Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, August 21, 2020

Local aviators taking part in V-J Day celebrations
by Cathy Hansen
special to Aerotech News
Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher, co-owners of a 1942 Stearman bi- plane, will be flying in the Legacy of Peace Aerial Parade in Hawaii on Sept. 2, 2020, over the battleship Missouri in Honolulu.
Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end.
The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announce- ment of Japan’s surrender was made – Aug. 15, 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, Aug. 14, 1945 — as well as to Sept. 2, 1945, when the surrender document was signed, of- ficially ending World War II.
According to the 75th Commemora- tion of the End of World War II web- site, the Secretary of Defense, Dr. Mark T. Esper, authorized the transport of up to 24 World War II warbirds to Hawaii aboard the USS Essex (LDH-2) to par- ticipate in the planned Commemoration flyover of the Battleship Missouri.
Aircraft onboard include: one PT-17 Stearman; two North American T-6s; a Grumman TBM Avenger; North Amer- ican P-51; Grumman Bearcat F8F-2; two Consolidated PBY flying boats; one really rare flying Grumman FM2 Wildcat; North American T-28 Trojan
Photograph courtesy of Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher The Stearman is loaded, via crane, onto the USS Essex.
A PBY Catalina Flying Boat.
and a North American B-25 Mitchell Bomber.
There have been five U.S. Navy ships named for Essex County, Mass. The first USS Essex of the United States Navy was a 36-gun or 32-gun sailing frigate that participated in the Quasi-War with France, the First Bar- bary War, and in the War of 1812.
In World War II, USS Essex (CV- 9) was an aircraft carrier built for the U.S. Navy and the lead ship of its class. The Essex served in the Pacific during World War II, and took part in many of the conflict’s major cam- paigns. Modernized after the war, it later saw combat in the Korean War. Essex remained in commission until 1969 and one of its final missions was the recovery of the Apollo 7 spacecraft in 1968.
Spaceship Company.
Presently, she is a Senior Flight Sys-
tems Engineer working with NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center on the X-57 Maxwell all-electric aircraft at Mojave Air and Space Port.
She earned her Private Pilot Com- mercial license while serving in the Air Force in Texas and Oklahoma. She also owns a Grumman Tiger and a Piper J-3 Cub.
Dustin Mosher, a native of Califor- nia earned his Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univer- sity in Prescott, Ariz., in 2012. While at Embry-Riddle, he was president of the Embry-Riddle Music Club where they had a Bluegrass group. Dustin plays the fiddle, but was never formally trained as a musician. He just has the gift of
After landing at North Island, the Stearman was towed from the flight line down Stockdale Road to the USS Essex (LHD-2), a Wasp-class am- phibious assault ship. The Stearman was lifted by crane onto the deck of the ship.
The 75th Commemoration of the End of World War II celebration has several goals.
1. To thank and honor veterans of World War II, including personnel who were held as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States and to thank and honor the families of these veterans.
2. To educate the public about the history of World War II and highlight the service of the Armed Forces dur-
Photograph courtesy of Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher
The Pilots
Mojave resident Diane Barney is an amazing young woman and no stranger to adventures. Her hometown is Alba- ny, N.Y., and she will tell you that she intentionally came to work and live in the California desert. She served in the U.S. Air Force for 10 years and gradu- ated Purdue University with an Aero- nautical and Astronautical Engineering degree. Diane chose Purdue University in Indiana, because of its Air Force JROTC program. When first coming to California, she worked at Scaled Composites as a Liaison Engineer and as a Flight Test Analyst Engineer (Con- sultant/Independent Contractor) at The
feeling the music and playing.
Dustin describes himself as hav- ing a strong and pertinent interest in all things mechanical, from planes to trains to automobiles. This passion for machines and transportation lead him to the world of General Aviation and to obtaining his private pilot license. Dustin owns a Cessna 120 in addition
to the PT-17 Stearman ‘Felix.’
He has worked at The SpaceShip Company at Mojave Air and Space Port for the past six and a half years as a Simulator and Flight Test Engineer. Diane and Dustin departed Te- hachapi Airport on July 26 for Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.
Photograph courtesy of Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher in front of Stearman at NAS North Island, Calif.
Photograph courtesy of Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher
Photograph courtesy of Diane Barney and Dustin Mosher Diane, in front, and Dustin, in rear, as they were being towed to the ship.
ing World War II and the contribu- tions of federal agencies and govern- mental and non-governmental organi- zations that served with or in support of the Armed Forces.
3. To pay tribute to the contribution made on the home front by the people of the United States during World War II.
4. To recognize the contributions
and sacrifices made by the Allies.
5. To remember the Holocaust. This will be a grand salute and ap-
propriate recognition of The Greatest Generation, our World War II Veter- ans. Thank you Dustin Mosher and Diane Barney for responding to the call for participants in January, and for representing East Kern County in this significant and important anniversary.
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Aerotech News and Review
August 21, 2020
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A 1942 Stearman bi-plane (PT-17).