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Honoring the Tuskegee Airmen in the Digital Age
By Darcy Castro
The sound of a warbird’s Merlin engine is nothing short of hypnotic. For many pilots and aviation professionals, the P-51 Mustang is the most exciting illustration of American airpower from days long gone but not forgotten. Coupled with the history of the Tuskegee Airmen–our country’s first African American military pilots and their support personnel–this iconic red-tailed fighter represents not only a war well fought, but also a triumph over racism and bigotry. And now their legacy lives on in the digital age through the CAF Red Tail Squadron Virtual Museum.
For almost two decades, the nonprofit CAF Red Tail Squadron has been committed to telling the story of the Tuskegee Airmen to honor their history and legacy and also to inspire people of all ages to rise above their own challenges and achieve their goals. It started out with a scrap heap of a P-51 and a dream to bring the message of the Tuskegee Airmen into every classroom in America. Along the way, countless people have been touched by their programming in the air, on land, and also online.
Tuskegee Airman Reflects on Time in Service
By Staff Sgt. Regina Edwards, 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
(This feature is part of the “Through Airmen’s Eyes” series. These stories focus on individual Airmen, highlighting their Air Force story.)
Tuskegee aircrew was one of his best memories. (U.S. Air Force illustration/Staff. Sgt. Regina Edwards)“I’ve come a long way from picking cotton in the fields with my grandfather,” said retired Master Sgt. Leroy Mazell Smith, who has lived a life few could probably imagine.
He was born on an Arkansas bridge during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927; son of a logger and farmer, Smith grew up in Pine Bluff, Ark. His mother, who cared for him and his two siblings, left school at the age of 13.
He credits his upbringing to his grandfather whom Smith picked cotton with. He said his grandfather taught him the value of hard work and perseverance.
Smith graduated from high school in Fordyce, Ark., at the age of 16. While there, he attended preflight aeronautical classes, changing the course of his future.
Tuskegee Airman Reflects on Diversity
By Airman Jenna K. Caldwell, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
(This feature is part of the “Through Airmen’s Eyes” series. These stories focus on individual Airmen, highlighting their Air Force story.)
Retired Maj. George BoydIt was 1944, and the U.S. was in the midst of two battles – a war on two sides of the world and the onslaught of cultural changes on the home front.
Meanwhile, a young African-American Soldier picked up trash on the white sandy beaches at Keesler Field, Miss. He had been briefed that although he was in the service and evidently may fight and die for his country, he could neither walk on this beach unless he was working nor could he swim here because it was for whites only.
Now retired Maj. George Boyd, a 28-year combat veteran and Tuskegee Airman, will never forget the hypocrisy of that order. Boyd, now a resident of Wichita, Kan., was part of the service during the transition from the Army Air Corps to the Air Force.
Boyd served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He witnessed the roots of social equality shift within his country and his service – from the integration of the armed forces by President Harry S. Truman in 1948, to the Civil Rights movements of the 1960s.
2013 Dayton Air Show
By Mike Heilman and Joe Gust
The 2013 Dayton Ohio Air Show was the site of the fatal crash, which ended the lives of wing walker Jane Wicker and her pilot, Charlie Schwenker. Wicker and her pilot were making their first appearance at Dayton in their modified Stearman. The aircraft lost altitude when Schwenker inverted the Stearman for a low level pass with Wicker sitting on the bottom of the wing. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it may take up to a year to find the cause of the accident.
The accident took place at the beginning of the airshow on Saturday, June 22. The airshow organizers cancelled the remainder of Saturday’s events. The spectators were informed that their tickets would be honored for admission on Sunday. This was the second accident in 39 years of the show. In 2007 Jim Leroy was killed when his Pitts crashed during the show.
Michael Goulian flying his state-of-the-art Extra 330SC over the Dayton Ohio Air Show. Goulian made is second straight appearance at the Dayton show. Goulian is the Air Show Industry 2012 ICAS Sword of Excellence. (Mike Heilman)The 2013 show went in the record books as the first all-civilian airshow in its 39 years of operation. The show organizers in 2012 moved the date to June to accommodate the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, but because of the federal sequester the Thunderbirds were removed from the show lineup. There were several large airshows that cancelled this year due to the military jet teams cancelling their participation in the 2013 season. The Dayton show officials decided to keep the date and to put on an all-civilian show.
Salute to the Greatest Generation in the Air to Honor Doolittle Raiders, Tuskegee Airmen
EAA AirVenture: A Sampling of Innovation and Fanciful Flying Fun
(Photo by David K. Witty)Editor’s Note: EAA AirVenture was at mid-show during In Flight USA’s print deadline. The following is a roundup of highlights having taken place by the middle of the week. In Flight will provide full wrap-up coverage in the September edition.
Belite’s Wiebe Receives Raspet Award
James Wiebe has created what he describes as a miniature Cub in an ultralight package. But the lightweight plane is getting big reviews.
Wiebe, of Belite Aircraft, received the August Raspet Memorial Award during the Homebuilders Dinner. The award, named after the late Dr. August “Gus” Raspet, has been given annually since 1960 to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of light aircraft design.
Wiebe and his wife, Kathy, acquired the tooling, existing parts, and manufacturing rights of an older aircraft in March 2009. He immediately began improving and reinventing this design, creating the new Belite aircraft. See his story at airventure.org/news/2011/110727_raspet.html.
Dr. Donald E. Jackson: Aviation History Maker!
By Carl E. Chance
Class 45H, trained by historic veterans of the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Doctor Jackson Graduated at the end of World War II, with the last group of Tuskegee Airmen trained as B-25 Bomber pilots. During World War II, the U.S. military was racially segregated. Reflecting American society and law at the time, most black soldiers and sailors were restricted to labor battalions and other support positions. An experiment in the U.S. Army Air Forces, however, showed that given equal opportunity and training, African-Americans could fly in, command and support combat units as well as anyone. The USAAF’s black fliers, the so-called “Tuskegee Airmen,” served with distinction in combat and directly contributed to the eventual integration of the U.S. armed services, with the U.S. Air Force leading the way.