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 preserve Harrier history through the stories of the pilots who flew it.
Then it’s time for another listener-submitted “So There I Was” story. Streckan checks in from the airline world with a tale that will sound all too familiar to anyone who’s ever taxied late at night after a long day. What starts as a routine departure in Singapore quickly becomes a lesson in situational awareness when a creeping sense that “something isn’t right” proves to be absolutely correct.
The featured story comes from Marine Harrier pilot “Trainwreck,” whose call sign turns out to be every bit as entertaining as you’d expect. What begins as a deployment story involving Harriers, F-15s, and a healthy dose of fighter-pilot confidence evolves into a series of events that explain exactly how a Marine aviator ends up carrying the nickname “Trainwreck” for the rest of his career. It’s a hilarious, self-deprecating story filled with the kind of good-natured aviation mishaps that make the best sea stories.
From dark taxiways to combat jets, Episode 214 delivers a perfect mix of listener submissions, military aviation history, and laugh-out-loud storytelling. As always, if you’ve got a story that starts with “So There I Was,” we want to hear it.
Then, after our brief thank you notes – a final tribute to the legacy of the Marine Corps’ Harrier aircraft.
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