So There I Was . . .

Just a short update to tell you about a very bad crash that Fig survived yesterday – 16 July – but not without some serious injuries and challenges ahead!

This week on So There I Was, we’ve got three stories that cover the full range of aviation life — from Harrier Sundown memories in North Carolina, to an Army helicopter tale that takes a sharp turn – a listener-submitted story that proves the best ones are often the ones we never saw coming. Putty gets us started with a Harrier story that reminds us why these episodes matter: the […]

Hosts RePete and Fig sit down with retired Marine Corps aviator “Maui,” call sign Cobra-31, for a wide-ranging conversation full of Marine Corps pilot war stories spanning three decades of service. Maui grew up on a South Texas farm, played college football at Texas A&I, and commissioned through the Marine PLC program before earning his wings in 1969. He recounts serving under Colonel Don Conroy, the real-life inspiration for The […]

In Episode 218 of So There I Was, Fig & RePete bring listeners two stories recorded live at the Harrier Sundown gathering in North Carolina. First up is “Monster,” one of the earliest Marine aviators selected for the AV-8B Harrier program back in 1984. He recounts the chaos of being handed the first-ever heavyweight VSTOL launch off an LPH — no computers, no test pilot, just a junior lieutenant, a […]

Marine Cobra pilot X-Man joins RePete and Fig to share what it was like to fly attack helicopters in two of the most consequential — and compressed — events of the early 1980s: the invasion of Grenada and the Beirut peacekeeping mission, both in October 1983. X-Man traces his path from building RC model airplanes in Northern Virginia, to a neighbor test pilot who handed him his first ride in […]

This week’s episode was recorded live at King Mackerel’s Beach Tavern Bar & Grill in Moorehead City, NC, right after the historic Harrier Sundown Ceremony at Cherry Point. In Segment 1, call sign Ag—a Texas Aggie and former Harrier XO—takes you on an unforgettable journey crossing the Atlantic to Desert Storm. From a midnight “Casablanca” goodbye at Cherry Point to dangerous night tanking with KC‑10s, metal-to-metal probe contact, a thunderstorm […]

Marine Harrier pilot stories usually start in a cockpit. This one starts with a Navy recruiter blocking a hallway. Wait, what? Actually, Buggsy walked into the recruiting station to join the Marines. The Marine recruiter was out PT-ing. Consequently, a “fast-talking squid in his Good Humor uniform” signed him up for the Navy instead. It worked out. Buggsy turned wrenches on A-6 Intruders with VA-75, the Sunday Punchers. He launched […]

Episode 214 is packed with everything that makes aviation storytelling great: close calls, call signs, Harrier legends, and plenty of laughs along the way. Fig and RePete kick things off by reflecting on their trip to the AV-8B Harrier Sundown celebration at MCAS Cherry Point, marking the end of an iconic chapter in Marine Corps aviation. The guys share some behind-the-scenes thoughts from the event and discuss future plans to […]

The stories told by Marine Corps aviators who flew during the Vietnam War are the kind that make younger pilots stop mid-sip and listen in absolute awe. In Episode 213, Fig and RePete have the immense honor of sitting down with retired Colonel Bill Wehrung, “Horny” — an 87-year-old Naval Academy graduate, Marine A-4 Skyhawk driver, Vietnam combat veteran, and a living piece of aviation history. From flying before NATOPS […]

It starts with a simple aviation truth: the procedures matter because the aircraft do not care about your confidence. Consequently, Fig & RePete walk through how a bad rejoin, a bad angle, and bad timing can stack up fast. They also talk through why four aviators got out alive, which is the best ending any bad day can ask for.Actually, the episode does not stay in one lane for long. […]