrived every week, and that went on for about a month and a half.

    Then I went to college in Daytona Beach. 

    Now, Embry-Riddle didn't do a Spring Break as such when I attended, but those of us who were wise would find a way to have our own version of Spring Break.  One year, I had my schedule planned out so that I was done with classes by 2PM every day.  That year saw an amazing stretch of clear, sunny days (from mid-January to nearly April), so that meant I was at the beach no later than 3PM every day…it didn't always work out that way every year, and after a while it got old, but it was fun while it lasted…

    Back in those days, Daytona Beach was a sleepy little Central Florida town most of the year.  Mid-January brought the race fans for the sports car race, the stock car races, and the motorcycle races.  The motorcycle races coincided with Bike Week, one of the largest East Coast gatherings of bikers.  As soon as Bike Week ended (usually early February), the college students began arriving, a new batch every Sunday, until late March or early April.  Towards the end of the college students' run of the town, families started arriving for their own Spring Break.  The town started to go back to normal until late May, when the summer crowd moved in.  And, in late August, the sidewalks were rolled up, the banners welcoming this week's tourist groups came down, and the town went back to sleep for the winter…

    I recall my first Spring Break in Daytona Beach.  My roommates in college at the time were from Panama and the Dominican Republic, and they wanted to see what it was all about.  So off to the beach we headed.  1983 was probably the start of the real big Spring Break festivities in Daytona, and you could tell.  It was a combination circus/party/trade show.  Want to test-drive a brand-new Dodge Shelby Daytona?  There you go–sign up and do it.  Free samples of the latest alcoholic beverage?  Are you 18?  Okay, then, here you go.  Tobacco?  Same deal–you had to be over 18, and they'd give you free samples.  Posters were everywhere, as was a whole bunch of other SWAG (as in Stuff We All Get)–painter's caps emblazoned with the logo of a local bar, sun visors, mugs, hats, you name it.  MTV was there, alerting everyone to their existence–they launched barely a year and a half earlier.  The movie production companies were there, too, advertising the next year's releases–that was  about the time that the movie "Spring Break" was opening in theaters (25 March 1983–the movie was shot on Ft. Lauderdale, and if you look, you'll see "Cobra Wrestling" t-shirts being waved in one of the bar scenes).  Yes, I did manage to get one of the movie posters…don't know what happened to it.

    There were the free concerts, too–Daytona Beach has a bandshell and numerous pool decks, an they got put to good use.  Some of the acts I got to see?  A Flock of Seagulls, The English Beat, The Fixx, Starship, Cheap Trick, Southside Johnny, Four-In-Legion, and Vixen.  (In addition, Embry-Riddle hosted free concerts featuring the likes of Missing Persons and Foghat).  Chances are, if they were popular, you could catch them in concert during Spring Break for free.

    Every year, Spring Break would bring something different.  In the mid-80's, the City Fathers in Ft. Lauderdale began to pass laws that, while not outright bans on Spring Break festivities, put a huge damper on the things that were going to be permitted–this after residents got fed up with the damage done by 'Breakers.  Of course, the city forgot that those two months or so of less-than-societal behaviour put a lot of money into the city's bank account.  Oh, well–their loss was Daytona Beach's gain. 

    In 1986, MTV began live broadcasts from Daytona Beach.  With MTV, Spring Break in Daytona Beach became a big deal.  As the years passed, more people came to town, things got rowdier, and similar to events in Ft. Lauderdale, students died when too much liquor met up with 12th floor balconies overlooking pools.  You know that Redneck joke, "Hey, hold my beer and watch this?"  It was happening more and more frequently.  As the popularity grew, the events drew more traffic, and some partiers died in traffic accidents.  By the mid-1990's, Daytona Beach followed Ft. Lauderdale's lead and passed city ordinances that pretty much put the kibosh on Spring Break.  No matter–new venues like Panama City Beach and South Padre Island, Texas were all too happy to take in the yearly masses of revellers.

    These days, Spring Break is still alive and well.  'Breakers are returning to Ft. Lauderdale and Daytona Beach, although not in the same numbers.  Most students, attracted by low "all-in-one" pricing, low airfares, and liberal drinking laws, are heading to the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Mexican beaches to do their partying.

    But I can say, "I was there when…"

    Oh, and an interesting footnote–for as rowdy as they are portrayed in films and TV, the bikers were actually more polite, more courteous, and friendlier than 99% of the Breakers.  They left the place cleaner, they weren't drunk in public (well, not that often), and they actually exercised self-control.  I guess that's one reason the city welcomes the bikers year after year.

    If you are heading out for Spring Break, enjoy yourself, but be smart.  Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.