JT Rethke
I developed a life-long fascination and love of aviation somewhere between the age of 6 and 7 when I looked up over our South Dakota farm and saw the contrails of the huge Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers overhead. As I got older my fascination and love of aviation has only grown. I enjoy sharing with my readers the multitude of my many varied aviation experiences and the opportunities aviation has presented me. I realize that aviation is still evolving to this day and beyond. Who knows what the future holds?
“South To Alaska; What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” is my first book, a memoir about my 1972 summer adventure working for Fairbanks Air Service. It is scheduled to be published by SparkPress in 2025 and will be distributed by Simon & Schuster.
When I retired from my job as a Mechanical Engineer at Pebble Beach in 2014, I began taking Creative Writing courses at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). Several of my short stories were published in Scheherazade, MPC’s literary magazine. In 2016, I won the MPC Scheherazade Halloween contest with my story “The Strange Chronicles of Francis Conney”. The short story “Don’t Run” and a poem “Born Free?” were also published in Scheherazade. I am a member of the California Writers Club - Central Coast Writers Branch. I have also been published in the California Writers Club Literary Review.
In my memoir “South To Alaska; What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”, I tell the story of my dad arranging for me to start flying lessons when I was fifteen. I had many aviation adventures while I was in high school in the Civil Air Patrol, including earning my Private Pilot license at Stead Field, near Reno, Nevada. At the end of my junior year in college, I scored a summer job with Fairbanks Air Service. Upon graduation from college, I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the USAF. I became an Air Force Instructor Pilot in the Lockheed C-130. I received two special qualifications in Low Altitude Parachute Delivery Systems (LAPES) and Primary Nuclear Airlift Force (PNAF). I’ve had assignments that took me around the world, including Typhoon Chasing and a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. I received the Air Force Air Medal while stationed in Guam. More aviation adventures followed as an Air Intelligence Officer in the Air Force Reserve including spending time with Lockheed TR-1(U-2) pilots in Korea and getting to fly the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird simulator at the NASA Dryden Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.
In the civilian world, I’ve had many exceptional aviation adventures to include: owning a 1963 Beechcraft Debonair for 23 years, and a 1974 Citabria for 17 years. I've had a technical article published in the American Bonanza Society magazine. I’ve had the chance to fly and spend time with several airshow legends. I had the unique opportunity to try out for a Reno Race pilot slot flying the race-modified unlimited class P-51 Mustang “Miss America”.
In 2001, I received my tailwheel training endorsement and in 2002 I became a Federal Aviation Administration Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). I’ve operated my own small specialized flying business, Cloud 9 Flights, since 1997.
In 2021, I purchased a brand-new Vashon RANGER LSA (Light Sport Airplane) and learned how to fly an all-glass avionics cockpit. In 2023, I received a U.S. Patent for a Universal Gyroscopic Precession Indicator (a trainig aid for aerobatic pilots).
“South To Alaska; What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” is my first book, a memoir about my 1972 summer adventure working for Fairbanks Air Service. It is scheduled to be published by SparkPress in 2025 and will be distributed by Simon & Schuster.
When I retired from my job as a Mechanical Engineer at Pebble Beach in 2014, I began taking Creative Writing courses at Monterey Peninsula College (MPC). Several of my short stories were published in Scheherazade, MPC’s literary magazine. In 2016, I won the MPC Scheherazade Halloween contest with my story “The Strange Chronicles of Francis Conney”. The short story “Don’t Run” and a poem “Born Free?” were also published in Scheherazade. I am a member of the California Writers Club - Central Coast Writers Branch. I have also been published in the California Writers Club Literary Review.
In my memoir “South To Alaska; What Could Possibly Go Wrong?”, I tell the story of my dad arranging for me to start flying lessons when I was fifteen. I had many aviation adventures while I was in high school in the Civil Air Patrol, including earning my Private Pilot license at Stead Field, near Reno, Nevada. At the end of my junior year in college, I scored a summer job with Fairbanks Air Service. Upon graduation from college, I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the USAF. I became an Air Force Instructor Pilot in the Lockheed C-130. I received two special qualifications in Low Altitude Parachute Delivery Systems (LAPES) and Primary Nuclear Airlift Force (PNAF). I’ve had assignments that took me around the world, including Typhoon Chasing and a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. I received the Air Force Air Medal while stationed in Guam. More aviation adventures followed as an Air Intelligence Officer in the Air Force Reserve including spending time with Lockheed TR-1(U-2) pilots in Korea and getting to fly the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird simulator at the NASA Dryden Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.
In the civilian world, I’ve had many exceptional aviation adventures to include: owning a 1963 Beechcraft Debonair for 23 years, and a 1974 Citabria for 17 years. I've had a technical article published in the American Bonanza Society magazine. I’ve had the chance to fly and spend time with several airshow legends. I had the unique opportunity to try out for a Reno Race pilot slot flying the race-modified unlimited class P-51 Mustang “Miss America”.
In 2001, I received my tailwheel training endorsement and in 2002 I became a Federal Aviation Administration Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). I’ve operated my own small specialized flying business, Cloud 9 Flights, since 1997.
In 2021, I purchased a brand-new Vashon RANGER LSA (Light Sport Airplane) and learned how to fly an all-glass avionics cockpit. In 2023, I received a U.S. Patent for a Universal Gyroscopic Precession Indicator (a trainig aid for aerobatic pilots).