Wayne Fox's Blog
July 18, 2021
My history
I was born in Illinois on October 12, 1931. As a small child, we moved to Sumner, Iowa where I lived most of my younger life. I joined the Navy in January 1951 as an enlisted man. In October 1951, I was selected for pilot training, receiving my wings and commission in April 1953. I flew WWII prop fighter while in training and transferred to jet fighters when I joined the fleet. I was on active duty for seven and a quarter years and held the rank of a Senior Lieutenant (corresponds to a Captain in the other services). When I returned home, I married Lynne Driscoll. We had three children. Jodi, Bob, and Laura. I have five grandchildren, Joesph, Alex, Jesse, Maria, and Max. My wife of 46 years passed away in 2009. I never remarried. I was in private business until I retired in 1994.
As an author, I have written eight books. The first, "A Time To Remember," was later revised and republished as "Come Fly With Me." It is nonfiction about my time in the Navy. What I wrote about is true. I could not remember the fine details of some of the happenings since some 60 years have passed and dimmed my memory to some of the details. I have tried to be as accurate as possible. The names are the real names of the men I wrote about unless I felt it prudent not to do so. The next six books are fiction, based on my experiences and acquired knowledge
The transition from prop fighters to jet fighters and the modernization of aircraft carriers took place in much of this time period. The price was costly in terms of pilots lost. I lost many close friends, including a best friend, even though we were not at war. I was in six accidents, two in prop planes and four in jets. I was injured in one of the jet accidents, but survived where I should not have.
As mentioned above, I served as an enlisted man for approximately nine months. I was released from that duty and immediately entered into the Naval Aviation Cadet program for pilot training. This lasted for another one and a half years. The war in Korea had been going on this entire time but ended right after I received my wings and commission and had orders to a fighter squadron VF-91. I met and became friends with some of the finest men I have ever know. I regretfully left the Navy after seven and a quarter years. The injuries I had received, and lack of a degree, I felt would be a liability in the long run. In my last fifteen months of service, I was grounded for approximately four and a half months because of injuries. In later years I did receive a disability rating for my injuries. In my time in the Navy, I did have 2,000 hours of flight time and over 4,000 landings. I was active as a staff instructor in the training command, training new instructors. I was also on a team of three pilots to evaluate a new jet trainer, the TT-1 Pinto for the Navy. I experienced an engine failure on takeoff on my 22nd flight in the TT-1 and received injuries in the ensuing crash into a heavily wooded area. Beyond all odds, I did survive and returned to flying after I recovered. Just prior to my release from active duty, I was offered a tryout to fly with the Blue Angels. I declined because it would have prolonged my release from active duty. I had experience in this type of flying with a low-level flight demonstration in a T-34 at a show with the Blue Angels. I will always regret that decision. Later I was a consultant to authors on a book about pilot training after WWII, "The Right Kind Of Stuff." I spent three years in the training command, two as a staff instructor at the school for new instructors and standardization of training. As mentioned, I did help in the evaluation of a new trainer being considers for use. In this capacity, I did fly the TT-1 and Air Force T-37 jet trainers.
My other six books, "Tailhook Pilot," "Tailhook Pilot-II," "Some where Along The Way," "Beyond Tomorrow," "Needle, Ball, and Alcohol," and "Time After Time" are based on fiction. The first two are in the WWII time period with the next two in the Korean and Vietnam war period. The last two are sometime later. I did fly the WWII fighters and early jet fighter that are in these books. This has given me the knowledge to write in a factual manner. I regret that I was not with my friends in Vietnam. My faith in God picked me up when I stumbled. I am thankful, however, that I never had to take any lives.
Wayne Fox
As an author, I have written eight books. The first, "A Time To Remember," was later revised and republished as "Come Fly With Me." It is nonfiction about my time in the Navy. What I wrote about is true. I could not remember the fine details of some of the happenings since some 60 years have passed and dimmed my memory to some of the details. I have tried to be as accurate as possible. The names are the real names of the men I wrote about unless I felt it prudent not to do so. The next six books are fiction, based on my experiences and acquired knowledge
The transition from prop fighters to jet fighters and the modernization of aircraft carriers took place in much of this time period. The price was costly in terms of pilots lost. I lost many close friends, including a best friend, even though we were not at war. I was in six accidents, two in prop planes and four in jets. I was injured in one of the jet accidents, but survived where I should not have.
As mentioned above, I served as an enlisted man for approximately nine months. I was released from that duty and immediately entered into the Naval Aviation Cadet program for pilot training. This lasted for another one and a half years. The war in Korea had been going on this entire time but ended right after I received my wings and commission and had orders to a fighter squadron VF-91. I met and became friends with some of the finest men I have ever know. I regretfully left the Navy after seven and a quarter years. The injuries I had received, and lack of a degree, I felt would be a liability in the long run. In my last fifteen months of service, I was grounded for approximately four and a half months because of injuries. In later years I did receive a disability rating for my injuries. In my time in the Navy, I did have 2,000 hours of flight time and over 4,000 landings. I was active as a staff instructor in the training command, training new instructors. I was also on a team of three pilots to evaluate a new jet trainer, the TT-1 Pinto for the Navy. I experienced an engine failure on takeoff on my 22nd flight in the TT-1 and received injuries in the ensuing crash into a heavily wooded area. Beyond all odds, I did survive and returned to flying after I recovered. Just prior to my release from active duty, I was offered a tryout to fly with the Blue Angels. I declined because it would have prolonged my release from active duty. I had experience in this type of flying with a low-level flight demonstration in a T-34 at a show with the Blue Angels. I will always regret that decision. Later I was a consultant to authors on a book about pilot training after WWII, "The Right Kind Of Stuff." I spent three years in the training command, two as a staff instructor at the school for new instructors and standardization of training. As mentioned, I did help in the evaluation of a new trainer being considers for use. In this capacity, I did fly the TT-1 and Air Force T-37 jet trainers.
My other six books, "Tailhook Pilot," "Tailhook Pilot-II," "Some where Along The Way," "Beyond Tomorrow," "Needle, Ball, and Alcohol," and "Time After Time" are based on fiction. The first two are in the WWII time period with the next two in the Korean and Vietnam war period. The last two are sometime later. I did fly the WWII fighters and early jet fighter that are in these books. This has given me the knowledge to write in a factual manner. I regret that I was not with my friends in Vietnam. My faith in God picked me up when I stumbled. I am thankful, however, that I never had to take any lives.
Wayne Fox
