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Daedalusflyer

BIG GIVE The S.A.

MARK yourCALENDARS for

HUGECHANGESCOMINGTO THEFOUNDATION

INTERVIEWwith

FOUNDATIONCHAIRMAN

JERRYALLEN

ADVOCATING AIRPOWERPAST. PRESENT. FUTURE.

04Newsbeat

06 Commander’s Perspective

16 Adjutant’s Column

18 Caitlin’s Corner

20Book Reviews

22 Awards

30Flightline

48 New/Rejoining Daedalians

49Eagle Wing/Reunions

50In Memoriam

51Flight Addresses

DEPARTMENTS05The Big Give S.A.

17Daedalian Citation of Honor

21David and Goliath on the Bombing RangeLt Col John Larrison, USAF (Ret)

26Flying the FloggerReflections on an Early Post-Cold War MiG-23 ExperienceDr. Benjamin S. Lambeth

FEATURES

Spring 2016, Vol. LVII No.1

THE ORDER OF DAEDALIANS was organized on 26 March 1934 by a representative group of American World War I pilots to perpetuate the spirit of patriotism, the love of country, and the high ideals of sacrifice which place service to nation above personal safety or position. The Order is dedicated to: insuring that America will always be preeminent in air and space—the encourage-ment of flight safety—fostering an esprit de corps in the military air forces—promoting the adoption of military service as a career—and aiding deserving young individuals in specialized higher education through the establishment of scholarships.THE DAEDALIAN FOUNDATION was incorporated in 1959 as a non-profit organization to carry on activities in furtherance of the ideals and purposes of the Order. The Foundation publishes the Daedalus Flyer and sponsors the Daedalian Scholarship Program. The Foundation is a GuideStar Exchange member. The Scholarship Program recognizes scholars who indicate a desire to become military pilots and pursue a career in the military. Other scholarships are presented to younger individuals interested in aviation but not enrolled in college. Voluntary contributions to the Foundation are used for these purposes.ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP in the Order of Daedalians is limited to: (1) Founder Members—those individuals of the Armed Services of the United States who held a commission and a rating of heavier-than-air pilot prior to November 12, 1918 (the last Founder Member made his last flight in 2003); (2) Named Members—those rated heavier-than-air pilot commissioned, warrant, flight officers or WASP, in a component of the United States Armed Services, named in honor of a Founder Member; (3) Hereditary Members—the descendants of Founder Members; (4) Honorary Members—A distinguished person not otherwise eligible for membership.

Daedalus Flyer, (ISSN 10832831) the official Daedalian journal, is published quarterly by the Daedalian Foundation, 55 Main Circle, Building #676, Randolph AFB TX 78148-0249.

All rights reserved. For reprints, contact the editor.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Order of Daedalians

P. O. Box 249, Randolph AFB, TX 78148-0249or [email protected]

Address all editorial communications to: Daedalian Foundation—P.O. Box 249, Randolph AFB, TX 78148-0249

Phone Number: (210) 945-2113—FAX: (210) 945-2112E-MAIL: [email protected]

DAEDALIAN HOME PAGE: http://www.daedalians.orgORDER OF DAEDALIANS: (210) 945-2111 E-MAIL: [email protected]

CONTENTS

2 Daedalus Flyer Spring 2016

CommanderLt Gen Doug Owens, USAF (Ret)

Vice CommanderMG Ronald K. Andreson, USA (Ret)

Past CommanderLt Gen Nicholas B. Kehoe, III, USAF (Ret)

National Adjutant (staff)Col James W. Kellogg, USAF (Ret)

HistorianCol Donald Robison, USAF (Ret)

Judge AdvocateLt Col J. Todd Hedgepeth, USAF (Ret)

Provost MarshalCol Ronald R. Ellis, USAF (Ret)

SecretaryCol Gary Walston, ANG (Ret)

TreasurerCol Randall Putz, USAF (Ret)

DirectorsLt Gen Loyd Utterback, USAF (Ret)

Maj Gen Marn e Peterson, USAF (Ret)Col Howard C. Ham, USAF (Ret)

Col Eric Hastings, USMC (Ret)COL Charles F. Densford, Jr, USA (Ret)

Lt Col Leslie R. Dyer, III, USAF (Ret)Maj Gen Jerrold P. Allen, USAF (Ret)

Maj Gen Bruce Smith, USAF (Ret)

Foundation ChairmanMaj Gen Jerrold P. Allen, USAF (Ret)

Vice ChairmanCol Ed Sheeran, USAF (Ret)

TreasurerCol Luis M. Rodriguez, USAF (Ret)

ChaplainLt Gen Richard E. Brown, III, USAF (Ret)

SecretaryCol Wayne Mudge, USAF (Ret)

Judge Advocate-vacant-

TrusteesMaj Gen Davis Rohr, USAF (Ret)

Col Frank Kapp, USAF (Ret)Col John Dipiero, USAF (Ret)COL Dan Meyers, USA (Ret)

Lt Col John Larrison, USAF (Ret)Lt Col Michael Buck, USAF (Ret)LT Col Olga Custodio, USAF (Ret)Lt Col Kathryn Staiger, USAF (Ret)

Mr. Will C. Hendrix, Jr.

Director of Administration Mrs. Maureen DeFeliceExecutive Administrator Mrs. Kristi Cavenaugh

Editor Ms. Caitlin CavenaughOffice Administrator Ms. Erin Cavenaugh

Office Administrator Ms. Lucia Sanchez-Aldana

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

STAFF

05

17

21

26

Daedalian Foundation 3

NEWSBEAT

WASP Fighting For Arlington AccessBy Mary Grady

Veterans of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, now in their 80s and 90s, are widely honored in the aviation world, but now they are taking up a new fight for equality — seeking the right to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. A bill introduced in Congress this week aims to secure that option for the WASP. The legislation would overturn a recent decision by the Secretary of the Army rescinding inurnment eligibility for WASP pilots, which they have had since 2002. “This decision is simply appalling,” said Arizona Rep. Martha McSally, one of the sponsors of the bill. “At a time when we are opening all positions to women, the Army is closing Arlington to the pioneers who paved the way for pilots like me and all women to serve in uniform. It doesn’t make sense.”

The WASP “fought, and died, in service to their country,” said Rep. McSally. “They trained in the military style: sleep-ing on metal cots, marching, and living under military discipline. They deserve the full honors we give our war heroes, and I’ll continue to fight until they get them.” The WASP were a group of about 1,100 women who flew non-combat missions during World War II. Their missions included ferrying aircraft across the country, training combat pilots and towing airborne targets for other aircraft. Thirty-eight WASP pilots died during their service. In 2010, the group received a Congressional Gold Medal. Nevertheless, the WASP were considered to be civilians. Neither they nor their families received military benefits.

Starting in 2002, Arlington allowed members of the group to have their ashes placed at the cemetery, with full military honors. The issue of the WASP’s recent rejection from Arlington was brought to light by the family of Elaine Harmon, a former WASP, who died in April 2015. When the family sought military honors for her at Arlington, they were denied by the Army. “We appreciate Rep. McSally taking the lead on this issue to right this injustice for military trailblazers who were ahead of their time,” said Whitney Miller, granddaughter of Elaine Harmon. Miller also has posted a petition at Change.org. “This was our grandmother’s last wish and we want to see this through,” Miller said. “Not only was she a national hero, she was our family’s hero.”

After receiving tons of comments after the release of our recent WASP issue of the Flyer, I thought this update found on http://www.avweb.com might be of interest to some of you.

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/WASP-Fighting-For-Arlington-Access-225506-1.html

We thank our new sponsors.

Congratulations...to our newest Honorary Members, Mr. Laird Leavoy and Dr. Richard Hallion.


OPEN HOUSE“Daedalian Olympics”

11am-1pm at HeadquartersHour of Giving: 5-6pm

...one small gift can change a life.

If you want to donate to the Daedalian Foundation on the day of the Big Give but you are not sure you will have time, CALL HQ or email us at [email protected] to make a pledge. The donation will be made 3 May 2016 as a ONE TIME GIFT.

This is the third year that the Daedalian Foundation will be participating in the Big Give. In 2015, our donations totaled $28,065, which was up almost 300% from 2014's total of $9,675.00. In 2015 we also had 314 individual gifts from both Daedalians and avia-tion enthusiasts. During the Big Give, we won a power hour of $1,000 - second place for the most money won in our category - $2,500 and first place in unique donors of $10,000, giving us $13,500 in additional prize money. With all the prize money we were able to set up a new category of scholarships. Prior to our announcement, Leonel Martinez had not intended to go to college away from home, but because of the generosity of donors for the Big Give he was able to attend school at the University of Texas at Austin to study to become something he has aspired to be for years... A military pilot. The Big Give gave us a great opportunity to expand our program to help financially needed students to enter a great career program.


COMMANDER'S PERSPECTIVE


Volabamus Volamus

Lieutenant General Douglas Owens, USAF (Ret)National Commander, Order of Daedalians


The ballots are in with the National officers and two Honorary Nomi-nees receiving greater than 98% of the votes. Congratulations to all and especially to Dr. Richard Hallion and Mr. Laird Leavoy. We now have 12 Honorary Members. The voting was approximately 60% of what we had last year and was split much the same as last year with 40% electronic and 60% paper ballots. The Silver Wings Flight 100 at Ft. Rucker is back in an active status and is steadily moving forward. While we are seeing some growth with the Army, we are barely treading water with the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Marines. As always we will be looking for nominees this fall, par-ticularly multi-service members, to serve as next year’s national officers. We need to grow our membership in all the services. If you know of any member who is interested in joining, please recruit them. If someone has

expressed interest in serving on the Board of Directors, please send the name to the National Commander or me. We have had a fairly normal response from our dues paying members but we still have 460 who have not paid 2016 dues. For those of you who paid your dues, thank you. For those who have not yet paid, please look around your desk, find your dues notice and pay it online, by regular mail or call our office at 210-945-2111 and we will take your credit card information over the phone. If you have misplaced your notice, yearly dues are $35. Flight Adjutants if your flight wants to compete for the Jimmy Doolittle Distinguished Flight Award and the Flight Rebate Program, please get your quarterly reports in on time. Also give us a print out of the report. To just annotate on the form that the information is on Apollo increases the staff’s workload dramatically. When grading the flights, the panel members review copies of the flight reports for their ratings so we need hard copies. The Foundation’s scholarship fund raising efforts continue to grow thanks to Maureen’s efforts and mem-ber contributions. We had great success with the “Big Give SA” last year and we are preparing for it again this year. It will be on 3 May. We get credit for the number of separate donations as well as total amount so you can spread your contributions across several credit cards. This is a great step toward our goal of awarding more meaningful scholarships to help defray the ever increasing educational costs the students have. You can find more details on line at our website. We are working the details for the 2017 convention at the Crystal Gateway Marriot on 5 to 9 April 2017. Please note the early date! It is convenient to Reagan International Airport with a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. We are fortunate that once again, Dr. Ben Lambeth has agreed to host the sym-posium with his usual distinguished panel members discussing pertinent topics of the time. Those who have attended one of his previous ones, know it will be one of the main highlights of the convention. Plan on attending and spread the word. The symposium will start at 0900, 8 April.

ADJUTANT’SCOLUM

NCol James W. Kellogg, USAF (Ret)

Colonel James W. Kellogg, USAF (Ret)National Adjutant

Volabamus Volamus


ADJUTANT’S

Volabamus Volamus

It was Day 43 of OPERATION DESERT STORM – in two more days, one of the most spectacular examples of the capabilities of modern airpower would end with the radio call on Guard directing all coalition forces to “Cease All Offensive Operations.” But on this 43rd day, life would take a dramatic turn for Captain Bill “BA” Andrews who hung in his parachute after ejecting from his F-16 fighter jet; a victim of an Iraqi surface to air missile. Nor would the war be over soon for three members of the crew of an Army Black Hawk helicopter, call sign Bengal 15, manned by 8 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment. Their Mission: rescue a downed American pilot in the middle of what has become known as “the Highway of Death” in Kuwait. Capt Andrews was quickly captured and beaten by angry Iraqi soldiers who were the target of 2000 lb bombs he dropped just moments before. Still, Capt Andrews knew in the back of his mind that he would not be abandoned. He, like every other combat aviator, knew the full force and fury of the United States would be put behind efforts to bring him home. And so it was as Bengal 15 launched from its desert base determined to rescue the fallen flier. On board were a crew of eight, including Pathfinder Sergeant Troy Dunlap, Crew Chief Staff Sergeant Daniel Stamaris Jr., and Major Rhonda Cornum, the battalion Flight Surgeon. Lacking updated intelligence and escorted by two Apache gunships, their Black Hawk helicopter, flying below 50 feet and at speeds up to 130 knots, would be raked by intense ground fire tearing apart its rotor section. As the pilots fought for control, the heavily damaged craft slammed into a sand dune killing five of the eight on board. The survivors, Major Cornum, Sgt Dunlap, and Sgt Stamaris were immediately captured. Badly injured, they soon joined Capt Andrews as Prisoners of War in Baghdad. Maj Cornum, was one of two women taken prisoner during the war and despite horrific treatment, she and her crewmates, having displayed great personal integrity and character during their captivity, returned with honor on 6 March 1991. The mission of Bengal 15 was never completed but the selflessness and courage displayed by the men and woman who bravely raced to save a downed airman on that day in Feb 1991 epitomized the Tenets of the Daedalians. While search and rescue is not a primary mission for Army aviation, these brave citizens of our nation embraced the unknown and the dangers found in hostile territory in the finest traditions of American soldiers. Later that year, in a ceremony in Dayton Ohio, National Commander Lt. Gen. H.O. “Tommy” Thomson presented the Order of Daedalians Citation of Honor to the survi-vors of the Bengal 15 citing the aircrew’s extraordinary courage during and after their rescue attempt. The citation further noted their actions continued in the tradition of combat rescue which had its genesis in World War II, was proven feasible in Korea, and became operationally mature in Southeast Asia. Major Cornum retired as a Brigadier General and is the only female general officer in any branch of the Armed Forces to be a recipient of the Purple Heart. F-16 pilot Andrews was awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions following his bailout. He retired as a Colonel and died in 2014 after a courageous battle with brain cancer.

Written by: Chip Utterback

CITATION OF HONOR RECIPIENT:

Bill Andrews


Caitlin’sCORNER

Interview with...

Foundation Chairman

JerryAllen


Can you give us a brief history on the Daedalian Foundation?

The Foundation was established in 1959 to focus on ROTC scholarships and safety awards. Lieutenant General Hal George, the first Chairman of the Trustees, declared the Foundation to be the charitable arm of the Daedalian organization. One of the most important events in the history of the Foundation was receipt of $1.3 million from the estate of Brigadier General John Egan in 2001. The Egan funding agreement requires us to grow the corpus annually, and it now totals more than $1.7 million. It supports our premier awards, the Egan Mentoring Scholarships. Based on investment performance, each of these seven scholarships has ranged between $2,500 and $4,000 annually, plus $500 per cadet from the nomi-nating flights. Thanks to the generosity of our members, the Foundation’s endowment total has grown to $3.5 million.

Do you feel there are any obstacles for the foundation and if so, what are your plans to overcome them?

It is no secret that the armed forces have downsized significantly over the past 50 years and there are fewer pilots eligible for Daedalain member-ship each year. As a result, it becomes tougher to raise the funds to sup-port our important programs. The good news is that Daedalians believe in the mission and support it generously. 2015 was our most successful fundraising year ever, except for 2001 when we received the Egan estate gift. A recent obstacle has been the downturn in the investment markets. The finance committee, a joint Order and Foundation team, works this issue hard. Another obstacle is the uncertainty of estate gifts. Don’t mis-understand; I am not saying we want to know precisely when these gifts will “mature”. I am thankful that is impossible! We encourage members to consider an estate gift to the Foundation and to let us know if they have planned one.

If there was one thing you could change about the foundation, what would it be?

I encourage more of our flights to participate in the scholarship, CFIP, and JROTC medals programs. Our members know firsthand the joys of military aviation and I urge everyone to do more to inspire future mili-tary aviators. We are always seeking additional funding to strengthen our programs. Two years ago we participated for the first time in Big Give San Antonio. This is a one-day, online giving event that awards big finan-cial prizes to successful charitable organizations. In 2015, the Daedalian Foundation raised $28,000 via the Big Give and we won an additional $18,000 in prize money! The 2016 Big Give event is scheduled for May 3rd. I would love to see a big jump in Daedalians participating in the Big Give. There is information elsewhere in this edition of the Flyer that will help you contribute. If you need assistance, call Maureen or Kristi at 210-945-2111. Your gift will help support our important programs and it will give us a chance to win some more prize money. And of course every dollar, whether donated or won as a prize, funds Daedalian programs.

What do you see for the Foundations’ future?

My vision of the future is based on the great efforts of the flights, for ex-ample Hap Arnold Flight’s strong scholarship program, and the superior caliber of the young people who win our support, like Cadet Medina and Captain Clementi. I see hundreds of young men and women becoming military aviators because of the generosity and hard work of Daedalians who have proudly served the nation flying military aircraft. The top-notch young men and women who benefit from Daedalian programs in the near term will be the defenders of our nation in the years to come. These young people are most deserving of the outstanding support we Daedalians will continue to give them.

What are some of the programs the foundation supports?

We award roughly 100 ROTC scholarships annually. About 80 of these awards match scholarships presented by the flights, up to $2,500 per flight. The remaining scholarships are presented directly by the Head-quarters; they include the Egan Mentoring Scholarships, another 10 scholarships funded by the Egan endowment, the Moody Foundation Scholarships, the Brigadier General Ken Keller scholarship, the Colo-nel John D. Hedges Scholarship, the Spencer Scholarships, Descendant Scholarships, and the New Pilot Recruitment Scholarship. The Founda-tion also supports the Cadet Flight Indoctrination Program with funds to cover half of the flights’ costs to train two new pilots annually. Hon-orary member Laird Leavoy leads an effort in honor of his late father, F-100 squadron commander Lieutenant Colonel Les Leavoy, to annually fund training for four CFIP students in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one student at Fort Hood. Each year, roughly 25 young men and women have experienced the thrill of solo flight thanks to Daedalian generosity. To promote the spirit of the Daedalian tenet to place nation above self, we annually present some 1300 medals to recognize outstanding perfor-mance by Junior ROTC cadets at high schools around the nation. We also honor the top graduate of the Air Force Academy, a distinguished graduate of Air University, and the top graduates of pilot training for all of the military services. We are inspiring young Americans to serve as military aviators.

Do you have a favorite part about being Chairman of the Founda-tion?

This is a great job because I interact daily with dedicated, hard-working people on the staff, the Directors, Trustees, and volunteers in the flights all across the country. For example, on Veterans Day 2014, I participated in an outstanding event at Riverside National Cemetery, conducted by Hap Arnold Flight. During that visit I learned that Hap Arnold Flight planned to award $17,000 in scholarships in 2015. This is wonderful tes-timony to the members’ generosity, hard work, and commitment to the mission. Equally rewarding is learning about the young men and women who win scholarships, solo via CFIP, and earn our awards. Five years ago, Stinsons Flight chose Adrian Medina for CFIP and he aced the pro-gram. Now he is an Egan Mentoring Scholarship recipient at Rice Uni-versity and his outstanding performance in Air Force ROTC has earned him selection to attend Air Force pilot training. Recently I met Captain David Clementi, an Air Force fighter pilot who now teaches other fighter pilots to instruct in the fighter-lead-in course. Captain Clementi was an Egan Mentoring Scholarship winner when he was in Air Force ROTC at Florida State. He was certainly an exemplary choice for our premium scholarship: in 2014 he won Stinson Flight’s General William Eubank Award as THE BEST instructor pilot in the entire 12th Flying Training Wing. I will bet that many of our readers know similar stories regarding the success of our programs.

How can people get more involved?

For most of us, involvement in the Daedalian mission starts in the local flight. I encourage members to talk to their flight captains and volunteer to help. We are eager to see more flights offering scholarships and CFIP. And of course we are ready to contribute the Headquarters’ share of those programs if members will take the initiative to get them going. If you have suggestions on things that the Foundation can do to better support the flights and the mission, please call me, National Adjutant Jim Kel-logg, Maureen DeFelice, or Kristi Cavenaugh at 210-945-2111. To reach us by email, use Maureen’s address, [email protected]. She will get your input to the person best able to act on it.


BOOK REVIEWS“The Three Musketeers of the

Army Air Forces”Author: Robert O. Harder

Robert Harder, a Vietnam combat veteran as a radar navigator and bom-bardier, adds his personal knowledge to an in-depth effort of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He sorted through conflicting stories and infor-mation to produce a factual, well writ-ten biography of the crew and the mis-sion to end WWII. Harder follows the lives of Paul

Tibbetts, Tom Ferebee, and Ted “Dutch” Van Kirk from teen-age years through their later lives after WWII. He details how they came together as a B-17 crew in the early days of the war in Europe and their transition to the B-29 in the Pacific. In so doing, he chronicles the challenges they faced with the early B-17 missions in both Europe and North Af-rica. He follows them through their end of tour assignments and subsequent reformation in the B-29. The detailed description of the secrecy, training and preparations leading up to the atomic attacks are quite in-formative. Harder gives an accurate account of the plan-ning, Hiroshima mission briefing and description from take-off to debriefing of the Enola Gay on 6 August 1945. For all of us who used the E-6B computer or circular slide rule, it brings back memories. This is a fascinating story and well worth reading.

Reviewer: James W. Kellogg, Col, USAF (Ret)

“The Thunder in Me”Author: Col John White

Several years ago, I heard Col Wright speak, at a Daedalian Flight Meeting, on his near, unique, opportunity to sink the USS Pueblo, after her capture by North Korea. When he mentioned he was writing a book on the incident, it caught my attention, and I have been looking for the book since that meeting. I believe this is that book. ‘’The Thunder in Me”, is Col Wright’s flying career, as a fighter and bomber pilot. He flew an impressive number of fighter and bomber aircraft, including the F-80, F-84, F- 102, F-105, B-47, B-58, and B-52, to name a few, but gives little details on flying some of them. The majority of the book is devoted to the F-84, F105 (including the Pueblo Incident), the B-58, and incidents and anecdotes throughout his career. The F-102 and B-47, for example, get very few pages. When I finished the book, even though I wished it had been longer, I was glad I had read it - Col Wright had a terrific flying career!

Reviewer: Francis L. Kapp, Col, USAF (Ret)

“Striking the Hornets’ Nest”Authors: Geoffrey L. Rossano and Thomas

Wildenberg

Every now and then a book comes along that every lover of aviation his-tory needs to read, “Striking the Hor-nets’ Nest” is one of them! It is the well told (and well documented) story of the little known Northern Bombing Group, a strategic bombing organization, started by the U.S. Navy, in World War I. Wait, did you read that correctly? The Navy and strategic bombing mentioned in the

same sentence? Yes, as it turns out, Naval Aviation was the first U.S. air service to develop a strategic bombing doctrine and put it into effect. The need was for a solution to the problem of German Submarines sending needed Allied war supplies to the bottom of the ocean. Since finding subma-rines in the open ocean had not worked well, the answer was to bomb them, in their pens, where they had to return, for refitting, repairs, refueling, etc. The Army considered the problem a Navy one, as they were using their airpower tactically, and did not want the added tasking. The politics, inter- and intra-service rivalries, the problems of finding and building airfields, buying bombing airplanes (until then, sea planes had been the Navy’s primary airpower), training aircrews, and figuring out how to use them, all happening at the same time, in the waning hours of WWI, all combine to make this a terrific story.

Reviewer: Francis L. Kapp, Col, USAF (Ret)


In the fall of 1964 I was training in the A-1E Skyraider at Hurlburt Field, enroute to the 602nd Air Commando Squadron at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. The A-1 was big, definitely the “Goliath” of propeller-driver fighter aircraft. Training included numerous air-to-ground ordnance delivery flights on the bomb-ing ranges around Eglin AFB. These flights normally included dropping small practice bombs, firing inert rockets, and shooting the 20mm cannons on scoreable ranges. At other times we were scheduled to drop live ordnance on Eglin’s larger tactical ranges. In addition to A-1E fighter training, L-19 Bird Dog (above right) Forward Air Controller (FAC) training was also flown at Hurlburt. The small L-19 is the “David” in this event. The FAC’s normal mode of identifying a target for the fighters was by firing a 2.75” smoke rocket or by dropping a smoke grenade on the target. In an effort to provide realistic training, training missions were scheduled with a student FAC and stu-dent A-1E pilots working together on one of the tacti-cal ranges. The A-1E formation would arrive at the range and the FAC would describe the target and then mark it with a smoke rocket or smoke grenade. However, our period of training was in October and November. This is the height of the dry season for the Florida Pan-handle. During this dry period, the use of smoke rockets or grenades on the training ranges was likely to ig-nite grass fires. Thus the Air Force restricted the use of smoke rockets and grenades during these dry periods. As a substitute, the FACs used target marking paper (TMP). TMP was a roll of colored paper, which would form a long streamer when dropped from an aircraft.

These streamers were clearly visible to the fighter air-craft and the targets were marked without the risk of grass fires. When government-issue TMP was not available, the enterprising FACs found a very suitable substitute. You guessed it: toilet paper. The David and Goliath mission was going well. The FAC had dropped several rolls of toilet paper and the A-1s had made several passes on the marked targets. That’s when one of the A-1 pilots decided it would be fun to fly through one of the streamers slow-ly floating to earth and cut it in half. BUT -- the A-1 has a large air scoop on top of the engine cowling. Flying through the streamer, the A-1 ingested a significant amount of toilet paper which re-duced the engine airflow to the point that the engine quit running and the pilots could not restart it. The A-1 was now a glider and due to its low altitude, it needed a place to land ASAP. Luckily a dirt runway had been constructed on the edge of the range and the pilot was able to make a safe engine-out landing. The next day, maintenance cleaned the toilet paper from the intake, ran the en-gine, and the aircraft was flown back to Hurlburt. Everyone had a good laugh about the A-1 be-ing “shot down” by the FAC. The maintenance troops painted an A-1 profile on the L-19’s door in the same manner of fighter pilots recording their air-to-air com-bat victories. Many on the flight line viewed the L-19, with its A-1 victory recorded on the door, and it never failed to bring smiles and laughs. This lasted until the Wing Commander spotted the A-1 painted on the L-19. He failed to see any hu-mor in the event and directed the immediate remov-al of the A-1 profile. But the story of the A-1 “shoot down” will always be remembered as a humorous Da-vid vs. Goliath victory.

David and Goliath on the Bombing Rangeby Lt. Col. John Larrison (USAF, Ret)


AWARDS

Old Pueblo Flight 12 Annual Awards Dinner

The Old Pueblo Flight hosted its annual awards dinner in a joint gathering with the Air Force Association’s Chapter 105. The joint nature of the event was in keeping with the flight’s initiative to expand its influence and improve local support for air power at Davis Monthan AFB by including a broad aviation audience and DVs (i.e. Local Air Force Association Chap-ter, Davis-Monthan Fifty, Military Affairs Committee, Southern Arizona Defense Alliance, etc.) in key events. The dinner, attended by 71 Daedalians and 44 guests, was held at the Pima Air & Space Museum, a venue ranked in the top 10% of worldwide attractions. The museum did a stellar job of hosting aviators by setting tables among vintage aircraft and plac-ing the podium under the wing of an SR-71. Flight member and treasurer Col Scott “Scooter” Hines, USAF (Ret) invested countless hours in coordinating a world class venue and organizing every detail of the event for our flight.

The evening was dedicated to camaraderie and furthering the objectives of the Order by encouraging the next generation of military aviators and recognizing exceptional performance by active duty pilots. The Old Pueblo Flight presented scholar-ships to three University of Arizona students who are committed to and planning a career as an aviator: Cadet Cameron Hefner: Air Force ROTC, Cadet Andi Teufel: Army ROTC, and Midshipman Zachary Winders: Navy ROTC.

The flight also recognized an active duty pilot from Davis Monthan AFB as the “Pilot of the Year.” Eight pilots from seven units at Davis Monthan were nominated. Each of these pilots are in leadership positions, have made significant contributions to their units, and have “been in the fight” on various deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq. The caliber of each candidates-made the selection process especially tough but the 2015 Pilot of the Year was Captain Joshua “Juice” Jones. Among Jones accomplishments - he flew 27 combat missions in Operation INHERTENT RESOLVE, some as long as 8 hours, destroying ISIS targets on eight occasions. He also established personnel recovery standards for INHER-ENT RESOLVE and synchro-nized recovery tactics across all four services.

The Old Pueblo Flight also rec-ognized one of its own - LtCol Ron Furtak, USAF (Ret.). Lt-Col Furtak was recognized as “Daedalian of the Year.”

Cadet Andi TeufelCadet Cameron Hefner

“Pilot of the Year,” Captain Jones Midshipman Zachary Winders


Flight 13 Wright Brothers Award

Rich Martindell presented the Wright Brothers Award to Capt Nate Houle and his C.O., LTC Daniel Campbell. Capt Houle has been accepted to the Navy test pilot school at Patuxtent River as his next assignment.

During 2015, 23rd Flight sponsored one ROTC Egan Mentor-ing Scholarship, three ROTC Matching Schol-arships, and one Cadet Scholarship to the Civil Air Patrol Powered Flight Academy.

Joshua Joens is receiv-ing a Matching Schol-arship and is a junior at the University of Texas at Arlington in Texas with a 4.0 GPA majoring in Mechanical Engineer-ing. Upon graduation, Joshua hopes to pursue a fighter pilot career in the USAF.

Stacia Sackett is receiving a Matching Scholarship. She is a junior at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas with a 3.52 GPA majoring in Mathematics. She is a member of the Arnold Air Society and has held positions of Squad-ron Deputy Commander and Director of Operations. She was also Cadet of the Semester for Fall of 2013 and Spring of 2014.

David Fredrickson is receiving a Matching Scholarship. He is a junior at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth,

Texas with a 4.0 GPA in Business Administra-tion. He hopes to obtain his MBA and pursue a career as an Air Force pilot. He is a member of the Arnold Air Society, Dean’s list member (all semesters), and mem-ber of the Honors Col-lege at TCU.

Mitchell Saville is recipient of the John and Alice Egan Mentoring Scholarship. He is a senior at University of North Texas in Denton, Texas with a 3.4 GPA in Linguistics. He has a USAF pilot training slot. Mitchell serves as the Cadet Wing’s Initial Military Training Squadron Commander. He researched, developed, and now teaches a 9-week course to his fellow cadets focused on pursuing a rated officer career. His Egan Scholarship is one of eight awarded nationally.

Gavin Wanless soloed at the CAP Powered Flight Academy this past summer. He is a 17 year old senior in high school and has been in CAP for the past five years. He is currently the Squadron Recruitment and Retention Officer. His goal is to earn his Private Pilot Certificate before graduating from high school.

Flight 23 Scholarships

Jack Thompson (23rd Flight Captain), Joshua Joens, Stacia Sackett, David Fredrickson, Mitchell Sav-ille, Gavin Wanless, and Tom Jobe (23rd Flight Scholarship Program Chairman).


AWARDS

Cascade Flight 22 ROTC Awards

Cadet Nicholas Abdou majors in civil engineering with a near 4.0 GPA while ranking in the top of his AFROTC class and demonstrating a passion to become an Air Force pilot. In academics, fitness and military performance, he has demon-strated the capacity to perform at a high level in the cockpit and received the highest scholarship recommendation from the AFROTC detachment Commander.

Cadet Lindsay Locke has excelled in the AFROTC program, most recently as Wing Commander. She received a Daedalian scholarship as a sophomore and continued to demonstrate impressive performance. Having learned to fly at an age prior to obtaining a driver’s license, she has maintained her passion to fly leading to her selection as an Air Force Pilot Candidate.

Brig Gen Frank Goodell (Ret), Cadet Nicholas Abdou and Lt Col Dan Wasserstrom (Ret)

Brig Gen Frank Goodell (Ret), Cadet Linsay Locke and Lt Col Dan Wasserstrom (Ret)

LeMay Flight 16 2015 Scholarship Recipients

1. Cadet Trevor Bruce, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) AFROTC Det. 470 2. Cadet Connor Ullom, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) AFROTC Det. 470

3. Cadet Philip Wier, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) AFROTC Det. 470 4. Midshipman Colt Washa, Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) Navy ROTC 5. Cadet Joseph Stara, Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) AFROTC Det. 465

6. Cadet Jarod Suhr, Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) AFROTC Det. 470 7. Cadet Ryan Abel, CFIP

8. Jennifer Hill, CFIP9. Cadet Drew Cavanaugh, Univ. of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) AFROTC Det. 465


AWARDS

Flight 15 Awards

Flight members presented JROTC awards, each consisting of the Daedalian JROTC medal and General Jimmy Doolittle’s autobiography, to fifteen deserving and outstanding cadets at regional high schools. The awards were made to AF and Ma-rine Corps JROTC students.

Our version of the matching scholarship awards is named in honor of one of our exceptional members, Col Fred Chris-tensen, a fighter ace in WWII. Fred was a very active member of the flight. We had a number of exceptionally well quali-fied recommendations for tuition support of ROTC cadets in the New England area. We gave two Christensen Scholarship awards, one to AFROTC Cadet Matthew Deyo at MIT, and the other to AFROTC Cadet Matthew Bowles at UMass Lowell.

Cadet Matthew Deyo was strongly recommended by his MIT AFROTC Detachment Commander, Lt Col Karen Dillard. He is now a senior in Aerospace Engineering at MIT. He was carrying a 4.0 GPA when he was selected early in 2015, and was doing a research project with Draper Labs in implementing inertial navigation using WiFi. He earned a special scholarship and studied Swahili in Kenya for three months. Matthew scored a perfect 100 on all his fitness assessments. That score was less surprising when we found out that he is an All-American distance runner—number two in the US for the 3,000 meter indoor event. He was the number one performer at field training and was selected as a Distinguished Graduate. He was also a Group Commander in the Cadet Wing. His achievements are not only academic and athletic—in his passion for community service he has volunteered as director of a local soup kitchen. Matthew has been selected for a USAF UPT billet.

Cadet Andrew Bowles is pursuing a degree in Aviation Management at Daniel Webster College in Nashua NH, and taking his AFROTC program at UMass Lowell. He has a passion for flying and has earned not only a private pilot license, but also an instrument rating. When selected he had 160 hours of flying time—and is fully immersed in the flying business. He works part time for the fixed-base providers at two regional airports year-round. Andrew has been in the CAP for some time, and has been a Search and Rescue Ground Team Leader and an aircrew member. He is a graduate of the National Emergency Services Academy and the Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Famil-iarization Course. He is also a recipient of the Gen Billy Mitchell Award. Cadet Bowles was carrying a 3.72 GPA and had a fitness score of 95.7 when he was selected—he is apparently an exceptional example for the AFROTC detachment. Andrew was selected for a USAF UPT billet.

Flight 15 was pleased to successfully accomplish our first Cadet Flight Indoctrination Program in 2015. Cadet Miles Schuler is attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute and was very highly recommended by the AFROTC Detachment Commander, Lt Col Mike Derosa. Miles was a junior with an Aerospace Engineering major at WPI with a 3.81 GPA, when we accepted him for the CFIP program. He has been on the Dean’s List every semester. He has led research groups in water resource and metallurgical engineering problems and has won a large number of awards in engineering and athletic fields. Miles plays varsity baseball as a starting and relief pitcher.

Cadet Schuler started the CFIP program in June 2015, and soloed in August. He is continuing toward his Private Pilot li-cense. He has also retaken the TBAS test. Based on these efforts, a September supplemental board at AFROTC HQ has of-fered him a Combat Systems Officer rated slot—and he hopes for an upgrade to a UPT slot during his senior year (as do we).

Eric Nelson, MG, USAF (Ret) and Cadet Andrew Bowles

Lt Col Karen Dillard, Cadet Matthew Deyo and MG Eric Nelson


The author, an Honorary Daedalian since 2002, is a civil-rated pilot and defense analyst specializing in air warfare. He was a senior research associate at the RAND Corporation for 37 years and is now a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for Stra-tegic and Budgetary Assessments. Before joining RAND in 1974, he served as a Soviet military analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. During the last years of the Cold War and for a short time thereafter, when access by Western defense professionals to the USSR’s and post-Soviet Russia’s military leaders and military aviation industry was remarkably unrestricted, he had the rare privilege of flying four invitational fighter sorties with four of the country’s top-ranked industry test pilots. This article recalls the highlights of the most instructive among them.

My ties with the Mikoyan Design Bureau, first established after I met then-chief test pilot Valery Menitsky at the Farnborough Air Show in 1988, opened the door for me to fly a MiG-23 (NATO code-name FLOGGER) at the Zhukovsky Flight Test Center during the 1993 Moscow Aviation and Space Salon. Four years before, at Menitsky’s behest, I had been the first American to fly the MiG-29 and the first Westerner invited to fly a combat aircraft of any type inside Soviet airspace since the end of World War II. Having previously flown both the MiG-29 and later the Su-30 with Anatoly Kvochur, formerly of Mikoyan and at the time with Russia’s Gromov Flight Research Institute, getting a shot at the MiG-23 was a step backward into aviation history. Yet that aircraft had been a centerpiece of the Soviet fighter inventory for nearly two decades. On top of that, I was in Moscow to interview senior Russian Air Force leaders in connection with a U.S. Air Force-sponsored RAND Corporation study I was conducting on trends in post-Soviet Russian military aviation—a study eventually published as Russia’s Air Power in Crisis (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999). Naturally, if it could be worked out, I would stand to benefit enormously by sampling at first hand a fighter that, at the time, remained a workhorse not just in the Russian Air Force but in more than twenty other Soviet-supplied air forces around the world.

FLIGHT PREPARATIONS I arrived at Mikoyan’s chalet at Zhukovsky on the morning of August 31, 1993 and was met by Vladimir Gorbunov, the design bureau’s deputy chief test pilot. Vladimir (Volodya for short) informed me that we would be flying together later that day. During our drive across the airfield to Mikoyan’s flight operations facility, Volodya asked me what I hoped to gain from my flight, since he was undecided whether to fly me in the front or back seat. I replied that I knew the MiG-23 to be a vintage product of Soviet fighter design and that I was mainly interested in experiencing its general handling and performance characteristics. I added that if he saw no problem from a safety-of-flight viewpoint, I would much prefer to fly the aircraft from the front cockpit. I took special care to stress that I was not a former military aviator, but simply a civil-rated pilot with roughly 850 hours of mod-est flight experience at the time, including the good fortune of having logged some 250 sorties in more than 35 different types of fighter, attack, and jet trainer aircraft with the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and eight foreign air forces over the course of the preceding seventeen years. I added that I had front-seat flight experience in the F-104, F-5, T-38, and F/A-18 and that I had flown the F-111 twice on tactical range missions from the left seat. In all, I told Volodya that I felt I could handle any responsibilities from the front cockpit, even with the added burden of having to communicate in a foreign language.

FLYING THE FLOGGERReflections on an Early Post-Cold War MiG-23 Experience

Benjamin S. Lambeth1

1 An earlier version of this article appeared in Flight International, February 23-March 1, 1994.

Mikoyan’s MiG-23UB dual-control company demonstrator


We arrived at Mikoyan’s flight line to find the company’s two-seat MiG-23UB (UB for uchebno-boyevoi, or “combat trainer”) parked with its canopies open and ground technicians readying the jet for flight. It looked for all the world like the common Russian fighter pilots’ slang expression for it—krokodil. Volodya invited me to climb up into the front cockpit. Once I was settled in, he guided me methodically from the left console through the main panel to the right console, pointing out various switches and controls for which I would be responsible. After we returned to flight operations to brief for our flight, I told Volodya I was interested in performing basic aerobatic maneuvers. He suggested a nonafterburner take-off to save fuel for our air work. We planned a standard departure to the nearby work area, where we would perform fifteen minutes or so of pilotazh (advanced handling) and then return to Zhukovsky for some pattern work if our remaining fuel permitted. As step time neared, we walked across the ramp to Mikoyan’s life support facility, where I was issued a standard Russian helmet and oxygen mask, summer-weight flight suit and jacket, g-suit, and boots and gloves. A Mikoyan ground technician was on hand as we approached the jet to help me strap in and set up some switches in the front cockpit. Once we were settled in, Volodya and I maintained a constant low-key patter in Russian almost from engine start to shutdown. Fortunately, while preparing for my MiG-29 flight with Valery Menitsky four years before, I had begun a determined effort to master basic Russian fighter cockpit and operations terminology. Thanks to that, although my spoken Russian remained far from native, I now felt completely at ease communicating with Volodya in the MiG-23. On the left side panel immediately behind the throttle were three flap position-select buttons marked, respectively, takeoff, cruise, and land. Directly inboard of the throttle was a three-position handle to fix the variable-geometry wings at 16, 45, or 72 degrees of sweep. The 16-degree position is selected for takeoff and landing, with the 45-degree position used for most routine maneuvering. As in the case of the F-111, the full-aft position of 72 degrees is only employed for high-speed flight. We never used it. To the immediate left of the landing gear handle was a small push-pull rod labeled MRK (mekhanizm razvorota kolesa) for select-ing high-gain or low-gain deflection of the nosewheel steering system. Volodya told me that I would need to extend it before we taxied and to stow it immediately prior to takeoff, since he lacked a duplicate control in the rear cockpit. The instrument panel was typical for Soviet fighters of the MiG-23’s generation, painted turquoise green and featuring a familiar white vertical stripe down the center indicating where the pilot should place the control stick to neutralize roll input and unload the jet in case of an inadvertent departure from controlled flight. The attitude director indicator was also distinctively Soviet in being earth-stabilized rather than aircraft-stabilized. As in the MiG-29, it featured a drum that rotated in the vertical plane to indicate pitch attitude, with a separate airplane symbol at the instrument’s center that rotated right or left to denote angle of bank. With electrical power on, Volodya keyed his microphone button for a check of our intercockpit communications system (ICS), and I promptly acknowledged “gromko i yasno” (“loud and clear”). He then reviewed some final prestart checklist items with a ground technician who was talking to him on a patch cord. The crew chief standing on the front-cockpit boarding ladder gave my harness and connections a final once-over and then instructed me to close the canopy. With our canopies down and locked and the warning light out, Volodya called Zhukovsky tower for clearance to start. START, TAXI, AND TAKEOFF Once we received a green light from the tower to crank, Volodya directed me to depress the engine start (zapusk) button on the right sidewall. With the throttle set at ground idle, that commenced an automatic start sequence. We quickly got engine rotation on the

tachometer, followed by the familiar rumbling sound and feel of a good lightoff. Volodya checked the wing sweep mechanism, verified position changes with the ground technician, and finally advanced the wings forward to the 16-degree position. After selecting takeoff flaps, he instructed me to engage the MRK handle and then tested the nosewheel steering. That completed, we got clearance to taxi. Volodya released the brakes, added enough power to get the airplane moving, and then brought the throttle back to ground idle as he maneuvered us out of the ramp and onto the main taxiway. Once we were aligned and rolling, he gave me the airplane for the rest of our flight. The nosewheel steering struck me as being unusually sensitive, and I found myself, despite my best effort to stay on the centerline, moderately S-turning the aircraft down the taxiway. I humbly apologized to Volodya for being such an apparent hamfoot on the rudder pedals. He replied that the problem was not typical of the MiG-23, but rather was a peculiar quirk of our airplane and that I was doing OK.

Even with the throttle fully retarded at ground idle, the airplane developed a brisk rate of speed on the taxiway, enough so that I felt a strong urge to tap the brakes. Before doing so, I asked Volodya if he was happy with our taxi speed. He replied that it was fine (“normal’no”), so I pressed ahead to Runway 12, the main runway at Zhukovsky. Our radio call sign was 588. We got takeoff clearance, and after lining up with the runway, I pushed the throttle up to 100 percent for our final engine checks.

Dr. Ben Lambeth boarding 03 for his flight

Dr. Lambeth strapped into 03’s front cockpit


I informed Volodya that everything up front looked good and that I was ready to go. We then released the brakes, and I came onto the controls as the airplane began to accelerate at a smart pace. It took no effort at all to keep the jet centered down the runway as the airspeed began to build. As instructed, I came back on the control stick at 230 km/hr (124 kts) and allowed the aircraft to rotate to a takeoff attitude at 250 km/hr (135 kts), pegging a 10-degree nose high attitude until the MiG-23 flew itself off the ground at 260-265 km/hr (140-143 kts). Once a positive rate of climb was estab-lished, I brought the landing gear handle up and Volodya selected cruise flaps. After the jet was cleaned up, Volodya asked me to come left 20 degrees and establish a climb at 600 km/hr (324 kts) with the power set at 100 percent. He then directed me back to the right to pick up an outbound heading toward the maneuvering area, the north-ern boundary of which began 59 km (37 mi) southeast of Zhukovsky. Departure control had assigned us an altitude block of 3-9,000 meters (roughly 10-30,000 ft) within the work area. Once we were established in the block, Volodya cleared me to maneuver the airplane as I wished.

THE FLIGHT PROFILE Starting from a base of around 5,000 meters (16,000 ft), I flew a maneuver sequence consisting of two hard 360-degree level turns to the left and right; two loops; a pitchback maneuver (boyevoi razvorot, or “combat reversal”); a sliceback maneuver; several aileron rolls, followed by an unloaded slow roll to the left; and finally an Immelmann turn (polupetlya, or “half loop”). Throughout this sequence, the MiG-23’s wing position was kept at 45 degrees of sweep, which Volodya had selected as we accelerated to 600 km/hr (324 kts) en route to the work area. All of our over-the-top maneuvers (loops and Immelmann) were initiated at 900 km/hr (486 kts).

No sooner had I rolled into my first hard turn than I sensed one of the aircraft’s most pro-nounced limitations, namely, its poor field of view out of the cockpit. The canopy frame was mount-ed quite high. This produced a sensation of sitting deep in the cockpit. Because of that, I had the distinct feeling at times, especially during over-the-top maneuvers, of sitting almost in a tank rather than in a third-generation fighter. I could see the engine’s air intake ramps if I twisted around in the seat hard enough. But in general, looking steady anywhere behind the aircraft’s wing line required a special effort. I initiated my loop maneuver in full military power at 900 km/hr (486 kts), with Volodya rec-ommending a 5-g pull on entry. Like the F-4, the MiG-23 ate up a fair amount of sky as we climbed through the vertical and worked our way over the top. The angle-of-attack indicator was redlined at 18 degrees. I noted that I had allowed the jet to go slightly into the red as we entered the float inverted at around 400 km/hr (216 kts). However, the aircraft showed no tendency to wing-rock or nose-slice in that regime, and we continued down the backside with steadily increasing g for a level recovery at more or less our entry altitude. My pitchback to the left once again punctuated the MiG-23’s restricted field of view as I threw my head back in search of an outside horizon reference. I felt a similar restriction during the sliceback maneuver, which I entered at around 800 km/hr (430 kts), more or less the aircraft’s corner

velocity—the lowest speed at which it can attain its maximum allowable g load—with the wings set at 45 degrees of sweep. With a 135-degree bank angle established, I initiated an immediate pull into light buffet, feeling for the aircraft’s maximum coef-ficient of lift. I peaked out at 5.5 gs in this tactical turn, the highest g-load I remember having seen during my flight. The aircraft lost a lot of altitude in the reversal, indicating yet again that it was a generation behind the MiG-29. In fairness to the jet, I was flying the MiG-23 very conservatively. For that reason, I was almost surely not producing anywhere near the turning performance that I might have gener-ated with a more aggressive technique. My aileron rolls and unloaded slow roll indicated a slow response rate compared to other fighters I have flown. As in the MiG-29 and Su-30, it took a substantial lateral stick displacement to get the roll rate I was seeking. Pitch trim response during airspeed transitions was also slower than I was accustomed to in comparable Western aircraft. My final maneuver was an Immelmann turn, which Volodya had suggested to me over the ICS. Accelerating again to 900 km/hr (486 kts), I initiated a 5-g pull into the pure vertical, with Volodya tapping the afterburner this time for a little extra thrust as we started heading uphill. Coming over the top, a seemly blend of aileron and rudder made for a smooth slow-speed recovery to level flight. With our fuel quantity gauge indicating less than 2,000 liters (we had started with 4,500 liters—or around 7,000 lb), Volodya said it was time to begin working our way back to Zhukovsky.

RECOVERY After assigning me a return heading, Volodya contacted Zhukovsky approach control and requested clearance to return to base (RTB). I throttled back to 600 km/hr (324 kts) on a northwesterly heading for the en route descent. Zhukovsky approach cleared us first down to 1,500 meters (5,000 ft), then to 900 meters (3,000 ft), and finally to pilot’s discretion for a straight-in to Runway 30. That set us up for a landing in the opposite direction from which we had taken off, a typical flow pattern for the few daily test flights normally conducted out of Zhukovsky. As the airfield emerged into sight, I began a gradual descent toward the end of the runway. It soon became apparent that we were

Mikoyan test pilot Vladimir Gorbunov, Dr. Lambeth’s IP


overtaking a Yak-40 light jet transport directly ahead on its own short final approach. I informed Volodya that I had the traffic in sight, whereupon he directed me to offset to the right and go around, taking the aircraft himself to throw in a couple of aileron rolls for the air show spectators as we passed slightly left of the airfield’s centerpoint. I then turned left onto a downwind leg at 500 meters (1,600 ft) above ground level and waited for the tower to call our base-leg turn. Abeam a point about five miles from touchdown, the tower finally called us back inbound, and I repositioned the MiG-23 for a long straight-in approach to landing. Volodya had briefed me earlier to hold 350 km/hr (190 kts) on the approach. I complied, periodically calling out our airspeed over the ICS to let him know I was watching it care-fully. Earlier during our RTB, Volodya had moved the wing sweep handle fully forward to the 16-degree position. He also beat me to landing gear extension once I rolled out on final approach. The aircraft handled very solidly throughout the approach. After I crossed the runway threshold and initiated a flare, I gradually retarded the throttle almost back to flight idle. With that, it was simply a matter of holding the jet off the ground as it slowly settled, letting the airspeed bleed off and looking for about 280 km/hr (150 kts) at touchdown. The MiG-23 landed gently within the first 500 ft of runway. Although the main gear retracts into the narrow fuselage, the wheel base is surprisingly wide, the product of an ingenious Mikoyan design featuring multiple pivots and joints. This made for a solid and stable contact with the runway, and I found the aircraft very easy to land. Once we were down and rolling out, I fully retarded the throttle past the detent to ground idle. After I had re-extended the MRK handle and turned the aircraft onto the parallel taxiway, Volodya directed me to continue taxiing back to the Mikoyan ramp. Turning 90 degrees left into the hardstand, I brought my canopy up as we braked to a full stop at the direction of the ground marshal, whereupon Volodya shut the engine down from the rear cockpit. We touched down with a little less than 1,000 liters of fuel, which is normal minimum landing fuel for the MiG-23. Our elapsed time from start to shutdown was 45 minutes, with about 30 minutes in the air.

IMPRESSIONS Although I was flying an obsolescent fighter even then, more than two decades ago, this experience was more instructive from a pilot’s point of view than either my earlier MiG-29 flight with Valery Menitsky or my subsequent Su-30 flight with Anatoly Kvochur. In both earlier cases, I flew from the back seat in forbidding winter weather, with a low overcast, blowing snow, and little horizon reference to speak of. This time, I was in the front cockpit; I was flying a maneuver sequence that I had largely designed myself; and I was by now comfortable enough speaking Russian “fighterese” that I was able to sustain a continuous conversation with Volodya. Better yet, the weather that day was absolutely spectacular, with light scattered clouds but otherwise 60-mile visibility and blue sky all around (“a million by a million,” as Russian pilots say). Indeed, during our descent back to Zhukovsky, it occurred to me during a long pause in our ICS chatter that my sense of the moment was perfectly captured in a refrain from my favorite old Russian folk ballad hauntingly sung by the popular female vocalist Zhanna Bichevskaya: “Lyublyu ya storonu rodnuyu, tuda b letel ya sokolom...” (“I love my native homeland, there I would fly like a falcon ....”) I later penned those words in the aircraft’s maintenance log when a Mikoyan ground technician invited me to write down a short remembrance of my flight for his record. Since I am not a trained fighter pilot, let alone a test pilot, I need to be especially careful about presuming to venture any “evalu-ation” of the MiG-23. My overall sense was that it was typical of its generation in terms of its performance and responsiveness to the controls. I later thought long and hard about what the closest Western analogue might be from my own diverse flight experience in terms of general handling and aircraft feel. I concluded that the MiG-23 most closely reminded me of a cross between the Tornado GR1 and a hard-wing F-4. The FLOGGER is plainly a high-performance aircraft. Indeed, it has a higher allowable top speed on the deck than the MiG-29 that replaced it. Nevertheless, “nimble” is anything but the word I would use to describe it. Stick forces in both pitch and roll seemed a bit heavier than those in the F-4 and about like those I remember from the Tornado GR1. And from my own best recollection, the MiG-23’s sustained turn rate fell somewhere between that of the F-104 and F-105. I did not seek to sample the aircraft’s signature performance feature—its phenomenal rate of acceleration—because of the exces-sive fuel penalty it would have exacted. It has long been said, however, that from a head-on pass, a properly-flown MiG-23, with its Tumansky RD-29 engine producing 27,500 lb of thrust in full afterburner, could pitch back and run down any Western fighter of its day if it had an adequate fuel reserve. The MiG-23 was the first Soviet fighter equipped with a look-down/shoot-down radar and beyond visual-range air-to-air missiles. For that reason alone, it was a threat to respect by NATO’s pilots when the Cold War was a daily fact of life in Central Europe. Today, sad to say, the fleeting openness of early post-Soviet Russia that made possible my flight in the FLOGGER and other Soviet fighters has since yielded to a more familiar and dismaying pattern of conduct under Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule. There is little likelihood that an American, especially one of my background, would have an occasion to repeat such an experience in today’s far more hostile and confrontational Russia.

Write to [email protected]

MiG-23 cockpit showing characteristic Soviet-style layout


FLIGHTLINE18th (Mile High) Flight

Denver, CO

Tenyearsagooneof ourmembers,WWIIfighterpilot,ColBillMyers.USAF(Ret),askedif hecouldenrollhisgrandsoninFlight18.Hisgrandson,1stLtDanHingley,wasthenonhisfirstoperationalassignmentafterpilottraining, stationedatRAFLakenheath,England.Hewasflying theF-15,andwasamemberof theNationalOrderof Daedalians.Of courseweim-mediatelysignedhimupandbegantolearnaboutournewmember. Danisagraduateof theAirForceAcademy,wherehewascaptainof theAlpineSkiTeamduringhis juniorandsenioryears.Hewent throughpilottrainingatLaughlinAFB,TX,thenfollow-onFighterFundamentalsatMoodyAFB,GAandF-15checkoutatTyndalAFB,FL.Wehavefollowedhiscareerthroughfrequentupdatesfromhisgrandfather,BillMyers,andithasbeenquitearide. HesoonbecameaFlightCommanderandChief of SchedulingatMoody,andColumbusAFB,promotedtoCaptainandassignedtoHolloman,AFBtoflythenew,spectacular,stealthfighter,theF-22Raptor.Thingswerereallyonarollandcominguproseswhentragedystruckintheformof askiaccidentthatseverelyinjuredhisspineinseveralplacesandcausedbleedingandswellingof braintissueinhishead.Thisresultedinhimbe-inggroundedfromflightstatuswithalongrecoveryahead.HewasassignedtoadeskjobinthePentagon,wherepeoplearenotsentunlesstheyhavesomethingtocontributetotheAirStaff. Contributehedid,resultinginapromotiontoMajor,areturntoflightstatusandanassignmenttoFighterTownUSA,LasVegas,NV,flyingtheF-15intheAggressorSquadron,forRedFlagexercisesandothertrainingmaneuvers.Currently,withapromotiontoLtCol,heistheChief InstructorPilotfortheF-35AatEglinAFB,FL.HispriorexperienceintheF-15andtheF-22equipedhimwellashehelpsbringtheF-35throughallthetrialsandtribulationstofullcombatreadystatus.Thepayoff forFlight18wastowelcomeLtColHingleyasourguestspeakeratourgalaChristmasParty.Hiswife,ElizabethandnewbabyboywereabletojourneyupfromFloridawithhimtoattendourpartyassnowblanketedtheviewoutsidethewindowsof theEagleBendCountryClub. TheF-35developmenthasbeencontroversialtosaytheleast.Unfortunatelytheoldstandardsof judgingprogressinbringinganewaircrafttooperationalstatusdonotapplytoanaircraftthatmustachieve75%com-monalityoverallthreebranchesof ourservicesplusseveralforeigncountries.Everychangeintheprogramhastobeclearedthroughallpartiescreatingalogisticalnightmare.TheAmodelfortheAirForceandtheCmodelfortheNavyarecomingalongrelativelywell.TheBmodelfortheMarineswithShortTakeoff andVerticalLandingrequirements,plushavingtomeetthe75%commonalitystandardhasadverselyaffectedtheoverallprograminashare-the-painmannerasdetailedinastudybycwlemoine.com. DanisanInstructorPilotfortheF-35Aandhebelievesitistheaircraftbestsuitedforthejobinabattlefieldthatisbecomingevermorehostileforcurrentstrikeaircraftwhichhavelittletonodefenseagainstevermoreso-phisticatedmissilesimmunetosignaljammingandflares.TheF-35hasanelectronicwarfaresuitewithsensorstodetectmissilelaunchesandstrategiestohelpthepilotdefeatthem.ItsSyntheticApertureRadarcanfindmultipletargetsonthegroundwhilesimultaneouslymonitoringtheairsituation.AerialwarfareischangingandtheF-35istryingtostayastepaheadwithdedicatedpilotslikeFlight18memberDanHingleyworkingtomaximizeitspotential.WewishthemGodspeedinavitalmission.(Source: Ger Spaulding)

Grandpa and grandson duo - Col Bill Myers and Lt Col Dan Hingley


FLIGHTLINE

102nd (Ben T. Epps) FlightAtlanta, GA

ChalkupanothergreatholidaygalafortheAtlantagang.Thesefolksputontheirfancyduds,ropedinthespouses,andenjoyedafan-tasticChristmasdinnermeeting.Thisannualeventwasnotjustafunpartyforthenearly70attending,butalsoanopportunitytoenjoyaveryinformativeguestspeakerpresentation. GuestspeakerMikeOtt,pilotandSecurity&Safetymanagerfor‘PhoenixAir’,gaveamostthoroughpresentationdescribingthiscertifi-catedaircarrier’smissions.Mr.Ottdescribedseveralcompanymissions

and clients, highlighting thecompany’scapabilities–fromairchartertoairambulancetoaircargotomilitarytraining. Known as a world leader in transporting hazardous materials,‘PhoenixAir’cargohasincludedeverythingfromthelivesmallpoxvirustonuclearmaterialforDOE.Infact,doyourememberthenewsof theEbolapatienttransportlastyear?Yep,itwasPhoenixAirdoingthejob.Howwouldyouhavelikedcarryingthatcargo?Learninghowyoupacktwopatients infectedwithoneof theworld’sdeadliestvirusesinto a pressurized aluminumtubefilledwithhealthycaretak-ersandpilotsfor12hoursand

notgeteveryoneinfectedintheprocesswasmostinteresting. Mr. Ott’s presentation also included a very detailed descriptionfromhowthismissionwasaccomplishedtogettingpenguinsdeliveredtoNewZealand.Hispresentationalsohighlightedthecompany’sadversarysupportandelectronicwarfaretrainingmissionsforDOD,toincludefly-ingattackprofilesonU.S.Navyshipsandairdefenseunits,mimickingthe tacticsand technologiesof ourpotential enemies.Yes, a thoroughpresentation–lotsof missions…lotsof slides! Seeing over $600 collected for theFlight’s scholarship fund thateveningwascertainlyspecial.However,forFlightmemberBradWright,themostsignificanteventfortheeveningwashimpassingthebatontoFlight102’snewFlightCaptain–LtGenJoeRedden,USAF,(Ret).Lookout–herecomesGeneralJoe!(Source: Bill Rial)

Brad Wright and Guest Speaker Mike Ott

The Learjet in flight

Gulfstream jet


FLIGHTLINE

30th (Hap Arnold) FlightMarch AFB, CA

Veteran’sDayCelebration-LtGenOwensstat-edhewasdeeplyhonoredtobewithFlight30onthisVeteran’sDay.We join togetheronhallowedgroundwherewearesurroundedbythefinalrestingplacesof over228,000sons,daughters,husbands,wives,fathers,mothers, brothers, and sisters whocalledtheUnitedStatesof Americahome. They stood up to serve anddefendher,manyfallinginbattleonthefieldsorintheskyorinthesea. He said he was always over-whelmed with a sense of emotionwhen he stands in the presence of our nation’s flag and evenmore sowhen that flag flies over the conse-crated ground that holds in peaceandhonor those that stood in frontof her during war and prosperity.They had declared by their actionsthat“onenationunderGod,indivis-ible,with libertyand justice forall”isanationworthyof theirandtheirfamilies’sacrifice. LtGenOwenssaidtheemotioncomesasacom-binationof sadness,pride, andawe.Sadness, in thatsacrificecancarrysuchaheavyprice.Whetherdeathin combat or the scars of war thatmay follow, lives

are cut so shortor forever changedeffecting familiesinwaysof grief and struggle thatbyanymeasure isnotfair.Hesaidhispridecomesfromhavingstoodbytheminservice,knowingwhattheyknow,andhavingdonewhattheydid.Fromhisfatherwhofoughtthree

wars,hissonswhoservetoday,toallwho stood in the gap, they are pa-triotsanddefendersall.Heisproudto call themall brothers and sistersinarms.Andfinally there is suchasenseof awe.Fromallwalksof life,forathousanddifferentreasonstheyallcameforward.Somediedquickly,others served a short time and stillothersservedlongandcompletedca-reers.Buttheyalltookthatfirststepforward and said “send me.” Whywouldtheydothatknowingwhattheconsequencesmightbe?Heconsid-ersitallwithasenseawe. LtGenOwensconcludedthatthe legacyof thosewehonor todayisreflectedinthefacesof thosethat

thatcontinuetoserve,support,deploy,andfighttopre-serve thevalues that thisnationwas foundedon.Wehonorandpayourrespectstoallof them.GodBlessAmericaandallthosethathavedefendedher.

Lt Gen Doug Owens Ringing the bell


FLIGHTLINE

13th (San Diego) FlightSan Diego, CA

GeorgeHaloulakos is an economics professor and financial planninganalyst.Hisbook,CalltoGlory,andbriefingtoSanDiegoontheB-58Hustlerpresentedagreat explanationof why retiring theB-58as earlyastheAirForcedidwaspennywiseandpoundfoolish.WhileitwasanexpensiveweaponssystemtooperateitprovidedamuchneededadditiontoournuclearattackcapabilitiesthattheRussianshadtodefendagainst.HisanalysistofootballwasthattakingawaytheB-58wasliketakingawayateam’spassingoffenceandleavingthemwithonlyarunninggametheiropponents needed todefend. Interestingly,Russia added the supersonicTu-22BackfirebombertotheirairforceshortlyaftertheB-58wasretired.

Russiastilloperatesmorethan100of themtoday.(Source: Rich Martindell)

40th (H

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, MS

MajorMichaelMacLaingothiswingsbyhavingamuchneededskillandthestagewastherealtime...of war.Hesaid,“FlightNursesevaluateindividualpatient’sin-flightneedsandrequestappropriatemedications,suppliesandequipmentintandemwithprovidingcontinuingnursingcarefromoriginatingtodestination.Theyactastheliaisonbetweenmedicalandoperational aircrewswhileperformingmiracles at30,000 feet.”Michaelhimself hasneverbeenshotbuthehasbeenshotat...inthecourseof 608combathours.Hesaid,“Weexperi-ence“thetubeof pain”inthebackof theC-130onlongflightmissions.Youlearntheskillsettosleeponyourwaytothejob...FlightNursesof aerovacembracethemotto“Fly,FightandWin!”Hehasimpactedthelivesof over3,650injuredwarfightersduringnineseparatede-ployments.Heconveyedhisappreciationandrespectforthepilotswhoflythesemissionsandnowthehonorof beingwithDaedalians.ItwasobviousMacLain’senthusiasmwouldgal-

vanizea teamtofightoverhispa-tientsagainsttheangelof death!InclosinghequotedtheFlightNurse’sCreed and one of the verses af-firmed,“Togetherwiththehelpof flightsurgeonsandsurgical techni-cians,Icansettheveryskiesablazewith life andpromise, for the sick,injured,andwoundedwhoaremysacred charges.” Well done Mi-chael, andwe thankyou forbeingandcontinuingtobethe“angelof life”forourwoundedwarriors.

Col Dennis Scarborough, Major (Lt Col select) Michael MacLain, and B Gen John Ladner


FLIGHTLINE

On19November2015,24thFlightmemberColonelJesseJacobspresentedacomprehensivereviewof theLowAltitudeBombSystem(LABS)intheB-47aircraft.ColonelJacobsmentionedthathehadflown10,700hoursin100plusdifferenttypesof aircraftincluding28combatmissionsintheB-17duringWorldWarIIand109combatmissionsintheF-80duringtheKoreanWar.HelatergraduatedfromTestPilotSchoolin1953. Usingalargemodelof aB-47aircraftasavisualaid,ColonelJacobsdescribedthedutiesof thethree-mancrewduringaLABSmaneuverandenumeratedthechar-acteristicsof deliveringa9-10,000poundhydrogenbomb.Hestatedthatthewingsof theaircraftwereextremelyflexibleduringthemaneuver,movingfrom11degreesuptoninedegreesdownastheaircraftmaintained2.5G’sthroughoutthemaneuver.Thebombdoorsopenedat55degreesandthebombreleasedat58degrees. ColonelJacobslaterdiscussedthefactthattheoriginalB-52aircrafthadatan-dempilot/co-pilotcockpitliketheB-47.However,GeneralCurtisLeMaydidnotlikethetandemarrangementbecausethepilotandco-pilotcouldnotcoordinateadequate-ly.Sosubsequentmodelswereconvertedtoaside-by-sideconfiguration. Followinghispresentation,ColonelJacobsanswerednumerousquestionsfrommembersof the24thFlight.Herevealedthathisfavoriteaircraft,inwhichheloggedmorethan1,200hours,wastheB-47because“…every-thinghadtobesoprecise;itmademebeabetterpilot.”HealsostatedthatduringWorldWarII,hetookovertheco-pilotseatinaB-17fromTomLandrywhowouldgoontocoachtheDallasCowboys! Duringthebusinesssegmentof thedinnermeeting,24thFlightmembersRogerNichols(sonof 24thFlightnamesake(MGFranklinA.Nichols)andRicLambartwerenominatedandelectedtovacantofficerpositionsasViceFlightCaptainandProvostMarshall,respectively. On19November2015,theladiesof the24thFlightventuredtoLasCruces,NewMexicotovisittheZuhlMuseumandhavelunchatSt.Clair’sWinery.TheZuhlMuseumattheNewMexicoStateUniversity(UMSU)containsmorethan1,800specimensof petrifiedwood,fossilsandminerals.In1970,HerbandJoanZuhlbegananewpassionandbusinessthatcontinuedfor30years.In1991,theypresentedtheirimmensecollectiontoNMSUwhereitisavailableforalltoenjoy.

Oneof themost astoundingpieces is anenormous sliceof petrifiedpinefromnorthernArizona.Itisthelargestslabof petrifiedpineevercutandpolishedatjustundereightfeetacross.ThemuseumhadpiecesfromeverytimeperiodfromtheBandedIronFormation(threebillionyearsold)toanentirenestof Oviraptordinosaureggs(65-70millionyearsold).MaryBarnesspearheadedtheadventureandprovidedtransportationfromElPasototheZuhlmuseumandthentotheOldMesillaforlunchatSt.Clair’sWin-ery.InadditiontoMary,KathleenArrufat,ChristineCantrell,MayreSueOverstreetandJuliePittcomprisedthegroupof attendees. (Source: Kathleen Arrufat)

24th (MG Frank A. Nichols) FlightEl Paso, TX

Julie Pitt, Mary Barnes, Christine Cantrell, Mayre Sue Overstreet and Kathleen

Arrufat

Col Jesse Jacobs and Charles Overstreet


FLIGHTLINE

OnThursday,12November2015,weheldourmonthlymeetingattheDobson’sRestaurant,DobsonRanchGolf Course,inMesa,Arizona.OurguestspeakerwasRearAdmiralJamesSymonds,USNavyRetired.HetalkedaboutflyingtheA-6“Intruder”,a“workhorse”of Navyaviation,andhisinterestingtimeascommanderof theaircraftcarrierUSSRonaldReagan(CVN76). RearAdmiralSymondsflewtheA-6“Intruder”withtheAttackSquadron(VA)115Eagles,theVA-196Milestones,andtheVA-128GoldenIntruders.Ad-

miralSymondsamassed4,000flight hours in the A-6 andmorethan1,000carrierland-ings during his flying career.Outside thecockpithe servedasAirOperationsOfficer,US6thFleet, inGaeta, Italy,andasDeputyDirectorof OperationsforCounterdrugOperationsinUSSouthernCommand,Miami,Florida.HisfirstflagofficerassignmentwasasDirectorof theChief of NavalOperationsEnvironmentalReadinessDivision(CNON45). RearAdmiralSymondscommandedMediumAttackWeap-

onsSchoolatNASWhidbeyIsland,Washington,theVA-165Boomers,USSNashville(LPD13),andtheUSSRonaldReagan(CVN76).HislastassignmentonactivedutywasasCommander,NavyRegionNorth-west, based in Silverdale,Washington, from July 2007 to June 2010,wherehewasresponsibleforoperations,sailorandfamilyservices,andfacilitiesonfourmajorNavyinstallationsaroundthePugetSound. InadditiontobriefingusontheNavy’sA-6“Intruder”aircraft,Rear Admiral Symonds gave a very informative presentation on thejourney that ledhim tobecome the commanderof theUSSRonaldReagan,whenitwasabrandnewaircraftcarrier.Hisstoriesaboutsomeof hisvoyagesleadingthecrewof thecarrierwereveryinterestingandentertaining!Ourmembersandgueststhoroughlyenjoyedhistalk. (Source: Col Pat Dooley, USAF, Retired)

82nd (Willie) FlightMesa, AZ

Rear Admiral James Symonds

A-6 “Intruder”

Flight Captain Art Stark and Rear Admiral Symonds


FLIGHTLINE

The 95th Fighter Squadron launched TyndallAFB’s first-ever combat deployment and it was lessthanayearfrombecomingcombatready.Theyweretasked to relieve theF-22salready inplaceandfightthewaragainsttheaggressiveIslamicStateinIraqandtheLevant (ISIS). June2014, ISIS seizedMosul andTikrit,Iraq.TheyalsocapturedAl-QaimontheIraq-Syriaborder.InJuly,allthecitiesineasternSyriafelltoISIS.ThatAugust,PresidentObamaauthorized“tar-getedairstrikes” toprotectU.S.personnel fromISIS.InSeptember,twoAmericanjournalists James Foley andSteven Sotloff and a Brit-ishaidworkerDavidHaineswere brutally beheaded byISIS. The world was hor-rified as ISIS continued tosavagely murder other in-nocent non-combat victims.September22,U.S.andCo-alitionForcesconductedini-tialairstrikesagainstISISinSyria.At3:00AMfivedayslater, F-22Raptors took off fromTyndall,joinedupwithAirForcetankersandflewtotheMiddleEasttojointheCoalitionForcemadeupof sevendifferentnations. Pelican Flight 89 was honored to have MajorScott“Wolf ”Crowell,325OperationsGroup, tellusthisstory.The95thFighterSquadronflew161combatsortiesdayandnightanddropped146thousand-poundall-weather smartbombs.The95thmaintenanceair-manweretrulyoutstandingandenabledthepilotstofly100%of their taskedmissionson time!Since theF-22saresoessentialtotheAirDominancerole,95thpilotswere frequently tasked to be themission com-mander of the largeCoalition strike force.A typicalRaptorsortiewas6–8hourslong,upto5aerialrefu-

89th (Pelican) FlightTyndall AFB, FL

elingsand2,400mileroundtripfrombasetotheaterandback.Raptorswereonstationanywherefrom1to3hoursprovidingairdominancefortheCoalitionair-craft.CommandandControloftenrequiredtheF-22to track unknown air contacts over Syria. The F-22pilotwoulddirect thecontact tosteeraway fromtheoperationordirecttheCoalitionpackagetoavoidtheunknowncontact.ThefinalresultwasthattheCoali-tionwouldnotflyintoSyriawithoutF-22sprovidingescort!

On Christmas Eve,2014, a Jordanian F-16 pi-lot ejected over hostile ter-rain. The F-22s were firston scene and acted as themission commander for thecombat search and rescue(CSAR).Raptorscoordinat-ed and protected CoalitionForces during the chaoticmulti-hour CSAR effort.Unfortunately, ISIS got tothedownedpilotbeforetheCoalitionForces.AfewdayslaterISISpublicallyandin-humanelyexecutedpilot.As

aresult,TheRoyalJordanianAirForcemaderetalia-tion strikes on ISIS targets in easternSyria.Raptorssafely escortedUS andCoalition aircraft during thisshortcampaign,enablingthedestructionof over200ISISstrongholds. Raptorsalsodemonstratedtheircapabilitytore-targettheirbombsaftertakeoff.CoalitionIntelligencesuspectedthatISIShadoverrunaSyrianregimebuild-ingandhaduseditasheadquartersandweaponsstor-age.AfterseveralUSFightersexpendedtheirweaponson a different target, they found the weapons cacheandpassedcoordinatestotheF-22s.Withinminutes,theRaptorsreprogrammedtheirbombsandexecuted

Major Crowell and Flight Captain Hinkle


FLIGHTLINE

theattack,successfullydestroyingthefacility. “Wolf ” concluded his story with some lessonslearned.FifthGenerationaircraftsuchastheF-22sen-sors,speed,surpriseandstealthprovidetheCommand-er“missionassurance”foralloperationsincontestedairspace.Using the examplesof RedFlag,dissimilaraircombattactics(DACT)training,andFlightsimula-tors,Wolf said,“ThemissionoverSyriafeltexactlylike

howwe’vetrained.”Theonlyexceptionwasthe95thFighterSquadronwerequitesurprisedtoseepicturesof theiraircraftonthecoverAirForceMagazineandotherpublicationswithindaysof flyingthemission. Pelican Flight Captain “LeeBob” Hinkle andflightmemberswerespell-boundwhileMajor“Wolf ”Crowelltoldusthe95thFighterSquadron’slatestwarstory. (Source: John “Bypass” Martin)

41st (Inland Empire) FlightSpokane, WA

Thehighlightof ourfourthquarterforFlight41(InlandEmpire)wastheinductionof threenewmem-bersintotheOrderof DaedaliansandFlight41.ThoseinductedwereColKevinBerkompas,USAF,Ret,Capt

GeorgeBalazs,USAF,Ret,andCaptRicDickison,USA,Ret.ChuckStrattonwastheinductingofficerasherecountedtheLegendof DaedalusandIcarusandtheirescapefromcaptivityontheIslandof Crete.Theyfabricatedwingsof feathers,waxandstringastheyplannedtoflythemselvestofreedom.Icaruswhowastheyoungbrashaviatorflewtooclosetothesunandashiswingsbegantomelthede-scendedintotheseathatbearshisname.Fromthislegendtheoriginsof aFrater-nityof MilitaryPilotswasformallyinstitutedonMarch26,1923.TheTenetsandObjectivesof theorderwerethoroughlyexplainedandtheinducteeswerechargedthattheygiveandunderstandthe‘Promiseof aDaedalian’astheirpersonaland

solemncommitmentasaDaedalian. ThePacificNorthwestandSpokaneareawasoverwhelmedwithhurricaneforcewindsthatuprootedtreesandknockedoutpowertothemajorityof theregion.WewereunabletoholdourregularlyscheduledmonthlymeetingforNovember. WehadagreatChristmasMeetingandPartyforthemonthof December.Therewere39membersandguestswhojoinedusforsomeChristmasfunandagreatmeal.Thehighlightof theeveningwasthesurprisepre-sentationof TheNationalDaedalianCertificateof AppreciationAwardtoFlightCaptainHankBishop.Hankwascaughtcompletelyoff-guard.IhaveworkedsidebysidewithHankforseveralyearsandIcanproudlysaythatheistotallydeservingof thisrecognitionforhistirelesseffortstoensureourFlight41’ssuccess.WeallcongratulateHankonthisaward. After themeal, thoseassembledwere treated to joyousChristmas singingbyalocalbarbershopquartet.Themembersandguestsevenjoinedinonthesinging.ThequartetthenpickedaluckywifewhomtheyserenadedwithanearlyValentinemedley. Flight41hopesthateveryonehadaHappy,HealthyandSafeHolidaySeasonandwewisheveryoneaprosperousNewYear. (Source: Frank Condefer) Col Gundlach and wife Stefany

George Balazs, Kevin Berkompas, and Ric Dickison


FLIGHTLINE

OldPuebloFlight12opened2016withaluncheonpresentationfromViceFlightCaptainKeithConnolly,BGen,USAF,Ret.GeneralConnollyrecalledthehistoryof theF-100andhis10yearsasa“Hun”pilot.Between1953and1959almost2300SuperSabreswerebuilttofillbothnuclearandconventionalrolesandrepresentedabridgebetweensubsonicandsupersonicfighters.TheF-100wasthefirstaircrafttoexceedmach1inlevelflightusingafterburner.Asubstantial improvementwas incorporatedintoCmodelandlatermodelswhenthesizeof thevertical stabilizerwas increasedby27%.Pilotsappreciated the improvedcrosswind landingcapabilityfromthischangeovertheAmodel.Theaircrafthadafirstgenerationguncatapultejectionseatthatunderwentfourmodificationsovertheaircraft’slifespan.ThefrontpanelwasthenuclearweaponspanelandcontianedtheLowAltitudeBombingSystem(LABS)for“overtheshoulder”weaponsdelivery.Thelowtechsolutionforflashblindnessthatwouldresultfromanucleardetonationwastowearaneyepatchoveroneeye.Ontherightsideof thecockpitwasthenavigationpanelthatinearlymodelscontainedonlyanADF.Theadditionof TACANwasuniversallywelcomed.WithfourexternalfueltankstheHun’srangewasextendedto1700–1850nauticalmiles.Theaircraftalsohadin-flightrefuelingcapabilitiesandrefueledfromKB-50,KC-135,KC-97,andKC-10tank-ers.TheAirForceevenexperimentedwith“buddy”refuelingfromanotherF-100.AlthoughtheAirForcedidnotfinditpractical,theNavydiduseit.GeneralConnollyrecalledstoriesof KC-135tankerpilotsinVietNamleav-ingtheirorbitstosavefighters.Forthatreason,likerescuecrews,tankerpilots“neverboughtadrink”atthebar.DuringtheF-100’stimeinVietNamtherewereusuallysixonalert–twoonfive-minutealert,twoonten-minutealert,andtwoasrequired.Thetypicalalertbirdswerearmedwith750poundbombsand20mmcannon.Atotalof 243F-100swerelostinthewar.Insummary,thesupersabreservedwitheightcountriesandwiththeUSAFbetween1954and1971.TheAirNationalGuardflewF-100sfrom1972to1979.(Source: Jerry G. Bryant)

12th (Old Pueblo) FlightDavis Monthan AFB, AZ


FLIGHTLINE

23rdFlight’sguestspeakerrecentlywasColonelJohn“Jay”Pellicone,USMC(Ret).Whileservinginthemilitary,JayflewCH-46helicoptersandKC-130tankers.HehadvarioustoursasaNavalAttaché,isanAirWarCollegeGraduate,andcommandedaC-130squadron. Followingmilitaryretirement,hejoinedAmericanAirlines.HehasflownasfirstofficerontheF-100,B-767,B-737,andB-777aircraft.Hemovedtothecaptain’sseatintheB-737inJanu-ary2016.Jayhas threeyearswithAmericanAirlinesas themanagerof theHumanFactorsDepartment.AmericanAirlinesistheonlyairlinethathasahumanfactorsclassinitstrainingcurriculum.Jayisalsochairmanof theAlliedPilotsAssociation’sAviationSafetyNationalTrainingCommittee. Jayrelatedhowhumanfactorsaffectsafetyof flight.FlightequipmenthascontinuallyimprovedsincetheWrightBrothers’firstflight,buthumanfac-toraccidentshaveremainedrelativelysimilar.HedescribedanaccidentinEu-rope.AB-737-800aircraftwasbeingvectoredforanILSapproach.TheradarvectorsbroughttheB-737tooclosetotheairfieldandledtointerceptingtheglideslopefromabove.Becausetheaircraftautopilotwasengaged,itreducedpowertointercepttheglideslope.Afterinterception,thepilot’sradaraltimeterbecameinoperative,butthefailurewasunnoticed.Thisistheradaraltimeterthatcontrolstheautothrottles.Duetothefailure,thethrottlesdidnotautomaticallyadvanceandtheaircraftattemptedtomaintainglideslopebypitchalone.Thisdecayedtheairspeed.Bythetimethepilotsrealizedthissituationandappliedfullthrottles,itwastoolate.Theaircraftstalledandcrashedonemileshortof therunway.Thecrewdidnothavefullknowledgeof theautomatedsystems. (Source: Bob Pavelko)

23rd (Ft. Worth/Dallas) FlightFt. Worth, TX

Colonel John “Jay” Pellicone, USMC (Ret)

JustbeforeThanksgiving,Flight34wasblessedtohaveColonelErik(Digger)Drakegiveapresentationof RPAoperationsintheAfrica.DiggeriscurrentlytheChief of theMulti-RoleReconnaissanceDivision(ACC/A3M)atACCHQ.Hejoinedusfr

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