Indy Transponder 9-FEB-10 2300z

Demo teams receive 2010 certification from Air Combat Command
Aerial demonstration pilots received certification Feb. 4, from Gen. William Fraser III, commander of Air Combat Command, and their performances are now ready for the 2010 air show season.
"Certification is a chance for us to fly the show profile in front of General Fraser," said Maj. Mike Maeder, the newest pilot in the Strike Eagle Demo Team. "He will sign off on us being ready to fly the air show season."
The F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Viper East teams put a lot of preparation into the performance in an effort to provide the best possible routine throughout the year. ...

The 15th Philippines Hot Air Balloon Festival/Air Show on Thursday ... by Jules
It's two days to go before the 15th Philippines Hot Air Balloon Festival/Air Show in Clark, Pampanga! I'm very excited because this is the first where I'll get to capture images using my new Nikon D3000 SLR camera I bought two months ...

Must-see for air racing fans from General Aviation News
1949 LOGOGAN columnist Ben Visser, who is our fuels and lubrications expert, usually sends us information about his area of expertise. But once in a while he sends along very interesting tidbits, such as his latest e-mail with a link to the Society of Air Racing Historians website, which includes in-depth coverage of the races between 1929 and 1949, complete with many must-see photos. Check it out here.

Airport hosts restored WW2 craft - Neosho Daily News
The plane and the Devil Dog Squadron is part of the Commemorative Air Force. "The fun part is we're the largest flying museum in the United States," Jenkins ...

Aviation Film Festival postponed by Hall of Fame - Press Release
Group works with new partner on fall date for Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation
(Feb. 9, 2010 – Dayton, Ohio) The National Aviation Hall of Fame will not hold the 2010 Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation during its originally scheduled Feb. 26-28 dates, but officials are working out details of a partnership with a local arts group to produce the event this fall.
"With the loss of a major sponsor and the reorganization of the Hall of Fame operations in 2009, we simply could not make the February date," said Alan Hoeweler, chairman of the Hall of Fame's board of trustees. "But Southwest Ohio has a vibrant creative community, and we believe that working with one of these organizations and signing on some new sponsors will help make a great event even better."
The board is in discussions with a Dayton-based nonprofit group that expressed its interest in producing the festival while keeping the Hall as the beneficiary. Board members declined to identify the organization until further details of funding and operation of the festival are settled.
In November, the Hall of Fame underwent a reorganization that included staff reductions and other cost-cutting measures. Kaplan, the Hall of Fame's former executive director, was hired in January to act as a consultant to help the board coordinate the organization's 2010 enshrinement weekend activities, set for July 16-17.
While Kaplan will focus his attention on the enshrinement, he said the Reel Stuff Film Festival is another event that can help showcase not only the area's unparalleled aviation heritage, but the arts and business communities of the greater Dayton area.
Kaplan, the founding director of the Reel Stuff festival, added that he hopes the film festival can make a 2010 date, noting that the Hall again had a robust lineup of presenters eager to screen their feature films and documentaries this year.
"This event has been second only to our annual enshrinement ceremonies in nationally spotlighting the Hall of Fame," Kaplan said. "For anyone with a passion for flight and the filmmaking process, Reel Stuff makes the 'Birthplace of Aviation' the place to be."
Past attendees of the Reel Stuff Film Festival include Academy Award-winning actor, pilot and enshrinee Cliff Robertson; aerial photographer Clay Lacy (who is set to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in July); Catherine Wyler, producer of "Memphis Belle" in 1990 and daughter of William Wyler, director of the 1944 documentary, "The Memphis Belle: The Story of a B-17." The 2009 festival also included the North American premiere of "Der Rote Baron," (The Red Baron), a German production of the life of Baron von Richthofen that has its national release next month.
"In just two years, this festival has become the top aviation film festival in the country," Hoeweler said. "We've set a high standard, and have every intention of raising that bar even higher. The postponement will be worth the wait and a "win-win" for the Hall of Fame, the Festival and the region."

Supporters trying to keep aviation film festival on this year from www.daytondailynews.com
The Reel Stuff Film Festival of Aviation, which had been at risk of not happening this year for lack of corporate funding support, may yet take place this fall if the National Aviation Hall of Fame can work out a partnership with a local arts organization and find local funding support, a primary organizer of the prior festivals said Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Ron Kaplan, the aviation hall's former executive director now serving the nonprofit organization as a consultant, said he could not identify the arts organization or potential funding sources until agreements can be worked out, perhaps within the next few weeks. The aviation hall laid off Kaplan in November because of a tight budget, but brought him back in January as a consultant, primarily to organize the hall's annual July emshrinement of pioneering aviation figures.
Trustees had said they considered ...

Veteran Horne dies at 86 - Sussex Sun
Emory was killed in a B17 bomber that crashed in Germany and his body was never recovered. He is the "Horne" in the designation of the Sussex Horne-Mudlitz ...

Remembering the glory days - Dallas Morning News
In addition, he served his country during World War II as a B-17 pilot, flying 30 missions over Germany. After his college career, he then played for the ...

Fly-in museum still grounded - Galesburg Register-Mail
The durable Stearman biplanes still thrill thousands in Galesburg each fall during the National Stearman Fly-In many years after they ...

The Average Whirly-Girl from You Fly, Girl by Cathy Gale
I'm reading Ladybirds: The Untold Story of Women Pilots in America, by Henry M. Holden with Captain Lori Griffith. It was first published in 1991.
It's an interesting book, that is running through the list of women pilots. It gives a page or two for the most famous pilots, down to a single paragraph for others. For all this brevity, it is interesting, and thanks to the evolution of technology, now, 15 years later, it's easy to do further research on each of these pilots and learn more about them. ...

Sponsorship sales officially open for 2010 balloon race - This is Reno
The nation's largest free hot-air balloon festival, The Great Reno Balloon Race, takes flight September 10, 11 and 12, 2010 at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park. The event, which began with just 20 balloons in 1982, has grown to showcase more than 100 balloons and pilots from as far away as New Zealand and Switzerland. On average, 150,000 spectators from all over the world come to share in the wonder of this three-day event.
Those who sign up as a sponsor by March 1, 2010 will receive $100 off the sponsorship fee, as well  ...

Only Four More Shuttle Launches from Spaceports
Only four more launches from the Kennedy Space Center remain on the launch manifest as STS-130 closes for on-orbit docking with the International Space Station. STS-131 is up on the launch pad next set for Thursday, March 18, 2010. IF any reader is planning to see any of the final four, now is the time to start planning. The last mission, STS-133, should draw the largest crowd slated for September, 2010. The image above is from a contest for the space shuttle program commemorative patch. 


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