posted 02-07-2013 09:49 AM               

Sometime back I had written John Blaha and sent him some NF-104 items to sign (while he was at Edwards as a test pilot he flew the NF-104 and was one of the few to fly it rocket powered).

After a few months and no response, I met up with him at the 2012 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation show. We had a grand conversation about his NF-104 time, and his flying the A-37 in Vietnam. I also asked that he "keep an eye out for the package as well" that he said he'd gladly take care of.

Well, a couple of more months and no word. So I dropped him a note to see if somehow they had gotten lost in the mail.

Lo, last week I get a phone call and it's him. He called and apologized as the package had never arrived! Well you takes your chances so I politely thanked him, we chatted about the NF-104 again.

As I said, you takes your chances, but I was a tad down as they were multi-signed, including Bob Smith, one of the primary pilots on the project, who is deceased.

The following morning he called again, and once more apologized and said he found the package, the items were signed and he was driving to the post office with them. Two days later I had them back.