STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
And there we were over Mount Signal going 500 m.p.h.
Upside down.
This reporter (Mike James) was given a ride by one of the Blue Angels this morning.
The crack Navy precision flying team will be the stars of the open house to be held at the Naval Air Facility tomorrow to mark its 25th anniversary.
Lt. Dave Rotterging is the Blue Angels’ narrator and public affairs officer.
One of his assignments is to give newsmen nice, brisk little rides to give them some idea of what the pilots do during the precision flying demonstrations. Well, some of the things, anyway.
We were strapped into Lt. Rottgering’s Grumman F9 Cougar at 10 a.m.
The other Blue Angels fly Grumman F11 Tigers, but the Cougar is a two-seat plane and there is room for a reporter in the back.
The strapping in it is far more complex than fighter planes used to be, but then so is the rest of the aircraft. We were informed that in case something unfortunate should happen, we were to reach back and yank a ring with our left hand, and then reach over and yank another ring with both hands. This would result in being ejected from the plane. (Comforting, though not terribly to know that the Navy was all that concerned.)
40 years ago
A representative from the County Counsel’s office distributed financial disclosure statements to a somewhat hostile Imperial Valley College board Wednesday in an instruction session on how to fill out the forms.
The forms are part of a conflict of interest code adopted for the college last month by the Board of Supervisors after the IVC trustees refused to consider one.
After a 30-minute public session, the board spent about 90 minutes in executive session with Tina Dyer, the county counsel’s representative.
Several trustees have said previously they would resign their posts rather than complying with financial disclosure.
Dyer told the board, “If you do not wish to file, you must resign before the code becomes effective” or else statements would have to be submitted upon leaving office.