C MPASSP.O. Box 637 • St.Charles, MO 63302 • St. Charles County Smartt Airport

636-250-4515 • Fax 636-250-4515 • www.cafmo.org

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE

MISSOURI WING

The

MISSOURI WINGEXECUTIVE STAFF

WING LEADER Col. Patrick Kesler 28 Confederate Way St. Charles, MO 63303 636-928-5687 636-250-4515 Wing wingleader@cafmo.orgADJUTANT / PIO OFFICER Col. Rick Rea 6854 Ardale Drive St. Louis,MO 63123 314-960-4927 col.rickrea@charter.netEXECUTIVE OFFICER Col. Bob Lawrence 111 W. Essex Ave. Kirkwood, MO 63122 314-494-7529 cell 314-894-3200 x103 workFINANCE Col. Steve Gossett 4 Limerick Lane O'Fallon, MO 63366 636-474-9763 314-306-5021OPERATIONS OFFICER Col.Craig O'Mara 1085 Graywolf Court Fairview Heights, IL 62208 618-632-6113 home 618-558-7211 cell craigo777@juno.comMAINTENANCE OFFICER Col. Pat Fenwick 6 Heather Drive St. Peters, MO 63376 636-441-2856SAFETY OFFICER Col. Chris Herrmann 309 Clearwater Drive Belleville, IL 62220 618-233-4782

Saturday - April 14 - General Meeting - Cancelled

APRIL 2012

April 14 Busch Stadium Fly By - B-25 (Plane leaves around 11 am)April 14 General Meeting - CANCELLED Due to Busch Sadium Fly ByApril 16-21 Doolittle Reunion - Dayton, Ohio B-25, LHFE RidesApril 27-28 Hot Springs, AR TBM, B-25 LHFE RidesMay 12 General Meeting - 1:30 pmMay 19 Classic Cars & Warbirds, 10 am - 3 pmMay 25-28 Salute to Veterans, Columbia, Mo., B-25, TBMJune 9 General Meeting - 1:30 pmJune 23 Kansas City, MO B-25 LHFE RidesJune 29-30 Cape Girardeau, Mo B-25, TBMJuly 13-15 Heart of America Wing Air Expo, Olathe, KS B-25 LHFE RidesJuly 14 General Meeting - 1:30 pmAugust 11 General Meeting - 1:30 pmAugust 17-19 Halls, TN B-25, TBM, PXAug. 24 - 26 Defender of Freedom, Offutt AFB B-25August 31 - Sept. 2 Quad Cities Airshow, Moline, IL B-25, TBM, PXSept. 7-9 Little Rock AFB, AR TBMSept. 8 General Meeting - 1:30 pmSept. 15 Hangar DanceSept. 15-16 Scott AFB, IL B-25, TBMSept. 22 Camdenton, MO L-3. B-25 LHFE RidesOct. 5-7 Terre Haute, IN LHFE RidesOct. 12-13 Clarksdalde, Mississippi - B-25, LHFE Rides, PXOct. 19-20 Mt. Vernon, IL B-25, TBM, PX, LHFE RidesCheck out the Compass at cafmo.org to see the pictures in color.

UPCOMING EVENTS

1 2

3 4

5

T-33 RECON

B-25's new telescopic tow bar tocarry in the aircraft. A masterpiece!

Come out early Saturday and watch the B25 fly!Come out early Saturday and watch the B25 fly!Come out early Saturday and watch the B25 fly!Come out early Saturday and watch the B25 fly!Come out early Saturday and watch the B25 fly!

Col. Pat Kesler taking the annual picture of the T33 for the Air Force Museum.

WING

LEADER'SREPORT

XO REPORTSince this article is being written pretty much past the

deadline I thought I would share a note on a visitor we hadtoday, March 31st, at the wing. A local Boy Scout on his finalpush to be an Eagle Scout has chosen the Missouri Wing to behis project. His plans will be to build new outside benches toreplace current, older benches as well as to landscape aroundour flag poles and monument. New bushes, gravel and mulchingare on his list. (More details to follow) This led me to think whatelse needs to be down around our Wing to spruce it up. Theplans for the office area are pushing along nicely; the meetingroom has the new carpet going in and the talk of the new storagebuilding in sounding good as well. But what else are we missing?What do you the members think could give us a fresh, invitinglook? Thoughts, ideas, realistic requests and not so realisticrequests shoot me a note or give me call!

Col. Bob Lawrence

WEBSITEThere are times with technology where it seems that you

just can’t get over a hump. That is where I am with the Galleryand the Member area. However!!! I finally got help and youshould start seeing progress on both of these areas. Myapologizes for the delay…

In other news I once again ask for assistance in getting newsand pictures from members to post on the site when I am unabletoo. These can be sent to me at rlawrence@unitedfsi.com orfeel free to call me at 314.494.7539.

Col. Bob Lawrence

“Though April showers may come your way, they bring theflowers that bloom in May”… an old song that might have beenmore applicable to us in March. I believe we had alreadyexperienced a couple months of Spring by time April 1st came.We can’t really complain about a harsh Winter, so remember –when we get rained upon, it’s a good sign that Spring is still hereand we’re not into Summer yet. We have a lot of things toaccomplish and I hope the hot Summer holds off until July andAugust.

The members have been like busy little bees getting theaircraft ready for the upcoming, fun-packed airshow season. Thisyear is filling up with many great events and a myriad of supershows are on the calendar. Take a look at the front page and onour website to view what all is being forecast. Not a whole lothas changed over the past four weeks, so this will hopefully be abrief WL’s Report… (I promise).

With the help of Col. Bob Moore’s purchasing expertise, Col.Tim McCluskey volunteered to lay all of the new square carpettiles in the briefing room. Thanks to these two volunteers, wenow have a better looking, comfortable meeting floor and nowthat this is done, we have plans to update the walls andatmosphere in that room too.

Here’s some great news! Thanks to the initiative andprofessional connections of Col. Cecilia Holechek, our B-25 Mitchellwill be flying over Busch Stadium in support of the National Anthemon Saturday, April 14th around Noon. It is the second game ofthe Cardinals Opening Day Weekend with the dreaded ChicagoCubs, is sold out and expecting 46,000, and will be televised onFOX (you might want to set your DVRs). Col. Craig O’Mara and Iwill be the pilots and will hopefully be able to coordinate the run-in and be on-time. For more information on how we plan to dothis, check out the Busch Stadium article in this issue.

Come on out to the Wing. The weather’s improving and theaircraft are looking very good. I experience something differentevery time I park my car there and there’s always somethingother than paperwork to do once I arrive, i.e., watching themechanics do their stuff, listening to the war stories, eating freedesserts, and meeting interesting visitors who wander by. That’swhy I don’t get frustrated anymore about not getting any fruitfulpaperwork accomplished. Guess that’s why they invented thethumb drive. But, you know – even though I do most of mypaperwork at home, I wouldn’t give one minute of my adventurewith the Missouri Wing back…

Remember - with your help – We can Keep ‘Em Flying andhave a great, rewarding time in your life while doing so. It’salways great to make new memories – especially when they areassociated with the memories of that Great Generation.

Told you this would be short!Respectfully submitted, Col. Pat Kesler, Wing Leader

SO WHAT THE HECK

DOES AN OPERATIONS

OFFICER DO ANYWAY?As little as possible, if I could get away with it! But what an

Ops Officer is supposed to do is spelled out in the CAF UnitManual, which outlines the duties of all of the staff (so, if youare thinking of running for a staff position, read the manualfirst to see what you’re getting yourself into!).

My duties consist of the mundane; such as keeping thepilot and aircraft records up to date, to the great fun; trainingpilots, scheduling flight and ground training, conferring withthe staff about our pilot needs for the Airshow season,scheduling pilots for shows and rides, running the FlightEvaluation Boards that are required to select pilots to fly forthe Wing, and anything else that has to do with the Wing’sFlight Operations. I am fortunate to have Matt Conrad, as theAssistant Ops Officer, work with me and cover all of thoseduties (and do a much better job, I might add!) when I am outof the country (better part of the month). But, the best part ofmy job is to get to work with truly dedicated and talented Wingmembers - all of you!

This is your Wing, so I encourage anyone who wants toget involved with the Flight Operations side of the house, butdon’t know what to do, to contact Pat, Matt or myself and joinin the fun!

Colonel Craig O’Mara, Operations Officer

TBM mechanics hard at it.Cols. Dutch Meyerpeter, DaveCeglenski, John Fester andKen Stricker.

BUSCH STADIUM FLY-BY As stated in the Wing Leader’s Report, we have been askedto participate in the Cardinal vs Cubs pre-game ceremonies onSaturday, April 14th. We are currently tasked with being over thestadium at 11:59:45AM. That’s 15 seconds before Noon, but itcould vary plus or minus 5 minutes depending on event happeningsin the stadium. During some previous fly-by events, we relied ona ground-based member on site transmitting information to thepilots via our hand-held VHF portable radio. However, this modeis not always reliable as it seems to require “line of sight” wherethe ground coordinator has a visual on the bomber. This event istoo important to rely on this method, so we will attempt to haveanother primary and additional back-up system in place. Plans are to have Col. Hubert Looney standing alongsidethe tower controller in the St. Louis Downtown/Cahokia/ParksAirport control tower while speaking directly with Col. CeciliaHolechek on the ground inside Busch Stadium. She will relay timelyinformation to Hubert, who will relay the info to the controller,who will then relay the info directly to us in the cockpit. As aback-up, Col. Bob Lawrence will be our only additional crewmember and will be wearing his state-of-the-art BOSE Blue Rayaviation headset which allows him to speak directly to a personon his cell phone connection (we should be getting a strong signalfor his cell). If the primary tower thing doesn’t work, Bob willspeak directly to Cecilia and pass the information to us. Seemspretty complicated, but it should be workable. I stated that Bob will be the only other crewmember onboard.This is because we are restricted to a maximum crew of threebecause we will be flying under an FAA airspace waiver whichwe applied for and were granted. It allows us to lower our fly-byattitude from 1,000 feet AGL (above ground level) to 500 feetAGL. We have not been briefed on the actual run-in direction, butit will most likely be east to west. The open part of the stadiumfaces the Arch and our altitude might put us too close to thestructure on that line. We will coordinate with the event plannersand the FAA to make sure whatever we do is 100% legal. Trying to be over the stadium on the final note of the NationalAnthem will be very difficult, especially in a WWII bomber equippedwith no computers and just VHF radios. While on active duty, Iflew numerous stadium and gravesite formation flybys, but mostwere with a pre-briefed TOT (Time Over Target) and adjustmentsto actual run-in time were easier to make because of our abilityto maneuver while accelerating or slowing down to hit the actualtime. SHOW ME‘s standard rate of turn at 30 degrees of banktakes approximately 2 minutes to do a complete orbit and we willbe flying around 170 MPH. We will not be able to adjust ourairspeed much at all and our ability to do a tight turn will bediminished. If we’re heading in the opposite direction while orbitingand we’re directed to “be overhead in one minute”, it could bedifficult to hit the target time as it takes up to a minute just toreverse our direction and begin the run-in. Oops! Guess I’m gettinga little carried away. Maybe this is our pre-mission Disclaimer tocover the possibility of a less than perfect performance. Therewill be a lot of variables, but we are certainly looking forward toparticipating in our “First” St. Louis Cardinals’ flyby. Oh, by the way, if our timing doesn’t work out, someoneother than the Wing Leader, Operations Officer, or Executive Officerwill be running the 1:30pm General Meeting on that Saturday.These members might be taking the bus back home after theyland the bomber at some undisclosed airport… Col. Pat Kesler

PXHelp Wanted: Are you a Wing member that likes to talk to

the general public? Are you a person that can greet someone,make them feel comfortable and make a sale? Perhaps youhave a high stamina for pounding on the dog tag machine andmaking tag after tag after tag. If so then the Wing needs yourhelp. The PX is one of the few revenue generators the Wing hasoutside of the aircraft. While membership dues do not evencover a month of facility rent the PX has the ability to cover quitea few! The number of members needed per show is determinedon how many rooms are negotiated by the Air Show Coordinator.Over the years this has become more difficult so at some showswe may have one room and others two or three. So if you areone of those types of people and are interested please get incontact with me.

In other news I have just about finalized the new items.Our new Euro Style B-25 sticker is now available and can beseen on a number of cars at the Wing. The cost is set at $3 andis a great way to share with people your passion for our B-25while you drive around town. If you are interested in one foryour car, your wife’s car or a friend let me know as I can probablymail these to you for a low first class cost. I am also close tofinalizing the new t-shirt and will have those ready prior to theDoolittle Reunion. Please help me keep $teve Gossett happywith a high sale season! Col. Bob Lawrence

NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHTJohn Fester

Over the last few weeks you might have noticed yet anothernew face at the hangar. Let’s welcome John Fester to the Wing!John has been an aviation enthusiast as far back as he can recallstarting with model building in the younger years and progressingto pilot and now thinking about getting his A&P as a retirementproject. John and his wife Tommie have three kids in collegeand one in high school and own and operate Steelville Pharmacyin Steelville, MO. (John is a Registered Pharmacist) A forty-fiveminute flight in his 172 gets him to Smartt Field and oncecompleted he’ll make that trip in about twenty minutes when hisB-58 Barron is up and running. In addition to being a MissouriWing member he is also a 1st Lieutenant with the Civil Air Patrol.At the Wing John hopes to be able to help with mechanical needsof our aircraft and has already got his hands dirty working withthe TBM crew. When you have a moment be sure to say helloand make John feel right at home!

Col. Bob Lawrence

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

River view from Death Railway

As World War II enthusiasts all of us have seen themovie The Bridge on the River Kwai a hundred times. Ok well,maybe it just seems like I have seen it a hundred times. Anywayon a business trip to Bangkok, Thailand I got the chance to seethe bridge that was the inspiration for the movie.

My adventure – all day and into the night, started beforedawn with a pickup at my hotel and transportation to a centralpoint where I was able to board a tour bus taking me throughthe jungles of Thailand. In the movie, the location for the bridgeis in the mountains; in reality it’s located in a relatively flat area.While there were wooden bridges at that location periodically,they reportedly only lasted a couple of months before they rottedaway. As you can see by the pictures, the bridge that wasdamaged was constructed of steel and concrete. Additionally,commandos didn’t blow up the bridge; a B-24 Liberator from the7th Bomb Group of the 10th US Air Force damaged the sectionsthat now have the flat top replacements. The flat top sectionswere repaired by the Japanese after the war as part of theirreparations. While it is a tourist site/trap now, the bridge is stillactually used every day by trains. On the site there are severalsouvenir stands and structures present that look like guard towers.A little trivia – supposedly Kwai actually means “river”. So themovie could have been called The Bridge on the River River.

Also on that day trip, I was able to see remnants of theThailand-Burma Railroad – the Death Railroad and an associatedcemetery. The Thai government continues to honor the alliedsoldiers, sailors and airman who died during World War II withwell-maintained cemeteries. In this cemetery – KanchanaburiWar Cemetery, remains of British and Australian military areburied – British on one side and Australian on the other. Thesetroops mostly died from their imprisonment, working on the bridgeand also on the Death Railroad. As can be seen in one of theincluded photos of the cemetery, there is also a museum andresearch center for the Death Railroad, which containedillustrations, photographs and scale models representing the dailylife of the allied soldiers. I was fortunate to be able to ride onthat railroad that day. As you pass by the cliff and mountain wallsalong the railway, you can still see where the route was hand-chiseled away in many places. I’ve included 2 photos each takenwhile riding the railroad, one shows a river boat and anothershows structures along the river and a railroad bridge in thedistance.

Admit it, right now the theme song from The Bridge onthe River Kwai is playing in your brain … and will be all day.

Article and photos by Col. Larry ThompsonBridge on the River Kwai

Shops and guard towers around bridge

Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

Cemetery and Death Railway Museum

River boat as seen from the Death Railway

Train track view of the bridge

LHFE 2012 Last year LHFE was a new word for us here at the MissouriWing but my how things have changed! As we enter our second year with this great program, ourpast experience should make this years efforts even better. All ofyou who participated last year quickly saw the excitement thatwas displayed by all of our riders. Big smiles, high fives, hugs,and great memories came back with each flight. Seeing the B-25fly was great, but they developed a real love and appreciationfor it after experiencing their LHFE flight. Thanks to all your efforts we made a good impression for theCAF and the Missouri Wing. Now we have this year to do evenbetter and build on the lessons we learned last year. Exciting! As a member of the CAF and the Missouri Wing, we want togive YOU the chance to pre-book any of your friends, neighbors,relatives, or business acquaintances before our schedule fills up.There are only a few dates available due to the large number ofair shows that we have been invited to attend. Check our website“cafmo.org” for available dates and information on booking aflight. If you still have any questions, feel free to give me a call orsend me an email. What a great opportunity to share our passionfor our B-25 with people we know!

LHFE“A rare opportunity…..An unforgettable experience!”

Col. Bob Moore, LHFE Coordinator

TRIVIA TEST Sometimes when we are at the Wing doing our “importantjobs” we take for granted the various items we have. Just forfun, see if you can pass thislittle observation test: Once a month we all get together in the meeting room tohear the staff officers conduct the official monthly Wingmeeting. As you look past them on the raised platform, thereare some decorative items that are hanging on the wall. Here is the question:

1. what is hanging on the wall.2. how many are hanging on the wall.3. what do they depict4. what cities are represented.

There you go! Think about it! (The correct answers arelisted later in this newsletter.) Good Luck! Col. Bob Moore

NEWS FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE As you all know, $teve Gossett seems to always be working ona myriad of things that pertain to the Missouri Wing’s financialaccounting. Recently we made some improvements that shouldgreatly ease his work load. His computer has been replaced with a state of the art unitthanks to our friends at EPC and Butch Hutter has loaded in it thevery latest version of Quick Books. These two improvements willnot only make his job easier and faster but will also provide thestaff with the complete up-to-date information that they need tosupport all our activities. Thanks very much for all your efforts! Col. Bob Moore

I think our Finance Officer is looking at bringing another“vehicle” to the Wing. He is seen testing it here...

500 LB. BOMB

READY FOR

MUSEUM< Col. Bob Moorestanding by the bombthat Col. Jack Seamanacquired and Col. Lou &Korri Tacchi repainted.

Col. Shane Roden's newride, 1946 Stinson. Nice!

MEMBERSHIPWe still have about 40+ members on the roster that have

yet to renew their membership. Please contact me if you areplanning on staying active with the wing as we are at the beginningof the air show season and so many of our activities require youto be active. Feel free to call me should you wish to renew or beremoved from our list. 314.494.7539 is my number. On themembership cards I have about 70 to mail out and have beenholding out on that to reduce the postage and supplies cost. Tohelp avoid this expenditure please come join us for the nextWing meeting to collect your card on April 14th. I know it my notseem like a stamp is that much but the stamp, envelope andlabels needed will basically cost the same as two renewals.

Col. Bob Lawrence

TEST (DON'T FORGET YOUR HELMET)

Motor pool lineup and location. If you use a vehicle please put itback where you got it! Wing Staff

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THANKS TO TIM & BOB -WE'RE FLOORED Col. Bob Moore approached me a few weeks ago aboutflooring the Briefing Room (damaged from the straight-line windand rain damage to the roof last year). He said he would takethe task on in regards to finding material and labor. Consideringthe fact that I have been asking members for suggestions as tomaterial and possible donations for the past many months – andnothing had “materialized” – I told Bob to take the ball and runwith it. He not only took the ball, but he scored a fast touchdownby finding reduced cost carpet tiles at a local dealer, loadingthem into and out of his own pickup truck, seeking out professionalinstallation expertise, and seeing the entire venture through itsconclusion.

Bob asked Col. Tim McCluskey for his expert opinion andhelp and Tim took that ball for a straight 12½ hours to scoreanother touchdown on Saturday, March 31st. Tim volunteered,jumped right in, and brought all of his professional equipmentand knowledge out to the Wing that morning. With Bob’s help,Tim measured, prepared, and hand-troweled the floor with aspecial releasable and rebondable adhesive before laying outthe 200+ two-foot-square carpet tiles. He trimmed the boardersand cut special angles to ensure a professional look andKAZAAM!!! We finally have new flooring in the briefing room.Guess we should christen it the McMoore Floore…

You know – it’s members like this that keep the Wing moving,worth coming to, and presentable to the public. They both havemy undying gratitude for their continued service, enthusiasm andhard work. I don’t know about Tim and Bob, but I probably wouldhave been bed-ridden for a week after all of the lifting, bendingup and down, knee work, and contortions. Please give them a“gentle” pat on the back when you see them. We need to makesure we thank and acknowledge the good deeds of our activemembers, especially when they do this kind of work out ofdedication rather than sought recognition.

Col. Pat Kesler

John Schonhorst made it to Smartt with his new SNJ-6. Due toJohns military commitment and job constraints, he’s been waitingsince November 2010 to bring it home from Wisconsin.

SNJ MOVES TO CAF HANGAR

March Guess Who: Dan Schmied

Dan repairing the leaking smoke oil tank on the B25. >

GENERAL MEETING - 1:30 PM March 10, 2012· CALL TO ORDER· PLEDGE OF ALLIGIENCE· ROLL CALL OF STAFF: WL __ ADJ __ EXEC __ OPS __ MAINT__ FIN __ SAFE __ PIO __· RECOGNIZE VISITORS AND GUESTS· MINUTES OF LAST MEETING –(in COMPASS)· INFIRMED MEMBERS – COMMITTEE REPORTS:Compass – John CoffeyGasoline Sales – Jim Lammert/$teve GossettWeb Site – Bob LawrenceMuseum – Jack SeemanPX – Bob LawrenceRecruiting & Membership – Steve NewcombeAir Shows – Matt ConradLHFE – Bob MooreHangar Dance – Pat KeslerOLD BUSINESS< BRIEFING ROOM – Carpet squares will be purchased andinstalled by April 1st.< OFFICE AREA REHAB – $teve & I will paint offices first.Colors & Flooring?< CHALLENGE COINS – Now Available ($10 for member’s firstone/$20 thereafter).< STEEL BLDG. – Still getting Estimates.NEW BUSINESS< STAFF REPORTS:MAINTENANCE___ EXECUTIVE___ OPERATIONS____SAFETY___ ADJUTANT___ PUBLIC INFO___ FINANCE___ AIRSHOW___ LHFE____< AIRCRAFT STATUS: B-25 - Annual TBM - Annual L-3-A/W< CURRENT AIRSHOW SCHEDULE – Pass around.< CARDINALS GAME FLYOVER – Saturday, Apr 14th. ~Noon.Restricted to two pilots and one ACM.< CAF WING STAFF CONFERENCE – Bob Moore discussed.< HANGAR RENTAL – What can we handle? What do wecharge? What magic words do we put on the website? BobLawrence is putting together packages.< TBM HANGAR – Fans and heaters? Mark Statler< “CLASSIC CARS & WARBIRDS” and WING OPEN HOUSE- Saturday, May 19th, 10:00am-3:00pm. Rick Rea & NickTalarico are OPRs.< 70TH DOOLITTLE REUNION – all the B-25s have to be inplace at Urbana by Monday, Apr 16th, stay one night atWright-Patterson (Tuesday), then back to Urbana... RTB toSmartt later in week.< FEP – Discussed plan and generated new Team Leaders andmember list.< NO OTHER ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION?Meeting Adjourned @ 2:30PM

VETERANS AT FRIENDSHIP VILLAGE HONOREDLast month Col. Dick Hyde and I were invited to represent

our Wing at a lecture/video presentation done by McDonnellDouglas/Boeing retiree Joe Gurney at Friendship Village, aretirement community in Sunset Hills, to the community’s veteransand interested residents. Joe’s subject was the United StatesNavy’s Flight Demonstration Team “The Blue Angels.” Joe is anaviation historian and lecturer that was a liaison for the Teamduring his career. Joe’s lecture began with the origination of theTeam in 1946 and continued through their Show Schedule in2012. Following his lecture Joe showed two videos of the Teamtaken during the last air show at Spirit of St. Louis Airport andthe 2010 air show in Cape Girardeau.

Prior to and after Joe’s presentation there were table displaysavailable to the attendees that contained very detailed aircraftmodels and information. Joe also had on display his impressivecollection of framed, autographed posters signed by the Teammembers through the years. Joe also does a lecture/videopresentation on the United States Air Force’s Flight DemonstrationTeam “The Thunderbirds.” Joe has made himself available to doa custom presentation at a future Wing meeting if requested.

It is always great to meet with veterans to thank them forserving our country and have the opportunity to represent ourWing and our local activities Lest We Forget.

Col. Rick Rea / PIO, Adjutant

CLASSIC CARS & WARBIRDS 2012On Saturday, May 19th from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm the Wing

will be hosting two very exciting events “Classic Cars & Warbirds”2012 as well as our first (or first in a long time) Wing OpenHouse. The following car clubs were invited to attend the carshow Gateway Olds, Gateway Camaro, First Capital Classic Cars,GTO, Southern Mustang, Show Me Mustang, St. Louis Mustang,AMC, Coachman Cars and Fords Unlimited. Commitments as ofthis writing have been received from Fords Unlimited and theAMC and GTO clubs; First Capital Classic Cars is unable to attend.Col. Nick Talarico will OPR the Open House while I OPR the carshow. Food Concessions will be provided at 12:00 pm by EAA32 near their hangar location.

Both events will not be successful without the support ofevery Wing member that is available to assist that day. Nick andI will need members to help with set-up, marshaling of cars andaircraft, towing aircraft for static display, museum staffing, PXsales, and cleanup. Since both events are open to the public wewill have a Wing Information Table in the TBM Hangar containinginfo on our Wing, aircraft and CAF/Wing membership that willneed one or two Wing members to occupy on one-hour shiftsthroughout the event.

Take a look at the areas of need that Nick and I have, pickone or two and get ready to sign up at the April Wing MeetingAND get your Wing Member shirts/blouses ready for a fun day!

Col. Rick Rea / PIO, Adjutant

ANSWERS TO TRIVIA TEST: 1. clocks; 2. four; 3. local times;4. Tokyo, London, Midland, Honolulu

TBM getting ready for airshow season.

Col. Hubert Looney and Brian Vallero working on the C47 ailerons.

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCEMISSOURI WING

P.O. Box 637St. Charles, MO 63302-0637

APRIL 2012

Compass Deadline: June Newsletter - Need info by May 23 July Newsletter - Need info by June 22

AprilBirthdays!

Delia Greer (15) • Eric Baldwin (7) • Bryon Guetzgen (9) • David Woodson (14)Bill Coffey (15) • Mark Pruitt (18) • Darren Nash (18)

David Reed (27) • Rick Rea (30)

B-25 MISSOURI WING COIN

Can be purchased from the Missouri Wing - $20 each

Front Back

The orange circle represents the orange cowlings on the B-25which signifies the 501st Squadron of the 345th Bomb Group inthe 5th Air Force. "Keep 'em Flying" is the Missouri Wing's motto.The front shows the Missouri Wing shield of the CAF; Show Me(the state motto); outline of the state of Missouri; Gateway to theWest Arch representing the area of our location; US Army AirCorp roundel, circle and star and our B-25. The wing's website:cafmo.org

North American is the company that designed and built the B-25Mitchell. The name Mitchell comes from General Billy Mitchell,famed World War I pilot. The 1385 tail number is the last fourdigits of our B-25's serial number. The Air Apache chief of the345th Bomb Group is on the rudder of the B-25. The nose art gal,"Show Me", sits on eight bombs which represents 1980 when webecame a Wing of the CAF. Both sides have two USA insignias inthe orange circle.

Shown actual size - 2"