PODCAST · leisure
So There I Was
by 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 Squadron VMA‑223 flying the AV‑8B Harrier II. Both have since gone on to careers in the majors. Realizing that they are around the most accomplished professionals in aviation with amazing stories to tell, they decided these stories are too good to be kept quiet. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll laugh until you cry, but you’ll never be bored!
Episodes
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Clara Ship! Episode 234
“Clara Ship” is what A-6 Intruder pilot Duker radioed when he couldn’t even see the carrier. Forget the ball. He couldn’t find the boat. Duker went from zero stick time to Navy jets through ROTC at USC. In flight school, food poisoning hit so hard his instructors debated flying him home in a...
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Unbreakable Wings Episode 233
Navy P-3 pilot Derek "DA" Adametz beat a collapsed lung and Hodgkin's lymphoma, then fought the waiver board all the way to squadron command.
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If You're Gonna Blow Up Episode 232
F-100 pilot Ike flew 195 combat missions with an iron sight and nerves of steel. He takes us from night close air support to a 50-pound-fuel landing to the 1986 Libya raid.
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Guns Are Where It's At Episode 231
Retired Marine Lt. Col. Tim "Monk" Miller nearly punched out mid-nap over Ramadi, then built the Strike Fighter League, where guns are where it's at.
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Rope Trick Episode 230
Vietnam-era Huey pilot RoadRunner joins RePete and Kemo for combat missions, near-disasters, and the Rope Trick — a Thailand R&R story he never fully explains.
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A Thousandth of an Inch of Trouble Episode 229
A Thousandth of an Inch of Trouble is all that stood between one airline crew and an on-time departure. Actually, it was a worn brake wear pin, measured down to the thousandth, that a mechanic waved off as “technically good to go.” This week’s episode is a lighter one. It’s just Fig and RePete…
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Semper Gumby: Remembering Sticks Episode 228
This week's episode honors Coast Guard rescue pilot John "Sticks" Hall with his brother-in-law's eulogy and son Tyler's letter, plus a night-divert tale from Stretch off the USS Midway.
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I Never Exceeded 5' Episode 227
5 Feet — that’s the altitude Roadrunner held on a self-appointed decoy mission in Vietnam, and it’s the heart of Episode 227. It’s also the reason he walked away with a Bronze Star. This week, RePete and Fig welcome Chuck Howard, callsign Roadrunner. He flew with the 175th Assault Helicopter...
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Semper Paratus, Farewell Sticks Episode 226
Farewell Sticks is the hardest episode we’ve ever had to record. On August 20th, we lost our friend, producer, and co-host John “Sticks” Hall in a small plane crash near Bristol, Maine. His son Tyler was flying with him and survived with minor injuries. We’re not speculating on cause. Actually,...
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Flight Path: He Who Dies with the Most Laugh Wrinkles Wins Episode 225
Retired C-141 pilot and author Chill-Rob McD joins Fig and RePete for a night of Starlifter chaos: a Dutch roll at 35,000 feet, a mid-air fight with a runaway yaw damper, and a landing that ends in blown tires and a fifty-foot wall of flame. Add a gunpoint landing fee off the coast of Africa, a...
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Race to the Shear Switch Episode 224
Race to the Shear Switch is exactly what it sounds like. You either cut the cable, or the cable decides your night for you. On Episode 224, retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot Larry Hall makes that call for real. Actually, this episode opens rough. Co-host Fig joins fresh off a highway wreck,...
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Coasties in Space Episode 223
This week's Coast Guard aviation stories come courtesy of a special guest co-host: Deuce, a newly retired Coast Guard aviator (and, briefly, the service's senior space attorney). Sticks and Bago hold down the fort while Deuce walks through the Coast Guard's oddball, everything-service mission set…
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Seeing it Through Episode 222
An update on Fig's serious crash and injuries and an AMAZING story of heroism under fire in Vietnam!
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Lt. Jones Needs a Ride Episode 221
RePete opens the show and a call with Sticks about buying an airplane. Apparently, Sticks needed an airplane-shaped hole in his finances! Before that, two quick health check-ins: Fig is nursing an eye injury (prescription: beach time, not flight time). Meanwhile, Bago is recovering from a...
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Fig's Health Update
Fig was involved in a serious crash on Thursday - 16 July. A Short update on his condition.
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Putty, Lawman, Gallo and Candyman Episode 220
Putty talks Camp Bastion Attack in Sept of 2012, Lawman describes the most legitimate ejection ever made and Candyman talks traffic tickets in a war zone!
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Put a Booger on the Winshield Episode 219
Marine Corps aviator Maui (call sign Cobra-31) joins RePete and Fig for stories spanning three decades of naval aviation: serving under Colonel Don Conroy — the real-life inspiration for The Great Santini — flying Huey gunships out of Marble Mountain, a hair-raising New Year's Eve medevac…
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Harrier Sundown: Monster and Rizzo’s Stories Episode 218
In Episode 218 of So There I Was, Fig & RePete bring listeners two stories recorded live at the Harrier Sundown gathering in North Carolina. First up is "Monster," one of the earliest Marine aviators selected for the AV-8B Harrier program back in 1984. He recounts the chaos of being handed the...
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We Declined to Apologize for Returning Fire Episode 217
Marine Cobra pilot X-Man flew combat in both Grenada and Beirut — in the same month. He walks RePete and Fig through his path from a test pilot neighbor in Northern Virginia to the cockpit of an AH-1, the Grand Anse campus rescue operation, and a Beirut rules-of-engagement situation where the…
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Crossing the Pond: No, Really! Episode 216
This week’s episode was recorded live at King Mackerel’s Beach Tavern Bar & Grill in Moorehead City, NC, right after the historic Harrier Sundown Ceremony at Cherry Point. In Segment 1, call sign Ag—a Texas Aggie and former Harrier XO—takes you on an unforgettable journey crossing the Atlantic to...
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Scrape a Hole and Hang On: Buggsy's on Welded Wing Episode 215
Buggsy joins us to talk Flight school, Joining the Navy, Flying Harriers, Sundown Ceremony and more!
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Trainwreck Episode 214
A near mid-ground collision by Strecken and
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Don't Bother Logging It Episode 213
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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Belly Up on Lead: The Growler Midair Episode 212
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
Brain joins us to talk Flight School, Harriers, Drones and F-35s! Funny, touching... Don't miss this Great American!
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I Flew Through the Afterburner Plume 'cuz I Heard It Episode 210
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...
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Get Out of Burner, Bro! Episode 209
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...
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New Life for YL-37 Episode 208
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...
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The Boy on the Fence Became the Boss Episode 207
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...
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You're Marginally in Control & in Charge of Nothing Episode 206
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...
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That's Not Our Runway! Episode 205
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...
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Untethered Episode 204
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...
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I Can’t Even Spell Jumpseat Episode 203
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...
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Nasty's Worst Day in the Navy Episode 202
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…
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He Heard Me Go By Episode 201
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...
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Royce Williams Medal of Honor: 1v7 MiG Dogfight Episode 200
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…
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Slightly Disappointed They Didn't Shoot At Us Episode 199
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…
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Never Relax When Things Are Going Well Episode 198
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…
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John Steinbeck’s Ecstacy Leak Episode 197
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...
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The Beginning of My Crime Spree Episode 196
Welcome to a sobering and powerful episode of So There I Was. This week, we explore incredible Hanoi Hilton survival stories with retired Navy Captain Mike "Masher" McGrath. Beyond the technical skill of flying an A-4 Skyhawk, Masher details the sheer mental grit required to survive six years of...
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Drop & Give Me 1 Episode 195
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...
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Pushing Tin Episode 194
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...
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Ready, Sleep, Now Episode 193
New Year’s Eve, no guest, and somehow the cockpit still turns into a full-blown sitcom. Fig & RePete kick off with a takeoff that goes sideways at V1 when “rotate” gets called… and apparently translated into “stare blankly into the void.” From there, it’s the perfect hangout episode: Top Gun...
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That's All She's Got Episode 192
This week's So There I Was episode is a Hangout -- that happens when you put pilots, controllers, and a few proud troublemakers in the same virtual room and hit “record.” We swap the kind of stories that never fit in a checklist: a Harrier night recovery that ended six inches from a very bad day…
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Just Trying to Keep This from Becoming a Musical Episode 191
This is what happens when you put a Navy Tomcat legend behind a camera and let him tell the story his way. Heater takes us from KC-135 tanker ops with that infamous hard hose, to the kind of “how’d-you-do-that?” plug where he’s steady on the basket and still managing to grab photos mid-refuel.…
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Turns Like a Racquetball Off a Wall Episode 190
This week's sponsor: Antigravity A1 Drone. Learn more at sothereiwas.us/antigravity Episode 190 is what happens when you hand the mic to Captain CJ “Heater” Healy and then just try to keep up. Heater takes us from a childhood obsession with WWII airplanes to roller-coaster “G-training,” to...
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A Little Slice of Hell Episode 189
In this week’s episode of So There I Was, Ike joins us with stories so wild they make the Quigley, Beirut, and Cherry Point weather sound like minor inconveniences. We open with Ike casually mentioning that he once found himself upside-down over the North Atlantic at night — because of course he...
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Frankentanker Episode 188
B-2 stealth bomber test pilot Sparky joins So There I Was to explain why the world’s sneakiest bomber still can’t go direct to Liberal, Kansas without a paperwork migraine. From “switches up, auto missile, eat a sandwich” bomb runs to 24-hour missions fueled by go-pills, honey buckets, and a...
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Switch Up, Auto Missile, Eat a Sandwich Episode 187
Strap in, because Sparky’s ride from the C-17 to the B-2 is basically the aviation version of “What could possibly go wrong?” — except when everything did go wrong, and somehow nobody died. We open with Sparky nearly spearing aPassenger Airliner 737 at FL280 when the T-38’s pitot-static system...
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Compressor Stalls and Varsity Jets Episode 186
So There I Was dives into the UPS MD-11 crash, compressor stalls, and why some jets are “varsity airplanes." Fig kicks things off with a flaming T-45 compressor stall story, then we walk through what we know so far about the UPS MD-11 crash, V1 decision speed, startle factor, and why “no fast...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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 Squadron VMA‑223 flying the AV‑8B Harrier II. Both have since gone on to careers in the majors. Realizing that they are around the most accomplished professionals in aviation with amazing stories to tell, they decided these stories are too good to be kept quiet. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll laugh until you cry, but you’ll never be bored!
HOSTED BY
Chuck Newton and Pete Harmon
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does So There I Was have?
So There I Was currently has 238 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is So There I Was about?
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...
How often does So There I Was release new episodes?
So There I Was publishes regularly with 238 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to So There I Was?
You can listen to So There I Was on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts So There I Was?
So There I Was is created and hosted by Chuck Newton and Pete Harmon.
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