File #262: "Cornhusker CAP News Feb. 1949.pdf"

Cornhusker CAP News Feb. 1949.pdf

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.CORNHUSKER

PEBRUARY

•■' N U S
• EV
'

fWC).-l|EBRASKA FLYERS, IN SNOW.

.RESCUES'DIE\A^ ..PLAN^ ClUSttES ' ' '
N%Vresk?i:€AP membiers were'shocked

and deeply grieved to learn of the .

death'or-'W/b John C*dind'William "
0*Brien*wKen> in the'first tragedy of
a long'^series of stbcm yelief missions#
the L-4*CAP' aircraft"in which they
were flying crashed into'the horn© of
Clarence'Kilpatfick about three miles ♦
v/eat of Allianoe# '

; 'This accident, which occurred
Wednesday afternoon^ 2 February-1049,

Page 1
.CAP PILOTS PERFORM HhROIC .RESCUE WORK

'IN STORMSTRUGK AREAi OF NEBRASKA
CAP pilots hove pi'pved heroes in .
m a n y i n s ta n c e s d u r i n g th e b l i z z a r d
which struck Nebraska in early Janu
ary, ' Using their own planes, as .

well as the USAF^owned L-4 aircraft,

these pilots have been ^king surveys
of conditions, dropping supplies to .
ranchers, and picking up the sick
and injured,
**LITTLE AIR-LIFT." AT AINSWORTH

marks the first fatality that* the Nebr
CAP members George Manes and Don
aska Wing has had since the organiza
t i o n o f C i v i l A i r P a t r o l s o m e e i g h t y e a r s Higgins, who own and operate'the Ainsworth Ail* Service, operated «a *MJittle
• ago;
Air-Lift" from snowbound Ainswoi^,
^ 'The light pleine first struok a "
They conducted a search for a missing
high tension city power-line wire and
airci*aft and for two sti'oridod tourists,
went out of coritrol. About'200'feet
as well as dropping" food and medicine
further it crashed into a window In

the' Kilpatrick house and crxanpled the
cockpit tn such an extent -th^t the

plane had to be'chopped apart by a
National Guard relief crew before the

bodies could ^ removed.

Mr» Kilpatrick was vnrking with
a truck a^short distance from the'
hou§e when the crash' occurred aiid

he notified'Capt. "Weyne Deaver of the

National 9vard at emergency'relief
headquarters in the city hall,
^ C a p t . D e a v e r s a i d , t h a t M r, H u ff

had checke'd in at relief headquarters
at 1 p,m, and was assigned to the
fliglt^t'to. ob^se.rve and. report on^bull-*
doizer operations in,that area.,. He.
was acoompanied by Mr# 0*Brieh .as, ob

server since two" men are ordinarily
assigned "bo .each mission, Capi, Dea
ver 'said, that they probably took ;to the
air about 1 .p,m*.. and sir^pe the. fatal

accident occurred at about 2}40 p,m,,
they were probably raak'ing their first,^ .
circuit of the assigned 'area vrtieri they
• struck the..power, wire and or«sh©d» ;

Huff an^ O?Brien left the a-irjport

at 1 ^ednes-day^ : They-flev/..first

to stranded ranchers. In two cases,

with the help of'-Uie Highway Patrol
and Sheriff Brown, they had .to land,

•on Highway 20 near Ainsworth in"
order that patients might be rushed

to the ^hospital,. • '
FIVE CAP PILOTS SENT" TO ALLIANQE
' Oh January ll, the National Air
Guard reqne8te4 that five CAP pi^^ots
and plane's' be made available for opera
tion

near

in

the

Gordon

AlliiaiiCe#

"disaster

'

area^

'

Lt,''Arthur Aksamit and Dale'F#
Bruha from -the Crete Flight; Lt'»

Herschel Amrihe, Clinton Nielsen and
•Oene'Bird'fr''«i L-exingtonj and" George •
Siebold of Omaha responded. On
January 12 and 13 the aircraft were •
•S.ent out'on numerous reconnaissance

flights'and'evacuation missions^ a'-nd
a f t e r t w o d a y s t h e y. r e t u r n e d t o t h e i r
re«pgCtive Itaits* Pilo^^Clinton .
Nielsen evac^lated Mrs*, Carl Swanson
,fr o m h e r.'ffi r m h o m e fo u r.m i l e s ' e a s t •

of .Be re a, Nebraska. • 'i- ' • . •

: to the Ed^ie Becker place.,..near
Antiochy, to see if anything-waa^needed

there-. They received^ An .okoy signal
• from Becker#. .

They had. mail .to deliver.-to',.Clarence

B AYA R D P I L O T S F l i Y M A N Y M I S S I O N S

Bayard CAP »p.ilots performed, i-ieroi^
.rescue work in their area, Capt, ••
Jack Lewis,-' C.ommanding .Officer, 'and

Kilpatrick, O^Brien had written a note , Pilot-Virgil PAummer made .many flights
(cont, page 2)
(cont. page 2)

COR^mUSKER NE^VS

February

pQge 3

GRAND ISLAl© CONFERENCS POSTPONEDj

CAP PILOTS PERFORM RESCUE WORK ~ cont.

WILL BE HELD. ON..26.MAB.Ca 1949.

AT NORTH PLATTE, ORD nND SCOTXSBLUFF

The conference originally scheduled

The following CAP pilots from the
North Platte Squadron took part in
relief flight operations made tii'"ihat

at Grand Island on February 19-20 has '

boon postponed until March 26-27, due
to the still critical conditions in snoxr-

f c r e a j L l o y d H o n s e r, D r. J . 0 . J e n k i n s ,

bound ^^estern Nebraska#

J a y P e r k i n s , F r e d C a r r, S . R . G o o d f e l l o w

M a j o r G e n e r a l L u c a s V, B e o u , N a
tional ConL.-. hder has notified this Head

Vifesley Keith, Jr. and Cloyd Moore.
:!(

quarters that he will be able to attend

medicine

based'on lessons learned in the recent
officers

from

the

local

and

flew

in

additional

men

to

help on isolr.ted ranches.
About 150 messages were dropped

blizzard. Wing staff officers will in
staff

;(c

was recently organized. The fliers
made aerial surveys, delivered food and

conference, v;hich will be devoted largely
to setting up a disaster training program

their

^

CAP pilots during the week of Jan, 1320 at Ord, Nebraska, where a new flight

have representatives present at this

in

itc

Over ton flights were made by

the meeting on 26 March 1949.
It is hoped that all Units will

struct

4*

u n i t s i n Va l l e y, G r e e l e y a n d G a r fi e l d C o u n

duties.

ties. Farmers were asked to signify
their needs if the storms continued.

Taking part in the flights 7v*ere

CAP COMMUNICATIONS MEN TO WORK WITH

the following Ord men: Cork Biemond,
R i c h a r d M a r s h a l l , E m i l S m o l i k , Ve r n o n

DCUGLi^ COUNTY RED CROSS
CAP communicators in Douglas County
ore

soon

to

start

a

series

of

tests

N a y, E l l i s C a r s o n a n d E d S w o p e ,
«

in

*

*

food parcels, medicine and literature
to be dropped from aircraft, while CAP
members acted as dispatchers, operation
officers and pilots. Fay Clark, who

a r e n o w u n d e r w o y w i t h H r. O s b o r n e , t h o

Communications Chairman, and will be
announced in a week or two. These tests

are being made in preparation for possible flood conditions this coming Spring.

headed the CAP flyers serving the storm

r e l i e f a g e n c y, s a i d 3 0 s o r t i e s w e r e
flown by members of his group on the
second day of operations. Clark re
ported that 150 gallons of fuel oil
and 36 parcels of food were dropped

LT. C O L . " E . C . R E Y N O L D S G E T S O N AWA

CHiiJSER OF COKiA'.ERCE POST
Lt. Col. Earle C. Reynolds, who
has been active in Civil Air Patrol since

its organist.-.ion, has accepted an appoint ber of Commerce at Onawa, lov/a and began
^is v/ork there on ^'ebruary 1. Col. Reyliolds has been Deputy Commanding Officer

«

At Scottsbluff, the Chamber of
Commerce staff and Red Cross provided

cooperation 'V'lth the Douglas County Chap
ter of the American Red Cross. Plans

.ment as executive secretary of the Cham

«

Eft

isolated

farms.

'

crew

of

20

trans

ported, packed food and oil, made the

drops, and flew the planes#

BLAIR UNIT SEEKS REACTIVATION ^

of tbe Nebraska Wing Staff since March,^48 t . A t t h e i n v i t a t i o n o f L t . B e r n a r d
Lt. Lucy M. Daniels, former command
R e e h , B l a i r p i l o t a n d C A P m t s m b e r, s e v
ing officer of Cmaha Squadron No. 2, has
eral "Ting Staff members met v.'ith a
transferred her CAP membership to El Paso, g r o u p o f B l a i r fl i e r s i n t h e B l a i r C i t y
Te x a s , v / h e r e s h e n o w r e s i d e s ' .
Hall January 19th to discuss reactiva
tion plans for thie Blair Unit. Blair
NAA HONORS NEBRASKA FLIERS
has a very efficient airport and houses
twenty-two planes at present, A number
. Col. Rudy C. Mueller, Commander of the

Nebraska Wing, C/^P, was o guest speaker
at a banquet January 21st *at tho Fontenelle Hotel in Omaha, given by the Omaha

and Lincoln Chapters of K/^A, where speoioi
recognition was given to Nebr. CAP pilots.

of former CAP cadets attended the meet

ing, including s«ver&i licensed radio
operators who wish to aid in the commu

nications program. Maj. L. J. Heinsen,
CAP, Lt. Dorothy Gathers, CAP and 3gt.
Richard Cryderman, TSAF, made the trip.

CORNHUSKER NEWS

page 5

February

AizJRON^.UTICS COURSE lOTHODUCElD IK

L I A I S O N O F F I C E R F LY S I N J U R E D M A N T O O M A I L .

NORFOLK HIGH3CH00L - CAP ASSISTS

With the beginning of the second semes"
t e r, a n a e r o n a u t i c s c o u r s e i s b e i n g g i v e n
in the Norfolk High School, the first

nif;h from Ainsworth, Nebraska to Oin^ha

school in the country to give such a

on 2 February 194D. Upon arrival in

courso in cooperotion with the Civil Air
patrol, Norfolk High School was select

Omaha, he v;as rushed to the Methodist
Hospital*

ed 'js the first place for the course at a
conference

held

at

Norfolk

bdt"'jveen

Con-

Capt. Frank M. Bowman, USAF, AFC A P L i a i s o n O f fi c e r, fl e w o n i n j u r e d

li/hile flying over the distressed
area of Chadron, Capt, Bowman was

gressmtan Karl Stefan cmd deportrr.ent of

requested by radio to contact highway

b-iuotion

maintenance and rond crews working

officinlsi.

Detailed plans for the course wore
completed at a late December conference

west of the Crawford area to seek

■che sttite department of educntion, Nor

shelter because of another approach
ing storm. Messages with streamers
attached were dropped to these crews>

held

in

Norfolk

between

officiols

of

folk educ^jtors end staff members of the

who immedintely ceased v;ork and headed

Norfolk CAP S::uadron. Department of

for Crawford.

S i i o a t i o n r e * o r e ; d e n t n t i v e s . D r. F r a n k
t;riSenj D* ico p. Black and George
j ' o t - . e r , a l l o r T, i n c o i n , c o n f e r r e d v / i t h

PLaTTE Cj^DETS help PUT ON ROOFING '

l^r«

jillen



Burkh^rdt

and

Theodore



Skillst^d, superintendent and principal,
respectively!, of the highschool, and Capt,
lieuterxnts Lee Buckley
' - . ' •■. y r r l i s l e , C i i F, a n d N i e l s
high school physics instructor
v / ) i ' » ■' i . i ? . t e a c h t h e c o u r s e .

r%ub^ect matter includes coimnunicn-

t i ' r, \ s , a e r o d y n a m i c s , n t r v i g a t i o n , i n o t e o r o 1^57# nonemcl«tr re and aircraft structures
Under the new course, the highschool will
assume the job of classroom v/ork and any
lub'-.ratory v/ork, such as orientation and
nt.v^^7;-^ion fl5ghts vdll be done by the
C A l r,

Availoble through the CAP in Norfolk

w i l l b e ! > L i n k t r a i n e r, a n L - 4 l i a i s o n

plane nnd licensed pilots, throe short

wave rrdios, mock-upo of aircr?,ft instru
ments, t^'^ norinl cameras and staff memt e r s ' A ' i . o 7 / 111 a s s i s t i h e i n s t r u c t o r s i n

u n - j i r. f i ' . : t e r h e v ; j s V. e s « T h e w e a t h e r s t a

t i o n ; l o c n t o d a t t V; - - } N - . r f o l k a i r p o r t ,

will also help tlx;: T)roi.';ram by
supplying;; nvicej-scir:/ -.nfTJ-.tion about the
v;eath-r> flight pJt.r!;^ rudar and weather
f orecsf' "ir.g-

OMAHA Cadets to have classesj north '
An officer in the /ir Reserve,
Willium Raennau, will conduct dosses

in navigation for Omaha cadets begin-'
ning 17 February 1949. The Girls*
Squadron, Omaha Sqdn. No. 2, is receiying instruction in First Aid from a
Red Cross representative.
North

Flatte

cadets

are

to

be

commended for their fine work, in

putting up 24 roof sections on their
CAP Building during zero temper.^^tures.
The building, 136* X 20*, vlll soon
be completed^ Major J» 0. Jenkins,

Commanding Officer, advises.
N E B R A S K A C A P y i fl l J G S TA F F ^ . t E M B E R S

Wing Commander - Col, Rudy C. Kueller
Adjutnnt - Lt» Dorothy M. Gathers

Personnel Officer - Maj, Paul S. ReaA
Cfidet Coinmandant - Maj* Roy Highfield
O p e r a t i o n s O f fi c e r - M a j , Vi c S c h r o e d e r
P u b i c I n f o . O f c r, - M a j . S o r e n M u n k h o f

Supply & Maint% - Capt, V7. George
liingineering Ofcr. » Capt. H»C. Bergstrr
Air Inspector - Moj. L» J« Heinsen

Communications Ofcr, -Maj. C.T.Powell
A s s t . C o m m . O f c r. - L t » Ve r n F u l l e r

C L N T R AT.

CJ:T

IN

C.^P

UNIT

BecRus-j '•(f rjsd weather, Capt# Frank

Bovjman and lyl/Sgt, Richard Cryderman, USiiF
were unable to uttend the organization
meetrXfT Rch.-iulcd at Central City, Nebr.

on 20th or January. Mr. Thad Hilloughby
advises pilots there are interested in CAP

Medical Officer - Haj, A, D. Cloyd
AF-CAP Liaison Officer - Capt. PYank
Bowman, USAF

NEBRASKA ifVING HEADQUaRTERS
Room 710, P'edernl Building
Omaha 2, Nebraska