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BRIEFINGS
March, 2007 The Newsletter of the Yellow Rose Squadron Vol. 10-03
  Briefings e-mail address: B25YR@msn.com  

LEADER'S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

Another month has flown by and we continue to work toward the Doolittle Reunion and wrapping up the “B” Inspection on the Rose.  I don’t think I am the only squadron member that feels like the days don’t have enough hours in them.  We have made some very good progress on the Doolittle Reunion preparations and although we still do not have any sponsors other than the Air Force, our fund raising team, as well as other members that have stepped up to help with the fund raising effort, we do have some prospects.  It’s a good thing we know how to handle rejections as we have had a lot of “no’s” from companies that I thought would want to part of this historic event.  Hopefully, I will have good news to report in our next newsletter.  However, we are beginning to see ticket sales for the two lunches and the Dinner Dance.  In case you don’t know, we now have a speaker for the second lunch.  He is retired Lt General Richard E. “Tex” Brown III.  He is acting Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington, DC.  We also have the orchestra for the Dinner Dance.  Keith Orme from Any Baby Can has arranged for Al Sturchio and his 12 piece orchestra to play for us.  This just keeps getting better and better.  Thanks to Harold Woods, we just might also have the US Air Force Band of the West for the opening ceremony at the VIP/Media reception that is being held on Tuesday night at the hotel.  Our next Doolittle meeting is Sunday March 4th at 2pm in the hangar break room.  Please try to attend.  It is always entertaining and we definitely need the input.  After all, this is a squadron effort.

The oil cooler arrived from overhaul and it was installed by Ray Clausen, Grant Lannon and me last Saturday.  Since that was done, we did the maintenance flight in the Rose on Wednesday Feb 21st.  Although the flight went extremely well, we do have a few little things to correct.  Mostly centered around the pushrod tube hoses.  We just cannot seem to catch up.  Fix one and two more start to seep oil.  Jim Liles and his crew are working on them in each spare moment.  When we get a few spare minutes we still have to look into adjusting the flap indicator.  It’s not one of those grounding items, it’s just one of those annoying little tasks that needs to be done.  We may have enough time to look at it before the Brownsville trip.  One thing we did notice is that Dave Howard seems to have found the cause of the intercom static at take-off power and corrected it.  Neither Grant, Jim or I noticed it when we flew the maintenance flight.  Great job, Dave.

If you want to be a member of a flight crew on an airshow, just email Dave Howard.  Please send a copy to me at t6cpilot@netzero.net so I can also keep track.  That way, if we keep the info in two places, should one of our systems crash, we should be able to recover and not loose any information causing last minute scrambling to get a crew.

By the time you read this, our yearly Yellow Rose Ground School should be in the history books.  Hopefully, we had a good turnout and all in attendance got involved in asking lots of questions.  Remember if you think of a question, someone else probably has the same question.  So we all learn.  Actually this ground school is good for the instructors, too.  It causes us to review material that we normally don’t have a reason to review during the year.  It’s definitely a win, win for the squadron.  If you couldn’t make it this year, we’ll do it again in February 2008.

Please keep Tim Black, Mike Colalucca and Mel Soderburg in your thoughts and prayers as they recover from surgery.  Also, we want to extend our deepest sympathy to Bill Powers on the passing of his wife Joan.  Her memorial service was held in Austin on Saturday February 24th.




In August of 2005, the “Yellow Rose” participated in the Morgan Adams Concours D’Elegance held at Centennial Airport, Colorado.  Winning three awards, the Squadron was allowed to keep two trophies and bring them home.  Several attempts were made to find someone to build a case for these awards, with no success.  Finally, long-time Squadron member and former PIC of the “Rose” Don Heyden (shown above with the cabinet he built) volunteered to build one.    He delivered it this past weekend and it is now on display in the briefing room at the hangar. A big YR thank you Don for your help.

Photo by Ron Dietes



Grant Lannon (back to camera in the foreground) holds everyone’s attention at the ground school on February 25th.

Photo by Ron Dietes

DOOLITTLE REUNION REPORT

By Ron Dietes

     The Doolittle Reunion Committee’s have been very busy.  The meetings with Any Baby Can are now every other week and we are also trying to have at least two meetings per month on the Doolittle Reunion at the hangar for anyone that wants to attend.  It’s almost March already so time is getting short.  Several events have occurred over the past several weeks that have us all excited.

     We now have the second speaker for the lunch on April 19th.  He is Ret. Lt General Richard E. “Tex” Brown III.  Along with Charles Duke, we are extremely fortunate to have two strong and interesting speakers as a draw to help us sell lunch tickets.  So please contact Alison Ender for tickets.  Since we do not have any financial sponsors other than the Air Force, we really need to sell tickets for the two lunches and the dinner dance.  That is our revenue source to cover the other event costs (Excluding the aircraft).

     The plans for getting B-25’s to attend the event are also progressing.  Finding funds to support the aircraft that plan to attend is moving forward, but so far, we do not have a fuel sponsor.  We do have very attractively priced rooms reserved for the crews at Lackland, so that should help.  Thank You Pat Jopling.

     We have also signed the contract for the orchestra at the Dinner Dance.  It is going to be Al Sturchio and his 12 piece orchestra.  He is well known in San Antonio and has an excellent reputation for playing dance music.  So, if you like to dance to Big Band music plus danceable other tunes, get your tickets now.  I have to tell you that seating will be limited due to the size of the ballroom.  You can also get consignment tickets to sell.  Just ask Alison Ender and she can explain how that works.  Alison’s number is 512-396-0765.

     Also, there is another other item of importance that I need to communicate to you.  Any Baby Can has graciously taken over the planning and organization of the two lunches and the dinner dance.  We felt that our time could be better spend pursuing fund raising activities plus the many other things that will need to be done, prior to April 17th.  And frankly, they do this many times a year and are extremely good at it.

     Our Reunion budget has been submitted to Midland and I would like to thank Judy McMillan for getting that done and submitted to Floyd Houdyshell.

     Letty has begun getting the name tags printed and I have to tell you, they look great.  She will bring one to show you at the next meeting, which will be on Sunday March 4th at 2pm in the hangar break room.  Be there, or be square.  Where have I heard that before?

     We are now to the point of starting the detail planning of the event.  So it is important for all of us to come to the meetings and participate.  You may know of something that we may have overlooked.  It is going to take all of us, plus outside help, to make this an event the Raiders will never forget.  Speaking of volunteers, Letty is starting the volunteer list, so if you want to help out, let her know.  You can email her at t6cpilot@netzero.net  or letitia.dietes@ey.com

 

As a Squadron member, if you wish to attend the luncheons and the dinner dance, you must have tickets.  The official ticket purchase form is here.  Please use it to purchase your tickets early.  Also, feel free to duplicate this form and pass it along to your friends and business associates so that they can purchase their tickets.  Remember, seating at these events is limited.

DOOLITTLE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETINGS IN SAN ANTONIO,

January 30, 2007

By Grant Lannon

     Jim Liles, Tim Black, Greg Young and I went to San Antonio to coordinate the stationing of the attending B-25s in and around San Antonio.  At Landmark Aviation, Greg Antonichuk gave us a tour of their area to the West of Terminal 2, the ramp and FBO facilities.  There is an area next to the West Terminal Road that can be used for B-25s on static and is convenient for rides.  The planes can be viewed from a fenced area that is also good for setting up souvenir stands and for sign up for rides.  Traffic on the road is heavy and there is an area for parking.  FBO facilities are good for crews, reunion support, and security to take a break. Airport ID badges will have to be obtained by any of our volunteers to help with security. The ramp area is within a few blocks of the hotel so if we want to put trainers and some B-25s (non-ride?), it is readily accessible to hotel guests.  With the crowd separation area, we could sell souvenirs, cockpit tours, and rides.  The visitors could see the airplanes and then make a decision to pay to get closer through a gate in the secure area.  Landmark has offered discounted fuel and no parking fee for the aircraft associated with the reunion.  We have to decide if we want to break up the attending B-25s between Stinson and International.

     We then traveled to Stinson Field and met Gene Jensen of Check Six Aviation (AF veteran-210-932-4359) who arranged for an upstairs classroom for our meeting with the Lackland and Randolph AFB airfield operations people.  The POCs are:

                -L/C Paul Gloyd, Commander 37th Ops Support Sq. @ Lackland (210-925-3794; paul.gloyd@lackland.af.mil)

                -Capt. Jeff Welborn (210-652-4823; Jeffery.wellborn@Randolph.af.mil) Other people accompanied him from the 12th Ops Support Sq. and Randolph Airfield Management.

     As a group we reviewed the schedule for the B-25s and agreed to the following:

-Aircraft at Randolph will be available for military and civilians who would normally have access to the base without getting a special pass.  Crewmembers and support people for the reunion who do not have base stickers will get special passes based on a list given to the Ops Support people.

-Aircraft may be made available to the general public at Lackland if procedures similar to their air show can be put in place.  Col Gloyd will check with commanders at Lackland to see if this is feasible.

-There will be no refueling of aircraft at either Lackland or Randolph.  Aircraft will have to fly to Stinson or International to be refueled.

-Procedures for the Basic Military Training (BMT) graduation flyover were e-mailed.  They will have to be modified for a large bomber formation.  This can be coordinated with Lackland and San Antonio Approach.

-Aircraft can sell souvenirs and give cockpit tours at both military and civilian locations.  Most rides will be given out of Stinson because ground delays will be minimal.  No paid rides will be given out of military facilities.

-There was a discussion of moving the Friday night crew party to the Auger Inn at the Randolph O'club so crews could mingle with active duty military.  Since crew accommodations will most likely be at Kelly, it makes sense to have the crew party at Lackland where the aircraft are located to avoid a two-way trip across town.  It will be held either in the Lackland club or in a nearby hanger.

-We discussed support requirements for the aircraft and it was decided that only tugs and GPUs would be required at military facilities since most B-25s carry their own tow bar.  Hanger space will not be available at Lackland or Randolph in case of inclement weather but tie downs will be available.  There may be limited hanger space available at International or Stinson.

-Arrival at Randolph AFB can be accomplished through established entry points to the East (transient) runway and can be done at any time during the day even with regular flying training occurring on the West runway.  There is no possibility of a pyro event associated with arrival at Randolph.

     Check Six Aviation at Stinson is offering discounted fuel and perhaps (with approval) some free fuel or a combination of the two.  Free parking is available to reunion aircraft on both their ramps.  Their fuel truck is available on Stinson.  Greg Young is looking at the possibility of using the Channel X news station ramp for at least one B-25 so the aircraft are more visible from the main road next to the field.  He has already determined that the Police Dept. ramp is not available because of alert requirements on their helicopters.

 

Action Items:

 

1. Greg Young will talk to the Chief of Police to see if plans to secure the Landmark Aviation area are acceptable.

2.  Pat Jopling will determine if the Raiders will be visiting the trainers and some B-25s if they are at International.

3.  The Operations Committee will ensure that there are lists of crewmembers/reunion support people and vehicle ID submitted to Randolph and Lackland base security so these people can easily get on and off base.

4. L/C Gloyd will check with Lackland managers to determine if they want to put air show procedures in effect for public visits to the aircraft while they are there.

5.  The Ops Committee will ensure that BMT flyover procedures are coordinated with military ATC and San Antonio Approach prior to the flyover.  Established procedures will be used as a starting point.  Other flyovers will be coordinated with San Antonio approach.  Arrival at Randolph will be coordinated with Charles "TI" Bailey.

VISIT THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON 65th DOOLITTLE TOKYO RAIDERS REUNION WEB SITE AT
http://www.b-25yellowrose.com/reunion

OPERATIONS REPORT

By Dave Howard, Squadron Operations Officer

   

Operations Activity

 

 February has been devoted mostly to follow-ups and detail work to “sew up” several air shows.  A joint booking arrangement has been worked out with Highland Lakes Squadron and Centex Wing so that any one of us can book combinations of aircraft from all of us a package on the same contract.  We are approaching this as a simple but useful convenience to air show coordinators at this point, rather than trying to put together a whole “air show in a box” for them.

 

Upcoming Appearances

 

      A close-up of the current March-May schedule is shown below with the Prospect column updated.

     Boca Raton has been dropped.  The trip is just too long to be affordable for a charity fund-raiser.  However, Morgan Adams is still interested in working with us at closer venues.  Tyndall, Jasper, and Temple have been firmed up.  For next month I should have an update for the longer range schedule.

     Ron and I have hammered out more details of the trip sign-up process since the last report.  Ron will indeed schedule the cockpit crews for our appearances.  He wants to do that well in advance, so get your requests to him early.  For the other seats I am extending my time frame for trip requests to one month in advance of the appearance.  Please continue to e-mail your requests for those seats to me at dave.howard@alumni.utexas.net.

     Last, we are again considering a trip to Oskosh, which is the last full week in July.  It would be more than a normal weekend trip, and it could include an intermediate ride-for-hire stop or two.  If your schedule would permit such a trip and you want to go, please let me know.  We need to determine quickly how many would sign up if we scheduled it, so that Grant can arrange for the lodging.  Stay tuned!

 

PX REPORT

By Greg Young, PX Officer

Airshow season is around the corner and I am ordering items for the season and some stuff for the Doolittle reunion.  The CAF audit turned out well, thanks to Judy McMillan for keeping such good records.   I am looking forward to the upcoming season and let's make it a successful season for the Grand Ol' Yellow Rose.  Until next time, Happy Landings.

MINUTES of the February 13th, 2007 MEETING of the YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON

By Pat Moore, Squadron Adjutant

Meeting began at 1806 hrs

 

Pledge of allegiance and Prayer were conducted

 

Jim Liles made a motion to accept the January 2007 minutes as printed in the newsletter.  Chuck Clayton seconded motion-motion carried.

 

SQUADRON LEADER:  Ron reminded members that the Yellow Rose ground school is on Sunday, Feb. 25 starting at 0900.  If you have a book from previous ground schools, please bring it so there’s enough books to go around.

The Midland Staff Conference is Feb. 16, 17, 18.

Ron reminded everyone to pay their dues-money should go to Judy McMillan. He also reported that the squadron has purchased an engine cylinder for our aircraft.

 

XO: No report

 

ADJUTANT: No report

 

OPERATIONS: Yellow Rose will be going to the Burnet Airshow April 13, 14.  The Rose will also be going to Dyess.

Dave reminded everyone about the upcoming Doolittle Reunion.  Dave reported that he will be taking requests for airshow seats on the Rose but won’t be sending out a crew list until 3 weeks prior to that airshow.

 

FINANCE:  Judy presented the financial report. She also reported that Midland will pay for part the newly purchased engine cylinder.  Judy reported that the engine fund will be transferred to the CD.  Judy reported that Midland came down and audited 5 CAF groups in Texas.  The cost of these audits total worked out to be $1500.00-our share is $500.00.  the audit turned out good.  Judy also reported that HEB, Allied, and Rush companies have donated funds to the Doolittle Reunion.

     Tim Black made a motion to accept the finance report and pay the $500.00 towards the audit-Jack Reeves seconded the motion-motion passed.

 

MAINTENANCE: Jim Liles said that the oil cooler is in and will be installed in the next few days.

The B inspection is just about complete.  He reported that he fixed the oil leak.

 

PX:  Greg is going to start ordering items for the coming airshow season, now that he has a schedule of shows. He said he’s going to be talking with some squadron members to run the PX for him if he’s unable to make a show.

 

NEWSLETTER/SAFETY:  No report

 

PUBLIC RELATIONS: No report

 

SICK CALL:  Mel Solderburg’s surgery went well and he is doing well.  Bob Gardner’s sister is quite ill in New Jersey.

 

ADOPT-AN-AIRPORT: No report

 

GOOD OF THE SQUADRON:  Steve Gladwin showed squadron members a copy of the B-25 print that was done for the Doolittle Reunion. Steve is confident they will sell very quickly and he is accepting pre-orders for the prints if people wanted to reserve a copy now - he will make the same offer to the Centex Wing.

Oils--$1295.00 ea-Max quantity of 200

Limited Edition Print—680.00 ea-Quantities of 400-500

The original painting will be at the Reunion and will be for sale as well.

     Ron Dietes reported that Don Hayden is making the squadron a display case for the trophy-it should be here during the ground school. It will also be on display at the reunion.  Ron also reported on the Yellow Rose/Any Baby Can meeting on 2/13/07. Keith Orm from ABC volunteered to take over event planning for the two luncheons and dinner dance.  There will be no guest speaker at the dinner dance. It seems likely that the Sentimental Journey Orchestra will be playing at the dinner dance.

 

Motion was made by Jim Liles to adjourn, motion was seconded by Pat Moore, motion carried.  Meeting adjourned at 1910 hrs.

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.

MARCH-MAY AIRSHOW SCHEDULE

Dates

Air Show

Prospect

Mar

 

 

2-4

Boca Raton

Dropped

10-11

Brownsville

Scheduled

23-25

Tyndall

Scheduled

30-31

Jasper

Scheduled

 

 

 

Apr

 

 

13-14

Burnet

Scheduled

15-21

Raiders' Reunion

Oh Yeah!

 

 

 

May

 

 

4-6

Temple

Scheduled

11-13

Dyess

Probable

30

Praha Flyover

Scheduled

2006 Yellow Rose B-25
Squadron Staff Officers

Squadron Leader - Ron Dietes

t6cpilot@netzero.net

Executive Officer - Tim Black

tangblack@austin.rr.com

Finance Officer - Judy McMillan

heyjude@texas.net

Adjutant - Pat Moore

patrickmoore99@mail.ev1.net

Operations Officer - Dave Howard

dave.howard@alumni.utexas.net

Maintenance Officer - Jim Liles

james.liles@tstr.net

Safety Officer - Jerry Taylor

james_j_taylor@msn.com

PX Officer - Greg Young

tbolt52@hotmail.com

Publicity Officer - Bob Gardner

bob@rhga.com

 



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