DATE: 1 MAY 2007
TO: AAHF MEMBERS, PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS, DONORS ETC.
SUBJECT: SKY SOLDIERS/ARMY AVIATION HERITAGE FOUNDATION (AAHF) NEWS BRIEF Vol 07-09
PURPOSE: To Periodically Inform the Membership of the Activities of the Organization
I. MAINTENANCE:We are still working on Huey 426 - help is needed for those who have time. Inspections are always due on any of the aircraft, come watch, lend a hand, maybe even learn something new.
II NEAR TERM EVENT SCHEDULE (MAY):DATE LOCATION PURPOSE May 4-6 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Air show
May 8 Atlanta, GA AAAA Convention
May 19 Ft. Campbell, KY Week of Eagles
III. AAHF COORDINATING EVENTS (Not Listed Above):DATE TIME PURPOSE
2 Jun 07 0930 Monthly Meeting
21 Jul 07 0930 Monthly Meeting
18 Aug 07 0930 Monthly Meeting
15 Sep 07 0930 Monthly Meeting
20 Oct 07 0930 Monthly Meeting
8 Dec 07 TBA Christmas Party
IV. ADDITIONS/DELETIONS:
N/A
V. RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Louisville, KY Thunder Over Louisville
VI. ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGES:(1) Here is a small write up on the Louisville show from a Bou Crew perspective by Lee Maynard
LOUISVILLE, home of Bourbon, Bats, and Horse Racing, was our most recent stop on the air show circuit. Every year a million or so locals gather around the river banks of two states to take in Thunder over Louisville, an all day affair consisting of an air show, the largest fireworks display in the US, and a food festival offering just about anything you can imagine on a stick!
The Bou Crew arrived into KLOU around 1:00 PM on Thursday. We fought lowering ceilings and rising terrain all the way to our destination in an effort to keep our precious cargo of hard working volunteers from freezing by taking the low road. Blankets and jackets were a necessity as the freezing level was only 4,000 feet.
Upon landing, we attempted to reverse the props and found that our number one engine had other ideas and parked itself in the feathered position. We came to a stop on the runway amidst a long stream of expletives (some of which were even new to me) from Papa Bou and Don Oglesby. After a single engine taxi, we tied the aircraft down and the group raced into the FBO to gather around the fireplace. The outside air tempature was an amazingly low 39 degrees!
The number one prop was still stuck in the feather position and no amount of coaxing would pull it back into position. We were lucky to have Glenn Carr with us as we gathered for an evening engineering summit to discuss possible reasons and solutions to our predicament. After several hours (and beers) we decided that the best thing to do would be to start the engine and see what happens. I heard somewhere that this is how they do it at NASA, so I figured it would be OK for us. The next morning we started the engine, exercised the prop levers, pushed the feather buttons and did a little dance to the propeller gods, all to no avail. Just as the expletives were about to make their second appearance we pulled the prop into reverse. This worked as a sort of 1960's version of rebooting the software because everything came back on line. The prop was now working as advertised and we all had a ride home waiting for us on Sunday.
The Bou was not on display during this show but that did not stop the town folk from coming by to take a look. Glenn entertained over a hundred people with his war stories and generally charming demeanor as the rest of us headed off in separate directions.
I caught a lift on a Huey down to the ride site where Ken Gilliam and his staff were introducing Louisville to the whop, whop, whop of the Huey ride program. He put me to work immediately and I found myself six hours later sunburned and exhausted. The work this group does to make this ride program successful is truly amazing. From the ladies in the tent to the volunteers we had assisting with loading, everyone pitched in and we managed numerous loads on a beautiful day!
I truly believe that the Huey ride program is the Foundation's cornerstone for connecting the local air show audience with the history of Army aviation through an amazing interactive experience. It allows the foundation to accomplish its original mission of educating and connecting with the public and at the same time dovetails nicely with the recruiting effort of our Cobra demonstration team. What better way to show Mom and Dad the value of military service than to introduce them to the pilots and crew who have gone before. Their little Johnny is in good hands (Did I just type that?).
Saturday's ride program was moved to an undisclosed location, or so it seemed, and the lift count reflected that. Everyone performed as expected and another day of safe flights was under the belt. I'll leave the golf cart story for someone else to tell but I assure you that you won't want to miss it!
Sunday morning arrived and we departed Louisville for Tara. The Bou Crew unloaded and secured 149 for the evening. The next Bou event is scheduled in two weeks where she will be flown during the Quad A Convention in Atlanta.
(2) Membership Dues by Shanda Elkin To all members I'm way behind in sending out renewal invoices, you know when you joined feel free to send in your $36 membership renewal to 506 Speedway Blvd, Hampton, GA 30228 - Attn: Shanda - I will take care of it from there. Thank you for your help.
(3) News Letter Input by Shanda ElkinI'm looking for folks who would like to write stories, articles, or take pictures to get the quarterly newsletter back up and running. Just send your ideas, stories, etc to me and I will get things rolling again.
(4) Check out this web page for news of the Punta Gorda Air Show.
http://www.floridaairshow.com/
Another site is:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/NEWS/703250321/-1/Help0530
(5) Membership News: If you have made changes to your contact information, email address, or simply have news or questions, send to our new email address:
membership@armyav.org. Don't forget that membership applications, as well as a link to our new email address, are available online at
www.armyav.org .
(6) If you have constructive criticism or suggestions for improvement to the news brief, you can also contact
membership@armyav.org.
(7) Photo Locations:
a. For the Foundation's Photobucket site, go to this link:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v202/armyav/. If this direct link will not work, you can access the site at
www.photobucket.com
and the Foundation album is "armyav". Some folks have had trouble in getting into the album. The block to enter the Album name of "armyav" is in the upper RIGHT corner that is the search block. DO NOT use the area that requests a password. No password is needed to view our photos.
b. There is another Photobucket site with pictures of the Foundation. Go to:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v700/elp999/SkySoldiers/?start=all Thanks to Jack McCormick and Ed Bearden, we now know this was our Macon show.
c. In addition, there is another very interesting photo site to visit.
http://sunbirdphotos.com/ Once there, navigate to the following area:
all galleries >> Air Show Stock Photo Galleries (13 Air Shows plus ALA Miami 2003 Aircraft Static Display) >> 2006 Blue Angels Homecoming 60th Anniversary Air Show at NAS Pensacola Stock Photos Gallery.
Some great shots of our Cobras at the Pensacola NAS Airshow. > Army Aviation
FUTURE AIR SHOW SCHEDULE
DATE LOCATION SHOW NAME
Oct 20-21 Augusta, GA Boshears Skyfest 2 Hueys
FUTURE SKYSOLDIERS DEMONSTRATION TEAM SCHEDULEDATE LOCATION EVENT
Jun 15-17 Pittsburgh, PA air show
Jul 20-22 Selfridge ARB, MI air show
Aug 24-26 Indianapolis, IN air show
Aug 31-Sep 3 Cleveland, OH air show