
James P. Blase is the author of Behind the Cockpit Door: The True Adventures of an Airline Pilot, the poetry chapbook, Squirrel Song and Other Animal Poetry, and several articles on poetry, aviation, cave exploring, and humanist issues. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, he was raised on Long Island, New York, and has called Texas home since 1982. He is a retired airline mechanic and airline pilot, former truck driver and school teacher, and current freelance writer. He graduated from Stonybrook University (formerly the State University of New York at Stonybrook) with a degree in Studio Art and Art History. He still does the occasional painting in acrylics, oils, and watercolors. James lives out in the country near Fort Worth, Texas, and is the divorced caretaker of one ornery, seventeen-year-old, orange hunting cat. He (James, not the cat) is currently working on his first novel.

Flats Cat Blase
Sharps and Flats are musical notations, and a flat is a blue note while playing the blues. Flats Cat Blase was named after the blues note, because he liked to lay on the floor by my feet whenever I was playing the blues on an acoustic guitar. He hates the electric guitar.



The Mighty Hunter

Here I am standing under a UH-1 Huey helicopter at the Mineral Wells, Texas memorial to Vietnam Veterans. I was a crew chief on one of these in 1971 in Vietnam. I didn’t get my helicopter pilot’s license until the 1990s after I was making enough money as an airline pilot to afford it.

This is a Boeing 727 in American Trans Air vacation colors. This is one of the photos included in my aviation memoir, Behind the Cockpit Door.

Here I am at the Flight Engineer’s panel on a B-727 in flight in December of 1987. Another photo included in my memoir.

A TWA L-1649 Super-G Constellation. It was the first type airplane I ever flew. I was about 7 years old, sitting on the edge of the First Officer’s seat, while my father was the operating Flight Engineer.

Me and my father, Eugene P. Blase, both in our pilot uniforms in March of 1988.