Ryan PT-22 takes BEST IN SHOW at Midland AirSho 2007!

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1 Volume 7, Issue 11 November 2007 Ryan PT-22 takes BEST IN SHOW at Midland AirSho 2007! Mike s new shirt with Terri looking on Frank Mormillo 2007 Riverside Wing Ryan PT-22 flown by 3rd Pursuit member Col. Terry Freedman over Midland, TX. See Page 4 1

2 OCTOBER MEETING NOTES The October meeting took place as usual and as usual we had a great, fun time. Our leader, Bob Cable, was responsible for the Oktoberfest menu that consisted of a variety of German and Polish sausages, sauerkraut and German potato salad. Dessert was ice cream topped with a delightful apple concoction that Suzanne termed Apple Pie without the crust. Events of Interest Always check with the event coordinator to learn of any changes November 17 December 15 January 12 & 13 Annual Veterans Meeting 3rd Pursuit monthly dinner meeting at Cable & Staff Elections! 3rd Pursuit Christmas Party Cable Air Show February National Warbird Operators convention in Palm Springs March 7,8,9 Midland Winter Staff at Fundome in Odessa. Ride available from Bud Ukes Many tales of the trip to Midland for Airsho 2007 were told --- some may even have been true! We heard about a notorious round of drinks donated by our own Mike Polley as well as some tales of frightening drink formulations. Pipes newsletter: If any of you are not getting Pipes newsletter and would like to, please send him your address at: BudsAirplanes@3rdPursuit.com There was also the story about one of our famous B-17 pilot heroes who was flying Panda - Monium who demonstrated the technique of how to follow the flight with the help of bug spots on the windscreen. Ding Hao Ding Hao is the official publication of the 3rd Pursuit Squadron. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without the written consent of the 3rd Pursuit Squadron, publisher of Ding Hao. Address correspondence to Ding Hao, c/o Dick Fields, 1749 W. 13th St., Upland, CA or T6Pilot@3rdPursuit.com Phone Copyright 2006, 3rd Pursuit Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force. Cliff tells the tales of Midland Membership Data Update 3rd Pursuit members: please notify us of any change in address or telephone area code. Please contact Tony Settember, Adjutant, at 909/ or A54swift@aol.com Continued on page 3 2

3 Continued from page 2 Cliff Heathcoat filled us in on many details, including the winds and weather along the way. He lost a mag on the way! I wonder if he has found it yet??? The two prime movers in the Ryan project attended: Terry and Doug. Pirate Pipes announced the end of the Midland Raiders and the establishment of the Yankee Air Pirates in its place. Squadron Notes Staff Meeting Christmas dinner will be $20.00 per person. Reservations are a must. Bud will everyone and mail letters out to all members. RSVP's must be made to Bud. Christmas program will be a WWII Navigator Dinners. A motion was made by M. Llewellyn and seconded by C. Fontes that beginning in January we will have a new program. Dinners will be $15.00 per person. If you pay in advance you can pay for 10 dinners and get 1 free. It also means that you will get 1 free drink with each meal. (This excludes the Christmas 2008 dinner). Information will also be in Bud's . All dinners in 2008 must be made by reservation no later than the Tuesday before the meeting. Please have all members RSVP to Bob Cable or Marian Llewellyn if you don't get a call. A donation was made by Roy Test of $ These are funds he raised at Torrance at the opening of the new Western Museum of Flight. PIO - Bud announced that the elections will take place at the November meeting. It will also be a salute to the American Veterans. We will have an American Veterans Memorial table. Bud will explain the procedure at the meeting. Maintenance Mike Polley reported that we are replacing the starter on the AN2 This guy looks mean enough to be a pirate! Finance A motion to donate $500 to the Cable Air show was made by M. Llewellyn, seconded by M. Polley. Motion was approved. Pipes displays the unique pin granted only to those special people who qualify as Raiders and/or Pirates. Check-Six! 3

4 Continued from Page 1 Terry Freedman in the Ryan over Midland Frank Mormillo 2007 Col. Terry Freedman flying the Ryan PT-22 to the Midland Airsho 2007 took the prestigious BEST IN SHOW AWARD this year. Terry Freedman enroute to Midland at V V - 1 It was erroneously reported last month by your editor that the Ryan had taken best in class. That in itself would have been great but BEST IN SHOW is incredible! There were approximately 40 aircraft evaluated by the EAA judges, who, I am told, did a very detailed inspection of all the candidates. This aircraft is assigned to the Riverside Wing and was restored at Cable Airport primarily by Terry Freedman and Doug Schuster, both pilot sponsors. Although sharing responsibility for the restoration of the Ryan, Col. Schuster has been Dogging It recently and we encourage him to get out and fly again! The sky misses him. 4

5 Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Center Wings, Rotors & Wheels Show The Los Alamitos show was well attended by the 3rd Pursuit Squadron. Above are the aircraft of members Jim Bergman, Dick Fields and the 3rd Pursuit s Panda-Monium. Big Panda was flown by Mike Polley. Roy Test had a table set up that attracted a continuous stream of interested spectators throughout the show. Roy donated a gift to the Unit from the income he made at the show. There were also aircraft from the Planes of Fame and the Yanks Museum, both based at Chino. The C-53 from Riverside was a large attraction as well. We all had a good time and got to see many old friends with many different aircraft. There was an interesting team there doing some of the best video photography I have seen. They even interviewed me! 5

6 Los Alamitos (cont) The Yanks Museum crew hangs out under the beautiful, polished, Lockheed 12 (C-40) Riverside Wing s C-53 Third Pursuit lineup viewed from Jim Bergman s T-6 cockpit An atmosphere of tension and excitement prevailed Jim Bergman s T-6 Cowboy Flight The giant Air Force C-17 hides behind the Planes of Fame Red Stearman 6

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8 The Western Museum of Flight Grand Opening at Torrance Airport 3rd Pursuit was well represented at the grand opening of the WMOF. Our friend, Cindy Macha, invited a spectacular display of warbirds to the event. There were several each of many kinds of aircraft. These included L-29 s, Skyraiders, T-6 s, L-Birds, the Antonov AN-2, P-51 s, the C-53, a Fokker, T-34 s, the Ryan PT-22, Lockheed Electra, several Stearmans, F7F Tigercat, B-25, Waco UPF-7, the museum display F- 5 and many more. The display of aircraft was awesome. They were arriving and departing to the delight of the extremely large crowd. The crowd was so large that it took about 15 minutes in line to get lunch! There were almost as many photographers as aircraft. Western Museum of Flight Located at Historic "Louis Zamperini Field" "Torrance Airport" 3315 Airport Drive, Red Baron #3 Torrance, CA Telephone: (310) FAX: (310) WMOFSCHAF@um.att.com It looks as if the WMOF is off to a good start in its new location after the move from Hawthorne. The commercial support list is lengthy and we wish them a great future. On behalf of those of us who brought display aircraft, we want to thank Cindy for her usual great hospitality and the CAF marshallers who parked our aircraft and kept them safe. 8

9 3rd Pursuit Squadron 1749 W. 13th St. Upland, CA If you have not been contacted by the Tuesday before the meeting, please call Bob Cable or Marian Lewellen for reservations Bob: Marian: Next General Meeting November 17, 2007 at 5:30 PM. Location: the 3rd Pursuit building on the airport entrance street next to the Quonset hut. Meeting Saturday Please Note: 5:30 6:30 TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING DINNER Deep fried turkey with all the trimmings 9