Skyfest 2019 - Sunday, June 16, 2019 by Cowles Publishing

IF YOU’RE GOING

Everything you’ll need to know if you’re going. PAGE 3

MEET THE AIR BOSS

Maj. Watson is the guy who coordinates everything for the Air Show. PAGE 2

SUNDAY G

SENIOR AIRMAN KEIFER BOWES/U.S. AIR FORCE VIA AP

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress prepares to join up with Qatari Air Force Mirage 2000s and U.S. F-35A Lightning IIs to ﬂy in formation over Southwest Asia to build military-to-military relationships on May 21, 2019.

An aviation nerd’s guide to the planes you’ll see at SkyFest. PAGE 8

BIRD WATCHING 101

JUNE 16, 2019

Air Force will show off top stealth ﬁghter, the F-22 Raptor. PAGE 4

STAR OF THE SHOW

SKYFEST

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW SPECIAL 1

SPECIAL 2

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

JUNE 16, 2019

SKYFEST 2019

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Maj. Mark Watson, SkyFest 2019 director, has been coordinating and planning for this year’s air show at Fairchild Air Force Base since last year.

SKYFEST AIR BOSS CAN DELIVER Maj. Watson in his comfort zone for big air show at Fairchild By Will Campbell THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Mark Watson remembers his first airplane ride, at age 7, his eyes glued to the window. “I couldn’t believe what was happening,” he said. Now 32, Maj. Watson will remember that ride as a moment that blossomed into a career as a U.S. Air Force pilot. And as the director of the SkyFest 2019, he’ll have the opportunity to ignite the same experience of awe in thousands of youngsters on June 22 at Fairchild Air Force Base. But what goes into organizing such a massive undertaking of sky-borne fighters and transports, static plane displays, tents, support vehicles and more? It starts with assembling a team, Watson said. Watson’s leadership skills needed for such a team developed at the U.S Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Doing exercise drills and pilot training programs forced him to cooperate with others more than he ever had, he said. His dream of piloting locked in when he was sent to Laughlin Air Force Base in Colorado and selected to be a pilot for heavy aircraft such as the KC-135 Stratotanker – a military aerial refueling plane that uses a long boom to deliver fuel to other aircraft while in flight. Watson was already married at that point.Being a pilot for heavy aircraft meant shorter deployment times, so he was able to spend more time with his family. “I knew I would be home with my wife a lot more,” he said. Piloting the KC-135 on missions around the world grew more and more appealing to him. “I really like the idea of fueling the flight and passing gas to the guys who need fuel to take the flight to the bad guys.” Other interests also started to appeal to Watson. In 2011, while still in the Air Force, he enrolled in the University of Oklahoma to pursue a business entrepreneurial degree. His next stop was deployment in England, where he flew planes for five years. He worked as an aircraft commander and was upgraded to an instructor pilot. Watson then found himself in Oklahoma, and the work experience wasn’t the only thing he brought back to the country. “I came home with two British souvenirs – my two eldest children.”

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Skyfest spectators enter and exit the nose ramp of a C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft, at Fairchild Air Force Base in 2017. The C-5 Galaxy is one of the largest aircraft in the world and the largest airlifter in the Air Force inventory.

“It’s going to be so loud, you’re going to feel it in your soul.”

Skyfest 2019 Team Fairchild will open its gates to the public at 9 a.m. on June 22 for a free one day family event to showcase Pacific Northwest’s airpower. The event runs from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. with the aerial acts schedule to begin about 1 p.m.

—Maj. Mark Watson

He spent the next three years in Atlus, Oklahoma: “You gotta get lost to find it,” he said, and he and his wife had their third child. Last July he got an email congratulating him on becoming the director for the 2019 SkyFest at Spokane’s Fairchild Air Force Base. It came as a surprise because he didn’t apply, he said. Before moving to Spokane, Watson began assembling his team by getting recommendations for positions. He needed an air operations manager to coordinate flights and a hospitality operations manager to keep all the guest pilots happy. Watson moved to Spokane in August. One of the first challenges was finding

the main feature of the show, a “sky team,” like the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels – both of which were unable to come. But Watson’s team was able to secure the F-22 Raptor display team, flying the most maneuverable plane in the world, he said. Through frequent reassurance and praise, Watson motivates his team of event organizers for SkyFest. “You don’t realize how good you are” – a phrase that he remembers from a role model of his in England, and one he uses on his own crew. “That stuck with me,” he said. His team is also introducing a “STEAM” hangar, short for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. It features survival escape

scenarios, medical demonstrations, civil engineering displays, a robotics team, augmented reality and an air commando trainer with virtual reality to simulate jumping out the back of C-17 airplanes, he said. “It’s an exciting thing for people to see touch and feel what it’s like to live a day in the life of an airman,” he said. Perhaps the most thrilling aspect to is the wide range of aircraft flybys: “It’s going to be so loud,” he said. “You’re going to feel it in your soul.” Watson said one day he hopes to start his own business, and he’s looking into possibly applying to Harvard to earn another degree. In the meantime, Watson is directing SkyFest and coordinating training programs at Fairchild for the KC-135, a plane he still flies. He is still living his dream that was sparked on that plane ride as a 7-year-old. It was in high school when he thought: What was the most fun thing I could do with my life? “I thought flying around the world would be pretty good,” Watson said. CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5513 willc@spokesman.com

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

JUNE 16, 2019

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SKYFEST 2019

DON’T FORGET SUNSCREEN

Prepare ahead of time to make the most of Fairchild’s air show By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

If you’re heading to Fairchild Air Force Base for SkyFest, there are a few things that will make the day more enjoyable. Give yourself plenty of time. Remember that Highway 2 around the base is configured for a few thousand people coming and going to the base each day, not tens of thousands trying to get on at about the same time. There may be a backup at the intersection for the main gate, so stay calm and follow directions from law enforcement providing traffic control. The gate opens at 9 a.m. and the air show starts about 11 a.m. As a military facility, Fairchild has certain security provisions and all visitors are subject to search before entering the event. Visitors will be directed to parking areas, and shuttle buses will take you to the events near the hangars and a flightline. Stay hydrated. You can’t bring coolers onto the base or large bags, but you can bring non-alcoholic beverages in factory-sealed plastic containers, carried in transparent or mesh containers. You can also bring empty water bottles that can be refilled at water stations. You also can’t bring weapons, alcohol, marijuana, pets, laser pointers, walkie talkies, silly string, skateboards, bikes or scooters. You can bring cameras, baby strollers, folding chairs, hand-carried items, a fanny pack, diaper bags, baby bottles or a service animal. Definitely bring sunscreen, because you’ll be spending time in areas where there is little or no shade. Hats and sunglasses might be a good idea, too. There are a few chances to get in out of the sun’s rays, like the hangar that’s set up to show off SERE – the Air Force’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape techniques – and exhibits on science, technology, engineering and math. But most of SkyFest is, well, under the sky, whether it’s the air show, the static airplane displays, the musical performance by the Air Force Band Galaxy, the kids play area or the 3-on-3 basketball games.

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Noelle Dacus lifts her son Julian, 2, so he can touch the nose of an F-15 Eagle fighter plane during SkyFest 2017 at Fairchild Air Force Base.

STA, Fairchild team up to transport SkyFest fans The Spokane Transit Authority will operate special overload SkyFest service to back up the regular route 61 service from the Downtown Plaza. The special overloads will depart Zone 6 at the top of the hour and the half-hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Riders who want to go to SkyFest on the regular 61 buses will be directed by signs at Zone 7 to catch the overload

SkyFest buses in Zone 6. Passengers boarding the regular 60 and 61 coaches on route who want to go to SkyFest will get off at the Yokes stop on Lawson. The Fairchild Air Force Base SkyFest coaches will wait at the Lawson stop until :20 and :50 after the hour (from 9:20 a.m. until 3:20 p.m.) to take these passengers to the base. Route 61 will follow its regular route

and schedule until the 8:07 a.m. departure from Fairchild Air Force Base. After 8:07 a.m. and until the 6:07 p.m. departure from the base, the regular service will go no further than the Spokane Tribe Casino, laying over there rather than going to the base. Only passengers at 8:07 a.m. or earlier or 6:07 p.m. and later can get on base unless they use the SkyFest Overload Service.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, two F-22 Raptor aircraft fly in trail behind a KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. The F-22 Demonstration Flight Team will show off the Raptor at Fairchild on June 22.

ELUSIVE RAPTOR HEADLINES SHOW F-22 comes with Mach 2 speed, extreme maneuverability By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Visitors to SkyFest will get a better look at an aircraft than radar can. The F-22 Raptor, which is currently the nation’s top air-superiority stealth fighter, as well as its fastest, will be in the skies over Fairchild Air Force Base as one of the premier exhibition flights. The Air Force is sending its F-22 Demonstration Flight Team from Langley, Virginia, to headline the airshow. The Demo Team is much in demand for events around the country, and is on road most weekends from the beginning of June to the end of October. At some of those stops, the Demo Team Raptor only flies as part of an Air Force Heritage Flight, which shows the evolution of American fighter planes from World War II to the present, with the F-22 representing the current fifth generation. At SkyFest, Maj. Paul “Loco” Lopez, the Demo Team pilot, will put the Raptor through its paces to wow the crowd with aerial maneuvers. Here’s some information on the F-22: In the early 1980s, the Air Force began looking for advanced tactical fighter to replace the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon and match up against new Soviet fighters. The nation’s aerospace companies competed for a winning design and in 1986 Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman were chosen to develop the two winning design bids. Lockheed then teamed up with Boeing and Northrop Grumman with McDonnell Douglas to create and flight test the two designs. Lockheed’s design won the competition, although the Air Force wanted some changes to the original design. The first F-22 came off the line in 1997, with the first test flight that September, and production continued for about 15 years. The Air Force originally planned to buy 750 F-22s, but then the

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this photo, an Air Force F-22 Raptor displays its weapons bays as it goes through maneuvers during a demonstration at Langley AFB in Hampton, Va.

Berlin Wall came down, the Cold War ended and the Pentagon began cutting back on its order. In the end, the Air Force bought 195 planes for a total order of $63.7 billion, or a cost per plane of just over $345 million, although the plane’s individual price tag, or “fly away” cost that excludes much of the research and development, is listed as $150 million The F-22 is fast. The Air Force lists its top speed at above Mach 2, or 1,500 miles per hour, if the pilot kicks in the afterburners. It can “supercruise” at Mach 1.5 or 1,150 miles per hour without using those fuel guzzling tactics. Fully gassed up with external wing tanks, it can fly about 1,850 miles before needing to stop for fuel or linking up with an aerial refueling tanker like a KC-135. It is faster and more maneuverable than the newer F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but that’s by design. The F-22 has two engines and has more aerodynamic capability and extreme maneuverability. The F-35 has a single engine and is designed to replace the F-16 to work with the F-22, not to take its place. The stealth technology of the design doesn’t make it invisible to radar, but reduces the image it projects, although radar technology is improving along with technology to avoid it. It costs about $67,000 per hour to fly when the cost of fuel, maintenance and modifications are factored in, and for every one hour of flying it gets about 40 hours of maintenance, the website MilitaryMachine.com says. It carries a wide range of armaments, including a 20 millimeter cannon, heat-seeking and radar guided air-to-air missiles and 1,000-pound bombs. The F-22 wasn’t used in a combat until 2014, when it flew bombing missions over Syria that required stealth and speed. While the United States sells many airplanes and other the military equipment it develops to allies, no other country can buy an F-22. The Pentagon does not allow the export of the F-22 because of its advanced stealth, avionics and other features.

JESSE TINSLEY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The Air Force F-22 Raptor visited Fairchild in August of 2008 and was part of a 12-minute demonstration flight at the weekend airshow.

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JESSE TINSLEY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Gen. Darren James, left, passes the guidon, representing the 92nd Air Refueling Wing command, to Col. Derek Salmi, center, signifying Salmi’s assumption of Fairchild Air Force Base’s top job on June 15, 2018.

‘WICKED SMART’

over the assumption of command ceremony, was also the presiding officer during Salmi’s promotion to major a decade ago, which both men mentioned as something special between them. Before praising Salmi, James spoke of military readiness. “We must continue to move at the speed of war and become increasingly lethal,” By Nicholas Deshais THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW James said. “We must continue to strengthen our military and I will tell you that strength lies in the individuals that Flanked by sentinel stratotankers and are standing in formation today.” facing 250 airmen in formation and After noting that Salmi comes from a short-sleeve blues on June 15, 2018, Col. “family of three generations of service,” Derek Salmi assumed command of Fairchild Air Force Base and the 92nd Air James said Salmi is a “leader steeped in mobility.” Reflecting on their time serving Refueling Wing. together, James said Salmi is “wicked Salmi, who previously served at Royal smart.” Air Force Mildenhall in the United Salmi was joined at the ceremony by his Kingdom, replaced Col. Ryan Samuelson. wife, Kris, and their children Emily, 19; Samuelson transferred to Scott Air Force Josh, 14; and Sarah, 10. His parents and Base in Illinois as the United States brother were also there. During the Transportation Command executive ceremony, Salmi said his grandfather had officer. served in the “famed Mighty Eighth” “It’s not lost on me that I’m about to during World War II, which carried out begin the greatest job that the Air Force bombings in France and Germany, has to offer,” Salmi said after being including Berlin, engaged in air-to-air handed the ceremonial guidon marking the change of command. “To join the 92nd fighter combat with the German Luftwaffe and helped win victory in Europe. Air Refueling Wing is quite simply a Before serving in the UK, Salmi was the fantastic honor, both professionally and National Defense Fellow at the Belfer personally.” Center for Science and International Salmi said the 92nd wing had Affairs, part of the John F. Kennedy “established itself as the tanker wing of choice for rapid global mobility, and that is School of Government at Harvard University. He is also a command pilot awesome.” who logged more than 2,800 hours in Since the last change of command at multiple aircraft, including the KC-135 Fairchild, the wing has accomplished 2,600 sorties, passed 35 million pounds of Stratotanker and C-5 Galaxy. fuel to more than 4,500 aircraft and delivered 200,000 tons of cargo. This article was originally published on Brig. Gen. Darren James, who presided spokesman.com on June 15, 2018.

Fairchild commander Col. Salmi is ‘leader steeped in mobility’

LIBBY KAMROWSKI/ THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Fairchild commander Col. Derek Salmi delivers a speech during a Memorial Day Remembrance ceremony at the State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake on May 27.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW JUNE 16, 2019 G

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SPECIAL 6

SKYFEST 2019

World War II wasn’t won in battle alone. The engineering know-how and industrial might of the United States was a big key to the Allied victory.

B-24 LIBERATOR

Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Chance Vought First ﬂight: May 29, 1940 Cost per plane: $88,000

F4U CORSAIR

Type: Bomber Manufacturer: North American Aviation First ﬂight: Aug. 19, 1940 0 Cost per plane: $109,670 0

B-25 MITCHELL

Type: Fighter Manufacturer: North American Aviation First ﬂight: Oct. 26, 1940 Cost per plane: $50,985

P-51 MUSTANG

Type: Fighter/bomber Manufacturer: Republic Aviation First Firs ﬂight: May 6, 1941 Cost Cos per plane: $85,000

P-47 THUNDERBOLT

Type: Torpedo Bomber Manufacturers: Grumman and General Motors First ﬂight: Aug. 1, 1941 Cost per plane: n/a

TBF/TBM AVENGER

Number manufactured:

Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Grumman First ﬂight: June 26, 1942 Cost per plane: $35,000

F6F HELLCAT

Number manufactured:

Type: Strategic bomber Manufacturer: Boeing First ﬂight: Sept. 21, 1942 Cost per plane: $639,188

B-29 SUPERFORTRESS

One such example is the P-51 Mustang.

The plane was originally designed for use by Britain’s Royal Air Force, which had an urgent need for ﬁghters during the Blitz on London. The U.S. Army Air Corps had to be sweet-talked into taking delivery of the Mustang.

Once it was in the air, however, the P-51 proved to be an outstanding machine. The aircraft was fast, agile, capable of taking enemy ﬁre and – best of all – had a long range, which increased their value as escorts to vulnerable bomber runs deep in German territory.

P-38 LIGHTNING

Type: Bomber Manufacturer: Consolidated Aircraft First ﬂight: Dec. 29, 1939 Cost per plane: $297,627

Number manufactured:

By the end of the war, the P-51 Mustang had become the second most-commonly built aircraft in the U.S. arsenal.

P-40 WARHAWK

Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Lockheed First ﬂight: Jan. 27, 1939 Cost per plane: $97,147

Number Num manufactured:

That’s particularly evident in the thousands of aircraft the U.S. produced in the walk up to and during the war itself. While quality vehicles were produced by other nations – Britain’s Supermarine Spitﬁre, German Messerchmitts and Foke-Wulfs and Japanese Zeroes – America’s aviation industry churned out one superior design after another, from heavy bombers to long-range bombers to agile ﬁghters to durable carrier-based aircraft.

P-39 AIRACOBRA

Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Curtiss-Wright First ﬂight: Oct. 17, 1938 Cost per plane: $11,892

Number manufactured:

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

By Charles Apple

BIRDS of PREY Three-quarters of a century ago, Americans rose to the challenge of World War by ﬁlling the skies with fearsome – yet beautiful – birds of steel.

B-17 FLYING FORTRESS Type: Fighter Manufacturer: Bell Aircraft First ﬂight: April 6, 1938 Cost per plane: $50,666

Number manufactured:

=100 aircraft manufactured during World War II

Type: Bomber Manufacturer: Boeing First ﬂight: July 28, 1935 Cost per plane: $238,329

Number manufactured:

3,970

Number manufactured:

9,835

Number manufactured:

9,984

12,275

Number manufactured:

10,037

12,571

15,875 15,686

Number manufactured:

9,584

13,738

18,482

Number manufactured:

12,731

Sources: World War II Foundation, Armed Forces History Museum, National Museum of Naval Aviation, National Museum of the United States Air Force, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, MilitaryFactory.com, World War II Database Photos: U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army Air Force, U.S. Navy, Library of Congress, Lockheed Martin, Royal Air Force

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KATHY PLONKA PHOTOS/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Col. Derek Salmi, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, accepts an autographed Seahawks flag from defensive backs Tedric Thompson, center, and Neiko Thorpe at Fairchild Air Force Base on June 7.

SEAHAWKS, AIRMEN BOND AT FAIRCHILD Players, dance team members and even official Hawk visit Air Force stars

Former Seattle Seahawks safety Jordan Babineaux boards a KC-135 for a tour at Fairchild Air Force Base on June 7.

By Emma Epperly THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Airman Christopher Hicks and retired football player Jordan Babineaux are two heroes from Texas living in Washington. Babineaux was a safety for Seattle Seahawks from 2004 to 2010. Hicks is in the Air Force and in remission from a recent bout with colin cancer. “I’m from Texas, so football is life,” said Hicks. Hicks grew up in Houston and Babineaux in Port Arthur, just 90 miles from each other. People can look at football players as a kind of hero, said Babineaux. People also look at a man or woman in uniform and have the same kind of admiration of them as a hero, but there are also people, Babineaux continued. “You’re now in a position to have a greater impact,” Babineaux said of Hicks. “You have a story that people need to hear, your impact is just multiplied. The men connected and the conversation ended in agreement to talk again a shared smiles. On June 7, current and former Seahawks players along with Seahawks Dancers and staff met service members and toured a KC-135R, an aerial refueling plane, at Fairchild Air Force Base. Cornerback Neiko Thorpe donned helmets and gas masks as airmen explained uses for the different equipment. “I got to feel like a hero for 5 minutes,” said Thorpe, after trying on equipment. For Airman Mark Aaron this is the first time in his 15 years at Fairchild that he’s spent time with members of a professional sports team. It’s great to show off what we do, said Aaron, a big Seahawks fan. At the medical booth next door, Airman Michael Osten called the Seahawks “a huge part of the community.” “They’re very nice, and I’m a little starstruck,” Osten said. Tedric Thompson joked that the equipment he donned was not that bad compared to his football pads. Thompson and Thorpe along with a group of airmen laughed at Thorpe’s “Darth Vader” breathing in the mask he tried on. The players continued chatting as other airmen took notice of the bird flapping its wings in the hanger. Taima, the Seahawks’ live hawk, made the short trip from his Spokane home with owner, Dave Knutson. Taima flies through the tunnel at Seahawks games and has for the last 14 years. The bird is even a considered a Super Bowl champion after the Seahawks’ 2014 win. “He has a (Super Bowl) ring but somebody has to wear it for him,” Knutson said with a wink. Knutson has his own history with Fairchild. He did wildlife control at the base for 18 years. “This event is different because of my love for Fairchild,” Knutson said. Taima is Knutson’s most famous bird, but he breeds birds of prey and owns almost 30 other birds. After spending time learning about different jobs at Fairchild, the group moved outside to the 120,000-pound fueler plane. The KC-135R fuels smaller planes while airborne and is flown almost daily for a variety of missions, said instructor pilot Chris Hunter. Colonel Derek Salmi, Fairchild’s Base Commander, joined the group at the plane and was presented with a Seahawks flag. “I enjoy the opportunity to personally tell the men and women of the armed forces thank you,” Babineaux said. “One, you’re inspired by them. Two, when you touch it and see it personally, to me, it’s just a different level of admiration for their bravery and courage.” CONTACT THE WRITER:

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Sr. Airman Mark Valdez, center shares a laugh with Seahawks defensive backs Tedric Thompson, right, and Neiko Thorpe. Thompson said the helmet compared favorably to his football helmet.

Seattle Seahawks dancer Kelsey, left, turns away from the wind before touring a KC-135 at Fairchild Air Force Base on June 7.

Seattle Seahawks defensive backs Tedric Thompson, left, and Neiko Thorpe greet fans at Fairchild Air Force Base.

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SKYFEST 2019

A BIRDWATCHER’S GUIDE By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

If you’re going to SkyFest, chances are you, or someone who’s taking you, is an airplane lover. An aviation aficionado. An aeronautic enthusiast. A plane nerd. Someone who knows at a glance not just whether that big military jet in the sky is a KC-135 or a B-52, but whether it’s a KC-135E or a KC-135R. (Hint: the tell is the engines.) Someone who has a selfie standing next to every aircraft inside and outside the Museum of Flight. Whose favorite movies include “12 O’Clock High” and “Apollo 13”. Who has an airgasm watching aerobatic displays. SkyFest will give airplane lovers a chance to see even more aircraft on the ground, up close and personal, along with those that will be flying by overhead. Here are some of the planes expected to show up, along with a bit of information for those who aren’t full-out plane nerds:

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS The nation’s 50-year-old bomber, which the Pentagon still dispatches as a show of military force because almost nothing is as imposing as the eight-engined, high-wing behemoth. Fairchild was the home to B-52s for 37 years. One is scheduled for a ﬂy-over, another will be on the ground for static display. Visitors who pass the base heritage park will see a third B-52, an older D model, which is a permanent exhibit. It’s a Vietnam War veteran, with a red star on the fuselage to designate it shot down a MiG during that war. MIKE MCCARTER/ SHREVEPORT TIMES VIA AP

CV-22 OSPREY With its tiltrotor design that allows for the Osprey to take off vertically with its propellers up like a helicopter, then rotate the engines forward on the end of each wing to sit like an airplane, this could be one of the more unusual planes at SkyFest. It’s designed to get special operations units and supplies into places that are fare enough away to require the speed of a plane, but at a location so conﬁned they would need a helicopter to land and take off.

DEAN HANSON/ ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL VIA AP

KC-135R STRATOTANKER The design is based on the same prototype as the Boeing 707 jetliner, and is almost as old as the B-52 but like the bomber it’s been signiﬁcantly updated. The 92nd Air Refueling Wing, which is the main tenant of Fairchild, and the Washington National Guard 141st Air Refueling Wing, also located at the base, both ﬂy these. The KC-135s will slowly be retired, although not before even the last planes that rolled off the assembly line in the 1960s would be eligible for Social Security.

C-17 GLOBEMASTER A smaller and more versatile troop and cargo carrier than the C-5, it’s a familiar sight to people driving through Tacoma on Interstate 5 because the 62nd Airlift Wing is based at Joint Base Lewis McChord. It can hold 102 troops, or when used for aeromedical evacuation, as many as 90 patients and attendants. The Air Force really likes this plane. Made by Boeing, the Air Force originally ordered 120, but was so happy with its performance it eventually upped the order to 223. STAFF SGT. MITCH FUQUA/U.S. AIR FORCE

F-15 STRIKE EAGLE The latest version of the F-15, the Air Force’s previous generation air-superiority ﬁghter, it has a 20mm cannon and can carry a wide range of missiles or bombs. Unlike the original model, it’s a two-seater, with a pilot and an electronic weapons officer. It also has special infrared navigation system that allows it to ﬂy at low altitudes at night or in bad weather. Originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas, which was later acquired by the Boeing Co.

AIRMAN 1ST CLASS FRANKLIN R. RAMOS/U.S. AIR FORCE

F-35 LIGHTNING The newest Air Force stealth ﬁghter, also known as the JSF for joint strike ﬁghter, is built with different variations for the Air Force, Navy and Marines. It’s not a replacement for the F-22, but designed to do different things including more attacks against ground targets. They have a similar sleek radar-evading body with twin-tail look, but the single-engine F-35 is smaller, a bit slower and can’t climb quite as fast, but has a longer range. It’s also cheaper – $91 million per plane vs. $150 million –and the Pentagon is ordering more of them, Allied countries can buy them, too. They’re expected to be in production through 2037.

STAFF SGT. AARON ALLMON/U.S. AIR FORCE

C-5 GALAXY LENGTH 247 feet, 1 inch WINGSPAN 222 feet, 9 inches

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS

FIONA HANSON/PRATT & WHITNEY VIA AP

KC-135R STRATOTANKER

C-130J SUPER HERCULES

SIZES COMPARED FM-2 WILDCAT LENGTH 28 feet, 9 inches WINGSPAN 38 feet

P-51 MUSTANG LENGTH 32 feet, 3 inches WINGSPAN 37 feet

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F6F HELLCAT

LENGTH 33 feet, 1 inch WINGSPAN 41 feet, 6.4 inches

LENGTH 33 feet, 7 inches WINGSPAN 42 feet, 10 inches

T-38 TALON LENGTH 46 feet, 4.5 inches WINGSPAN 25 feet, 3 inches

F-35 LIGHTNING LENGTH 50 feet, 6 inches WINGSPAN 35 feet

CV-22 OSPREY

UH-1N HUEY

LENGTH 57 feet, 4 inches WINGSPAN 45 feet, 10 inches

LENGTH 57 feet, 8 inches

F-22 RAPTOR

F-15 STRIKE EAGLE

LENGTH 62 feet, 1 inch WINGSPAN 44 feet, 6 inches

LENGTH 63.8 feet WINGSPAN 42.8 feet

LENGTH 97 feet, 9 inches WINGSPAN 132 feet, 7 inches

LENGTH 136 feet, 30 inches WINGSPAN 130 feet, 10 inches

LENGTH 159 feet, 4 inches WINGSPAN 185 feet

C-17 GLOBEMASTER LENGTH 174 inches WINGSPAN 169 feet, 9.6 inches

KC-10 EXTENDER LENGTH 181 feet, 7 inches WINGSPAN 165 feet, 4.5 inches

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SKYFEST 2019

A BIRDWATCHER’S GUIDE By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

DEAN HANSON/ ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL VIA AP

AIRMAN 1ST CLASS FRANKLIN R. RAMOS/U.S. AIR FORCE

STAFF SGT. AARON ALLMON/U.S. AIR FORCE

C-5 GALAXY LENGTH 247 feet, 1 inch WINGSPAN 222 feet, 9 inches

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS

FIONA HANSON/PRATT & WHITNEY VIA AP

KC-135R STRATOTANKER

C-130J SUPER HERCULES

SIZES COMPARED FM-2 WILDCAT LENGTH 28 feet, 9 inches WINGSPAN 38 feet

P-51 MUSTANG LENGTH 32 feet, 3 inches WINGSPAN 37 feet

SBD DAUNTLESS

F6F HELLCAT

LENGTH 33 feet, 1 inch WINGSPAN 41 feet, 6.4 inches

LENGTH 33 feet, 7 inches WINGSPAN 42 feet, 10 inches

T-38 TALON LENGTH 46 feet, 4.5 inches WINGSPAN 25 feet, 3 inches

F-35 LIGHTNING LENGTH 50 feet, 6 inches WINGSPAN 35 feet

CV-22 OSPREY

UH-1N HUEY

LENGTH 57 feet, 4 inches WINGSPAN 45 feet, 10 inches

LENGTH 57 feet, 8 inches

F-22 RAPTOR

F-15 STRIKE EAGLE

LENGTH 62 feet, 1 inch WINGSPAN 44 feet, 6 inches

LENGTH 63.8 feet WINGSPAN 42.8 feet

LENGTH 97 feet, 9 inches WINGSPAN 132 feet, 7 inches

LENGTH 136 feet, 30 inches WINGSPAN 130 feet, 10 inches

LENGTH 159 feet, 4 inches WINGSPAN 185 feet

C-17 GLOBEMASTER LENGTH 174 inches WINGSPAN 169 feet, 9.6 inches

KC-10 EXTENDER LENGTH 181 feet, 7 inches WINGSPAN 165 feet, 4.5 inches

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A BIRDWATCHER’S GUIDE T-38 TALON Before they fly an F-15 or an F-22, this is the plane Air Force pilots and astronauts use to learn how to fly jets. It has two seats (one for an instructor) two jet engines and flies faster than the speed of sound.

ELLIS NEEL /ALAMOGORDO DAILY NEWS VIA AP

UH-1N HUEY A ubiquitous military helicopter since the 1970s, it’s still being used for search and rescue missions, including by Fairchild’s 36th Rescue Flight. Fitted for passengers, it will hold as many as 13 people, depending on weight and weather. For medical evacuations, it can hold 6 litters. It’s scheduled to be replaced in the next decade by a new helicopter.

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FM-2 WILDCAT A version of the ﬁrst single-wing planes assigned to aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy, the original Grumman Wildcats were in service in 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Wildcat was slower and less maneuverable than the Japanese Zero, but better armed and sturdier. For storage on carriers, the wings fold back along the fuselage. This model was made by General Motors later in the war, with improvements that made it slightly faster and able to climb higher.

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F6F HELLCAT Grumman’s replacement for the Wildcat, the Hellcat was bigger, better armored, had more firepower and carried more fuel. It became the Navy’s dominant fighter in the Pacific in the second half of World War II. Its wings also fold back for carrier storage.

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P-51 MUSTANG The top U.S. Army Air Forces fighter plane at the end of World War II, the Mustang had longer range than other American fighters and was able to accompany bombers for the long flights into German. It was faster and could climb higher than the German fighters and quickly reduced the number of bombers lost or damaged in bombing runs. About 8,000 were produced, some of them went to the Tuskegee airmen’s Red Tail Fighter Group. A Mustang will be flying in the Heritage Flight.

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A BIRDWATCHER’S GUIDE KC-10 EXTENDER The Air Force’s larger, somewhat newer, air-refueling tanker. It’s based on the design of the DC-10 commercial jetliner, with an engine under each wing and another in the tail section. It has greater speed and range than the KC-135, but the Air Force is replacing some Extenders with some new KC-46As in the coming years.

STAFF SGT. ANDY M. KIN/U.S. AIR FORCE

C-5 GALAXY One of the largest military aircraft in the world – 65 feet tall, each wing longer than a basketball court – the C-5 is probably most distinctive for having a nose section that opens by lifting up, to load large cargo such as a tank or an intercontinental ballistic missile. To accomplish this, the plane’s front landing gear can “kneel” so the fuselage gets closer to the ground. It also has a ramp in the tail section, making it a plane that you can drive through.

TECH SGT BRAD FALLIN/U.S. AIR FORCE

C-130J SUPER HERCULES This is another successful design from the 1950s, the ﬁrst C-130A Hercules came off the line in 1956 and the Super Hercules went into production in 1999. They look pretty much the same from the outside, with four turboprop engines mounted below high wings, but successive models have had more powerful engines for faster speed and the ability to lift off with more cargo. They are the prime aircraft for bringing troops into forward locations, because they can land and take off from dirt runways, and for airdropping troops and equipment into hostile territory.

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KATHY PLONKA/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Larry Frazier, left, and Greg Staples walk away after saying a few words to the crowd during the B-52 Memorial Dedication at Memorial Park at Fairchild AFB on Sept. 8, 2017.

TRAGEDY HAS LASTING IMPACT B-52 midair collision in 1958 forever remembered at Fairchild Air Force Base By Nicholas Deshais THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

It was just more than 60 years ago, airmen at Fairchild Air Force Base were still getting used to the nation’s B-52 Stratofortress bombers, newly arrived in the West Plains. Crews regularly took the massive aircraft up on training missions, preparation in the days of the Cold War. On Sept. 8, 1958, the routine training missions became anything but routine. As one B-52, Outcome 54, was coming in for a landing, another one, Outcome 55, had just completed a “touch-and-go” landing and was circling back for its final touchdown of the day. About 2 miles from the runway, the two aircraft collided and exploded. Thirteen service members died in the wreckage. The airmen, never forgotten, were memorialized on Sept. 8, 2017 on base in a ceremony attended by about 50 people, including many family and friends of the fallen. “Fairchild’s real story of success is captured by the stories of its heroes,” said Col. Ryan Samuelson, the Fairchild base commander in 2017. “The men who died that day will never know the outcome of their sacrifice. But we do.” First Lt. Reggie Frazier, a young navigator on Outcome 54, was a 1950 Lewis and Clark High School graduate and 1955 University of Idaho graduate who joined the Air Force as a commissioned officer after taking part in the college’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. Frazier’s brother, Larry, was instrumental in bringing the memorial to Fairchild, along with Greg Staples. “At the time of the accident, my brother and Greg’s father were sitting side by side,” Larry Frazier said. Maj. Donald Staples was a World War II veteran who had flown 25 missions over Europe. The pilot had flown B-17s, and survived a major crash in which he suffered a broken back and severe neck injury. He was a veteran in every sense of the word compared with the young navigator at his side. “We’d only been here a couple of months when the tragedy occurred,” said Staples, who was 9 when his father died. The planes collided over an open field, minimizing what could have been a much more catastrophic situation. Of the 16 crew members, only three survived, but no other personnel were hurt. On Sept. 8, a simple granite slab was unveiled with the Strategic Air Command slogan, “Peace is Our Profession,” chiseled across the top. Also on the monument are the names of the service members who died that day, along with the three who survived. They were read aloud before a bugle played taps, as service members saluted and civilians held their hands over their hearts, all standing. On Outcome 54 were Maj. Theodore Held; Maj. Donald Staples; Capt. Homer Crump; 1st Lt. John Cork; and 1st Lt. Reggie Frazier. Capt. David Birdsell and Staff Sgt. Lowell Younger survived. On Outcome 55 were Lt. Col. Andrew Creo; Capt. Roy George; Capt. Ernest Marker; Capt. Russell Snow; 1st Lt. John Black; 1st Lt. Gerald Limburg; Staff Sgt. Aubrey Moore; and Staff Sgt. David Archer. Second Lt. Walter Maguire survived the crash. This story was originally published on spokesman.com on Sept. 8, 2017.

KATHY PLONKA/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Roses are placed in front of the B-52 Memorial during the dedication at Memorial Park at Fairchild AFB on Sept. 8, 2017.

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Greg Staples holds his father’s vintage flight jacket in his north Spokane Office on Dec. 16, 2016. Major Donald Staples died in a B-52 crash on Sept. 8, 1958 near Fairchild Air Force Base. Maj. Staples was a World War II veteran who had flown 25 missions over Europe.

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JESSE TINSLEY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Captain David Leibrand, left, and 1st Lt. Adam Less, right, pause for a photo in their KC-135 tanker aircraft over the Nevada desert on Oct. 11, 2017.

REFUELING AT 28,000 FEET

A member of the Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Squadron takes on fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker from Fairchild Air Force Base on Oct. 11, 2017. The refueling was executed high over the Nevada dessert.

First-hand look at sky-high fueling station aboard KC-135 By Nicholas Deshais THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

You’d think that lying on your belly at the butt-end of a huge jet looking out a window in the floor straight to the ground 28,000 feet below would elicit terror. But, strangely, it doesn’t. Not for first-timers, and not for Staff Sgt. Travis Peirce, a 25-year-old boom operator on a KC-135 Stratotanker, the gas station of the sky for the U.S. Air Force. “Sometimes I think I have the easiest job in the world,” Peirce said during a refueling mission high above the eastern Nevada desert on Oct. 11, 2017. The plan: fly south to an area near Salt Lake City and rendezvous with eight F-16s, fighter jets in the Air Force’s demonstration squadron, the Thunderbirds. Once in contact, reverse course, noses pointed toward Boise, and refuel the fighter jets midair on their way to an airshow this weekend. Finally, touch down at Fairchild Air Force Base in time for lunch. Easy enough. For the assembled journalists aboard from nearly every news outlet in the region, it wasn’t exactly a difficult trip. But it didn’t look that easy. We’d been in the air for over an hour when, just before 11 a.m., the Thunderbirds appeared, seemingly unannounced and out of nowhere. We scurried to the four windows in the fuselage with our smartphones, digital cameras and, in one case on one shoulder, a TV camera. The jets lined up along the wings, holding steady to our line. Every few minutes, one would peel away and fade back, taking its turn at the pump. Peirce kept cool on his belly in the back, his head on a chin rest, his eyes out the window and his hand on a joystick. His vessel this day came off the Boeing assembly line in 1962. You can feel its vintage, even though every KC-135 in military service is stripped down to every bolt and paint speck and rebuilt every five years. Grab the joystick that controls the boom, and you can feel the pre-circuit board technology. Crank the stick to the left, and like a clumsy appendage, the gangly boom swings left. The big vessel can carry up to 200,000 pounds of fuel beyond its own supply, deliverable at rates as high as 6,000 pounds per minute. At nearly 30,000 feet, going 273 knots, inside a $40 million aircraft with another $15 million nosing up, it’s a wonder how Peirce and others in his post can keep calm.

NICHOLAS DESHAIS/ THE SPOKESMANREVIEW

“It looks complicated, but it’s just a bunch of lights,” he said of the array of gauges around him. The No. 6 jet pulls up, with Maj. Whit Collins in the cockpit. With ease, Peirce connects the boom to the F-16’s mid-spine. For a minute, maybe two, the big and small aircraft are joined, swaying together in the high, thin air at not quite supersonic speeds. Then, disconnection, marked by a small spritz of jet fuel, and Collins banks off port-side. Not 25 minutes after they appeared out of nowhere, the Thunderbirds sped away, impatient to meet their Canadian counterparts, the Snowbirds, in Boise. In the cockpit, Capt. David Leibrand and 1st Lt. Adam Less watch the sky and occasionally fine-tune a control. It’s hour four of a five-hour flight. The sky was filled with cumulus clouds struck with the odd gray streak here and there, though most sat lower than us. Leibrand, the pilot, pulled a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from his bag and ate his lunch, enjoying the view. “Look at the hills down there,” said Airman First Class Nicholas Kelly, another boom operator on the flight. “It never gets old.” Unlike some of the military technology filling the cockpit. An old altimeter unwinding itself as we made our way down. Oil pressure gauges with 1950s-style type font. Still more gauges

showing oil pressure, and the “angle of attack.” The cockpit’s ceiling still has a sextant porthole, a golf ball-size aperture that can be opened for celestial navigation. We marveled at it, but didn’t need it. The

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crew looked continually to computer tablets showing our location on a map. And those worked just fine. This story was originally published at spokesman.com on Oct. 12, 2017.

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CONNECTING TO FAIRCHILD SkyFest a part of long relationship between Spokane and AFB By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

The connection between Fairchild Air Force Base and the nearby community goes way back, to the days before there was a base, or a runway, or much of a reason to stop along Highway 2 as drivers headed west out of Spokane. Not just no Indian casinos, prison or fast-food stops. Not even an Airway Heights. In 1941, the War Department was looking for a location for a new military air depot, a place where supplies could be stored and Army Air Corps planes repaired. But it didn’t want to pay top dollar – preferably, no dollars of its own – for the land. Spokane business leaders and residents raised $121,000 to buy some 1,500 acres near what was then known as Galena station, a small railroad stop. The federal government took the money, then took the land for less than what the West Plains farmers who owned it wanted to sell, that November. Three weeks later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, the department said it was stepping up construction of the depot and ordering farmers to vacate their land in 20 days. Although the facility was officially named Spokane Army Air Depot in 1942, that name never caught on. Neither did other War Department names like Spokane Air Material Area, Spokane Air Field or

refuel the big Spokane Air bombers in mid-air. Force Base. The B-52s left in The old name, 1994, but the Galena, stuck KC-135s remain, even as the area although they’ve was transformed been significantly into a part of the upgraded over the American war last 60 years. machine that When it became a employed more full-fledged Air than 7,500 Force Base, civilian people, where 60 access was damaged bombers restricted. But in were repaired September 1948, the every month and base invited folks sent back to war from Spokane and zones. Over the other nearby course of the war, communities in for Galena’s civilian “Air Force Day”, to workers would take a look at the overhaul 10,000 airplanes and some B-17 engines. of the other military After the war, the FILE PHOTO/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW hardware their tax need for bomber dollars were paying repair evaporated Fairchild Air Force Base is named for. It drew an but Washington’s for Gen. Muir S. Fairchild. estimated 109,000 to strong the base, according to news accounts congressional delegation helped keep the The traffic was so bad the Spokane facility open, even as the workforce was Chronicle said it was backed up with cars cut back. In 1947, the Air Force assigned a wing of two-abreast from the base to downtown at 7 p.m. A Washington State Patrol captain B-29 bombers to the West Plains outpost described it as “the greatest traffic jam this with big hangars and a long runway. Four part of the state has ever seen.” years later, the military finally came up When the base held its next open house with a name that stuck, Fairchild Air Force Base, for the late Gen. Muir S. Fairchild, a in May 1950, The Spokesman-Review made a point of saying “the Washington native and former Air Force never-to-be-forgotten traffic jam which vice chief of staff. marked the 1948 show at the base was not Along with a new name, the base got a new plane, the B-36. Six years later, the Air repeated” and noting control had been Force switched those planes out for B-52s, worked out weeks earlier. For many years, the base open house, as and about a year later, sent KC-135s to

it was often called, followed the Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade in mid May. It made for a busy weekend with Fairchild personnel marching in the parade on Saturday night and hosting the community the next day. In the mid 1980s, the annual event was renamed Aerospace Days, and moved around the summer and early fall calendar to get a space on the schedule for top military aerobatic performers like the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels or Canadian Snowbirds. Base officials renamed it Inland Northwest SkyFest in 2003. In 1980, the air show was interrupted by the eruption of Mount Saint Helens, and planes that were able left in a hurry to avoid being stuck in Spokane in the ash. It was canceled in 1994 when Fairchild’s last B-52 crashed a day before the scheduled event while practicing a maneuver for the upcoming show, killing the four officers on board. It was canceled again in 2005 because of the base’s ongoing overseas deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and budget concerns. SkyFest returned in 2006, and was held every other year through 2010, but canceled in 2012 for budget restraints, although the new wing commander said he hoped to bring it back in 2013. Budget cuts from the congressional sequester ruined that plan, but it returned with a jet-engined roar in 2014 with the Thunderbirds. The Air Force aerobatic team made a return trip in 2017, the most recent SkyFest. Although the T-birds aren’t coming this year, the Air Force will be showing off its top performance fighter with the F-22 See FAIRCHILD, 15

FAIRCHILD AFB: OVER THE YEARS For more than three quarters of a century, big military planes – sometimes the nation’s biggest – have thundered over Spokane County and landed on the runways carved into the West Plains. Fairchild Air Force Base – as the Pentagon eventually named the collection of long stretches of concrete, big hangars and a community of office buildings and houses – became entwined in the history of the nearby communities. Here’s a look at some highlights in Fairchild’s history: November 1941 - Spokane businesses and citizens raise and donate $121,000 to buy the first 1,400 acres for an Army air maintenance and supply depot, helping Spokane land the facility over sites in Seattle and Everett. In addition, the site west of Spokane offered better weather conditions, and a location 300 miles from the coast with the Cascade Range acting as a natural barrier against possible Japanese attack. A few weeks later, the War Department authorizes $14 million for construction of what was then known as Galena Station. March 1942 - The Spokane Army Air Depot is activated under the Air Service Command; a month later the base is designated the Spokane Air Depot. In 1943 its name is changed again to the Spokane Army Airfield. Between its official activation and 1946, the base is used as a repair depot for damaged aircraft returning from war in the Pacific. On June 2, 1945 three women complete repair of the 10,000th B-17 engine. According to a base history, “in all, nearly 11,000 engines were overhauled at an estimated savings to the government of $87 million. The depot also served as a supply hub shipping more than 150,000 tons of material, with nearly 20% going overseas.” July 1947 - The 92nd Bombardment Group begins its move to Spokane. In September that year, the 98th Bombardment Group is reactivated and transferred to Spokane. The airfield is transferred to the Strategic Air Command that same month. Each bombardment group has 30 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, making Spokane Army Air Field the largest B-29 organization in the Strategic Air Command. It’s later renamed yet again – Spokane Air Force Base. July 1950 - Both bombardment groups deploy to Korea that summer, but after a few months, the 92nd returns to the states while the 98th remains in Asia. In that short time, the 92nd’s bombers flew 836 combat sorties, dropping 33,000 bombs. The 98th is eventually reassigned to Nebraska. July 1951 - The air base is renamed for Muir S. Fairchild, a

COURTESY OF U.S. AIR FORCE

The massive hangers at Fairchild Air Force Base contain work stands and platforms built to aid mechanics in the maintenance and repair of the B-36 bomber. In 1957 the B-52 Stratofortresses replaced the B-36 at Fairchild.

COURTESY OF U.S. AIR FORCE

Dusk at Fairchild Air Force Base from the Base Operations control tower in 1955. Overlooking the two-mile runways on the base are two control tower operators. Bellingham, Washington, native who rose to vice chief of staff of the Air Force. He died of a heart attack in 1950. April 1952 - Fifteen crew members are killed in a pre-dawn takeoff of a B-36 bomber at Fairchild. In March 1954, a B-36 crashes on takeoff, killing seven. March 1957 - The first of 45 B-52 Stratofortresses is delivered to Fairchild in a conversion

operation dubbed “Operation Big Switch.” Five days later, the last B-36 leaves the base. In December that year, a B-52 on a training mission crashes in a field near Airway Heights a few minutes after takeoff because of faulty wiring. January 1958 - The Strategic Air Command orders around-the-clock alerts in response to the launch of Sputnik. At Fairchild, two crews

COURTESY OF U.S. AIR FORCE

Air WAC’s (Women’s Army Corps) drill at the Spokane Army Airfield (later renamed Fairchild) in 1943. The base was used as a repair depot for damaged aircraft returning from war in the Pacific. and bombers go on 24/7 alert status. February 1958 - The first KC-135 Stratotanker, the “Queen of the Inland Empire,” arrives at Fairchild as the “flying fuel station” for B-52s. The aircraft and a crew from the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron sets eight world records in September of that year. Sadly, that month also saw two B-52s collide while landing at Fairchild, killing 13

crew members and injuring three. September 1961 - The 92nd becomes the first “aerospace” wing in the nation with the deployment of nine Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles under the 567th Strategic Missile Squadron. According to a base history, “These ICBMs played an integral deterrence See TIMELINE, 15

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SKYFEST 2019

In a nostalgic moment in 1957, a B-36 Peacemaker, en route to the mothball fleet, lumbers past its successor, the B-52 Stratofortress. This was the last B-36 to leave Fairchild Air Force Base and it ended an era.

FAIRCHILD Continued from 14 Raptor Aerial Demonstration Team. The F-22 will also fly in a heritage formation with other Air Force fighters dating back to the World War II era.

Other air performances include a KC-135, a P-51 Mustang, a B-52 and a C-17 cargo plane, along with the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force parachute teams. For those who like to get up close and personal with planes, ground displays will include current military aircraft like the F-15 and

the F-35, tankers, cargo planes, helicopters and a bomber, plus vintage planes like the F6F Hellcat and the FM2 Wildcat. For those who get their fill of airplanes before other members of the family are sated, a children’s play area will be set up, the Air Force’s Galaxy band will be playing

rock and country music, an exhibit on science, technology, engineering and math will be set up in a hangar along with an exhibit by the Survival School, and people preparing for Hoopfest on the following weekend can take part in some 3-on-3 basketball.

erupts, sending ash over Spokane and hampering the base air show. September 1983 - The 92nd Bomb Wing receives nuclear-tipped air-launch cruise missiles. December 1983 - A B-52 on a training exercise catches fire on the runway at Fairchild while carrying nuclear missiles. The fire does not reach the nuclear material. It’s the base’s only known “bent spear,” an Air Force term for an incident involving a nuclear weapon in which no radiation escapes. October 1984 - A B-52 from Fairchild crashes into a mesa on the Navajo reservation in Arizona while practicing low-level maneuvers. One person is killed. Other crew members escape by ejecting. Fall 1986 - Fairchild crews win an unprecedented nine of 11 first-place awards at the SAC Bombing and Navigation Competition, including the Spaatz Award for the top KC-135 crew. March 1987 - A KC-135 crashes at the base, killing six air crew members and a spectator, SPOKESMAN-REVIEW ARCHIVES while rehearsing for an upcoming air show. The plane Miss Spokane, Glenda Bergen, was a big help to the 98th bomb group from Fairchild Air Force base was caught in wake turbulence pictured here in 1951. Although there are only forty bombs on the nose of the B-29, the plane had from the B-52 during a already flown fifty missions over Korea. The crew, based in Japan, had requested a photo of Miss low-altitude manuever that was Spokane from the Chamber of Commerce as a model for the painting on their plane. also part of the aerobatic routine. The show was to be a debut of the Thunderhawks, which was later disbanded. August 1990 - Hundreds of Fairchild personnel are deployed in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. September 1991 – Fairchild bombers come off round-the-clock ground alert for the first time in 33 years as Cold War tensions ease. May 1992 - Crews from the base win top honors at the final SAC Bomb Competition. The Air Force was reorganizing its commands putting bombers into the Air Combat Comand and tankers into Air Mobility Command. June 1994 - In one of the nation’s first mass shootings on a military base, Dean Mellberg goes on a rampage at the base hospital, killing four people and wounding 23 others before being shot and killed by a military police officer. One of the JESSE TINSLEY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW wounded, who was pregnant, lost her unborn child. That same 2017: Col. Ryan Samuelson, center left, shouts “This is for you” to the crowd as he holds week, a B-52 crashes practicing high the silver Omaha Trophy, awarded for the second time to Fairchild Air Force Base. for the Fairchild air show, killing the pilot and three other crew United States in 1973. The rest of members. The air show was bombing missions in Vietnam, including Operation Linebacker. the crew were listed as missing. canceled. It was the last B-52 at The wing’s nine-year the base, with the others Two bombers were lost during Continued from 14 involvement in Vietnam ended departing over the previous year, those operations. One crashed in October 1973. ending Fairchild’s bomber several miles off the runway at role in the 1962 Cuban Missile mission after nearly a Anderson Air Force Base in Crisis.” The wing was March 1966 - The 3636th half-century. The 92nd re-designated the 92nd Strategic Guam, likely from a Combat Crew Training Group flight-instrument malfunction. Aerospace Wing, but was established at Fairchild and Bombardment Wing is redesignated the 92nd Air advancements in technology led The other, in December 1972, in 1971, the group took over all Refueling Wing. was the wing’s only loss of a to removal of the missiles in Air Force survival schools. B-52 in combat - during a 1965. July 1976 - The 141st Air January 1999 - A nighttime raid on Hanoi, the Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard September 1964 - The Washington Air National Guard KC-135 tanker crashes on takeoff wing’s KC-135s become involved plane was hit by enemy fire. is transferred to Fairchild and at Geilenkirchen Air Base, in the Vietnam War out of a base Two of the crew were taken prisoner by the North begins flying KC-135Es. Germany. Four crew members in the Philippines. The B-52s Vietnamese and returned to the deploy to a base in Guam for May 1980 - Mount St. Helens are killed.

TIMELINE

May 2001 - Fairchild officials confirm that all nuclear weapons have been removed from the base. January 2005 - The 92nd Air Refueling Wing begins support operations at the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. Fairchild supplies 80% of the military aircraft and flight crews operating out of Manas, a key hub along one of the primary NATO supply routes into Afghanistan. The small base, located outside the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, is barely 400 miles from the Afghan border. October 2007 - The 92nd and 141st Air Refueling Wings hold a ceremony to mark their association under a total force integration strategy. February 2011 - Fairchild closes its runway for a $44 million reconstruction. The wings operate temporarily out of Spokane and Moses Lake international airports. May 2013 - A Fairchild tanker operating out of Manas crashes in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, killing all three on board, after it breaks apart in mid-air as a result of a “Dutch roll.” February 2014 - Operations in Kyrgyzstan end. Airmen from the 92d Air Refueling Wing flew more than 20,000 sorties over nearly 125,000 hours. They delivered nearly 1.5 billion pounds of fuel to more than 110,000 U.S. and coalition aircraft. March 2016 - Fairchild and the 92nd Refueling Wing receive the Omaha Trophy that signifies excellence in performing their strategic mission. The base also received the trophy in 1999 and 2002. January 2017 - The Air Force announces that the next two bases to get the KC-46A tanker, the next generation of air refueling jets, will be in New Jersey and California after Fairchild had been on the short list to receive the new planes. Fairchild will be sent additional KC-135s. Summer 2017 – Water wells in and around Fairchild are tested for the presence of a dangerous chemical found in the foam used in firefighting chemicals. More than 400 military bases nationwide may face chemical cleanup costs. People who live near Fairchild later filed a lawsuit against the chemical’s manufacturer, 3M; a separate suit claims base officials used the foam “recklessly.” September 2017 - For an unprecedented second year in a row, Fairchild and the 92nd win the Omaha Trophy. January 2018 - The Spokane Tribe opens a new casino near Fairchild, which Spokane County officials and Spokane business leaders had argued would have negative impacts on the base. In the project’s environmental impact statement, however, Fairchild officials said any effects could be mitigated and Gov. Jay Inslee gave the project its final approval.

SPECIAL 16

SUNDAY

JUNE 16, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW