The Fort Warren Express
The Fort Warren Express The Newsletter of Ft. Warren Flight No. 54 Order of Daedalians P.O. Box 9647 F.E. Warren AFB, WY 82003 Volume XXXV, Issue 11
November 2017
Flight Captain - John Mitchell, Vice Flight Captain – Gary Moore, Adjutant – Rich Burger, Vice Adjutant – Steve Foster Treasurer – Fred Drake, Vice Treasurer – Kent Nelson, Chaplain – John Denham, Asst Chaplain – Tom Logan, Provost Marshall – Derek Fisbeck, Vice Provost Marshall – Dennis Cook This is a private organization. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components and it has no governmental status.
2017 Officers
Flight Captain’s Corner Well, it’s time to write my last column and turn this space over someone with fresh ideas and a most likely a greater slant towards Air Force blue. I trust you all had a thankful and happy Thanksgiving. I don’t know how many of you watched (or participated in) the annual Cheyenne Thanksgiving parade last Saturday evening; I thought it was great! It’s too bad we don’t have a miniature F-16 (or A-6, etc.) that would fit on a trailer so we could be part of the parade next year. It’s now time to turn our thoughts towards the Christmas season. As Daedalians, our DNA is associated with service and helping others, a trait much more aligned with Christmas than heading to the mall to buy gifts for those who often don’t need them. This is a good time to visit old friends who can’t get out any more, help the Salvations Army, and donate a ham or turkey to the food bank. Finally, please give our new Flight Captain, Jerry Champlin, the same great support you provided me over the past two years. They were quite a learning experience for me, but I’m now ready to step back and do something else. If it works out, I would like to be more involved in the Daedalian Flying Training scholarship (formerly, the CFIP). Hopefully, we can have better luck with it than last year! Have a joyful and merry Christmas, and God bless each of you and your families. John E. Mitchell
Next Meeting Tuesday, December 12, 2017 @1130 Location: ANG Dining Facility Light Meal $13.00 RSVP NLT December 8 to: Steve Foster 307-638-2120 or [email protected] Please let Steve know if you are coming OR NOT – so he won’t have to call you for your status. December Program: Buffs Rule. Ken Curry flew more than 150 sorties in SE Asia, including one when his B-52 was severely damaged by a surface to air missile.
Notes from the November Party Our annual holiday party brought together an abundance of Daedalians and their friends and families. We had over 60 in attendance and all were witness to events to make the holiday party special. The social hour leading up to the officers’ call gave everyone a chance to top off and make a few laps around the pattern prior to wheels up. Flight Captain John Mitchell called the group to order at 1800. The Cheyenne East AF JROTC color guard under Lt Col Rod Peoples provided a flawless posting of the colors to properly open the event. They were very impressive. After the invocation, pledge of allegiance and toasts, we had a substantial meal of either Turkey, dressing and potatoes or Ham and yams.
Following dinner, we held a short business meeting for the purpose of electing new officers. The new officers for 2018 are: Flight Captain – Jerry Champlin Vice Flight Captain – Dick Morrison Adjutant – Rich Burger Vice Adjutant – Steve Foster Treasurer – Kent Nelson Vice Treasurer – Steve Anderson Chaplain – Tom Logan Provost Marshall – Derek Fisbeck They will be sworn into their new duties at the conclusion of the December meeting. Once the business meeting was completed, we were entertained by a series of songs brought to us by LCCC’s Cantorei Singers under the direction of Beth Kean. This small group of twelve vocalists were accompanied by a percussionist and pianist. They were very pleasant to listen to. No sooner had the Cantorei Singers filed out than Paul Stenback started up the raffle. Over 24 bottles of wine and some chocolates were raffled off. We had a lot of happy winners retuning home after a very nice evening. A special thanks to those on the banquet committee who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this party a big success. Treasurers Report October 2017 Balance Forward 9086.87 Income Lunch(20x15) 300.00 Dues(20x1) 20.00 Postage 26.00 Wine Raffle 55.00 401.00 Expense Lunch (20x14)
280.00 (280.00)
Net Change End Balance
121.00 9207.87
Useless tidbits AIRCRAFT MACHINE GUNS From "United States Army Aircraft Production Facts" COMPILED AT THE REQUEST OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR
By Col. G. W. MIXTER, A. S., A. P. and Lieut. H. H. EMMONS, U. S. N. R. F. Of the Bureau of Aircraft Production — JANUARY 1919
Until almost a year after the war began machine guns were not carried by airplanes on active service, but they were armed with various weapons, such as service rifles, automatic rifles, automatic pistols, shotguns shooting large shot held together by wire, and also equipped with grenades and darts, which were intended to drop on their adversaries. Needless to say, the damage done by these weapons was slight, owing to the great difficulty of one moving object hitting another. Maj. Eric T. Bradley, United States Army, in August, 1915, was a flight sub lieutenant in the British service. He regularly flew over the lines in a B. E. plane, armed with a Lee-Enfield rifle or sometimes with a 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun loaded with buckshot tied together by wire that swished through the air and occasionally hit something. Regular service automatic pistols were carried, and there are many stories of frightening the Hun with Very pistols, which shot Roman candle balls. Later Lewis ground guns were taken directly from the trenches and worked from the observer's shoulder. The first fixed guns were mounted on the top plane so as to shoot over the arc described by the propeller; but these were not satisfactory owing to the difficulty in reloading the gun. To overcome this difficulty the gun was lowered, which brought its line of fire inside the circle described by the propeller. Thus arose the difficulty of shooting into the propeller, and various attempts were made to solve this problem. The blades of the propeller were armored at the points where the bullets would strike, with steel of a shape calculated to cause the bullets to glance off, but this system was never very satisfactory. In other cases linen fabric was wrapped around the propeller at points where the bullets would strike to keep it from splintering, as it was found that several shots could pass through the propeller without causing it to break. A useful tidbit “Never fly the A model of anything.” -Edward Thompson, 433 RCAF Sq (WWII) I flew a UH-1A, CH-47A and UH-60A. Also, a Cessna 182A. It’s better to be lucky than good. -John Mitchell, soon to be ex-Flight Captain
November 2017
Flight Captain - John Mitchell, Vice Flight Captain – Gary Moore, Adjutant – Rich Burger, Vice Adjutant – Steve Foster Treasurer – Fred Drake, Vice Treasurer – Kent Nelson, Chaplain – John Denham, Asst Chaplain – Tom Logan, Provost Marshall – Derek Fisbeck, Vice Provost Marshall – Dennis Cook This is a private organization. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components and it has no governmental status.
2017 Officers
Flight Captain’s Corner Well, it’s time to write my last column and turn this space over someone with fresh ideas and a most likely a greater slant towards Air Force blue. I trust you all had a thankful and happy Thanksgiving. I don’t know how many of you watched (or participated in) the annual Cheyenne Thanksgiving parade last Saturday evening; I thought it was great! It’s too bad we don’t have a miniature F-16 (or A-6, etc.) that would fit on a trailer so we could be part of the parade next year. It’s now time to turn our thoughts towards the Christmas season. As Daedalians, our DNA is associated with service and helping others, a trait much more aligned with Christmas than heading to the mall to buy gifts for those who often don’t need them. This is a good time to visit old friends who can’t get out any more, help the Salvations Army, and donate a ham or turkey to the food bank. Finally, please give our new Flight Captain, Jerry Champlin, the same great support you provided me over the past two years. They were quite a learning experience for me, but I’m now ready to step back and do something else. If it works out, I would like to be more involved in the Daedalian Flying Training scholarship (formerly, the CFIP). Hopefully, we can have better luck with it than last year! Have a joyful and merry Christmas, and God bless each of you and your families. John E. Mitchell
Next Meeting Tuesday, December 12, 2017 @1130 Location: ANG Dining Facility Light Meal $13.00 RSVP NLT December 8 to: Steve Foster 307-638-2120 or [email protected] Please let Steve know if you are coming OR NOT – so he won’t have to call you for your status. December Program: Buffs Rule. Ken Curry flew more than 150 sorties in SE Asia, including one when his B-52 was severely damaged by a surface to air missile.
Notes from the November Party Our annual holiday party brought together an abundance of Daedalians and their friends and families. We had over 60 in attendance and all were witness to events to make the holiday party special. The social hour leading up to the officers’ call gave everyone a chance to top off and make a few laps around the pattern prior to wheels up. Flight Captain John Mitchell called the group to order at 1800. The Cheyenne East AF JROTC color guard under Lt Col Rod Peoples provided a flawless posting of the colors to properly open the event. They were very impressive. After the invocation, pledge of allegiance and toasts, we had a substantial meal of either Turkey, dressing and potatoes or Ham and yams.
Following dinner, we held a short business meeting for the purpose of electing new officers. The new officers for 2018 are: Flight Captain – Jerry Champlin Vice Flight Captain – Dick Morrison Adjutant – Rich Burger Vice Adjutant – Steve Foster Treasurer – Kent Nelson Vice Treasurer – Steve Anderson Chaplain – Tom Logan Provost Marshall – Derek Fisbeck They will be sworn into their new duties at the conclusion of the December meeting. Once the business meeting was completed, we were entertained by a series of songs brought to us by LCCC’s Cantorei Singers under the direction of Beth Kean. This small group of twelve vocalists were accompanied by a percussionist and pianist. They were very pleasant to listen to. No sooner had the Cantorei Singers filed out than Paul Stenback started up the raffle. Over 24 bottles of wine and some chocolates were raffled off. We had a lot of happy winners retuning home after a very nice evening. A special thanks to those on the banquet committee who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this party a big success. Treasurers Report October 2017 Balance Forward 9086.87 Income Lunch(20x15) 300.00 Dues(20x1) 20.00 Postage 26.00 Wine Raffle 55.00 401.00 Expense Lunch (20x14)
280.00 (280.00)
Net Change End Balance
121.00 9207.87
Useless tidbits AIRCRAFT MACHINE GUNS From "United States Army Aircraft Production Facts" COMPILED AT THE REQUEST OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR
By Col. G. W. MIXTER, A. S., A. P. and Lieut. H. H. EMMONS, U. S. N. R. F. Of the Bureau of Aircraft Production — JANUARY 1919
Until almost a year after the war began machine guns were not carried by airplanes on active service, but they were armed with various weapons, such as service rifles, automatic rifles, automatic pistols, shotguns shooting large shot held together by wire, and also equipped with grenades and darts, which were intended to drop on their adversaries. Needless to say, the damage done by these weapons was slight, owing to the great difficulty of one moving object hitting another. Maj. Eric T. Bradley, United States Army, in August, 1915, was a flight sub lieutenant in the British service. He regularly flew over the lines in a B. E. plane, armed with a Lee-Enfield rifle or sometimes with a 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun loaded with buckshot tied together by wire that swished through the air and occasionally hit something. Regular service automatic pistols were carried, and there are many stories of frightening the Hun with Very pistols, which shot Roman candle balls. Later Lewis ground guns were taken directly from the trenches and worked from the observer's shoulder. The first fixed guns were mounted on the top plane so as to shoot over the arc described by the propeller; but these were not satisfactory owing to the difficulty in reloading the gun. To overcome this difficulty the gun was lowered, which brought its line of fire inside the circle described by the propeller. Thus arose the difficulty of shooting into the propeller, and various attempts were made to solve this problem. The blades of the propeller were armored at the points where the bullets would strike, with steel of a shape calculated to cause the bullets to glance off, but this system was never very satisfactory. In other cases linen fabric was wrapped around the propeller at points where the bullets would strike to keep it from splintering, as it was found that several shots could pass through the propeller without causing it to break. A useful tidbit “Never fly the A model of anything.” -Edward Thompson, 433 RCAF Sq (WWII) I flew a UH-1A, CH-47A and UH-60A. Also, a Cessna 182A. It’s better to be lucky than good. -John Mitchell, soon to be ex-Flight Captain
