General Discussion

served on the last wooden ship built by the Navy which was used as a training ship at the turn of the century. It was built for the Civil War but apparently finished too late so it was used in Brooklyn Harbor. Why they wanted a wooden training ship in 1900 amazed me. But then, in the early '70s, they were still building destroyers with wood wheels. Probably so the captain could have a nice picture of himself steering the ship as he fought to keep it on course during a big storm. I saw one of those ships under construction when I was in the A.F. The wheel was connected to a small electronic circuit and the only force the captain would have to push against would be an adjustable potentiometer.

The only thought in my mind was what the A.F. would look like with fighter pilots wearing goggles and scarves in their closed canopies while flying supersonic.