LEADER'S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

     Even though the Rose has not been flying, the folks coming to the hangar have been busy getting things ready for the overhauled engine.  Special thanks to Jim Liles, Richard Baer, Greg Young and Ray Clausen for all the hard work.  Last time I talked to Global they have the re-plated main bearings back and have assembled the front and rear casings.  They have also inspected and installed the nose case and the rear power section to the casing.  Cylinders are being installed as this is being written.  I know we were scheduled to have the engine by Aug 19th, but the bearing plating company kept the bearings an extra three weeks.  So, I am expecting a call from Global any day, giving me a date to have the engine picked up for shipment to San Marcos.

     The Doolittle Appreciation Dinner was held on August 25th and was a lot of fun.  There were about 34 squadron members and spouses or significant others that came out for the fun. We saw an excellent DVD that Bob Gardner put together for the party called 7 Days in April.  The dinner was held at the Friesenhaus Restaurant in New Braunfels.  The German food was excellent, the libations chilled to the right temperature and the accordion music lively.  Recognition plaques were passed out those that were in attendance.  Thanks to Jerry Taylor and Ron for donating the plaques.

     We have one volunteer to work on the Doolittle material presentation.  So if you can lend a hand, talk to Bob Gardner or Letty.  It is going to take more people than the two of them, to get this project done.  Thanks to Clint, we think we may have a place to display what we assemble.

     Thanks to the guys that helped with a clean up at the airport entrance.  Trees were trimmed and weeds were whacked.  We would have done more but the chain saw we were using decided to quit before we were done, so we’ll have to schedule another day to get the rest of the brush cut back.

     The time to think about Squadron Elections is drawing close, so be thinking about candidates.  There are actually three election openings on the Squadron Staff, but there are five positions open.  If my notes are correct the positions are Executive Officer, Finance Officer and Safety Officer.  Jerry Taylor has asked for someone to take over as Newsletter Editor and the Operations Officer position is again open as Ken Udcoff has resigned.  He is willing to do the actual work, but after reading the unit manual, can’t accept the liability associated with the Operations Officer title.

     The maintenance team is still hoping to get the Rose in the air for AirSho.  Hopefully, Global will have the engine ready soon.  Even after the engine arrives, many things have to happen before the Rose is ready for a maintenance flight to check out the engine.  Also, a lot will depend on the help we receive after the engine gets here.

Yellow Rose aircraft maintenance workers learn new trade. Photo from Greg Young

MINUTES OF THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON MEETING, AUGUST 14, 2007

By Pat Moore, Squadron Adjutant

Meeting convened at 1804 hrs

Pledge of Allegiance

Prayer

 

Bob Gardner made a motion to accept the minutes from the last meeting as presented in the newsletter, Steve Gladwin seconded, motion carried.

 

GUESTS AND NEW MEMBERS: New member Jim Peck is working to gather information on the Yellow Rose for an article in “Warbirds”.  Mel Soderberg’s daughter Julie and granddaughter Amity joined the meeting this evening.

 

REPORTS

Executive Officer - No report.

 

Adjutant - No report

 

Operations –  Currently working on getting the Rose into the Randolph AFB show coming up in the near future.  The Rose is booked for the show at Sheppard AFB.  Due to a schedule conflict, the Rose won’t be at New Braunfels this year.

 

Finance –    Judy gave the squadron her finance report.  Squadron numbers are beginning to look better.  Judy passed around a finance statement for members to view.  Judy went on to tell membership that the aircraft account is up and that costs for the new engine are being covered by surpluses from the Doolittle Reunion.

Jack Reeves made a motion to accept the finance report, Steve Gladwin seconded, motion carried.

 

Maintenance -  Jim Liles thanked all those individuals who helped work on the engine hoists.  The port propeller is off the aircraft right now.  Jim is currently searching for a good deal on a fork lift.

Ron Dietes talked about the exhaust guide on cylinders 7 and 9 - they were in pretty bad shape. Cylinder 7 and 9 will be overhauled.  This is what was causing the “stutter” in that engine.

Ron then spoke of his trip up to Oklahoma to see the shop where the new engines will be worked on.  Work is coming along well.  Ron will take a look at the other engine to see what it would take to overhaul it as well.

 

PX –  No report

 

Safety - No report

 

Adopt-an-Airport – Mike thanked those that helped clear brush out at the entrance of the airport.  He said a little more work is required out there.  He would like people to come help in that work this Saturday (August 18) at 1000 hrs.

 

Public Relations – Bob is getting DVDs and copies of the CAF “Dispatch”  regarding the Doolittle Reunion together to send to the Doolittle Raiders

 

Squadron Leader - Ron spoke of the article in the CAF “Dispatch” regarding the Doolittle Reunion.  He had copies of the article if people wanted one.  Ron also spoke of the fly-over at Bob Ayar’s funeral.

Ron reminded membership of the upcoming staff elections in Midland and also of the upcoming staff elections for the Rose.  The positions in the Yellow Rose staff elections that are up for election are XO, Finance, and Safety officers.

A company that deals with aircraft tires and is a subsidiary of Boeing, is offering a wood model of the Yellow Rose as a prize in a contest of theirs.  Talks are currently in the initial phase for further advertising opportunities with this company.

 

New Business - Mel Soderberg informed membership that a tour will be coming to the hangar this Saturday (August 18) at 1030 hrs.  People are needed to help with this.

     The Doolittle Appreciation Dinner will be held on August 25.  Ron passed around a sign-up sheet of people who are going to be there. We need about 50 people to come in order to reserve the room.    The dinner starts at 1830 hrs, and the Squadron will pay for the food but members have to pay for their own hooch.

     Ron Dietes is in the process of getting together new Yellow Rose business cards.  Anyone desiring business cards should get in touch with Ron.

 

For the Good of the Squadron -  No report.

Sick and Gone West -  Ron informed membership of Bob Ayar’s death and funeral and also said that Jerry Taylor’s wife is in ICU in New Braunfels.

 

Steve Gladwin made a motion that the meeting adjourn.  Bob Gardner seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

 

Meeting adjourned at 1835 hrs.

AMERICAN AIRLINES IN WORLD WAR II

By Ken Udcoff

     Most in the CAF wear the patches of many diverse military flying entities on their flight suits. We identify with an organization by doing so. I have several on mine, the USMC, where I served as an enlisted jarhead, the 38th “All Stars”, my son Keith’s Class of ’96 USAF Academy Squadron and American Airlines. I was recently questioned about the propriety of the American Airlines patch. Fair enough, after all, we fly a military aircraft, the “Yellow Rose” and American Airlines is a civilian entity that most associate with their trip to another city or vacation destination.  I’ll attempt an explanation.

     At the onset of WWII, after the Pearl Harbor attack the USAAF was in total chaos, without sufficient equipment or qualified transport pilots. C.R. Smith, the founder of American Airlines came forward, was appointed a Colonel in the USAAF and assisted in the foundation of the Air Transport Command (ATC). In the beginning this was an organization of American Airlines pilots and aircraft as well as crews and aircraft from other airlines. He later was promoted to Major General with overall command of ATC, and turned it into an efficient hybrid civilian/military airline flying many diverse aircraft types. It’s noteworthy that many of these crew members were older than what was considered the maximum age for military service.

     Early in the war American Airlines pilots ran weather and navigation surveys of and flew the North Atlantic as well as going to the CBI Theater as “Project 7A”, C-87 crews where they helped the woefully inexperienced USAAF pilots fly “The Hump”. The C-87, by the way is a transport version of the B24 bomber similar to the CAF’s Diamond Lil.

     Probably the most famous aviator of the American Airlines group was Ernest K. Gann. He would later use his and the experiences of others as the basis for the novels “Fate is the Hunter” and “Island in the Sky”. Both being made into feature films. If you ever watch “Island in the Sky”, look closely and you will notice that the crew caps worn in the movie are vintage American Airlines issue, AA insignia and all. The film by the way is based on an actual incident, with John Wayne playing AA Captain Chuck O’Connor. Many years later I had the opportunity to fly First Officer on many jet flights around the world with Captain Bill Cunningham, Gann’s Navigator on the C-87 “Short Snorter”.

     One flight report read like this:

12W Longitude, West of the Bay of Biscay, France, 1944.

“....one American Airlines crew flew out of a cloud bank looking down the gun-barrels of a twin engine German fighter. With death staring them in the face, their fear was mixed with utter frustration in this feeling of total helplessness. It would only be a matter of seconds. When he had looked the big transport (C-54) over, the German pilot raised a hand in salute and turned away towards France. Incredibly as it seemed, there lingered this unique trace of compassion in the air in 1944.” (Excerpted from “To The Four Winds: A History of the Flight Operations of American Airlines Personnel for the Air Transport Command, 1942-1945”)

     The American Airlines group had casualties as well. Twelve of this small community never returned and perished in places like Kunming, China and Tezpur, India.

     As for my personal involvement, I flew for American and one of its precursors Trans Caribbean Airways (TCA) for almost 38 years. In the early years of my career TCA had a worldwide Military Airlift contract that took us all over the globe. Our DC-8’s and I could be seen at USAF/USN air bases in Germany, United Kingdom, Iceland, Spain, Okinawa, Turkey, Thule (North Pole), the Philippines, Wheelus AFB, Libya (“the shores of Tripoli”), to name a few and of course Vietnam. I flew the airlift into Vietnam on and off from 1965 through 1970. While there were several “stimulating” moments in that endeavor, I’ll not bore the reader with them. There were multitudes that crossed the South China Sea westward with experiences that far eclipse mine. They are the real heroes like my good friend USAF Col/AA Capt(ret) Bernard “Bunny” Talley who flew his F-4 Phantom into the “Mouth of the Cat”, got his wings clipped and spent almost 7 years as a “sojourner” of Ho Chi Minh.

     Later during “Desert Storm” I flew DC-10’s on a number of missions. On one memorable one, at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, incredibly the American flag was NOT allowed to be flown for political reasons. The Marines were ecstatic when a shiny, silver DC-10 with the words “AMERICAN” and its accompanying Red, White and Blue trim emblazoned on its side arrived and parked on their sun drenched ramp. It was quite the reward to bring a piece of the USA to our guys and gals.

     I hope this narrative helps explain why I proudly wear the American Airlines patch on my flight suit.

INTERESTING WWII ACCIDENT STASTICS

Submitted by Tim Black, as compiled by his friend Al Shortt

     After the Camarillo accident a few of my acquaintances were wondering how 19 year olds mastered high performance fighters with little training during WWII. I looked into it and found some rather interesting figures. This same question was brought up in the P-51 Torque Roll discussion.

     The short answer is they did what they needed to do and accepted the losses.

     Unfortunately, it looks as if combat and accidents losses are usually combined when overseas. The information below sheds some light on the accident losses. The info is from the Army Air Force Statistical Digest WWII published in Dec 45. According to it, thousands of aircraft were lost due to accidents.

     In the Continental US between 1942 and Aug 1945 there were 824 P-51 accidents, 131 of those fatal resulting in 137 fatalities and 358 aircraft wrecked. The P-47 was much worse with 3049 accidents, 404 of those fatal with 455 fatalities and a staggering 1125 airplanes wrecked. This is just the beginning according to the table. If you add up all the accident losses on that table you get 47,462 accidents, 5533 of which were fatal resulting in 13,624 fatalities and 12,506 aircraft wrecked. Keep in mind this was just in the Continental US.

     Also in the US looking at all AAF accidents from Dec 41 to Aug 45 there were 52,651 accidents, 6039 of those fatal resulting in 14,903 deaths and 13,873 aircraft wrecked.

     Branching out overseas gets difficult. As I mentioned previously, I can not find combat losses versus accidents. I also can not find specific type losses. But if you look at Airplane Losses in US and Overseas you will see that page two breaks out the Continental US verses overseas. There were a total of 43,581 losses overseas and 21,583 losses in the US. Keep in mind this includes combat losses but I can almost guarantee nearly all the 21,583 Continental US losses were accidents. The Continental US does not include AK and HI, the only places in North America that had direct combat with the Axis.

     While en route from the US to the theater, 909 planes were lost.

     Airplane losses on combat mission by theater states a total of 22,948 aircraft were lost during combat. If we subtract this from the 43,581 total overseas losses figure above, we get 20,633 aircraft lost not during combat.

     I found these figures absolutely overwhelming and much more than I ever would have thought. Total losses due to accidents for WWII may never be known, or at least it is beyond my researching skills, but I do think it was in the thousands. Gives me even more appreciation for that generation.

     On a lighter note, here are some other figures just for fun....

     9,707,109,000 gallons of gas used form Jan 42 to Aug 45

     459,750,000 round of ammo expended overseas from Jan 42 to Aug 45

     107,886,000 hours of flying time from Jan 43 to Aug 45

     7,952,020 bombs dropped overseas from 43 to 45

     2,057,244 tons of bombs dropped overseas from Dec 41 to Aug 45

     2,362,800 combat sorties from Dec 41 to Aug 45

     299,230 aircraft accepted from Jan 1940 to Aug 45

     808,471 aircraft engines delivered from Jan 40 to Aug 45

     799,972 propellers delivered from Jan 40 to Aug 45

     40,259 enemy aircraft destroyed Feb 42 to Aug 45

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 -

 

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