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About Me Then and Now
My name is Lawrence F. Rodrigues.
My friends call me Larry now, but when I was flying in the Navy airships I was called "Rod".
My first 2 years in the Navy before going to Airship Squadron 3 were spent in the excellent Navy schools.
After I completed Boot Camp (San Diego), the Navy Aviation School (Norman, OK), and Electronics "A" school (Memphis, TN), I was ready for assignment. I was top man in my "A" School class so I had 1st choice of 100 duty assignments worldwide. I picked Airship Squadron 3 (ZP-3 insignia), Lakehurst NAS, New Jersey because being around blimps sounded really exciting. Never dreamed I would be flying in airships so much.
This was me about 1953. I loved to wear that white uniform. It felt so good and so cool - like "real cool". It was reason enough to join the Navy!
Two buddies, Bob Kelly and
Dave Hatloy, also came with me to Airship Squadron 3 (ZP-3). I'm the guy in the middle.
We had a great time living together in the barracks and going on liberty
together. We didn't drink (hardly) but we liked the east coast girls and had girl friends
who we took skating and dancing a lot. That was the era of the "Big Bands"
and I was an excellent ballroom dancer.
Since we were well trained in electronics equipment operation and maintenance,
it didn't take long for us to be put to work in the blimp squadron. Shortly after
assignment we started flying in K-ships as radiomen and operators of the
little radar and sonobouy receivers. What a thrill it was to be on those
first flights in a real Navy blimp.
I can remember the feel of hanging on to the radioman's table and sending the Morse code takeoff report as our blimp climbed at a steep angle. The radioman's seat was a small wooden seat on a swinging arm attached to the bulkhead ("wall", to landlubbers) and would swing back when the airship nosed up. So I had to hang on to a support beam with my left hand, to pull the chair up to the table, and send the code with my right hand. It is strange, but I can still feel those feelings in my arms. I guess the adrenaline at the time imprinted those feelings in my body.
Bob, Dave and I worked hard and continued studying
electronics all the time. Additionally, we went on temporary duty to additional
Navy schools at Norfolk, VA and Memphis TN about every 6 months. Also I can
remember doing correspondence courses when I had the duty and things were
quiet on watch. We had a lot of support from the Chiefs and Officers and
we learned a lot. 
The result was that we all three set some kind of new record
for the squadron when the testing time came for promotions. On both the 2nd
and 1st Class Petty Officer exams we passed on the first try. As a result
we made 1st Class Petty Officer in less than 4 years and on the first enlistment.
That was very rare then, and I gather from present day Navy people, still
is rare.
What a great adventure for a young
guy! I had an exciting job flying in blimps, owned my 1953 Pontiac, was stationed close to
Atlantic City, New York City, and Philadelphia, and had $400 a month to spend
anyway I wanted! What more could I ask for?
I guess the answer to that question was "a wife
and a change of duty for some new adventures". Because that is what I did.
I left the Navy 19 December 1956, got married a few days later to Barbara Mathison, and joined
the Air Force. They gave me equal rank (TSgt.) and flying duty at McClellan
AFB, California in an RC-121 airborne early warning squadron - exactly what
I requested.
I didn't know beans about the Air Force
so they sent me to the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy immediately. I already
was so well trained in electronics that I started flying regular missions
after the NCO Academy. I was a radar technician and flew over 1000 hours
in the "Superconnies". Unlike the Navy technician, who both maintained and
operated the electronics equipment, we Air Force techs just had to keep it
running for the operators. That usually consisted of just preflight testing,
turning it on for the operators after we were on station, and turning if
off at the end of the mission. Our average mission was 12 to 14 hours long
and was exceptionally easy. I mostly read and listened to the Seattle, San
Francisco, or Los Angeles radio stations. After the missions we were encouraged
to go to the physical conditioning unit where we could exercise, shower,
and get a massage after the mission! I never did go there though. I was too
use to those Navy 30 and 40 hour missions. To me a 14 hour connie mission,
mostly just listening to the radio, eating, and drinking soup, was hardly
worth even taking a shower after.
Shown above is the interior of an RC-121. The 116 foot long Superconnie was comfortable to work in, and I especially remember enjoying the flight lunches. I usually threw a can of soup at the radar magnetron when I came aboard. The strong magnets held the soup can on to the hot magnetron and heated the soup to the perfect temperature for drinking when I was ready. I also still get a thrill up my spine recalling the takeoffs. The four huge Wright R-3350 engines, each with 3,400 horsepower, roared and rattled everything as we rolled down the long runway slowly gaining enough speed to lift our 72 tons of electronic equipment, crew, fuel and airplane off the runway. On really hot days it took a lot of runway to get airborne. Very different than flying a blimp!
I flew in the RC-121's for 2 years without much excitement, then went to Officer
Candidate School and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in December, 1959.
I was ready for some changes and that was a big and good change for my wife, Barbara, and 2 year old daughter, Terri. During
the Air Force years as a Communications Electronics Officer, I served 4 years
each in France and Germany with my family, and 1 year in Thule, Greenland, without family. We also were stationed at
Denver, Colorado and Sacramento, California. All assignments were excellent.
Along the way I received two Commendation Medals, earned a B.S. from University of Maryland and a Master of Science Degree from University of Southern California, and was promoted to Major. On June 1, 1973 I retired from the Air Force at age 42.
The family enjoyed the Air Force. Things were very different in civilian
life, though, so the family split up and we all went our separate ways but are good
friends still. (I now have a granddaughter, Amanda.)
From 1975 to 1993 I was an electronics instructor at American
River College, Sacramento, California. I "retired" after 18 years as a full-time instructor but still taught one class about the Internet as a part-time instructor. In 2003 I completely stopped teaching at the college and I have no plans or
time for a third career!
I am now really a senior citizen (DOB 1933)
but feel much younger than I am and never dreamed life could be so good. I think the secret of life is to work hard and always do everything with good intentions. I believe "The hole you make to give through is the same hole you receive through."
Thanks for sharing these memories with me.
-- Aboard A Blimp Hunting U-Boats; A Day Above The Atlantic Reveals Navy Talk And Navy Ways, Creeping Convoys And Torpedoed Wrecks.
-- Airships: A Popular History of Dirigibles, Zeppelins, Blimps, and Other Lighter-Than-Air Craft
-- Adventures of Buddy The Blimp.
-- The complete book of airships: Dirigibles, blimps & hot air balloons.
-- The Blimp Book.
-- Roo Kickkick and the Big Bad Blimp.
-- The Blimp Boys Go to War:
-- Friendly skies for Fujifilm blimp:
-- Blimps & U-Boats: U.S. Navy Airships in the Battle of the Atlantic.
-- Navy Boats and Blimps:
-- Buy me a Blimp!
-- The Story of Flight: Early Flying Machines, Balloons, Blimps, Gliders, Warplanes, and Jets.
-- Blimps Balloons and Bombs.
-- Blimp RAID: Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment system.
-- The Blimp Crew.
-- Manufacturer finds variety of uses for modern blimps.
-- Navy Airships at War.
-- Famous Blimps.
-- Blimp!
-- Blimps in space.
-- Blimps: Flying Machines.
-- On the Move... Blimps
-- Up, Up, and Away!: All About Balloons, Blimps and Dirigibles.
-- Airships in World War I & II:
-- A practical guide to building small gas blimps.
-- AIRSHIPS, A POPULAR HISTORY OF DIRIGIBLES, ZEPPELINS, BLIMPS AND OTHER LIGHTER THAN AIR CRAFT.
-- Battle Blimps at War.
-- Some technical notes on thermal blimps.
-- Navy Airships and Blimps:
-- Footnote to history: Salvage of the USN Blimp K-14
-- Blimps: Big & Beautiful.
-- Mysteries of the Blimp.
-- Blimps & Such.
-- Airships
-- Airship Technology.
-- Airship Aerodynamics:
-- Zeppelins: German Airships 1900-40
-- Warriors Airships and Blimps:
-- The Zeppelin in Combat: A History of the German Naval Airship Division 1912-1918.
-- From Airships to Airbus:
-- Giants in the sky: A history of the rigid airship.
-- Up Ship!: A History of the U.S. Navy's Rigid Airships 1919-1935.
-- Birth of the Blimp:
-- Lighter Than Air: History of Hot-Air Balloons and Airships.
-- Airship Patents:
-- Golden Age of the Great Airships: Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg.
-- When monsters roamed the skies;: The saga of the dirigible airship.
-- Kite Balloons To Airships: The Navy's Lighter-than-air Experience.
-- The Disaster of the Hindenburg: The Last Flight of the Greatest Airship Ever Built.
-- Balloons, Blimps, and Ballast:
-- The Goodyear Blimp Story.
-- Bring On the Blimps!
© 2007 Larry Rodrigues. All rights reserved.