October Newsletter

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BRIEFINGS
October, 2007	The Newsletter of the Yellow Rose Squadron	Vol. 10-07
	Briefings e-mail address: B25YR@msn.com

LEADER'S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

     Well! Airshow season is now getting into full swing and we are still working on the Right Engine replacement. I had hoped to be back in the air for Airsho, but that is not going to happen.   All is going well, but a little slowly, as we have discovered that putting the engine back on the Rose was not difficult, but moving all the stuff from the old engine to the new engine was just plain time consuming. Now we are connecting all the wires, hoses, linkages and of course, getting ready for the exhaust and cowling work. The nose ring and propeller have been installed and she is starting to look like a twin engine airplane again.   If you have a little time come out to the hangar and take a look. Our next scheduled show is Sheppard AFB on Oct 20^th. Keep your fingers crossed that the engine is good and we don’t find any problems on the Maint flight. Our plan is to store the removed engine in the can and when we have accumulated enough money, have it overhauled as a ready to go spare engine. Global is looking into the cost for completing the overhaul on our second donated engine. They have the paperwork and Ray will look it over and get back to me with a recommendation.

     We are just about finished with the Doolittle Reunion function. The Appreciation Dinner is over and the presentation lunch at Karam’s is over. All that remains is to pass out a few plaques and get the memorabilia organized and then displayed. If you have any ideas on how we can display the material we have accumulated, let Bob Gardner or Letty know.

     Some of you may remember that I am trying to get a Business Card order together. I have six names so far and if you want to get in on the order, let me know. I am looking into printers here in San Antonio and as soon as I find one that will print the cards at a reasonable cost, I will let everyone know and then place the order. I don’t know about anyone else, but in my case, there have been so many changes to my information in the last couple years, that new cards are needed.

     Tim is looking into a place for our Christmas Party and last word I had was the Hangar Hotel in Fredericksburg was booked for December 1^st and 8^th. But he is working on it. Once we know the date for the party, we will know the date for our squadron lunch and fly day.

     Don’t forget about the squadron elections. The nominating committee is Tim Black, Chuck Clayton and Letty Dietes. The offices up for election this time are Executive Officer, Finance Officer and Safety Officer. The nominating Committee will present their selections at the October meeting and we will vote during the November meeting. By the way, Ed Liscomb has volunteered to head the election committee and you may want to see him if you want to help him.

     Thanks to Jerry Taylor for adding the newest Sponsors Names to the left Bomb Bay door. I am sure our new sponsors really appreciate the work. Two rows of rivets presented a challenge, but it worked out OK. Soon we may have to start putting names on the Right Bomb Bay door.

     Again, I ask you to keep Jerry Taylors’ wife Margie in your thoughts and prayers. She is doing a little better now, but she is still very ill.

MINUTES OF THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON MEETING, September 11, 2007

By Pat Moore, Squadron Adjutant

Meeting convened at 1805 hrs

1Pledge of Allegiance

Prayer

Bob Gardner made a motion to accept the minutes of last month’s meeting as published in the newsletter-Jim Liles seconded-motion carried.

Mel Soderburg introduced Mary Alice Altorfer-a historian-as his guest for the evening.

REPORTS

Executive Officer - No report.

Adjutant - Pat Moore reminded membership the latest squadron directory was out.

Finance – Judy gave her finance report to membership and passed around a statement of our financial situation for membership to look at. We currently have a pretty high balance in our aircraft account.

Jim Liles made a motion to accept the finance report, Bob Gardner seconded, motion passed.

Maintenance - : The starboard engine is now apart and showed many stress cracks so it is evident that the engine would have blown fairly quickly. The left engine is getting close to being done. Jim stressed to membership that in order for the Rose to make it to Midland, there is still an awful lot of work to be done yet.

PX – Greg said he would try to take the PX to Midland regardless if the Rose is able to make it there or not. He said the Jim Liles, Dennis Shields, and Curtis Hall will be helping him. He also said the new 4” patches have arrived after a somewhat lengthy journey. He has ordered some new merchandise to take to Midland.

Safety - No report

Adopt-an-Airport – Pat Moore gave the report for Mike Colaluca. Mike wanted membership to know that he sent in a report to the Adopt-An-Airport people that recently we had done three work sessions at the gate of the airport totaling 33 hours.

Public Relations - Bob informed the squadron that he had sent copies of the latest issue of the CAF “Dispatch” to the Doolittle Raiders.

Squadron Leader - Ron Dietes reminded membership that if they would like to sit at the Yellow Rose table at the dinner dance on November 10, to see either himself or Letty for tickets.

Ron then asked membership if they would like to have a Christmas party this year. If so, when and where would they like it. We will need to decide rather soon to book a place in time. Tim Black said he would look into some places in Fredericksburg and report back to the squadron. The date that was decided to have the party was December 8 with a fly-day at the hangar on December 9.

Ron distributed some awards to some of the individuals that were unable to come to the Doolittle Appreciation dinner.

Ron reminded membership that squadron elections were coming soon. Chuck Clayton is heading the election committee. CAF HQ elections are also coming up soon and people should get their absentee ballots and vote.

Ron told membership that CAF staff had a meeting in Dallas recently regarding aircraft sponsorship. If you would like to see what decisions were made at this meeting, see Ron.

NEW BUSINESS

Mel Soderburg told the squadron that he is making a Yellow Rose/CAF CENTEX WING float for the Comal County Fair for his daughter. If anyone would like to help out with this, please see Mel.

Bubba set up a luncheon for Yellow Rose members at Karim’s set for Thursday, Sept. 20.

Bob Gardner told membership that an Apache Helicopter group wants to link the Yellow Rose website off their own website and vice-versa. Bob will get with our webmaster to arrange it.

Ron Dietes emphasized that if the Rose was going to make to Midland, a lot of hard work needed to be done and everyone’s help was needed.

Jim Liles made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Ed Liscomb seconded, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 1840 hrs

NEW YELLOW ROSE MEMBERS

By Judy Mcmillan, Squadron Finance Officer

We have two new members this month. The Yellow Rose Squadron welcomes new members Michael Chalk and Adam Pfaff.

Michael Chalk is a CAF member from Spring Branch, TX. Michael is a former member of the Yellow Rose Squadron—serving as Finance Officer and as a crew member. Welcome back, Michael! He is interested in assisting with maintenance issues. Michael is married to Andra Kay and is a retired CPA and computer programmer. We are happy to have Michael as a returning member of the Squadron.

Adam Pfaff lives in Round Rock, TX. He wants to contribute through volunteering in any way that is helpful and has previous aviation-related volunteer experience as well as previous airline ramp experience. We appreciate Adam’s interest in helping with the Yellow Rose Squadron and look forward to getting to know him.

We look forward to the participation of all new members and hope they will speak up, step up and pitch in. Look for them around the hanger and make them feel welcome.

DOOLITTLE LUNCH HELD

By Bret Renfro

     We had our Karem's appreciation lunch on Sept. 20. Those that attended were Chuck and Julie Clayton, Bob and Judy Gardner, Ron and Letty Dietes, Greg Young, Ed Mcafferty, Teresa Benke from ABC, Judy Sandoval from the Double Tree and myself. I apologize if I left anyone out.

     As some of you are aware the Raiders had a reunion here in SA in 1971 and had one of their dinners at Karem's. The original owner, Ralph Karem has had a wall at the restaurant dedicated to the Raiders since that time. I remember it well because as a kid it was one of my family's favorite places to eat.

     Prior to the reunion we contacted Karem's to see if they were interested in hosting a lunch for the Raiders during the reunion. Karen Karem is the daughter of Ralph and now manages Karem's since her fathers passing. She was delighted to once again have the Raiders at Karem's.

     We arranged for the Raiders to be there on April 21 and for those able to attend, you can attest to the huge turnout we had. Karem's graciously donated all the meals for the Raider's, their spouses, aides, etc. So, in return for their making such an outstanding event for the Raider's as well The Yellow Rose Squadron, we put together some items that Karen could add to her father’s collection of Raider memorabilia. Bob Gardner provided a DVD especially about the lunch in which the Raider's attended in April as well as the DVD he put together about the entire reunion. He also had some photos enlarged of the Raider's and a copy of "Dispatch", CAF's publication with Judy Gardner's outstanding reunion storyline. We also presented one of our posters we sold during the reunion, signed by the Raider's.

     Karen was deeply moved by not only having the Raider's return back on April 21 but by these token items. She kept saying "My father would love this" between tears.

     If anyone has the chance, go to Karem's not only for the awesome Mexican food but for the history that is hanging on those walls.

NOTES FROM THE SAFETY OFFICER

By Jerry Taylor, Safety Officer

The year 2007 has been the most unusual for the Yellow Rose and the Squadron in its history. First, there was the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Reunion, which took place in April. Then, upon the return from the Fairhope, Alabama show in late May, the right engine was discovered to be bad. This has led to the “Rose” being in maintenance for the past four plus months.

     There have been plusses from both of these events. The Squadron has come together to make both of these events successful. Egos have been pushed aside and members have stepped up to complete the tasks as never before.

     From a safety standpoint, the only hazard was getting back and forth to the hotel in the San Antonio traffic. A lot of this was solved by many of our members staying throughout the event at the hotel.

     The engine change has been a different matter altogether. Removing an object that weighs nearly two and one-half tons and replacing it with one of the same weight has been a task. Fortunately, those doing this work used extreme caution and the proper equipment, and the replacement is on the plane with no incidents.   Attaboys to all who were involved.

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