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P.O. Box 5344, Petaluma, CA. 94955
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SAH General Meetings and Educational Programs
Mark your calendar
Click on this link
to see our Policies and Procedures Page
Our next meeting: June 6, 2026 meeting
Don Blakeslee's War: How America's Fighting-est Fighter Pilot Shaped the Legendary Fourth fighter Group
Col. Don Blakeslee was a walking collection of contradictions: a stickler for military protocol but a pilot busted multiple times for his own transgressions,
a pilot who derided self-promotion but who had a PR man for his unit, and a 14.33-victory ace who admitted to being a terrible shot. In spite of this - or
because of it - Blakeslee was able to mold the Fourth Fighter Group into a cohesive and motivated team that destroyed over 1,000 German aircraft.
We'll trace Blakeslee's journey from the RAF to the USAAF, and from a noted troublemaker to the man the Eighth Air Force counted on to help new groups
become operational. We'll also see how Blakeslee helped introduce the P-51 - and how he cajoled the brass into giving his unit the Mustang, too.
With five books and hundreds of magazine articles to his credit, Chris Bucholtz has been writing about aviation history for a quarter of a decade. He's appeared
on the History Channels "Dogfights!," was a historical advisor to George Lucas' movie "Red Tails," and has spoken at museums across the United States. He's also
a national award-winning scale modeler and was the editor of the International Plastic Scale Modelers Society Journal for 18 years. A U.S. Navy veteran, Chris
lives with his wife Elizabeth and daughter Amelia in Alameda, California, below the landing pattern for historic North Field, Oakland.
This will be a great meeting, be sure to bring a friend!
Date/Time: June 6, 2026
11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Mountain View, CA (exact location given after RSVP, not Moffet Field)
Cost: Member - $42 per person.
Non-Member - $47 per person.
Menu
Salad: Verde Mista: A mixed green salad tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.
ENTREE
Please choose One:
Penne con Pomodoro e Melenzane: Tube pasta with fresh diced tomatoes and eggplant.
or
Ravioli di Ricotta e Spinach: Homemade ravioli stuffed with spinach
and ricotta cheese in alight tomaato sauce
or
Spaghetti Bolognese: Spaghetti pasta in our rich, hearty meat sauce.
or
Chicken Marsala: Chicken breast in Marsala wine and mushrooms,
served with mashed potato and seasonal vegetables.
Dessert: Gelato
A no host bar will be available
Click on the "Add to Cart" button below to make
reservations via PayPal or see below for check instructions.
At the request of our bank, please make checks payable to Society for Aviation History (not SAH). Please send your check
to: SAH, P.O. Box 5344, Petaluma, CA. 94955
RSVP: Reservations must be received by Wednesday, June 2.
Note: If you can't make it and have already placed your reservation, we must receive notice by June 2 or we will be
unable to give you a refund.
Reservations made after Wednesday, June 2, or arriving without a reservation will cost $75. You must pay to attend the meeting even if you don't plan on eating.
Click on this link to see our
Policies and Procedures Page
Our April 4, 2026 meeting was held at Don Giovanni's in Mountain View
World War I Ace Frank Luce Jr.
Presented by JR Williams
Frank Luke Jr. was a U.S. Army Air Service pilot in World War I and he received the Medal of Honor for acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty.
Luke ranks among the top U.S. Army Air Service pilots, second only to Captain Eddie Rickenbacker.
Rickenbacker was credited with 26 victories while Luke's official score was 18.
Williams shared Luke's story in words and pictures from historical documents and books in addition to field research in France and Germany. Luke was born
in 1897 to German immigrants in Phoenix, Arizona. He enlisted in the U.S. Signal Corps in 1917 when he was 20 years old, just five months after the start
of World War I. He received pilot training in Texas and California, and deployed to France for service. Luke had standing orders to destroy German observation
balloons. Luke died six miles behind enemy lines in France on September 29, 1918, and Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix is named in his honor.
Our February 7, 2026 meeting was held at the Moffett Field Museum
"The Improbable Rescue of P-3 Alfa Foxtrot 586"
Speakers Loreen and Matt Gibbons, with SAH President Byron May
Alfa Foxtrot 586, a P-3 Orion turboprop, was conducting a sensitive Cold War mission off the Kamchatka Peninsula on October 26, 1978, when a propeller malfunction
turned into four engine fires and the pilot-Loreen Grigsby's husband, Jerry was forced to ditch into remote, mountainous seas churned by a frigid North Pacific
storm. The aircraft sank within ninety seconds, taking one of the three rafts with it, which left thirteen men to huddle together in the remaining two rafts,
the smaller of which soon began to leak.
The rescue of the crew is nothing short of a miracle, with U.S. aviation assets locating the survivors in rafts, then directing a Soviet fishing trawler to the
location. However, five men, including Jerry Grigsby, perished in the ditching. In the years following Jerry's death, Loreen discovers her inner strength,
resilience, and even new love with one of the accident survivors, Matt Gibbons.
Together, Loreen and Matt Gibbons presented the story of Jerry Grigsby, P-3 Alfa Foxtrot 586, and her remarkable post-accident story along with Matt's story
of survival and his bond with Loreen.
Click on this link to see our
Policies and Procedures Page
Your 2026 board members as shown here are: Ron Close - Secretary, Michael Stein, Nick Veronico, Roger Cain, Dan Morgan - Treasurer, Byron May - President,
John Jenkins, and Dave Osgood - V.P. (missing was Alice Hendricks)
To see some more of
our past meetings, click below
2025 meetings
2024 meetings
2023 meetings
2022-2020 meetings
2019 meetings
2018 meetings
2017 meetings
2016 meetings
2015 meetings
2014 meetings
2013 meetings
2012 meetings
2011 meetings
2010 meetings
2009 meetings
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2007 meetings
2006 meetings
2005 meetings
2004 meetings
2003 and earlier
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