The Plane Scoop. A publication of the Central Valley Aviation Association

Transcription

1 The Plane Scoop A publication of the Central Valley Aviation Association Great Planes and Great Pilots By Morris Garcia In the crucial Battle of Midway, the Dauntless did more than any other aircraft to turn the tide of the Pacific War. Scouting Squadrons and Bombing Squadrons of SBDs flew from America s aircraft carriers; the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet and the USS Yorktown. At Midway, on June 4, 1942, SBDs left all four Japanese carriers in ruins and later in the battle sank a heavy cruiser and severely damaged another. From 1942 through to 1945, in addition to its shipboard service, the SBD saw intensive use with the U.S. Marine Corps, flying from island bases. SBD Dauntless aircraft accounted for many Japanese aircraft shot down in air-to-air combat. They finished their airtime career as antisubmarine bombers and as attack aircraft, carrying depth charges and rockets. The SBD was powered with a Wright Cyclone, nine-cylinder radial engine, developing 1,350 horsepower. The wingspan was 41-feet, 6 -inches and the length was 33-feet. The SBD Dauntless featured Swiss cheese flaps dive breaks punched with 3-inch holes so that it could achieve pinpoint accuracy by diving to the target, dropping the bomb and then pulling out of the near-vertical dive. way. Plunging through the air at 240 knots amid immense anti-aircraft fire, the twenty-six year old pilot from USS Enterprise s elite Scouting Squadron Six fixed on the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, releasing three bombs at the last possible moment, then pulled out of the 9-g dive. The perfectly placed bombs stuck the carrier s deck and Kaga never recovered. Norman Jack Dusty Kleiss, wrote a book of his memories during the Battle of Midway with naval historians Timothy and Laura Orr, entitled Never Call Me a Hero. He intended that the book be released for the 75th anniversary of the historic naval battle that changed the course of history and established the aircraft carrier as the principal strategic weapon of the United States Navy. The Battle of Midway took place June 4-7, As they were close to completing the book in 2016, Dusty passed away at the age of 100. He was the last surviving dive bomber pilot to have fought at Midway. This was taken from a larger article on the subject written by Cathy Hansen for the Loop Newspaper Tehachapi, CA. THANKS CATHY!! Armament included two forward firing.50 caliber machine guns and two 0.30 caliber machine guns on flexible mounts. It could carry up to 1,600 pounds of bombs on a fuselage mount and 650 pounds of bombs on the wings. On June 4, 1942, U.S. Navy SBD pilot, Norman Kleiss dove his SBD Dauntless in a near vertical dive high above the northern Pacific atoll Mid- Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber (This aircraft belongs to Planes of Fame in Chino, CA) November 2017 In this issue Page 1 Great Planes and Great Pilots

2 Page 2 A Trip to Modesto and Hollister By Joseph Oldham I have been blessed to be able to fly a lot this past year and on several of my trips I have been able to take Michael Murphy along to share the flying duties. Michael has been flying with many of us from Chandler since he was about 13 years old and now is a freshman at CSU, Fresno majoring in Engineering. Michael is still working on getting his Private Pilot certificate and recently got a part-time job that could help speed the process along! Below are some images from our recent trip to Modesto for the Commemorative Air Force Squadron Saturday lunch. Following lunch and looking in open hangars at Modesto, we flew to Hollister and toured the small museum there. CVAA Christmas Party Coming Soon; Buy Your Tickets NOW!! The Annual CVAA Christmas Party will be at Ramada Fresno North at Shaw and Hwy 41 on 12/03/2017. The event will start at 3pm, with dinner being served at 4pm. We have the venue until 10:00pm. There will be a cash bar at no cost to CVAA. Cost is $35/person with the choice of Turkey Dinner or TriTip with Cheese Cake dessert, coffee, tea. Each couple or single should bring an unwrapped gift to raffle off CVAA will sell raffle tickets for $1.00 each. (Gifts can be books, gift cards, a bottle of wine, etc.) November Activities It was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon and help keep our youth engaged in aviation! Michael almost flies the Foxbat as well as I do!! November 4 Regular Meeting, KFCH Sheriff s Air Squadron meeting room, 9 am. Speaker: Arnie Schweer. Arnie will talk about a Frenchman by the name of Ace DeGuitaut and his exploits with the French Underground during WWII. Ace also operated the Chandler Airport Restaurant during the 1960 s 70 s and offered one of the best steak sandwiches in Fresno. Ace and Arnie were the co-founders of the Gathering of Warbirds in 1972 at Chandler which was later moved to Madera, CA. November 16--Board Meeting, 6:30 pm, location is Airport Manager s Conference Room, Chandler Terminal Building at 510 W. Kearney Blvd., Fresno, CA.

3 Page 3 The Central Valley Aviation Association Old Glory Flies Over Chandler Again On the 80th anniversary of the original dedication of the flag pole at Fresno Chandler Executive Airport, a new flag was raised on the original pole after City of Fresno Airport Department staff did a complete restoration. As part of the ceremony, a flag that had been flown over the Capitol in Washington D.C was presented to the California Veterans Home that is located just south of Chandler Airport. Stuart Chandler and his two children, descendants of W.F Chandler who donated the airport property to the City of Fresno in 1929, stood with members of the CVAA Board of Directors for this photo following the ceremony and reception. CVAA encouraged the City to undertake the flag pole restoration effort after noting that it had been years since the American flag had been flown on the pole and the pole had fallen into disrepair. Congressman Jim Costa and a representative of Congressman David Valadao s office attended the ceremony and made comments about the rich history of Fresno Chandler Executive Airport and its contribution to aviation and the economy of the San Joaquin Valley. It was a beautiful morning for the ceremony and now pilots approaching the field on downwind for Rwy 30 have another wind direction indication as they see Old Glory next to the Terminal Building!!

4 Page 4 The Central Valley Aviation Association Call to order: 9:02a.m. Flag salute: Led by President Morris Garcia. Meeting Minutes from October 7 Minutes: September 2, 2017 minutes read, MSC with one correction made. MSC Carson/Napolitano Treasurer Report: Cash in bank as of 08/31/2017= $7, Total income= $1, Total expenses= ($903.60). Net increase= $ Cash in bank on 09/29/2017= $7, Old Business: Morris met with Musca and city will take over restoring flag pole. City will pay for all expanses. We will not have a trumpet player because a trumpet is not played for raising of the flag. The city is making all plans for event. There will be a small ceremony in the lobby of Chandler. The flag to be raised, will be given to the veterans home. Event will be at 7:00a.m. Oct. 30, Christmas party will be December 3, Joseph Oldham has a backup speaker if Sean Bautista is not available. New Business: Because of the engine failure of the DC-3, CVAA lost income at the Remember When event. City forced CVAA to get addition insurance for the DC-3 at the last minute. This increase was covered by John Malony, the owner of Anlin Windows. Donation was for $5, Morris Garcia will ask for a portion of insurance $ back. John Pugliese made a motion to let Morris handle trying to get money back from insurance and also money back from the DC-3. CVAA will keep any returned monies. Motion was seconded by Jim Shamp with 1 nay. Morris Garcia went through list of people who donated money to the event. Speaker Rod Machado s speaking event was a loss of revenue. Gate income was $5, Car show income was $1, DVD sales were $ Pepsi booth income was maybe about $ EAA food booth income was $1, They are to keep all money as per agreement with CVAA. Gross income= $17,000 Expenses= $ 18,000 We listened to comments for next years Remember When. Adjournment: 10:20a.m. MSC Carson/Emerian CVAA Officers and Board Members for 2017 Officers President: Morris Garcia Vice President: Joseph Oldham Secretary: Christie Anderson Treasurer: Sarah Donaldson Board Members Joe Kulbeth Mary King John Pugliese Jim Shamp Rick Emerian Chuck Carson Arnie Schweer Mark Cannon Pat Napolitano

5 Page 5 Central Valley Aviation Association Membership Application or Update Name: Membership: Single Family Spouse s Name (If family membership): (we encourage family membership) Address: Street, City, State: Zip: Telephone: Home:, Work:, Cellular: address: (Print carefully) I would like to receive the Plane Scoop via Yes, No Airplane (you usually fly): Type:, N number:, Colors): Date of birth (just the month and day not the year): Primary member:, Spouse:. How many years have you been a member of CVAA? (estimates are OK) CVAA Service: Please list any offices or committee positions in which you are interested in serving: Please list any talent or skills you have that you would be willing to use to serve CVAA: This information will be printed in our Club roster and distributed to members only. Please omit any information you do not want to appear in the Club roster. Mail application, with $20 single membership or $25 for a family membership to: Sarah Donaldson 1959 Gateway Blvd., Suite 102 Fresno, CA If you have already paid your dues please complete the form anyway and mail it or hand it to Sarah Donaldson. Comments or suggestions: