The Membership Newsletter for The Military Aviation Museum Summer 2012

Military Aviation Museumwww.MilitaryAviationMuseum.org

Virginia Beach Airportwww.VBairport.com

Fighter Factorywww.FighterFactory.com

Inside this Issue:

Flying Proms 2012 2

Warbirds Over the Beach 2

Antique Car Show 4

Plane Pull 4

Battle of Britain 4

Wildcat on the Bush 5

Huck Starter 5

1938 Fuel Bowser 5

In Memoriam 6

Hangar Happenings 7-8

Event Calendar 8

World War One Biplanes and Triplanes Airshow September 21-23

by Jacey ByrneJoin us in at the Military Aviation Museum in Vir-ginia Beach for our Biplanes and Triplanes WWI Airshow during the last warm days of summer, when the hotel rates have come down, but the ex-citement has gone up. Imagine the spectacle of col-orful airplanes dancing through the bright blue sky, with infantry encampments underneath. Join re-en-actors and musical entertain-ment from the early days of vaudeville and the birth of the movie industry. This was an era now romanticized by au-thors and Hollywood, but you can experience it yourself at the Virginia Beach Airport, when you go back in time for a hundred years and see these First World War airplanes fl y-ing once again.

Amongst all this, you can also experience riding in one of these aircraft during the show! Biplanes and hot air balloon ride will be available for purchase.

Friday, for the admission price of $10 enjoy the re-enactors setting up their living history encampments and see the visiting warplanes arrive to the Museum.

Saturday and Sunday, gates open at 8:30am. Saturday night at 4:30pm there will be a steak dinner in the hangar, for advance sale only. Stay for the Roaring 20’s Hangar Dance that’s included in the price of the day ticket at 6pm. Sunday Gates close at 5pm.

Visit www.MilitaryAviationMuseum.org for ticket prices and package deals.

Triplanes over the beach

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Triplanes over the beach

“Warbirds and Wings” Aviation Summer CampAugust 6-10 & 20-24, 9:00am - 4:00pm

Last year’s aviation “campers” in the PBYContinued on page 3

The Military Aviation Museum is excited to hold its second “Warbirds and Wings” Aviation Summer Day Camp from August 6-10 and again on August 20-24 of this year.

During this fun-fi lled learning experience, children will spend the week at the Military Aviation Museum amongst the largest private collection of operational vintage aircraft in the world!

They will have the thrill of being up close and personal to vintage World War I and World War II era fi ghters, bombers, trainers, and sea-planes to learn everything about them. Included in the curriculum, children will learn the fundamentals of fl ight; how factors such as lift, drag,

thrust and weight affect fl ight, as well as a brief his-tory of fl ight from one of the Museum’s own pilots. They will put their new found knowledge to the test by building and fl ying their own gliders, and then fur-ther their knowledge by building a model airplane.

The children will also learn the basics of rocketry, learning how rocket motors work, then again put their new found skills to practice by building and launch-

ing their very own model rockets.

Ground crew training, learning all of the important safety measures and hand signals required to handle aircraft on the ground will also be a part of this week’s agenda. Children will enjoy two fi eld trips through-out the course of the week. One to NAS Oceana Naval Base, and one

cast zephyrs, a gale arrived from the north. To the many folks who came, the MAM apologizes, but hopes they understand the risk to our invaluable, historic aircraft. As they say in sports, “Wait’ll next year!”

PAGE 2 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

Despite the rain, the fi reworks display was quite the showBob Coolbaugh in the bamboo and linen, Curitss Pusher

The thunderstorm left low clouds behind, beautiful in their own way. Lights from the ground refl ected on their cumuliform bases. A clattering fl ying machine from a century ago rose into the clear air between grass run-way and moving cloud. Bob Coolbaugh took his creation of bamboo and linen, the Cur-tiss Pusher, aloft to music whose title should be made singular for him—That Magnifi -cent Man In His Flying Machine. After he landed with wet shirt and bowtie, goggles spotted by raindrops, a balloon infl ated with a whoosh and illuminated the dark evening with colorful light. Then darkness, collapse, bright light and up again. A third try, but the winds were too strong. The Virginia Sym-phony played on. The music was wonderful, but the planned ballet done with airplanes a shambles because of the weather.

Flying Proms 2012: The Rain-out That Wasn’tBy “Boom” Powell

All was not lost. Earlier, the P-51 Mustang, “Double Trouble Too,” had taken off, test-ed the cloud height and rapidly returned. There was to be no more fl ying, except the Curtiss which loves to fl y low. The aircraft which wanted to fl y instead were taxied to the orchestra pavilion so the audience could promenade (that’s where “Proms” comes from), to look at them up close.

After the unseen sunset, the second half of the program had Sousa, Holst, many more before the fi nale. Fireworks on a foggy night are unique. The mist softens and sub-dues the glare and noise into a dream spec-tacular. Streaks of fi re went skyward and burst into sparkles made larger by the fog. Rockets went high into the clouds, banged and, moments later, glowing bits of star

dust came down with the rain. Mother Nature was uncoop-erative the next day as well. Ticket holders (always save your stubs) were invited to come on Sunday and the promised airplanes would fl y. The sun shone and the clouds were gone however the wind was not. Instead of the fore-

Reaching New Heights Despite a Low Ceiling:Warbirds Over the Beach, 2012

by Jonathan R. Lichtenstein, Air Show CommentatorFriday May 18th, dawned a beautiful, sunny and breezy day. However, the breezes, de-spite the sunshine, would prove to be the pro-verbial thorn in the side of the Military Avia-tion Museum’s 4th-annual (Warbirds Over the Beach). Although it would not prevent all fl ights, in deference to safety, it was neces-sary to abbreviate operations, on Saturday and Sunday. Be that as it may, an excellent time was had by all. As in years past, the Mu-seum showcased its burgeoning collection of fl yable historic aircraft, and played host to a number of notable airworthy guests.

The fi rst of our winged visitors to arrive was the Curtiss C-46F Commando, “Tinker Belle.” Operated by Warriors and Warbirds, Inc., and owned by the Tourism Bureau of the City of Monroe, North Carolina. She banked lazily over the airfi eld on Friday, before a dramatic low pass, thundering past the ramp, and climbing back to cruising al-

titude. High winds prevented the plane from landing at Pungo that afternoon. Instead, the Curtiss was diverted to Chesapeake. The largest and heaviest twin-engined aircraft of WWII, the C-46 today is a rare sight, al-though it continues to see use as a freighter, in the more inhospitable regions of North America. Well-suited to unfi nished runways and capable of hauling tremendous tonnage,

The Curtiss C-46F Commando. Continued on page 3

the Commando has maintained its reputa-tion as a redoubtable and stalwart design. We had hoped to welcome again North America’s only fl yable Lancaster but a mi-nor structural ailment prevented the bomber from leaving her Hamilton home. Instead, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum sent as its envoy the cornerstone of its col-lection, a Fairey Firefl y, Mk. 6. Once a com-mon sight aboard Commonwealth fl eet car-riers, today the Firely has faded into relative obscurity as one of the Royal Navy’s last piston-engined fi ghters.

Besides all of our guests in the air, we were pleased to welcome a record number of re-enactors to Pungo this year. So many reg-istered to lend an air of authenticity to our proceedings, it was necessary to divide the re-enactors’ camp into two, fl anking the

Maj. Ray Fowler (USAF, Air National Guard), and veteran Museum pilot, Mr. Lou Radwanick, most re-cent inductee into the elite fraternity of active B-17 pilots. Mr. Nelson Eskey fl ew valiantly in the Muse-um’s Aichi “Val,” through ill-matched combat, against Mr. Charles “Obie” O’Brien, once more at the controls of the Good-year FG-1D Corsair. Maj. Fowler and Mr. John Fer-guson were masters of the North American B-25J, “Wild Cargo,” fl own to commemorate the 70th-anniversary of Jimmy Doolittle’s 1942 raid against mainland Japan; in retalia-tion for the December, 1941, attacks against Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and other American territories, in the Pacifi c. Further Naval ac-tion was observed by fl ights of the Museum’s

North American SNJ-4, Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina and General Motors TBM Avenger,fl own by Mr. Josh Wil-son, Mr. Robert “Bob” Hill and Mr. Bob Cope, and Mr. John Fuentes, respectively.

Saturday’s schedule also saw sorties by North America’s lone fl ight worthy Junkers Ju 52

tri-motor (CASA 352L) – piloted ably by Mr. Bill Crooker and Mr. Kevin Sinibaldi – and the newest member of our Luftwaffe wing, a Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow). Re-constructed by Legend Fly-ers of Seattle, Washington, from plans de-veloped by Classic Fighter Industries, Inc., the Messerschmitt airframe was built with aide of an original Me 262, found languish-ing as a gate guard at Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Montgomery County, Pennsyl-

vania. Powered by two General Electric J-85 jet engines, the plane is painted in the mark-ings of Luftwaffe pilot, Hans Guido Mutke, whose own wartime career ended when he wandered into Swiss airspace, in April,

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 PAGE 3

The Victory Belles and Frank Cubillo as Frank Sinatra

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The Flying Fortress, our Boeing B-17

Warbirds..Continued from page 2Museum’s main hangars! The largest con-centration of our German contingent was closest to Princess Anne Road, where we located our genuine 88mm FLAK 37 can-non. Among the representatives of German forces were the Luftwaffe FLAK Crew, re-sponsible for demonstrating the FLAK 37 at regular intervals, throughout the weekend; the Fallschirmjaeger Regiment 6, who kept a close watch over our Junkers Ju 52; Pan-zer Aufklarungs Abteilung 11, whose replica half-track churned up the turf; members of Grossdeutschland, Der Erste Zug, the Luft-waffe Aircrew Re-enactors Association and Third Kompanie, Dietrich’s Warriors; and the 1st SS Aufklarung, behind whom could be seen, nearing completion, the Museum’s au-thentic Luftwaffe hangar, imported from Cott-bus Army Airfi eld, Cottbus, Germany. The Al-lies were well-represented, too, by members of the War Correspondents Association and No. 305 Squadron Living History Group, dedicat-ed to the memory of Polish Air Force personnel, in exile, who served with the RAF; 1st Ca-nadian Parachute Battalion; No. 601 Squadron, RAF; and HQ Company, 116th Infantry, Regiment 29th Division, AEF. Additional period entertainment was provided by Ms. Theresa Eaman and the Victo-ry Belles. Saturday night’s Hangar Dance was enlivened futher by the Mark Michielsen Big Band. Mr. Frank Cubillo offered his impres-sion of the late, Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra, and Messrs. Bill Riley, Joe Ziegler and Jason Crutchley were again on hand to portray the talents of Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and Scoop Fields, respectively. Their antics and artistry were of great comfort to patrons on Sunday when weather curtailed all fl ight op-erations, over the airfi eld.

The weather notwith-standing, Saturday did see several of the Museum’s aircraft take to the sky, in-cluding a crowd-pleaser, the B-17G, “Chuckie.” At the controls were expe-rienced B-17 fl ight crew,

1945, and surrendered to authorities. A unique fea-ture of the replica Mess-erschmitt is that it may be converted from a single-seat fi ghter into a two-seat trainer, by the simple ex-change of canopies. For the occasion, Wolfgang Czaia fl ew the plane from the Museum’s Suffolk fa-cilities. A child of Ander-nach, on the Rhine River, in 1944, Mr. Czaia’s home was destroyed dur-

ing a bombing raid by the 8th Air Force. Wolf has more than 27,000-hours of fl ight time to his credit. A resident of Clinton, Washington, on Whidbey Island, for the past 27-years, he has served as test pilot for the 262 Project at Paine Field, in Everett, Washington.

Unfortunately, these feats could not be re-peated on Sunday, due to the weather. Our patrons’ and re-enactors’ demand for such events at Pungo means we shall return next year, with an even more ambitious program. One should note, however, none of this would be possible without the sincere dedi-cation of the Military Aviation Museum’s staff, the expertise of the mechanics and pi-lots of the Fighter Factory, and the invalu-able assistance of the Museum’s volunteers. Their efforts ensure the continued safety of our events, and enable you, our patrons, to enjoy one of world’s most comprehensive collections of Warbirds.

Summer Camp..Continued from page 2

to the Museum’s own, Fighter Factory.

In the Factory, they will get to see fi rst-hand how these magnifi cent fl ying machines have been beautifully restored to their for-mer glory and can observe and talk with the mechanics who make them fl y again. The fi nal day will be marked with demonstration fl ights of several of the museums restored aircraft, a picnic and games with prizes.

This promises to be quite the experience any young aviator won’t want to miss! The 5 day Camp will be for Children ages 9-14 years old and will be held from 9:00am to 4:00pm, the cost is $200 per child for each week.

www.militaryaviationmuseum.org/summer-camp

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SGerman reenactors in front

of our Junkers Ju-52

united competitors and spectators as they danced around the tarmac.

The 1st place trophy for fastest pull time went to the Army Team “305th PSYOP Company The Anglers”. The 1st place fun-draising trophy went to “Tessie’sTuggers” from Lynnhaven United Methodist Church. Executive Director of Promise Places, Ca-rine McCandless called the event “trium-phant, everything we needed it to be, reach-ing fundraising goals of nearly $20,000 and raising awareness for the needs of the men-tally disabled in Hampton Roads”.

Mark your calendars and save the date – The 2nd Annual Promise Places Plane Pull will be held on Saturday April 27th, 2013! Plan ahead to come join in the fun at The

Military Aviation Museum!

For more information, please visit www.promiseplaces.org

PAGE 4 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

On 17 Mar 2012, the British community of Hampton Roads and friends marked the feats of ‘The Few’ of Fighter Command dur-ing the Battle of Britain, which took place in the summer skies in 1940. The museum is seen as the ideal location to hold the Battle of Britain Ball, an event that is held annually in every Royal Air Force Mess. For the eve-ning, MAM was awash with military uni-forms from the UK and all her allies and the ladies did us proud in their ball gowns as we danced and celebrated the exploits of the RAF during WWII. This was the fi rst of hopefully many mess functions that will be held at MAM. There was a more serious side to the event and a few tears were shed as, during a sunset ceremony and speeches, we also commemorated not only those who were lost during the Battle, but also those of the largely forgotten RAF Coastal Command and the 55,573 aircrew lost from RAF Bomber Command during the battles over occupied Europe. We will remember them.

The fl ag ceremony at the museum

The Battle of BritainBy Master Aircrew Dean ‘Pen”

Penlington MBE RAF

The Tidewater Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (TRAACA) re-turns to the Military Aviation Museum on September 29th for their thirty-eighth annu-al meet. This will be the organization’s fourth show at our facility, bringing hundreds of beautiful antique, classic, and modifi ed vehicles for display. As an added bonus, the $10 per car general admission fee includes access to the Military Aviation Museum, normally $10 per person. The event has two separate sections – Preserving the Past for ‘as-built’ vehicles built before 1987, and Mods and Rods with open registration. There will be food concessions on hand, as well as an automotive fl ea market and car corral.

The show will run from 8 AM until 3PM on Saturday, September 29. Don’t miss this chance to see classic cars and classic aircraft together in one magnifi cent location!

“Wings and Wheels” Antique Car ShowSaturday, September 29

By Jacey Byrne

Promise Places Charity would like to thank the entire staff at the Military Aviation Mu-seum for their generosity in hosting our First Annual Plane Pull Event. On April 21st, 2012 our community showed its support for the mentally disabled, bringing teams of all ages, types and sizes – Army, Navy, Police Dept, Sheriff’s Dept, church youth and par-ent groups, local corporations, friends and families – to play tug of war with “Chuckie” the museums’ WWII B17 Flying Fortress. Many were dressed in custom t-shirts, crazy hats or themed costumes, including a spir-ited squad of ladies that included museum events coordinator Jacey Byrne, all dressed up as “Team Rosie’s Riveters”. The Pin-Up Girls were poised and charmed the crowd, especially the veterans. All of the kids had a ball with the carnival type treats and games, face painters and made-to-order balloon animals. Antique cars and war-era mili-tary aircraft provided an additional level of nostalgia. News crews and radio personali-ties added to the excitement and live music

Museum’s First Annual Plane PullBy Carine McCandless

“Rosie the Riveters” trying to pull the “Chuckie”

The next evolution became known as the “bowser” which is a generic name for a fuel tanker (many airports use this method to-

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 PAGE 5

“The Battle of Midway Anniversary?”“Yep, that shouldn’t be a problem. We can fl y the Wildcat and Avenger into Norfolk and tow them to the carrier.”“Oh, you want them on the carrier?”“We’ll make it happen.”

As it turns out, there really isn’t much that the Fighter Factory main-tainers can’t accomplish. The Mili-tary Aviation Museum turned a rou-tine ferry fl ight into an event with a static display for the Midway cere-mony on the Aircraft Carrier George H.W. Bush. The Battle of Midway was the debut of the TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. Six TBM’s were launched against the Japanese fl eet but only one returned home. Even so, the US had a decisive victory and sank four Japanese Aircraft Car-riers and one Heavy Cruiser to our

The Wildcat on the Bushby Josh Wilson

In the days before electric starters, getting an aircraft started could be hazardous to your health. The process was an intricate ballet be-tween the pilot and a ground crewman. Part of that process involved the dangerous process of the ground crew pulling the propeller through by hand to get the engine started. This process periodically ended in loss of a limb or death to the unfortunate ground crew.

During World War I, Captain B.C. Huck a test pilot for the Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd of Great Britain developed a much safer way of starting the aircraft of that era. What became known as the “Huck Starter”

Huck Starterby Barry Shatzer

was based primarily on a Ford Model T Chassis. A drive shaft was mounted on the truck which could be adjusted both vertically and horizontally. This rig was driven by means of a chain or gear from the truck which was powered by the truck’s engine. A spring-loaded clutch mounted on the end of the drive shaft engaged a fi tting on the propeller. The drive shaft spun the propeller and the aircraft engine started. When the pro-peller’s RPM exceeded the starter, the starter’s clutch retraced the assembly and disengaged from the prop.

single carrier and destroyer lost. This battle was considered the turning point in the war over the Pacifi c. To the Avenger’s credit, the TBM went on to have great success with 98 aerial victories and numerous ships sunk during the war. Even though the Zero was faster and more maneuverable, the Wildcat

downed 1,327 enemy aircraft to losses of only 191, earning the Cat a kill ratio of 6.9 to 1.

Al Lintz, Joe DeCosta and Jon Brawner made the impossible happen by hoisting the FM-2 Wildcat onto the deck of the Bush. It took 45 minutes to tow the aircraft to the pier and then the Wildcat was lifted to the elevator of the carrier via crane. A single attach point, a cement bucket counterweight tied to the tail, some guide ropes, a yellow strap, and 30 eager sailors was all it took to hoist the 7,000 lb cat in the air. Just like WWII.

Once it was nestled inside the hangar bay, it looked like it belonged. I still think it would have saved a lot of time to just land it right on the deck. Maybe next time?

See raw video here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIKrdkM8fWg

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Onit woit r

SewwThe FM-2 Wildcat about to be lifted on the

aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush

The Bowser refueling the Spitfi re

The museum’s Huck Starter is mount-ed on a Model T chassis

1938 Fuel Bowserby Barry Shatzer

The early days of aircraft refueling was very simple: someone got the aircraft and a drum of fuel close to each other and began refueling.

Beginning in World War 1 the situation changed. Larger numbers of planes needed to be readied for sorties and it of-ten needed to be done in a very short pe-riod of time. After a bit of trial and error drums of fuel were loaded on the back of a truck which was driven to each of the aircraft in turn. This process of hauling fuel to an airplane proved to be yet one more temporary step.

day). A large fuel tank was fi tted on a chas-sis. This allowed for fewer fueling steps and in general speeded up the process. An-other advantage was that one person could handle the entire refueling process.

The Museum’s bowser was built in 1938 by the Thompson Bros. (Bilston) Ltd com-pany in Bilston Staffs England and, used at North Weald Airfi eld was used during the Battle of Britain. It has been totally reno-vated and modifi ed to carry 600 gallons of fuel.

PAGE 6 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

In Memoriam

William Bradford Bailey was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on August 20, 1918 and graduated from Duke University, class of 1940. In September of 1940 he faced an important fork in his future career road, and took it. Instead of attending Harvard Business School where he was enrolled, he chose Army Flight Training and graduated in the Class of 41-E at Maxwell Field, Ala-bama. His fi rst assignment was directly

to the 58th Pursuit Squadron, 8th Pursuit Group, Mitchel Field, New York fl ying the P-40. As the Air Corps expanded rap-idly during the following year, he received several assignments of increasing respon-sibility as new units were organized, and

William Bailey in front of the P-51 Mus-tang “Double Trouble”

Colonel William B Bailey, USAFculminated in his posting as Commanding Offi cer of the just-activated 352nd Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group equipped with the P-40. Following six months of training and conversion to the P-47, the Group was rated combat-ready in early August 1943, based in East Anglia, UK and assigned to the 8th Air Force. Colo-nel Bailey led the 352nd in conducting its primary bomber-escort mission, as well

as extensive ground attack opera-tions leading up to, during and fol-lowing D-Day. In mid-July 1944, he assumed the post of Executive Offi cer (Deputy Commander), 353rd Fighter Group, and continued in that capacity until September 1945. In September 1944 the Group con-verted to the P-51D. In his two tours of combat duty, Colonel Bailey fl ew a total of 186 combat missions and 454 hours of combat fl ying of which 32 missions and 129 hours were in the P-51. He is credited with 3 en-emy aircraft destroyed in the air and 3 on the ground. In March 1945, he

was assigned to lead a mission in which 50 P51s were fl own to Sweden in combat-ready condition and delivered to a Swedish Air Force Fighter Group. He and a team of 3 offi cers and 10 enlisted specialists re-mained with this Group for a month, as-

William Bailey sitting in a P-51 Mustang

Clarence Puckett, Jr., USN

Military Aviation Museum docent, Clar-ence Poe Puckett, Jr., age 77, passed away Saturday, June 9, 2012. Born in Henderson, NC, Clarence was a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War. A graduate of Danville Tech, he began a long career as an elec-tronic technician with the FAA. He will be remembered for his passion of aviation, reading WWII fl ight history books and vol-unteering as a docent at the Military Avia-tion Museum. More importantly, he will be remembered more as a loving husband, father and grandfather. Clarence Puckett Jr., a docent at

the Military Aviation Museum

LOCAL VOLUNTEER WEBMASTER IS NEEDED

Do you like airplanes and people? Learn the history of these amaz-ing aircrafts & share stories with others. Contact (757) 721-7767.

sisting them in achieving operational readi-ness status. Colonel Bailey’s decorations included the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Legion of Honor and the Swedish Royal Order of the Sword.

William Bailey passed away on January 14, 2012 at the age of 94. He is survived

by his wife, Virginia Lee Shaw Bailey of Atlanta, Georgia and his son, William Bai-ley, Jr., also of Atlanta.

The Military Aviation’s P-51 D Mustang Double Trouble was painted in honor of Colonel Bailey.

In the months of May and June, six museum volunteers earned their wings for the hours they had volunteered. Those who have made 500 hours, get a ride in one of the museums trainers and for those who make 1,000 hours, a ride in a Warbird is waiting for them. In the past four years, a total of over 66,000 hours have been given by docents and volunteers donating their time for many events

such as air shows, car shows, Fly-ing Proms, summer camps, speaker events, Valentine dances, weddings and many special occasions and rec-ognition dinners.

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3 PAGE 7

Honoring Virginia’s Aviation Octogenarian Pioneers by Linda BurdetteFlying safely for 50 years or fl ying after age 80. Both are signifi cant accomplish-ments and were on honored on June 9th. The Virginia Department of Aviation and the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society co-sponsored the Honoring Virginia’s Aviation Pioneers reception at the Military Aviation Museum. During the reception, the FAA and the Virginia Department of Aviation present-ed 32 awards to deserving pilots. Fourteen airplanes fl ew in for the reception, some of them piloted by the octogenarians receiving awards. The reception was opened by Da-vid Hunt, Director of the Military Aviation Museum, with a word of welcome and by Al Orgain, former Chairman of the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society.

First, the FAA presented four pilots with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award. Originally is-sued in 2003, the award recognizes pilots who have “demonstrated professionalism, skill and avia-tion expertise by maintaining safe

operations for 50 or more years.” Recipients receive a certifi cate and lapel pin and are recognized in the FAA’s Roll of Honor. To appreciate the impact of this award, consider that of the 617,128 active pilots registered with the FAA as of December 31, 2011, only 2,160 are recipients of this award and only 35 list Virginia as their residence.

Prompted by the formation in Virginia of a chapter of the United Flying Octogenar-ians (UFO) the second group of awards was presented by Randall Burdette, Direc-tor of the Virginia Department of Aviation, in honor of 28 Virginians over the age of 80 who are still active pilots. UFO, founded in 1982, is an international, non-profi t or-ganization with over 1,000 members in the United States, Canada, Argentina, Austra-lia, France, and the United Kingdom.

Museum Volunteers get Their Wingsby David Hunt

Hangar Happenings

The recipients were elated with the awards and the fl ying stories abounded! Richard D’Antonio commented that he was accus-tomed to other people getting awards for his fl ying. It seems he had an engine failure some years back and reported “the air traffi c con-troller who talked me down got the Air Traf-fi c Controller of the Year Award. I didn’t get nothing!” Eighty-fi ve year old Hamp Miller reported that he was going to live to be 150 … or die trying. Charles Ware pointed out that airplanes and fl ying are great, but the friends you make in aviation are the most important and most valuable part of it.

But Sara Parmenter, recipient of both awards and an active pilot at age 87, sum-marized the event when she said “some-

one recently told me that the Wright Brothers Mas-ter Pilot Award was much ado about nothing. I don’t agree. This award means that we have been able to pursue our heart’s desire for 50 years and that’s pret-ty special.”

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Many of the planes fl own in by the day’s octogenarian award winners

Volunteer, Joel Hart in the yellow Stearman

Volunteer, Ken Cob in the SNJ-4

inevanog

V l t K C b i th SNJ 4

PAGE 8 VOLUME 5, ISSUE 3

Membership Newsletter for The Military Aviation Museum

1341 Princess Anne RoadVirginia Beach, VA 23457

(757) 721-PROP

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Return service requested

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The Polikarpov PO-2 used by the Night Witches,

Russian women pilots in the Great Patriotic War

Event CalendarAUGUST 6-10 - Summer Camp20-24 - Summer Camp

SEPTEMBER14-15 - NAS Oceana Airshow21-23 - Biplanes and Triplanes WWI Airshow29 - Wings & Wheels

OCTOBER5-7 - Radio Control Airshow6 - Haloes & Heroes20 - Gliders

NOVEMBER3 - Porsche Car Show 11 - Museum Bus Veteran’s Day Parade17 -5k Runway Run23-25 - Trains, Planes and Santa

On May 12, Thomas Dejong and Danielle Englehorn cel-ebrated their marriage with their family and friends in our navy Hangar. It was fi tting, as Thomas is a U.S. Navy Lt. F18 pilot and because he and Danielle met because of the loss of their good friend who was a Thunderbird Stunt Pilot. Both Thomas and Danielle’s grandfathers fought in WWII and they had an array of photos and artifacts from their ser-vice. A fl ag adorned the table that Thomas had brought back from Flying in Afghanistan. His love for the aircraft was ap-parent and he wanted as many of our warbirds in the hangar as possible! The ceremony was quite the uniformed event with the bride and groom saying I do and walking out with an Arch of Sword Ceremony. The SNJ 4 fl ew over them for pictures and everyone enjoyed a reception with a burger bar and milkshakes. As the sun went down, every-one danced the night away to the Glen Bo-swick Swing Band in front of the open han-gar doors and the nose of the B-25.

Wedding Celebrated at Museumby Jacey Byrne

Hangar Happenings..Continued from page 7

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