Minnesota Wing - Apr 2002
Minnesota Wing - Apr 2002
Minnesota Wing - Apr 2002
Electronic Supplement to WingTIps The Newsletter of the Minnesota Wing, Civil Air Patrol, US Air Force Auxiliary April 2002
To schedule a Military Orientation Flight for your unit contact 1st Lt Linda Zwolensky, C-130 O-Flight Coordinator via e-mail at [email protected]
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CADET PROMOTIONS
Fort Snelling Squadron C/B Ryan Grosland to C/Amn C/TSgt Jimmy McCarthy to C/MSGT North Hennepin Squadron Cadet Ben Hartzell to C/CMSgt Cadet David Ferrell to C/TSgt Cadet Patrick Anderson to C/A1C Cadet Patrick Vinge to C/A1C Cadet Jeremy Jacklicka to C/A1C Cadet Thomas Barnes to C/Amn Cadet Neil Starks to C/Amn Cadet Neil Moosaie to C/Amn Cadet James Moosaie to C/Amn Cadet Ian Stutsman to C/Amn
The picture shows Ensign Moreus receiving his unrestricted Naval Aviator wings. Lt Col Richard Moreus is shown pinning on his son's wings, accompanied by his wife Carolynne. Ensign Moreus joined Civil Air Patrol at age 13 raising to the grade of C/Lt. Col. Ensign Moreus' success demonstrates the value of hard work and the application of the values and lessons learned through Civil Air Patrol.
Officer Michael Earl of the Owatonna Police Department takes time to show members of the Owatonna Composite Squadron his squad car.
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Stealth BlueCAP
Capt Jay Craswell, 130th Squadron
Lt Col. Nick Modders (130th) asked his fellow Guardsmen if they might have a large Tent we could borrow. They came through for us in grand style and we had an awesome CP (Command Post) for our Bluecap. Striped ground squirrels and giant jackrabbits made room for our new home away from home.
Capt Donald Sorenson of Anoka Squadron did coordination of the Air Sorties in grand style. These were flown with the Viking Aircraft and aircrews were delighted to see an honest to goodness airplane wreck (Loaned to us by Mr. Wentworth of Wentworth Air) in Lakefront Park - Prior Lake. One scanner observed, "this is much better than that old blue tarp with I'M AN AIRPLANE written on it!" The Aircrew expertly guided the ground team to the "crash site" and the participants were surprised to see two live simulated victims. The ground team found a "fuel leak" and expertly (and correctly) extracted the victims for transport by the phantom ambulance. Before more training could be conducted Maj. Doug Killian of Viking Squadron noted a live ELT on the 121.5Mhz frequency and all training quickly ground to a halt as a huge ground team converged on the offending Hanger. Not only was the target found in minutes but also the key to the hanger door was discovered on the ground! The astonished owner correctly identified it as his key and even used it to open the hanger where the ELT was found and silenced. Hoorah!
Food a plenty was delivered by the Knights of Columbus men's organization who brought their food-mobile to the Lakeville Airport and served Cold Drinks, Burgers, Dogs, Fries and something called Onion Crowns. Civilian Pilots from the Lakeville Airport joined us for the good eats and we used this as an opportunity to talk up the CAP program. Power was strictly emergency power only using parts of an Army Surplus generator coupled to a lawn mower engine. Both VHF and HF stations were quickly put on the air and tactical communications were conducted on VHF whilst HF action was limited to a first ever MN CAP to MN Army MARS net check in.
13-30 July 2002 @ Mankato Airport The SOLO Challenge Powered and Glider Training Preview in the June issue of WINGTIPS PLUS!
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As with previous missions the ground team got up high and in the clear (In this case Buck Hill) and got good bearings on the target. Many twisty roads later the GT arrived on the scene of the Aircraft "Wreck" parked sitting in a trailer. After examining the wreck it was determined that the target was nearer the front of some town homes and the trainer transmitter was quickly found in the bushes. While this was all going on another ground team was looking for a 121.775 MHz transmitter and found it with a note attached saying, "My name is Johnny. I am 3 years old. I'm lost and I'm cold! Please find me!" The DF team quickly switched modes to Ground team and little "Johnny" was quickly found face down in a ditch. Fortunately he was a resusadoll and not a real person. After posing "Johnny" for some photos that will no doubt get 1st Lt Rossinini in trouble with protective services the ground team returned to the comforts of the Bluecap CP. After some debriefing the training was listed as a success and the CP and all equipment and participants were packed up and sent home.
Day two started with dark skies and rain. The faithful (And I do mean Faithful) gathered in the CP tent. Chaplain Chris Priest 130th Sqdn conducted services while Amber Craswell (also 130th) played Amazing Grace on her Saxophone. That has to be another first! A heartfelt prayer echoed by all participants to please give us good weather was given and received! For at the end of services blue skies rolled in signaling a grand start to day two activities. Airman Craswell exclaimed "Three Cheers for God! to the grins of all the rain soaked participants. VHF Communications went south due to a coax cable being pulled apart. A lesson learned for next time is to use some sort of strain relief system for antenna connection. 2d Lt Ployhar and Capt Craswell (both 130th) performed repairs using black tape and creative use of a leather man "Multitool." Soon the CP's VHF station was back on the air better than ever. A first ever (Or at least first in many moons) Military UHF ELT training mission was then launched with an ELT on the practice frequency of 243.2MHz. Since none of the L-PERs on hand included this freq (Let's change that folks) a homebrew setup of AOR3000A scanner receiver and 6 element Flex Yagi were used. Amazingly it all worked. And considering the 4-mile range using the Flex Yagi vs. little more than a mile with the L-Per antenna we were all greatly pleased.
WINGTIPS
www.es.mnwg.cap.gov
Resources, News, and More!
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The next wing houses the WWII collection. Here you will see a P-38 Lightning, a Messerschmitt Me109 (very rare), a P-40 Warhawk, a P-51 Mustang and several other fine examples of the aircraft of the WWII era. Lining the walls are hundreds of photographs showing people and scenes from that time in history.
In one wing is a very extensive collection of WWI aircraft. Here the guide told us a story about an elderly gentleman that visited the museum. He told us how the man jumped over the ropes and hopped into one of the planes. The man sat in the plane making noises like a machine gun! The security guard thought this man was crazy, and insisted that the man get out of the plane. The older man said, This is my plane and I can sit here as long as I want to. The security guard went and got the museum manager, who came to talk to the old man. The museum manager asked the man his name, and sure enough, it matched the name painted on the side of the aircraft. The old man was a fighter pilot in WWI and had found the plane he flew in that war! The museum manager told the guard to leave the man alone, it actually was his plane! The center section of the museum houses the jet collection. Kept here are a Mig-15, a Mig-17, a Mig-21 and an F-4 Phantom II (see photo). You can get a very good feel for just how large a Phantom is compared to the MIG's it flew against in Vietnam.
This museum is very much worth a visit, but you had better hurry. The collection was recently purchased by the Seattle Museum of Flight. The Champlin facility will be closing, probably within the next year. You can learn more about this museum by going to: http://www.champlinfighter.com/index.html Of course, no visit to Falcon Field would be complete without a visit to the CAPs Falcon Squadron HQs, located on the field.
The Cadet Programs Website www.mnwg.cap.gov/cp Resources, News, Information and More!
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Information on the curriculum and activities planed for the SDS can be found on the Cadet Encampment Website www.mnwg.cap.gov/cp/4ctg