LEADER'S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

    

     Another year has gone by and I don't know if it was just me, but it seems as though it should be July and not January. This is the first year since we moved to Texas that Letty and I spent the holidays in Ohio. You tend to forget how really terrible the weather is up in Yankee land. But we were reminded very quickly. It is great to be back home in Texas.

     The Christmas Party and Fly Day were a huge success. I think everyone that attended the festivities had a really good tune. It was great. The weather even cooperated. We started with lunch at the Grist Mill and then browsing thru the shops in downtown Gruene, followed by dinner and libations at the Faust hotel in New Braunfels. That was all on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we had the Squadron Fly Day at the hangar in San Marcos. Of course we had a very good lunch with turkey and ham, plus side dishes provided by those in attendance. You also cannot forget the silent auction that took place in the Officers Club during and shortly after lunch. For the flying this year we had the U3A, U-l 1, Triple Nickel and the Yellow Rose. Again thanks to all that helped make these events a lot of fun. This weekend was a Thank You from the Squadron for everything each of you did for the Rose during the past year. Lord knows we cannot do it without you. After all, we are all volunteers.

     Now that the flying is over for 2007, the maintenance team can begin the 100 hour inspection and we can concentrate on getting our other engine overhauled and transported to San Marcos. We have still not received a quote from Roy at Global, but I am talking to him regularly, reinforcing our need for the second engine. He is still saying he is going to start on the engine in January. Thanks to a donation from one of our members, we.are really close to having the needed funds for the second engine. Please remember that we need additional money to overhaul the engine accessories as well as the oil coolers and hoses..

     Ken Udcoff was at the ICAS conference in Las Vegas and I am happy to report that Ken had some success. Hopefully, there is another article in this newsletter giving you some of the details. But, right now, the air show outlook for 2008 is looking very promising. Hopefully, with the money we make doing the shows and the dollars we make giving Revenue Rides, we can accumulate enough money to start thinking about a paint job and getting the fuel cells replaced. Of course, I am assuming we do not find anything major wrong when we do the 100 hour inspection. We are also in the process of working out how we can do weekend stops at towns within an hour flying time of San Marcos. Bob Gardner has started this process by building a database of airports with runways long enough for the Rose and then giving the database to Steve Gladwin and Ken. I am hopeful that Texas Raiders B-17 will be flying sometime this year and if by some chance they go out on Tour, that we can accompany them. Raiders still has a lot of work that needs to be done, but they are making steady progress. The Texas Raiders unit faces the same problems as every other unit in the CAF. Not enough money or volunteers.

     I am still working on the business cards. Since we do not have very many folks that want cards, the cost is a little higher than I anticipated. But I am still calling around to printers here hi San Antonio. Right now the best price I have is $100 for 1000 cards. That is just a little higher than the last tune I had cards made ($45 for 500 cards). We can talk about it at our next squadron meeting which is Tuesday January 8th 2008 at 6pm in the hangar briefing room.

     Once again I am asking for volunteers to come to the hangar to help with the 100 hour inspection. Even if you cannot or don't want to turn a wrench, there are still helpful things you can do to assist the wrench turners. Even if it's only for a half day, every little bit helps. Besides, it's not all duty, greasy work. We have a lot of fun and the lunches are really good. It is especially good when Jim Liles whips up his famous chili or vegetable beef soup. Sometimes the lunches are even South Beach friendly. See you at the hangar or at our next meeting.

MINUTES OF THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON MEETING,

     There was no Squadron meeting in December, therefore, no minutes to report..

PX Report

By Greg Young, Squadron PX Officer

As the year winds down and this goes to print, I will be doing the annual PX inventory which it looks like we were able to sell alot of items as some categories appear depleted. I will start to order accordingly as the airshow schedule is built for 2008. On a non PX note, I want to commend all who helped make our Fly Day a success. One of my visitors from Odessa was so impressed that he made a substantial donation. In particular, I want to thank Mike Renck, Clint Epley, Grant Lannon, and Ron Dietes for providing the fuel for the U-3, U-11, and T-6 flights that were made. Until next year, Happy Landings.

Yellow Rose Travel, Events and Reports

FLY DAY THANK YOU!

This Christmas party, was different. My flight aboard the Yellow Rose was an experience that showed me how different flying is then from now. In the 20 minutes that I was aboard the Yellow Rose, It gave me a new respect to the airmen especially the Doolittle raiders whom flew aboard the aircraft for many hours at a time and how rough of a flight it must have been to fly into battle with other aircraft shooting at you. I want to thank all of those whom gave time to experience a ride aboard the Yellow Rose and who helped to keep this piece of history flying all these years. Regards Thomas Gladwin (age 15) Pflugerville. Texas.

 

OPERATIONS REPORT

By Steve Gladwin,, Squadron Operations Officer

     2008 is starting early with the planning for the flying season. Ken made good progress and good friends at LasVegas ICAS conference but I'll leave it to him to fill in the details.

     I hope to have a detailed calendar ready for the February newsletter for people to signup for but here is a preview of the year as it is developing. Most of these are still in the planning / proposal stage, however the old favorites are always there.

     It is still early and we already have some months full. In addition, a second Doolittle / B-25 event is in the works for midway through the year. Stay tuned for the next newsletter for additional details.

March:- Goodfellow AFB
April:- NAS Kingsville. The Blue Angels will also be there.
Burnet, Texas
Doolittle Reunion in Dallas
May:- Dyess AFB, Texas
Fairhope, Louisiana
Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. The Thunderbirds will be the other star attraction.
July:- Fredericksburg
September:- CAF AIRSHO 2008
Greenville, Texas
October:- Little Rock, Arkansas. The Blue Angels again.
November- Lafayette. The Thunderbirds twice in one season.
.

 

HUMOR FROM XO

Submitted by Tim Black, Executive Officer

Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It was shortly before Christmas when the FAA examiner arrived.

     In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his logbook out and made sure all his paperwork was in order. The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear and Rudolph's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for the sled's enormous payload. Finally, they were ready for the checkride.

     Santa got in and fastened his seat belt and shoulder harness and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun. "What's that for?" asked Santa incredulously. The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."

 

ICAS REPORT

From Ken Udcoff

In the early part of the month I attended the ICAS convention in Las Vegas. As an exhibitor under the banner of the CAP I made a number of air show contacts for the 2008 season. Hopefully these contacts will manifest themselves into solid contracts. At this point I am withholding judgment as to the efficacy of my attendance at the convention. War birds play a role in the ICAS world but the other type of air show performers seem to dominate. The rising price of fuel is having major impact on the high consumption flying machines for sure. Time will tell whether the assets expended produced a result worthy of the effort.

 

SILENT AUCTION

From Judy McMillan, Squadron Finance Officer .

The Silent Auction held at the Christmas Fly Day brought in $289. Add to that the donations from 2006, the total benefit was $314 for the Squadron.

 

A SPECIAL THANKS!!

Squadron Members:

     Well! Another Christmas Party and Fly Day have come and gone. The New Braunfels/Gruene/Faust Hotel choice for our Christmas Party seemed to be well received by all those that attended. We enjoyed the cocktail hour and the dinner served by the Faust hotel. The second day of our annual Christmas Party (Fly Day) was also a great success thanks in part to the weather cooperating with mild temperatures and clouds that were high enough so we could fly all those that wanted a ride in the Rose, T-6,U3andU-ll. While all is still fresh in my mind, I would like to thank the following people for contributing to the Christmas Party and Fly Day's success.
Tim and Grizelda Black - For organizing the Faust Hotel arrangements and for the silent auction on Sunday. .
Jack Reeves & Mike Francis - For volunteering to be Flight Mechanics on Fly Day. .
Clint Epley - For donating his tune and fuel to give rides in the U3 (310) on Fly Day.
Mike Renck - For donating his time and fuel to give rides in the U-l 1 (Apache) on Fly Day. .
Ron Iberg - For donating his time to give rides in Triple Nickel since Grant and I were both in the Rose..
Jim Liles and Bob Gardner - For assisting with the aircraft while they were near the hangar..
Greg Young & Letty - For organizing the flights on the Rose, including manifests and hold harmless forms, relieving the pilots and Flight Mechanics of some of the paperwork required when we fly these rides. .
Letty and Debbie Hall - For cutting up and heating the Ham and Turkey..
Additional thanks to the various Yellow Rose Members and Centex members who brought food to share and to those who donated items for the silent auction. Also, thanks to Jim Liles and his crew for insuring the hangar was clean and for stocking the refrigerator with ice. Thanks also to those of you that stayed to clean up the Officers Club, wipe down the Rose after four flights and then put her back into the hangar. Our Squadron is strong because of each and every one of you. Thanks to each of you for a successful 2007 in spite of the challenges that we faced. So take a moment and reflect on what we've accomplished. 2007 was a good year and you can be proud. Letty and I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. Stay safe and see you in 2008.
Ron...
PS: Don't forget our next Squadron meeting is 6PM Tuesday Jan 8th 2008 in the hangar Briefing Room.

 

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ANOTHER FLY-DAY THANK YOU

By Melissa Robles, Jack and Minnie Reeves Granddaughter

     My husband and I would like to, first of all, extend our appreciation for allowing us to join you all for this year's CAF Yellow Rose Squadron Fly Day..

     I had been talking to my grandfather, Jack Reeves, for the past few months about going out to the hangar and maybe flying with him one time on the B-25 Yellow Rose. He talks so much about the history of military aviation and how much he enjoys being a part of the CAF that I wanted to experience just a glimpse of what it was like to fly on one of these historic planes. Then about a month ago he told us that they were going to have a family Fly Day in December and that my husband and I were invited to come and join in the festivities. I told my husband immediately and we both were really looking forward to going.

     On the day of the event my husband and I unfortunately arrived about half an hour late. We got a little lost and took a wrong turn into San Marcos. As soon as we arrived at the hangar we were met up with my grandfather and we were informed that there was plenty of food upstairs if we were hungry. By this time my husband and I were starving so we made our way upstairs. The holiday pot-luck lunch really "hit the spot" for us. Thank you to those people who made the wonderful food, especially the deserts which of course is my favorite part of any meal.

     Then my husband and I signed up for a flight on the Yellow Rose. We were also glad to see that my uncle was able to come and bring his two younger sons with him. It also turned out to be a pretty nice day altogether. The weather really held out for us and it was pretty warm for December. This made it rather enjoyable to sit outside with everyone and meet all the interesting members of CAF. Everyone was very nice to us and we enjoyed hearing about all the collective experiences everyone had as members of the CAF and during their individual military duties. My husband and I sat outside and watched as all the pilots volunteered their time to take the guests on flights in their different planes. We learned a lot about each of the different kinds of planes and what the military used them for. It was not hard finding answers to our questions because everyone was very knowledgeable about the planes there.

     When it was our turn to ride on the Rose after being briefed we climbed up the small ladder into the plane. When the plane sputtered and smoked and we were off. Crawling into the different areas definitely was not, especially for my husband being that he is a big guy, but it was well worth it. The twenty minute flight seemed like five minutes. My husband and I agree that our favorite part of the flight was sitting in the nose of the plane and enjoying the beautiful scenery around us. Another neat sight was seeing the excitement on the faces of the other passengers. I think I must have smiled the whole twenty minutes. A special thanks to all those hard working crew members and pilots who truly make it all an unforgettable experience. I mean come on, how many people can actually say they flew on a real B-25. Well my husband and I have been bragging about it ever since. Our only regret is that we wish we could have had more time to go on all the other planes and spend more time in the nose of the Rose.

Thank you
Melissa Robles

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Letty and Ron at the CenTex Dinner Dance.  Ron is wearing a set of pinks and greens that was worn by an 8^th Air Force B-17 pilot in Europe during WWII.

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DOOLITTLE TOKYO RAIDERS 2008 REUNION

APRIL 15-20, 2008, DALLAS, TEXAS

From Bob Gardmer

HOST ORGANIZATION

The Frontiers of Flight Museum, situated on the southeast corner of Dallas Love Field Airport at 6911 Lemmon Avenue Dallas, Texas, is proud to have been selected to host the 2008 Doolittle Raiders Reunion.  We are honored to present these true American heroes to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and are committed to making the Reunion a memorable one for the Raiders, their families and guests.

 

HOTEL

     The host hotel is the Embassy Suites Hotel Dallas-Love Field, located 2 miles from the Museum.  The Embassy Suites is holding a block of all-suite accommodations for the Doolittle Raiders Reunion at the rate of $119.00 per night.  This rate will also be honored, subject to availability, for two days prior and two days after the official Reunion dates.  The room rate includes a complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast each morning and a Manager’s reception with complimentary beverages each evening.  The hotel provides free shuttle service to and from Love Field Airport, and all suites have a microwave oven and wireless internet capability.

     Reservations may be made directly with the Embassy Suites by calling (214) 357-4500.  Remember, in order to get the $119.00 rate, you must indicate the reservation is for the Doolittle Raiders Reunion.  You may also register on line at the special web page the Embassy Suites has for the Reunion at http://embassysuites.hilton.com/en/es/groups/personalized/DALLFES-DRR-20080415/index.jhtml.

 

EVENTS

     The 2008 Reunion events will take place at the Embassy Suites Hotel Dallas-Love Field or at one of three venues:  the Frontiers of Flight Museum, the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, Texas (11 miles north of the Embassy Suites Hotel), and the University of Texas at Dallas (17 miles north of the hotel). 

     Please note that some events are for Raiders, Raider Widows, Honorary Raiders and their companions only, usually due to space limitations. Times are approximate and event pricing is to be determined; however, ticket pricing for public events will be in line with those of previous reunions.  Families and guests will be able to purchase tickets in advance.

 

Bruce A. Bleakley

Museum Director

Frontiers of Flight Museum

 

SOME (BUT NOT ALL) OF THE SCHEDULED EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16—

 

Throughout the day:  Raider Widows, Honorary Raiders, families and guests arrive.

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 17—

 

8:30 – 10:30 a.m., Embassy Suites:  Raiders Business Meeting and Goblet Ceremony (private).

 

11:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Frontiers of Flight Museum:  Luncheon, presentation and book signing with welcoming remarks by a high-profile Dallas personality.  Tickets available for purchase by Raiders’ families and the general public.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 18—

 

10:00 – 11:30 a.m., Cavanaugh Flight Museum, Addison Airport, Addison, Texas:  Raiders, Widows, Honorary Raiders and their companions will be taken on a guided tour through the Cavanaugh’s collection of extensive collection of WWII and other military aircraft.  Families and other guests can tour the museum on their own before the luncheon (below) if they desire.

 

11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Cavanaugh Flight Museum:  Luncheon, presentation and book signing.  Tickets available for purchase by Raiders’ families and the general public.

 

6:00 – 9:00 p.m., Frontiers of Flight Museum:  Cocktail reception and Celebrity Speaker Banquet.  Tickets will be available for purchase by invitation only, but the invitation list will be extensive and will of course include Raiders’ families and guests.  Scheduled speaker is General T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force and ardent Doolittle Raider fan.

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 19—

 

Evening:  Raider Family Dinner Night

 

SUNDAY, APRIL 20—

 

8:00 – 9:30 a.m., Embassy Suites:  Farewell Breakfast for Raiders, Widows, Honorary Raiders and their companions, Reunion Sponsors, and other VIPs.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION LOG ON TO  www.flightmuseum. com or call Bruce Bleakley at (214)350-3600 Ext 225

 

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2008 Yellow Rose B-25
Squadron Staff Officers

Squadron Leader - Ron Dietes

t6cpilot@netzero.net

Executive Officer - Bret Renfro

bubba@gvtc.com

Finance Officer - Judy McMillan

heyjude@texas.net

Adjutant - Pat Moore

patrickmoore99@mail.ev1.net

Operations Officer - Steve Gladwin

skgladwin@suddenlink.net

Maintenance Officer - Jim Liles

james.liles@gte.net

Safety Officer - Mel Soderberg

melandjean@hotmail.com

PX Officer - Greg Young

tbolt52@hotmail.com

Publicity Officer - Bob Gardner

bob@rhga.com

 

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