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 pathologic knee fracture, mistaken for arthritis for weeks. Good news — the lesion’s benign, and he’ll be back producing the show soon.

Then things get properly ridiculous. Naval aviator “Vegas” (aka Lieutenant Jones) joins the show. First there’s a reference to a sword salute in his Dress Blues behind a hangar… the full story about that can be heard in our “Blues Brothers Episode 90” then takes the opportunity to relive his Harrier ejection over the Neuse River. During a training hop at VMAT-203, an electronic fuel control failure sparked two engine fires on approach. Buck’s play-by-play (“Vegas, you’re on fire, eject, eject…”) barely finished before Vegas was through the canopy. He landed on a golf course, no green fees required.

Finally, Porky swings by to reminisce about the last public USMC Harrier demo. The guys wrap up with “Get Better Fig.” Thanks to One Skin and DC Artworks for keeping the lights (and occasionally the jets) on.

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 first-ever heavyweight VSTOL launch off an LPH — no computers, no test pilot, just a junior lieutenant, a hazy horizon, and a velocity vector that refused to move. Monster also shares the bookend of his career: selected first to fly the Harrier, and years later, the Marine to retire the Corps’ last A-4.

Next, “Rizzo” takes listeners to Fallujah and Al-Amariyah during the height of the Iraq War. What started as a routine night of illumination runs turned into a low-altitude gun run that blew straight through the 2,000-foot floor — down to 60 feet, right in the alley. The story closes two decades later, when one of the kids who scavenged his spent shell casings tracked him down on Facebook and sent them back as shot glasses.

Two pilots, two eras, one wild ride!

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 Desert Storm. From a midnight “Casablanca” goodbye at Cherry Point to dangerous night tanking with KC‑10s, metal-to-metal probe contact, a thunderstorm with St. Elmo’s fire, and a tense close ID with an Israeli E‑2, Ag’s story is a masterclass in nerve, precision, and naval aviation under pressure.
Segment 2 shifts to DC-style storytelling with Derek from dcartworks.net, the artist behind stunning 3D metal squadron patches, Harrier bottle openers, and custom whiskey glasses. He shares a heart-stopping Afghanistan emergency airdrop in the Korangal Valley—jumping over 16 bundles to fix a ramp/door issue, realizing he’s three feet from the edge with no tether, and facing Taliban fire below. Plus, we uncover how D.C. drove updated tactics and seeker-equipped bombs that prevent the guesswork Harrier pilots endured. Tune in—for service, art, and stories that will stop your heart.