Society for Aviation
History
PO.
Box 7081 San Carlos, CA 94070
1-650-631-4207
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2004 NorCal Chapter General Meetings
Prototype Stealth
Fighter Pilot, December 4th 2004
 
Lockheed test pilot Harold
"Hal" Farley Jr. was the
chapter speaker for lunch on Saturday, Dec. 4, in
Foster City.
The 2004 Holiday meeting at the
Crowne Plaza in Foster City attracted 93 members
and guests to hear the fascinating story behind
the first flight of the Lockheed F-117 Stealth
Fighter.
On June 18, 1981, Farley became the
first pilot to fly the F-117A Stealth Fighter, or
Black Jet, and has been honored with the callsign
"Bandit 117." Reportedly,
the first Stealth Fighters, then known by their
development program name, "Senior
Trend," was flown with a three-color
camouflage paint scheme. Farley logged more than
600 hours in the Stealth Fighter.
Don't forget our trivia contest, always
guaranteed to be the toughest in town, and the
fine food that will be served. See you there, and
bring a friend.
You
don't need to be a member of the Chapter to join
us, but we do need your reservations, meal choice
and check. We welcome you to join us.
Our October 2, 2004 meeting in
Pleasanton
Col. Alan Cirino: Flying the
SR-71
The October meeting featured Col. Alan
Cirino (USAF ret.), a forward air controller
flying OV-10 Broncos (204 combat Missions) who
later transitioned to B-52D's, was commander of
the 9th Bomb Squadron where he deployed to Guam
and Utapao Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand,
where he flew another 130 combat missions --
including flights during Linebacker II (December
1972). In April 1974, Col. Cirino was selected to
fly the SR-71, in which he accumulated more than
450 hours in the Blackbird. From July 1983
through August 1985, Col. Cirino was commander of
the 1st Strategic Reconaissance Squadron (flying
SR-71's) at Beale AFB, California. He later
supervised the 319th Bombardment Wing's
conversion from the B-52 to the B-1B Lancer,
before moving to Hawaii to become vice commander
of the 3rd Air Division, Strategic Air Command.
The colonel retired from the Air Force on July 1,
1991, and joined United Air Lines, where he flew
the Boeing 727, Airbus A-320, and Boeing's 767
and 747-400.
Colonel Cirino discussed his career and
what it was like to fly the SR-71 Blackbird.
Remember to make your reservations early, and
bring a friend to hear Col. Cirino's incredible
story.
Bill Chana, Convair Flight Test
Engineer, Test Pilot and Aerospace Engineer
Saturday June 19th 2004,
Location: Foster City, CA
Our speaker for June was
William F. “Bill” Chana, noted
aerospace engineer, executive, test pilot and now
author. Bill has written his memoirs in the newly
published book Over the Wing: The Bill Chana
Story.
Chana was the flight test
engineer for Consolidated’s XB-24 Liberator
and XB-32 Dominator bombers, and after the war
lead the flight test engineering effort for the
XC-99, the largest landplane. After the war, he
was involved with the XF-92A, the world’
first delta-wing airplane, the XFY-1 Pogo, the
world’s first vertical take-off and landing
airplane, and Convair’s XF2Y-1 Sea Dart, the
world’s only supersonic seaplane. Bill also
conducted flight tests on a number of
Convair’s commercial airliners. Later, he
was Convair’s base manager for the Atlas
Missile program at Fairchild AFB, near Spokane,
Washington.
As an aircraft designer and
test pilot, Bill was involved in the “Wee
Bee,” the smallest piloted plane. Bill
served as president of the San Diego Aerospace
Museum, and is a fellow in the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Society
of Automotive Engineers. In 1998, he was awarded
the National Air and Space Museum’s A.
Verville Fellowship.
April 10th, 2004, in Pleasanton
B-52 Stratofortress Pilots and
Crew Panel
From left to right: Larry
Rinek, Norm Clinton, Parker Blake, Joseph
Calzadillas, Robert Blackwood, and Dick Koepke.
Chapter Member Larry Rinek
put together another interesting panel
discussion, this time on the Boeing B-52. Larry
delivered the aircraft's background, development,
and history with some interesting multi-media
clips, and moderated the panel discussion.
Assembled for the panel
were:
• Charles
R. (Dick) Koepke: retired Colonel who
flew B-52B, F, and G models (2,800 hours) at
Castle, Mather, and Travis AFB (1964-1971)
•
Joseph (Joe) Calzadillas, Radar
Navigator (RN) officer, bombardier
• Robert
(Bob) Blackwood, Electronic Warfare
Officer
• Parker
Blake, retired Senior MSgt. fire control
technician for B-52C/D/E/F .50 caliber tail guns
• Norm
Clinton, retired MSgt. tail gunner for
B-52 and instructor gunner at Castle AFB.
Our
February 7th 2004 meeting was in Oakland
Jim
Lund on the left, and Chapter President Nick
Veronico
Douglas
Commercial, DC-1 Through DC-10
Chapter
member Jim Lund (NC 417) is a renowned aviation
historian and model builder. Jim was our featured
speaker at the February 7 luncheon, along with 84
members and guests in attendance, to hear his
talk.
Jim made a very enlightning presentation on
Douglas 'DC' commercial airliner development
details, and the technical features of each
airliner type. He set the stage for his
presentation by displaying very detailed models,
all built to the same 1/72nd scale, as
well as some of the erlier competitve models such
as the Fokker tri-motor, Ford Trimotor and the
Boeing 247 twin engine airliner. Jim hand-built
each of the models, which are accurate in both
size and markings. Jim ended his talk by fielding
a short O&A period.
Growing
up in the Bay Area, Jim was influenced by
aviation historians such as Bill Larkins and the
late Peter Bowers who spurred his imagination and
launched a life-long model-building hobby. Jim
has created his own museum with more than 1,000
same scale models spanning flight’s history
from the Wright Flier to the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
In addition, Jim’s photos and articles have
been featured in magazines in the U.S. and
Europe.
To see some of more of
our past meetings, click on this link
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