Jimmy Adresses his UTEP graduating class of new U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenatnts this Spring.
Just prior to retiring, the Colonel looked at various civilian work opportunities, and was given the most attractive offer by the International Marketing firm, AMAZON.COM.
Jimmy congratulates one of his new 2nd Lieutenants, Demeatia Jasper, during the UTEP Graduation ceremony.
In his new job as Operation’s Manager, Jimmysupervises some 54 employees and is responsible for efficiently managing one of AMAZON’S major “Fullfillment Centers,” which is what AMAZON calls its major shipping facilities throughout the world.
In his personal life, Jimmy has been an enthusiastic parachutist, which means that on any given weekend you are likely to find him at one of the nearest airports busily jumping – and then busily repacking his parachutes. He has 96 civilian sport parachute jumps to his credit, excluding 5 while in the Army – so he’s had over 100 jumps altogether.
The Lees have two young sons; one, now 20, is already away at College and the younger, 17, is in his last year of High School. Both young men share their Dad’s enthusiasm for both sports and the military, so intend to follow his example in their own upcoming careers.
Earlier this year, Colonel Lee made a special presentation to a group of former military aviators, all also active members of the FASF, the Daedalians, at the local El Paso Club.
We wish Jimmy the best in his new endeavor – – – and are happy to learn that he has every intention of remaining active and of helping us with his leadership skills, as a Trustee with the FASF, as it moves into the future!
Four years ago, August 10, 2014, we reported on the dilemma facing the 1st AIR FORCE ONE, our Presidential Transport aircraft. Back then, in 2014, this historic airplane had been almost accidentally discovered, actively in the process of rotting away in the blistering heat of a Marana, AZ aircraft Boneyard, about 30 minute’s drive Northwest of Tucson, AZ.
Well, we are happy to report that that news story, appearing on the aviation news circuit, and the happenstance rediscovery of it at Marana by Scott Glover, apparently did the trick, as the below 40:50 length video reveals. Remember to keep your audio turned up!
Daedalian Flight 24 Captain, Roger Nichols, and Vice Captain, Ric Lambart, both long time active FASF members, once again had the privilege of presenting Leadership Awards to graduates of the Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon programs at Halloman Air Force Base (HAFB) near Alamagordo, NM, earlier this month.
Other Daedalian Flight members, all from El Paso, Texas, also attended the gala event, at which the principle guest speaker, Four Star General James M. Holmes, himself once a USAF Fighter Pilot, gave an inspiring address to the graduates, their instructors, parents and friends.
Other Daedalians at the event also included Colonel Mario Campos and his wife, Judy,Colonel Bob Pitt and wife, Julie, Virg Hemphill and wife, Jenine, Charlie Overstreetand wife, Mayre Sue, and Jerry Dixon. Virtually all the Daeedalian Society members from the El Paso Flight are also long time FASF members.
For the first time, HAFB combined two fighter squadrons into one graduation ceremony, which was held in one of the Base’s large aircraft hangars. Approximately 400 graduates and guests attended the ceremony, which included the 311th and 314 Fighter Squadrons.
Here are the photos taken during the event – see any photo in hi-resolution by clicking on it:
Captain Coke Nolan, at left, one of the two MC’s for the event talking with Daedalian Flight Captain, Roger Nichols . .
L to R above: Jenine and Virg Hemphill,Mayre Sue and Charlie Overstreet.
L to R: Jerry Dixon, MJ Tucker of HAFB, who handled the graduation details, greeting Colonel Mario Campos, while Colonel Bob Pitt looks on.
L to R: FASF Aviation News Scouts and Daedalians, Virg Hemphill and Retired USMC Aviator, Jerry Dixon.
View of the stage and the two MC’s busily running through their smooth routine before the audience.
L to R: Judy Campos, Julie Pitt, Roger Nichols, Bob Pitt, Ric Lambart, Charlie Overstreet and Mario Campos.
Again, View of the stage and the two squadron MC’s animatedly running through their amusing routines before the audience.
One of the two Daedalian Tables with, L to R: Ret. USAF Fighter Pilot, Col. Miles “Cowboy” Crowell, Roger Nichols, Marioand Judy Campos, Charlie and Mayre Sue Overstreet.
The other Daedalian Table, with ((Clockwise from front Left: Jerry Dixon, Jenine and Virg Hemphill, Julie and Bob Pitt, newly retired fighter Pilot and his still active duty USAF Flight Nurse wife, and another Flight Nurse.
Graduates and guests begining to fill their plates for dinner.
L to R: Colonel Jeff “Tank” Patton congratuting the 311th Squadron’s winner of the “River Rat” award, and co-presenter, retired USAF Col. Cowboy Crowell.
L to R: Roger Nichols presents Daedalian Leadership Award to Capt. Foley Elliot, F-16 graduate from the 311th FS.
L to R: Ric Lambart congratulates the 314th Fighter Squadron’s Lt. “Banjo” Rutledge on his Leadership Award.
Daedalians all, Lto R: Bob Pitt, Jerry Dixon, Roger Nichols, Capt. Foley Elliot and Lt. Banjo Rutledge, Daedalian Awardees, with Ric Lambart, Charlie Overstreet, Mario Campos, and Virg Hemphill.
Daedalian, Colonel “Cowboy” Crowell describes the hiostory of the “River Rat” award, which has its roots back during the Vietnam conflilct.
Ms. Villezcasjoined the Las Cruces CAP Squadron 24 a year ago with the intention of learning to fly with the CAP, which is a full-fledged Auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF) – (see Air Force photo above with the two USAF Aircraft: A CAP Cessna and F-16 Jet Fighter), which supplies all of the facilities and equipment, including costly modern aircraft, to each Squadron throughout the U.S. For this reason the CAP uniforms are based upon the USAF’s.
Mission Pilot, Dave Bjorness (L), and Scanner Trainee, Alma Villezcas (R) in the process of conducting their Preflight Inspection of the CAP Cessna Skylane prior to the Mission . . .All photos in this story may be seen in full resolution by simply clicking on them.
The origins of Civil Air Patrol date to 1936, when Gill Robb Wilson, World War I aviator and New Jersey director of aeronautics, returned from Germany convinced of impending war. Wilsonenvisioned mobilizing America’s civilian aviators for national defense, an idea also shared by other aviation activists.
In Ohio, Milton Knight, a pilot and businessman, organized and incorporated the Civilian Air Reserve (CAR) in 1938. Other military-styled civilian aviation units emerged nationwide and helped train pilots for defense of the homeland.
In 1941, Wilson launched his perfected program: the Civil Air Defense Services (CADS). That summer, tasked by Fiorello H. LaGuardia (New York mayor and director of the federal Office of Civilian Defense and also a World War I aviator), Wilson, publisher Thomas H. Beck and newspaperman Guy P. Gannettproposed Wilson’sCADS program as a model for organizing the nation’s civilian aviation resources.
Their proposal for a Civil Air Patrol was approved by the Commerce, Navy, and War departments in November, and CAP National Headquarters opened its doors on Dec. 1, 1941, under the direction of national commander Maj. Gen. John F. Curry. Existing CADS, CAR and other flying units soon merged under the CAP banner. Public announcement of CAP and national recruiting commenced on Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor..
CAP Personnel in military formation in front of one of their Stinson Patrol Aircraft in 1942.
L to R above: Mission PILOT, Dave Bjorness, Mission Commander and Flight OBSERVER, William Benzinger, and Alma Villezcas, Mission SCANNER Trainee,briefing about their tasks and esponsibilities before their Mission.
Above, Ground Team Personnel, Mike Legendre, (L) briefing Communications Officer, Joe Parea, at right. Each mission, whether a practice exercise operation, or a genuine emergency mission, requires numerous ground based personnel working closely with, and in constant radio communication with the CAP aircraft “eyes in the sky.”
Above, Alma readies for the Mission, which will entail scanning for a downed aircraft and taking hi-resolution color photographs of it and the surrounding terrain for ground rescue agencies’ guidance.
Above, Alma checks out her Intercom equipment, as flight crew readies for engine startup. She has already opened the side window’s Camera Port. The High Resolution Professional Digital Camera must shoot all photos through this open window so that no window reflections nor glare interfere with the photo’s high quality.
The aircraft has started its engine and begins to taxi out for take off. The CAP Squadron’s main hangar is in the background above.
Alma and her crew returned safely from their successful 2 hour long SAR Mission Exercise, having finally located the simulated downed aircraft and also it’s ELT (Emergency Locator Transmitter) radio signal.
The following 7 minute video gives a moving glimpse into what Almaexperienced during her very first CAP Training flight.
This story is thanks to FASF Aviation News Scout, Virg Hemphill(L)
One of the last few living British female World War II Ferry Service pilots, the legendary Mary Ellis, died peacefully at he home, at 101, on the Isle of Wight this past Tuesday evening, the 24th of July 2018.
Mrs. Ellis was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and delivered Spitfiresand bombers to the front lines during the conflict.
She said she had flown “about 1,000 aeroplanes” during the war, before moving to the Isle of Wightin 1950 to take charge of Sandown Airport.
ATA secretary John Webster described Mrs. Ellis as an “amazing” person.
While she was commonly known as the last-surviving female pilot from the war, in fact there are three others.
While we’ve all heard of the new DRONE rage, have we ever before seen anything even approaching this sort of orchestration? Hardly. This TIME Magazine special cover event seems to be a first for such an extravagant enterprise – – – 1,000 individual Drones flying in perfect synchronization in order to achieve the desired result. Just imagine creating the software to bring this plan to a successful reality.
Without further ado, here is the short (4:28 long) video of not only the final effect of the project, but of a fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes efforts that made it all possible.
Some of our FASF Drone enthusiasts, such as Bob Wright, John Read, and Warren Talbot have already created some footage for our site, so if any of you out there have some interesting airborne videos from your Drone flights, please let us know and we might be able to share those videos with our viewers right here, too.
Remember, the U.S. Military is already deeply involved in the use and development of their own DRONE technology. All branches of our Military establishment, however, prefer their own nomenclature for their DRONE ops, preferring to call them UAV’s (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) rather than Drones. The Army and Marines are using UAV craft as small as an insect, to as large as the GLOBAL HAWK and even full-sized multi-engined aircraft.
The earliest genuinely successful DRONE or UAV technology was likely first experienced during WWII with the use of DRONES (as they were then called) for target towing missions, but this soon evolved into actual combat applications (see videos below). When one considers that modern computer technology was not available in that era, what was done with simple radio remote controls is impressive.
Interestingly, the small private aircraft called the MOONEY MITE, a single place ship, is and example of what was done after WWII, when wartime Drone work and design helped lead to concepts such as the small primarily wooden constructed MOONEY MITE plane, a small ship designed to fulfill an expected new market made up of returning WWII fighter pilots. It’s designer, Al Mooney, had worked earlier for the CULVER AIRCRAFT COMPANY just prior to and during WWII, where he was the principle designer of the CULVER CADET an airplane which is discussed in the short (3:45) video immediately below:
Here, again below, are some short videos to show how DRONES were used, long before either computers or even TV were known to the general public. This first video is 1:24 in length.
As early as WWI, aviation designers and engineers could see the advantages of UAV’s, so had begun work on the concept. In the post WWI era, and especially in the 1930’s, a great deal of effort, some of it even successful, was undertaken in Great Britain, by the Royal Navy. In 1933, a modified floatplane called Fairey Queen was tested as the first flightless drone aircraft. It crashed on two out of three trials, but by 1934, Queen Bee, a modified Tiger Moth aircraft, followed with greater success.
Training gunners on these rudimentary models wasn’t a very realistic simulation, but a solution was soon to come from the United States in the form of British-born actor Reginald Denny, and his Radioplane Company. After years of trying desperately to interest the US Navy in the Radioplane-1, Denny finally succeeded in 1939, and over the course of the war some 15,374 models of Radioplane were built.
As an interesting aside, did you know that film star Marilyn Monroeonce worked assembling these radio controlled UAV’s? At that time, her later movie name wasn’t yet part of our culture, so, at Radioplane, she was known as simply Norma Jeane Dougherty, the 18 year old wife of a U.S. Merchant Marine Seaman.
Fast, agile and durable, Radioplanes were fitted with responsive radio controls and were better able to mimic the speed and agility of enemy fighters. Even during the D-Day summer of 1944, the Allies turned to high-stakes DRONE warfare. Under the code name Operation Aphrodite, radio-controlled bombers were packed with explosives and guided into the air by Allied pilots instructed to eject before their planes reached high-value targets in territory controlled by Nazi Germany. (Killed on one of these treacherous missions was the Navy aviator Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., older brother of U.S. President John F. Kennedy).
Below is a USN video (8:10 long) that depicts the Navy test of a TDR-1 combat Drone in the Pacific:
As for the advent of and actual deployment of the new variety of “insect sized” UAV’s, that will have to wait for a later post, but here is some descriptive material about that avenue of research right here.
May 31, 2018 – Hot off the newswire from theEAA: The EAAFounder’s Innovation Prize has added another highly regarded aviation expert to the lineup for the Tuesday night competition during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018. Retired Lt. Col. Olga Custodio, the first female Hispanic fighter pilot in the United States will be the emcee, presenting the five finalists in the live showdown. The Founder’s Innovation Prize, presented by Airbus, is in its third year and challenges EAA members to share their best solutions for lowering the rate of in-flight loss-of-control accidents, the leading cause of fatal accidents in the general aviation community.
Custodio retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve with 24 years of service. Among her countless achievements, she was the first Hispanic female to graduate from U.S. Air Force undergraduate pilot training, became the first female T-38 UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) flight instructor at Laughlin Air Force Base, and then became the first female T-38 pilot instructor training flight instructor at Randolph AFB. She was awarded the Air Force Air Education and Training Command’s Aviation Safety Award for superior airmanship during a bird strike and engine failure emergency and for executing a safe heavyweight landing in weather minimums.
After resigning her U.S. Air Force commission, Custodio entered the Reserve as an officer training school instructor and began her 20-year career flying for American Airlines. She has logged more than 11,000 hours of flight time.
See Custodio and the five Founder’s Innovation Prize finalists at An Evening with Innovators on Tuesday night July 24 at Theater in the Woods.
Those who still wish to submit their idea for the competition must do so before 11:59 pm CT on Friday, June 1, for a chance to win one of three cash prizes. Visit www.EAA.org/prize to learn more.
Below is a 7 minute long video is of an interview by FOX NEWS TV of Retired USAF and American Airlines Pilot, Olga Custodio.
Long overdue on its scheduled delivery, and clearly well over its earliest budget estimates, the F-35 has hardly been without its share of public scrutiny and even legitimate criticism.
But here are a few videos to help you understand that this machine’s status – and reputation – are in a constant state of flux, but do appear to be moving in the right direction, in terms of the Stealth Jet’s ability to not only overcome its early deficits, but to actually pleasantly surprise even some of its harshest critics as to its true lethal combat capabilities.
Below, by way of The joint Forces Channel, is this 2:28 long video that poses this post’s basic question re the current combat readiness of the Air Force’s latest 5th Generation fighter, in particular, how it stood up in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base to combat capabilities against the Air Force’s middle aged 4th Generation (now more accurately, 4.5 generation), but thoroughly and actual combat proven, F-16 Viper (or, if you prefer the official General Dynamic’s Name – the Fighting Falcon:
Below, thanks again to The Joint Forces Channel, is a 2:12 long video entitled:
Reaction of a highly experienced combat F-16 Pilot After Flying the new F-35
Below, 7:24 long, courtesy of “New Update Defence” is a video entitled:
Here’s why the F-35 once lost to F-16s, and how it made a stunning comeback.
And here is a short commentary video (1:56 long) by USMC Colonel Steve Gillette, entitled “Why the F-35: It can go where other aircraft can’t.”
Yesterday was Armed Forces Day here in the United States and some of the breaking military news is that the new OCP (Operational Camouflage Pattern) Uniform for the USAF will be none other than that of the U.S. Army. Does this look like going full circle: back to the roots of the Air Force – – – in the U. S. Army?The U.S. Air Force is adopting the Army‘s Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP – above) as its new combat uniform and will begin incrementally phasing it in beginning this coming Oct. 1.
The service will soon be scrapping the Airman Battle Uniform, known as the ABU, for the Army’s OCP over the next three years. It is anticipated that all airmen will be wearing the OCP by April 2021, according to Maj.Gen. Robert LaBrutta, the Air Force director of Military Force Management Policy, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services.
“Enhancing our readiness, the OCP is a uniform for form, fit and function,” LaBrutta told reporters May 9. “It is the best-of-breed of utility uniform that we believe is in the inventory.”
Airmen will have the option to sew on their name tape, service tape or both. Officers will have their rank on their patrol caps. Both enlisted airmen as well as officers will have their last names on the back of their caps.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein concurred: “The uniform works in all climates — from Minot to Manbij — and across the spectrum of missions we perform,” he said in a news release. “It’s suitable for our airmen working on a flight line in Northern Tier states and for those conducting patrols in the Middle East.”
“Everything on the configuration is the same as the Army wears the uniform; we’re just going to make some small color variations,” according to LaBrutta.
LaBrutta said the uniform also helps promote joint services integration. Since 2012, nearly 100,000 airmen have already worn the new uniform when deployed overseas in places like Afghanistan or while operating outside Air Base boundaries.
Just like their Army counterparts, airmen who go into combat zones in deployed locations will receive the fire retardant OCPs, which is standard now, LaBrutta advised.
Service members have asked about the new uniform at almost every town hall gathering, said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. The focus has been, “How do we make it easier [and] what works for airmen,” she commented on May 4.
Long time Editor of the First Aero’s AerodromeNewsletter, July McClure, (at left) made two home runs yesterday at the Columbus Fire Department’s Annual Open House event. The two awards caught July by complete surprise, which made the recognition that much more special. Fire Chief, Andres Ramos (at right), presented July with a special award in appreciation of her continuous thirty-three (33!) years of volunteer service with the Fire Department and community of Columbus, New Mexico. July is a Captain in the Columbus Fire Department.
The Fire Department facilities are just West of the historic 1916 First Aero SquadronAirfield.
Next it was the FASF’s turn, as this writer had the honor and privilege of presenting July with a special FASF Recognition (for volunteer service) Certificate of Appreciation for her years of work as both the Editor-in-Chief of the Aerodrome Newsletter, and for her role as official Recorder of Board of Trustee Meetings, not to mention her hours of work at various public events helping the FASF staff its exhibition booths. July is a woman of diverse talents, one with which Columbus has been blessed for well over thirty-five years.
Born in Washington, DC, of parents who were both professional musicians, and whose Dad, Jimmy, was also a US Naval Aviator, she was then was raised in Colorado, where she went on to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree in Cultural Anthropology. But the call of entertainment was too strong, and she quickly joined a cross-country touring orchestra as both an instrumentalist and vocalist, which included a gig in a West Coast radio comedy show.
When she later married, and moved to Columbus, her profession changed to that of a Journalist, where she ended up working as a full time staff reporter for both the Deming HeadlightNewspaper and the Desert Winds Magazine.
However, Ms. McClure never lost either her interest in acting – or music – continuing her second career as an actor, appearing at least once almost every year in various theatrical productions. July also owns the esteemed Tumbleweed Theaterin downtown Columbus, and regularly performs as a musician across SW New Mexico, most often as a member of the Spring Canyonband, which features Dev Olliver of Columbus and Paul Smith of Deming..
She often joins up with other local entertainers such as Bud and Jeane Canfield (Bud is one of the First Aero Advisors) and Deborah (“Dev”) Olliver, who’s photos of July from yesterday appear below. Dev, herself, is in another of yesterday’s photos, seen chatting with Columbus’ new Mayor,Bruce D’Salas. July has also served a number of times as an elected member of the Columbus City Council and consistently remains active in area politics. The following photos depict yesterday’s Open House Events at the Columbus Fire Station facilities.
HTo see any photos in full HD resolution, simply click on them H
July,as left, opens her FASF Achievement Award as Ric Lambartlooks on.
FASF Award for Oustanding Echievement given July McClure at Columbus Public Event on May 5, 2018
Ricreads the Award’s Inscription to the audience as July looks on.
L to R above: Captain July McClure, trying to read the Fire Department’s Award Inscription as Former Fire Chief, Pablo Montoya, looks on and Presenter, Fire Chief Andres Ramos, reads the Award’s text to the crowd.
Captain McClureproudly shows the Award to the audience.
The Emergency Air Ambulance Helicopter landed on the City Baseball Field across from the Fire Station so the public could tour it up close.
View of one of entrances to the Fire Station – Below the Blue Canopy seen through the doorway, is where some of the volunteer Fire Fighters worked over the grill to prepare the event’s barbeque main course.
View of some of the many pies and cakes prepared by the public, which were auctioned off to the highest bidders as a way to raise money for the Fire Fighters.
The Emergency Native Air Ambulance flight Crew enjoys the event’s food: At left is Teresa Nystrom, Flight Paramedic; center is Billi McNary, Flight Nurse, and the Helicopter’s Pilot, Manny Garcia, is at right. Their Air Ambulance Helicopter is stationed at the Deming Airport. Their presence at the Volunteer festivities was courtesy of NATIVE AIR AMBULANCE, an AIR METHODS COMPANY.
Part of the crowd of visitors.
More of the guests enjoy their meals.
Additional visitors arrive and search for dining table space.
L to R: New Columbus Mayor, Bruce D’Salaschats with FASF Photographer, Dev Olliver.
L to R above: Chief Ramos watches as Battalian Chief, Walter Simpson (who also received a Service Award), cuts into the Fire Department Cake, and Captain McClure and Assistant Fire Chief, Pablo Montoya, also look on.
