IACE 2006 in the United States of America Visiting Maryland & Delaware A Report of Dennys Mayer

Transcription

1 IACE 2006 in the United States of America Visiting Maryland & Delaware A Report of Dennys Mayer It was in the cold month of December when I got a letter from the Swiss IACE- Commission telling me about a great event that takes place every summer. It s called International Air Cadet Exchange. The main goal of this exchange is to promote international understanding & friendship of young pilots and aviation enthusiasts. IACE was established in 1946 and since then every year young people related with the aviation are elected by their local IACE-commissions and visit foreign countries to expand their horizon and to get in touch with different cultures. However, this year I decided to try to participate and sent my resume to the commission, I passed the first election process and was invited to introduce myself to the commission in the beautiful city of Lucerne. Some days later I got another letter from the IACE commission that told me that I am elected to represent the Swiss Aero Club in the United States this year. Everything went according to my dream. I found out that a nice guy, Boris Widmer, was elected to go to the U.S. as well. We never met before (except on the election event) but we got in touch by instant messenger instead. Day 1 18 th July 2006 Travelling I went to the airport very early for check-in, to meet Boris and to get our boarding passes for our flight from Zurich to Amsterdam, over the Atlantic ocean to Newark and finally, down to Washington D.C. Most of the flights were comfortable, we had a very short stop over in Amsterdam and the brakes of the plane went hot on the taxiway. Finally we had a delay of more than an hour resulting in a missed connection flight in Newark, however, they booked us to a later flight and after another hour of flying, we finally arrived in Washington D.C. and Boris had his first impression of America when he had to wait in the queue of the immigration. A Hispanic tried to immigrate with a copy of his passport & without a visa and he spoke very little English. Finally the officer got angry and shouted This is a simple yes or no question, do you have the original papers or not?. Well, I could imagine a better first impression. After that and after passing customs, we were picked up by members of the D.C. Staff, we met our Dutch friends, Cheuk, Siemen and their escort Gerard and they took us to our hotel, the Hotel Hilton Crystal City where we went to our room and changed to take a bath in the hotel pool. We were only two minutes in the pool when the fire alarm went off and everybody had to leave the building immediately actually that was where we met all the other cadets for the first time. After 15 minutes we returned to our rooms and prepared ourselves for dinner. The nice IACE staff informed us about the next day s program. Day 2 19 th July 2006 Exploring D.C. Today we had a very busy day. We were separated into the stategroups so we first met our British friends Darren, Rachel, Heather and their escort Maggie. We first went to the clock tower in D.C. together with our D.C. guide Nadine from North Carolina who gave us a wonderful view of Washington D.C. We continued our tour by feet and visited the White House. At least we saw it from the outside. After that we went to the famous Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Since we were all aviation enthusiasts it was THE place to go in D.C. We highly enjoyed it, except of the alibisecurity checks. For lunch we went to a big metro & Amtrak station to get a short rest and prepare ourselves for some more interesting museums in the afternoon. In the evening we had a tour through D.C. to enjoy several monuments by night. This tour was organized by Clifton Pleasant, he gave us a taste how it is being a Marine in the U.S. Marine Corps. Everyone had to remember his/her number. We

2 had to stay in our groups which had to be separated from the other groups. We got told that we re not the only ones in the city, to look out for other civilians and our escorts had to report in that their groups were complete. It was quite interesting and quite funny as well. We visited the Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and the Korea Conflict Memorial. Especially the Vietnam War Memorial was very touching because relatives of killed soldiers lied down flowers and flags next to the list of killed soldiers. Day 3 20 th July 2006 The Capitol Day 4 21 st July 2006 Drive to Maryland Scheduled for today was a tour of the famous Capitol in D.C. We went through the holy halls of American politics and even had the chance to overhear a discussion some senators had in the representative chamber. After this event we went to the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History and after that, we were all caught by the jetlag and decided to return to the hotel to relax around the pool, and yes, this time without a fire alarm On day 4 we had to say goodbye to the other cadets the first time, we were separated to different states (Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, Kansas, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio and Maryland/Delaware). The Swiss delegation (Boris & me) and three UK cadets (Rachel, Heather and Darren) went to Maryland that day. Haley Blevins picked us up at the hotel and we had a two hours drive up to St. Mary s County where we visited the Patuxent River Naval Air Station where the Test Pilot School is located. We had the great opportunity to fly a training jet in the simulator to exercise our aircraft carrier landing skills. For lunch we went to the Officers Club located on the base. I was impressed how huge this base is, it s amazing. You can find a Mc Donalds and a Subway sandwich place on the base. We met some very interesting people there and they explained us that they already had to do business with Swiss people some years ago, they sold some F/A-18s to the Swiss Air Force. In the afternoon we went to the V-22 Osprey Hanger in which the V-22s are maintained and prepared for their test flights. We met the Maintenance Manager of the V-22 project and had a great and detailed presentation about the project and the aircraft features. After that we toured the Naval Air Station Museum to get an impression about earlier activities. Our tour guide was a retired WWIIveteran, he knew lots of details of the weapon systems they used in the past. In the evening we ve been invited for a pool party at Cadet Brunger s house. I spent the night with a very nice host family, the Myers. Day 5 22 nd July 2006 Kings Dominion Today a trip was planned to Kings Dominion, a Paramount Pictures fun park in Maryland where we spent the whole day trying out the different rides. It was a relaxing and fun day. Boris and I spent the night with Richard Trujillo s family. He showed us all his electronic stuff he put together. He was amazing.

3 Day 6 23 rd July 2006 Orientation flights Today we were able to enjoy some orientation flights on Maryland Wing s Cessnas, a 182 and two 172s. The girls went together with the 182, Boris and Darren shared a 172 and I was the lucky one to fly a 172 together with an instructor. Al Bidwick (my instructor) and I did the outside checks and decided where we re going to fly. After that we went into the plane (Capflight 1845), went through the pre-flight checks and taxied to the runway. After we were airborne it took only about 10 minutes and we were a perfect team in the cockpit. Without training we both knew what to do at all times. When he were on the controls, I did all the other tasks and vice versa. We did several training components such as simulated emergency landings or flying a course precisely. During our flight we travelled all around the northern part of Maryland and visited the Harford County Airport. That s what I call a romantic little airport. Airplanes, rocking chairs, warm weather It was like a little paradise. After having a can of Coke, we returned the Civil Air Patrol Cessna to the aircraft s home base, Martin State Airport where I met the other guys again. We spent the afternoon with Rich visiting the local fire station and a paintball field. In the evening we went to another host family to watch a DVD movie. Day 7 24 th July 2006 Baltimore Today we visited Baltimore. First we went to the Aquarium, which was really impressive. Again, keep in mind, we re in America, everything is much bigger than in Europe! So is the aquarium. After that we enjoyed Baltimore Inner Harbor on a CAP member s boat. Lunch was provided on his boat. This tour was great. We saw a lot of international container boats and some ships of the U.S. Navy. We were dropped off at the Baltimore Science Museum where we tried out some Segways, it s some kind of a mix of a micro skate scooter and a electric motorcycle. You just stand on it and move your body in the direction you would like to drive. With Alex as our instructor, we had a great time with lots of fun. We explored the Baltimore Science Museum and tried out all the experiments. After that it was time for dinner. Everybody wanted to go to Hooters, to enjoy the nice hostesses. Some of our guys took pictures together with the Hooters girls. We had fun. Because Camp Fretterd was occupied for some recruitments we stayed at a hotel that night. Day 8 25 th July A-10 Hanger & Annapolis The next day we went to Martin State Airport in the morning to meet with some other cadets and to have a look at the military facilities on the airport. First we met local cadets and a fuel truck manager at the recruitment office. He told us about aircraft refuelling and how the gasoline is cleaned and refined. All these machines & facilities were pretty impressive. Afterwards we had a look at the A-10 Warthog Hanger. We enjoyed talking to mechanics & pilots. They explained us their aircrafts very well & provided us with interesting facts about duties before and after flying the A-10s. Afterwards we met a one-star general. I got the feeling he came directly from a movie

4 cast in Hollywood, he looked exactly like the military guys in the movies. After a long transfer in a van we arrived in Annapolis and had lunch in a seafood restaurant. I usually don t like seafood too much, but the food served in that restaurant was very delicious. We looked around in the city of Annapolis and had some time to relax before we joined an event of the CAP of Annapolis Squadron. Day 9-26 th July Transfer to Delaware Today we had to transfer from Maryland to Delaware. Colonel Weiss organized a UH-60 Black Hawk ride for us. Therefore, we went to a little air base for the safety briefing to get the necessary instructions on what to do in case of an emergency, how to leave the helicopter. Then they explained us some technical details such as range, weight, dimensions and fuel consumption. A Black Hawk apparently burns 10.5 liters of jet fuel every minute! After the briefing we boarded the Black Hawk, Boris & I had the best seats of course (Somehow we ve always got some kind of a special treatment). We got in the front seats assigned next to Colonel Weiss which allowed us a perfect view to what was going on in the cockpit. After the engine run-up our Black Hawk departed for the ride of a lifetime. Because pictures can tell more than thousand words I ve put together some impressions of our transfer ride:

5 After 30 minutes flying time we arrived at New Castle County airport in Delaware. Lt. Col. Ted Schober welcomed us and took us to the Delaware Wing headquarters, where we could check our s and surf around in the Internet. Lunch was served at a sport s bar nearby and Ted Schober asked us what we wanted to do that afternoon. Everyone wanted to go shooting, so another CAP-member went to Wal Mart to get some ammunition. According to our desire, we went to the shooting range and shot 22 caliber rifles and another CAP-member brought his Smith & Wesson 9mm firearm which we were allowed to shoot as well. It was the first time for me to shoot a firearm. In the evening we were invited for a welcome dinner at a fast food restaurant. That was where we first met our host for the next few days. After dinner we went to his house and enjoyed his Jacuzzi. Day th July Rehoboth Beach This day was used to settle our mind with all the impressions from the last few days and get some rest on the beach. Doing nothing, just enjoying the warm weather & the jellyfishes in the water On the way back we saw the wreck of the C-5 Galaxy which crashed a few weeks earlier. Day th July Dover Air Force Base Another day filled with action and exciting experiences. We had to get up very early to meet at New Castle county airport to drive up to the Dover Air Force Base. We arrived there around 7:30 where they organized a tour through the parcel handling system at the base where all the freight from and to Ramstein, Iraq or Afghanistan is handled. Afterwards we were separated into two groups. My group first went on the tarmac to look at a C-5 Galaxy. I never saw such a big airplane in reality before. In order to get to the cockpit you need to climb up two huge stairways. It was just amazing. We went to the cockpit which was not quite a glass cockpit, because this Galaxy was one of the older units which still haven t had an upgrade. This aircraft is unbelievable, so huge and impressive.

6 After that we went to the C-5 Galaxy simulator and tried to shoot some takeoffs and several landings, together with an instructor. I felt like it is easier to fly this big guy than I expected. Brian won our competition for the best landing, since his landing turned out to be slightly better than mine. We also met Colonel Samuel Cox, commander of the 436 th Airlift Wing located at Dover Air Force Base in the headquarters he took some minutes of his rare time for having a short conversation with us. That day they celebrated their family day on the air force base, therefore we joined them for lunch. They grilled chicken on some big barbecue trailers. It was again a picture you usually don't see but in a Hollywood-movie. Following lunch we went to a shop, located on the air force base to do some shopping, before left for the Delaware State Fair, an exhibition of the best apples, tastiest vegetables and so on. They also had some rides and excitements like that there, but it was nothing compared to King s Dominion in Maryland. Before we went home, we met some local cadets at their CAP building. Boris & I wanted to put our bags into Brian s car and I said just for fun: We re going to try out your car, is this ok for you? He just laughed, but guess who drove home He gave me the keys and I drove my first miles on American roads. Day th July Philadelphia & Baseball game After breakfast at Denny s we went to Philadelphia to visit the Museum of Art. It s a museum like every other. We walked around and looked at the exhibitions, drank a cup of coffee in the café and went outside. The stairs of the museum are famous because in the movie Rocky. They ran up these stairs and so did we. Actually it was the first time we did some exercise on this trip. Lunch was served at Geno s Steaks and at Dave & Busters we were in for some games before we went to a minor league baseball game in the evening. The Wilmington Blue Rocks played a game against a team from the south. It was a very special atmosphere, especially in the seventh inning, when everybody had to sing Take me out to the ball game. Another very American event!

7 Day th July New York our last day in Delaware. We planned to go to New York to see the Big Apple. We took off early in the morning and went to a train station to catch the train to New York City. This train ride took us about an hour and a half until we finally arrived there. Of course, the girls first wanted to go to Macy s, a very famous store in New York City. After some miles of walking we arrived at Ground Zero. I ve been there once before in 2004, but it s still a very touching place. We stayed at Ground Zero for about 10 minutes before we went to the Irish Gardens at the Hudson River to get some rest before we changed to Times Square and the Hard Rock Café for dinner. We then tried to visit CVN Intrepid, however they already closed at 6 o clock in the evening, so we had to go back to the train station. After another hour and a half we arrived at the parking place and drove back to Brian s house for our farewell party in his Jacuzzi. Tonight everybody stayed at his house for the night. Day st July Return to Washington D.C. We had to go back to Washington today. After the party last night, it was hard to get up in the morning. We had breakfast at Denny s and got ready to drive back to Washington. But one of the wheels at the trailer broke down, so Lt. Col. Ted Schober had to fix it first, but it didn t really matter. In the afternoon we arrived at the Hilton hotel in Washington D.C. again. Every group had to present their experiences in the different states. Some movies of people on roller coasters were quite funny. Day 15 1 st August Arlington Cemetery We had no scheduled events today so we decided to go to the Arlington Cemetery. It was extremely hot that day and we sweat like never before. Especially the ceremony of changing the guards of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier was draining sweat out of our bodies. We had to wait in the sun, standing on the hot floor while the ceremony took about 10 minutes or so. Now I know why the IACE director always told us to stay hydrated. Because we didn t have much time to get some shopping done in Maryland and Delaware we decided to make up for it in a shopping mall nearby, it s called Pentagon City. After dinner everybody received a certificate of the IACE association in the United States as a proof that we ve been there. This event was followed by the traditional ceremony of packing up the IACE poster for next year s exchange. Following this tradition and after saying good bye to most of the people we met during our stay, we enjoyed an AVO cigar on the roof of the hotel, together with some other cadets from the U.K., Australia & Canada.

8 Day 16 2 nd August Travelling back to Europe Since our flight was scheduled for the afternoon, we had some more time for shopping in the shopping center Crystal City shopping mall. Every hour another nationality left the hotel to go to back to their home countries. It was sad to see how such a cool crowd is splitted up to all over the world, one after the other, after spending all this unforgettable time together. We were on the same flight as the guys from the Netherlands. At five o clock in the afternoon we left the United States, heading for Amsterdam. After the guys from Holland also left us we went to our gate. We had to wait about two hours until we could board the aircraft. They told us that we are going to have a delay because of some severe weather around Zurich. Luckily they allowed us to visit the cockpit crew to have a chat about the aircraft and our flight plan. Then, 30 minutes later we taxied to the runway and departed. We already thought, ok, another hour and we re in Zurich No, we were wrong, after only 30 minutes we had to return to Amsterdam because of some technical difficulties. Everybody had to be booked to other flights. At the end, we had a total waiting time of eight hours in Amsterdam, including a sightseeing flight with a Boeing 737. At 6:20 in the evening we finally arrived at Zurich Airport, exhausted but very happy. An experience of a lifetime! I recommend everybody who is interested in getting in touch with other young aviation enthusiasts to apply for this exchange in order to enjoy these two and a half fantastic weeks. It s a once in a lifetime experience! Don t miss your chance! Special thanks to The Swiss IACE Commission Oberst im Generalstab Jürg Kürsener Commander of the Swiss Armed Forces, Christophe Keckeis The D.C. Staff Nadine, our tour guide in D.C. Haley Blevins Bob Blevins The Myers family John Weaver Richard Trujillo Colonel Weiss Al Bidwick Maryland Wing Delaware Wing Lieutenant Colonel Ted Schober Brian Schmidt Maggie Irvine for being our great escort Civil Air Patrol United States Air Force all the other great people I had the chance to get in touch with! IACE 2006 goes online Keep in touch, register on our website: All pictures are property of Dennys Mayer and protected by the Swiss copyright law.