1972

A new, to us, home

  Almost as soon as the wheels touched the runway, so it seems, the push was on for the move from Maryland to Florida, it actually took about two months.  When I got back I tried to start the car, it was dead.  Betty didn't drive and the old clunker was gone, even the dipstick was rusty.  So I walked to the only car dealer in town (that sold new cars, Fords), I bought a used 1969 Ford Fairlane station wagon, thinking back it was huge, by today's standards, and it wasn't even the biggest that Ford made; gas was still under fifty cents a gallon.
  We rented a house this time, in a quiet bedroom community, it was pretty basic, 2 bedrooms and 1 bath; it heated (when need be) with a stationary kerosene heater, you had to buy five gallons at a time.  That summer I added an air conditioner.  The rent in 1973 was $110.00 a month.
  Things weren't going very well between us, but then it usually was kind of a struggle, marriage and booze don't mix, it's just like oil and water.
  Work wise the Squadron settled into it's new home in Jacksonville, a brand new hanger had been built, a six-sided building with one squadron in each section, and the permanent base maintenance department in the middle, it worked fine.  As the year ended we were getting ready to head back to Iceland in the spring, practice flights picked up the pace, and more parts were ordered, some hard to find.  That's how it was in 1972.

This is a good likeness of the car I bought, same color too.

Click to enlarge. That's the hanger, and look how many cars are in the parking lot at the bottom,
it was a very busy place, a few P3's are parked around the lot.

Click to enlarge the prices in 1972