ROSE TRAVELS AND EVENTS
CENTRAL TEXAS 2006 AIRSHOW
Temple, Texas May 5 - 7
by Herb Welch
What a sight. Rounding the hanger, the Yellow Rose stands shining in the afternoon sun, ready for flight. It has been 16 long months since my last flight. How I’ve missed the Lady and her crew. Jack and Ken are busy with preflight while Ron and Julie discuss last minute details. Jim is giving a hanger tour to visitors; while 3 folks from Allied eagerly await takeoff (2 are rookies.)
During the quick 45 min. flight to Temple, I witnessed (and remembered) the same giddy awe and excitement of the 2 Allied first timers as on MY first flight. One gentleman refused to wear his headset so he could hear all the different sounds of the airplane. I remembered my first time hearing the starter engage and smelling raw av-gas during priming. Then as the cylinders began to fire, the smell of exhaust and oil blowing
through the rear compartment. Pure testosterone. No different with these gentlemen. During engine run-up at the holding line, their eyes got big as saucers and smiles wide as Texas. I helped them with their seat harness and gave instructions what to expect during takeoff and landing. With only 8 missions behind me, I was the Old Man. Reaching level flight; both newbies went forward to the nose as is Rose tradition.
After landing and wipe-down, more Rose fraternity arrived. Greg and Bob drove up bringing the PX with them. Curtis drove in from Houston, William via the Blastards and Saundra on “Beech Baby.”
Sporting such an entourage, having such a beautiful airplane, we had to be news worthy. Local Channel 6 was on hand for a “Live at 6” shoot with the prettiest reporter yet to grace the right seat of the Yellow Rose. She was subsequently “Rosed” by the Rose Meister.
Heavy rain and hail was already on radar coming down from Dallas. We covered the cockpit and headed over for a fajita dinner followed by the Night Show. Bob Carlton flew his jet powered glider, performing night aerobatics with pyro. Next G.W. Pyro put on a truly Spectacular Fireworks Show. The finale was our own beloved Blastards with the A Bomb and Firewall. Like a rookie, my camera was in my luggage…
Our 2230 late night check-in at the hotel brought a surprise. Our 5 rooms had king size beds, no doubles. No additional rooms could be purchased as the hotel was booked. Comments from “Oh No, I Can’t Believe It” to “Giddy-Up There Cowboy” bounced around the counter. Eventually 2 additional rooms were procured at another hotel. After stowing our gear, we met the Blastards on the patio for some quick fellowship and a cold beverage. We watched the approaching lightening. The storm slammed in at midnight and shook the windows until 2AM.
Saturday was cool, cloudy and wet. After breakfast at IHOP, we headed for the airport with Julie at the wheel and Ron navigating. NOTAM 6May2006: When operating ground transportation, pedestrians in attire matching rain slick pavement Can and Will stand in frontage road on-ramps during the early morning. Arriving at the airport, we find the hail passed around Temple. Thankfully Rose’s canopy is intact. We set up the PX under the right wing, dried off the cockpit and greeted plane crews that had elected to wait out the storm, as they arrived. Among them was our M.O. Jim.
A huge crowd appeared around 1230 and PX sales were brisk. New to me was “the Chair” for cockpit tours. I soon realized how much I couldn’t remember, how much I needed to learn and how well versed the “tour-ists” were. I quickly became the student, they my teacher. I also learned how gratifying the sounds of a child scooting down the tunnel “wowing” and exiting the airplane with “this is sooo cool!” Parents who paid a buck for their kid to enter the cockpit, found themselves peeking through the hatch in awe. For a generation that many never saw service and most only flew commercial, and only read about WWII aircraft in high school, the stark utility of the airplane was a shock.
As 1800 approached, we again covered the canopy and headed for the hotel. Dinner became a two course event. First we had drinks, Merlot and appetizers at Cheeves Bros, the most upscale and expensive restaurant in Temple. With prices breaking the bank and me
temporarily losing my restaurant selection privileges, we head for an epicurean culinary extravaganza… burgers at Chilis. After dinner the crew set out for the local VFW less the sun burnt Bob and me.
Sunday was much like Saturday with the crowd arriving around 1230, with three notable additions. First a B-25 Crew Chief from the 10th Air Force CBI theatre walked up. Once inside, he discussed cockpit controls and instruments with Jack. He told me one of his favorite duties was to taxi the airplane. Another one of his duties was to go up with new pilots for spin/stall practice.
With just PIC, SIC, FE, they would put the airplane in a 60 degree bank and he would reach up and pull one of the throttles down to 1500 RPM when they least expected it. What Fun!
Another gentleman flew PIC with the Air Apaches. Photo recon was important to the South Pacific campaign. As the war progressed, his base built a larger dark room for developing this film. The old, smaller room was turned over to the airmen for their personal use. He shot hundreds of photos of everyday life on base and combat missions. As he and his son digitalize some of these, he
promised to send them to the squadron and Bob promised him he would distribute all of them we receive to the squadron. A few examples were displayed in a small album which I videoed. One shot showed the B-25 Box Formation. Another is a close up of a B-25 hard nose with a 75mm cannon. The pilot reloaded the gun and the navigator sat in the right seat. Another is of a B-25 on his right wing, salvoing his bombs, just as they leave the bomb bay. Another is at the Briefing tent. Particularly interesting to me was a photo of the very last B-25 ever produced, which was delivered to his squadron with the signature of every employee from the factory which built it, covering the entire skin of the airplane.
Just when we thought “What else can happen,” up walks an Army Captain and his fiancé. He introduces himself to Bob. He is Adam Hallmark, cousin of Dean
Hallmark – Pilot of Plane #6, one of the 3 captured Raiders executed by the Japanese 15 October 1942 at Kiangwan Prison Public Cemetery No.1 in retaliation for the Jap loss of face…
1730 rolled around before we knew it and it was time to pack up. A few hard core fans stayed to watch us taxi and takeoff including the Crew Chief. I can only imagine the memories relived, playing back in his mind, the sounds and smells, real danger of death, his crew, how many missions he was inside that taxiing B-25…
Greg and Bob left early to drive back to the hanger and have it open for us. The flight was short and uneventful. We debriefed, said our farewells and headed home. Another successful air show for the Yellow Rose and her Crew was in the books. For me, I had the honor and privilege of meeting more of “The Greatest Generation.”
ADA WARBIRD FLY-IN
Ada, Oklahoma June 18
By Ron Dietes
Even though the Rose was not able to make the flight to Ada Oklahoma, some Rose members did in fact make the trip. The “Dog” left Georgetown with Beth, Wade, and Gary from the Dog unit and Greg, Curtis, Bob and me from the Rose Squadron. The flight up was great as the Dog ran well and the weather was excellent except for the wind when we were landing. So we tied the Dog down and put the cockpit cover on her as there was a chance of rain in the forecast for Friday night. Good thing we put the cover on as it did rain, but not very much.
After a very interesting breakfast in the hotel restaurant, I don’t think I will ever look at a tea bag the same again, we were transported to the airport where we proceeded to help Beth, Wade and Gary open the Dog for the show. Since it was a flyin, we really did not have a formal pilot briefing, but since there was an A-26 (not Spirit of Waco) , we briefed with them and flew 5 passes in our time slot, later that afternoon. The Centex Kate flown by Ron Iberg and backseated by Jim Liles and Billy Parker with his Zero were there too. I must say, those two pilots did a very good job of flying formation for the decent sized crowd.
Since the weather forecast did not appear to be very good, it was decided to leave as soon after the show as possible. So, we did a final check of the weather and climbed in the Dog for the flight back to Texas. My thanks to Beth for giving me the opportunity to fly the Devil Dog from Ada to Georgetown. It flies almost exactly like the Rose with two exceptions. The cruise speed is a little higher and your airspeed is a little lower as you cross the fence on your way to the runway and touchdown.
We wiped the Dog down just as we would the Rose and then climbed into Curtis’s car and made the drive to San Marcos to pickup our vehicles. It was a good trip and hopefully we made a few more friends in Ada, Oklahoma.
There was a rumor going around that I was going to burn my clothes so the Rose could not smell Dog, but that was not true. But what I did was to wash them several times and I think the Rose will not be able to tell.
ADDITIONAL ADA FLY-IN REPORT
By Greg Young
As you know, the Rose has been ill and was unable to make the trip. The Yellow Rose squadron prides ourselves on honoring our commitments, so last minute arrangements were made to have our Georgetown neighbors and some of our members fly the PBJ Devil Dog to Ada, a community that has been supportive of the Rose in the past. Ron Dietes, Bob Gardner, Curtis Hall, and Greg Young drove to Georgetown and joined Beth Jenkins, Wade Castellanos, and Gary T. in crewing the Devil Dog to Ada. We flew north and passed in between Fort Worth and Dallas
passing over the Texas Rangers baseball stadium and DFW airport. The people in Ada were happy to see us. We helped Wade (their crew chief) secure the Dog for the night as it was very windy and rain was imminent. The air expo
did not have wavered airspace so it was a rather informal day of flying. Beth and Ron did display the Dog in flight and we assisted them in selling their souvenir items. The Rose was here in spirit as well, as it was the featured airplane on the airshow buttons that were handed out. In keeping with the Rose tradition, we were about the last airplane to leave and Ron and Beth headed us South to Georgetown. The mission was accomplished. Again, a big thank you to the Devil Dog members who made this trip possible.
