July 28, 2020 Great Americans

The Liberty Gazette

July 28, 2020

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

This Saturday marks three years since the passing of a great American. A “trailblazer,” a “patriot,” and “a gift to the National Guard” were just a few of the sentiments shared by those who knew Lt. Gen. Daniel James III best. His legacy lives on, yet all who knew him would say that he would never hang his hat on the legacy he inherited. And it was a substantial one. No one could have faulted him if he had. But he didn’t. Daniel James III was his own man, they say—a command pilot and combat veteran, and later the adjutant general (TAG) for the Texas National Guard. He retired as the director of the Air National Guard, the top position there.

James was born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1945 to Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., a fighter pilot who was the first black 4-star Air Force General. The elder General James flew 101 combat missions in Korea in P-51 Mustangs and F-80s, the first fighter jet. He also racked up 78 combat missions into North Vietnam from Thailand in F-4 Phantoms. Tuskegee certainly has its own stellar history in American aviation, where black military pilots trained.

Young James III knew early in life that the sky was calling him. After graduating from the University of Arizona, young James III logged 500 combat hours as a forward air controller and F-4 Phantom aircraft commander. He is further rightfully admired and honored for completing two active-duty tours in Southeast Asia and earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Gen. Daniel James Jr. pinning a
Distinguished Flying Cross on son, Daniel James III.
Photo courtesy the National Guard, public domain.

While participating in air combat exercises at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in the mid-70s, Daniel James III met Air National Guard pilots. This opened a new world to him, seeing that airline pilots and fighter pilots flew together for the Guard. Having worn the Air Force flight suit for so many years, this seemed like a great idea. He could stay affiliated with the Air Force and don the flight suit another 38 years.

In 1995, he was selected to lead the Texas National Guard, becoming our state’s top officer. One of the many important things he is known for is his inclusiveness among the ranks in the Guard. He encouraged the various units to include more civilian and state employees in the Guard.

James III had made a name for himself and was recognized by President George W. Bush in 2002 when he nominated him as the 11th director of the Air National Guard. This was an interesting time to take over as the leader because this was when the Guard was transitioning from a strategic reserve to an operational force, post-9/11, including combat air support in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it was Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath that the ANG proved its value to homeland security. Amid the mess and chaos, communications down, runways flooded and damaged, and air traffic control understaffed, the Air National Guard led the way in what Lt. Gen. Daniel James III called one of their proudest moments, helping fellow Americans.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 21, 2020 Flight 19

The Liberty Gazette

July 21, 2020

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: In the shadow of the air traffic control tower, in a park-like setting at Fort Lauderdale International Airport, stands a monument to the fourteen US Navy fliers of Flight 19. The concrete obelisk looks like a one-piece Stonehenge topped with a three-bladed propeller. Behind it, a ship’s mast where Old Glory is raised, the stars and stripes often flapping in the breeze.

The weather-worn plaque lists the servicemen of Flight 19 lost during a normal training mission four months after WWII ended. They had taken off from Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale, now a public airport, on a December morning in 1945 in five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers. Their mission was supposed to be about ninety minutes long. They became disorientated, and their last radio transmissions were confusing and conveyed a sense of urgency. When they did not return, the Navy launched a search with thirteen men aboard a Martin PBM Mariner twin-engine seaplane. That too, disappeared.

These events, with unusual radio calls and no floating debris or any other sign of the lost, led to wild speculation. The mystery of Flight 19 created the myth of the Bermuda Triangle, a story that has been perpetuated by authors who embellish it more with each retelling. One thing is certain: unsolved mysteries sell a lot of books.

The three corners of the triangle are generally accepted as Bermuda, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico (but it depends on who is doing the speculating). However, not all the ships and airplanes reported lost in the “Bermuda Triangle” were between these points. Some disappeared off the coasts of California, Texas, and Ireland—but why let a little fact mess up a good story?

I’ve flown through the zone of obscurity hundreds of times, from Bermuda to Fort Lauderdale, and from Miami to San Juan. I’ve landed at dozens of Caribbean islands. Out there among the vast expanse of water merging with multiple-hued skies, colorful islands and froth-covered waves, I’ve only found unbelievable beauty and a strengthened belief in God’s incredible power.

When I flew far out at sea, well beyond sight of land, communications with air traffic control often required a high frequency (HF) radio. The very high frequency (VHF) radio we normally use to talk to controllers is limited to line-of-site, and the earth’s arc interferes with that line. By contrast, the HF radio beam bounces off the ionosphere and back down to get over the curve of the horizon. Today, satellites provide a more reliable link.

I cannot say what happened to the aircraft and men who disappeared on Flight 19, but prevailing logical theories say they ran out of fuel. Some say they ended up in south Georgia swamps, others, the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t think they fell off the face of the earth, as flat-earthers might say, or into a space void. I believe the Bermuda Triangle only exists is in the imagination. If anyone wants to claim otherwise, see if you can find me up there dispersing chemtrails.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 14, 2020 Girl Around The World

The Liberty Gazette

July 14, 2020

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: I happened upon a link to an early (1950’s) episode of What’s My Line? which led to all manner of fascination. Bennett Cerf, for instance. When I was a kid, we had a children’s joke book he authored. I didn’t realize he was the iconic co-founder, and the very public face of Random House publishing company. I’ve since read his autobiography. What a giant he was. But he didn’t know much about airplanes, or anything mechanical. We all have our shortcomings.

Another regular panelist on the mega-popular TV game show was Arlene Francis. Talk about charm. The lady was the very essence of charm (with a sparkle of mischievousness in those big dark eyes). I wish I’d known both Ms. Francis and Bennett Cerf.

The third regular panelist was Dorothy Kilgallen. Hers is not a household name today, but it should still be. She was a syndicated columnist, the best journalist of her time. She was about to crack the JFK assassination case when she was murdered. I believe it was the mob in cooperation with the American government, the FBI and CIA, because she had the story. She was the only person to privately interview Jack Ruby. Twice. There’s plenty of evidence to bring me to my belief, and there’s a new appeal this year for her murder case to be re-opened with new evidence. Let the truth to be known.

Unlike her co-panelists on the show, Dorothy did have a little something to do with airplanes. She wasn’t a pilot, but a passenger with some claims to firsts: the first woman to travel around the world on commercial airlines, and the first female to fly across the Pacific Ocean.

She did these things in September 1936, when she took part in a race around the world against fellow newsmen Bud Ekins of the New York World-Telegram and Leo Kieran of the New York Times. The trip took Dorothy 24 days, and she came second to Ekins (21 days). However, Ekins may not have played by the rules.

After the race, Dorothy published her book, "Girl Around The World." The following year she wrote the film script, Fly Away Baby, which was loosely based on the race. Characters Torchy and Steve (Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane) investigate a murder/jewel theft with roots in Germany. Torchy lobbies her publisher to underwrite her participation in an around-the-world airplane race because arrogant businessman Sonny Croy will be a participant. He’s a prime suspect in the case, and she intends to chase him and prove his guilt. The trail leads to Nazi Germany. With the help of the German police, the mystery is solved—aboard the Hindenburg.

The film was released six weeks after the Hindenburg disaster, and the stock footage at the end is likely the Hindenburg. The two Pan Am Clippers, “Philippine Clipper” and “Hawaii Clipper,” met tragic ends a few years later. The DC-3 (my favorite airplane) is thought by many to be a possible Bermuda Triangle mystery. It disappeared. Like Dorothy’s file on Kennedy’s assassins.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

July 7, 2020 Safer Today

The Liberty Gazette

July 7, 2020

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: On June 29, 1956, my dad was working for TWA at their downtown Los Angeles ticket office trying to get someone on the next morning’s flight to New York City. Whether they made a deal with another passenger to take a later flight or just found an open seat, I don’t remember, but he accomplished it, and I know he thought of it often the rest of his life.

Just after 9:00 the following morning, TWA Flight #2 left the ground at Los Angeles International as the Lockheed Super Constellation named Star of the Seine, headed first for Kansas City, and then New York. Aboard were 6 crew members and 64 passengers, eleven of which were TWA employees. A few minutes later, just behind TWA, United Flight #718, a Douglas DC-7 named Mainliner Vancouver, took off for Chicago with 53 passengers and 5 crew.

The way air traffic control worked back then pilots would radio their airline’s dispatch office on a private company frequency to request route and altitude changes. The dispatchers would contact air traffic controllers via telephone. Controllers moved markers with the airplane’s number along a map to keep track of airliners’ location and progress. When a route change was requested, the controller using the map would determine if it was safe, then issue instructions to the airline’s dispatcher who would radio the clearance to the pilots. This caused a delay because pilots were not talking directly to the air traffic controllers except on takeoff and landing.

The flights started out on diverging eastward routes. As they approached the Colorado River, they would converge over the Grand Canyon, but at different altitudes. Because of thunderstorms the TWA pilot requested higher. The request was denied because it would cause a conflict with the United airplane in the same air space. They were later cleared to a higher altitude but had to remain in visual conditions and out of the clouds. This clearance placed responsibility on the TWA crew to avoid other aircraft. It is believed both airplanes were maneuvering around clouds in the same area and probably never saw each other when they collided near the eastern end of the canyon. Everyone on both planes perished.

The investigation that followed what was one of the most significant air disasters in history marked the beginning of the safest air traffic control system in the world.

Cooperation between pilots, airlines, the FAA, and the NTSB improves safety every day. But investigations take time. They follow a process, finding a cause in a chain of events, taking a systematic approach. There is never instant gratification, and those who do the work mourn the losses that create a purpose for their lives, hoping one day to put themselves out of business. With pain, comes hope.

On July 1, 1956, my dad flipped the page of TWA’s promotional calendar to the new month. There in all its amazing color and glory was an awe-inspiring picture of the Grand Canyon.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

June 30, 2020 Exploring Like a Mad Dog

The Liberty Gazette

June 30, 2020

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Christine Dennison is the president and co-founder of Mad Dog Expeditions, an internationally recognized scuba diving and exploration company. She’s the first woman to dive the dangerous piranha-saturated waters of the Amazon’s Rio Negro and its tributaries. She’s also the first woman to dive and explore beneath the Arctic Sea ice and the ice caves of the Canadian High Arctic. She has logged over 80 dives in the harsh polar environs.

We attended her online lecture where she highlighted her expertise in arctic exploration. We learned that they look for holes in the ice made by seals, enlarge the holes, then brave the 28-degree waters to check out the view of the ice shelf from below. While I have no desire to do what she does, I admire her pioneering adventurousness and cheer her on all the way. I must admit, however, that the thing that got my attention was part of her mode of transportation.

No commercial airline flights will take her and her crew out to the remote areas to dive. For one location, they get as close as they can, then hop aboard a Twin Otter on skis. Many years ago, Mike was flying Twin Otters to deliver freight. He wasn’t flying with skis, but the airplane is otherwise the same great workhorse, made in Canada by the de Havilland company. The highly experienced pilots who fly these airplanes also fly them in Antarctica during the South Pole summer.

Mike: When their chartered Twin Otter lands, the team tosses their belongings onto a Ski-Doo and hums across the ice, single file, looking for a suitable place to stop (yes, they will be camping out there in the frozen tundra) before they move out to explore.

On another trip, they board an Antonov AN-74, a Russian-built airplane that will take them way up to Kaffeklubben Island at the northern-most point in Greenland. At about 84 degrees north latitude, it is the farthest point a heavy plane can land. After spending a couple days in a camp designed to acclimate the team, they set out on cross-country skis towing a sled with no more than 100 pounds of gear and food, all the while listening to the thawing ice pop and crack beneath them, and always on the lookout for polar bears.

Once they’ve completed their dive, they rendezvous with an MI-8, a Russian-made helicopter. The helicopter can get close, but the explorers must ski to where the helicopter lands. If it settled in the wrong spot, the helicopter’s weight could cause it to break through the thinning ice flow. The helicopter lands, the skiers and gear are tossed aboard, and it’s off the ice in just a couple minutes.

While Mad Dog Expeditions won’t promise 5-star luxury, they do promise 5-star adventure.

Linda: No offense, but I’m more into the ice landings. Flying in extreme conditions, cold, white-outs, wind—freezing temperatures have unique effects on aircraft. Now there’s an adventure I can warm up to!

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com