Blackbird Association
2003 Newsletter


CONTENTS:
View From the Top
Reunion 2003!
Awards
More Reunion & Misc. Info
Missing Members
Member Moves/Retirements
9th SRW Lineup
Gone But Not Forgotten
Blackbird Anniversary and Laurels Induction
General Haupt Honored
Hal Confer to be Honored
DLA Reunion
Duxford Museum
Symposiums
New SR-71 Book
NASA SR-71 Status
Internet Web Sites



View From the Top

This will be the final newsletter before the Blackbird Reunion at the Nugget Hotel in Reno, Nevada on 5-8 June 2003. The 2003 Reunion will open for registration starting at noon on Thursday, 5 June 2003. We plan to have a guest speaker(s) at the banquet to talk about their unique experiences with the Blackbird programs. Be sure to mark the dates on your calendar now.

On Saturday, in addition to the Golf Tournament, we'll be offering two tours for those of you who don't golf or gamble. The Lake Tahoe Tour will last approximately 6 hours, from 9am to 3pm. The tour will visit Carson City, South Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay. One final stop at the historic city of Truckee before returning to the hotel. The second tour is The M.S. Dixie Lake Tahoe Cruise. It will depart the hotel at 9am and arrive back at 2:45pm. You will board a Mississippi style paddlewheeler and cruise to southern Tahoe and Emerald Bay waters. As you enjoy the majesty of Lake Tahoe, a lunch will be served. The reunion registration packets we will be sending out around March will have all the details and costs.

The PowerPoint slide presentation of "People From the Past" was well received at the last reunion and we plan on doing it again during the banquet dinner. We need are computer images of people associated with the Blackbird program. Get out your old scrapbooks of Blackbird friends, put them on your computer and send them to Rich to be shown at the reunion banquet. If you have some pictures to share you may contact Rich via his e-mail (to the right) or call him at 972-491-0011.

Steve Stenson's wife, Karen, has made a generous offer to help raise money for the Blackbird Association. Karen works with stained glass and has made four 16 x 24 inch stained glass replicas of the Mach 3+ patch. She will be making special numbered art pieces for the SR-71 and U-2 to be raffled off at the Reunion.

We deeply appreciate those of you who sent in your voluntary dues to help our financial situation. Thus far, we have received $4,335. If you haven't done so, it's never too late…you can still mail in your voluntary dues ($5.00 per year) to the Blackbird Association, P.O. Box 40, Beale AFB, CA 95903.

Rich Graham
habu5@verizon.net

Fred Carmody
u2sr@calis.com

Jim Musgrave
Jim.musgrave@lmco.com

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Reunion 2003!!

Work has been ongoing for many months now to prepare for the 2003 Reunion. The Reunion Committee Staff for 2001 was recognized in our last newsletter and we will follow with those who have "stepped up" to a variety of roles for the upcoming event. If you compare the two newsletters you may note that many of the same names appear. Their selfless efforts are appreciated and the reason we have enjoyed such consistent success over the years.

Reunion Chairmen
Fred Carmody, Rich Graham, & Jim Musgrave

Banquet & Reception - Dave Ebersole
Hospitality Suite - Les Matthews and Steve Avery
Registration - Clyde Nickinson
Publicity/News - Jack Madison
Golf Tournament - Cliff Wisely
Banquet & Reception - Dave Ebersole
Memorabilia - Caren Holder
Secretary - Caren Holder
Speaker/Awards - The Chairmen
Budget/Treasurer - Fred Carmody & Tony Bevacqua

Those wishing to get involved with Reunion planning or execution, have a niche, or want to serve as adult supervision for any of the above are asked to contact Rich Graham at 972-491-0011 or Fred Carmody at 530-432-2232.

Reunion packets should be sent out in early 2003. As you see in this newsletter, numerous Reunion venues are at your fingertips-social events to include the "ice-breaker" on Friday night and the more formal banquet with presentationof the Kelly Johnson Award for lifetime achievement in contributions to the Blackbird Program, tours in the local area coordinated by the hotel and local tourist bureau, and golf on Saturday. As in previous years, we have maintained our Association mailing address at Beale:
Blackbird Association
Box 4004
Beale AFB CA 95903
To call the Reunion Office you may use: (530) 634-9186/788-0281 or send a fax to (530) 788-1909.

Golf Information

Northgate Golf Course has been reserved for the Reunion Tourney is set for Saturday, June 7th. Located about 15 minutes from the Nuggett, it will be easily accessible to all who wish to play. It's a Links-style course with an average elevation of 5000 feet. We'll need 108 golfers to guarantee a shotgun start. As this follows the first "big" night of merriment, the Golf Committee (composed mostly of those who REALLY enjoy merriment) has again opted for a Captain's Choice format. Long drive, closest to the hole, and other skill events will dot the round.
-To answer a question forwarded from some attendees at the Reunion--NO funds are used from the basic Reunion signup fee to cover golf expenses...ALL green fees, carts, and trophies are covered exclusively by the Golf fee. Other "prizes" and favors arise from donations from various individuals and organizations.
If there are others who wish to contribute favors, please contact Cliff Wisely thru the Reunion Office.

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Awards

The following awards recognized the members of the Blackbird family who have continued to contribute to the goals of excellence which so aptly reflect our community and were presented at past Reunions. Awards are listed with previous winners. We will present the Kelly Johnson Trophy, the only current award, at the 2003 Reunion.

--KELLY JOHNSON TROPHY
Col Willie Lawson    James Daniels    Lt Col Don Emmons
Fred Carmody    1 SRS Aviators    Ben Rich    Col Fred Kishler
Lt Col Curt Osterheld     Maj Paul Nelson     CARSDGS-2
Robert Murphy

--PRATT & WHITNEY AWARD
Lt Col Don Raymond    9 SRW Maintenance Complex
Col John Fuller     DET 6 - SR-71 Depot     Lt Col Bob Fairless
Lt Col John Roth    Richard D'Amato   Capt Mike Zimmerman
9 SRW

--HUGHES BEST DETACHMENT AWARD
DET 1-Kadena AB, Japan      DET 5-Patrick AFB, FL
1704th PRS, Taif, Saudi Arabia       DET 3-Cyprus
5 RS-Osan AB, Korea       OL-OF-Istres, France
DET 1-Cyprus 

--LOCKHEED MASTERY OF FLIGHT AWARD--
Lt Col Ed Yielding & Lt Col JT Vida  OL/DET 8-Palmdale, CA
Capt Roger Mostar      Col Bruce Cucuel     Maj Jack Hirrlinger

--J.T. VIDA AWARD
Fred Carmody		     Don Campbell	     Pat Halloran

--GENERAL ELECTRIC AWARD
Rick Fortin       TSGT Teresa Glassmyer


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More Reunion and Miscellaneous Info
John Stone is looking for SR-71 crew photos to complete web page on his site. He prefers the "official" crew photos but will use any photos of the crew in pressure suits. He's also interested in crews that just happened to fly together, and the stories behind that crew. He has some pages already up, http://blackbirds.net/sr71/sr-crew-photos/index.html . If you have a scanner you can scan in and email to "john@blackbirds.net" or you can mail the photo:
John Stone
419 Wallace Ave. #1
Louisville KY 40207-3786
502-893-8662
He will scan your photo and copy that scan to CD and return original photo and CD with scanned photo for you to use as you see fit!

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Missing Members
JOHN ALBERTSEN    TOM ARMSTRONG   DON ARNOTE    
HARRY BALLIET    BRIAN BEALS    PAUL BECKER
ROLAND BERRY    RICHARD BOSZE   FRED BOWER   BEN BOWLES
DAWN BOYER WELCHER   MICHELLE CALLISON    ART CANTIN
JOHN CARNOCHAN   CAROL (MILLER) CAUGHEY    JIM COLAS
ARTHUR CLEVELAND    DAVE CONFAIR    ROBERT CONNELL
BILL CURRY      NILA DECKER     WILLIAM DERDOCK
RICHARD DESTEFANIS   MATTHEW DONOVAN   DONALD DOTSON
ALTON DUDLEY     KEITH EVANS     JOHN FEDA     BOB FORD
JERRY FRAZIER   JOHN FUQUA   CARL GAMBLE   MARIA GRYBKO
THOMAS HALL   BYRON HALL   MARK HARGRAVE   GENE HASTEY
STEVE HERMAN      JOHN HOROSZEWSKI      PETE HOYNES
JAKE JACOBSON      CHUCK HESS      BRUCE JINNEMAN
LARRY JOHNSON   HOWARD JOSS   PETER KESSLER   DAVE KING
JIM KIPPERT   WILLIAM KITE   CHRISTIE KLEVEN   CHRIS LEEPER
STEVEN LEWIS   LEONARD LIST   JOHN LYNCH   PEGGY MALCOMB
MARC  MANIS     GREGG MATOUS     CECIL McCAMMOND
GEORGE McDONALD      DON MERRITT      ROGER NAGEL
STANLEY NOVAK      ROMAN NUWER      BRUCE PERCIFIELD
MIKE (LIPS) PHILLIPS      ADRIENNE PICHETTE      DAN PREWITT
DAVID RANDALL     GEORGE RISSE     RUPERT SCAMMELL
HANK SCHRAEDER  CARL SEIBLY  VINCE SERGI  DONALD SEURER
MARK SMITH    LYNN TATRO    JOHN TONRY    DENNIS TOWNSEND
BOB TRACY      EVAN TREVINO      STEVE & SUE WEST
JOHN WHITTENBURY      BILL WHITTLE      TIM WILLIAMS
TOM WILSON     JOE YAROSS     TOMMY YATES

Your address updates and assistance are essential to the Blackbird Association keeping you informed and so that we can curb costs for mailings of both newsletters and Reunion packets. This will be the last newsletter prior to the Reunion. Keep those updates coming in! Your database information IS NOT for public release. We guard your privacy at all times. We also need your help to locate the lost members listed above. Send changes, Association ?'s, or Missing Member Information to:

Blackbird Association
c/o Jack Madison
9417 Ravina Court
Fairfax Station VA 22039
blackbirdmail@aol.com

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Blackbird Community Miscellaneous

Association Moves
Duane Deal--Recruiting Service/CC to 21st Space Wing/CC
Curt Osterheld--Boeing-Autometric to VP Bus Development L-3 Communications
Huggins--BACK to Beale to fly U-2's!
Erik Eliel--to Alaska Airlines
Bill Walker--Beale to Northrop Grumman
Rob "Crash" Creedon--Beale to USAFE/DOT
Eric Maye--Beale to Laughlin AFB
Ben Snyder--AF Reserves & Northwest Airlines
Doc Hammer--AF Medical Corps Director to SOCOM/SG
Mike Zervos--Lead Engineer for J-STARS

Association Retirements

Bruce Jinneman--U-2 Pilot Training Program at Beale
Tom Keck--From 8 AF/CC to General Dynamics, VP/Air Combat Systems
Col Stromberg--9 RW/CV to Southwest Airlines
Terry Gruber--from AF Reserves
Jimmy Carter--from LMCO to Paradise!
John Manzi--to SI International
Ron Tabor--to FLORIDA!!
Dave Peters-from American Airlines
Rich Graham-from American Airlines
Bryan Anderson-Beale to Lockheed Martin

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9th Wing Lineup

Wing Commander-BG Stan Gorenc
Vice Commander-Col Mike Newell
9 OG/CC-Col Greg Augst
9 OG/CD-Lt Col Gary Baccus
1 RS/CC-Lt Col Dave Miller
1 RS/DO-Maj Al Marshall
5 RS/CC-Lt Col Jon Engle
5 RS/DO-Lt Col Mason Gaines
12 RS/CC-Lt Col Guy Cooper
12 RS/DO-Lt Col Mark Corley
99 RS/CC-Lt Col Troy Devine
99 RS/DO-Lt Col Al Williams
Det 1/CC-Lt Col Ed Knouse
Det 1/DO-Maj Dave Russell


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Gone but not Forgotten

Gene Younger     Rich Scuderis    Gary Weyker      Jim Kogler
Stoney Fox     Lou Schalk    Bill Parrish     Jim Dutton
Ells Powell     Connie Seagroves



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BLACKBIRD ANNIVERSARY AND LAURELS INDUCTION

On Saturday, April 27th, over 1400 visitors attended the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird 40th anniversary celebration at the AFFTC Museum's Blackbird Airpark Annex at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale.
Visitors stood in line to chat with Blackbird pilots, while seeking autographs on books, photos, clothing, models-even salvaged Blackbird hardware. Former Blackbird crewmembers, maintainers and engineers also shared their experiences with the public. Anniversary souvenirs were a hot item during the day; particularly the many different books that were available.
Among the recipients were five pilots from the original group of eleven that were secretly selected to fly the A-12. One of these, retired Maj. Gen. Mele Vojvodich, was the banquet guest speaker. Retired Col. Ken Collins, was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening. In 1968, while temporarily assigned to the Central Intelligence Agency, both Vojvodich and Collins piloted the A-12 on combat missions over North Vietnam. Both pilots also share another A-12 experience; each had to eject from an out-of-control A-12.
Those inducted were: Ken Collins, Henry Combs, David Clark Co., Jim Eastham, Bill Fox, Fitz Fulton, Bob Gilliland, Bill Gornik, Robert Illian, Al Joersz, Kelly Johnson, Jack Layton, Frank Murray, Bob Murphy, Norm Nelson, Tom Pugh, Joe Rogers, Lou Schalk, Hugh C. Slater, Dennis Sullivan, and Mele Vojvodich.



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General Haupt Honored

Brig. Gen. Raymond L. Haupt USAF (Ret) was formally inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame on May 4, 2002, in Scottsdale, AZ. Ray was enshrined because of his extraordinary lifetime contribution to aviation and to the state of Arizona. Ray is widely known as a pilot's pilot, and takes his place beside John McCain, Barry Goldwater, Joe Foss and other distinguished aviators. Ray's personal mementos and a brief history of his accomplishments are on permanent display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.

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Hall of Fame

Brigadier General (ret) Hal Confer, a former SR-71 pilot, has been selected for induction into the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame. His entry will be on January 23rd in conjunction with the Nebraska Aviation Symposium in Kearney. There will be a social hour, banquet and numerous presentations. Tickets are $25. For other details contact the Nebraska Avition Council, Box 187, Fairbury, NE 68352 or call Sandi Decker at 402-239-7886. You may also contact Charlie Daubs at charliehabu67@cox.net

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DLA Reunion 2002

The Dragon Lady Association, formed two years ago by Phil Daisher, had their first reunion on 19-22 September in Sacramento. With about 300 members of the Dragonlady team (and about 130 pilots) in attendance, activities included a golf tournament on the Beale links, a "show and tell" day at Beale (among the highlights were tours of the "new" squadron facilities, aircraft, and PSD) and a required BS session in the "U-2" bar, a river cruise, and lots of time renewing old friendships. Among the attendees was Helen Kleyla, now 88, who was the first secretary of the CIA U-2 unit. Dick Panzica will be running the DLA in the future and was greatly responsible for the success of the event. Info on the DLA is available at web site at the bottom of this page.

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Duxford Museum

On 27 September, The American Air Museum in England hosted a Rededication Ceremony at the Duxford Museum just outside of Cambridge, England. The Museum acquired Blackbird #962 over a year ago and had no room inside to display it at the time. During the last year, they tore down a massive glass wall and made room inside for 962, as well as a restored B-24 Liberator.
Former President George Bush presided over the ceremony along with Prince Charles and other British royalty. At the conclusion of the ceremony, various American WW II aircraft put on an air show for the crowd. It was a first class event in every respect!
Two days later, Pat Halloran, Rich Graham, Bruce Liebman and Blair Bozek gave an SR-71 presentation to a standing room only crowd at the Duxford Imperial War Museum. After the presentation, the Habus were invited to sit in the cockpit of the Concord. When asked if we had ever flown on the Concord before, one of the Habus remarked, "No...it's too slow."

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Symposiums

Pima Symposium
Twenty-four crewmembers, engineers and maintainers of the Blackbird program delighted overflow crowds at the Pima Air and Space Museum February 15-16, 2002. The two-day event featured eight separate panel presentations, followed by audience question and answer sessions. Both canopies on 951 were opened so the public could view the interior. Some visitors happily waited up to an hour and a half for a chance to see inside the cockpit.
Tom Pugh and Rich Graham moderated the eight panels over the two days. Blair Bozek and Jim Shelton volunteered to share their experiences with several groups of young men and women in an educational/outreach program at the Museum and at a local school. This is the first time in the Museum's history that such an effort was made to educate young people about the SR-71 and its role in history.
More than 4,500 visitors attended the Pima Air and Space Museum during the two days, which once again broke all attendance records since the Museum opened in 1976. The Museum's gift shop was swamped with sales that were 500% above normal.
Plans are already afoot for the eighth SR-71 Blackbird Symposium ("Keeping the Spirit Alive") in February 2004. Details will follow in summer 2003. Thanks to all who have made this event possible and so very popular.

Dayton Symposium
On 13-14 September the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB held an SR-71 Symposium. Don Emmons took the lead and coordinated all the details and provided an outstanding event. On Thursday night, a cocktail hour (although much longer!) held at the nose of 976 allowed a forum for all 21 Habus, maintainers and engineers to rendezvous.
On Friday night a catered dinner was held in the museum. Sixty-five folks were in attendance. Numerous aircraft surrounding the dining table were illuminated, providing a tremendous setting for the evening. The guest speaker was Dr. Richard Hallion, the Air Force Historian, providing his thoughts on various aspects of military airpower. A short slide show of the SR-71 reactivation was presented by Blair Bozek. To top the evening off, the Wright Brass Band provided musical entertainment.

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NEW SR-71 BOOK

SR-71 Blackbird, Stories, Tales and Legends, by Rich Graham. The book is compilation of the best stories from Habus, maintainers and engineers relating their personal experiences while flying and working on the Blackbirds. It starts with Ken Collins and the early CIA days, and ends with final closure of the program in 1998. The book walks through the history of the Blackbird program as told by 17 individual authors, in their own words. As with Rich's first book, royalties from the sale of the book will go to the "J.T. Vida Memorial Fund," set up to restore and display Blackbird #972 at the National Air & Space Museum. You can order the book at local book stores or directly from Rich by writing him at habu5@verizon.net.

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NASA SR-71 Status

NASA has officially shut down their SR-71 program. #967 is still at Edwards awaiting pick-up by Barksdale. #971 has been sent to the Evergreen Museum in Oregon (the Spruce Goose is there). Disassembly on #956, the B-Model, was begun in late February 2003, to be shipped to the Kalamazoo Air Museum in Michigan. It's sad that the B-model is the last to go.... NASA will keep #980 which was their aerospike test bird. It will be part of NASA-Dryden's static aircraft assembly at Edwards. All the parts at the Barstow museum are up for grabs since NASA is trying to give them back to AF saying they never "officially" signed for them.

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Internet Web Sites

DragonLady Assoc. - www.u2dla.org
Leland Haynes - www.wvi.com/~lelandh/sr-71~1.htm
John Stone - www.blackbirds.net
David Allison - www.habu.org
Mike Troiano - www.miketroiano/beale.html
Tony Haley - www.geocities.com/hahsipsong/     www.thaley1.home.att.net/photos/photos.htm
Paul Kucher - www.sr-71.org
Sky's the Limit - www.airplanegifts.com
Gary Powers, Jr. - www.coldwar.org
Clyde Atkins - www.blackworld.freeservers.com
Blackbird Airpark - www.edwards.af.mil/museum/docs_html/blackbird_airpark.html
Lockheed Store - www.lmaeronautics.com/palmdale

Try this for nostalgia - www.pref.okinawa.jp/97/base/over_photo/index-e.html

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