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Show Q HJStop Times Memorial ride Ms, oil (jo 3 P1 v.; i. 11 1 Courtesy photos Motors got running and hogs took to the highway as the Air Force Association sponsored the "Ride for Pride," commemorating the one-yeanniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. M ore than 200 riders took a trip from Roy through the East Canyon in stormy weather to raise money for Operation Warmheart. The ride started out under threatening skies and opened up just as we got back to Roy. While we had lunch and passed out prizes donated by many local sponsors it continued to rain. People had to wade in to get their bikes. Some had to be pushed started because the water had covered up the exhaust pipes," said Ogden ALC vice commander Brig. Gen. Denny Eakle. "Everyone had a great time and it was a fun ride. The AFA really went over the top supporting this and there's hope it'll become an annual event with the chili cook off." The ar I " 90-mi- le AFA till ? is r I M recently presented the Hill First Sergeant Orga- - h nization a $1,500 check to Operation Warmheart a base program designed tohelp young airmen and their families have a happy holiday season. Iff Ik'' 1 r. f - VX if V: P7 C5 r. a 4, ,U9,"M fit jrt 1 , 1 !.V - - j . xn I. Massachusetts Reservists bring Stratojet to Hill by 1st r Lt Garrett Grochowskl Ogden ALC Public Affairs and Staff Sgt. Andrew Biscoe 01P Westavpr ARR Public Affairs Cold War military jet flew its last A mission on an Air Force Reserve Command Galaxy and landed here recently. In October, as this historic airlift mission began, Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., maintenance workers and local media watched a 60K loader E haul the fuselage of an Stratojet from flew the 5 aircrew The 3 Hangar to the Galaxy. Museum. Hill Utah's to Aerospace Stratojet parts As loadmasters guided the RB-4-7 fuselage into the giant belly, loaders with Westover's 42nd Aerial Port Squadron raised it slightly and slid the RB-4-7 onto the transport's own fuselage. long Weighing in at 35,490 pounds, the fuselage took up almost the entire length of the giant airlifter's cargo compartment The RB47 came from the Bradley Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. Director Michael said the jet arrived at the Connecticut airin and was on loan from the port the Air Force Museum. A tornado heavily damaged the museum in 1979, including the RB-4- and several other display aircraft Speciale said there was no building large enough to house it inside to protect from Mother Nature's wicked ways. The 47 deteriorated quite badly," Speciale said. Rather than watch the aircraft deteriorate any further, Speciale contacted retired Maj. Gen. Charles D. Metcalfe, director of the USAF Museum at AFB, Ohio, for help with relothe cating jet museum folks agreed to take The it" Speciale said. Last fall, the museum contacted Westover about airlifting the aircraft to the museum. "It was amazing how they took it apart so fast" The wings and fuselage were transported on huge flatbed trucks to Westover, where the jet's huge silver wings and fuselage sat near the C-5- A . ' RB-47- '..') V- - ' V C-- C-5- 's 109-fo- mid-197- 5 ot Spe-cia- L:?,.-pil- ' .... le Ilk 0s C-- 5) 7 Wright-Patterso- n Hill-(AFB- ) museum because it represents the Cold War era," said retired Maj. Gen. Marc Reynolds, chairman of the Aerospace Heritage foundation, a local civic organization that supports the Hill Aerospace Museum. "It was one of the primary aircraft in our arsenal during that era and it will help fill out our Cold War collection. This particular aircraft was the reconnaissance version and was then modified to do weather reconnaissance," Reynolds said. "All the weather airplanes started out as photo reconnaissance and then were modified. It's hard to judge how long itH take to restore it but it should take about 18 months to two year." The RB-4-7 was built in 1951 and flown by the Strategic Air Command. The mission was the second for Westover's C-crews. The first had taken the wings of the Stratojet earlier in October. Maj. Ian S. Coogan, with Westover's 337th Airlift Squadron, was the aircraft commander for the second mission. "It went pretty smooth," Coogan said. "It loaded pretty easily. It came out just as easily." Tech. Sgt Eric Sklarski, a Westover maintainer and aviation buff, was on the flight line when he saw the unusual loading. "I'm here covering the launch (of the anyway," Sklarski said. This is so neat. It's history. This was the biggest jet around then. Now it's getting loaded on our biggest jet transport today." On the other end of the flight at Hifl, the mission received a warm reception, including the new caretakers of the RB47. The people at the Aerospace Heritage Foundation were really nice to us nice to us," Coogan said. They seemed pretty happy to get their airplane." While the Bradley director waxed sentimental about the famous aircraft, he was pleased to see that it would continue to be a valuable Cold War artifact at the Hill museum. "It was a very important airplane," Speciale said "We needed to find a good home for it and we did." Photo by Staff Sgt Andrew Bitco Members of the 42nd Aerial Port Squadron, Westover ARB, Mass., use a 60 K loader to place the Stralojet's fuselage Inside the C-- 5 cargo compartment RB-47- E Dogpatch training area until October. The RB-4- 7 was to arrive at Hill last fall, but the Sept 11 terrorist attacks delayed the airlift until this year. The mission was made possible by a donation from the Stewart Foundation to have the plane refurbished and airlifted to Hill AFB. The foundation is a organization that also donated half the money for the Fighter Gallery at the museum, gave generously to make this possible for us to complete this project This donation made it possible to have a rare non-prof- it artifact like the B47," said retired Col. Don Hill museum spokesman. "So we went back there with a survey crew in the spring of 2000 and we decided we could do it We took back members of the 419th CLSS reserve unit In October 2000 we broke the plane down at that time. We've been waiting this long because of the war and the demands it placed on the Pantone said the 419th will put the airplane back together for museum display. The 7 will be a valuable addition to the Pan-ton- e, C-5- ." B-4- i COPY! |