So There I Was

So There I Was” is a weekly aviation podcast and YouTube show featuring true pilot stories from fighter pilots, airline captains, helicopter pilots, and other military and civilian aviators. “So – There I was.” It’s how ALL great aviation tales begin! Join hosts Fig and Repete as they bring in some great aviation raconteurs to relate the glamorous, hilarious, poignant, tragic, and incredible tales of aviation. Fig and Repete met more than 30 years ago as Marine Attack pilots in Marine Attack Squadron VMA‑223 flying the AV‑8B Harrier II. Both have since gone on to careers in the majors. Realizing that they are around the most accomplished professionals in aviation with amazing stories to tell, they decided these stories are too good to be kept quiet. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll laugh until you cry, but you’ll never be bored!

So There I Was is a leisure podcast hosted by Chuck Newton and Pete Harmon, with 235 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Chuck Newton and Pete Harmon hosts So There I Was, a leisure show with 235 episodes published.

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  Episode #232

  If You're Gonna Blow Up Episode 232

  Oct 1, 20261h 53mS1

  F-100 pilot Ike flew 195 combat missions with an iron sight and nerves of steel. He takes us from night close air support to a 50-pound-fuel landing to the 1986 Libya raid.

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  Episode #231

  Guns Are Where It's At Episode 231

  Sep 24, 20261h 23mS1

  Retired Marine Lt. Col. Tim "Monk" Miller nearly punched out mid-nap over Ramadi, then built the Strike Fighter League, where guns are where it's at.

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  Episode #230

  Rope Trick Episode 230

  Sep 17, 20261h 28mS1

  Vietnam-era Huey pilot RoadRunner joins RePete and Kemo for combat missions, near-disasters, and the Rope Trick — a Thailand R&R story he never fully explains.

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  So There I Was

  A Thousandth of an Inch of Trouble Episode 229

  Sep 10, 2026—

  A Thousandth of an Inch of Trouble is all that stood between one airline crew and an on-time departure. Actually, it was a worn brake wear pin, measured down to the thousandth, that a mechanic waved off as “technically good to go.” This week’s episode is a lighter one. It’s just Fig and RePete, no guest, trading stories while juggling schedules and a certain eye surgery on the calendar. Before the flying talk starts, Fig recaps a fundraiser for YL-37, the effort to keep a UH-34 Marine helicopter flying as a living memorial . Vietnam-era crew chiefs, dubbed “Ugly Angels,” turned up to honor thirty-three squadron mates lost in the war. It was, by Fig’s account, truly spectacular. Then the real theme of the night kicks in: airplanes you keep versus airplanes you refuse. RePete walks through a Low Altitude Tactics qual he pushed through despite a caution light, a Paris battery-discharge light that kept recurring for weeks, and an MD-11 jump seat jammed at a forty-five-degree angle that maintenance wanted to sign off as legal. A Thousandth of an Inch of Trouble: The Refused Airplane Furthermore, there’s the coffee thermos that popped three circuit breakers on takeoff roll, and two separate environmental control system failures that nearly cooked Fig alive, once over Camp Lejeune and once out of Darwin, Australia. However, the headline story is the brake pin. On a 737 preflight, the first officer found no pin sticking out where one should be. Maintenance measured it anyway and found one-thousandth of an inch of clearance. Consequently, that counted as “in limits.” Fig refused the airplane, ate the delay, and bought drinks for the whole cabin. New brakes went on that night. The episode wraps with thanks to veterans, their families, and everyone still serving. Stay Connected Catch new episodes of So There I Was every week, and find us on your favorite podcast app. … #SoThereIWas #AviationPodcast #FighterPilotStories #NavalAviation #RefusedAirplane #BrakeWear #737 #MD11 #AirlinePilotLife #YL37 #UglyAngels #PilotStories #AviationHumor #FlightSafety #WarStories

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  Episode #228

  Semper Gumby: Remembering Sticks Episode 228

  Sep 3, 20261h 10mS1

  This week's episode honors Coast Guard rescue pilot John "Sticks" Hall with his brother-in-law's eulogy and son Tyler's letter, plus a night-divert tale from Stretch off the USS Midway.

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