Summer Issue 2021 Director’s Corner Pg. 1 & 2 TSF Update Pg. 2 Gift Shop News Pg. 3 Hollywood & Ft. Rucker MUSEUM GIFT SHOP HOURS WEBSITE Pg. 4 & 5 Foundation Update Pg. 6 MONDAY - FRIDAY 9 - 4 MONDAY - FRIDAY Summer 2021 Pg. 7 SATURDAY 9 - 3 9 - 4 Membership Pg. 7 CLOSED FEDERAL HOLIDAYS. SATURDAY OPEN MEMORIAL DAY, 9 - 2:45 INDEPENDENCE DAY AND VETERANS DAY WWW.ARMYAVIATIONMUSEUM.ORG GIFT SHOP - CLICK ‘SHOP’ DIRECTOR’S CORNER Bob Mitchell, Museum Director reetings once again from the Army Aviation Museum! As we enter the summer season and the country opens back up, we are gearing up for a Army Aviation Museum Foundation G busy season. I noticed an unusually high volume of traffic on the interstate over the P.O. Box 620610 weekend and realized folks are eager to travel, visit family and trying to put 2020 in the Fort Rucker, AL 36362 rear view mirror. All this is good news for museums as well as others that count on attendance. This past Sunday, June 6th marked the anniversary of the D-Day landing, but it was also the 79th anniversary of the birth of Organic Army Aviation. General Order number 98 was signed giving the Ground Forces their own aircraft, pilots and mechanics as part of their Tables of Organization and Equipment (TO&E). Each Artillery unit would be authorized two aircraft, two pilots and one mechanic. These crews would travel and live with the unit in the field and provide reconnaissance, target spotting, medical evacuation and a host of other services. As the United States entered WWII, these aircraft would play a major role on the battlefield. They were so effective at providing artillery target spotting that the enemy would stop firing their cannons when they spotted these planes for fear their positions would be compromised. During the Anzio landing in Italy, this was demonstrated regularly. The Germans offered bounties and The Prop & Rotor: Summer Issue 2021 Continued on Page 2... Pg. 1 Continued... THE GIFT SHOP three-day passes for anyone that was able to shoot one of these aircraft down. Sadly, al- most no one remembers these aviators and the good work they did and most only think of the fighters and bombers of WWII. The legacy of these brave aviators lives on today in today’s Army Aviation branch. The aircraft and the faces have changed, but whether it be the battlefields of Europe during Order WWII or the mountains of Afghanistan, the mission of Army Aviation has not changed, providing the ground troops with beans, bullets, and mobility. Happy Anniversary Army Aviation…Above the Best! Online & We’ll Ship it to You! TRAINING SUPPORT FACILITY UPDATE he Training Support Facility (TSF) is progressing well. Unfortunately, based on the Linda Gentzyel, Gift Shop Manager heavy rainy period earlier in the spring ,it looks like the completion date will be T A Big Summer Hello from the Army Aviation Museum Gift Shop! We must admit that 2021 is extended. The structure looks like it will be the tallest on structure on main post! In addition to the massive floor space for aircraft, the second floor will showcase the evolution of all moving along much smoother than it’s predecessor and we are excited to welcome the systems related to the Army Avia- Summer Season! The Gift Shop has lots of new arrivals, to include great Father’s Day gift tion story. Some of these will include ideas! We have glassware, Alabama Clay Sculptures, Mahogany Models, Hats, ties and weapons, Aviation Life Support more. You’re sure to find something perfect for Dad this Father’s Day! Not local? No worries. Equipment, Flight vests, Helmets, ra- You can shop with us online and we’ll ship it to you. dios, engines, rotors, and Air Traffic Control equipment. The second floor will also have a large, state-of- Don’t delay, the-art classroom and a reference library. We plan to move our Branch Father’s Day is Sunday, June 20th! Historian, Mr. Ken Tilley to the TSF All proceeds support the U.S. Army Aviation Museum. and that will be his primary teach- ing venue for Aviation Soldiers. We will keep you updated on the latest news regarding this massive project Shop with us In-Store & Online! via Facebook and our Foundation WWW.ARMYAVIATIONMUSEUM.ORG (CLICK ‘SHOP’) Newsletter. Stay tuned! Pg. 3 Pg. 2 Hollywood Aviation History: Cairns Army Air Field in the movie 12 O’CLOCK HIGH Story by CW5 (R) James Kale Locations for creating the bomber airfield at RAF Archbury Screenwriters, Bartlett and Lay drew on their own wartime experiences with Eighth Air Force were scouted by director Henry King, flying his own private bomber units at the Eighth Air Force headquarters for the film 12 O’clock High. Bartlett had aircraft some 16,000 miles in February and March 1949. worked closely with King visited Eglin AFB on March 8, 1949 and found an ideal Colonel Armstrong, who was the primary model for the character, General Savage. The location for principal photography several miles north of film's 918th Bomber Group was modeled primarily on the 306th Bomber Group because that the main base at its Eglin AFB. Auxiliary Field No. 3, better group remained a significant part of the Eighth Air Force throughout the war in Europe. known as Duke Field, is where the mock installation with 15 buildings (including a World War II control tower) were The lead character, Brigadier General Frank Savage constructed to simulate RAF Archbury. was created as a composite of several group com- manders but the primary inspiration was Colonel Frank The 'tough guy' character, Major Joe Cobb was inspired A. Armstrong who commanded the 306th Bomb by Colonel Paul Tibbets who had flown B-17s with Colonel Group on which the 918th was modeled. The name Armstrong. Tibbetts was initially approved as the film's 'Savage' was inspired by Armstrong's Cherokee herit- technical advisor in February 1949, but was replaced short- age. ly after by Colonel John H. deRussy, a former operations officer for the 306th Bomb Group. Colonel deRussy, was Clark Gable was interested in the lead role of General stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and sug- Frank Savage. Gable, who had served as a gunner in gested Ozark Army Air Field near Daleville, Alabama (now the USAAF during World War II, played a similar role in known as Cairns Army Airfield, adjacent to Fort Rucker). King chose Cairns as the location for the 1948 film Command Decision. John Wayne was filming B-17 takeoffs and landings, including the B-17 belly landing sequence, since the light- offered the leading role as well, but turned it down. colored runways at Eglin did not match wartime runways in England which had been black Burt Lancaster, James Cagney, Dana Andrews, Van to make them less visible to enemy aircraft. When the crew arrived at Cairns, it was also con- Heflin, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Young and Robert sidered ideal for shots of Harvey Stovall reminiscing about his World War II service since the Montgomery were also considered for the role. Even- field was somewhat overgrown. This movie was filmed a couple of years before Camp Ruck- tually, the role went to Gregory Peck. er was selected to be the Army Aviation School. Veterans of the heavy bomber campaign frequently Additional background photography was shot at RAF Barford St John, a satellite station of cite Twelve O'clock High as the only Hollywood film RAF Croughton in Oxfordshire, England. Other locations around Eglin AFB and Fort Walton al- that accurately captured their combat experiences. so served as secondary locations for filming. The crew used 12 B-17s for filming which were Along with the 1948 film Command Decision, it marked pulled from QB-17 drones used at Eglin and other B-17s from depot locations in Alabama a turning away from the optimistic, morale-boosting and New Mexico. Since some of the aircraft had been used in the 1946 Bikini atomic experi- style of wartime films and toward a grittier realism that ments and absorbed high levels of radioactivity, they could only be used for shooting for deals more directly with the human costs of war. Both films deal with the realities of daylight limited periods. precision bombing without fighter escort, the basic Army Air Forces doctrine at the start of World War II; prior to the arrival of long range Allied fighter aircraft like the P-51 Mustang. Twelve O'clock High was in production from late April to early July, 1949. Alt- Paul Mantz, Hollywood's leading stunt pilot, was paid the then-unprecedented sum of $4,500 hough originally planned to be shot in to crash-land a B-17 bomber for an early scene in the film. The scene was filmed at Cairns Technicolor, it was instead shot in black AAF. Frank Tallman, Mantz's partner in Tallmantz Aviation, wrote in his autobiography that and white, allowing the inclusion of while many B-17s had been landed by one pilot, as far as he knew this flight was the first actual combat footage by Allied and time that a B-17 ever took off with only one pilot and no other crew; nobody was sure that it Luftwaffe cameras. could be done. The footage was used again in the 1962 film The War Lover. Paul Mantz had once been a flight instructor for Amelia Earhart. He later died in a crash in a movie scene that was omitted from the film Flight of the Phoenix, starring Jimmy Stewart.