Never knew the 'ol days, but for some reason I miss them.... Wasn't a seven year old in those stands that didn't go to bed that night dreaming about being a pilot....
The old days were great, trust me, I was there.

For a lot of reasons we just did things differently and the jobs done got done anyway we could get them done. Good times!
However, I remember a guy, Jim Ka… who did a canopy roll in an A4 over a COD and got dressed down pretty good. COD pilot phoned it in. I was in the line shack when it happened. Ugly crap from a do nothing, know nothing XO.
Ended up Jim transferred to the air force, did a couple more tours in Nam flying Thud’s, and the navy lost a good pilot. He was a great guy, a good officer, and from what I’d heard a good stick. A4’s might know him, not sure. (Not gonna spell the rest of his last name though. We haven’t spoken on the phone for about 15 years.)
This incident well so what…. no body died, and the public loved it… What a great fly by! You guys gonna say you’ve never broken the rules?
We did all the time… That’s how we got shit done.
Steve