AMERICA’S PREMIER FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION OF Proceedings MILITARY PILOTS 8 November 2018 Flight 99 Officers first reviewed the adventures of Flight Captain Flight Captain’s legendary pilot, Bob Hoover, and JIM BURMAN Remarks the second summarized China’s Home: 468-2751 military buildup on tiny islands in [email protected] the South China Sea. I reported Vice Flight Captain the Texas Board of Education PAUL SNYDER was considering eliminating the Home: 727-1551/Cell: 750-1999 history of the WASP pilots from [email protected] new history textbooks; many Treasurer / Membership school systems use Texas’ texts GARY KASPER in their programs. The WASP’s Home: 467-2309/Cell: 590-8357 [email protected] organization mounted a protest, and asked for our support. In the Adjutant / Editor / Historian end, more than 6,000 various MIKE BUCK Flight Captain Jim “Birdman” Burman Home: 771-8282/Cell: 836-9857 communications were received [email protected] The November meeting was by the Board. I guess they rarely another good one; good friends, get any- it impressed them, and Provost Marshal good spirits, and good food. In they decided to retain the story of REX TANBERG Home: 761-3924/Cell: 788-2172 January we are intending to the WASPs in their textbooks. return to Malmstrom AFB. This [email protected] The December 13th meeting at will be the first time with the new the Country Club will feature the Scholarships caterer, Electric City Catering. At ED MANGIS Social Hour, a superb meal, and this point it appears that you will Home: 458-6261/Cell: 443-0552 conversations. I’ll see you there! [email protected] pay Flight 99 for dinner and wine, and then the Flight will pay the Volabamus, Volamus! DFT Officer Grizzly Bend. More on this later. VINCE BAKKE Home: 452-6207/Cell: 799-1197 Brent Murray played two very [email protected] interesting YouTube videos for the evening’s entertainment; the Birdman . November 2018 Jerry Shanahan led everyone in There was thoughtful discussion Meeting Minutes the Pledge of Allegiance. The about our impending return to Mike Buck, Flight 99 Adjutant Missing Man’s table was set that meeting at the Grizzly Bend Club At 1630 hours on 8 November evening in the memory of both on Malmstrom AFB, as well as 2018, sixteen Big Sky Flight 99 General Robert Mathis and our trying once again to engage with Daedalians again gathered at the longtime Friend of the Flight, the members of the Malmstrom- Meadow Lark Country Club for Dave Madsen. Rex then led all based 40th Helicopter Squadron. another enjoyable Social Hour. the Daedalians present in the heartfelt toast in water, honoring Naval Aviation News Flight Captain Jim Burman called the meeting to order at all of our departed comrades. Despite poor weather and aircraft 1730. In recognition of the 101st Rex added the traditional toast in maintenance problems that have Anniversary of the creation of the wine to our Commander-in-Chief. greatly slowed the pace of T-6B 186th Aero Squadron, Matt Primary Flight Training at NAS 16 Members Present “Gus” Lynde lent his voice to a Corpus Christi, Texas, Ensign prayer written WWI Ace of Aces, Bruckner, M. Buck, J. Burman, J. Caroline Buck continues her Captain Eddie Rickenbacker: Carlton, P. Dascoulias, Kasper, steady progress toward earning Koby, Laux, Lynde, Mitchell, B. her Wings of Gold as a Naval O, Lord, unto Thee we lift up our Murray, Prestipino, Jerry and Aviator. On 14 November 2018 eyes in our hour of trouble as we Carol Shanahan, Paul Snyder, Buck completed her pre-solo know thou art with us and and Rex Tanberg all attended. checkride, and then her initial watching over us. Yea, though solo flight in the T-6B Texan II. we walk through the Valley of the Member News, Topics On 6 December Buck passed her Shadow of Death, we will fear no aerobatics checkride, and she is evil, for Thou are with us. A Ray Koby announced that he now up for her initial aerobatics thousand will fall at our side and would soon be celebrating his solo flight. Next, she will enter ten thousand at our right hand, 94th birthday; he allowed as how either the Formation Flight phase but with Thy protection, we will we could all attend, if we wished, or the Instrument Flying training feel it will not come nigh us. May but he admitted that he’d prefer phase, depending the availability our sin of worry be forgiven, O people just send money instead. of T-6B aircraft and instructors. Father, for we have doubted Thy power and Thy goodness too often. Shake our souls this day with Thy power, and as we contemplate the awesome magnitude of the world to be, let our spirits grow in stature and in power. Help us to live as Thy sons, as free men, as heirs of Christ and thus prepare the way for the gathering of all nations into Thy family until Peace shall reign forever, and all peoples shall proclaim Thee Lord of Lord and King of Kings, Amen. Ensign Caroline Buck’s Initial Solo Flight, 14 Nov 2018 2 . AIRPOWER SPOTLIGHT George Welch: The Greatest Pilot Almost Nobody Knows 2Lt George S. Welch earned his wings in January 1941, and one month later joined the 47th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group, at Wheeler Field, Oahu, Hawaii. At dawn on 7 December 1941, 2Lt Welch and squadron mate 2Lt Kenneth M. Taylor were returning home to the auxiliary Haleiwa Fighter Strip on Oahu's North Shore from a Christmas dinner and dance party at a rooftop hotel in Waikiki. They were still wearing their mess dress uniforms when the Japanese attacked. Welch telephoned the field to have two Curtiss P-40B fighters prepared for takeoff. He and Taylor and immediately drove in his Buick at high speed to Haleiwa to join the air battle. They took two off in their P-40 Warhawk fighters from the remote airfield, two of the only five American fighter pilots able to get airborne to counter the hundreds of attacking Lt George S. Welch gets a hearty handshake Japanese warplanes. Their .50 caliber cowl from President Roosevelt at the White House on guns were empty, and they carried only .30 25 May 1942 and his congratulations for shooting caliber ammunition in the wing guns. Welch down four Japanese planes on 7 December 1941 attacked two Aichi D3A “Val” dive bombers over Ewa Mooring Mast Field. Another Val was downed by Ken Taylor. When the two ran out of ammunition, they returned to Wheeler to refuel and reload, this time with 50 caliber rounds for the cowl guns. They took off as 15 Japanese planes strafed the field. On his second sortie, Welch shot down a Val attacking Ken Taylor, and then one Mitsubishi “Zero” fighter about five miles west of Barbers Point. They flew a third sortie, but the Japanese had departed. Welch was credited with four victories, and Taylor with two. Both were nominated for the Medal of Honor by General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, but they were ultimately awarded the Distinguished Service Cross instead - because they had taken off “without authorization.” After Pearl Harbor, Welch returned to the continental US to give war bond speeches until finally being assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group in New Guinea to fly P-39 Airacobras. He was subsequently assigned to the 80th Fighter Squadron, flying P-38s. Between 21 June and 2 September 1943 Welch shot down nine more Japanese aircraft: two Zeros, three Ki-61 “Tonys”, three Ki-43 “Oscars”, and one Ki-46 “Dinah”. Welch’s three combat tours included a total of 348 combat missions with 16 confirmed victories before malaria forced him out of the war. In 1944 Hap Arnold recommended Welch to become a test pilot for North American Aviation. He went on to fly the prototypes of the Navy's North American FJ-1 and later the Army Air Forces' XP-86, for which he was named Chief Test Pilot. The maiden flight of the XP-86 was on 1 October 1947, flown by Welch. 13 days later, Captain Charles Yeager exceeded Mach 1 in the Bell X-1. Curiously, several sonic booms were heard before the X-1’s flight; it turned out to be Welch, making high speed dive tests in the ‘86. During the Korean War North American sent Welch to instruct USAF pilots in the F-86; he reportedly downed six MiG-15s while "supervising" his students. This being unauthorized, he credited his students for the kills. Welch returned to flight testing for NAA, this time in the F-100 Super Sabre. He exceeded Mach 1 in level flight in an F-100 on 25 May 1953. However, stability problems plagued the prototype F-100, and on 12 October 1954, Welch's F-100A disintegrated during a 7-G pullout at Mach 1.55. Welch survived the crash, but he died as he was being airlifted to the hospital. Welch is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 3 November 2018 FLIGHT 99 DAEDALIAN LIBRARY THIS MONTH’S FEATURED TITLE “I Walked With Giants” By Gill Robb Wilson (AUTOBIOGRAPHY) Gill Robb Wilson (18 September 1892 – 8 September 1966) was an American pilot, Presbyterian minister, and military advocate. Motivated by youthful idealism and a deep sense of responsibility, Gill Robb and his brother Volney traveled to France to assist the Allied war effort. After initially driving ambulances, he became a member of the Lafayette Flying Corps- American pilots who flew for the French. His service for the French was with French Escadrille Br.