And to the surprise of many, I still have them!

The downsizing of the Navy continues. The Captain’s gig is going the way of teak plank flight decks and AvGas.

Carrier skippers are losing a traditional status symbol under a Navy directive issued in January. The captain’s gig, the motorboat set aside to ferry commanding officers to shore when their ships are anchored away from land, is being phased out of the fleet.

Under a directive issued by Naval Air Forces, all 11 carriers will be required to turn in their captain’s gigs before June 30, 2009. “Removal of the captain’s gig will reduce maintenance costs and free up valuable hangar bay space,” the message reads.

Despite never having ridden one I’ll miss them. Another long standing tradition becomes “Old Navy”.

Midland Air Show

To whet your appetite, here are some of the items as of this morning (more are on the way):

Of particular interest to this crowd might be an out-of-print edition of a book about the B-17, and a high-quality, rare model of an F/A-18C.

There’s also a Chris Muir original, three autographed books by Richard S. Lowry, and a very a special book not yet available to the public–Small Unit Actions.

And there is one very special item that I want to highlight: an extraordinary quilt [click to enlarge].

This quilt was designed and sewn by a former member of the Air Force, now a National Guard spouse. Echoing a missing man formation (the “missing” member is actually quilted in a ghostly gray), it is entitled “Gone But Not Forgotten.”

She writes:

Gone, But Not Forgotten is a 54″x59″ wall hanging/lap quilt. I have had several requests to script the title on the quilt as shown along with names of a few fallen members and will honor this request for the winner if they so choose. Although not strictly a missing man formation, it is meant to show the missing are not forgotten and although the quilting is not easy to see in the picture, there is a Bald Eagle quilted in the missing spot along with contrails from all the Bald Eagles.

You can bid on this beautiful quilt here.

And if you have an item of your own you’d like to put up for auction to benefit Valour-IT, you can click here and sign up.

(More)

Oh, did I mention there is a poll there too?

- SJS

Think before you flush! (Thank you Chap, and special thanks to Mary Kate!)

-SJBill

But this blog is about the military and aviation (mostly), right?  Why did I bring up a car?

Because it looked like this.

Little Green Footballs has a link to a video showing the process, as well as a Yahoo News article.

I know it’s for the best, and we’re doing it for the right reason, but it still makes me sad that we’re destroying these icons of Naval Aviation.  Sure, museums will have them on static display for us to look at, touch and even sit in, but I doubt that any of us will ever get to see these ungainly but oddly beautiful birds in the air again.

That’s a shame, really. 

- SJS