the dixie dispatch dispatch april 2016.pdfpilots, study this picture well, and don’t make the...

OfGremlinsandGoofs… I believe that all pilots are familiar with Gremlins – those mythical and mischievous creatures responsible for sabotaging aircraft, especially those belonging to the RAF.

They also seem to be at work with doing their darndest to sometimes derail editors from putting out publications devoid of typos, incorrect

information and just plain goofs that always seem to be missed until immediately after publication. Some simply seem to have no explanation, and some are really egregious, such as the time I reported that America entered WWII following the Japanese attack on Pearl Bailey. So, lest some of our readers think that their editor is a total ignoramus, I offer this simple lesson. Pilots, study this picture well, and don’t make the mistake of trying to use the wrong one.

The Dixie Dispatch DIXIE WING, COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE, PEACHTREE CITY, GA

www.dixiewing.org Col Frank Kalinowski, Editor - [email protected]

April 2016 Education through living history. Keep 'em flying.

Dixie Wing Staff Officers /Contacts Wing Leader Col Jay Bess [email protected] Executive Officer Col Larry Combs [email protected] Adjutant Col Malcolm Lelliott [email protected] Finance Officer Col Paul Zampol [email protected] Maintenance Officer Col Bob Heath [email protected] Operations Officer Col Jim Buckley [email protected] Recruiting Officer Col Michael "Zee" Zeeveld [email protected] Public Information Officer Col Steve Forsyth [email protected] Marketing Officer Col Moreno "Mo" Aguiari [email protected] Safety Officer Col Rodney Higginbotham Rodneyhigginbotham @gmail.com Air Show Scheduling Col Phillip Beegle [email protected] Aircraft Rides Officer Col Jerry Robinette [email protected] Angel Squad Merikay Franklin [email protected]

WHAT'S INSIDE?

2 ..... From the left Seat 3 ..... From Some Other Seat; XO Report 4 ..... Focus on Finance; What’s That? 5 ..... Web Watch; Why Did He Say That? 6 ..... WWII Silent Auction Preview 7 ..... From The Bookmaster 8 - 9 P-51 Mustang – Part 4 of 4 10 ..... Scenes From the Hangar 11-12 Unusual Aerial Victories 12 ..... PLANE CRAZY 13 ..... Answer to What’s That? 14 -15 On The Horizon; May At A Glance 16 ..... CAFactoid; Gone West 18 ..... Restroom Update 18 ..... The Tailpiece; Trivia Time

From the Left Seat: Col Jay Bess, Wing Leader Brother can you spare a copier? Just to pour salt in the wounds…or water in this case - the roof declared war on the copier in the staff office and released a water bomb. It was a direct hit and reduced the Konica-Minolta Bizhub C550 to a large boat anchor. This news came right after it was determined that the SBD will need a new engine. It’s going to be an expensive year. Now, for some good news: The Dixie Wing will step back into the 1940s and the 13th annual WWII Heritage Days will be underway. The good news is the “Keep ‘em Flying” Hangar Dinner & Dance is looking like it will sell out again! We are looking forward to hosting Jim “Pee Wee” Martin of 82nd Airborne, 506 PIR, G Company – a D-Day, Operation Market Garden and Battle of Bastogne veteran – along with the C-47 “Placid Lassie,” another D-Day Veteran. This is a Dixie Wing “All Hands” event – please volunteer and help make this a fun and successful event. Our Living History Program has now hosted two events and the response from the public has been very positive. Helicopters in Vietnam (see below) and Flying the SR-71 Blackbird were excellent presentations and great opportunities to connect the Dixie Wing with Veterans, the public and the presenters. If you hadn’t attended one of these presentations – make sure to put it on your calendar. We’ve also had over 120 first graders from the Fayette County School System visit the Dixie Wing in the last two weeks along with several other school organizations. We are living up to our mission and are working towards even more school-based educational opportunities. Thanks again to all of the Dixie Wing Volunteers who work tirelessly to make it all happen. This will be a year that we will rely on you more than ever to “Keep ‘em Flying. Jay

April 2016 The Dixie Dispatch

A crowded room of participants at the first Living History series – Helicopters in Vietnam. Photo: Col Charles Burcher.

Lt. Col. Les Dyer, former SR-71 pilot and presenter at the second Living History seminar, donated a print and patch for the upcoming WWII Heritage Days auction. The print is of SR-71A #61-7964, on display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum (formerly the SAC Museum) in Ashland, NE. Assembly of this aircraft started on 14 April 1965 and was rolled out on 19 January 1966. The first flight took place on 11 May 1966. The last flight of this SR-71 was on 20 March 1990 when it was delivered to Offutt AFB, NE for permanent display. There, it sat outside at the old SAC Museum until it was moved down the road to the new Strategic Air and Space Museum that was built in 1998.

From Some Other Seat: Operations

Col Jim Buckley, Operations Officer We have finally moved into a more normal type of spring operations. Red Nose is up and earning money again. Both Red nose and the Corsair flew to Knoxville TN for the Smokey Mountain Air Show the weekend of the 15/16/17. Several members of the wing attended a really sold out show. I have heard estimates of over 200,000 spectators. Not bad for their first air show in 16 years! Both the Air Force and the civilians did a fantastic job putting on the show. Pilot Mark Todd got to fly his first three ship formation in the Mustang along with the Corsair and Wes Stowers in his Mustang. Dr. Stan Musick dazzled the crowd with his back-to-back aerobatic performances in both the Mustang and the Corsair. Great weather plus great people equaled a great time. I believe it was the best-organized air show I have ever attended. We were even able to sell a few rides while we were there. Congratulations to our two new Corsair pilots, Wes Stowers and Thom Richard. They both went home with big smiles on their faces. We have lots of other training and check rides on which to catch up in the next few weeks. Come on out to the Wing and watch us fly! Col Jim Buckley, Operations Officer

XO Report: Col Larry Combs, Executive Officer Choose The Mountain You Want To Conquer Since joining the leadership team, I am more amazed at how much work gets done with an all-volunteer staff and workforce. The Dixie Wing may seem small compared to MacDonald’s or Wendy’s but we have an equal responsibility to get the job done and ensure our

revenue matches or exceeds our expenses. As we proudly displayed our P-51 Mustang and Corsair at the Smokey Mountain Air Show on April 15-17, we had countless admirers thank us for preserving such beautiful WARBIRDS. They asked if we were paid to work on and fly our planes and were surprised to hear we are all volunteers. With that said, I have some advice for all Dixie Wing members … including me. As much as we appreciate your hard work and dedication, DO NOT put the Dixie Wing between you and your family. Even though our

normal work days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, many of you (and me) can be seen at the hangar 5-7 days a week. If this is not causing problems at home then we are happy that you are willing to sacrifice your personal time to support our mission. However, I suspect we have all pushed the envelope managing our time with our families and duties at home. If you need to take a day off to work on your honey-do list, then do it and don’t feel guilty. If you have a wife or girlfriend, buy her some flowers or take her to a special place for dinner and thank her for supporting you and your hobby. If you have a husband or boyfriend, you have a better idea of how to show your appreciation. It might be a nice gesture for us as a group to plan an event at the hangar to honor our spouses by cooking (grilling) dinner for them. We could call it the Dixie Wing Spouse/Boyfriend/Girl-friend Appreciation Day -- just a thought. Let me know what you think. Personally, I would like to remain an active member of our Wing until I die so I plan to do better at balancing the time spent at the hangar and the time I spend with my wife and home responsibilities. I hope you agree.


Focus On Finance Col Paul Zampol, Finance Officer We still have about 90 members who have not yet paid dues for 2016. That’s almost one-quarter of our membership! We will make an effort to call as many of them as possible to remind them. As I noted last month, those members who have still not paid dues will be moved to inactive status and will not be able to fly in Wing aircraft or participate in other Wing activities. Thank you to those members who have paid your dues and thereby supported all our Wing’s activities. The winter and early spring have not been favorable so far, at least from a financial perspective. We are showing an overall loss for the year to date of about $110,000. And that’s with a sizeable batch of donations totaling $24,000. Our total assets are about to drop below $1 million for the first time in quite a while. And, as may be reported elsewhere, we incurred last week some water

damage in the office that may not be fully covered by insurance. Let’s hope our luck will change with WWII Heritage Days. A hopeful trend is our early success with the Living History programs described elsewhere. We had about 80 paid attendees at the Helicopter War presentation in March and about 40 for the SR71 program last weekend. If we can maintain and build on this solid launch, this should be a valuable contribution to our Wing. Several people told me Saturday as they paid their $10 admission charge that they thought this was a terrific program we were beginning. I need to clarify an aspect of an earlier report. While I noted substantial expenses being incurred for the T34 restoration, I did not make clear that we expect all the planned expenses to be covered by a combination of generous donations from our dedicated members and the matching grant from CAF HQ.


WHAT’STHAT?ColFrankKalinowski We step away from WWII for this installment & fast-forward to the middle to late 1950s. A few hints: • It lost out to the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. • Three were built. Two survive in museums. • It never had an official designation, although due to the location of the air intakes, flight crews sometimes referred to it as the “man eater.” • It achieved Mach 2 on 3 November 1956. WHAT’S THAT? Find the answer on page 13.

WEB WATCH Several folks sent me a link to a video about WWII vets visiting the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Having just visited there earlier this month, the video is one of those worth passing on. If you have not visited the museum in New Orleans you are really missing a lot. Not only did I see artifacts, aircraft, and the like, I also spent time talking to several WWII vets, including one who landed both at Casablanca as part of Operation Torch (November 1942), but also landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Anyway, especially if you had a parent or relative who served in WWII it is hard to watch this without discovering there is more than a little dust in the room.

Here is the forwarded message and the link: THEY WERE OUR DADS - OUR GRANDDADS --- AN UNCLE --- MAYBE A BROTHER --- THEY ARE THE GREATEST GENERATION THAT KEPT US FREE..................... One had to be 17 to enlist in the military. While it is well known that people younger than 17 served in WWII (& other wars), we'll use 17 as a base... The war ended in 1945 & this is 2016. That means the YOUNGEST surviving WWII veteran is 88. Keep that in mind when you watch the video. Quite a few do not look their age. Something I'm sure you'll enjoy. KUDOS to Gary Sinise! Double That! Https://www.youtube.com/embed/l3P15s4zWNQ If this doesn't bring a tear to your eyes, you are not an American. The youngest legal age for a member of the United States Armed Forces is 17 with parental consent. Some got in below that age, but served with valor as well. Please take a look at these real heroes of days gone by, ages from about 88 years old and up. Disclaimer: WEB WATCH is presented solely to bring information to readers about some websites that may be of interest. Neither the Dixie Wing nor the CAF endorse or imply endorsement or agreement of opinions that may be expressed on the websites, advertisers on those websites, or links to other websites that a reader may follow.

Why Did He Say That? Col Frank Kalinowski

25 October 1944, a seaman aboard USS White Plains remarked, “They’re shooting at us in Technicolor!” Why did he say that? The context: White Plains was one of six escort carriers that were part of Taffy 3 under the command of Rear Admiral Clifton “Ziggy” Sprague. At the time Taffy 3 was just east of Samar Island and had been providing air support for the recent landings on Leyte Island in the Philippines. On this day the task force was confronted by IJN Admiral Takeo Kurita’s Center Force, comprised of four battleships (including the 18-inch gun Yamato), six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and eleven destroyers. An epic naval battle ensued, during which time the seaman made his remark. So, why did he say that? Find the answer on page 13.


PREVIEW OF SOME MORE OF THE ITEMS IN THE SILENT AUCTION


Above from left to right: (1 & 2) Framed print of a P-51 Mustang signed by both the pilot (Col. Donald J. M. Blakeslee) and the artist. Col. Blakeslee was the commander of the Fourth Fighter Group, originally comprised of American RAF “Eagle Squadron” pilots. Donated by Col. Keith Woods (3) Two metal prints of the CAF Dixie Wing’s P-51 Red Nose donated by Doug Glover of 3G Aviation Media. Below from left to right: (1) Dinner gift cards from the 57th Fighter Group Restaurant at DeKalb Peachtree Airport. (2) V.I.P. Package at the Wings Over Monroe Air Show, Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport, NC, November 12 & 13, 2016. Includes VIP parking inside airport both Saturday & Sunday, free admission to all in vehicle, access for four to VIP Hospitality Chalet both days, and more! (3) “Pacific Sunrise” Corsair print 18” x 24” – Depicts an F4U-1 of VF-17 on the island of New Georgia in the South Pacific. This aircraft was flown by James Streig with 5.5 aerial victories. The print is published from an original acrylic painting and is signed and numbered by the artist, Sam Lyons, Jr. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity. Donated by Col. Jay Bess.

From The Bookmaster Col Dave Porter BOTM* “MIRACLE AT MIDWAY” by Gordon W. Prange

Considered by many to be the definitive history of the battle of Midway, it is the story of an American victory that marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific during World War II. Told with the same stylistic flair and attention to detail as Prange’s bestselling prequel, At Dawn We Slept, the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Miracle at Midway brings together eyewitness accounts from the men who commanded and fought on both sides. The sweeping narrative takes readers into the thick of the action and shows exactly how American strategies and decisions led to the triumphant victory that paved the way for the defeat of Japan. Six months after Pearl Harbor, the seemingly invincible Imperial Japanese Navy prepared a decisive blow against the United States. After sweeping through Asia and the South Pacific, Japan's military targeted the tiny atoll of Midway, an ideal launching pad for the invasion of Hawaii and beyond. The United States Navy would be waiting for them. Thanks to cutting-edge code-breaking technology,

tactical daring, and a huge stroke of luck, the Americans under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz dealt the Japanese navy its first major defeat of the war. Three years of hard fighting remained, but it was at Midway that the tide turned. This vivid, in-depth bestseller is the first book to tell the story of the epic battle from both the American and Japanese sides. In MIRACLE AT MIDWAY, Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon show how America won its first and greatest victory of the Pacific war - and how easily it could have been a defeat. The book has 422 pages with photos and an excellent hour-by-hour chronology from the initial attack until the last survivors were rescued. *BOTM - Book of the Month …. it is on our bookshelf – it’s a good read; borrow it if you like but please return it!


Current Midway resident.

NORTH AMERICAN P-51 MUSTANG Col Willard Womack

Part four of four parts. If nothing else the “D” model took the Mustang from the birdcage canopy look of the 1930s to the modern day look of the bubble canopy fighter jet. Along the way it became the best Air Force fighter of World War II. Now able to fight above twenty thousand feet, and with the range to escort the bombers to Berlin and back, it helped to take control of the air war in Europe, thereby making the invasion on June the sixth of 1944 possible. The cockpit of the Mustang, as were most cockpits of fighters with slim liquid cooled engines, was small -- designed for a pilot five foot seven inches tall and one hundred forty pounds. The new bubble canopy gave the taller pilots a few more inches of headroom. Along with the clear view bubble canopy there was a new windshield, both much improved over the older style. The wing was again redesigned making it a bit thicker. This allowed the fifty caliber machine guns to be mounted upright, helping to reduce the jamming problem of the “B” model. That, and the slightly higher canopy, did slow it down two or three miles per hour. One machine gun was added to each wing, making a total of six. However the original two ammunition bays were retained. The forward bay was divided in half. The half nearest the guns fed the first gun. The other half fed over the top of that belt to feed the second gun. The aft bay fed the third gun all by itself. This worked out to be two hundred seventy rounds each for two guns, and four hundred rounds for the third. The cockpit

was not equipped with an ammunition counter. When four of the guns quit firing that was the warning your ammunition was getting low. There also was not a system to recharge a gun if it failed to fire. Without the recoil, or a charging system to reload a gun, it was now dead. If the pilot desired, one gun in each wing could be removed. There was a slight decrease in the amount of ammunition carried, but with only four guns firing the firing time remained about the

same. There would also be a slight weight reduction, which was always welcomed. One ace who preferred this arrangement said, “if I can’t shoot them down with four guns adding two more won’t make my aim any better.” The bomb racks could now carry up to a thousand pounds of bombs or the long cigar shaped drop tanks capable of carrying

one hundred and ten gallons each. These were made of glue-impregnated paper, and once filled they were good for about eight hours. They were not designed to withstand a landing when still carrying fuel. If a landing suddenly became necessary they had to be dropped. Building a high-speed fighter with the range of a bomber was thought to be an engineering impossibility. In fact the fighters of that time were primarily used as a defensive weapon, built to intercept bombers and control the air over their homeland. The philosophy at the time was that the bombers could always get through. This was true, but without fighter escort they could not survive. One prime example is the BF 109 Messerschmitt which, during the Battle of Britain had only


NorthAmericanP-51DMustang“RedNose”

NORTH AMERICAN P-51 MUSTANG (cont.) enough fuel to fight over England a few minutes before needing to return to France. Many of these were lost from running out of fuel on their return flights while still over the English Channel. It was not until late 1943 that drop tanks were to become widely used in the Eighth Air Force. With the introduction of the P-51 at the same time the first true long range fighter was available. It had not been designed with this in mind. But its streamline low drag airframe, along with the drop tanks, made it one. The designer, Edgar Schmued, kept in mine that it must be easy to maintain in the field. All of the engine compartment covers are secured by Duzs fasteners and can be removed with a Duzs tool in a matter of minutes. The machine gun and ammunition bays can be opened and ready for reloading or maintenance in less than one minute. The elevator trim tabs can be replaced by removing one small bolt connecting the push rod to the tab, and then three screws. The elevators, ailerons, rudder and flaps are all easily removed and replaced without having to disconnect and reconnect the control cables. All designed so that a battle damaged plane could be repaired quickly. The president of North American Aviation (NAA), Dutch Kindeberger, had visited some of the German aircraft factories prior to the war. That, along with studying production lines at auto

factories, helped NAA to lay out an automobile style production line. The Mustang was built in five sections: two wing panels, the nose section, the main fuselage and a tail section each finished and ready to be assembled. With this program North American turned out 15,586 Mustangs, second only to the P-47 Thunderbolt. Of these 15,586 built over half, eight thousand plus, were “D” models, including two hundred built in Australia. There were a few other models. One, the “H” model, was a lightweight version that had a top speed of 487 mph. Only five hundred were built, and the war was over before it was introduced. In 1944 the Truman Senate War Investigating Committee, with the future President Harry Truman as chairman, called the Mustang “The most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence”. I am sure that thousands of pilots would agree with them. Col Willard Womack served as an Army pilot for four and a half years, including service on Okinawa and Soc Trang Vietnam in December of 1962. Following his return to the states in June of 1963 leaving the Army in 1964, he flew for Trans World Airlines for 33 years, including the Lockheed Constellation, Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 727. Over the span of 40 years he has owned seven airplanes. In 2007 he moved to Peachtree city and joined the CAF, piloting the LT-6 before retiring from flying. Willard now works on planes and does talks and tours.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! •WWII Heritage Days could still use some volunteers for a number of different assignments. Please contact Dave Porter at [email protected] if you are interested in joining the largest World War II history event in Georgia and the CAF! •ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER MILITARY TIMELINE – May 28, 2016 - Reenactors and Uniformed CAF members are encouraged to participate. The Dixie Wing will bring our glider, jeep and B-17 turret. For more information: http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/visit/event/1042?calendar=

month


SCENES FROM THE HANGAR Photos by Col Charles Burcher

March 2016 The Dixie Dispatch

Clockwise from above: Col Lanny Marsh works on the Link trainer. L-R Cols Don Colburn, Bob Bouthiller & Lee Weaver disassemble the blower section on an R-1830 engine. Col Larry Greer works on the SBD.

And finally, who says that a P-63 has no personality or that you can’t have fun while being shot with a 37mm cannon round? So … in keeping with the recent naming controversy of the British research vessel, I’ll throw this suggestion in the ring …. “Planey MacShooty.” Any support for this idea? Hello….? Hello ….?

Three Unusual Aerial Victories of WWII Col Frank Kalinowski

Many of us have seen a recent story being distributed on the internet about Owen Baggett and his amazing shoot-down of a Japanese Zero with his .45. However, this was not the only strange aerial victory of WWII. 1. Curiosity Killed the Enemy: Owen John Baggett was born in 1920 in Graham, Texas. By 1941 he graduated from college and went on to work on Wall Street, but by the following year, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps when the United States entered the war. A studious man, he graduated from pilot training in just five months and was sent to Burma, flying a B-24 Liberator. On March 31st, 1943, 2nd Lt. Baggett and his squadron were sent on a mission to destroy a bridge of strategic importance. On their way, the B-24s got intercepted by Japanese Zeros which hit the squadron hard. Baggett’s plane was riddled with bullets to such an extent that the crew was forced to bail out. While parachuting, a Japanese pilot decided that downing the plane wasn’t enough. He circled around and started shooting at the bailed out pilots, killing two of the crew. Seeing this, Baggett did the only thing he could. He played dead. Not convinced Baggett was dead, the Zero pulled up to him at near stall speed, the pilot opening his canopy to check on his horrendous work. Not wasting any time and thinking on his feet, Baggett pulled out his pistol and shot the pilot right in the head. This is considered the best shot by a Caliber .45 M1911 pistol of ALL TIME. The last thing he saw was the Zero spiraling toward earth. When he landed, he and the other bailed out crew members were captured and sent to a POW camp

where they remained till the end of the war. They were liberated by OSS agents and Baggett was recognized as the only person during the war to shoot down a Zero with a pistol. Follow up: Baggett retired from the Air Force as a colonel and later worked as a defense contractor manager for Litton. He passed away in 2006. 2. Commando Raid: This came from the article “Going Commando” in the May, 2016 edition of Aviation History. (You can read the full article at http://www.historynet.com/going-commando.htm): “During WWII Hump operations [transport flights from India to China over the Himalayan mountains], a C-46 [Curtiss C-46 Commando transport aircraft that carried no armament] notched its first air combat victory when Captain Walter “Wally” Anthony Gayda stuck a Browning Automatic Rifle [BAR] out his cockpit window and emptied the entire magazine at an attacking Nakajima Ki.43 Oscar. Gayda hit the unsuspecting pilot, and the Oscar went down.” Follow up: It is believed that Gayda passed away in 1992. This was not the first time that Gayda had been involved with automatic weapons being fired from a transport ship. From China Airlift – the Hump, Volume 3, edited by John G. Martin: “On 6 November 1943, a crew member later recalled, a situation arose where the hand-held weapons were used. ‘We were searching all morning, and as we were about to start back to Chabua, flying low between mountains, we came across a Jap fighter that had apparently run out of gas and made a forced landing.’ Oblivious to the danger that the fighter might take off or radio his position, ‘Blackie’ [Captain John L. Porter] ordered his C-47 crew to attack. Both Sgt. John Ingram and S/Sgt. Walter Oswalt ran for the two [Bren] machine guns on loan from the British. Ordering


Unusual Aerial Victories (cont.)

his co-pilot 1st Lt. Walter Gayda to take over the controls, ‘Captain Porter … took over Oswalt’s gun so that he could put it out the pilot’s window.’ Functioning like a modern-day gunship, Porter and his crew blazed away at the Zero from the pilot’s window and the aft cargo door. After seven passes in which Porter kept yelling ‘Slower!’ to Lieutenant Gayda, the enemy pilot was killed and the plane left a worthless wreck. As the first transport in the CBI theater to destroy an enemy aircraft on the ground, Porter’s jubilant crew painted a miniature Japanese flag below the cockpit.” Follow up: A little more than a month later, Captain Porter was piloting a B-25 near Putao, Burma that was shot up by Japanese fighters. After ordering his crew to bail out, Porter pushed his co-pilot out the top escape hatch but failed to get out before the plane crashed into a mountain. 3. Death by Belly Tank - This does not count as a “shoot-down,” hence the need to have the title about “aerial victories.” I heard this story many times as a child, since my father was the Engineering Officer for this Squadron. From Story Of A Squadron - 31 March 1944: Bari, Italy – 154th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Lt. Robert P. Zirkle scores a “destroyed” on an ME-109 while flying his P-38. As he described it, “... one of these enemy planes ... attacked head on. Noting that the tracers from the ME were passing below me, I raised the nose of my plane to keep above his fire. As the ME approached, I stalled my ship and dropped down so that one of my belly tanks hit him. The enemy plane spun out of sight and I saw a parachute open.” It should be noted that in most instances the P-38s flying reconnaissance missions had three of the five machine guns removed to accommodate the cameras. In some cases there was no armament, and the greatest defensive weapon the pilot had at his disposal was speed.

Lt. Zerkle (center) explains to his squadron mates how he took out an ME-109. Follow up: Zirkle left the Army after the war and became a hay & straw dealer in his hometown of Venedocia, OH. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 86.


Capt. John Porter

PLANE CRAZY In the early days of the CAF, some Wings took unusual measures to “spice up” their rides program.

AnswertoWhat’sThat? In the 1950s the USAF held a design competition for a new tactical fighter-bomber. North American Aviation responded with the F-107A, that, although based on its earlier F-100 Super Sabre, had many innovations and advanced features, with a speed of Mach 2+ and a service ceiling of 53,000 feet. First flown in September 1956, over the next three months the only other two F-107s joined it for testing at Edwards AFB. The Tactical Air Command decided to conduct a fly-off competition between the F-107 and the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, as both aircraft were in response to the same set of requirements as set forth by the USAF and also used the same engine. Needless to say, the F-105 won the competition and served with distinction in Vietnam, while the three F-107 prototypes went on to serve as test aircraft.

Where can I see one? Two of the ships remain, 55-5118 is at the Pima Air and Space Museum and is pictured here in a photo I took in 2013. 55-5119 is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in the experimental hanger. I will be interested to see on my visit there this summer if it gets moved to the new fourth building. Personal note: When attending Dessert Junior High School at Edwards AFB in 1959 - 1961, I had the opportunity to be taken to the flight line by my father. There I used my trusty Ricoflex 120 reflex camera to take dozens of shots of aircraft, including a great b&w photo of one of the F-107s, that I later exposed to an 8 X 10 print. Alas, somewhere over the last 50+ years those photos have disappeared, perhaps in a move, or more likely they now reside in that alternate universe of lost keys, socks, and cat toys. At least I’ve been able to still visit the remaining ones.

AnswertoWhyDidHeSayThat?Answer: Each Japanese warship used a different color dye marker, allowing them to spot their own shells and make targeting adjustments. Sprague later reported, “Wicked salvos straddled the USS White Plains, and then colored geysers began to sprout among the other carriers. In various shades of pink, green, red, yellow, and purple, the splashes had a kind of horrid beauty.” Source: “Survival Off Samar,” WWII History, February 2016.


ON THE HORIZON ......

Air Shows in 2016 (through June):

May 13 – 15 Corsair - Acro Show, PDK Airport, Atlanta

May 19 – 22 Red Nose at 2016 Warbirds Over The Beach Airshow Military Aviation Museum, Virginia Beach, Virginia http://www.dixiewing.org/536_Warbirds_Over_The_Beach_2015.htm May 20 – 22 Corsair - Acro Show, Shaw AFB, SC May 27 – 28 Red Nose static display in Pittsburgh, PA ? May 27 – 30 SBD Flyover, Indy 500 (If flying) June 1 – 5 Red Nose Rides Days and Corsair at WWII Weekend, Mid-Atlantic Air Museum,

Reading, PA June 10 – 12 Red Nose Rides Days, Cincinnati, OH June 17 – 19 Red Nose at CAF Open House (Red Tail), Indianapolis, IN Meetings in 2016 – April through June:

May 7 Staff Mtg - 10 am; Monthly Mtg 1:00 pm NOTE: NO Angel Squad meeting June 4 Staff Mtg - 10 am; Angel Squad - 10:30 am; Monthly Mtg 1:00 pm; New Col Orientation Other Events in 2016: May 21 Living History: The L-Bird Story: Liaison Aircraft from WWII to Vietnam June 18 Veterans of the Mighty Eighth Go to: http://dixiewing.org/693__Living_History_Day.htm for more information on the Living History program, including a description and registration information. WWII Heritage Days Meeting Schedule http://wwiidays.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WWIIHeritageDays

April 30 – May 1 WWII Heritage Days, Dixie Wing May 28 Military Timeline - 10:00 – 4:00, Atlanta History Center Reenactors and uniformed CAF members are encouraged to participate.


ON THE HORIZON (cont.) ...... September 24 – 25, 2016 Atlanta Warbird Weekend – Dekalb-Peachtree Airport, Atlanta, GA http://www.atlantawarbirdweekend.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/678366688918155

April 2016 The Dixie Dispatch Page 16

Submit your articles for the nextDixieDispatchbyMay20.

GOT POWER? TWO GENERATORS NEEDED FOR WWII HERITAGE DAYS Col Jim van den Heuvel put out a request to the membership for the loan of two small (1000 to 2000 watt), quiet generators for use during the WWII Heritage Days weekend event on April 30 - May 1. These generators are needed to power remotely located sound systems at Camp Dixie and at the Warbird in Review presentations. Anyone able to lend us a generator can contact Jim for additional details. Jim van den Heuvel 770 570 9094 [email protected]

So, Just who was Jethro E. Culpepper? Following the tongue in cheek naming of the original flying group

“The Confederate Air Force” in the 1950s, a fictitious character was created to lead the group – thus was born Col Jethro E. Culpepper. The photo of the portrait on the right was taken at CAF Headquarters in Midland, Texas in February 2012. I am not sure that anyone knows what the “E” stands for. And, although I cannot find the article today, I recall reading several years ago that Lloyd Nolan got the original idea of CAF Colonels during a visit to Florida. Stopping in at a roadside shop, he found wallet-sized cards that proclaimed that the bearer was a “Colonel in the Confederate Air Force.” He reportedly purchased every one the store had for sale and then distributed them to his customers back in Texas. (Heck, I still have a walled-sized card that identifies me as a citizen of Okinawa, and gives me the authority to carry “honey buckets.” If you don’t know what that is, ask someone who served in the Pacific.) Next month: Red Nose was the first CAF aircraft. What was the second?

Paul A. Koshewa, Col., USAF (Ret) passed away on Thursday, April 14, 2016. He was 93. Paul was known to Dixie Wing members as an attendee at recent WWII Heritage Days and Atlanta Warbird Weekend events. He was one of two B-24 Navigators honored at 2015 WWII Heritage Days.

He served in the USAAF in WWII and in the USAF in Korea and Vietnam, retiring in 1982 with the rank of colonel. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944 and 1954, the Purple Heart in 1944, and the Air Medal in 1944 and 1954. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, April 24, at 3:00 PM at the McCain Chapel at The Westminster Schools - 1424 W Paces Ferry Rd NW Atlanta, GA. A private interment will be held in Charleston, South Carolina, at a later date. See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?n=paul-koshewa&pid=179648719#sthash.6WFAzSp7.dpuf


CAFactoid

Paul is reunited with a B-24 at the 2015 WWII Heritage Days at Falcon Field. Photo by Rod Reilly.

Good News - The Mens Restroom Is Completed

As promised, the final photos of the mens room renovation. Thanks to all of the volunteers who brought our facility up to date. And thanks for keeping our beloved sign above the defueling stations. Now, if we could only achieve better aim at the trash can ….

Our SBD awaits a new engine.


APRIL IS VOLUNTEER MONTH - THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO

THE TAILPIECE Afewclosingremarksfromyoureditor.What’s in a name? …. It may have gone unnoticed that this section of the Dixie Dispatch has been renamed from The Tailpipe to The Tailpiece. My intent from the beginning was to name the column after the mimeographed newsletter of the Squadron in which my father served during

WWII. I was sure I had it correct until researching the article about unusual aerial victories, discovering that I had a slightly different memory of the name. So we go to the name I should have used from the beginning.

In the August 2015 issue I mentioned the closing of the museum at the old Octave Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, IL. In that issue I reported that the fate of larger aircraft at the museum was in doubt, including that of the only surviving Boeing XB-47 Stratojet. Good news was reported in the April edition of EAA’s Sport Aviation (page 13) – the Flight Test Historical Foundation, a private organization, has started a campaign to raise the $200,000 needed to move the prototype to the Air Force Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Read more at the website: http://afftcmuseum.org/save-the-xb-47/.

This is the photo I took of this rare ship in July 2015. First flown in 1947, it would serve as a strategic bomber for SAC, with the ability to carry conventional or nuclear weapons. Although 2,032 were built, the B-47 never dropped a bomb in combat and was retired from service in the mid 1960s. It was the forerunner to the B-52 as well as the 707 and later Boeing airliners.


Again, from the April Sport Aviation magazine: EAA member Bob O’Hara researched British lighter-than-air ships of WWI and later. He found that the Air Ministry classified airships as “A” ships and “B” ships. “A” ships as rigid, and “B” ships as “limp” (non-rigid) ships. B-limp soon became “blimp.”

the dixie dispatch dispatch april 2016.pdfpilots, study this picture well, and don’t make the...

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