The Membership Newsletter for The Military Aviation Museum Fall 2012

Military Aviation Museumwww.MilitaryAviationMuseum.org

Virginia Beach Airportwww.VBairport.com

Fighter Factorywww.FighterFactory.com

Inside this Issue:

Recovering of the AVRO 3

Volunteer Appreciation 4

de Havilland DH-98 Mosquito 5

One Pilot’s Reunion 6

Get to Know: Ray Scott 6

Hangar Happenings 7-8

Event Calendar 8

Win a Ride in a WWII plane 8

World War One Biplanes and Triplanes Airshow by Jonathan R. Lichtenstein and ‘Boom’ Powell

Photos by Art NorfolkThe 2012 Biplanes and Triplanes Air Show opened with the recreation of a little known incident from the early days of the Great War. Princess Priscilla, niece of HRH George V, had taken a fancy to the famed aeronaut Peter Puresome who was in France exhibit-ing a Curtiss ‘Pusher’ aeroplane. They arranged a ren-dezvous at le Pungo airfi eld. But their sweet moments together are interrupted by the arrival of a German Halberstadt two-seater. Suspecting the worst, Pure-some takes off in the un-armed Curtiss to fetch help. Sure enough, troops of the Kaiser seize the princess and drag her to the waiting Halberstadt. But wait! Just in the nick of time, Pure-some dives out of the sun in a Sopwith 1½ Strutter and chases off the German aero-plane whilst British Tom-mies hold off the Hunnish

infantry. He lands, the princess climbs swiftly into the open gunner’s cockpit and they fl y off into the sunset.

The cast for our drama were the pilots, staff, recre-ators and, of course, the airplanes of the Military Avi-ation Museum (MAM). Among the latest additions to the Museum's stable of replica fl ying machines of the Great War are examples of the Sopwith Camel and the obscure Fokker D.VI. Both airframes were the result of painstaking reconstructions by the late Walt

“Wimpy” Redfern whose fascination with aviation of the First World War was born out of a desire to build an accurate replica of the legendary Fokker Dr.I triplane. In his at-tempts to locate accurate original plans for the type, he lit upon Herr Reinhold

The Sopwith Camel taking off

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Museum Hosts America’s Comeback Team

Governor Romney with B-17 “Chuckie” in the background.

Photo by Brian Snyder Continued on page 2

On Saturday September 8th the Presidential cam-paign of Governor Mitt Romney paid a visit to the Military Aviation Museum. Campaign and U.S. Se-cret Service offi cials gave the go-ahead the Wednes-day prior to the event. The Museum staff swung into action to prepare for the rally that promised to be MAM’s biggest!

The Navy Hangar was to be center stage with planes on the fl ight line including the B-17, “Chuckie” with a huge American fl ag as backdrop. The Romney campaign and Secret Ser-vice Offi cials took over the museum Friday evening to prepare.

MAM volunteer Bill Coburn of the Governor’s leadership team was asked to pull together some volunteers and veterans to participate in the event that was to honor our veterans and military families. Volunteers Richard Carmichael and Stan Bialas also

served in key positions with Richard leading the parking and Stan serving as museum greeter and offering voter reg-istration and absentee ballot applications.

The event kicked off with Del-egate Barry Knight welcoming everyone, Navy Veteran and Delegate John Cosgrove lead-ing the invocation and Bill Co-burn leading the pledge.

Continued on page 2

PAGE 2 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4

Triplanes..Continued from page 1

The Rudolph Klimke Fokker DR.I triplane

Platz, one of the Fokker triplane's original design engineers, who provided a complete set of drawings for the Dr.I. Redfern’s fi nal recreation, the Fokker D.VI, has not fl own since shortly after its completion in 1996 and will undergo a full evaluation by the Fighter Factory and soon be back in the air. The Avro 504K recently received an overhaul and now sports a rejuvenated skin (See “Recovering the AVRO” article on the next page). The Ar-gentinian roundels gone and the plane now displays the livery of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) or the early Royal Air Force (RAF). The trio of triplanes included our newly re-constituted “yellow” Fokker Dr.I. Some of you may remember a modest incident last year involving that triplane, painted in the markings of Lieutenant Rudolf Klimke. Our blue Dr.I is modeled after an example fl own by German ace, Lieutenant Werner Voss and the red and white is derived from a Dr.I op-erated by Staffelfeuhrer August Raben. The Fokker triplanes were joined by the Sopwith 1½ Strutter for a brief scrap overhead. On Sunday, a full-scale replica Nieuport 17, one of the most important planes fi elded by the Al-lies following the “Fokker Scourge” of 1915 – 1916 performed. Aeronautical engineering during WWI reached its zenith in Fok-ker's D.VII of 1918. So successful was the model, surviving examples were demanded as post-war reparations. The Museum has three replica D.VIIs, including one constructed around a n original Hall-Scott motor. The signifi cance of this particular example is the engine was actually installed in

a post-war D.VII and operated by the nascent U.S. Army Air Service. However, it was our all black and lozenge camoufl aged D.VIIs with more conventional engines that took to the air. A Fokker C.I joined the formation of D.VIIs which is similar to them, but upon closer inspection reveals a second cockpit and longer fuselage. The C.I was intended for sale to Germany, but the end of hostilities rendered Anthony Fokker's trade deal null and void. Expecting his brand new design might go the way of his prized D.VII, Fokker man-aged to smuggle most of his prototypes, along with other planes, parts and supplies out of the country, on the eve of the Armistice. Two re-duced scale fl ying replicas; Phil Arbie’s Nie-uport 23, painted in the markings of Italian ace, Francesco Baracca, and the museum’s Halberstadt CL.IV completed the aerial cast. All the aircraft performed photo fl y-overs and touch-and-go landings so the au-dience could see them up close.

Among other guests returning for this year's event were the Manhattan Dolls, the talent-ed chanteuse, Theresa Eaman, and Charlie Chaplin, stage, screen and movie actor, in the person of Billy Scadlock. Their skill at

recreating the popular culture of the period was especially welcome at Sat-urday night's Hangar Dance with the ac-companiment of Terry Ches-son's “Jump n' Jive Orchestra.” Theresa sang

the national anthem Saturday and Sunday while a re-enactor from the Parris Island Liv-

Local military “dropping” byPhoto by Art Norfolk

Romney..Continued from page 1

ing History Detachment, dressed in the uni-form of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) presented the colors in remembrance of the more than 65 million men and women who served during the First World War.

Throughout the weekend visitors wandered through the encampments and learned what it was like to have served in many roles for the warring nations: Parris Island Marines, hospital medics, Royal Flying Corps, war correspondents; Russian, American, Ger-man and French infantry. A parade of an-tique automobiles including a Metz, Frank-lin, Austin 6 and models T and A Fords, drove about. Sometimes with one or all of the pulchritudinous singing trio, The Man-hattan Dolls, gracing a seat. There was no telling where or when Charlie Chaplin as a doughboy, fl y boy or tramp would show up and bring a smile with his antics.

Sunday. Ah, Sunday. Only campers and ear-ly visitors saw two airplanes fl y the Dawn Patrol. The wind kicked up and was strong enough to keep the wood, fabric, and valu-able, WW1 aeroplanes on the ground. The wind was so strong the Avro 504 and Sop-with 1 ½ Strutter with their long fuselages and tail skids could not even taxi. At one point there were a half dozen biplanes and triplanes taxiing about and running in small circles in front of the grandstands. (Yes, rain checks were offered for the following week-end’s Wings and Wheels show.)

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell spoke, calling for a change in our leadership to restore our economy. Governor Romney arrived fl anked by our Corsair and TBM Avenger. He spoke of the need to honor our vets and military families, restore our economy and support a strong national de-fense to rousing enthusiasm and applause of the crowd of 4,500. The Governor was clearly moved by the patriotic nature of the event, staying as long as possible to meet many in the crowd.

By 3pm, as the Governor and Secret Ser-vice departed, the museum’s largest single event to date was over and the Museum opened for visitors. Those who stayed were treated to the deep throaty roar of merlin engines as the museum’s P-51 Mustang and Hurricane returned from air shows. Our thanks to staff and volunteers including everyone who came in after the event to help with the crowds.

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4 PAGE 3

Recovering the AVRO: Step by StepBy “Boom” Powell

Photos by Tom KurtzA frequently asked question, especially about World War 1 airplanes, is what are the wings made of? MAM’s Avro 504 recently

needed its wings recovered and the Fighter Factory did the job. All the mechanics worked on the proj-ect, especially the apprentices who were introduced to this vanishing skill. e

Step 1: The old fabric, which had become brittle, had to be removed and any damage to the now exposed wood repaired .

Step 3: The fabric is secured to the ribs with strong cord and tight, fl at knots. Here, Patrick Romaine is wielding a very long needle.

Step 2: Large sheets of fabric are tacked to the top and bottom of the wings and ailerons. In the old days covers were linen or high grade cotton, but today longer wearing, man made fabrics are used.

Step 4: The fabric is shrunk by heat for a taut fi t. Al Lintz uses an ordinary clothes iron for the job.

Step 9: Finally, the airplane goes up on a test fl ight. The pi-lot reports what the controls feel like and the riggers make any needed adjustments.

Step 5: “Dope” is used to seal, strengthen, and shrink the fabric as well as being an adhe-sive. The dope is tinted red so it is visible on the white fabric. Strips of cloth tape are laid over the rib-stitching for smoothness and se-curity. Fabric covering takes many hours and attention to detail.

Step 6: The surfaces get several more coats of dope with the fi nal one aluminized for ultra-violet protection. Master painter Doug Barry is carrying the newly painted rudder for the change to Royal Flying Corps markings.

Step 7: The fi nal color coat is sprayed on after careful masking. The fuselage in the background has its new, correct RFC markings.

Step 8: The wings are then hung back on the aeroplane, struts fastened in place and a multitude of wires hooked up. The wires’ tension is adjusted with turnbuckles to set the wings at exact angles. You can see why the men who do this are known as “riggers’.

PAGE 4 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4

Over eight years ago the Military Aviation Museum found a de Havilland DH-98 Mos-quito (serial number KA114) in far western Canada. After thousands of hours of resto-ration work at AVspecs in Auckland, New Zealand, it recently completed its fi rst post-restoration fl ight. This is the third aircraft restored by AVspecs for our museum.

KA114 was manufactured in Toronto, at De Havilland Canada's Downsview factory. Flying for the fi rst time in 1945, it was too late to see any combat service, so was fl own directly into storage with the Royal Cana-dian Air Force.

Once the war was over, former military air-craft could be acquired by the public in vari-ous countries, including Cana-da. KA114 was purchased by a farmer in April 1948 who took the airplane to his property in Alberta. The aircraft was saved from being scrapped, but un-fortunately the weather took its toll as it languished and deterio-rated over the years.

Acquired by the Canadian Museum of Flight and Trans-port in 1978, it was crucial to get the aircraft under cover to prevent further weather damage. As it was being transported, the forward section of the fuselage disintegrated and broke in two. The majority of the wing and many other metal parts fared much better over the years but the aircraft was missing both en-gines and all of the landing gears. It spent several years in storage before fi nally being purchased by our museum.

Moving the aircraft to New Zealand posed an-other problem. The 40 foot shipping contain-ers were too small for the 51 foot wingspan. The solution this time was to take a chainsaw to trim off the wing tip and allow it to fi t into a container for its journey across the Pacifi c.

The woodwork was in terrible condition and most of it had to be completely rebuilt. Al-though original plans were extremely hard to fi nd, patterns could easily be drawn up from damaged components to produce new ones. This was much easier than starting from scratch. Glyn Powell, of Auckland, was enlisted to create from wood a new fu-selage, wings, and tail sections. Wood made the Mosquito fast and formidable, but it was

De Havilland DH-98 Mosquitoby Felix Usis

challenging to make in large pieces. It took Powell over ten years just to build the 36 foot long wooden molds for the fuselage. He used “modern” epoxy glue instead of original animal glue in joining the pieces together. The fuselage for KA114 came out exactly as it had left the factory with all the original metal attachments.

It took almost three years to build the wood-en airframe and once completed it was trans-ported to AVspecs at Ardmore Airport. The team there had been restoring hydraulic and electric systems, making piping, and con-structing new cowlings and other parts from scratch. A worldwide search ensued for a myriad of parts. Finding landing gear as-semblies, tires, and other seemingly simple

things was a painstaking task. A brand new pilot seat was found with the maker’s tag still attached from an internet auction site.

The twin-engine aircraft is powered by Rolls Royce Merlin engines, so two such motors needed to be found. Former Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Merlin 25's were located in a home garage in Aus-tralia complete with genuine engine mounts and accessories. These were sent to Califor-nia to be restored by Vintage V-12s. Other New Zealand companies made components such as fuel tanks and radiators. The radia-tors were a huge challenge, since none had been made since Mosquito production end-ed. Replicore took on the challenge, as they had experience making ones for our P-40, but Mosquito radiators were totally different and hundreds of hours of research ensued with stunning results.

Prepped in authentic and correct base silver dope, the plane was ready to be painted in its markings and design. Choosing a paint scheme for any aircraft is a diffi cult task and many ideas were discussed before the 487

Squadron RNZAF color scheme was fi nally chosen. After painting, the squadron mark-ings were added. KA114 was painted as EG-Y; “EG” is the 487 Squadron code, “Y” for Yoke, the phonetic alphabet of the RAF during the Second World War.

The aircraft was then towed back to AVspecs for a huge amount of smaller jobs. These included the addition of four replica machine guns and the fi tting of four 20mm canons under the nose, complete with origi-nal ammo boxes. Propellers and hubs were installed and the new weight and balance completed. Time was drawing near for its fi rst fl ight. The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) began its fi nal inspections which took them two days to complete.

Even as the CAA was inspect-ing, work was progressing on the cowlings, operational radios and installing the landing gear doors. With the CAA’s issuance of a Certifi cate of Airworthiness, the only thing left to do was fl y it!

On September 27th, 2012, it was prepared for the fi rst actual test fl ight. Dave Phillips, a local Cathy Pacifi c pilot who had fi rst test fl own our Dragon Rapide, had been chosen to take the world’s

only fl ying Mosquito up into the air. Although no one had been told about the fl ight, it was not possible to keep this a secret in the New Zealand community. Hundreds of spectators showed up at Ardmore. At approximately 10:30 a.m., the Mosquito lifted into the air to the cheers of the crowd, circled overhead a couple of times and then fl ew directly to the Auckland International Airport with its long and wide runways. After a successful land-ing and examination by the AVspecs team it did another short circuit and overhead fl ight, before departing for the return to Ardmore.

Saturday, September 29th, was the full public display of the fi rst Mosquito to fl y in over 16 years. It was a small air show held at Ardmore Airport with a Spitfi re, Mustang, P-40 Kittyhawk and other his-toric aircraft, but the true star of the show was the de Havilland Mosquito in its World War II camoufl age markings of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Almost 20 former RNZAF crew members that had fl own and worked on such aircraft during the war years

Continued on page 5

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OwteCTaxiing for take off in New Zealand

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4 PAGE 5

4,000 hour wings were awarded to a docent, Art O’Toole.

Volunteers who achieved 500 or 1,000 hours are awarded a fl ight in a WWII train-er and Warbird respectively. Those who had achieved 500 hours were given rides in the Boeing Stearman, de Havilland Chipmunk or Ryan PT-22. Warbird fl ights were given in the P-51 Mustang and the North American SNJ-4.

Mr. Yagen praised the volunteers and staff and thanked them for their tireless commitment to ensuring the success of the many events held throughout the year. He reminded

On Saturday, October 13, 2012, the Museum held its volunteers’ appreciation party. It was a wonderful sunny day and more than 180 volunteers and guests were in attendance.

The Museum, in its fourth year, has approxi-mately 187 volunteers; and over that period of time, they have cumulatively donated more than 77,000 hours.

Each year, we come together to present awards to those who have achieved certain milestones. Those who “volunteered” 300, 500, 750, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 hours to the Museum are awarded a series of wings starting with the 300-hour bronze wings up to the 4,000-hour gold wings en-crusted with rubies. For the fi rst time the

2012 Museum Volunteer’s Appreciation PartyBy David Hunt

Museum Director, David Hunt, fi rst 4,000 hour volunteer, Art O’Toole and Gerald Yagen

Museum Director, David Hunt, long time contributor to Prop Noise and

2,000 hour volunteer, Felix Usis and Museum founder, Gerald Yagen

everyone that the dedication of the volun-teers and staff has played an integral part in the world-wide recognition of the Military Aviation Museum.

were in attendance. They wanted to see, touch, smell, and relive the memories of their past. They came to show their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren what they experienced. Proud of their own history, New Zealanders came by the thousands.

The news media covering the event, could not say enough about the plane and the many who attended the fi rst public fl ight. They interviewed as many of the aging veterans as possible to get their stories on tape as they are a quickly vanishing group. Thousands of enthusiastic fans were in attendance that day clogging the roads leading to Ardmore. Families eventually just parked along the road, walking the last mile or two to see one of the three demonstration fl ights. That evening there was a dinner party in the han-gar to celebrate the successful fl ight of the Mosquito.

AVspecs is completing detail work on the aircraft and should be fi nished by mid-January. KA114 will be trans-ported to Virginia by cargo ship, reassembled, and certifi ed by the American FAA before its fi rst public fl ight during the May Warbirds Over the Beach.

Mosquito..Continued from page 5

sair he very generously offered to let OBie fl y his old steed once again. The fl ight took place on September 22 with a sizeable crowd of interested spectators. The fl ight brought back memories of squadron pilots who were like brothers; of fl ights into the unknown; long deployments and a myriad of other thoughts. OBie may have taken a bit longer to climb into 359 but once seated and strapped in he was once again a 24 year old Tiger ready to go and “do things.”

PAGE 6 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4

A reunion is generally considered to be a gathering of people with a common interest after an elapsed period of time. Not so for one of the Museum’s pilots. OBie O’Brien recently reunited in California with an old friend he had not seen in 59 years. That friend was F4U-4 BuNo 97359 (Corsair) that OBie fl ew from the deck of the USS Boxer (CVA-21) into the unfriendly skies of Korea when both the old Warriors were attached to Fighter Squadron 44. The Corsair was put into storage shortly after the Korean Confl ict ended and was sold as surplus in 1958. After a number

OBie O’Brien revisiting the past in the Corsair

of owners, including fl ying in the Baa Baa Blacksheep TV series, she was recently pur-chased by Doug Matthews and is based in Ra-mona, California. The plane has been beauti-fully restored to “like new” condition and is painted as the plane fl own by LTJG Tom Hudner. Hudner landed wheels up on a snow covered mountain in Korea in a futile attempt to save his squadron mate, Jesse Brown who had crashed. Brown was the fi rst black naval aviator. Hudner was subsequently presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Truman. The last fl ight

that OBie logged in 359 was a ferry fl ight from the ship to Port Lyautey, Morocco, to be placed in a pool status. OBie’s reunion was researched by Steve Chapis of War-bird Digest and when Doug Matthews was informed that one of 359’s old combat pilots was current in the Cor-

In 1947, Ray Scott was 16 and spent a lot of time at a local airport. As veterans were returning home, he got to know some of the pilots and was given several airplane rides. It was then, watching WWII veterans utiliz-ing their G.I. Bill for fl ight training that he decided to do the same (The G.I. Bill was for educational purposes for people who served in the military.)

In 1953, he was drafted into the Army. After Army training and in his fi rst year, he served as an instructor and then was sent to Korea and served as the Wire Chief for the 7th In-fantry Division.

With O’Brien behind the wheel, the phrase “Just like riding a bike” comes to mind

One Pilot’s Reunion with his Pastby D. Hunt

Photos by Stephen Chapis

Get to Know: The Museum’s Ray Scottby Jacey Byrne

Following his discharge from the service and with assistance from the GI Bill, his dream came true as he attended fl ight school. Af-ter completion of the training, he built fl ight time as an instructor and towing banners. He also started a glider school with a friend that is still in operation today, 50 years later.

Scott fl ew as a corporate pilot during the next 24 years, primarily turbo-props and acquired 750 hours in a Be 18 (Army C-45, Navy SNB) which introduced him to Warbird aircraft.

The corporate job he had required him to take regular FAA fl ight checks and he knew most of the FAA people in the Rich-mond offi ce. Those FAA pilots that had given him fl ight checks recommended him when there was an opening in the Richmond Offi ce, as an Aviation Safety Inspector. Although this is a diffi cult and coveted position, Scott passed thru the process quickly and with fl ying colors.

After his retirement, he received a call from Ken Laird asking if he would be interested in fl ying his Tora Tora Tora

Val in airshows, which started him in an-other aviation direction…Warbirds. During an air show at Oceana, he met someone at the museum who offered him a fl ight in the SNJ.

Later, Scott sent a letter to the museum ex-pressing his desire to become involved as an air show coordinator with the Fighter Fac-tory, where the aircraft are maintained for the Museum. Scott spent the next 8 years fl ying many of the Warbirds you see in the Museum today, and serving as the air show coordinator, of which Scott describes “as the

Ray Scott in the museum’s P-51 MustangR S tt i th ’ P 51 M tA young Ray Scott fl ying an early model Mustang

Continued on page 8

Observing several gaggles of highly en-gaged nine to fourteen year olds in the Mili-tary Aviation Museum (MAM) this August provided exciting glimpses of MAM’s 2012 Summer Camp in motion. The fi rst camp was opened to all aviation neophytes and the second was for advanced campers.

The camp was a volunteer collaborative ef-fort bringing all the museum components together, coordinated by MAM Events Co-ordinator, Jacey Byrne.

Mondays started with “Boom” Powell’s fl ight basics. Ken Reichert continued with

m a k i n g gliders and cockpit ori-e n t a t i o n . Skip John-son fi n-ished with a presenta-tion/tour on the history of avia-tion with a focus on

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4 PAGE 7

Museum Summer Camp 2012by Skip Johnson

Hangar Happenings

The Fokker D7 in a sharp turn

A camper in the nose of “Chuckie”

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39th Annual “Wings and Wheels” MeetBy Kit Lawrence

The Thirty-Ninth Annual Wings and Wheels Car Show, sponsored by the Tidewater Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (TRAACA) was held on the grounds of the Military Aviation Museum on Saturday, September 29th. This was the fi fth time the event had been held at the Mu-seum. Despite the on again, off again driz-zling rain throughout the day, attendance at

the event was good, and everyone had an enjoyable day. Approximately 100 antique automobiles and 80 modifi ed and custom vehicles were displayed in addition to two Armed Forces Dragsters painted and spon-sored by Sign Masters of Virginia Beach. Although the weather precluded planned air races, many of the attendees were able to view the vintage planes both in the hangar

and on the tarmac. A num-ber of awards were presented to owners of vehicles at the concluding award ceremony with the Best of Show award going to John and Lynn Hei-merl’s 1935 Chrysler Air-fl ow. The TRAACA has ex-pressed their gratitude for the use of the Museum grounds for this event, and the excep-tional level of support by the administration and staff of the Museum.

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Rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of these participants

On October, 4-7, Tidewater R/C held their in-augural Mid Atlantic Dawn Patrol at the Mili-tary Aviation Museum’s WW1 hangar.

Over 40 pilots traveled from all over includ-ing Texas, Ohio, Indiana and the New Eng-land area to participate. In total, there were 135 WWI model aircraft, most of which were giant scale with wing spans of over 10 feet!

Over the three days, the event drew more than 500 visitors to the museum. Good food and 1920’s music were provided for all culminat-ing in a catered Southern Fried chicken dinner on Saturday evening. It was a very colorful event with national fl ags of all nations in-volved in WWI as well as the colorful planes from that era. The pilots fl ew their airplanes from dawn to dusk. In the sky, one would be hard pressed to tell if models were fl ying or if it was the real thing, especially when the pilots engaged in realistic dog fi ghting.

Many thanks to all the pilots, club members and supporters who helped to make this event such a wonderful success. Mark your calendar for next year when the Tidewater R/C is expecting over 100 pilots and close to 400 airplanes.

WWI R-C ExtravaganzaBy Scott Vickery, President Tidewater R/C

WW1 fi ghters, Battle of Britain, and WW2 strategic bombing campaign.

The NAS Oceana tour dominated Tuesdays. Campers viewed operations from the ob-servation tower, fi re/crash crew and Strike Fighter School demonstrations, and FA-18 orientations in the VFA-37 Hangar.

Wednesday was the Rocket Day build and launch led by Stan Bialas, and Don Siemie-niak’s ground crew orientation.

Initial model building led by our hon-cho Dave Gayton started Thursday. Ken Reichert with our scouts, Daniel Drehoff and Jack Briseno instructed campers how to plot and fl y courses using maps and simula-tors. Josh Wilson gave a special F-22 pre-sentation to advanced campers. The day ended with the Fighter Factory presentation which included a PBY tour, riveting class, R/C aircraft demonstration, and Tom Kurtz explaining the AVRO 504’s restoration. Friday started with the Flight Simulation program and model completion, and an ac-tual glider fl ight by Mike Keefe from the

Continued on page 8

Tom Kurtz talking to a group of campers at the Fighter Factory

PAGE 8 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 4

Membership Newsletter for The Military Aviation Museum

1341 Princess Anne RoadVirginia Beach, VA 23457

(757) 721-PROP

Open Daily9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Return service requested

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDVIRGINIA BEACH, VA

PERMIT NO. 235Event Calendar

NOVEMBER

3 - Air and Auto Classic 11 - Museum Bus Veteran’s Day Parade17 -5k Runway Run23-25 - Trains, Planes and Santa

DECEMBER

15 - Hangar Talk and Flight Demo

FEBRUARY

9 - Valentine’s Day Hangar Dance

Win a Ride in a WWII Plane

Summer Camp..Continued from page 7Tidewater Soaring Society. The camp ended with an on-the-grill lunch for all including docents, parents, and staff. This was followed by the actual graduation and the presentation of certifi cates and wings in the auditorium.

Military Aviation Museum Summer Camp created new aviation buffs and a glimpse of possible future careers. The formal theater presentation of certifi cates and wings made a fi nal lasting impression of campers and family.

Ray Scott..Continued from page 6

most enjoyable part of his aviation career.”After 56 years of fl ying and 13,000 plus hours, he says he wouldn’t change much and is thankful for his time with these Warbirds.

He enjoys the Spitfi re because of the histori-cal factor and the Yak because of the excite-ment of its power and acceleration. Scott is now an active Museum Docent and loves to talk about all of the aircraft at the museum, especially the P-51 Mustang, which he says, “is the most pleasurable to fl y”, but as for a favorite, he loves them all!

Show us your Prop Noise bumper sticker or t-shirt in the most creative of places and receive a ride in a WWII replica airplane. On top of a mountain or driving through a snow drift, send us a picture of your “I love Prop Noise” bumper stick or t-shirt and the most cre-ative or unique one each quarter will receive a ride in one of the museum’s WWII aircraft.

Send your pic-ture along, with your contact info and where the picture was taken to director@aviationmuseum.us in order to be entered win.

9:00 am - 5:00 pm

The world’s only fl ying Mosquito