San Diego Cadet Squadron 144

The following Cadet Squadron 144 assembled next to the Gillespie Field Airport Air Traffic Control Tower at 1830 hours, 29 May 2007 for a tour of Mr. Bill Allen’s hangar:

Senior Members
LtCol Ben Aaron
Capt Dennis Ammann
SM David Saavedra

Cadets
C/2Lt Matthew Corey
C/2Lt Joseph Connolly
C/SMSgt Douglas Saavedra
C/MSgt Chandra Murphy
C/SrAmn Daniel Gorin
C/A1c Laura Brown
C/A1c Joe Culver
C/Amn Chris Riha
C/Amn Eric Johnson
C/Amn Marshall Bryan
C/Amn Spencer Beaulieu
C/AB Erika Goodall
C/AB Anthony Tavan
C/AB Andrew Elsken
C/AB Kevin Mihalik
C/AB Scott Lynch

The group then walked around to the front of the hangar in front of runway 27L where Mr. Bill Allen greeted the cadets and senior members and introduced himself. He also introduced Barney his faithful ‘wing cat’ who actually patrols the hangar for unauthorized rodents and other riff-raff. Throughout the evening Barney followed behind looking for a gentle rub along his back and neck.

Mr. Allen is a past president of the International Aerospace Hall of Fame (SD Air & Space Museum portrait gallery) and on the Board of Directors, San Diego Air & Space Museum for almost 30 years, contributes a breadth of knowledge from his 45 years as an aviation enthusiast and accomplished collector of aircraft and aviation artifacts. So internationally regarded is the Allen Airways Flying Museum collection, it serves as the exclusive provider for the 32 vintage posters featured in the Smithsonian Institution companion exhibition "Looping the Loop: Posters of Early Flight." All of the exhibition's posters are presented in his book. Other designs from the Allen collection are also included among the book's featured artworks.

Mr. Allen started his tour with a walk around of a Stearman PT-17 Kaydet and one other in a civilian configuration. His knowledge and history of this Boeing WWII primary training is fascinating, relating all facets about this bi-plane. He then switched to his immaculate Cessna C-182 Skylane, pointing out the extra features he included on this plane, i.e., variable pitch prop, short take-off landing (STOL) kit, and ailerons that extend down as additional flaps, etc. Next was his Ryan PT-22 Recruit made right here in San Diego prior to WWII. Mr. Allen related how the wings are slightly swept back and the dangers students had if they stalled the aircraft. He also has another PT-22 with Dutch East Indies WWII markings in restoration up in northern California. Next to this pristine trainer was a display case with WWI medals and awards inside. One of particular interest was a German Blue Max, the highest decoration a German fighter pilot could receive! Another interesting aircraft being stored in this hangar was an Australian Firefly AS-6 anti-submarine warfare aircraft made by Fairy Aircraft Co. This single engine fighter looks like a WWII Supermarine Spitfire on steroids! It was a carrier based plane operating during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

For the next portion of the tour, Mr. Allen led us into a small room with flight gear, uniforms, aviation paintings, aviation movie/air show posters, WWI machine aircraft machine guns, helmets, goggles, antique aircraft models, and various other interesting pieces of historical artifacts.

A short walk to the lounge portion of the hangar, Mr. Allen pointed out several trophies won by pilots during the 1930s and one trophy in particular that was awarded to a British WWI fighter pilot who shot down a Zeppelin during a bombing raid over London.

As we entered another large room, a display case exhibited numerous mementos from the German Zeppelin Hindenburg. There were boarding tickets, a piece of the girder, and other items of interest from this famous air ship. Also parked inside, a third Stearman bi-plane, silver in color, and in mint condition. This plane has been awarded many trophies in the past during antique fly-ins for the best restoration/best of show; a real beauty!

The last stop was his personal theater where lush chairs and sofas awaited us for a quick review of the 2002 Czechoslovakian made movie, “Dark Blue World”, about Czech pilots who fled Nazi occupied Europe to fly for the British during the Battle of Britain and throughout WWII. The sound in his theater was so realistic; we were ducking as the Spitfires were flying overhead!

At about 2030 hours everyone gathered back in the main hangar for a group photo next to one of the Stearman bi-planes with Mr. and Mrs. Allen and of course Barney the “wing cat.” We thanked Mr. Allen and his lovely wife Claudia for inviting us into their “hangar home” and expanding our knowledge of aviation history.

San Diego is a gold mine, rich in aviation history, where the general public can learn all about aerospace at the San Diego Air & Space Museum, their annex at Gillespie Field Airport, the Marine Air Museum at MCAS Miramar, and USS Midway Museum. We were very fortunate to be invited to Mr. Allen’s hangar for another glimpse of aviation history spanning from the Wright Brothers to artifacts of today. What a wonderful gentleman, pilot, and unofficial Mayor of Gillespie Field to open his private collection for this excellent aerospace education opportunity.

Posted by Vince at 10:16 PM | Permalink

19-20 May 2007 - The following San Diego Cadet Squadron 144 reported to CAP HQs staffed by Chino Cadet Sq. 20 at 0600 hours on 19 May 2007 for duty at the subject air show: Capt Dennis Ammann, C/TSgt Alex Ramos, C/Amn Spencer Beaulieu, C/SrA Joshua Flewellen, C/Amn Chris Riha, C/Amn Courtney Ellis, C/Amn Eric Johnson, C/AB Erika Goodall, and C/AB Anthony Tavan.

After check-in, flight assignments were made by Captain John Binder’s staff. C/TSgt Ramos was assigned as Flight Leader for Charlie Flight consisting of a combination of about eight cadets and Young Marines; I was assigned as the Tactical Officer for his flight. This was our second experience with the Young Marines (YM) Organization, the first being 31 March 2007 at the Riverside Air Show. They were readily accepted and appreciated again for their hard work. Over 60 CAP personnel from eight squadrons in Southern California were represented along with about 60 YM personnel also from the same area.

At 0900 hours, flights started rotating along the taxiway flight line, with each flight standing a two hour daytime security post, walking along the taxiway leading to aircraft parking/hangars. Although our vision was obstructed by the adjacent hangars, we were close enough to see the sky portion of the air show. The two hours quickly passed and we were allowed to proceed to the air show. Although it was hot, some of the cadets could take advantage of two DC-3 twin engine airliners that were parked along the flight line.

After dinner, Chino Cadet Sq. 20 provided shuttle service to a local YMCA in order to take showers.

At 2000 hours Saturday night, Wilson Lee, the Unit Commander of Southland YM, conducted a talent show with three senior members as judges. They were armed with large soup ladles and pans to gong off the lousy performers. All of the CAP/YM performers were very funny and had the audience laughing and rolling in the aisles so to speak. The last act was our very own C/AB Erika Goodall who told Mr. Lee she was going to sing. After introducing herself she sang a 300 plus years Irish song in the Gaelic language called, “Siuil a Run.” She also sang the verses in English so all understood this song about a young Irish girl longing for her soldier who went off to war to fight in France. Jaws dropped and the wild crowd went from 85 to zero decibels when she started to sing! The judges were giving the previous “talent” minus ones and plus twos or threes; they gave Erika plus tens and twelve’s! She won the competition hands down for CAP! Perhaps she will sing for us at our next awards banquet?

Some of us also stood flight line aircraft watch from 0001-0200 hours Sunday morning, walking around the various aircraft, keeping watch for any suspicious people. This was an outstanding time to view the aircraft with no crowds to contend with. I’m sure I speak for all, in that we slept like logs that night being completely dogged out. Reveille was at 0600 hours Sunday with breakfast served shortly thereafter. Everyone repeated the watch rotation like Saturday and at about 1730 hours camp clean-up/take-down commenced. We checked out at 1830 hours with each cadet receiving one American flag to take home.

A partial list of aircraft present at Chino Air Show were:

• P-38 Lightning – I consider this the icing on the cake! I’m 56 years old and have read books, seen movies, videos, and viewed this aircraft at numerous air museums, but never saw one fly! We not only saw one fly, we saw THREE fly at one time! There was an F, L, and J model with the F model the most famous named, “Glacier Girl” as she was dug out of a Greenland glacier in 1992. This P-38 was 250 feet down under the ice for fifty years and after reassembling her, she flew again in 2002. This aircraft looks like she just rolled off the assembly line five years later. There are five more down there under the ice, plus two B-17 bombers if you want to claim salvage rights to them.
  
  
• Lockheed L-10 Electra – This twin engine 1935 aircraft was shined up like a silver dollar and in mint condition! Emelia Earhart attempted to fly around the world in this type of aircraft in 1937 but was lost somewhere over Holland Island in the South Pacific.
  
  
• C-46 Commando – We saw this huge two engine cargo plane at Riverside Air Show last month and will be at Wings Over Gillespie next month. The C-46 was famous for flying over the ‘hump’ (Himalayan Mountain Range between China and India) during WWII re-supplying the Chinese/American forces fighting the Japanese in China.
  
  
• AT-6 Texan – Numerous examples of this famous WWII advanced trainers were along in the static display area.
  
  
• F4U Corsair – WWII carrier based fighter who flew with a F6F Hellcat and an F/A-18 Hornet during the Navy Heritage flight.
  
  
• F-6F Hellcat – Also a WWII carrier based fighter from Planes of Fame.
  
  
• A6M Zero – Two flyable Japanese WWII fighters were on display and flying during the air show from Planes of Fame.
  
  
• P-51 Mustang – WWII fighter; many examples including Chuck Hall’s “Six Shooter” from Ramona, CA. Chuck flew a heritage flight with an F-15 Eagle and P-38 Lightning.
  
  
• F/A-18C Hornet – Two Navy fighters were on display and provided demo flight in the afternoon.
  
  
• F-15 Eagle – Two USAF fighters were parked next to the F/A-18s and provided demos, most impressive was his “whispering approach” flying very low at almost the speed of sound. We could see him but not hear him until he was almost over us!
  
  
• H-21 Shawnee – This Korean/Vietnam War vintage cargo/troop helicopter is a familiar sight at WOG, Riverside, and Miramar Air Shows. She belongs to Classic Helicopters from Ramona, CA. She was also known as the ‘flying banana’ because of her shape.
  
  
• B-17G Flyingfortress – This WWII bomber, named “Fuddy Duddy” was a surprise to everyone because she was down for repairs at John Wayne Airport up in Irvine. Unfortunately at the end of her Saturday afternoon demo, she hit a turkey vulture and dented in her right leading edge just outboard of #1 engine.
  
  
• B-25 Mitchell – There were four of them at this air show in various configurations. At 0200 hours Sunday morning, I thought I saw Gen. Jimmy Doolittle doing a pre-flight, but think it was just my imagination…
  
  
• F-86 Saber – Perhaps the best looking jet ever! As she was chasing the MiG-15 around the pattern, her right wing tank came loose and fell between the two runways. Her right wing, trailing edge sustained a slight dent with the wing tank a total loss.
  
  
• MiG-15 – This little Korean War adversary of the F-86 flew each day and was a real beauty shining away in the sun.
  

There were numerous civilian acts but I couldn’t find a program to list them here. I saw a Stearman bi-plane with a wing walker and a Russian Sukoi aerobatic plane performing while on duty. The grand round robin was led by the three P-38s followed by no less than 22 WWII fighters and bombers! Mr. Steve Hinton flying a P-38, Mr. Chuck Hall flying a P-51, and a USAF Captain flying an F-15 Eagle provided the USAF Heritage Flight both days. What a sight to see those 25 WWII aircraft and the old/new during the Heritage Flight!

Capt Andrea Binder and her cooking staff fed the entire combined CAP/YM contingent all weekend. Ten dollars was the total cost to each person! This included breakfast lunch and dinner with no one going hungry! Chino Cadet Sq. 20 provided ex-USAF 20 person tents initially, but had to break out two person pup tents for the overflow of personnel.

This was an excellent study concerning how to conduct CAP support for Wings Over Gillespie this June. Everyone had a great time and left with fond memories of the new friends, viewing famous war birds of WWII/Korean Wars, current front line fighters, and receiving valuable aerospace education (AE) as an added benefit. Reading books and viewing videos is a wonderful way to learn about AE, watching, smelling, and hearing AE is another added way to learn!

I would like to thank SM Tony Ramos and Ms. Mary Tavan for driving their vehicles and transporting our cadets 100 plus miles one way; two round trips equaled 400 total miles that weekend! Captains John and Andrea Binder from Chino Cadet Sq. 20 did an outstanding job coordinating the cadet staff duties, providing lodging, and wonderful food. Wilson Lee from Southland YM was another outstanding key player, augmenting his Marines into the CAP contingent. We look forward to next year’s Chino Air Show and again win the talent show with our most superior CAP Semper Vigilans talent! Hope to see you at Wings Over Gillespie next month.

Happy Landings and VFR Days to All!

Capt Dennis Ammann
Commander
SD Cadet Sq. 144

Posted by Vince at 10:33 PM | Permalink