HIGH SKY WING, MIDLAND, TX!
JULY, 2012
The Flyer
Ed Gunter and the Ravens are
a Big Hit
Newsletter
Information
Museum Fly Day Not as Successful
The most recent Museum Fly
Day, on June 23rd, featured an
Above and Beyond Seminar hosted
by Bill Coombs. His guest speaker
was Ed Gunter, a member of the
Ravens during the Vietnam War.
The Ravens were a clandestine
organization made up of US Air
Force Forward Air Controllers
(FAC’s) who flew small single
engine observations planes, like the
O-1 Bird Dog, on dangerous
missions within Laos against North
Vietnamese troop and supply
concentrations.
It took a special kind of hero to
volunteer for the “Steve Canyon”
program, one that you could not
qualify for until you were six
months into your tour of duty in
South Vietnam.
Their harrowing missions to fly
low and spot enemy activity, radio
back for air strikes, and remain on
station after the raids to make
damage assessments, led to a
casualty rate of around fifty per
cent.
While not officially a part of Air
America, the CIA backed “airline”
which flew missions throughout the
theater, the Ravens received a lot of
support from Air America,
especially when it came to rescuing
downed pilots when regular Army
or Air force rescue missions could
not be mounted.
PAGE 1
Ed showed slides of their base
in Laos and many of the men
involved in the Ravens, as well as
maps and other graphics. After the
seminar he autographed copies of
The Ravens; The Men Who Flew In
America’s Secret War In Laos, by
Christopher Robbins. Bill presented
Ed and his crew members with
HSW hats as a token of our
appreciation for their appearance.
Copies of the book are available
in the HQ Gift Shop for $30.00,
minus your Colonel’s discount. I
have just started reading my copy
and have been impressed with the
format of the book. It is blend of
documentary and non-fiction that
will appeal to most readers.
Unfortunately, most seats at the
seminar were occupied by HSW
members and not the general public.
I applaud the support that the HSW
has given to the museum, but area
citizens were conspicuously absent
from the events of the day.
Hopefully this will be resolved in
the future.
Greg Gutting 210-326-5983
[email protected]
H.A. Tuck 432-853-1125
[email protected]
Jay Burns 432-770-1053
[email protected]
Don’t know who to contact?
[email protected]
JULY 4TH FLY-OVER
HAMPERED BY WEATHER
CONDITIONS
Due to high winds and
threatening storms the “slow
movers” were kept out of the
HSW fly-over of downtown
Midland during the Fourth of July
Celebration.
The “fast-movers”, not as
affected by weather conditions,
were a big hit for the thousands in
attendance. This celebration is a
renewal of one that had not been
held in a while, and was sponsored,
for the most part, by the Midland
Chamber of Commerce.
RLAF U-17B “69-7306” flown by Ed
Gunter as a member of the Ravens in Laos.
This plane carries the markings of the
Royal Laotian Air Force
--http://www.talkingproud.us
HIGH SKY WING, MIDLAND, TX!
JULY, 2012
PHOTOS FROM SNYDER FLY-IN, JUNE 16TH
!
G
(Clockwise from top left)
The newest addition to our
hangar, T-28 643, en route to
Snyder; “Buffy” Cooper up
to his old tricks; Patti
Collins being helpful; HSW
members relaxing in the
shade; and Bob Keating (L)
and James Martin availing
themselves of the
refreshments.
Photo by Greg Gutting
Photos by Paul Cooper and
Patti Collins
Photo by Greg Gutting
WORLD WAR II
July 19, 1943 More than 500 American B-17’s and B-24’s dropped bombs on targets in and around Rome,
deliberately avoiding historical, religious and artistic sites. One church near a railroad yard was damaged. Six
days later, on July 25, Mussolini was forced to resign by King Victor Emmanuel.
--The Almanac of American History, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Editor, pg 493
Photo by Greg Gutting
PAGE 2
HIGH SKY WING, MIDLAND, TX!
JULY, 2012
THE KNUCKLEBUSTERS CORNER BY STEVE CLINTON
hangar in shape, maintenance will do our best to keep it
that way. Once again thanks your participation and
always remember “Keep Um Flyin”
2011 and a half; time flies
when you’re having fun. The High Sky Maintenance
Team (HSMT for short) has done an incredible job of
maintaining the wing’s fleet as well as the privately
owned aircraft that lend their admirable participation to
HSW events. HSW has a few more scheduled events
before we go into hibernation. Most importantly Airsho
12 is rapidly approaching and all aircraft and facilities
need a little TLC before we roll out the welcome mat.
I want to put out a special thanks to David
Linebarger for acquiring two new swamp coolers and
making the roll-arounds for them. This is the only way
the HSMT could possibly get anything accomplished in
the hangar during this oppressive heat.
The HSMT has four annuals to get out of the way
before Airsho so most of the team will be very busy on
aircraft. If you have a few hours to help us get the
IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT PLANES
Bob Keating (L) and Jerry Perales work to get
a stubborn brake drum released on the Dodge
Command Car.
Where would you display
our “new” sign? If you have
an idea, let us know at:
[email protected]
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN DONATES SIGN
Midland businessman Ferrell Davis (L)
purchased the old Confederate Air Force sign
from the CAF and donated it to the High Sky
Wing. Finance officer Steve Bolin (R)
accepted the gift on behalf of the wing. It is
unknown at this time exactly where or how
the sign will be displayed.
PAGE 3
Welcome Sign Never Looked Better
This photo by Mike Hedrick could be our photo of
the month...if we had such a thing.
HIGH SKY WING, MIDLAND, TX!
JULY, 2012
FOUND ON THE BULLETIN BOARD IN THE READY ROOM
The following was found in the form of an e-mail
tacked to the bulletin board. H.A. Tuck takes
responsibility for posting it a while back. I thought it
was worth sharing.
I Want to be a Pilot--by a Fifth Grader
I want to be a pilot when I grow up because it’s fun and
easy to do.
Pilots don’t need much school; they just have to learn
numbers so they can read instruments.
I guess they should be able to read maps so they can
find their way if they are lost.
Pilots should be brave so they won’t be scared if it’s
foggy and they can’t see, or if a wing or a motor falls
off, they should stay calm so they’ll know what to do.
Pilots need to have good eyes so they can see through
clouds and they can’t be afraid of lightning or thunder
because they are closer to them than we are.
The salary pilots make is another thing I like; they
make more money than they can spend; this is because
most people think airplane flying is dangerous except
pilots don’t because they know how easy it is.
There isn’t much I don’t like, except girls like pilots and
all the stewardesses want to marry them so they always
have to chase them away so they won’t bother them.
I hope I don’t get airsick because if I do I couldn’t be a
pilot and I would have to go to work for a living!
XO REPORT BY GREG GUTTING
were placed on each one with my
contact information, so that refills
can be provided as necessary.
Airsho is a very big part of what
we are all about and it pays for all of
us to do our best to keep folks
t the last Wing Meeting, on
coming out each year. This year we
June 28th, I introduced some
would like to make attempts to
countertop displays. These are
recruit those who have never
small cardboard containers designed attended Airsho. I know this may
to hold standard brochures. We took sound like fiction, but with so many
a few minutes to assemble them and new people in our area, many have
handed out about 25 Airsho
not only not been to Airsho, they do
brochures to each member present
not even know who we are!
with instructions to find a place in
Hotel/Motel space is at a
their community to place the
premium
in the metropolitan area,
displays for the public. Stickers
keeping many out-of-towners away.
A
By focusing on newcomers and
first-timers, Airsho organizers hope
to make up for any shortfall in
attendance.
On another note, we have
instituted a new e-mail format for
staff members. There is a generic email for each position (e.g.
[email protected]) and this will
make it much easier for HSW
members to contact staff officers,
especially when there is a change
after elections. See the last page of
the newsletter for the address for
each position.
October 13-14, 2012
Get your tickets
online at
www.airsho.org
PAGE 4
HIGH SKY WING, MIDLAND, TX!
JULY, 2012
Descendants Of Aviation Pioneers
Gather For Celebration Of Historic
Achievements
American aviation on film, and the three-hour, threepart series is shown in high schools, colleges and
universities across the United States.
The new HD production features newly-recovered
historical footage from the archives of Boeing, Douglas,
North American and McDonnell, including the Wright
brothers' famous 1908 Army flight trials at Fort Myer
une 30, 2012 Descendants of America's 'first
outside of Washington, D.C., The 1942 Doolittle raid
families of aviation' gathered for the first time for a
featuring Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, The North American
celebration of the monumental achievements of their
P-51 Mustang in the skies over Berlin, A 19-year-old
fathers and grandfathers and the tens of thousands of
scientists, engineers, pilots and production workers who Marilyn Monroe modeling the cabin features of the
Douglas DC-6, Test pilot Tex Johnston's legendary
helped make America the world's aerospace and
1955 barrel-roll of a Boeing 707 over Lake Washington
technology leader.
and President Kennedy's 1961 visit to the McDonnell
The historic reunion at The Newseum included
Aircraft plant in St. Louis.
some three dozen members of the Wright, Boeing,
--http://avstop.com/june_2012
Kindelberger, McDonnell and Douglas families who,
together with invited guests, previewed a new HD (HiDef) production of the EMMY-nominated "Pioneers In
The Wright Flyer at Kitty
Aviation" – a production that features the families'
Hawk, N.C. Dec 17, 1903
famous forebears which PBS stations across the country
http://en.wikipedia.org/
will broadcast in the coming months.
wiki/File:First_flight2.jpg
Academics and military historians have embraced
"Pioneers In Aviation" as the definitive history of
J
MISCELLANEOUS MISCHIEF
organization, both within the rest of
the CAF and with the public in
The Most Important
general, rests with us. If we begin
Wing in the CAF
to fail, if we don’t see the value in
the mission of the CAF, if we aren’t
e are the most important
doing all we can to complete that
Wing in the CAF because we are the mission, then the CAF will fail, first
face of the entire organization. Our in Midland, Texas and then across
location makes this so. CAF
the country. If we are an irrelevant
Headquarters is just a place: WE
organization, with a shrinking
are the people. It is the HSW that is membership, lacking any sense of
identified with the annual Airsho, it mission, then we will cease to exist.
is the HSW that supports the various
--Bill Coombs
functions at HQ and at the museum,
(Taken from an essay written
and it is the HSW that occupies the
several
years ago)
Commemorative Center. Rightly or
wrongly, the perception of the CAF
as a successful dynamic
W
MUSTANG STAMPEDE
On August 25th, in conjunction
with the HSW, the CAF Museum
will host a Mustang Round Up,
featuring as many as three P-51
Mustangs and 150 Ford Mustangs.
Mention has been made of the
possibility of some four-legged
mustangs showing up as well. The
featured guest will be Bud
Anderson, a triple ace who flew
with Chuck Yaeger. Sponsorship
will be provided by Rogers Ford of
Midland.
Stay tuned for more details.
Did you know? AirVenture 2012: “This year we celebrate the "Greatest Generation in the Air" with tributes
to the Doolittle Raiders and Tuskegee Airmen, the Piper Cub's 75th anniversary, and Van's RV 40th anniversary,
plus featuring the world's only airworthy B-29 Superfortress FIFI, incredible air show performers, Steve Miller
Band's opening night concert presented by Ford Motor Company, the Night Air Show presented by Rockwell
Collins, and much more.” -- www.airventure.org
PAGE 5
JULY, 2012
High Sky Wing Newsletter!
July 26
Wing Meeting
August 2
Wing Staff Meeting
August 11
Museum Tour to Big Spring
August 25
Mustang Stampede
UPCOMING EVENTS
July 21
Museum Tour to Slaton/
Lubbock
July 23-29
AirVenture 2012 Oshkosh
© Commemorative Air Force 2012
Wing Staff
Mike Hedrick, Wing Leader
[email protected] 432-638-6552
Greg Gutting, Executive Officer
[email protected] 210-326-5983
Steve Bolin, Finance
[email protected] 432-553-6290
Patti Collins, Adjutant
[email protected] 432-631-7072
Steve Clinton, Maintenance
Check the Events tab on the
web page for the most current
information.
http://highskywing.org
[email protected] 432-631-0662
Drew Diggins, Operations
[email protected] 432-889-3739
Paul Cooper, Safety
[email protected] 432-553-5376
High Sky Wing-CAF
Post Office Box 61064
Midland, TX 79711-1064
PLEASE ADDRESS YOUR INQUIRIES TO [email protected]