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Dedicated toAlaskan Aviation Pioneers

OO UU RR TT II MM EEFAA ALASKAN REGION

RETIRED EMPLOYEE PUBLICATION

Charlie Muhs - Editor

Dottye Muhs - Assistant Editor Volume May 2009

Editor’s Notes

Have you ever wondered - who does all the

work in getting out the printed copy of Our Time

and keeping the addresses up-to-date and serving as

the FAA’s contact point for Retiree issues. Well, it

is Karen Williams in the Regional Office,

Personnel Division. Without her support, dedication

to the project and extra workload we would be in a

world of hurt in trying to Our Time to press. But, it

doesn't stop there. The good folks in the Printing

Office also play a major role in printing, collating and

mailing the Our Time. Sometimes, we forget to stop

what we are doing and say thanks to the people who

work so hard for us. So when you get this issue, say a

well earned Thank You to Karen and all of the good

people who make this happen.

~~~~

I don’t know about you, but time seems to be

moving faster than it did when I worked! The days,

weeks and months disappear quicker than this months

pay check; and that is fast.fast.By the time you read this, Dottye and I will

be back in Alaska; Soldotna to be exact. We always

love going ‘home’ - but, flying is becoming a hassle.

I have had my shoes off in an Airport Terminal so

many times, I have been thinking about becoming a

Hare Krishner!

The big ticket item this winter was our return

to Hawaii in March to celebrate our 25th Wedding

Anniversary. Who would have bet Dottye could last

this long - with me! Actually, this July will mark 35

years together. Hard to believe. It has been a great

life.

I remember one time I was playing golf in

Green Valley with Bill Dalton (former ATD Manager)

Annual Cake & CoffeeFriday, June 26, 2009

9:00am ~ 11:00amFederal Building~Room 1

Jim Walton will host the get together.

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and he said, “We had it when it was good.” referring

to our time in Alaska and the FAA. We sure did Bill.

I hear often from George “K.” (95) He is still

living on Old Harbor Road with son Kenny. Sigrid

passed away in 2007. *** Herb Stanley (91) and I

talk regularly. Herb and daughter Sandy still make

the trip to Alaska each summer in their motorhome.

Herb hears from Mary Nelson regularly. Mary still

lives in Anchorage. *** Carl Bailey keeps in touch.

Carl underwent back surgery a couple months ago

and is recouping slowly. *** I hear from Bob

Harik. He has become an avid fly fisherman (have

you ever known Bob to do something half-way?). He

and Pat are doing great. Pat has had a couple hip

replacements; which were necessary to keep up with

Bob I would guess. Daughter, Stephanie is a nurse at

a near-by hospital.

Now I am feeling old.

I did talk to Al Bruck once this winter. He is doing

well - still playing Golf. Lois has had some tough

times but still manages to keep Al on his toes. ****

Dick Forsgren (87) underwent open heart surgery

last fall. I am sad to report, he has not done well

since then. The last I heard, he is in a Home in

Wasilla. *** On the other hand, Dave Simpson

(83) is doing very well after similar surgery last

summer. *** As you might note, Jim Vrooman’s

wife Beth passed away last winter. Jim has relocated

to Wasilla where their daughter lives. *** Bob &

Lori Drewes were in the Phoenix area for a quick

visit. We were suppose to get together for dinner,

but schedules just did not work out. We look

forward to seeing them in Soldotna.

A couple times each winter, I speak with

Jane May. She still splits her time between Parker,

AZ and Las Vegas where her daughter, grand-child

and son live. Jane still has her motorhome and a

house in Vegas. She still is an avid Atlanta Braves fan

and we love to chide each other; I remain a loyal

Yankee fan - it takes a real man to admit that!

The other day I talked to Ernie Fleece

about our upcoming Cake and Coffee. Ernie is still

working and obviously enjoying that.

It’s Official! Bob Lewis is the Regional

Administrator. Congratulations Bob.

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Where in the World is. . . . .Our Time has received a couple request in

search of former FAAers/Alaskans. If you know how

to contact these individuals, let us know @

rtimeak@cox.net.

The first is John Warren. He was a pilot

and lived on Woody Island in 1955-1958. He worked

for Fish and Game and then moved to Kodiak and

flew for Bob Hall.

A couple of former FAAers are trying to

locate Karen Marshal. Karen worked for Carl

Bailey in the Security Division.

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Charlie, I'd like to contact some of the old

gang if their email is registered with you. I lost my

sign on name and password to access the Our Time

email list.

You may recall, I retired Jan 1 1997 and did

missionary work for my church in

Germany, Switzerland, Dallas and Washington D.C.

My wife Iona passed away in 2002. I have remarried

and I and my wonderful bride of six years live in

Kanab, Utah. We spend our time in service to the

church and keeping track of 28 grandchildren, 6 great

grandchildren and our nine living children in Utah,

Oklahoma and Texas. I have three grandchildren still

Flight Standards Weekly Luncheon.Many of you are aware every Thursday

(11:00am) Flight Standards retirees, as well as otherFAAers, got together for Lunch at the Casa GrandeRestaurant on Benson Blvd. - This restaurant hasclosed.

The weekly luncheons have been moved to:the Cafe Croissant located at 3002 Spenard Road.

For more details you can contact MarcStellar @ (907) 248-1180.

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in Anchorage. Their father was killed in the Army in

1989.

I keep in touch with Bob Lewis occasionally.

Lost track of Chuck Moody and Jim Hugh's. Best to

you and Dottye. Neil Reese

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I'm Roger McDonald, son of Ralph

McDonald and I retired from the FAA, as supervisor

at Ketchikan FSS, on September 30, 2008 after 35

years total service, 29 here in soggy Ketchikan.

Living here in Ketchikan with my wife Gwen. She is

a special needs preschool teacher with a few more

years 'til her own retirement. I've been working a

little on the house, doing a lot of the cooking for us

and have been substitute teaching at the elementary

school where Gwen works. Take care and best

wishes for the new year. Roger McDonald

{Good to hear from you Roger. Hope this finds your Dad well.

It has been a long time since we were in King Salmon - forty

years or more.}

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Hi Charlie, good to know you're still with

us. Wow it has been a while hasn't it? I was sure sad

to see that ken Peavyhouse passed. he is why I took

the air traffic test when I was out in cold bay

photographing brown bears. he and his wife are some

of the finest people I’ve ever been lucky enough to

meet. I hope this finds you well, I’m doing great here

in the Ozarks of mo. hope to get up to Alaska next

fall to do some photography and backpacking. take

care guy, I would like to hear from any of the old

gang that I worked with in my 27 years with the

FAA, anyone out there? Jack w. Thompson,

a3skywarrior@windstream.net

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ANOTHER WAY TO DETERMINE A STROKE

Tom Carter sent us this one. I have two

teen age grand children staying with me for a while.

I wanted something for them to remember this

information by so I used SWEET TOMATO,

ROTTEN TOMATO. Smile, Talk, Raise Arms, and

Tongue.

~~~~

{The following story is Reprinted}

ALASKA STAR

Serving Eagle River, Chugiak and Eklutna

January 22, 2009

Trails patron Dick Griffith (center) picks a nameduring a drawing at the Eagle River Nature CenterSunday. Those who made a contribution to the naturecenter in response to the Griffith Challenge wereentered into the drawing. In the fall Griffith agreed tomatch up to $5,000 in donations; the nature centerreceived donations to meet the full amount. Thedrawing's winner will get to release a rehabilitatedeagle back into the wild.

DON'T JUST SURVIVE:LIVE AND THRIVE

Editorial By Amy Schenckhttp://www.alaskastar.com/

On Sunday local legend and avid out- the

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world. Outdoors man Dick GrIffith presented a

SlideShow at the Eagle River Nature Center. The

SlideShow covered his decades of adventures,

mishaps and triumphs while on Arctic expeditions -

expeditions that lead him from Western While we

may not all aspire to such Alaska to Eastern Canada

and innumerable places in between.

A noticeable awe settled over the group as

Griffith moved from one slide to the next, telling

awesome, outrageous stories in all to matter-of-fact

kind of way.

Griffith traversed the Brooks Range on foot,

had a polar bear swipe his tent, fought off a fox,

experience serve frost bite, survived while trekking

by hunting caribou for food and interacted with

Alaska Natives before the days of snow machines -

just to mention a few of the stories he shared, and

not to mention any of his many other excursions

throughout the world.

At 80-something years young, Griffith is full

of vigor and wit. He recently returned home to

Alaska from a trip down the Grand Canyon and

carries himself with decided ease.

When someone asked Griffith at the end of

the presentation why "he did it," he responded that

he didn't really know.

I suspect he did it because it's what made him

feel happy and alive. And I also suspect his current

youthful state has everything to do with leading a life

full of invigorating moments.

Each of us is driven by something. Whatever

it is, we can use Griffith's life as an example for how

to pursue it, excel at it and thrive in our experiences.

(Dick worked as an Engineer in the Airports Division before his

retirement. Our Time has published stories earlier chronicling

his challenges with nature in years past. Our Time Editor)

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SHORT HISTORY OF THE FAADUNCAN CANAL, INDIAN POINT

RANGE IN SE ALASKA.

Much of this is my memory so some of the factsare estimates.

Dave Zeller, Email: davezeller@hotmail.com

At the start of WWII there was an immediateneed for the CAA (now FAA) to provide aviation LowFrequency Range facilities to and throughout Alaska tofacilitate the buildup of the Military Defense Wareffort. Duncan Canal was selected as one of theseveral sites along the coast of Southeast Alaska on theairway between Seattle and Anchorage. Constructionwas done in 1941 under the supervision of "Red"Wilkins, FAA General Engineer. Mr. Wilkins laterbecame the FAA Area Manager for the Juneau areaand consequently moved on to be the FAA SectorManager at Boeing Field in Seattle. Repeatercommunication sites were also constructed at NarrowPoint and Sunset Cove to connect the Annette,Duncan, and Juneau facilities.

At the time Duncan was a one man electronictechnician location living in the Low Frequency Rangebuilding, which included one bedroom, plus a bunkroom for living quarters. In the summer of 1955 mybrother-in-law Carl Hendries and my sister Ann, witha 6 month old child, Billy, obtained the technicianposition at Duncan, moving from Milwaukee,Wisconsin.

Duncan is a remote site with access only byamphibian aircraft and/or boat located some 12 airmiles due west of Petersburg, Alaska. (30 miles byboat). At the same time I was completing a 15 monthtour with the Navy at Adak in the Aleutian Islands. InSeptember I received my discharge in Seattle and metmy father from Wisconsin. We flew to Duncan tovisit the Hendries as well as hunt and fish.

I returned again with my father for anothermonth long vacation in 1957. My father, beingretired, returned in the fall for an extended vacationevery year while the Hendries were at Duncan.During the next ten years sister Ann produced twoadditional children, Bryan and Chrisy. Ann traveled toAnchorage to stay with her sister Phyllis and husbandPaul. And Bryan was born in May of 1959. At thetime Paul was a FAA employee at Merrill field. In

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November of 1960 Chrisy was born in Sitka as Annstayed with friends.

In 1959/60 the Air Force Ballistic MissileEarly Warning System (BMEWS) White Alice sitewas constructed directly across the canal on top of a2,500 foot mountain. During this same time periodthe FAA constructed a type 61 dwelling for thetechnician and a second employee was add to resumethe Plant maintenance duties at the station. Ann andCarl moved into the spacious new dwelling and RayBoggs and his wife moved into the Range dwelling.Prior to this arraignment all plant support wasprovided to Duncan routinely by a traveling boatcrew consisting of Gordon Meyer, Foreman andpilot, mechanics, George Bryson, Emory Hunter,and sometimes Dudley Clark.

During this same time period VOR's wereconstructed throughout Alaska by the FAA whichwould in the next 20 years replace the Rangefacilities. The nearest VOR was built at Level Island,some 15 miles to the south in Sumner Straight. Thecommunication link to Annette and Juneau was nowrouted through the nearby White Alice systemcausing the decommissioning of Narrow Point andSunset Cove facilities. An added bonus was atelephone link to Petersburg which not onlybenefitted the FAA site but useful to passingfishermen, nearby mining and logging operations.Home schooling became too much of a burdencausing the Hendries to move to Annette in 1965.

In 1969, I and my wife Lois, obtained thePlant maintenance position at Duncan coming fromthe Corps of Engineers in North Dakota and movedinto the Range building living quarters. Again myDad returned for his annual hunting and fishing trips.Throughout the years wonderful friendships,cooperation and relations were made with the WhiteAlice folks by everyone who ever worked at theRange site. Due to Lois's health problems we left thestation after two years and moved to Juneau where Ibecame the FAA electrician at the Juneau Airport.

After some 39 years of operation the Rangewas decommissioned in 1980 and about this sametime Satellite communications replaced the WhiteAlice site and it was also decommissioned. After theFAA removed all the buildings and equipment in1982 one can only guess nature has overtaken thecleared 3 ½ acres with new growth timber.

In the early years Mr. Wilkins and FAAAlaskan Administrator Al Hulen constructed a forest

permit hunting and fishing cabin along the beach ½mile south of the Range site. They utilized it every falland became good friends with Carl, Ann and Dad asthey would walk up the beach to enjoy a home cookedmeal, take a shower, and tell lies with my Dad. Theyalso became friends with Lois and myself during ourtwo year stay at Duncan. I can recall meeting bothmen during one of my visits in the late 50's as the FAAthen had a Grumman Goose aircraft and they hadspent a few days at the station on official business. Mr.Hulen later became the FAA Administer for Europestationed in Belgium.

Several of the White Alice personnel also hadconstructed forest service permit cabins on the beachat the base of the road leading to the mountain topsite. In the fall 1971 Gordon Lee, White Alicemechanic, allowed me the use of his cabin. Mybrother and sister-in-law traveled from Wisconsin fora month long fishing trip. We repeated the vacationagain in the fall of 1973.

The Level Island VOR facility remains todayin 2009 but no doubt soon to be replaced by perhapsGPS type equipment. Dad, Carl, Ann, and Lois haveall passed on. I and the Hendries children all that isleft of my old Indian Point family. Dave Zeller

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OOLDESTLDEST BBOEINGOEING AAIRLINERIRLINER

IINN FFLYINGLYING CCONDITIONONDITION

The airplane is in Spokane, WA and is the oldestflying Boeing in the World.

After 8 years of repair and rebuilding and8,000 hours of toil the Boeing 40C rolled out lastwinter as a finished airplane. They had to wait a fewweeks for the snow to melt to fly this baby. Theyreceived their Standard Airworthiness Certificate fromthe FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuelflow tests for the first of the taxi tests.

Facts for the Boeing 40 Project:

221½ gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yardsof 102 ceconite fabric. 12 gallons of poly urethanepaint for the sheet metal. The wings have 33,000individual parts in them. The airplane weighs 4080

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lbs empty, has a gross weight of 6075 lbs. It is 34 ftlong and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44½ feet.

Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and powerloading is 10 pounds per HP. It should cruise at 115mph using 28 GPH, and 32 GPH at 120 mph. Itcarries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks.

350 - 2 inch brushes were used to apply 6gallons of West Systems epoxy, and 181 rolls ofpaper towels for cleanup.

There were a total of 62 volunteers whoworked on the project to some degree. 21 of thevolunteers did a significant amount of work, and 9 ofthe volunteers worked continuously during the 8 yearproject.

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Since the last issue of OUR TIME,

we have learned the following friends and co-workers have passed away.

John Bassler, 85, former Air Traffic Manager and Division Specialist passed away January 31, 2009, whilevacationing in Hawaii. John worked in the Air Traffic Division at the time of his retirement. Prior to that he wasthe Manager of the Anchorage FSS.

Ronald F. DeGarmo, 78, former Anchorage Center Assistant Manager and Regional Office Specialist died Feb.20, 2009, at his home in Wasilla of natural causes. In 1949, he went to work for the CAA (now FAA). Aftertraining in Oklahoma City, he returned to Alaska to work as an air traffic controller in Anchorage. In 1951, hetransferred to Goodland, Kansas. Ron continued his career with the FAA working in Muskegon, Mich., Kansas City,Oklahoma City, Atlantic City, N.J., Longmont, Colo., and back to Anchorage from 1977-1982 as the assistantmanager of Anchorage Center. He transferred to the Seattle Regional Office where he retired in December 1982.In 1986 he returned to Anchorage Center to manage the contract training program for SRSA for two years and againin 1991 to manage a Russian Controller English program for SRSA.

Thomas C. Dolan, 87, Former Flight Standards Inspector died April 3, 2009, peacefully in his sleep at home.Tom also worked for Reeve Airlines after leaving the FAA.

William "Nic"Nicolo, 88, Former Air Traffic Specialist died of cancer Nov. 27, 2008, at home in Bend, Ore.He joined the CAA at Kotzebue and later worked as a relief operator for the CAA/FAA in many areas of Alaska.

Marcelle Gloria Phillips, 88, former Logistics Specialist, died Feb. 3, 2009, at Providence Alaska MedicalCenter. During the war, Marcelle worked for Boeing, inspecting aircraft. She later worked in the Elmendorf AirForce Base parachute shop and was a material specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration for many years.During her career at FAA in Anchorage, she was the Federal Women's Program coordinator for Alaska; she servedas chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee at the beginning of this movement. "Marcellewas proud to also be an EEO counselor as well as being chair of the Subcommittee on the Status of Women for theAlaska Federal Executive Committee.

Robert Riedel, 90, former Air Traffic Division Specialist, died Jan. 18, 2009, at a private residence in PointLookout, N.Y. A strong interest in aviation caused him to snap at an opportunity to work as an air traffic controller.In January 1942, he moved his wife and infant daughter to Alaska, where he worked as the first air traffic controllerin the territory of Alaska at the new Merrill Tower. In 1946, he accepted a position as an air traffic controller in ElPaso, In 1951, Bob took an instructor position at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City, Okla., where he taught until1957, when the family returned to Alaska. He worked in the FAA regional office and completed over 44 years offederal service.

Mary Smith, 82, died March 26, 2009, at home of natural causes. Mary worked in the FAA Print shop until herretirement in 1980s. After retiring, Mary was instrumental in collecting FAA pictures, stories and memorabilia forthe Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Transportation Museum.

Mike Thompson, Former Air Traffic Division Branch Manager, passed away January 5, 2009 while surroundedby family at his home. He had been fighting cancer for 10 years.

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Beth Vrooman, wife of former Anchorage Area Manager and AF Sector Chief Jim Vrooman, passed away inAugust 2009 after a long illness. Jim has moved back to Alaska and now lives in Wasilla.

FAA Regional Administrator Robert

Lewis

OUR TIMEOUR TIMEis published by the:

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Alaskan Region

222 W. 7th Avenue # 14

Anchorage, AK 99513-7587

Send correspondence to:

Charlie Muhs

P.O. Box 2896

Soldotna, AK 99669

or

Contact Us @ http://www.ourtimeonline.com/index.htm

Send address changes and subscription requests to:

Federal Aviation Administration.

ATTN: Karen Williams, AAL-10

222 W. 7th Avenue # 14,

Anchorage, AK 99513-7587,

Phone 907-271-5471 or Fax 907-271-4809