LEADER'S WORDS

By Ron Dietes, Squadron Leader

     Air show season has begun as we are just back from the Goodfellow AFB show that was held at San Angelo and I must say it was fun.  I would like to thank Ken Udcoff, Mike Francis and Greg Young for being the flight crew for this trip.  With only four of us on the flight crew, it was a challenge, but we covered the PX and cockpit tours OK.  Of course, bathroom breaks presented a challenge, but it all worked out just fine.  The weather was good and the show performance was good as the B-52 had to cancel, so the Yellow Rose got the wall of fire.  One other thing that helped was the ramp was closed until around 1330, so we only had a half day to do cockpit tours and sell PX items.

     The maintenance team has been working on the Rose in anticipation of our inspection by Gary Austin from CAF headquarters.  I have to say that the Rose looks the really great.  I cannot remember her looking this good in my 10 year association with the Rose.  If you get a chance come out to the hangar and have a look.  You will be absolutely amazed.  You can tell by just looking her over that many man hours of intense cleaning took place.  I would like to express my thanks to all of you for all your hard work and many hours of scrubbing, priming and touch up painting.  Last Saturday the Rose was given a really good wash job.  She is now really clean, too.

     On another note, those of you that expressed an interest in business cards will be happy to know that the order is now at the printers.  Ten members wanted cards and they will be in your hands very soon.  I am hoping to have them prior to our trip to Kingsville and Sun-N-Fun.

     Also, I am working on getting some oxford style shirts embroidered and jackets with the Yellow Rose logo embroidered on the back and your name embroidered on the front.  I will be looking for someone to lead this project as soon as I can get a line on the shirts and the type of jackets that meets everyone’s approval.  I hope to have a short sleeve and long sleeve oxford type shirt to show you at the next meeting.

     Talking about our next meeting brings up an interesting dilemma.  Since almost the entire staff will either be out of the country or at Sun-N-Fun, I am seriously considering no meeting for April.  Unless I hear any compelling reasons, our next meeting will be Tuesday May 13th, 2008 at 6pm in our normal location (Centex Briefing Room).  Of course, you can still reach us on our cell phones, should anything come up that needs our attention.

     I am really sorry to report to you that Audy Cox has passed away.  Audy Cox has been a member of the Rose ever since I have been a member and in talking to Jerry Taylor, he indicated that Audy was a member before he joined.  Please keep Audy’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

     If you have not renewed your Squadron dues, please send in your money to Judy.  We are a small group and every member helps us keep the Rose in the air and in front of people that do not know anything about the Second World War and about the sacrifices made so we could breathe free air and openly voice our beliefs and opinions.

     Our second engine will be ready around the 4th of April 2008.  I know, I was just as surprised as you probably are, to hear the news.  It seems Global has received the main bearings from California and is assembling our engine.  I have been pressing him for a cost estimate and he said he would have one to me this week (March 24-28).  Right now I am planning to drive to Oklahoma City to pick up the engine sometime during the week of April 15-18 2008.  We will have to borrow a trailer again or else rent one.  Picking up the engine depends on how we decide to do the financing since Judy will be in New Zealand until the end of April.  Once the engine is here, I will feel a lot better.  I am trying to find two oil coolers that we can have overhauled and waiting for the engine swap to save us the four weeks it takes to overhaul the ones we have installed in the right wing of the Rose.  Based on the oil cooler decision, we will decide when to swap out the right engine with the newly overhauled engine from Global.

     The staff decided we would not take the Rose to Dallas for the 2008 Doolittle Reunion.  Frankly we did not think we would be able to recover our costs based on the response we received from the 2008 Reunion chairman.  I also talked to Lone Star and they will be there, but will be static.

     Jim Benham has moved to Wichita Falls and I just wanted to extend our best wishes to him and his wife Anne.  Jim has helped out with the Rose many times and although he grumbled about it, he always helped.  He has a wealth of experience with round engines and he will be missed by every airplane driver in the hangar.

MINUTES OF THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON MEETING

March 11, 2008

By Pat Moore, Squadron Adjuntant

Meeting Convened at 1804 hrs

 

Pledge of Allegiance

 

Prayer

 

Motion was made to accept the minutes from the last meeting as presented in the newsletter by Jim Liles, Greg Young seconded, motion carried.

 

XO-no report

 

ADJUTANT-Pat reminded everyone to pay off their dues as the new directory will be out in the near future.

 

FINANCE-Judy gave her finance report and passed out the current finance statement for everyone to see.  She said those members who have not yet paid their dues will be notified.  She also stated that she paid ANUAC.  Judy told membership that the squadron received a donation from USAA.

Jack Reeves made a motion to accept the finance report as presented, Bob Gardner seconded, motion carried.

 

MAINT-Jim Liles went to the winter staff conference in Midland and brought a CD and hardcopy sets of the new regs.  The Rose’s inspection is on the 26^th and 27^th of March, but the aircraft won’t be grounded.  This is a  CAF inspection in response to large amounts of corrosion discovered on the Devil Dog in Georgetown. So help will be required to pull panels and clean up the aircraft before the inspection.  Ray and Jim have already been working on some small areas of corrosion.  Jim said he had bought some bronze brushes to brush away corrosion and help is needed in this respect as well.

 

Ron Dietes told members that he had called Miss Mitchell, Prowler, and the Lonestar Museum to find a jumper seat.  Devil Dog’s seat is too large and won’t fit our aircraft.

 

PX-Greg also went to Midland for the winter staff conference and said he’ll be coordinating with other CAF PX’s as to what is currently selling and what is not. He said the t-shirts are not big sellers right now so he won’t order as many as he usually does. Misc patches don’t sell well either so Greg is going to put the supply he has on sale.  Greg will pack the PX on the Rose so it is ready to go to the airshow this coming weekend. Greg asked that anyone with ideas on how to move merchandise in the PX to please get in touch with him.

 

Ron Dietes introduced the squadron’s new Safety Officer, Buzz Perez.  He’s replacing Jerry Taylor who is no longer able to fill the position.  Buzz was thanked for stepping forward to fill this important position.

 

ADOPT-AN-AIRPORT-no report

 

P.R.-Bob told the squadron that we indeed did get a donation from USAA recently.  He also said the 200 mile radius study for “Rides for Hire” was completed and was passed onto Bubba and Steve for them to study.

 

OPS- Steve told the membership that Goodfellow was coming up this coming weekend. Steve also said he put the insurance packet on the aircraft so the PIC always has it handy on the plane. Steve said that some of the hosting organizations are requiring people to bring proof of automobile insurance with them in able to drive a rental car.

 

GRANT-Grant said Egland was in the last weekend of May.  Grant had talked with Tom Casey and it was decided that the Rose will arrive that Friday to do P.R. and rides for hire.  The event would be over by noon at which time the Rose would go to Crestview to give more rides the rest of the day and on Sunday. We have rooms and transportation arranged.  There will be a re-enactment  of the Doolittle Raiders training to take-off in a very short distance on the runway.  Grant said there should be about 5 B-25s there. Stan Blowyer is the PIC of the event.  Grant said he would forward this information onto Steve.

 

GRANT-Grant told membership that the CAF B-24 is down with an engine change. It was due to appear at Sun-N-Fun in Florida.  The CAF president asked Grant if the Rose would take the place of the B-24 at this event, which is on April 8-13. This would conflict with the Burnet Airshow on April 12. Not much information is on hand yet regarding costs to the squadron-housing arrangements and the like. There is also a standard uniform all CAF crews at the event would have to wear.  Grant said we would need 8 people to go in order to help defray the costs.  6 people at the meeting said they would go and it was decided to put out an e-mail to get the other two crewmembers.  It was decided that if it was feasible, then the Rose would go.  More info to come on this soon.

 

GONE WEST/SICK CALL-no report

 

GOOD OF THE SQUADRON-no report

 

Ron Dietes said the Yellow Rose jackets would cost $250.00 for a one time set-up, but it is not known exactly how much the jackets would cost members.  If you are interested in a jacket, please give Ron an e-mail. Ron also mentioned he is going to go ahead and print up the Yellow Rose business cards.

 

Jim Liles made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Greg Young seconded, motion carried.

 

Meeting adjourned at 1903 hrs.

Goodfellow AFB Airshow

By Greg Young

On March 14, 2008; the Yellow Rose took off and headed west to start the new airshow season.  On board were Ron Dietes, Ken Udcoff, Mike Francis, and yours truly, Greg Young.  The Rose performed well and was eager to start the season.  After about one hour we descended into the San Angelo and landed in what has become typical this year, high winds.  We landed at the San Angelo Mathis Airport as most of you know, Goodfellow AFB does not have an active runway.     After securing the airplane, our crew headed off to our quarters and then off to the airshow party downtown at the Cactus Hotel.  There we met most of the Thunderbirds who were there to perform their first show of the season.  It was fun talking to them and telling them about flying a real airplane.  There were also the Texas Twisters, a group of guys who fly another North American product, the T28 Trojan.  Upon arrival back at the motel, we encountered our good friends, the CAF Blastards (the Explosive Ordinance detachment).  They have worked hard over the years to put on all the pyrotechnics at the various shows.  They really like the Rose as we are one of the few airplanes that has given them a ride.  The next morning was sunny and not so windy so Mike and I prepared the airplane while Ron and Ken went to the briefing.  We were parked among a P40, A1 Skyraider, OV1 Mohawk, F4U Corsair, and our friends from Burnet, the C47 Bluebonnet Belle.  The C47 started the airshow season with parachute jumpers. Soon it was the Rose’s turn to perform and she was the solo act so all eyes were on her as Ron and Ken put her through her paces.  The commentator did an excellent job talking about the Rose and B25s in general.  After the Rose landed, the flight line was opened and the PX sales and cockpit tours began.  There were no breaks for the rest of the show which is a great thing money wise (see PX report for more details).  The gates closed and we secured the airplane before going to the motel and encountering the Blastards again.  The next morning found us back at the airport and we headed home.  With a tailwind, the Rose was back in San Marcos, her first 2008 mission complete.  

B-25 Yellow Rose 2008 Schedule

 By Steve Gladwin, Operations Officer

 

April 4^th / 6^th                   Kingsville NAS

April 7^th / 13^th                Lakeland FL

April 24^th                       San Marcos (local)*

May 2^nd / 3^rd                   Dyess AFB

May 9^th / 10^th                  Laughlin AFB

May 16^th / 19^th                Fairhope Al.

May 23^rd / 25^th                Tinker AFB

May 31^st / Jun 1^st           Eglin AFB

June 12^th / 15^th               Ada Ok.

July 4^th                          Fredricksburg

Sept 11^th / 15^th               Rome GA

Sept 19^th / 22^nd               CAF Airsho 2008 Midland*

Sept 27^th / 28^th               Greenville Tx.

October 17^th / 19^th          Little Rock AFB

Nov 1^st / 2^nd                   Lafayette La.

* confirmed

 

2008 Yellow Rose B-25
Squadron Staff Officers

Squadron Leader - Ron Dietes

t6cpilot@netzero.net

Executive Officer - Bret Renfro

bubba@gvtc.com

Finance Officer - Judy McMillan

heyjude@texas.net

Adjutant - Pat Moore

patrickmoore99@mail.ev1.net

Operations Officer - Steve Gladwin

skgladwin@suddenlink.net

Maintenance Officer - Jim Liles

james.liles@gte.net

Safety Officer - Buzz Perez

PX Officer - Greg Young

tbolt52@hotmail.com

Publicity Officer - Bob Gardner

bob@rhga.com