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Flying a Full Circle
By Pete Shirk
Air racing is a high-risk game but all the safety precautions and care usually keep it safe. Sometimes the best intentions are just not enough, and that happened in a horrible way on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011.
Jimmy Leeward, a veteran pilot and air racer, had taken all the precautions, and yet on lap three of the Gold Race, coming off pylon eight on the west end of the course and heading down the home stretch in front of the flight line, crowd, bleachers, VIP tents, trailers, food and beverage concessions, FAA trailer, and control tower, all the care, safety precautions, experience and expertise gave way to catastrophe.
9-11 Remembrances at Wine Country Airshow
By Hayman Tam
A piece of Ground Zero was on display next to the “First Responder” F-15 Eagle. (Hayman Tam)Close to 25,000 airshow fans came out for the Wings Over Wine Country Airshow put together by the Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) in Santa Rosa, Calif. This two-day show takes place at Charles Schulz – Sonoma County Airport (STS) and is the museum’s major fundraising event. The cloudy skies cleared and the temperature warmed up to perfect, just right to put in earplugs and sunscreen and enjoy the festivities.
This year’s airshow honored two national occasions occurring this year, the Centennial of Naval Aviation and the 10th Anniversary of the 9-11 attack.
The Navy theme was echoed on the ground by the museum’s F-14A Tomcat, F-16N Viper, F-5E Freedom Fighter, A-4E Skyhawk, F-8 Crusader and A-6E Intruder. Wings of Gold took to the air in the form of flybys with several USN T-28 Trojans and a very rare C-1A Trader, a long-retired carrier onboard delivery aircraft. The popular Greg Colyer traded his normal USAF T-33 for one with a U.S. Navy “Blue Angels” motif, exciting the crowd as the only featured jet performer, showing how nimble a fifty-plus year old jet can be.
Film Critic and Author Leonard Maltin On Some of His Favorite Aviation Films
By S. Mark Rhodes
Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guides have been a great resource for filmgoers to discover new favorites and re-visit old chestnuts. His most recent addition (Leonard Maltin’s 2012 Movie Guide from Signet) is nearly 1,700 pages and weighs in at nearly two pounds (it can crush the Kindle!).
Embedded within this guide are insightful, capsule interviews of some of the most noteworthy aviation films that Hollywood turned out in its golden age. Mr. Maltin was nice enough to speak to In Flight USA’s Mark Rhodes about some of his favorite aviation films and how the aviation film genre might make a comeback.
In Flight USA: Once upon a time the aviation film was as much a part of Hollywood genre films as the Detective film, the Western, the Science Fiction film and so on. What do you think are the reasons that the genre declined?
Leonard Maltin: (Long Pause) “I am just guessing mind you, but I think a lot of it has to do with gaming (video games) which maybe has taken the place of the excitement audiences used to get with aviation movies. When Top Gun (1986) came out in the 80s there was a lot of comment then about how some of the combat flying sequences resembled video games. And in those intervening years, those games have become really vivid and even realistic. This (the rise of gaming) might have replaced some of the thrill that films like Top Gun used to provide movie audiences.”
Author Jack Whitehouse’s Fire Island History Sheds Light on an Early Chapter of U.S. Military Aviation
By S. Mark Rhodes
Embedded within the pages of Jack Whitehouse’s new book, Fire Island: Heroes & Villains on Long Island’s Wild Shore (History Press) is the fascinating, but mostly forgotten story of the creation of one of the first U.S. Naval Air Station’s on Long Island near the community of Bay Shore, New York in 1917. Whitehouse, an author/historian with a fascinating resume that includes graduation from Brown, a stint as the commanding officer of a patrol gunboat as well as having had the honor of being the first Naval Officer to participate in an exchange program with the Royal Norwegian Navy was nice enough to check in with In Flight’s Mark Rhodes about his book and this unique chapter in not only Long Island, but U.S. aviation.
In Flight USA: Bay Shore was basically the second American community to get a United States Naval Air Station. What do you think the rationale for locating it there was in particular?
Jack Whitehouse: “The Navy had several good reasons for selecting Bay Shore, located in approximately the geographic middle of the south shore of Long Island, as a location for a U.S. Naval Air Station. First, in 1916 the Second Battalion of the Naval Militia of the State of New York had built an eight-acre base in Bay Shore on the edge of the Great South Bay. The purpose of the naval militia base was to train naval volunteers in flying and aviation mechanics; thus to a great extent the site was already functioning as a naval air station.”
General Aviation/Utility Market Awaits Stronger Economies in U.S. and Europe
Memorial Service In Reno This Sunday
Reno Tragic Accident: NTSB Prelim Report Expected Friday
EAA: Leeward Rememberd As Passionate Aviator
Happy Birthday EAA Paul
EAA: Bill to Avert Another Partial FAA Shutdown in the Works
EAA: Ten Years Since 9/11 — Where Does GA Stand?
Department of Homeland Security Issues 9/11 Anniversary Statement
One Hot Event – The Vectren Dayton Ohio Airshow
By Mike Heilman and Joe Gust
Sean D. Tucker in the Challenger III and Brain Norris in the Extra 300 fly in formation over Dayton, Ohio. Team Oracle uses the Extra 300 for some airshows and to give media and VIP rides. (Mike Heilman)There is only one word to describe the 2011 Vectren Dayton Ohio Air Show – hot! The temperature and the airshow lineup were equally heated. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for the three-day event, which took place on July 22-24. This kept the attendance down about 15 percent as compared to the 2010 show, with an estimated 65,000 spectators coming out this year to brave the heat.
Organizers opened the airshow weekend by hosting a free Friday night hanger party. The public got a chance to preview some of the airshow acts during the party. Many aircraft crews and performers attended the party and it gave the public a chance to meet them.
An Interview with NASA’s STS 135 Crew… Is it an end of an era?
By Pete Trabucco
In order from left to right: Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus, Shuttle Pilot Douglas Hurley, Pete Trabucco, Commander Chris Ferguson and Mission Specialist Rex Walheim (Pete Trabucco)It’s hard to believe that the NASA Space Shuttle program is actually at an end. It wasn’t very long ago we were marveling at this new flying vehicle that could not only orbit the earth but also glide back from the heavens to be reused over and over again. Thirty years ago, NASA launched Columbia, the first space shuttle, on a two-day mission to circle the Earth. Aboard the space vehicle were veteran astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. Since then, 135 shuttle missions (at an average cost of 1.4 billion dollars per flight) on five different shuttles has carried more than 350 astronauts into space. This represents almost 70 percent of the 523 people (since the beginning of spaceflight) from all nations that have been in space. Indeed, it was a vehicle unparalleled by any that have come before. This past July the last of these incredible vehicles, Atlantis, left Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral for the final time and since then has successfully completed its mission and has been recorded in the history books for all of us to remember.
The Discovery Program: NASA Gets it Right
By Ed Downs
Our August issue of In Flight USA carried coverage and comments about the ending of America’s Manned Space Program (read on www.inflightusa.com). America’s surrender of leadership in manned space flight to a country with space technology from the late 1950s is, at best, questionable. Those making this fateful decision should have asked the question, “What happens to the International Space Station (ISS) if that obsolete technology breaks down?” Well, it has, and no answer is at hand.
On Wednesday morning, August 24, 2011 a Russian Progress M-12M vehicle lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on an unmanned supply mission to the ISS. This is the booster system that has been used since the late 1950s and is now used to launch the manned Soyuz capsule. It did not reach orbit. This is currently the only vehicle combination used to take crews to and from ISS. It is now grounded. The Russian Proton rocket was to have served as a back up, but it, too, failed just a week earlier. The much touted entry of privatized boosters into service that are man rated is at least five years in the future. America’s more than $100 billion investment in ISS is in significant jeopardy due to self-serving political decisions. NASA has lost much of its glitter.
USAF Weapons School Mission Employment Phase Combat PHD
By Richard VanderMeulen
A pair of F-16’s hold formation on the wing of the KC-135 tanker as their element completes pre-strike refueling during the CAS (Close Air Support). Vul. A Vul refers to the “vulnerability period” or the time aircraft are away from base and vulnerable to harm. (Richard VanderMeulen)On June 9 the United States Air Force Weapons School completed its Mission Employment Phase, a seven-mission capstone to a five-and-a-half month training period. During Weapons School Class 11A ME Phase graduating Weapons Officers flew more than 90 aircraft on 500 individual sorties day and night utilizing every aircraft and asset in the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense inventory.
More than 30,000 man-hours and 1,400 flight-hours go into preparing students for the ME Phase. More than 3,300 personnel support each class. Maintenance Squadrons play a crucial role in the ultimate success of Weapons School students, even more so during ME Phase when operational tempos run at, or even higher than, actual combat operations.
EAA Members Respond to EAA/NTSB Amateur-Built Safety Study
Wings Over Waukesha Airshow
12th Gary South Shore Airshow
By Mike Heilman
Aeroshell AT-6 “Texan performing a loop at the Gary South Shore air show. The show was held July 15-17 in Gary Indiana on Lake Michigan. (Mike Heilman)Sand, sun, surf, smoke and spectators were all part of the 12th Gary South Shore Air Show. The three-day event was held at Marquette Park Beach on the shores of Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana. The airshow was produced by the Indiana South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority and was free to the public.
The airshow opened with a twilight show on Friday that included a large fireworks display. Many of the airshow acts flew their demonstrations at the Friday night show. It was a great start to the weekend.
The headliner for this year’s show was the Heavy Metal Jet team. This civilian team is new to the 2011 airshow season. Heavy Metal team flies four L-39s and either a T-33 or MIG-17. The team flew the MIG-17 at the Gary Show. The team performs at airshows that do not have a military jet as part of the line up.