palmnews

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18th DINNER MEETING

Place:                 Atlantis Country Club

Address:            190 Atlantis Boulevard, Atlantis

Phone:                (561) 968-1300

Time:                   6:30pm Cocktails, 7:00pm Dinner

Cost:                   $20 per Member or Guest

Please RSVP no later than Monday 9/15/08 Vicki Rautbord (561) 642-6888 or email vrautbord@aol.
com.

If you leave a message or send an email, please indicate whether you would prefer BEEF,
CHICKEN, or FISH for your entrée. All dinners include salad, side dishes, and dessert.

This month’s speakers are women aviators Kristen Jurn and Tamra Sheffman. They were recent
participants in the Air Race Classic, and will be describing the adventure of flying their Cessna 182
cross country during this multi-leg race. This air race team was sponsored in part by the Palm
Beach FAC, and our president, Richard Kane, was on hand for their send off and to provide aerial
photography coverage. This promises to be an interesting and inspiring talk, so plan to be there!



FUTURE IS NOT TOMORROW, BUT TODAY!

Reprinted Courtesy of Gayan Liyanage, Sri Lanka

Standard passenger jets travel at around 900 km/hr. Could you imagine flying ten times that fast?

You may not have long to wait. NASA, Boeing and a number of defence organisations have been
testing and flying hypersonic aircraft for quite a few years.

On Nov 7, 2007, the US Congress approved the Bush administration’s defence budget for 2008 in
which US$ $100 million has been allocated to Project FALCON (Force Application and Launch from
the Continental United States).

Our friends at the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) who were responsible for
the birth of the Internet are also involved with this project. DARPA describes Project Falcon as “a
reusable hypersonic cruise vehicle capable of delivering 5,500 kg of payload a distance of 16,000
km in less than two hours.”
New York to Mumbai, India is 12,500 km. Effectively, the Falcon project is aiming towards
developing a bomber quick enough to hit any target on earth within two hours.

… To Be Continued

FLYING ADVENTURES (Final Installment)

By John Mahon

(Another tip: Forget the world-famous San Diego Zoo. Like too many once-great places that got
discovered, it ain’t worth the price.)
Returning to Florida, we found that Tucson’s Ryan field, where I had landed on the long-ago trips,
now had no services of any kind, so we jumped over to Tucson International, which was not great,
but OK. The FBO took us to Clarion Inn for the night. I had a bad experience with Clarion in St.
Louis a few years ago, but they said this was new and very nice, and they were right. Nice bar,
good restaurant, reasonable prices, and they took us back to the airport early the next morning.

It took a full day to get across half of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and we ran into some
weather around Pensacola but we had always wanted to check out Mobile anyway. The same line
of storms sent us a bit north, into South Georgia, before we could turn south toward home.

Yes, I could do it again. In fact, I still use mostly eyeballs for navigation. But I have to sheepishly
admit, lots of the time one of the eyeballs is on the Loran.

MIDWAY (Final Installment)

By John Mahon

It only took about three minutes. Most of the dive bombers hit their targets, targets that had bombs
and torpedoes scattered about the decks, fuel pipes and hoses full of gasoline, water-tight doors to
magazines and bomb and torpedo lockers open. Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu were soon masses of
flames. Hiryu managed to escape and got eighteen dive bombers and six fighters launched toward
the American carriers. Wildcat fighters protecting the carriers shot down ten, but three bombs
through the flight deck put Yorktown out of action, though still afloat and capable of nineteen knots.
Hiryu sent out two more strikes, and these included torpedo planes. Japanese torpedoes were
reliable and two smashed into Yorktown. It was abandoned that afternoon. But dive bombers from
Hornet and Enterprise went back to hit Hiryu and it, too, was left a ball of flame.

Admiral Yamamoto called off the Midway invasion. The Japanese fleet never threatened American
territory again. For the rest of the war they were on the defensive, though they were tenacious
fighters and still packed a lethal punch. USS Essex CV-9 joined the fleet that summer, starting the
build up of Essex-class fleet carriers that ended with USS Kearsage CV-48. Contrast our pitiful three
carriers at Midway with Mitcher's force protecting the Saipan-Tinian invasion - fifteen carriers.

Sea battles are chancy things at best. A couple of lucky breaks let us come out on top. That and a
few hundred torpedo plane pilots and gunners who faced the storm without flinching, who kept the
Zeros down low so the dive bombers had a clear shot.

I often wonder if the world would not be much different today if Wade McClusky had not disobeyed
orders and turned north.

PALM BEACH FAC MEMBER BEE HAYDU

AVIATION QUOTE OF THE MONTH

It will free man from the remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will
open to him the gates of heaven.

… Werner von Braun, on the importance of space travel, February 10, 1958

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Please send an email to susan@kane621.com with your request.

FLORIDA AERO CLUB NOW ON FACEBOOK

If you are a member of facebook (www.facebook.com), or are interested in joining, there is now an
on-line group called Florida Aero Club where FAC can reach even more pilots and aviation
enthusiasts. It is also a forum where information will be posted about upcoming FAC events. There
is a place to post aviation photos, and to discuss aviation related topics. Check it out!

2008 PALM BEACH FAC DIRECTORS

President:                    Richard Kane                       (561) 239-7068
Vice President:           Harold Gilmore                     (561) 582-6520
Program Chair:           Harold Gilmore                     (561) 582-6520
Treasurer:                    John Mahon                         (561) 736-1574
Event Director:            Vicki Rautbord                     (561) 642-6888
Cruise Director:          Richard Kane                       (561) 239-7068
Flight Plan:                  Susan Kane                          (561) 239-7069
Flight Lines:                Harold & Helen Gilmore     (561) 582-6520

State FAC web site: www.floridaaeroclub.org

Submit Your Story … Everyone is welcome to send us an exciting travel plan or aviation adventure
for publication in the Flight Plan (space permitting). E-mail your stories to Susan Kane at
susan@kane621.com or fax to (561) 963-6488.