Page 3 - Aerotech News and Review, October 16, 2020

The best of America and our valley

by Bob Alvis watched her perform her duties pre- tunity to showcase not only the mili-
special to Aerotech News paring the aircraft for takeoff. I was tary community as a whole, but to also
totally taken in by her attention to de- put forth the opportunities that can be
Media day at this year’s Edwards tails and the tasks at hand, as she was had with military service.
Hybrid Air Show was itself full of the eyes for the pilot in the back of the One thing I shared with Myers was
firsts at a military base known for its plane. I was thinking of my own ex- that back in my days, those long rides
innovative ways. perience in the Air Force many years in C-141s or C-130s were filled with
With COVID-induced restrictions ago and it gave me great pride to think many hours of boredom. How, I asked,
and changes in protocol, the usual that even today, we have these amaz- in the modern-day Air Force, did they
buzz of media activity was trimmed ing airmen who perform tasks, who spend their time between their inflight
down to just a select few, as seating on work behind the scenes of our armed responsibilities? Well unlike my time,
the media flight was to be a reflection forces without publicity and fanfare, which was filled with hours of endless
of all the proper public health prac- and are just hitting it out of the park! card games, her answer was, “We have
tices now employed in society. During the flight, I observed Myers the ability to watch movies and read
At many air shows, media folks get going about her duties. I watched in lots of books.” I was further impressed
a hop in the cool jet fighter with a team amazement as she walked around the when she said she used her time in the
member of one of the Thunderbirds open loading ramp with just a tether air to study, as she is working on her
or Blue Angels, but for this event, the strap, making her way back to the degree! Now that’s impressive, to say
amazing Boeing C-17 would host us. edge of the open cargo bay and sitting the least!
Many who would not normally get a down and waving to the communities So with the ending of the media
chance to fly would end up in the belly as we flew over them, feet and legs flight, the television station reporters
of this huge transport aircraft, expe- hanging over the edge! What an inspi- all went back to edit and prepare their
riencing firsthand the flyovers of our rational person she is and, as I would news for broadcast. I left with a more
Southern California communities! find out, the story would only get bet- personal story of an airman who did
not go off to college to become that
ter when I spent some time with her
When I was chosen to be one of
those few, I got to thinking of how I and learned some of her background. pilot. She took the more conventional
Kori Myers is no stranger to Aero-
path that thousands of high school
would write about the experience, how space Valley, as her parents were both graduates take and found her ticket to
to put a personal spin on it, and touch stationed at Edwards Air Force Base traveling the world in million-dollar
a few hearts. It didn’t take long to see over the years and she grew up attend- machinery, all the while earning an
where my story was going to go when ing our local schools. A 2014 graduate education that will not only serve her
I met the crew of the plane and the of Desert High School at Edwards Air well into the future, but also the Air
loadmaster, who was in charge of ev- Force Base, she wasted no time enlist- Force, where she intends to forge a ca-
erything from the cockpit cabin back, ing in the Air Force and was sent off to reer. She is also inspiring those who
and who gave us our briefing. chase her dream of doing great things. may not have a clear path to a college
Staff Sgt. Kori Myers explained that The Air Force specialty code of Load- education, by demonstrating that op-
she took a lot of pride in her plane, master comes with a lot of responsibil- portunities to achieve greatness can
that she was in charge, that we were ity and puts a heavy demand on one, still be found by coming up through
her responsibility, that our safety was as education and professionalism are the enlisted ranks of the military.
her main concern, and also that we the keys to being a successful load- There is worth in the achievements
were not to disrespect her plane! master and gaining the trust of your and dedication of those who make up
The professional loadmaster on any crew. Everything about the sergeant the backbone of the United States Air
air force transport is just as important spoke to her achieving all these quali- Force and a place for them to be a part
as the pilot, for they must oversee the ties. Being the old airman that I am, of that team as an Airman or NCO. Photograph by Aaron Goldstein
safe handling of all the cargo — hu- I can’t express how impressed I am Staff Sgt. Kori Myers: C-17 load- Staff Sgt. Kori Myers, C-17 loadmaster, waves to spectators watching the
man or otherwise — and make sure with those who serve in our military master, resident of our Aerospace Val- 2020 Aerospace Valley Hybrid Air Show. For more air show photographs, visit
its weight and placement is evenly today, knowing that Sergeant Myers is ley and an inspiration to our youth that www.aerotechnews.com.
distributed to ensure a safe handling just one of the many that brings pride all things are possible with dedication
aircraft. to our country and its people. When it and a dream and the very best our na- possible. I feel truly blessed — and unused, and that the smell of burnt
After we were briefed and social- comes to a media flight, we all know tion has to offer. especially grateful that the “souvenir” aviation fuel still smells as good as it
ly distanced around the cargo bay, I deep down inside it’s really an oppor- Thanks to all who made this flight air sickness bag remained intact and ever has!
Early space age programs at Mojave:

Rotary Rocket and XCOR Aerospace

by Cathy Hansen flight tests. The rotor head was salvaged from
special to Aerotech News a crashed Sikorsky S-58 helicopter. The Roton
ATV was rolled out of the hangar during a dra-
Rotary Rocket, Inc. was a start-up formed by matic ceremony on March 1, 1999. It was an
Gary Hudson in 1996. A full-scale test vehicle event attended by approximately 1,000 people,
made three hover flights in 1999, with pilot, including officials from NASA, the FAA and in-
Marti Sarigul-Klijn and Brian Binnie as co-pilot, vestor Tom Clancy.
but the company ran out of funds and closed its Flying the Roton was extremely challenging,
doors in early 2001. to say the least, as visibility in the cockpit was
As everyone knows, Brian Binnie flew the first so restricted that the pilots nicknamed it the Bat-
supersonic flight of SpaceShipOne on Dec. 17, cave. They couldn’t see the ground at all and had
2003, in the Ansari X-Prize competition that was to rely on a sonar altimeter to guess where the
won by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites. ground was. The entire Roton wanted to spin due
The proposed design was to be a single-stage- to the torque of the spinning rotor blades, so they
to-orbit, reusable launch vehicle, merging a he- had to counteract the yaw thrust in the opposite
licopter with a rocket. The spinning blades were direction, and at the same time keep it moving
powered with peroxide tip rockets. The plan was down the runway.
to use the helicopter blades for landing the space- First flight was early in the morning on July
craft as well, like an auto-rotation maneuver. 28, 1999, with three short hops rising above the
The full scale, 63-foot tall ATV was built runway only 8-feet. The second flight, on Sept.
under contract by Scaled Composites for hover See MOJAVE, Page 4
Right: A Chinook helicopter sets down the ATV on the ramp near the XCOR hangar at the Mojave
Air and Space Port. Photograph by Mike Massee

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