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2021PlanesofFameAirshowCancelled
2021 PLANESOF FAME AIRSHOW CANCELLED
The Planes of Fame Air Museum has on Sept. 21 announced that its 2021 Airshow, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, at the Chino Airport has been cancelled.
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“After losing the 2020 Airshow due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were looking forward to presenting this year’s show,” commented Museum president Steve Hinton. “But the difficult decision was made to cancel this year’s event. We hope 2022 will be a different story.”
This decision was made after careful deliberation and discussion. Logistical issues and rising operational costs associated with conducting a large-scale event, as well as the continuing challenges related to the pandemic, have led to this cancellation.
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The Planes of Fame Airshow, at Chino, Calif., is cancelled for this year but hopes to be back in 2022. (Courtesy Planes of Fame)
Growing the Flowers Family Business
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ing to what we have today.”
Following in his father’s footsteps, Flowers, Jr. was compelled to serve his nation. Instead of working for a civilian hospital, Flowers, Jr. opted to commission into the U.S. Air Force’s Medical Service Corps. He graduated Commissioned Officer Training School in 1997. Since then, he held positions at squadron and at headquarters levels. In addition to serving in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he also served as the command surgeon for Space Operations Command prior to his current role.
During his promotion ceremony, Flowers, Jr. reflected over his 24-year career, recognizing and thanking those who have helped him get to this point, including AFMS leadership, both past and present. He also recognized how much his father has impacted him as an Airman and leader.
“I first want to recognize Maj. Gen. Alfred K. Flowers, aka dad…. The Air Force embodies Al Flowers and our family,” Flowers, Jr. said. “I was born in Wilford Hall carrying a [common access card] in my hand … and I am proud to stand here as a member of a legacy and heritage to serve this great nation. I am the keeper of the family business and I am minding the family store.”
This family legacy is furthered by the fact that Flowers, Sr. is also the longestserving African American service member in Department of Defense history. Throughout his career, Flowers, Sr. has come to understand exactly how diversity serves to strengthen the Air Force.
“Diversity, inclusion and equity makes us all better, but equity is something we don’t talk a lot about, but I try to stress its importance,” Flowers, Sr. said. “It’s great to be diverse, it’s great to be included, but if there is no equity, you’re still not at the table. We ought to strive to make as much investment in hiring qualified people regardless of what they look like, and not be afraid of diversity.”
For Flowers, Jr., fostering diversity and inclusion will continue to be key to his current position and leadership role.
“I have great gratitude and praise for the senior minorities in the AFMS,” Flowers, Jr. said. “For me, in addition to diversity, there is inclusion and belonging. I hope to play a pivotal role in supporting that and continue to serve my Airmen and Guardians in this new role.”
As Flowers, Jr. takes on a new rank and leadership position, the Air Force family tradition continues with his two sons who also have military career aspirations, with one son at the U.S. Air Force Academy and another at Texas A&M.
During Flowers Jr.’s promotion ceremony, his father reminded him of what it means to pin on the brigadier general rank and to be a leader in the U.S. military, imparting his own servant leadership style.
“This promotion to general officer is important and you know it’s not about you,” Flowers, Sr. said. “You know that well. It is about the Air Force’s and the nation’s confidence in you and your ability to lead and accomplish the mission with our sons and daughters.”
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Cover Story
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haunt me in my sleep. When I worked for Burt Rutan, I really focused on low-tech solutions to high-tech problems, so I really loved Aries, a ground-attack airplane which is designed to be orders-of-magnitude cheaper to build and operate than an A10 but be able to pack the same punch. Homebuilder solutions to the aviation world has been a big part of my life. But something significant happened a few
years ago, and I’m sure you can relate or understand. I now have two boys, (ages) 2 and 5 and like any other pilot-dad, I get really nervous about the fact that dad is in aviation and maybe the boys will hate aviation so the idea of properly introducing them to it in a way that is accessible and interesting is really important to me. We’ve been doing a lot of flying and I know we’re all going to yawn right now,
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Editorial: Texas Patriots
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tion… The No. 1 British Flying Training School… that turned out 2,200 British and, after the U.S. entered the war, American pilots from 1941-1945. Taught by civilian instructors, the cadets received primary through advanced instruction, including instrument and night flying. It really wasn’t an invasion… more like an adoption. With more than 10,500 residents in 1941, southern hospitality was extended to the homesick teenagers (some cadets were as young as 16!). Local families welcomed the young men, brought them home for Sunday dinner after church, wrote their families and translated mystifying Texas expressions. Relationships have continued through several generations to the present time. Once again, there is a great museum to visit in Terrel, The No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum. Check out www.bftsmuseum.org.
This writer has spent a lot of time in Texas, training students and enjoying the incredible hospitality. With any luck, I hope to make it down to the show, just a short trip in the Cherokee 235 now in use. Maybe I will see you there. But just one more thing, perhaps not known by even the show management. All private and commercial pilots that have obtained their certificates in the last ten to 12 years know all about Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD). Yep, it is a star of the FAA written exams, which feature the Dallas Class B airspace and specifically Dallas Executive in many test questions. Oh yes, how did they get the letters “RBD” for Dallas Executive? The airport’s original name was “Redbird.” Be sure to pull up the Fly-Way chart for Dallas/Fort Worth in your electronic flight bag or flip over the Dallas Terminal Area chart for details on how to easily fly under Class B airspace, reducing the need to mix it up with the big guys. There will be a show NOTAM issued, so check out the details.
Finally, be sure to wear or bring something in red, white and blue … you will feel naked without it!
2021 Planes of Fame
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Meanwhile, the Planes of Fame museum is open and features a collection that now numbers close to 160 aircraft. The majority of these are maintained in pristine condition and are on display throughout the museum, either at the Chino or Valle/Grand Canyon locations.
Through the generosity of the many people who donate funds to the museum and the dozens of volunteers who contribute their time to restore and maintain the aircraft, many of these rare warbirds have been restored to flight.
The collection spans most of the 20th Century; from the replica 1903 Kitty Hawk Flyer built by the Wright Brothers through aircraft of the Great War of 1914-1918, including an actual flying veteran of that war. They have an everexpanding assortment of planes from the Golden Age of the 1920s and 1930s, including several that represent the last of their kind. At the heart of the collection are the warbirds of the Second World War. These include aircraft from all sides of the battlefield. They also have aircraft from the jet age with examples from the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and several important test aircraft of the period.
Throughout the year, many of the flying aircraft depart the museum to participate in airshows, military base open houses, various public events, or are engaged in the making of film and television productions.
To learn more about the Planes of Fame museum, visit https://planesoffame .org/. The Chino location is at 14998 Cal Aero Drive in Chino, California (tel. 909/597-3722) and is open Wed. through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Arizona location is at 755 Mustang Way, WilliamsValle, Arizona (tel. 928-634-1000) but is currently closed. Check the website for updates on this location.
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Cover Story
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but we just took ownership of a Mooney M20. It’s kind of old and has a little patina to it but you can put the boys in it and last weekend I went flying with them and they were fighting over who could sit in the front seat. I’m not sure there are words for the affect that had on me. That’s kind of embarrassing for a guy who is supposed to be talking about being a bad-ass test pilot.
IF USA: No, that’s a great answer. With the pilot shortage, we probably need more test pilots, as well. What advice can you give to a student interested in test flying?
ES: Test flying has always had the problem of looking very sexy on the outside but being a lot of hard technical work on the inside. So now as we move from experimental test flights of the 1950s and 60s and with new critters coming out or like when I was working on Spaceship 1 and Spaceship 2 as a test pilot with all the reversible flight controls flying rocket-powered airplanes –totally amazing –to now moving into more autonomous systems in electric vertical takeoff. The role of the test pilot is more uncertain than it has ever been. Of course we all followed the movie, The Right Stuff, 50 years ago and that dynamic was played out, as well. The joke is that the pilot needs a window even though he cannot fly the rocket ship. I think the most important thing is that if you’re thinking about getting into test flying, to be a valuable test pilot you have to have a deep technical understanding of the vehicle that is being tested. So rather than pursing Right Stuff, Chuck Yeager, I’m the god of all aviation, it’s about a deep technical understanding in the vehicle combined with the hands and feet required to put the airplane where it needs to be and to get the required data. So what that probably means is a long-term relationship with a product line. In most cases, you’re going to be a single-engine reset guy in Part 23, or you’re going to be a front line fighter guy, or in our case a weird-engineer-challenges guy or certification guy. What’s nice about that is that if you step back, instead of looking at it as being a challenge trying to predict where the market is going to go and developing yourself for an unknown future, instead you can focus on what really interests you technically and getting really smart on that and let the market come to you.
The other thing that I think is really important is as a test pilot people really focus on the risk appetite. And, the natural risk appetite reduction with age. So if you go and pull 24-year-olds with 250 hours on a CPL, a commercial pilot’s license, and ask them if they’d be interesting in doing some high-risk flying with a huge payoff, whether in cash or prestige, you’re going to get a lot more yeses than if you ask a 45year-old. Unfortunately, for that reason 24year-old test pilots aren’t that valuable and 45-year-old test pilots are. What that means is that if you want to be in the test pilot world and you’re 24, you’re going to have to wait. But that means you’re going to have more time to develop those deep technical skills.
IF USA: What kind of skills do you need? What kind of education did you get?
ES: My education is mechanical engineering and I worked for Burt Rutan for 10 years doing research and development aircraft. If I was going to take it from a broader sense, I would simplify the answer to design, build and test. Design is the engineering side. Its understanding first principles (science) that adds up to how this idea is going to work. The build phase is how to lay composite, how cylinders fail, how gear boxes fail, how you repair them, whether or not it is significant enough, and then there’s the test phase, which is understanding not only how to operate the airplane but how to put it in the place where the engineer needs it to be to understand it. The problem with that answer – with the design, build test answer – is that the actual, most important skill set of the test pilot is not the ability to understand those things but the ability to communicate those things with the smart people in each of those skill sets.
So the most common argument I have is with the owner or the finance guy or the schedule guy who is trying to convince me that we need to take unnecessary risks because we’re going to run out of money or we have a milestone, or, or, or… And you can’t talk to a finance guy like you talk to an engineer. Then they’ll bring in the engineer in and he’ll tell you why he thinks it safe. He’s going to use engineering jargon. Now we have to talk like an engineer. Now we have to install something on the airplane and we have to go talk to the fabricator or mechanic down on the floor. It’s that communication skill that is not natural for engineers that is absolutely critical to being a test pilot.
IF USA: That is really good advice. Thank you so much. We appreciate your time and wish you continued success in your career.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Method Seven, visit the company website at https://methodseven.com. To learn more about the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) Scholarship Foundation visit www.setp.org or https://www.setp.org/ foundation/scholarship-foundation/. Lastly, you can find dynamic videos featuring Elliot Seguin on YouTube.
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