Page 21 - Aerotech News and Review, Oct 5 2018 - NASA Anniversary Special

Gathering of Eagles 2018
Breaking Barriers, Expanding Horizons — Celebrating the Women of Flight Test
On Oct. 13, the Flight Test Historical Foundation will gather once again for their Gathering of Eagles.
The theme for this years’ Gathering is “Breaking Barriers, Expanding Horizons — Celebrating the Women of Flight Test.”
The 2018 Eagle honorees are:
Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes (posthumously), aviation pioneer;
Cynthia “C.J.” Bixby, chief of systems engineering and integration at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center;
Dr. Eileen Bjorkman, retired Air Force colonel;
Laurie Grindle, engineer and project manager at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center;
Kelly Latimer, retired Air Force and NASA test pilot, and a pilot with Virgin Galactic; and
Dr. Sandy Miarecki, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and physics professor at the Air Force Academy.
During the evening’s events, the living honorees will take part in a panel discussion moderated by Col. Angella Suplisson, vice commander of the Air Force Test Center at Edwards.
Additionally, two scholarships — the C. Gordon Fullerton Memorial Scholarship and William J. “Pete” Knight Scholar- ship — will be awarded.
Master of ceremonies is “Evil” Bill Gray, chief test pilot at the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards.
The Gathering kicks off at 5 p.m., with a no-host cocktail hour, followed by dinner and program at 6 p.m. Live and silent auctions will feature aviation collectibles and more.
For more information, visit www.flighttestmuseum.org.
All profits from this event support the Air Force Flight Test Museum at Edwards AFB and its Blackbird Airpark Annex in Palmdale. The Flight Test Historical Foundation is a private organization, and is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components and has no government status.
There are currently over 80 aircraft in the AFFT Mu- seum’s collection, with 41 on display (36 at Edwards and five at Blackbird Airpark) and the remainder in storage or restoration. Other artifacts in the collection include aircraft propulsion systems, missiles, hardware, life support equip- ment, technical drawings, test reports, personal memorabilia, photographs and wind tunnel models.
Ground broken for long-awaited Edwards’ museum
by Diane Betzler
staff writer
For many, Friday, March 23, 2018, was the be- ginnings of a dream come true.
Military members, local business leaders, state politicians and nearly 100 Antelope Valley resi- dents attended an event that many have been work- ing for more than 20 years to make happen.
Local leaders and several board members of the Flight Test Historical Foundation, armed with ceremonial groundbreaking shovels, broke ground for the upcoming construction of a new Air Force Flight Test Museum to be located just outside the West Gate at Edwards Air Force Base.
The location of the museum, which was origi- nally inside the gates, became a problem after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Unit- ed States which caused security to be tightened throughout the country.
As a result, the museum has been off limits to most, but the location of the soon to be built, larger, state-of-the-art, new building, allows the doors to be open to everyone.
The ground-breaking event was hosted by Lisa
Gray, chairwoman of the Board of the FTHF. Danny Bazzell, general manager of the foun- dation, welcomed those attending the event and introduced distinguished guests, paying special re- gard to Mrs. Gail Knight, widow of the late State Sen. William J. “Pete” Knight who was also the first chairman of the board of the Flight Test His-
torical Foundation.
Gray gave a brief history of the museum and ex-
plained the need for one on Edwards was inspired in 1982 by Mrs. Carol Odgers, wife of Maj. Gen. Pete Odgers who was the commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at the time.
Gray said the general’s wife was shocked that the base didn’t have a museum to preserve the ar- tifacts and put them on display for the taxpayers of this country, the people who actually paid for them.
Gray agrees about preserving and displaying these artifacts and said, “What we do here is what makes us a mighty nation.” She said displaying the artifacts that tell the story will inspire the country’s younger generation to carry on.
Col. Jason Schott, [then the] vice commander of the 412th Test Wing, talked about how he re-
cently came across a box filled with mementos he saved through the course of his military career and marveled about how the discovery brought back memories and inspired him to renew his commit- ment to his service, to his country and to Edwards AFB.
He shared what Edwards flight test means to the future of preserving America’s liberties and said the mission of Edwards is to test and evaluate weapons systems and ensure war-winning combat abilities.
He talked about the contributions of so many men and women who worked to ensure the success of Edwards’ mission and said many of those indi- viduals are no longer us. He spoke of the need to preserve their story and share what they have done to bring about the technologies and the equipment and the warfighting needs that makes the U.S. Air Force the best in the world.
“From the first time a sonic boom was heard in this valley some 70 years ago, to an unending number of test programs that have taken aviation further, faster, higher and more lethal ... all of that has been done with men and women who have risked their lives, risked their reputations and put
it all out there in order to make our country safer and protect our allies,” Schott said.
“As we build this museum here on this spot, it should help us all preserve that legacy,” he said. He said the next generation needs to know where they fit into the picture, and said they need to be able to come and touch the artifacts of the past to inspire them to take on the challenges of
the future.
Virgin Galactic pilot Mark “Forger” Stucky
presented Gray with a check for $50,000 on behalf of the Society of Experimental Test Pi- lots. Stucky told Gray, “If you build it they will come!”
Gray thanked everyone for past contributions, it’s what got them to the groundbreaking Phase 1, but said they have a lot more to go and asked the public to keep the contributions coming.
Construction of the building is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.
“About a year to build it and another year to furnish it,” agreed George Welsh, director/curator of the museum. Welsh called the long-awaited ground breaking an amazing moment.