9/11

September 11 is a peculiarly apt day to begin the study of War in the Modern World.

Five years ago today, I was flying this 1946 Piper Cub from Hampton Airfield to Lake Winnipesaukee, intending to make a circle around the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was a gorgeous day, blue sky, not a cloud, little wind. An hour into the flight, over Alton Bay, I heard on the radio that another pilot was being called back to his airport because all traffic in the United States was grounded. I landed at a nearby airport and there began the new world that had just been introduced to us. I wrote about this experience at the Piper Cub Forum.

In 2003, I finished that flight on the second anniversary of 9/11. I'd hoped to repeat it every 9/11 thereafter, but the weather doesn't always cooperate.

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford