LEADER'S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

This past month has absolutely flown by.  I can’t believe its time for another Leader’s Words article for Briefings.  The McConnell show is over and we actually flew several Ride-for-Hire flights.  I think Letty wrote an article that you will find elsewhere in the newsletter.

Tom Casey, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, Dick Cole and CV Glines from the Doolittle group came to San Antonio and met with the Air Force and then took a tour of the Doubletree hotel.  Bob Gardner had graciously arranged for a lunch at the hotel.  We also had the group at the hangar for a Saturday meeting with the squadron.  We had a good turnout and I thank each and every person that gave up part of their Saturday for the Rose.

If you have not responded to Tim Black regarding the Fredericksburg Xmas Event you need to do that so that he can give an accurate count to the hotel.  The current plan is to leave San Marcos around 11:00a.m.   That will allow the folks that want to visit downtown Fredericksburg for lunch or shopping and still have time to relax and get ready for the happy hour and dinner at the Hangar Hotel.  Some of our members will be driving so we should have adequate ground transportation.  Don’t forget about the Squadron Fly Day at San Marcos on Sunday.  We’ll begin around 11:30am with a lunch in the officer’s club with the squadron purchasing the meat.  Please bring a covered dish or some kind of dessert.  If all works out as in previous years we should have time for 4 or 5 rides in the Rose.  Hopefully there will be other aircraft available for rides.

No word as yet on the engines.  Last I heard was our benefactors were having the items boxed and then a decision as to the number of trucks needed would be made.  Once that is done, Jerry will jump in again to work out a good deal for their transportation to San Marcos.

Once again it is time to think about the squadron election.  The offices up for election are:

                Squadron Leader

                Adjutant

                Operations

                Maintenance

If you are interested and have the time to devote to the squadron, consider running for one of the above offices.  The Nominating Committee is composed of Chuck Clayton, Jack Reeves, and Mike Colaluca.  Just give your nomination to one of those folks and they will take it from there.  The elections will take place at the November meeting.

We are getting close to the end of the 2006 Air Show season and I just wanted to thank all of you who crewed the Rose this year.  We cannot do it without you, especially now that we are on the Ride-For–Hire program.

Please make plans to attend the Doolittle meeting that we have after the Centex meeting.  We can use your input and assistance with this monumental task.

If you plan on sitting at one of the Yellow Rose reserved tables, you need to obtain your Centex Dinner Dance tickets directly from me.  They are filling up fast, so, if you snooze you lose.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO AIRSHO 2006:

Copied from Flight Safety and Operations News, Issue 2006-17

 

WATCH OUT FOR RATTLESNAKES!

Eight rattlers have been killed this year—most of them on the hill.  HOWEVER, we found one in the break room in the hangar and one by the hangar door!

BEWARE OF THE BEES!

We also have had bee problems this year and some of them have been African.  Be especially cautious on the hill.

From the above two items, there seems to be more than the usual safety cautions to go along with Airsho 2006.  I want to urge everyone to be on the lookout for the snakes and bees, as well as airplanes, spinning propellers, etc.  Have a good trip, but be careful.

Jerry Taylor, Squadron Safety Officer

Our First Experience at Ride for Hire

By Letty Dietes

     As Ron mentioned in a previous newsletter, we have been approved for the CAF “Ride for Hire” program.  Our first experience in giving rides under the CAF program was our trip to the McConnell Airshow in Wichita.  Some things we did well, and we discovered some things that we did not do very well.

We sent out over 150 announcements to various individuals and businesses with the hope of scheduling rides prior to our actual arrival in the Wichita area.  We only received one phone call. This was one of the disappointments.   During the airshow, rides were advertised on a sign that was placed near the Rose. Throughout the day many people inquired about the rides and any serious inquires were directed to Grant and/or Ron.

If Ron or Grant are not available, the following information is needed to schedule a ride. 

1.  Name of person scheduling ride.

2.  A contact phone number (cell phone is best)

3.  Number of seats.

4.  Method of payment (preferably a credit card number)

5.  Ascertain if a minor is to be one of the riders?

6.  Date and Time of requested ride.

We have a 3-ring binder that has been assembled and contains everything you will need.  There are individual plastic sleeves within the binder.  Each plastic sleeve represents one rider and each plastic sleeve contains all of the necessary paperwork for that rider.  Each sleeve contains the following:

1.   A summary sheet which asks for personal identification and payment information.

2.  CAF Hold Harmless

3.  CAF Associate Membership Application

          4.  CAF "Attachment A" describing the briefing.

5.  CAF Cash Donation Form

6.  A boarding pass/ticket for the passenger

          7.  A picture and history of the Rose which is given to the passenger as a souvenir after the ride.

 

We accept cash, check, Mastercard or Visa.  Always get their Drivers License number and State, plus their contact information including address and phone number.  The credit card transactions are called in to Judy McMillan each night before 10:00p.m. 

A note about minors…….Minors must be at least 13 years old to fly on the Rose or any other CAF aircraft.  There is a Hold Harmless form that must be completed specifically for minors. The parent or guardian’s signature must be witnessed by a notary in the State where the ride will be given.

If you are the person designated to handle the paperwork for the “Ride for Hire” program, the best advice I can give you is to be patient and treat each rider as if they are the most important person you’ve met that day.  During the paperwork process you will not only be dealing with the passenger but you will be surrounded by family and friends who are just as excited as the person taking the ride.  It is extremely difficult to concentrate on payment and paperwork details when you are surrounded by a crowd of excited people.  And especially if the ride is being given after a show, time is of the essence because you are in a race against the setting sun.

Have fun with this new fundraising opportunity.  Remember, as Ron always says, you only have one chance at a first impression.

ROSE TRAVELS TO McCONNELL AFB AND PX REPORT

By Greg Young, Squadron PX Officer

On Thursday, Sept 7; a Rose crew consisting of Ron and Letty Dietes, Grant Lannon, Jim Liles, and Greg Young gathered in the pre-dawn darkness at the hangar to drive up to Wichita to resume our mission in Kansas, this time; the McConnell AFB show.  After the drive up Interstate 35, we arrived at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport where the Rose eagerly awaited our arrival.  Ken Udcoff arrived by MD80 to complete our crew.  We loaded up the Rose and made the short flight to Wichita Jabara airport for a Ride for Hire flight.  Our passengers consisted of a Major who had flown on the Rose a couple of years ago and his father in addition to a couple of the Major's subordinates.  I went along as the " flight attendant " on the trip and the look on the passengers' faces proved that a ride in the Rose is a special event and well worth the money.  Once the flight was over, it was another short flight over to McConnell AFB.  Our crew was quartered on base and our rooms were well appointed.  The Kansas weather continued the pattern from our previous trip where it stormed at night and cleared off as the day progessed.  Jim and I went out to the Rose and cleaned her up for showtime.  All of our crew managed visits to the Kansas Air Museum which had an interesting collection of aircraft including a B52 that Jim had loaded during his Southeast Asia tours of duty.  Al Maxwell and his intrepid crew flew in with the B17 Thunderbird.  Both show days went well with the Rose putting on her ususal aerial display.  The PX sold well (more empty boxes) and of course the line for cockpit tours was its usual long self.  After the Sunday show, part of the crew, along with a couple of our Kansas CAF wing friends, loaded up on the Rose and flew her back to Jabara for two more Ride for Hire flights.  This being accomplished, we secured our lady for the night and wrapped up our Kansas visit with a late Chili's dinner.  Monday morning found us loading up at Jabara and flying south.  The weather was fine until near Killeen, so Ron decided it was better that we land at Burnet for awhile.   Some of our Highland Lakes CAF friends were at their hangar and so off we went to eat lunch just in time for a torrential downpour to hit the Burnet area.  After lunch and several looks at the weather radar, we continued our flight home and before long, the Rose was back tucked into her spot in the hangar.  Another successful mission was accomplished. 

 

PX news....As I stated, the PX sold well at the McConnell Show.  I have had to reorder some of our more popular toys.  Also I ordered, and will have in stock by the time this is printed, more Crew shirts as we had a run on Medium sizes.  The PX will be packed and ready to go to Midland minus our popular .50 caliber shells as the Midland people stated not to bring them.  Until next time....happy landings.

OPERATIONS REPORT

By Grant Lannon, Squadron Operations Officer

We had a successful show at McConnell.  Hopefully, there is another article on that event in the newsletter.  It is good to see that we have people who are adaptable to the situations we find ourselves in to try to make sure that the aircraft is seen by the most people at the most shows.  I realize that is not possible for people who have full time jobs.  I continue to try to arrange the schedule for an airshow so that those squadron members who are working full time or have limited time to spend on the Rose activities can fly in the aircraft as much as possible.  We have the same problem that other units have in that we are short of pilots who are willing to fly and take part in Squadron activities.  The four people we have now do the best they can but sometimes there are schedule conflicts.

 

2007 DOOLITTLE RAIDER’S REUNION

 

See the additional article elsewhere in the newsletter.

 

RIDE FOR HIRE

 

We did fly some rides for hire on our return to Wichita for the McConnell AFB show.  We are “learning by doing” and we do make mistakes on scheduling and making sure that we understand what the customer is telling us.  We will continue to ride the learning curve.  Thanks to Letty Dietes for handling the paperwork in Wichita and to Judy McMillan for sending in the membership information with the appropriate dues.

 

AIRSHOW SCHEDULE:

 

We are still gathering paperwork for the Mexican tour and we have a full aircraft for that event.  We have, or about to receive a contract for New Orleans to replace Pacific Prowler there.  However, it is my understanding that Prowler was going to arrive in New Orleans on the Monday before the appearance and spend a week there.  The Rose is not a privately owned aircraft like Prowler and we cater to our membership.  Normally, we would leave for New Orleans on Friday and return on Sunday (Monday if he weather is bad).  Once we see the contract, we will modify it to our satisfaction so the most members can make the trip.  If this is not acceptable to NO, we will try to do New Braunfels.  We have been requested to go to the Fredericksburg Fly-in the weekend of 14 & 15 October.  Because of pilot scheduling conflicts, the only way we can do that is to fly the aircraft up on Friday the 13th and leave it for the weekend.  We only have rooms for Saturday night, however, if someone wants to pay for their room on Friday, they could ride up and stay.  I urge others to drive up and man the airplane for the two days and we will book any “rides for hire” that we can for late Sunday afternoon, when we should have two pilots who are qualified to fly the rides.  Those who drive up can share one of the double rooms we have on Saturday night until they are gone.  De Ridder, LA has confirmed for Memorial Day, Nov 5th.  We will fly up that Saturday and return on Sunday.  It is a great trip for those who work full time.  The revised schedule for confirmed appearances is below:

 

 

EVENT	DATE	C	DURATION
Midland Fina CAF Airshow	Oct 6-8		two days
Fredericksburg Fly-in	Oct 14-15		two days
N’Awlins or New Braunfels	Oct 20-22		two days
Mexican Air Tour	Oct 26-31		6 days
DeRidder, LA Memorial Day	Nov 4-5		1.5 days
Fredericksburg/San Marcos Christmas party	Dec 9-10		Saturday in Fredericksburg/ Sunday at San Marcos

 

REUNION HOTEL LINK

From Bob Gardner, Squadron Publicity Officer

As promised here is the direct link to the hotel.. All that use this link will be locked into the Reunion rate.. Note that you can book up to 2 days pre & post for those that wish to arrive early or stay a day or so after the reunion...  An added note, the hotel has airport pick up & drop off, as well as on site car rental

http://www.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/satnsdt_drr/index.jhtml

DoubleTree / 37 NE Loop 410.    Reservations if you don't use the link 800.535.1980.. If a call-in, make sure you mention Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Reunion to lock in the rate, thus we make sure we get the Room credit.

DTR VISIT AND BOOKSIGNING A SUCCESS

By Pat Jopling

If you weren’t around a couple weeks ago when Tom Casey, Col CV Glines, Jonna Doolittle-Hoppes and LtC Dick Cole were around you missed quite a treat. From the time they arrived in San Antonio to the time they left, it was definitely a memory…what a comedy troop. Such a great group of individuals, so diverse, but yet with one thing in common…all in support of wanting the 65^th DTR Reunion to be the best ever. The initial reasons for bringing them down at this time was for an initial site survey of some of the facilities, a meeting with AETC and ABC, a meeting with the Yellow Rose Sqd and a book signing promoting Jonna’s new book, Calculated Risk.

Since there was time between lunch and the arrival of Jonna Doolittle-Hoppes on Thursday, I had pre-arranged, through Tom Casey, the DTR Mgr, and UT San Antonio AFROTC to have Col Glines and LtC Cole speak to the AFROTC cadets. The AFROTC detachment went out of their way to make them feel at home…first class all the way. They not only had over 150 cadets there, but many others from the university. With the proper logistics, we were able to get not only the head of the Public Relations department from UTSA there, but also the San Antonio Express News and Kens 5 TV station to cover the event. Press coverage of this event definitely was a very positive aspect to the upcoming Reunion. Please read article from SA Express News 19 Sep 06 online.

Thursday, I treated them to a tour (drive-by) of the Alamo before heading to the Rivercenter Mall and Tony Roma’s. The initial plan was for County Line Barbeque, but due to having too many navigators in the van, the driver got her bearings lost, so the alternate plan was put into place.

Friday morning, we stopped by the Hank Potter School of Navigation, where we met the commander, LtC Bigger. He was honored to have an actual Raider in his building. We then left for Hqtrs AETC, where we were afforded 15 minutes with the AETC Vice-Commander, LtGen Larsen. If any of you are familiar with the schedule of a 3-Star, then you know this was truly a rare treat. LtGen Larsen was very impressed and expressed 100% backing on the Reunion. Afterwards, we were led into the meeting with Col Mihalik, AETC Dir of Staff. He was overjoyed to meet them and to hear more about the Reunion. I can tell you after the meeting, he was still beaming in their presence, as were the others from AETC, Randolph and Lackland AFB. Bob helped me make arrangements for lunch at the Doubletree Hotel, where Cindy Chal, LtC Cole’s daughter surprised him with a birthday cake. Afterwards, they met with ABC, and then took a tour of the hotel.

The book signing was arranged with the gracious help of Caren Berlanga at the Barnes and Noble in San Pedro Crossing. There were approx 45-50 people in attendance to hear them tell their stories, buy books and prints and get them signed.

I guess the only way to top off the day was a trip to the Auger Inn at the Randolph O’Club. I know they are all still bragging about the fact that we “closed” the Auger Inn and proud of the fact that the oldest guy in the group was the last to go to bed Saturday morning (after 2:00am). That didn’t slow them down for the meeting with the Yellow Rose Sqd the next day. I know the members really enjoyed meeting them and they the same. All in all, it was an extremely fruitful trip for all.

Above, from L-R, Tom Casey – DTR business manager, Dick Cole, Co-pilot crew #1, Joanna Doolittle Hoppes, granddaughter of Jimmie Doolittle and author of “Calculated Risk”, and C V Glines, Doolittle Raiders Historian.  Below, same group in front of the Hank Potter School of Navigation at RAFB.  Photos from Pat Jopling

Yellow Rose DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 10, 2006 – Next Squadron Meeting at 6:00PM, DTR Meeting following CenTex Meeting and Dinner

November 14, 2006 – Squadron Meeting and Unit Elections

December 9 & 10, 2006 – Annual Squadron Christmas party in Fredericksburg and San Marcos

April 17 through 21, 2007 – Doolittle Tokyo Raiders 65^th Reunion, San Antonio