ARIA February 2010 Newsletter

Silent Flyer

Personnel that worked with the Apollo/Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft program in any capacity are eligible to be listed in the Silent Flyer Memorial. If you know of the passing of a fellow alumni please submit their information to the ARIA 328 Memorial Foundation. The submission form is located at http://www.ariamemorial.com/silentflyer-0.html.

The following personnel have been added to the ARIA Memorial Silent Flyer Section this month:

Master Sergeant Larry E. Busby
Stationed at Patrick Air Force Base 1968
Stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 1977
Dates unknown

Leory Nichols
Crew Chief of 60-0374 in the 1970s at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Dates unknown

Lieutenant Colonel Frank Pangallo
Born on 27 Aug 1923
Died on 29 Oct 2005

Major Henry E Stephenson Junior
Died 25 Nov 2009

Over the years I have received emails from friends and family asking if I had information about a Silent Flyer. If you have information about a Silent Flyer it would be beneficial to family and friends to have this information on the ARIA Memorial web site. Please take a few moments and look through the Silent Flyer section, review, and contribute any information that you may have to the memorial.

I want to thank Randy Holt for bringing to my attention that Mr. Micheal Riley (61-0328) was a United States Air Force Veteran. Micheal Riley's entry has been updated.

Information Request

John Stephenson is the son of the late Major Henry E. Stephenson Junior and is requesting information about his father who flew with ARIA as a mission coordinator. Major Stephenson is featured on the flyARIA web site giving a tour of the Operational Maintenance Training Unit (OMTU) at Patrick Air Force Base. To view go to http://flyaria.com/theequipmentomtu-4.html.

You can contact John Stephenson at johnandmia1@mchsi.com.

4950th Test Wing Reunion and Luncheon *UPDATE*

There has been a change of venue for the reunion. Because of the closing of Homer's Smorgasbord in Fairborn, Ohio, the 4950th Test Wing Reunion and Luncheon has been moved to:

Golden Corral
2490 Commons Boulevard
Beavercreek, OH 45431-3774
(937) 431-7300

Directions

The reunion will be held at 11:00 a.m. March 5, 2010.

You are encouraged to arrive a few minutes before the 11 a.m. opening of the restaurant in order to access convenient parking. The manager at the restaurant has set aside the meeting room for us and has agreed to let us "overflow" into the adjacent seating area if we need it.

The Golden Corral is located near the Beavercreek Fairfield Commons Mall not far from the Nutter Center and the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

I want to thank Perl Bryslan for keeping the 4950th Test Wing Reunion and Luncheon a reality.

Do you remember when it all began? 　

Ed Hite asked the question, "Do you remember when it all began?" Clifford Reeves remembers.

Ed Hite and many others can collaborate since there are many who cut their teeth on the C-130 telemetry aircraft. Chief Master Sergeant Leonard C. Flyer "Pappy" was the leader and whose vision made the airborne instrumentation concept and model very real. He insisted on a standardization/evaluation certification for every crew position.

At the beginning there were eight Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft (A/RIA) models modified with an A/RIA aircrew ratio of 1.5 crewmembers per aircraft or 12 A/RIA aircrews plus the Field Training Detachment (FTD). The C-135 B Model, or passenger type aircraft, became available from McGuire Air Force Base and were used as Telemetry Range Instrumentation Aircraft (T/RIA). I believe 4 were modified at the same Douglas facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The person in charge of the airborne mission was not the highest ranking, but was the most qualified. It was not unusual for a 3 striper to be in charge with a 6 striper operator which was the same concept for officer aircrews. The initial A/RIA aircrews were frozen on station with A/RIA for 5 years.

Aircraft NKC-135 55-3123 was the A-LOTS aircraft. The A-LOTS did not have any official aircrew, but Hilliard, Durham, Doss, Filoni, Kuhn, Cantrell, and I were the instrumentation with Swieczkowski, Zocchi and Walters handling the photographic equipment. Except for the photographers the instrumentation crews were also assigned to A/RIA - T/RIA crews.

Very few A-LOTS missions were flown using the A/RIA aircraft. With their weight they were lucky to get to 30,000 feet. Aircraft 55-3123 was able to reach 43,000 feet as Robert Mosley recalled in our reentry mission over the Pacific. As he also stated it would not maintain altitude in a bank; my first mission as a weightless subject. By the time we recovered we were in the 30,000 feet range.

During the 1964-1966 time periods almost every instrumentation student that trained at Lowry Air Force Base was sent to Patrick Air Force Base 6550 Operations Squadron or maintenance. Pappy selected the first two ARIA crews that were trained by Bendix Radio in Towson, Maryland. He also selected personnel for the Air Training Command (ATC) and for the Field Training Detachment. The Field Training Detachment was 326K and was commanded by Captain K. Miller and had 12 assigned personnel. The personnel consisted of 2 officers, 2 radio technicians, 6 flight qualified instrumentation personnel, and an administrative personnel. 10 other Crews were trained by the Field Training Detachment.

Pappy also was the motivation behind T/RIA C-135 crews. I really see no distinction between A/RIA and T/RIA except when A/RIA, once it was no longer needed by the Apollo Mission, took over the T/RIA mission and became the Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft. In my mind A/RIA was advanced from the T/RIA it displaced. Most of the subsequent improvements were a heritage from T/RIA.

My point is the true airborne instrumentation was the C-54/C-131/C-130 and C-135 A/RIA - T/RIA aircraft. The C-131 was also used to fly over the range to monitor possible radio signals that would interfere with missile launch/destruct frequencies. If possible the instrumentation heritage should add Leonard C. Flyer Chief Master Sergeant, date of birth March 1914, to its history.

Clifford Reeves

The A-LOTS aircraft 55-3123 was later converted to the Airborne Laser Lab which is currently located across from ARIA 60-0374 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force Dayton, Ohio. Clifford stated that the reinforcements for the A-LOTS were never removed and that almost every one of the 12 original A/RIA crews had at least one flight in this aircraft since it was the only C-135 for a long time on the Patrick Air Force Base flight line available for the orientation flight.

Clifford Reeves remembers when it all began. What do you remember?

Apollo 13 Coverage Request

Stan Anderson is looking for someone who flew on the Darwin ARIA on Apollo 12 reentry. They were scheduled to track the spacecraft into blackout. Stan would like to know where their test support position was plus has some additional questions.

You can contact Stan Anderson at sandrson@mcn.org or by phone at 707-321-2592.

ARIA Patches

I have included pictures of ARIA related patches at http://www.flyaria.com/ariapatches-1.html on the flyARIA web site. The trouble is that this collection is far from complete. Help make this collection complete by sending high resolution scans of your collection.

ARIA 2011 Memorial Service and Reunion

2011 will mark the 30th anniversary of the loss of ARIA 328 and we are planning a memorial service and reunion. Tim Hart has been working on this project over the past year and through the web site has collected your input on how to make the 2011 event a success. Those of us that attended the previous events know that it was an experience that we want to be a part of again. We don't want you to miss out. Give us your input; it only takes a few minutes. Go to http://www.ariamemorial.com/reunion.html and complete the ARIA 2011 Reunion Information Request form.

ARIA Web Site Update

The ARIA web sites have successfully been moved from Kansas City to Washington, DC. I have updated all of the backend software. Please let me know if you discover any problems with the web sites.

Correction Submissions

Phillip McKeehan corrected images that I had tagged as 81-0895 on the flyARIA web site. The aerial images were taken at the former Chennault AFB and because of the blackened port wing Phil knew that it was either CMMCA aircraft 892 or 894. I just happened to have another image that showed the misidentified aircraft, vertical stabilizer removed, included in a picture with 894 at Chennault. Now the misidentified images are with the 892 gallery as they should be thanks to Phil.

I also had included an EC-135 image in the 896 gallery. I told Phil that I was sure it was a late night when I made the error. I do know the difference between an EC-135 and a EC-18B. Honest.

Did I Forget Something?

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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.