ARIA April 2009 Newsletter

800

To me the number 800 looked like a big number until I made comparisons.

800 beans don't make a very big pot of soup. 800 words double spaced makes about a two and a half page document. 800 pennies can make it difficult to buy a dinner at my local hangout. If you like Starbucks coffee you know that 800 pennies may not go a long way, needless to say I don't frequent Starbucks. 800 miles is a drop in the bucket to the miles I drive monthly.

Continued. . .

800 days may seem like a long time but before you know it the ARIA reunion will be here; don’t forget to submit your suggestions for the reunion. 800 dollars can buy a really nice LCD flat screen TV. 800 Jelly Beans would be a feast for that special someone on Easter. 800 dollars will buy you a decked out iPhone with a number of months service.

To be continued…

Larry “Moose” Wetzel

We lost Larry Wetzel May 6, 1981 on ARIA 328. His family is reaching out to the ARIA alumni requesting to talk to anyone that knew him. You can contact Tonya Wetzel; her email address is in the ARIA Roster. If you do not have access to the ARIA Roster you can forward your name and email address to Randy.Losey@ARIAMemorial.com and I will forward your contact information to her.

Kenny Hauprich Junior

In the March newsletter I told you about Kenny Hauprich Junior and his father’s request to me on how best to contact the National Museum of the Air Force to include a memorial for his son in the Memorial Gardens. I was not able to help him and I turned to the ARIA Alumni. The newsletter went out on Sunday March 1, 2009 and by Monday March 2, 2009 Charles Metcalf had been notified by an ARIA alumnus and immediately the National Museum of the Air Force was initiating contact with Ken Hauprich. I applaud the alumni responsible who initiated this quick action.

ARIA 328 Memorial Service May 6, 2009

Service will start at 10:30 a.m. at the ARIA 328 Memorial, National Museum of the Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. After the service, we will gather at Clancy's for a fellowship luncheon. If you have questions please contact Randy Losey for more information.

Remembering Demon 51: June 8, 2009

Air Force officials dedicated a memorial Jan. 13 at the Museum of Military History in Jacksonville, Ark., to the six airmen who perished in the crash of an Arkansas Air National Guard C-130 transport during a training flight June 8, 1988. The aircraft, assigned to the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Ark., went down near Greenville, Miss., killing Maj. Andy Zwaan, 2nd Lt. Mark Brandt, 2nd Lt. Thomas Leece, MSgt. Ed Smith Jr., MSgt. Danny Holland, and SSgt. David Bingham. About 150 family members, friends, and current and former military members were on hand for the dedication to the crew of the aircraft, which had the call sign Demon 51. The memorial includes a plaque with the six airmen's photos and a single propeller blade from one of the aircraft's engines.

Submitted by Richard Beard

Request for ARIA alumni involved during Skylab to take part in National Geographic documentary

If you missed the special March addendum to the ARIA newsletter I have some exciting news.

I was contacted last month by Lucy Haken with Windfall Films from the United Kingdom. They are producing a documentary series for the National Geographic Channel called Big Bigger Biggest. Windfall Films wants to tie in the ARIA connection with Skylab and include this information in the program.

Within hours from sending out the special March addendum of the ARIA newsletter I was sent carbon copy confirmations from ARIA Alumni responding to Ms. Haken’s request for information. I want to thank all of the alumni for responding and keeping me up to date so I can share the information with all of you.

If you were involved with Skylab in any capacity please contact Ms. Haken. In doing so you will be doing your part to preserve the ARIA history.
Tentatively Windfall Films will be making a stop to the National Museum of the Air Force to visit ARIA 374 later on April 21, 2009. As of April 1, 2009 this visit has not been confirmed.

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Dear ARIA alumni,

I am from a television production company in the UK called Windfall Films and we are currently making an engineering documentary series for the National Geographic Channel. The series is called Big Bigger Biggest and is in its second season. I am working on one of the programmes in the series which is about the engineering evolution of space stations.

I am looking for anyone who was involved in the ARIA team during any of the Skylab missions to be interviewed for the program. This could either be someone who was part of an onboard crew or someone who was part of ground control. We have a section in the show about the technology involved in communicating with a space station and we would really like to include something about the role of the ARIA fleet in tracking Skylab.
If you are interested in taking part in this project or willing to be contacted for research purposes then please get in touch via email on lucy@windfallfilms.com or by phone on +44 207 251 7652 (UK number). There is more information about Windfall Films at http://windfallfilms.com

Many thanks,

Lucy Haken, Windfall Films

Assistant Producer
lucy@windfallfilms.com
1 Underwood Row
London N1 7LZ
+44 (0)207 251 7652

4950th Annual Reunion and Luncheon

The 4950th Annual Reunion and Luncheon was held on March 6, 2009 in Fairborn, Ohio with over 160 in attendance. I want to thank Perl Bryslan in making the 4950th Reunion Luncheon a reality.

I wasn’t aware of the reunion before I was contacted by Perl. I have to apologize; I enjoyed myself so much that I didn’t take as many pictures of the event as I normally would have. I have updated the flyARIA web site with the event pictures that were taken.

It was nice meeting in person all of those which I have been in email contact with; it’s always nice to put a face with a name. I want to thank Aileen Lintzenich for her picture donations to the ARIA Archive along with the image and patch donations by Jim Owen. I also had an anonymous donation of a number of artifacts that I will be displaying on the flyARIA web site. I will be displaying these and other images over the coming weeks.

Over the past six weeks the subject of the lack of a 4950th Test Wing web site has come up. It makes sense to me to incorporate a 4950th Test Wing web site into flyARIA.com. As time goes on you will see the 4950th Test Wing section grow. And as always, information donations are gladly accepted. These can be pictures, stories, anything relating to the wing. Surprisingly, there is not a lot of information available on the test wing. We all know how important the wing’s mission was and we need an accurate history accounting of it.

Apollo 11 40th Anniversary Celebration and Reunion July 19-22 Canberra, Australia

John Saxon has organized the Apollo 11 40th Anniversary and Reunion. If you are interested in attending you can obtain the latest updates at http://jsaxon.org/space/hsk/Reunions/40th2009/. You can also contact John directly at jsaxon@pcug.org.au.

ARIA Information Request

There is going to be an Apollo XI 40th anniversary held here at Tinker AFB on 20 May 09. Could you/another alumni send information on ARIA's involvement in Apollo XI missions.

ARTHUR J. BONVIE, MSgt, USAF
Superintendent, Wing Intelligence
552nd Operations Support Squadron
DSN 884-4196/COMM (405)734-4196
Arthur.Bonvie@tinker.af.mil

New Newsletter Subscribers

I want to welcome the new subscribers to the newsletter that signed up during the 4950th Reunion and Luncheon. The goal of the ARIA newsletter is two-fold. I want to keep you informed on the progress of the ARIA 328 Memorial Foundation and provide news that impacts the ARIA Alumni including test wing personnel, and friends of ARIA. The ARIA newsletter will also serve to alert the alumni of the passing of our comrades with special notifications to all subscribers.

The newsletter is here for you to utilize. If you would like to write on a specific topic, share an experience, or if you need information contact me for inclusion into the newsletter. This would also include non ARIA/Test Wing events that may be of interest to the alumni or service members. We are fortunate to have a very diverse group of alumni.

ARIA Model

Gerald R J Heuer is sourcing a vendor to produce a quality mahogany painted ARIA aircraft. Currently pricing is not available and he will provide the information as soon as it comes available. Quantity discounts may be available depending on the demand of the model. Gerald is requesting pictures/drawings of the TRAP (Terminal Radiation Acquisition Program) aircraft.

flyARIA Web Site Updates

This past month has seen the donation of a number of pictures and information for the flyARIA.com web site. I will highlight these donations In the May newsletter.

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Contact Information

I can be contacted through the ARIA Memorial web site or by Randy.Losey@ARIAMemorial.com. You can also use this email address to submit information to be included into the ARIA Newsletter.