airsho 2010 — keep `em flying

O CTOBER -N OVEMBER 2010
HONORING AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION THROUGH FLIGHT, EXHIBITION AND REMEMBRANCE
A IR S HO 2010 — K EEP ‘E M F LYING
By Col Bob Thompson
The annual CAF AIRSHO and
home coming was a success in
both weather and the actual air
show. This year each day saw
clear skies, no wind and a large
crowd for Saturday’s performances.
Traveling to Midland, TX
aboard the TBM were, Rob
Duncan PIC and crew of Bob
& Georgia Thompson plus
Dorothy Dutton. The flight
departed GJT on Thursday so
as to be there on Friday when
several events take place. One
is the “Save the Girls” luncheon. This event is to raise
money to support the Nose
Art Collection.
The annual CAF membership
meeting was held in the new
Commemorative Center on
Friday afternoon. There was
some light hearted entertainment when CAF President,
Steve Brown, joined Aaron
Tippin for some Country
Western singing. Aaron Tippin is the CAF’s new national
spokesman and star of the Red
White & Loud tour with B-29
FIFI.
oring American Combat Airman was held for the 14th time
Friday evening. . This great
event honored 7 individuals
plus the “Misty” Forward Air
Controller FACs from the
Vietnam War.
This was followed by the
CAF’s general staff election.
There were 6 openings this
year. The nominating committee had recommended 5 Colonels and since a current GS
member resigned the 6th new
GS member would come from
a floor nomination.
Early Saturday saw our first
revenue ride in the TBM. Returning in time for the pilot
briefing was PIC Rob Duncan
who flew our TBM in the
show both days and an additional 4 revenue rides ending
on Monday before our return
to GJT departure.
If you requested an Absentee
Ballot and by now have not yet
voted I recommend the following Colonels; the slate of
Bell, Buttram, Johnson, Lumpkin and Wilson plus a floor
nominee of Pardon. Be sure to
return the ballot post marked
no later than November 8th
The Navy portion of the show
saw the TBM flying along with
a PV2 Harpoon, SB2C Hellcat,
F4U Corsair, F8F Bearcat and
F6F Hellcat. GO NAVY!!!.
The ACAHOF banquet hon-
Continued - See
AIRSHO 2010 - Page 5
2010 RMWCAF S URVIVOR ’ S P ARTY 12/4/10
The 2010 RMWCAF Survivors Party is planned for
December 4, 2010 at the
CAF Hangar. Stand-by for
more information.
Does anyone know
a great Recruiting
Officer?
I NSIDE THIS ISSUE :
A IR S HOW
S CHEDULE
2
C OLO . S PRINGS
A IR S HOW
2
M AINTENANCE
R EPORT
3
W ING L EADER ’ S
R EPORT
4
COS A IR S HOW
A DDEMDUM
4
S TAFF O FFICERS
5
Wendover, UT
Wings & Wheels
6
HONORING AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION THROUGH FLIGHT, EXHIBITION AND REMEMBRANCE
O CTOBER -N OVEMBER 2010
C OLORADO S PRINGS A IR S HOW 10/2—10/3/10
By Col Bob Thompson
from 13,500 ft we arrived at
COS where the fun began. Our
planned parking spot was taken
by an Air Force F-4 Phantom
that had a blown tire. Sounds
like Steamboat Springs and the
TBM. There were several other
aircraft arriving, it was like a
Chinese fire drill. No one
seamed to know what to do???.
After checking into the hotel we
returned and low and behold
they had a spot for us. It was
right next to the public’s incoming gate. What good luck.
This show on October 2, 3erd
was the last scheduled event for
2010 except for CAF AIRSHO
in Midland. Our plans were to
stop at COS en route to Tucumcari NM then to MAF AIRSHO.
Since TCC cancelled their show
it was over the Rockies on Friday, do the show at COS on
Saturday & Sunday returning on
Sunday evening then plan for a
trip to Midland on Thursday
October 7th. Who’s confused???
After a beautiful flight over the
Rockies seeing all the colors
Frank Carrigan had met us upon
arrival and we were then joined
by Jim & Chrispy Peterson who
drove their unofficial Air Force
S-10 pickup with extra PX
merchandise aboard. During
the show RMW member, Paul
Chaney came by to visit. He
lives in COS and while member
has not been to GJT. Good to
meet you Paul. Thanks for your
support.
Saturday we set up the PX and
wing walk to be fully deluged
all day by customers. The line
at the gate was almost ½ mile
long and it took until noon to
get all into the show!! Sunday
RMW AIR SHOW SCHEDULE - 2010
I NS IDE S TO R Y HE
MONTH
DAYS
LOCATION
June
19
Boulder, CO
Aug
21
Centennial Airport
Aug
28,29
September
SHOW
TBM
CUB
STATUS
███
Completed
Morgan Adams
███
Cancelled
Jeffco, Broomfield, CO
Colorado Sport
███
Completed
3,5
Steamboat Springs, CO
Wild West Air Fest
███
September
11
Akron, CO
NREE
███
September
11
Montrose, CO
MTJ Open House
September
25
Wendover, UT
Wings and Wheels
███
Completed
October
2,3
Colorado Springs
In Their Honor AS
███
Completed
October
6
Tucumcari, NM
Rotary Club AS
███
Cancelled
October
8,10
Midland, TX
AirSho 2010
███
Completed
October
16,17
El Paso, TX
Amigo Air Show
███
Cancelled
November
6
Grand Junction, CO
Veteran Parade
███
Confirmed
███
Completed
Completed
███
Completed
A DL I NE
TBM SIC Col Bob
Thompson does
“Crowd Control” in
Colorado Springs.
Photo by Col Dorothy Dutton.
Wal*Mart should
get “Greeter”
training from the
RMWCAF
“Greeter” - Col Jim Peterson
Photo by Col Dorothy Dutton.
P AGE 2
was a repeat and both days were
the largest crowds this event has
seen. Needless to say we did
very well on tours and most
importantly PX sales. The
Petersons saved the day with
their unofficial S-10 loaded with
goodies.
After the show on Sunday the
Chinese fire drill once again
became evident as we tried to
depart. Blocked access out, no
tug available with tow bar etc.
We finally folded the wings and
did find a tug to move us between the broken F-4 Phantom
and a PV2 Harpoon. Spreading
the TBM wings was observed by
the modern military with awe.
“Jets are for Kids”
The flight crew over and back
was Rob Duncan PIC, Dorothy
Dutton Bilge Master and Bob
Thompson SIC. The flight
situation of having two TBM
pilots aboard can be both exasperating and funny. Which way
to go?? , what are your power
settings??, No I do not want to
fly as I can not see??. Was that
the wheels and flaps being deployed??. OK, OK I will shut
up on final approach. Yes it was
good landing!!.
Our THANKS to Bill Marvel,
Floyd Suits and Don Coleman
who met us at the hangar and
put the bird back in the roost.
See more about this Air Show on
page 4.
O CTOBER -N OVEMBER 2010
HONORING AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION THROUGH FLIGHT, EXHIBITION AND REMEMBRANCE
P AGE 3
M AINTENANCE R EPORT — T HE W INTER A GENDA
By Col Bill Marvel
Maintenance Officer
As most of you know, the
TBM and Cub have completed a very successful air
show season, bringing into
the CAF a substantial infusion of funds. Part of that
money was used to repair the
damage incurred by both
aircraft at Steamboat. That
work is complete and each
aircraft has flown many
flights since.
The Cub requires little in the
way of maintenance but the
TBM is another matter. Due
to its age, complexity and
size, it simply creates maintenance demands like a magnet
attracts iron. Fortunately,
this winter’s schedule is for
the most part a series of simple and routine tasks that just
about any of our members
can complete with a bit of
help and supervision.
Items on the schedule include the following:
There are several other items
also but this gives you the
flavor of what is going to
occur this (hopefully!) mild
winter.
Expanding on one of the
above items, we have decided
to build up a spare main
wheel and tire assembly and
to rotate the main wheels
every year. This will allow
us to remove one wheel a
year to have an eddy current
check performed on it to be
sure that no cracks are developing in this high stress component. In essence the right
main will go to the left main,
the left main will come off
for the eddy current check
and the spare will go onto the
right main. This means that
each main tire and wheel
assembly will be removed
from flight status every two
years for inspection. After
the problem at Steamboat,
Col Rob Duncan acquired
two new (1956 vintage but
still in the original box)
wheels for the aircraft. I just
took delivery of a new tire
($850) and a new tube for it
($225), so this is not inexpensive. However, our plan will
result in a tested spare being
available at all times and no
tire/wheel assembly flying
for more than two years prior
to an inspection off the aircraft.
One potentially major item
was brought up in the most
recent staff meeting. Col
Bob Thompson noted that
there will most likely be an
expanded air show season
next year and wondered if
this would be a good time to
perform a top overhaul on the
engine. FYI, a top overhaul
means leaving the engine on
the aircraft but removing all
14 cylinders to be reworked
and replaced. After some
discussion, we concluded that
a prudent course of action
would be to bring in one or
two TBM engine experts for
a two or three day stay in
Grand Junction. Working
with us, they could do both a
compression and borescope
inspection of every cylinder
1. Replacing the rubber
cockpit, bomb bay and cowling seals
2. Gluing down the raised
edges on some of the fabric
which covers control surfaces
3. Replacing a damaged hydraulic line in the bomb bay
door circuit
4. Replacing some missing
Dzus fasteners on gun bay
doors and on the cowling
5. Building up a new main
tire and wheel assembly to
have as a spare
6. Installing radio control
heads and gun sight for more
realism
The new tire, tube and wheel
that will be built up as a spare.
through the exhaust ports as
a means of evaluating the
engine. Along the way they
could answer questions we
have about some aspects of
the engine and thereby increase our own knowledge in
the process. This plan will
likely be completed sometime during the winter
months.
All in all, the TBM is in fine
shape and will require only
some very basic maintenance
off season. I say this because it is a great opportunity for those of you who
would like to work on the
plane but fear your skills are
not up to it. Rest assured
that is not the case. The
work needed is not at all
difficult. Doing it will not
only increase your skill level
but also will make you a
better contributor to the organization. We’d appreciate
your participation!
Note the gouge on the bottom of this
hydraulic system tube. This is in the
bomb bay actuation circuit and will be
replaced during winter maintenance.
O CTOBER -N OVEMBER 2010
HONORING AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION THROUGH FLIGHT, EXHIBITION AND REMEMBRANCE
P AGE 4
Primary Business Address
PO Box 4125
Grand Junction, CO 81502
Propwash Gazette Editor
Col Tom Howe
Phone: 970-872-7373
Fax: 970-872-7474
Email: [email protected]
RMWCAF on the Web
www.rmwcaf.org
“Switch On” CAF AirSho 2010
See more AirSho 2010 Photos - go to www.rmwcaf.com
“KEEP 'EM FLYING"
COS Air Show Report Addendum
By Col Rob Duncan
W ING L EADER ’ S R EPORT
Two New CAF /RMW Members
By Col Bob Thompson
We welcome two new members to both the CAF and
RMW
Col Donna Rawlings joined
at our recent open house
after a ride in the TBM. Her
interest in aviation comes
from working at the Jet Center in Colorado Springs before moving to GJT in 1966.
Her interests, beside aircraft
are golf, reading, playing a
guitar and writing. She is
married to Rodger, a financial planner. We expect to
see more of Donna as she
becomes active in the RMW.
Dorothy will be her mentor.
Col Bob Caskey was recruited by Bill Marvel as
they together are building a
Zenith 801 four place home
built. Bob was a Medic in
the Air Force then spent 30
years with the Colorado Department of Wildlife here on
the Western Slope. He retired as assistant to the State
Director of CDOW. He is
married to Sandra and enjoys
(or is frustrated by) local
politics. Bob is a Private
Pilot with an Instrument
Rating and looks forward to
being more involved with
the RMW. We are sure Bill
Marvel has plans for Bob
with help on the TBM.
One notable item was the
rare appearance of THREE
P-47's at the event and their
formation flyover. Sadly
my camera battery was
dead to capture this
wonderful sight, much less
the musical rumble of three
R-2800's. This was the
direct result of holding a
reunion of the
365th Fighter Group, the
"Hell Hawks" who flew
close support missions in
WWII. These 80+ year old
men, including ground
crew members, came out
with had some great stories
to share.
Our after show refreshments were done at "The
Airplane" restaurant, built
from a complete C-97
"Stratofreighter". We took
turns in its pilot seat although the original yoke
and engine controls
were ineffective. We could
not locate the landing gear
lever but a visual check confirmed "down and welded".
The
attached drinking bar was
filled with hundreds of aircraft models, photos, aviation memorabilia, and its
four combat flight simulators
were always in use by other
airs how pilots. The food
was good too!
Although our PX and Wing
walk sales were great, no
revenue rides were sold so
we were able to come home
on Sunday
afternoon after the air show
closed. There was a lengthy
SNAFU in getting our TBM
tugged out from its parking
position
which was facilitated by a
wing fold. Nothing broke
and the bees stayed away
from Dorothy.
O CTOBER -N OVEMBER 2010
HONORING AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION THROUGH FLIGHT, EXHIBITION AND REMEMBRANCE
RMWCAF STAFF OFFICERS
Wing Leader
Bob Thompson
Executive Officer
Bruce Verstraete
Finance Officer
James Thompson
Adjutant
Jerry McDonough
Operations Officer
Rob (Dunc) Duncan
Maintenance Off.
William (Bill) Marvel
Museum & Mess Sergeant
Dorothy Dutton
Safety Officer
Ken Brownlee
Judge Advocate
Gerald Feather
Public Information Officers
Collin Fay &
Denis Godfrey
PX Officer
Georgia Thompson
Newsletter Editor
Tom Howe
TBM Aircraft Coordinator
Bob Thompson
Cub Aircraft Coordinator
Charlie Huff
Facilities Managter
Fred Nelson
Facilities Rental Manager
Bruce Verstraete
Recruiting Officer
* VACANT *
AIRSHO 2010
Continued from page 1
The show was a pretty standard
CAF AIRSHO with a mixture
of Warbirds, Modern Military ,
Flip Flopper FINA Extra, Super
Salto Sailplane and the major
paid act of “Pirated Skies” . The
Night Show saw fantastic performances by Matt Younkin’s,
Beech-18 and the jet powered
Super Salto sailplane.
One major attraction was the
return of B-29 FIFI. She not
only flew in the show doing a
great photo pass but was selling
rides all weekend to an enthusiastic fortunate few. The return
of B-17 Texas Raiders and PBJ
(B-25) Devil Dog was another
highlight of the show.
A future issue of Dispatch will
cover more about our annual
AIRSHO, one that you must
attend. Plan now to attend next
year. It’s always the 2nd weekend of October.
P AGE 5
AirSho work
never ends.
Col Bob
Goubitz works
to remove that
oily grime that
requires hours
of ground crew
effort to control
And while Col
Goubitz works,
the rest of the
Crew……..
See more AirSho
2010 photos at
www.rmwcaf.com
Additional comments are;
Good to see RMW member Col
Bob Goubitz who cleaned the
TBM and assisted in the Rides
Program. . Georgia and Dorothy did their finest in supplying
Power Aid and water to flight
crews. They loved the modern
military guys. Army / Marine/
Navy rein actors were in force
and added to the show. The
free food on Sunday’s Survivors
Party was damn good, as were
the Margaritas in the Gunfighter
Pub. Jet Noise from F-15’s F18’s and F-16’s are the” Sound
of Freedom” but noise and
smoke from a radial engine is
what emotions are made of,
there was lots of that at AIRSHO.
The return flight of the TBM
and crew was perfect. It must
have been in honor of Dorothy’s
last planned flight in her beloved TBM Avenger. Tom on
the port wing, Dorothy in the
bilge on a flight over the fall
colors of Colorado.
FIFI Lives — Again!
A Near Miss by the Blastards
Photo by Devin Bailey
O CTOBER -N OVEMBER 2010
HONORING AMERICAN MILITARY AVIATION THROUGH FLIGHT, EXHIBITION AND REMEMBRANCE
2010 W ENDOVER , U TAH - W INGS
Wendover Wings & Wheels Flight Line - 2010
The Wendover 2010 TBM Crew
We were met on landing at Wendover by a friend of
Matt McNamara who piloted the TBM, and his sons
and a nephew. The boys were excited to see the
TBM and went to work wiping oil. They were great
and enjoyed helping. The TBM did not have a lot of
oil so the chore was not too difficult, but it was great
to see these young boys working and doing such a
good job. Maybe we met some young boys who will
one day fly a WWII aircraft or one from one of the
other conflicts in which the US has been involved,
thus keeping the Commemorative Air Force alive
and well.
Col Dorothy Dutton
AND
P AGE 6
W HEELS
It MUST be the uniform!
When the flying
stops, the engine roar subsides, the
crowds leave,
the sun begins
to set—then the
real heroes of
Warbird air
shows everywhere rest in
silence—but not
alone.
THIS SPACE AVAILABLE
For more Photos taken by
RMWCAF Cols
Please send your photos
To Tom Howe - Propwash Editor
[email protected]