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BRIEFINGS
June, 2007 The Newsletter of the Yellow Rose Squadron Vol. 10-06
  Briefings e-mail address: B25YR@msn.com  

LEADER’S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

Judy is still working the numbers for the Doolittle Reunion and hopefully by the time you read this we will know how we did financially. The preliminary numbers look good. Letty and I have received Thank You notes from the Raiders that attended the reunion and I will bring them to the next Squadron Meeting for those of you that would like to read the very kind praise we received. I am still getting requests for pictures from the reunion and I am forwarding those requests to Doc. The books have been returned to the publishers and we are still working on the theft of the art from the Doubletree. Neither the DoubleTree nor the CAF insurance will cover this loss, so we will probably have to pay for the lost art from any revenue we make from the reunion.

 

The Fairhope Air Show is now over and I have to say that it was a very profitable show and it was a really good time. We met some very friendly folks and the weather cooperated. The mornings were cool, but the afternoons we beautiful. Other than having to duck under some clouds just north of Austin, the weather there and back was great. Although the lines were not long for cockpit tours, it was steady and we sold a lot out of the PX. Thanks to the flight crew who made it a great weekend. Plus, we are invited back for next years show.

 

I am sure most of you know that the right engine has to be replaced. This is the one thing I was hoping to avoid by having replacement engines. If we'd have acted a little quicker, maybe we would have had an engine ready. But we'll never know now. While we were working on the famous oil leaks, we noticed the intake tube clamp on the number 13 cylinder was sliding off again. So we decided to pull the intake tube and replace the rubber at both ends of the tube and reseat the flange in the cylinder. Well, every time we remove an intake tube we look into the supercharger housing to check that all is OK. Well this time it was not OK. There were chunks of metal obviously missing from the diffuser ring and that combined with the number of hours on the engine, means it needs to be replaced. It is just not worth the effort of removing a high time engine to repair the diffuser and then have to face the fact that we would probably be looking at removing the engine again in a few hundred hours to replace the engine (if we would get another 200 hours). I have been talking to radial engine over-haulers and I think we have selected Global Radial Engines in Oklahoma. They are the same folks that overhauled the engines we currently have on the Rose. Global had a very competitive price and the time frame matches our schedule. More information will be available at our next squadron meeting.

 

I would like to express my thanks to Dave Howard for a job well done. Being OPS Officer is not an easy job. Ken Udcoff has agreed to take over the Operations Officer position. I have forwarded the turnover info I received from Dave, so Ken can begin to digest what is already committed and hopefully he can work toward a robust air show schedule. Of course, we have to see what the impact of the engine change will be, but hopefully we can be up and flying by sometime in August.

 

Unfortunately, this means that we will not be able to do the Thunder Over Michigan show and that really depresses me. As Greg Young can tell you, this is a really great show, even though it is in Yankee land. So, we will use this down time to start working on the things that need to be done on the Rose, but for some reason did not make it to the top of the to do list. So when I send out an email requesting assistance, please come to the hangar and help. If you are not on my maintenance email list and want to be added, just let me know with an email to t6cpilot@netzero.net or give me a call on my cell 210-827-0866 and I will promptly get you added to the list.

PX REPORT

By Greg Young, PX Officer

 

There were 2 airshows attended by the Yellow Rose since the last issue of BRIEFINGS. The first was Temple held on May 4-6. The PX was set up next to the airplane and the ramp and we were next door neighbors to Clint Epley and the Centex PX. I had managed to replenish most of the PX since the Doolittle Reunion. Both mornings saw slow sales but the sales picked up as the days progressed. Our PX often does well at the end of the day as many "panic buyers" show up to buy that souvenir before everything closes. At Temple, a rain shower shut us down prematurely but we still managed to do well and of course, cockpit tours also continue to be a good revenue source. The second airshow was at the Fairhope Festival of Flight in Alabama held over the weekend of May 19. There the Rose was static only so the PX was under the wing and sales were excellent with many empty boxes being loaded for the flight home. Judy reports sales were $1236 and cockpit tours were $376. On a general note, I was able to get some closeout items for free or next to nothing from Jack at ESCO Toys here in San Antonio. ESCO will not be carrying several items so I am trying some substitutes. I have also mailed posters and patches from the Doolittle Reunion to several people so we can continue to sell those. On a final note due to the engine problem the PX (borrowing a military term) will stand down with no new items being ordered until a flying schedule is established. Happy Landings until next time.

40 YEARS OF FLYING WISDOM

From Tim Black, Squadron Executive Officer

 

An airline pilot is a confused soul who talks about women when he's flying, and about flying when he's with a woman.
The only thing worse than a captain who never flew as a co-pilot is a co-pilot who once was a captain.
Asking what a pilot thinks about the FAA is like asking a fireplug what it thinks about dogs.
A smooth touchdown in a simulator is as exciting as kissing your own sister.
Most airline crew food tastes like warmed-over chicken because that's what it is.
Everything is accomplished through teamwork until something goes wrong....then one pilot gets all the blame.
In the old days flying was dangerous and sex was safe. Now it's the other way around.

MINUTES OF THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON MEETING, May 8, 2007

By Pat Moore, Squadron Adjutant

Meeting convened at 1801 hrs
Pledge of Allegiance
Prayer
Judy McMillan made a motion to accept the minutes as presented in the newsletter-Tim Black seconded motion-motion carried. Mel Soderberg introduced his guest, Tom Falon.
Grant Lannon received a letter praising the Doolittle Reunion. A copy of this letter may appear in Contrails. Bob Rice was very impressed with the squadron and the job it did during the reunion.
Grant announced he was trying to put together a Young Eagles flying day this Saturday, May 11. He needs pilots and aircraft.
It has been determined that the squadron cover the fuel costs of the AT-6 and the BT-13 for their participation in the Doolittle Reunion. Grant made a motion to pay the fuel cost of these two aircraft-Jim Liles seconded the motion-motion carried.
Grant then talked a bit about the art thefts that occurred during the reunion. A press release is in the works and we'll also have a bit on the squadron website about also giving people the opportunity to contribute to offset the costs of the theft. Steve Gladwin is keeping an eye on E-Bay and similar sites to ensure the stolen art doesn't show up there.

REPORTS

ADJUTANT: Pat Moore announced that now the reunion is over, he will concentrate on getting a new squadron directory made.

OPERATIONS: Ron announced that Dave Howard has resigned as Operations Office -we need a volunteer to step forward and take his place.

FINANCE: Judy McMillan gave a financial report. She had two handouts; one for the squadron and one for the Doolittle reunion. She also gave some information on reunion finances. The squadron exceeded expectations on profits. Also, items that were in the reunion PX have been moved over to the Rose PX. Jim Liles made a motion to accept the finance report as presented-Steve Gladwin seconded-motion carried.

MAINTENANCE: A tube came off the exhaust during flight on April 15 causing a small fire. No serious damage was done. However, Jim Liles had found another tube loose, and a loose coupler at Stinson Field. A couple of weeks later, another coupler came loose. Jim fixed them as needed.
Shortly after this, several problems in the engines and wheel brakes showed up. These are in the process of being repaired. Jim also announced that American Airlines donated some shelf-life expired PRC to the squadron. We'll be getting some more items from them in the future. The PRC is in the freezer in the break room in the hangar.
Jim announced that we're getting some new concord-type batteries and connectors for free, many thanks to Gordon Richardson.

PX: Gregg congratulated Steve Gladwin for his handling of the Doolittle Reunion PX. We also sold pretty well from the Rose PX as well. More merchandise has been ordered. Gregg mentioned that more Yellow Rose patches have been ordered as well. He has redone the patch display board. He also mentioned that the Rose did pretty well at the Temple Air Show with the PX and cockpit tours.
Jim Liles mentioned that the air show in Michigan in July is using the Doolittle Raid as a theme and we could use our left-over Doolittle Reunion PX items to sell there.
In relation to this, Steve Gladwin announced he has more patches, hats, and shirts from the reunion on order.

SAFETY: No report

ADOPT-AN -AIRPORT: No report

PUBLIC RELATIONS:: Bob told the squadron that "Doc" has reunion photos on his website for downloading and brought with him some CDs with photos as well as a notebook of actual photos. We have a proof book for the squadron and it is suggested members browse through the book and place orders for the photos they would like.
Bob also showed members a painting by Thomas Kincaid called "Going Home". It was signed by the Doolittle Raiders at the reunion and will be given to the chapel at BAMC in San Antonio. This presentation should take place around May 24. Bob will get back to the squadron with more info on this.
During the reunion, a fellow approached Bob with large photos of the Rose and asked if the squadron would like them for their PX. Bob said he would bring it up to the squadron at the meeting. Everyone pretty much turned the photos down.

Ron talked about the CAF 50th Anniversary Celebration coming up in Las Vegas. He also announced that the CAF Grumman Tracker had crashed with some injuries to the crew but no deaths.

Cascade Engines in Arlington, Washington wants about $27000.00 to redo the Rose's engines-plus parts. So with parts, it's about $40000.00 per engine-which is pretty much on par with what the other outfits quoted him. They also said they would run the engines for a few hours. This company sounded pretty good and up front. They also do Lonestar's work as well. The engines are in dire need of work.

GOOD OF THE SQUADRON
Jim Liles presented the squadron with the new "ride-for-hire" sign. It looks great.
The McCombs Foundation in San Antonio gave us $3000.00 as a sponsor for the Doolittle Reunion after the reunion was over-they did it in honor of Tex Hill.
Mike Renck announced that the Yellow Rose wine is now available from a winery in Fredericksburg from Fredericksburg Winery.
Steve Gladwin made a motion to adjourn-Judy McMillan seconded-motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 1900 hrs.

ROSE TRAVELS AND EVENTS

Temple Airshow

By Greg Young

On May 4, 2007; the Yellow Rose set off for Temple and the Central Texas Airshow put on by our friends from the Devil Dog Squadron. Her crew consisted of Ron Dietes, Ken Udcoff, Jack Reeves, and Greg Young. 4 passengers included Ray Janss of Allied Sales (a big supporter of the Rose over the years) and his associates. The flight was relatively short but the passengers all had smiles on their faces when the trip ended. We parked on the corner of the ramp that was closest to where most of the crowd would enter and depart so that was good from a PX and cockpit tour point of view. The Rose participated in the night flyby and then after some local airport hospitality it was off to a Rose favorite, CHILI's. We were quartered at the Hilton Garden Inn. The weather was cloudy and threatening most of the time (when hasn't it lately down this way?) but both days of airshows were performed. Julie Pulcipher and David Stevenson arrived Saturday and were a large help in doing the various airshow functions. Ron, Ken, and Jack flew the Rose in both shows. Gary from the Devil Dog Squadron parked one of his fleet of Model A Fords near our PXs as a further attention getter. Saturday night found us at our traditional Temple stop at the steak house by the Bell County convention center. Then it was off to the American Legion where history was made. Julie, David, and Greg performed for the first time in public as a singing group. POP A TOP has never sounded as good. Watch out Curtis, Tim, and Grant, the competition has arrived. We wrapped up the Sunday show and the 4 of us took the Rose home. Another Rose mission was complete.

More of Tim's Wisdom

A good simulator check ride is like successful surgery on a cadaver.
Standard checklist practice requires pilots to read to each other procdures used every day ..and recite from memory those needed once every five years.
An FAA investigation is conducted by non-flying experts who take six months to itemize the mistakes made by a crew that had six seconds to do anything.

POTENTIAL EVENT DATES

EDITOR'S NOTE: DUE TO THE RESIGNATION OF OUR OPERATIONS OFFICER, THERE IS NO REPORT FOR THIS MONTH.
SHOWN HERE ARE THE POTENTIAL APPEARANCES WE CAN MAKE, FOLLOWING THE RIGHT ENGINE CHANGE. THIS IS A LIST OF ONLY THE POSSIBLE EVENTS. AT THIS POINT, NOTHING IS CERTAIN OR CONFIRMED.

 

DATESSHOW
Aug 3-5Southern Wisconsin Air Show
Aug 10-12Bay City MI
Wichita Flight Fest
Sep 21-23Midland
Oct 5-7Houston
New Braunfels
Oct 16-18Rides
Oct 19-20Sheppard AFB
Oct 26-28Holloman AFB
Nov 3-4Randolph AFB
Dev 7-9YR Party

From The Safety Corner

Jerry Taylor, Squadron Safety Officer

 

What everyone needs right now is advice from someone who, for personal reasons, has not been able to be at the hangar for over four months. However, from my previous experiences, I want to give words of caution to all of you who are working around the "Rose" during this engine change. BE CAREFUL! Not only can this be dangerous to each of you, but to all who are working around the plane. The engines are heavy and difficult to handle. Use of the proper equipment and following good safety procedures is as essential for a successful engine change as are good mechanical practices.  

2007 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 - Ken Udcoff

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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