Jan Feb 2012 Compass

8/3/2019 Jan Feb 2012 Compass

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C MPASS

P.O. Box 637 St.Charles, MO 63302 St. Charles County Smartt Airport636-250-4515 Fax 636-250-4515 www.cafmo.org

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE

MISSOURIWING

The

MISSOURI WINGEXECUTIVE STAFF

WING LEADERCol. Patrick Kesler28 Confederate WaySt. Charles, MO 63303636-928-5687636-250-4515 [email protected]

ADJUTANT / PIO OFFICERCol. Rick Rea

6854 Ardale DriveSt. Louis,MO [email protected]

EXECUTIVE OFFICERCol. Bob Lawrence111 W. Essex Ave.Kirkwood, MO 63122314-494-7529 cell314-894-3200 x103 work

FINANCECol. Steve Gossett

4 Limerick LaneO'Fallon, MO 63366636-474-9763314-306-5021

OPERATIONS OFFICERCol.Craig O'Mara1085 Graywolf CourtFairview Heights, IL 62208618-632-6113 home618-558-7211 [email protected]

MAIN TENANCE OFFICERCol. Pat Fenwick6 Heather DriveSt. Peters, MO 63376636-441-2856

SAFETY OFFICERCol. Chris Herrmann309 Clearwater DriveBelleville, IL 62220618-233-4782

Saturday - February 11 - General Meeting - 1:30 pm

B-25 ANNUAL UNDERWAYJANUARY / FEBRUARY

2012

Feb. 11 General Meeting - 1:30 pmMar. 10 General Meeting - 1:30 pmApril 14 General Meeting - 1:30 pmApril 16-21 Doolittle Reunion - Dayton, Ohio B-25, LHFE RidesMay 12 General Meeting - 1:30 pmMay 19 Classic Cars & Warbirds, 10 am - 3 pmMay 25-28 Salute to Veterans, Columbia, Mo., B-25, TBMAugust 31 - Sept. 3 Moline, IL B-25, TBM, PXOct. 12-13 Clarksdalde, Mississippi - B-25, LHFE Rides, PX

UPCOMING EVENTS

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3 4

5

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1. Prop off. 2. Nose case off.3. Reparied nose case back on.4. New cylinder installed.5. New tires mounted.6. Tires and wheels installed.

B-25


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WING

LEADER'S

REPORT

XO REPORTHappy New Year everyone. First of all thanks to all for

opportunity to serve the wing as XO and membership guy. I forward to doing all that I can to serve our wing and membWith that said you should be seeing the membership reneenvelops arriving any day if not already. Please send those bin or drop them off as soon as you can.

Besides for solidifying our rooster and having every thsquared away for the flying season we also have to report tinformation to national. After talk with Matt Conrad on upcoming air shows you will certainly want to get these turneso that you are elidgable to participate. Heres to another gyear!

Col. Bob Lawrence, XO

MUSEUM - - MONEY MAKEROur museum, a very popular attraction to all that visit

Wing, used to be a run-down hangar that was the site for sevprivate aircraft rehabs that never saw completion. One prowas ended by the 93 flood. The other ran out of funds. Thangar also was used by the Wing as a paint shop.

In 2004, a group of our members decided to convert shop into what we have now, a good looking and valuable asto our Wing. Col. Jim Naumann was Museum Director at the tiSome of the members that had a hand in its remodeling weLou Tacchi, Len Kratzer, Tim McCluskey, George Hohmann, EveFeltham, Jack Seeman, Chet Davis, plus some advice from JuliaSmith.

The first big job was to put in a new level floor over the vuneven concrete slab that was there. Then basically everythwas replaced, improved, changed, removed, or added. museum was open to visitors in August of 2005. The total cwas reduced by a grant from Boeing.

The first year of operation, with only 4 months being oand with a lot of startup costs which resulted in a loss. Howeby the end of 2007 it had not only covered the construction operating costs of 2 years but also had a profit. It has haprofit every year since 2006, even with the excessive salarieJack Seeman and Joe Wurtz plus all the cans of Glade we uskill cigar smoke.

The museum averages almost $1,500 yearly in PX sales $1,600 in admission/tours. After deducting its operating expen

of electricity, heating, and supplies, its annual profit avera$1,500. Col. $teve Gossett

BIG THANKS

Here is a list of 2011 monetary donors that I misacknowledging thru the year:James Barr Joe Baruzzini Florence BaurTee Baur Bernice Bond Jerry Carpenter

Logan Doyle Curt Engler Paul GardnerAl Gruer, Jr. Art Hofmann Wm. Holecamp TrustDon Huster Al Kaser Jim LammertBob Lawrence Joe Racine Sanford McDonnellShane Roden Bob Rutledge John ScholesPete Sherwin Mike Silberstein

No matter how big or small the amount, all donations very much appreciated and needed to help support the continuoperations of the Wing. Thank you very much.

Col. $teve Gossett

Happy 2012! Hope each and every one of you is making aserious effort in fulfilling those New Year resolutions! Im confidentyou are trying as hard as I am and that this time, it will becomefact and a historical event. One resolution I made that I know will

materialize is that of being the best Wing Leader possible foranother calendar year. I know I can expect a lot of help in achievingthat goal and once again look forward to an exciting year at theWing and around the Midwest.

The mechanics have been busy with the aircraft maintenanceannuals and continue to amaze me in how much they can getaccomplished while eating goodies brought from home, tellingwar stories, enjoying the camaraderie, and generating a funatmosphere. They have already had two new main tires ($4,000per tire) re-mounted on the rims, checked the landing gear forstructural integrity, re-painted numerous parts, removed andreplaced a bad #7 cylinder on SHOW MEs right engine, conducteda myriad of inspections inside the aircraft wings and fuselage,cleaned gazillions of areas on the aircraft, conducted many visitor

tours and answered hundreds of their questions, made a lot ofstew and chili, grilled a lot of hotdogs and brats, drank a fewgallons of coffee, bead-blasted numerous brake discs and smallparts, withstood a few dozen interludes of Wing Leaderharassment, and had time to suggest much-needed improvementsto Wing operations. Wow! Im out of breath! Oh, and themechanics are also having a gasket replaced in the B-25 leftengine nose dome by the engine rebuilder. I believe he is doing itfor free.

Col. Matt Conrad has also been extremely busy coordinatingfor the upcoming airshow season. Looks like it will be another fullseason this year. We are trying to have as many local areaevents as possible in order to generate awareness and increaseour visibility. The 70th Doolittle Raider Reunion is scheduled for

the third week of April and we plan on having SHOW MEparticipate again this year. It will be held in Urbana, OH and atWright-Patterson AFB near Dayton. Some of the upcoming showsand events that Matt is working on include St. Joseph, Columbia,Cameron, Cape Girardeau, and Camdenton in Missouri as wellas Scott AFB, Moline, Mattoon, and Mount Vernon in Illinois.Clarksdale, Mississippi and Little Rock AFB, Arkansas are alsopossibilities.

Speaking of events, there is a possibility of doing a Fly-in/Wing Open House with the EEA on Saturday, June 16th. Also, wemight do a Busch Stadium Fly-by on April 14th or 15th. A CardinalsOpening Day (13th) fly-by is already being supported by aircraftout of Scott AFB. Col. Rick Rea is coordinating these possibleevents and already busy in this young flying season. Thanks Rick!

You should have received your 2012 Missouri Wing duesenvelope by now. Be sure to mail those back or bring them to theWing so $teve Gossett can update you on the roster. We have agreat membership list and will hopefully continue to see yourname marked Current on it. Thank you for your continuedsupport of this unique organization.

As you can see, many of our members have been quite activeand involved already this year. Please consider shaking off thecabin fever and coming out to enjoy all the perks available at theWing. Youll have a great time.

Remember - with your help We can Keep Em Flyingandhave a great, rewarding time in your life while doing so. Itsalways great to make new memories especially when they areassociated with the memories of that Great Generation.

Respectfully submitted, Col. Pat Kesler, Wing Leader


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SAFETYIS EVERYONE'S JOB ONEAs Im new to the position, I wanted to give you a few quick

thoughts on what safety is to me. Safety is more than just aposition, something that can be directed or something that theSafety Officer can achieve.

Safety is about the choices. Safety does not just happen, ittakes constant effort in everything that you do. It is not automaticand it requires thought. It is choices you make every day ineverything that you do. Im sure you can think of several instanceswhere you probably didnt choose to do the safest thing in theast few days. Think about what, how, and why you do things

and how you can minimize the risk involved. If you dont want todo it for yourself, do it for those who love and need you.Safety requires action. Safety is not automatic, it needs your

proactive participation. Being proactive means that you takeactions before incidents happen to help prevent them. If you seesomething that needs attention, take care of it. Small or large,dont think someone else will do it, or wait until later to take careof it. If it is something that you cant fix or solve, mark the hazardand then bring it to leaderships attention.

Safety requires teamwork. The Air Force is now emphasizingthe Wingman Concept across all facets of operations both onand off duty. It is really about caring for others. Being a wingmanmeans getting personally involved and helping others. For ourwing to be safe, we need to do the same thing and watch out for

each other.Safety really is a way of life. At home, at work, at play, andat the Wing, being safe is something you can make happen.

Be Safe!!Col. Chris Herrmann, Safety Officer

345TH BOMB GROUPCOMBATTALESAt the December Wing Meeting I mentioned the conversa

I had with Col. Al Gruer on Veterans Day 2011 and I thougwould share with you an interesting story he told me duringconversation. After debriefing from a low-level combat misagainst Japanese positions Al returned to his aircraft only toasked by his maintenance chief What (the heck) did you dmy airplane? Why do you ask? Al said. Follow me the creplied. Al was shown the right engine and a very large denthe cowling around it. Al was also shown the remains of sotype of bird that was shredded and stuck to the cylinders of

engine. Upon autopsy of the remains of the bird it was concluthat the remains were a chicken. Al had flown his B-25 so that during the raid his right engine ingested a hapless chicthat jumped into the air upon hearing their approach. Bservicemen had quite a laugh over this discovery.

Following the Memorial Ceremony at Jefferson BarraNational Cemetery over Labor Day Weekend 2011 honoringdeceased members of the 345th Bomb Group interred there 3Bomb Group Veterans Vic Tatelman and Don Buzz Wag

jokingly asked me why did Show Mefly so high over cemetery for the flyover? As I began to explain to them the regulations on minimum altitude flying over a populated a(which I knew they knew) they both told me that if they ever fthat high in a B-25 during a combat mission their squad

leaders would chew their bts. Many times they returfrom missions to have their maintenance chiefs find fresh grpieces of palm leaves wrapped around the cylinders of tengines. Ingesting coconuts may have brought different resthough. Great stories told by great men Lest We Forget.

Col. Rick Rea/ PIO, Adjutant

CAF EXPERIENCESI have been a member for a few years and I'm always

amazed when I go to the airshows at different locations. AtWright-Patterson I met a man who was a B-24 ball turret gunner.He was shot down over Germany and spent about 18 months ina German POW camp. In Lincoln, Nebraska, one of the men whowas on the Dootlittle Raid asked me if he could sit next to me. Hetold me how he was in a German POW camp and it was thesame camp that the movie The Great Escape was made. I askedwhat he did and he said he dug tunnels. A Tuskegee Airman RedTail Pilot at the Columbia Air Show in 2010 told me he had shotdown a FW-190 in 1944 over Yugoslavia.

Working in the museum Ive met some interestingvisitors. Come out and take part in the many different activitiesat the MO Wing. You'll have the opportunity to meet interesting

people and be with a group of great volunteers. Hope to see youthere! Col. Joe Wurtz :)

GENERALMEETING - 1:30 PM Dec 10, 2011 CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLIGIENCE ROLL CALL OF STAFF: WL __ ADJ __ EXEC __ OPS __ MA

__ FIN __ SAFE __ PIO __ RECOGNIZE VISITORS AND GUESTS MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (in COMPASS) INFIRMED MEMBERS COMM ITTEE REPORTS:Compass John CoffeyGasoline Sales Jim Lammert/$teve GossettWeb Site Bob LawrenceMuseum Jack SeemanPX Bob LawrenceRecruiting & Membership Steve Newcombe

Air Shows Matt ConradLHFE Bob MooreHangar Dance Pat KeslerOLD BUSINESS BRIEFING ROOM Roof is done. Still fighting Tracy about cei

& interior. REST ROOMS Steve Newcombe OFFICE AREA REHAB Will begin soon... BIG BAND CHRISTMAS - Dec 3rd at Maryville Center-Bob Mo HAD PI LOT MEETING AT 9am CHALLENGE COINS Now Available ELECTIONS: Wing Leader Pat Kesler, Executive Officer Lawrence, Maintenance Pat Fenwick, Finance - $teve GossSafety Officer Chris HerrmannNEW BUSINESS

AIRCRAFT STATUS: B-25 -Annual TBM -Annual L-3 - A STAFF R E POR TS : MAINTENANCE__ EXECUTIVEOPERATIONS__ SAFETY__ ADJUTANT__ PUBLIC INFOFINANCE__ AIR SHOW__ LHFE__ STEEL STORAGE BLDG. Bill Wehmeier No January Meeting

No January COMPASS. Will be Jan/Fed issue out in FebruMeeting Adjourned @ 2:30pm

Pat leading the December meeting.

CAF


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COMMEMORATIVEAIRFORCEMISSOURI WING

P.O. Box 637St. Charles, MO 63302-0637

JANUARY / FEBRUARY

2011

Compass Deadline: March Newsletter- Need info by February 23 April Newsletter - Need info by March 23

February

Birthdays!

B-25 ANNUAL BEGINS

Missouri Colonels working on the B-25's annual.

January

Birthdays!

Joe Baruzzini (2) Dave Ceglinski (2) Phil Bamberger (7)Joe Bodziony (14) Dick Hendrix (12) Tom Wagoner (15)

Carol McSweeney (24) Bill Lippincott (27) Harold Moss (27)

Dale Heining (2) Logan Doyle (4) John Allen (7)Mike McEntee (23) Bill Wehmeier (23) Frank Vitello (25)

L3B FLYING ALL WINTER

Good to see with all the warm days this winter the L3 habeen getting some flying time.


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EXPLORINGTHEAMAZING TILLAMOOKAIRMUSEUM

On a recent trip to visit my son in Oregon we decided toexplore the Pacific coast between Seaside and Florence onHighway 101. This coastal highway is one of the most scenicdrives in the continental United States. The ever changingandscape of picturesque towns, numerous state parks, nationalwildlife reserves, and spectacular ocean views is simply awenspiring. The always surprising and unpredictable weather thatncludes frequent rain squalls, fog, and snow during the wintermonths can be challenging for travelers. Yet, its precisely thisunique weather system that keeps the coastal areas green and

ush all year round.The highlight of the trip for us was found in the town ofTillamook. Known nationally for its savory dairy products theTillamook Cheese Factory is well worth a visit. However, for thosenterested in historic aviation the Tillamook Air Museum housedn a WWII blimp hanger should not be missed. Its impossible tofully comprehend the enormous size of this structure viewed froma photograph. The history of these giant hangars is a fascinatingstory in itself. In 1942 the Navy began construction of 17 woodenhangers around the U.S. coastlines to house blimps being usedfor antisubmarine patrol and convoy escort. Two of these hangars,the largest wooden structures in the world, were built at theNaval Air Station in Tillamook. Hanger B was completed inAugust 1943 and incredibly, Hangar A was finished twenty seven

days later. Unfortunately, Hangar A was destroyed by fire in1992. With the war over and its facilities now obsolete, Naval AirStation Tillamook was decommissioned in 1948. Since 1994 theremaining hangar has been home to one of the finest collectionsof privately owned WWII aircraft in the nation. Once inside thevast hangar visitors cannot help marveling at the engineeringthat went into the creation of such a gigantic structures.

What makes the museums collection of beautifully restoredWWII aircraft so unique is that most are still in flying condition.Two of my personal favorites were the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusha,or Oscar and the Hispano HA-1112 Buchon a Spanish versionof the Messerschmidt Me-109. The collection includes some greatexamples of American fighter aircraft and bombers including aP-38 Lightning, FM-2 Wildcat, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang,F4U Corsair, SBD Dauntless, TBM Avenger, A-26 Douglas Invader,AM-1 Martin Mauler, J2F-6 Duck, and PBY-5A Catalina. In additionto the aircraft, theres a fascinating display of the engines thatpowered these venerable old warbirds along with an assortmentof military vehicles. Not the least of which was a fully operational1943 Army Cletrac aircraft tug.

After spending a long afternoon checking out the aircraftthe museums Air Base Cafe is a great place to refuel. Be sureand check out the gift shop which offers one of the most extensivenventories of aviation books, videos, models, clothing, andmemorabilia found anywhere.

Without a doubt, the Tillamook Air Museum is a must seefor aviation enthusiasts of all ages and a visit you wont soonforget. For more information check out the museums website atwww,tillamookair,com. Article & photos by Col. John Holechek

The former Naval Air Station hangar that houses the museum is1,072 feet long, 192 feet high, 296 feet wide, and covers 7 acres.

This interior shot by a Life magazine photographer made during the 19graphically illustrates the enormous size of these structures.

The Grumman J2F-6 Duck amphibious aircraft was used by allservices in WWII fulfilled multiple roles.

The museums Nakajima Ki-43 was a Japanese Imperial Army figcode named Oscar by the US and often mistaken for a Zero.the only flying example left in the world.

Built by Hispano Aviation under license from Messerschmidt

Spanish Buchon, except for the exhaust system and engine, diflittle from the Me-109.


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An interior view of the instrument panel in the Hispano HA-1112Buchon the last variant of the Me-109 built by Spain.

The Allison V-1710 liquid cooled V-12 engine powered such notableaircraft as the P-38, P-39, P-40, A-36 Apache, and the experimentalP-82 Twin Mustang.

The 1943 Army Cletrac MG-1 aircraft tug was used for haulingheavy equipment and towing aircraft.

Among the more unusual pieces of equipment on display at themuseum is this General Electric Portable Airfield Searchlight. Light bouys. New item in the back of the B-25.

No pilots past the ropes please.

Buddy Welsh touching up the flight deck hatch.

New display in our museum - GI wash stand.

Documents

Jan Feb 2012 Compass