Last week the Curtiss C46 Commando, the wing’s first and much loved aircraft was rolled into the hangar for the first time in many years.
It was a breath taking sight to see the huge aircraft fit the hangar so well.
Although the move was a temporary provision for a special project, many at the wing were awed enough that there are discussions about making the move permanent.
What a way to start a new year at the museum, with a double rainbow!
What a great way to start a new year!
The December 2016 edition of Commemorative Air Force’s monthly publication, The Dispatch, included a feature entitled “What’s Your CAF Story”.
CAF volunteers from all the wings responded with their personal reasons for choosing to serve with the CAF and some anecdotes of their experiences during their tenure at the various locations.
The following excerpt from the feature is what our own Len Canter, a docent at CAFSoCal since September 2009 had to say about a very moving experience at the museum:
I am a docent at the commemorative Air Force museum in Camarillo, California. I enjoy working with the aircraft and even more, the interaction with the folks that come in every day to see these historic planes. Some aviators who flew these aircraft come in with their grandchildren to show them their history. Some whose relatives flew these aircraft and lived to tell their stories, and some who died, their decedents coming in to discover that history on their own. Talking about the aircraft to our visitors and explaining the history is only part of it. Listening, hearing their personal history very often is my reward.
I want to share with you a story. It’s just about a woman. A woman whose story touched my heart.
SHE WALKED INTO THE MUSEUM
She walked into the Aviation Museum. She was about my age, maybe a few years younger, with her son and a granddaughter. She was here to see a Hellcat, the type of aircraft her father had flown in the Pacific during World War II.
“Can I see it?” “Yes, you can. It’s just over here.” We moved toward the plane, her son and granddaughter busy looking over the items in the gift shop. “Can I touch it?” Kind of a strange request – but I moved the yellow barrier aside and said “yes.” She touched the folded wing of the bird and began to weep. I stood by and watched as she began to speak. ‘‘I was never able to meet and know my father. He was a pilot in WWII and was sent to the Pacific where he flew a Hellcat.
Very near the end of the War, he was involved in the battle at Okinawa, where he was shot down and killed.”
“Can I walk around it and touch it some more?” “Of course,” I said, not saying what was crystal clear to me. Your father paid so much more than the price to allow you the time to spend with this aircraft.
I shared with her how ironic that her father had been shot down and killed in the plane with the best war record in U.S. military history. He was shot down during one of the last battles of the War, possibly the only time since mid-1943 where the Japanese were able to put up an aircraft that could beat this aircraft.
“Can I sit in it?” “No,” I said, thinking of the insurance consequences, how high the wing was off the ground, her age and my lack of familiarity with the cockpit of this aircraft. I did not know how to open the canopy. “No,” I said again, “but let me think about it.”
We finished the tour and parted company. She thanked me for the tour and her experience with the Hellcat. She, her son and granddaughter, disappeared into the display area of the museum where our dedicated members had put together their tributes to our servicemen.
I found another tour to guide and as we passed by the maintenance hangar, I spotted a short ladder, thought about it for a second, and picked it up. I finished my four carrying the ladder with me. I spotted the woman with her son and granddaughter.
I approached her and asked her to come with me. I placed the ladder next to the wing of the Hellcat and invited her to use the ladder to climb up on the wing.
With some effort on both our parts, she was up on the wing. “Can I touch the canopy?” “Of course,” I said.
She cradled the closed Plexiglas canopy, looked down into the cockpit and again wept, as she reached out to connect with the father she had never known.
Thanks for sharing the story with us Len, and thanks for taking the time to send it in to CAF HQ – we are all very proud (and a little envious of your interaction with this visitor!)
We are thrilled to announce the selection of our dear friend David Price as one of the recent inductees into the Commemorative Air Force’s Hall of Fame.
The ceremony will take place at the 2017 Wing Staff Conference in Dallas, Texas.
David Price and his P51D Mustang “Cotton Mouth”
David Price joined the Commemorative Air Force in February of 1993 as a Life Member.
Price is a multi-talented pilot and friend of the CAF Southern California Wing. He is one of the founders of the prestigious Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California and Chairman of American Airports Corporation. Price developed and chaired the Museum of Flying at Santa Monica Airport, is a graduate of USC and the UCLA School of Law, and served as an officer in the US. Navy, obtaining his wings as a jet fighter pilot in 1955. He enjoys flying World War ll aircraft, especially his P-51 Mustang.
Please note that the CAF SoCal facilities and museum will be closed on December 24, 25, 26 and December 31, January 1 and 2.
We are open to the public on December 27 through December 30 and will resume our normal operating schedule starting January 3, 2017.
Happy Holidays
Here’s a short video worth a thousand words showing some of the activities going on at the ramp on Saturday Dec 17
Friend of the museum, Alan Kirby came to visit us for the third time in as many years from the frozen east, Boston Massachusetts area to tour the museum and take another flight with our Warbird Ride program.
An avid Warbird fan and a private pilot with 1200 hrs flight time, Allan’s interest in aviation was sparked at the age of 11 by his uncle who was a B 17 pilot 36 missions over Germany and a full Air Force career including the B52A. Allan has fond memories of flying in his uncle’s Bonanza and hearing about his wartime and military career.
We were glad to have Alan back with us to fill out his punch card which now includes the PT-19, SNJ-4 “BlueBird” and SNJ-5 “290”.
Al Kepler treated Alan to a great flight on a crisp day with a beautiful sky, and even threw in a touch-and-go and a few extra landings for good measure.
Alan left us knowing what a swell bunch of guys (and gals) keep CAFSoCal going.
Your donations and participation in the Warbird Ride program helps keep these warbirds flying! We look forward to having you back, Alan – Tail winds and fair weather, until next time.
Among the museums artifacts on display is the center section of the wind tunnel model for the XCG-16 Bowlus Transport Glider.
The artifact was donated to the museum by Hal Huber, a friend of the museum, former Air Traffic Controller, and a nephew of Mr. Bowlus.
The XCG-16A was the result of a 1942 US Army requirement for a glider capable of carrying a load of up to four tons of cargo (approx. 42 equipped troops). The all-wood twin boom military transport glider of 91ft 10in span, featuring an airfoil-sectioned lifting-body fuselage between the booms in which either cargo or troops could be carried in two 16ft x 7ft compartments. A single fin and rudder was mounted on the tail plane between the booms and the aircraft featured retractable tricycle landing gear and flaps.
The unconventional design allowed for the front of the wing to open upwards and downwards for quick loading and off-loading of troops and materiel. The crew of two sat in tandem beneath a continuous canopy atop the center section.
Ultimately unsuccessful, this glider had the potential to make significant impact on the upcoming invasion of mainland Europe.
In the following image, the XCG-16 can be seen on the runway of what used to be Oxnard Flight Strip (later to become Oxnard Air Force Base in 1952 and currently Camarillo airport), as evidenced by the hill in the background which is locally referred to as “round mountain” and serves as a navigation guide even today.
The XCG-16 was an interesting departure from the single-fuselage design which had been common to American gliders. It also introduced the twin boom. In it the trend towards better aerodynamic characteristics for transport gliders could be seen that was to reach its apogee in the XG-20, a post-war development. It is worth noting that the XCG-16 had some of the same aerodynamic design elements as the German Mammut.The story of its development is extraordinary. In February 1942 William Hawley Bowlus of Bowlus Sailplanes began the design and construction of a flying wing glider. A half-size prototype of the glider was completed later that year, and in October, Mr. Bowlus and an associate, Mr. Albert Criz, began a campaign to secure a government contract. They organized the Airborne Transport Company in Los Angeles, California, which fnally became the General Airborne Transport Company.An inspection of Airborne Transport’s facilities, disclosed that the ‘factory’ was a small store building formerly used as a dry cleaning shop; just large enough for the half-sized glider they had constructed to be fitted into the building sideways.Next, the Company launched into the construction of a full-scale model, looking for support in Washington. They were stimulated by self deception, or possible political support, into the belief that a contract for 1,000 of their gliders was in the offing.After completing the glider, Airborne Transport Company offered it to Wright Field for test and evaluation. Meanwhile the company conducted its own tests. On II September 1943 Richard duPont, the glider specialist on the staff of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Colonel Ernest Gabel of the same office were killed when the MC-I crashed at March Field, California. Mr. Bowlus, without authority from military officials, had arranged for a test fight. The glider took off with some passengers, and loaded with bags of lead shot or sand to bring the load up to capacity. Unfortunately no one had the forethought to lash in the dead weight bags, and they shifted in the turbulence. The glider began ‘porpoising’, endangering the tow-
plane. The tow-plane’s pilot cut the MC-I loose. By this time the glider was so off balance that it was uncontrollable, and went into a dive. Mr Bowlus and one other passenger managed to parachute to safety. All others were killed.This tragedy did not deter the company, and a contract was approved on 13 November. They finally delivered one glider, some six months later than promised and at three times the original cost estimate. This glider became the XCG-16.
It was a high swing, cantilever monoplane with twin booms to support the empennage. Unique from an aerodynamic standpoint was the airfoil-shaped fuselage between the booms, looking much like the Brunelli aeroplane introduced in the early 1930s. The front of the wing on each side of the loading nacelle opened like a jaw, the top swinging about horizontal hinges along the leading edge of the airfoil, the bottom swinging on hinges on the bottom of the fuselage to rest on the ground and form a loading ramp. The glider had dual and the pilots sat in tandem. Landing gear was retractable. The outer wing panels had slotted wing-flaps, and the centre section of the fuselage also had a split flap. The flaps were actuated by electrical power. The glider was constructed largely of plywood; movable surfaces, such as flaps, were covered with fabric. Because the cargo area tapered to zero at the rear, the seats at the rear of the fuselage allowed little headroom for passengers.The glider was tested at the Clinton Army Air Field and at Orlando, Florida, by the AAF Board. It concluded that the glider had inadequate crash protection, unsatisfactory loading ramps, insufficient personnel exits, awkward location of flight equipment, critical lateral loading and restricted pilot visibility. The contract was terminated on 30th November 1944.
Technical Data
Glider Model: XCG-16
Upe: transport glider
Crew: pilot, co-pilotDimensions
Wing-span: 91.8ft
Wing area: 1140sq ft
Fuselage
Length: 48.3ft
Height: 18.3ft
Cargo compartment
Length: 15ft
Width: 7ft
Height: 5ftWeight
Total with cargo: 19,580lb
Empty: 9,500lb
Cargo: 10,0801bLoading:
Two M2 105 mm howitzers; or one M2 105 mm
howitzer, and one 1/4-ton 4X4 truck with gun crew; or 42 troops, equipped.Flight performance
Maximum airspeed: 220mph
Maximum airspeed with flaps: 120mph
Stalling speed
Flaps up: 62mph
Flaps down: 58mph
Aspect ratio: 7.4
Tow-planes: C-47, C-46, C-60
We are lucky to have in our collection this artifact and the accompanying historic footage of the glider’s test flights which is presented here and on our YouTube channel:
Technical plans for the glider:
Visitors to the museum may have noticed that our beautiful Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero is absent from the CAF hangars.
The aircraft has been grounded at Minter airport near Bakersfield since September after a rough engine report which has turned into a need for an engine overhaul. This is the result of normal wear and tear on the engine – but there’s never a good time for it.
We hope to have it back home as soon as possible but it may be months.
You can help bring the old bird home and back into flying condition by contributing a few dollars to our Mitsubishi Zero maintenance fund.
Every contribution gets us closer to funding the needed repairs and is much appreciated. Banzai!
The 2nd annual Mentor West Fly-In gathering organized a mass flyover of the Santa Barbara Veterans Day Parade on Saturday the 12th.
The mass formation was the largest fly-over for a Veterans Day parade anywhere in the United States and included a P-51 Mustang, multiple T-34’s, Nanchang’s, Yaks, a C47 and our very own B-25 PBJ and Executive Sweet of the AAF.
Launch and recovery of all these aircraft from the Camarillo airport made for an especially exciting day at the museum.
A compilation video from Don Ramm of the T34s and our SNJ doing some join up and formation practice. – Thanks for sharing!
And a compilation video of T34s of the Mentors West group in formation for the flyover of the Santa Barbara Veterans Day Parade, November 12, 2016. Video by Don Ramm
Another compilation video of T34s formation flying practice.
Video by Allan Hughes
Further photos and videos will be added to this news posting as they become available.
