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PODCAST

So There I Was

Chuck Newton and Pete Harmon

So There I Was” is a weekly aviation podcast and YouTube show featuring true pilot stories from fighter pilots, airline captains, helicopter pilots, and other military and civilian aviators. “So – There I was.” It’s how ALL great aviation tales begin! Join hosts Fig and Repete as they bring in some great aviation raconteurs to relate the glamorous, hilarious, poignant, tragic, and incredible tales of aviation. Fig and Repete met more than 30 years ago as Marine Attack pilots in Marine Attack

leisure aviation

All Episodes

1:24:13

Don't Bother Logging It Episode 213

So There I Was ·

2026/05/28

Col Bill Wehrung - Horny sits with us to talk Naval Academy, Marine Aviation - including 235 combat missions in Vietnam, getting hit twice and an amazing career spanning 3 decades... starting before Safety Standards were a 'thing!'

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34:35

Belly Up on Lead: The Growler Midair Episode 212

So There I Was ·

2026/05/21

Fig & RePete go over several aviation topics - including the F/A-18 Growler Mid Air collision in Mountain Home Idaho, last week.

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I Can't Run That Far Episode 211

So There I Was ·

2026/05/14

Brain joins us to talk Flight School, Harriers, Drones and F-35s! Funny, touching... Don't miss this Great American!

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1:46:04

I Flew Through the Afterburner Plume 'cuz I Heard It...

So There I Was ·

2026/05/07

Bonk, Top Gun, Marine MAWTS-1 and Test Pilot Stories kick off with him bobbing in the Pacific after less than 500 flight hours in total flight time! Actually, that’s just the warmup.This week on So There I Was, Fig and RePete sit down with Bonk, a former Test Pilot School graduate, Top Gun instructor, and MAWTS pilot whose career somehow became more insane every decade. One minute he’s failing eye exams. Consequently, he almost misses aviation entirely. The next minute he’s disconnecting A-4 flight

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1:34:51

Get Out of Burner, Bro! Episode 209

So There I Was ·

2026/04/30

This week kicks off with Kemo back in the saddle, and it goes sideways immediately!Actually, this one starts fast. No warmup. No easing in. Just straight into stories that make you stop and go, wait… what? Kemo’s back. And if you’ve heard him before, you already know this is going to be ridiculous. If you haven’t—well, buckle up. This is one of those episodes where the stories don’t just escalate… they stack. First, we get into how his name came to be. Sounds simple, right? It’s not. Then somehow

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1:33:31

New Life for YL-37 Episode 208

So There I Was ·

2026/04/23

Doober comes back to tell of his acquisition of former US Marine Corps H-34 helicopter, YL-37. The helicopter restoration story starts with a mission that sounds simple. It is not. Actually, it quickly turns into a “wait, what?” situation.This episode picks up with Doober and the ongoing saga of bringing YL-37 back from the brink. The aircraft is not just old. It is stubborn. Furthermore, every step forward seems to uncover two new problems. At first, it looks manageable. Then reality shows up

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1:24:12

The Boy on the Fence Became the Boss Episode 207

So There I Was ·

2026/04/16

This is part two with Al Cisneros, and this time, it opens in a hurry. No notice. Grab the jet. Haul critical intel. Get it to Saigon—fast.Actually, what starts as a straightforward courier mission quickly takes on weight. The tasking is urgent, the stakes are real, and the realization hits that this flight matters far beyond just flying from point A to point B. Furthermore, that opening story sets the tone for the entire episode. From there, the conversation expands into a full career arc. Early

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1:03:29

You're Marginally in Control & in Charge of Nothing...

So There I Was ·

2026/04/09

This episode drops you straight into one of those situations pilots train for—but hope never happens. A routine mission turns serious fast when the fuel state stops being a number and starts becoming a problem. Not a “tight on gas” problem. A zero fuel over hostile territory problem. And now the math matters. Range, burn rate, options… none of them look good.As the situation unfolds, you’ll hear how quickly cockpit priorities shift. There’s no room for denial. Gauges are questioned. Assumptions get

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58:52

That’s Not Our Runway! Episode 205

So There I Was ·

2026/04/02

Fig & RePete kick back for a raw hangar-talk session unpacking aviation’s razor edge: LaGuardia runway crash layers failing Swiss-cheese style, sim freezes hiding ghost jets, and C-130 crews lining up on the wrong damn strip packed with paratrooper Chinooks. Lessons learned? Night viz traps, CRM meltdowns, bozo announcements, and “shut up, navigator” tricks that nearly sparked war’s biggest fireball—plus hand-on-head foul-deck signals and trainee controller fumbles. Irreverent, technically sharp

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1:21:23

Untethered Episode 204

So There I Was ·

2026/03/26

The C-130 flight engineer is a disappearing breed. However, the stories remain.In this episode of So There I Was, DC pulls back the curtain on high-stakes aircrew life. We explore the Air National Guard culture and the “routine” moments that turn sideways. Why is the Flight Engineer being phased out? We discuss what is lost when a computer replaces a human eye. We also spend some time chatting about DCArtworks – Online at DCArtworks.Net – DC is a sponsor of our show and

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1:38:09

I Can’t Even Spell Jumpseat Episode 203

So There I Was ·

2026/03/19

Naval aviation stories rarely go as planned. This episode of So There I Was features Matt “Taco” Bell sharing his wildest moments… This episode of So There I Was delivers multiple “wait, what?” moments from Matt “Taco” Bell, from getting in trouble over a low transition (yeah… that didn’t go well), to realizing just how terrifying it is to be the instructors’ instructor in Kingsville, to being “in the barrel” at night trying to get aboard the boat. And talk about a small world?!?

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59:51

Nasty’s Worst Day in the Navy Episode 202

So There I Was ·

2026/03/12

Nasty’s worst day Navy starts when a young Tomcat hopeful hears “you’re a qual” on the radio, then “you’re a disqual” at the ladder. Consequently, that gut punch on the Lex knocks his timeline off, pairs him with Bug Roach, and quietly sets the stage to help save two lives later. Actually, he walks from Key West heartbreak in a TA-4J Skyhawk to the bridge of Nimitz, with failures, promotions, and a near-buoy strike with an admiral watching. Furthermore, he digs into rules of engagement over

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56:43

He Heard Me Go By Episode 201

So There I Was ·

2026/03/05

He Heard Me Go By pilot story comes from Navy pilot Stretch Curran, who flew the massive A-3 / EA-3 Skywarrior “Whale,” the largest jet routinely launched from aircraft carriers.In Episode 201 of So There I Was, Stretch joins us for a wide-ranging hangar-talk conversation about flying the Whale from carriers, the realities of multi-crew naval aviation, and the kind of moments that make pilots stop talking for a second. Furthermore, Stretch describes launching at night from USS Midway when an

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Royce Williams Medal of Honor: 1v7 MiG Dogfight...

So There I Was ·

2026/02/26

Royce Williams Medal of Honor recipient joins the show to recount a legendary tale. Imagine bringing a knife to a gunfight. In this case, the knife is a subsonic F9F Panther. Furthermore, the guns are seven Soviet MiG-15s. This was just a typical Tuesday for Captain Royce Williams. In this episode, we unpack a 35-minute dogfight hidden for half a century. The government kept it secret to avoid a “diplomatic risk.” Consequently, we dive into how Royce used his underpowered jet like

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1:48:21

Slightly Disappointed They Didn't Shoot At Us Episode...

So There I Was ·

2026/02/19

This aviation podcast episode explores real pilot stories, flight safety lessons, and ATC coordination. We dive into the extreme demands of flying high-performance military aircraft like the SR-71 Blackbird. SR-71 pilot stories don’t get much better than this. On this episode of So There I Was, we sit down with BC Thomas. As the highest-time SR-71 Blackbird pilot in history, BC discusses Mach-3 flying and flight test insanity. He shares the kind of aviation decision-making that only happens at

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2:25:41

Never Relax When Things Are Going Well Episode 198

So There I Was ·

2026/02/12

Discover gripping F-106 pilot stories, test pilot emergencies, and aviation safety lessons from a career pushing airplanes—and luck—to the brink.Buckle up for Da Benj’s wild ride from F-106 ice-breaking sonic booms over frozen Lake Superior to praying “Please God, don’t let me F-up” in the cockpit of the Douglas Aircraft ‘Bird of Prey’—because who straps an Air Force test pilot into a company-funded tech demo that flies like a drunk penguin? This aviation legend spills absurd tales of

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19:52

John Steinbeck’s Ecstacy Leak Episode 197

So There I Was ·

2026/02/05

In 1967, legendary author John Steinbeck climbed into a Huey helicopter over Vietnam—and what he wrote afterward was so raw, so strange, and so brutally honest that it still messes with pilots and historians today. This episode dives into the Vietnam War helicopter experience through Steinbeck’s eyes: the sound, the fear, the weird calm, and the “ecstasy” of combat aviation that only those who’ve strapped into a military aircraft truly understand.We unpack what happens when a world-class writer

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The Beginning of My Crime Spree Episode 196

So There I Was ·

2026/01/29

The Beginning of My Crime Spree sounds like a joke—until Captain Mike “Masher” McGrath explains how survival inside the Hanoi Hilton sometimes meant quietly breaking the rules.In this episode of So There I Was, Masher, a retired US Navy A-4 Skyhawk and A-7 Corsair pilot, recounts flying 179 combat missions over Vietnam before being shot down in 1967 and spending nearly six years as a Prisoner of War in Hanoi. He shares firsthand stories of resistance, resilience, and the subtle “crimes” POWs

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1:44:50

Drop & Give Me 1 Episode 195

So There I Was ·

2026/01/22

So there I was… five miles from the runway at Stansted, flaps moving from 35 to 50 on an MD-11, when the airplane abruptly rolled to nearly 60 degrees of bank on short final. That’s not a metaphor. That actually happened.In this episode of So There I Was, Fig and RePete sit down with Chubbs, a Guard fighter pilot turned FedEx check airman, for a master-class in aviation storytelling, decision-making, and pure “how did we survive that?” moments. From a flap literally departing the aircraft and

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1:29:37

Pushing Tin Episode 194

So There I Was ·

2026/01/15

In this episode of So There I Was, Fig and RePete are joined by Kemo and they sit down with two air traffic controllers to talk about what pilots never see — and rarely understand — on the other side of the mic. From go-arounds that mean “you’re not trying hard enough,” to near-miss moments that make an entire tower pucker, this conversation pulls back the curtain on how airspace actually gets managed.Along the way, we dig into controller training timelines that rival military pipelines, staffing

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236 results

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