ARMED FORCES DAY CELEBRATION SATURDAY MAY 19TH
FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX AVIATION MUSEUM/FOX STEPHENS FIELD GILMER 10 AM UNTIL 3 PM

"The third Saturday of the month of May is Armed Forces Day, when the United States honors the men and women of the military services. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed Armed Forces Day, and it was first celebrated in May 1950. It replaced separate celebrations for the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy and helped unite the armed services under the Department of Defense after World War II ended in 1945." It is celebrated on the third Saturday of May with military exercises on land, at sea, and in the air.

IT WILL BE A RED WHITE AND BLUE CELEBRATION!
WEAR YOUR COLORS PROUDLY
WHITE: WW II veterans/spouses wear white shirt/khakis/jeans, white blouse, or white jacket.
RED: Veterans/spouses after WW II until the present are asked to wear red.
BLUE or BDU: Military members currently serving, including spouse, children, parents, grandparents, girl friend/boy friend, are asked to wear blue or BDU’s.
Parents, spouse, children, and siblings of deceased veterans should wear the color depicting their deceased veteran’s era of service.
Upshur County families are well represented in today’s Armed Forces. The event at Fox Stephens Field will honor all those families.

FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX AVIATION MUSEUM
OPEN HOUSE AND BARNSTORMER FLY-IN.
SATURDAY MAY 19TH 10 AM TIL 3 PM
PATRIOTISM
SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR OUR TROOPS IN SERVICE
AND FOR THEIR FAMILIES HERE AT HOME
WW II/KOREA/COLD WAR/ VIETNAM/BALTIC/SW ASIA/PAN/MED/AFRICA/
9-11/MIDDLE EAST PEACE TIME AND WARTIME VETERANS
GHS MILITARY MARCHING BAND
GHS ROTC DRILL TEAM
ALERT ACADEMY COLOR GUARD
FOOD
LONGHORN SMOKEHOUSE BAR B QUE
HOME MADE ICE CREAM
FUN
PARACHUTE JUMPERS SKY DIVERS ANTIQUES HOMEBUILTS WARBIRDS CLASSICS
SPECIAL ATTRACTION
EAST TEXAS CHAPTER OF THE
ANTIQUE PACKARD
AUTO CLUB DRIVE IN
FLYING
THRILLING AEROBATICS
SPANKY GALLOWAY PITTS SPECIAL
JAN COLLMER FINA EXTRA 350
WARBIRD FORMATIONS
CAF STEARMAN
Admission is free.
Bar-b-que tickets are $6.00 and available at the event. Longhorn Smokehouse is catering. Home made ice cream, pop corn, bottled water, and sodas will also be available for sale.
Lawn chairs are recommended and welcome. Donations to the museum are welcome. Flight of the Phoenix Aviation Museum is a 501 c 3 tax-exempt publicly supported foundation.

5th Annual Flight of the Phoenix Airshow & Fly-in
“60th Anniversary-Victory in World War II”
Gilmer, TX, July 28, 2005:

The 5th Annual Flight of the Phoenix Aviation Airshow & Fly-in “60th Anniversary?Victory in World War II” is planned for Saturday, October 8, 2005 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Fox Stephens Field located on Highway 271 South in Gilmer, Texas.
It will coincide with the Texas Historical Commission’s three-year initiative honoring World War II veterans that will kick off statewide on September 2, 2005. The Gilmer event will honor veterans of all uniformed services and will specifically honor a World War II Navy B-24 crew of the 101st Patrol Bombing Squadron, 17th Fleet Air Wing, 7th Fleet, US Navy. On December 2, 1944, the men of Crew Number 8 single handedly fought off 12 Japanese warplanes in what was said to be the longest running gun battle of the Pacific. Downing four enemy Zekes, damaging five other Japanese fighters, and outgunning the final three enemy attackers until their fuel was spent. This Navy crew was awarded the Air Medal for meritorious service. The Flight of the Phoenix Aviation Museum will pay special tribute to these men and their families with special military honors, letters of commendation from President George W. Bush and Governor Rick Perry, and a proclamation from Mayor R. D. (Buck) Cross, City of Gilmer.
The event will feature military flyovers including the F-117 Stealth Fighter and B-52 Bomber. World War II vintage aircraft from the Commemorative Air Force and the Flight of the Phoenix Aviation Museum will fly-in and display. The public is invited to attend this veteran’s tribute, airport open house, and museum educational event at no admission cost.
For further information please contact Debbie Wood, Director of Development, Flight of the Phoenix Aviation Museum at 903.399.5676 or email debbiewood@sprynet.com.

Steve Dean 903 790-7435

www.flightofthephoenix.org

Airport Host: City of Gilmer

Corporate Sponsors

ROBROY INDUSTRIES celebrating 100 years in 2005

GILMER INDUSTRIAL FOUNDATION

ABC AUTO PARTS

BROOKSHIRES

ETMC Gilmer

Ralph Pelaia Law Firm, P.C.

Bellinger and de Wolf Law

Craddock Reneker & Davis Law

AV FUEL Abilene, TX

4th Annual Texas Yamboree Airshow
was held Saturday and Sunday October 4-5 2003
Sunday's show was rained out.

4th Annual Texas Yamboree Airshow
Saturday and Sunday Oct 3-4 2003 was a huge success!

Airshow performers scheduled were Greg Shelton and his Aerobatic T-6 Texan routine, Jan Collmer and his Fina Extra 300L, Steve Culp and his awesome WW I Sopwith Pup replica, and returning by popular demand, Randy and Di Henderson and the Texas T-Cart. Adding to the excitement and color this year was Neal Darnel’s Little Red Jet Truck.The grand finale of the show featured the Jet Truck in a race with Greg Shelton's T-6 Texan. Adding interest for airshow buffs was the attendance of Marion Cole and Corky Fornoff, two Air Show Hall of Fame members.

The Stealth Fighter and the Stealth Bomber will made appearances in Gilmer this year.
The F-117 "Nighthawk" Stealth Fighter has been a regular at Gilmer shows, except in 2002, when severe weather in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico prevented the fly-over. The "Nighthawk" was scheduled to appear for the Saturday show.


The main theme of the show was to honor all veterans and especially the Korean War Veterans, since 2003 is the 50th Commemorative of the Korean War. Texas native George O'Brien, USMC Medal of Honor Recipient, Korean War.....Battle for Pork Chop Hill....was our honored military VIP. Air Force Pilot graduates of Reese AFB Class 66-C will also were present to help honor all veterans.

The photo of the EXTRA 300L

This is the bird that Jan Collmer l flew. Jan is from Dallas. A former Naval Aviator, Jan flies the EXTRA 300L in airshows throughout the country with the banner of FINA.

The 4th Poster Art. R.T. Foster, our artist from Oklahoma City created this original piece for the centerpiece of the show poster. Depicting the Northrop T-38 "Talon" supersonic advanced USAF jet trainer, the Talon's have been used as the advanced USAF jet trainer since 1963. With planned upgrades and modifications, the T-38 will serve as the front line fighter/trainer until the year 2030.

The B-2 Spirit.
There are 33 B-2 "Spirit" in the USAF arsenal. Based at Whiteman AFB in Missouri, the B-2's gained most recent recognition in the war in Afghanistan, flying 33 hour non-stop round trip bombing missions from Missouri to Afghanistan and back.

The Korea Patch
This rendition of the 4th Airshow shoulder patch combines the airshow art and the Korean War 50th Commemoration art work.

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Spring Fly-In held at Fox Stephens Field
Courtesy Photo / Trace Hudgins

THIS 1941 STEARMAN biplane, flown by Hugh Hunton and Bob Kendrick, was one of several vintage aircraft that delighted guests at the Fly-In Saturday at Fox Stephens Field. All branches of the service used this plane as a primary flight trainer. It belongs to the Lone Star Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, based in Marshall.

Flight of the Phoenix Museum at Fox Stephens Field at Gilmer sponsored a Spring Fly-In and Museum Open House Saturday that was enjoyed by local guests and visiting pilots.
The event was staged as a preliminary to the 2003 Yamboree Air Show, to be held Oct. 3-4, and as a “thank you” to air show sponsors and museum volunteers.
During and after a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs, the guests enjoyed seeing the vintage aircraft that flew in from around North and East Texas.
Aviation highlight was the acrobatic performance by veteran pilot Randy Henderson in his Texas T-Cart, a highly modified 1946 clipped-wing Taylorcraft BC-12D.
Henderson, whose wife Diana took the microphone to explain his maneuvers, operates out of Cotton Patch Aerodrome, a grass strip in Frisco. His shows featuring old-time barnstorming aerobatics leave crowds gasping as his daring dives appear to flirt with disaster.
Steve Dean, Air Show director who served as master or ceremonies, noted that the Texas T-Cart will again highlight this year’s Yamboree Air Show.
Formation flying in World War II era North American training planes was provided by Carl Best and Steve Afeman, both regulars at Gilmer aviation events.
Best, a commercial insurance executive from Plano, flies a pristine 1943 AT-6C, remanufactured as an AT-6G in 1951. It served the Air Force at Georgia training fields until 1951,when it was declared surplus.
Flying for owners in Alaska, California and Michigan, she found a home in the Best family when Carl’s Dad Henry bought her in 1966. Henry often fills the rear cockpit and flies co-pilot with Carl.
Carl’s back seater Saturday was Fred Handelmann, a Lufthansa MD-11 Captain and Harvard pilot in Germany.
Steve Afeman of McKinney flies a blue Navy SNJ-5B. Steve flies first officer on Airbus A-320’s for a major air carrier. Steve and his wife Kim, a former flight attendant, have flown the plane regularly since purchasing her in 1989. His backseater was his father-in-law, Don Radke from McKinney.
Dean announced the visiting aviators as they arrived and left.
Among the others were Hugh Hunton of Marshall, flying a Stearman biplane; Col. Bob Dunn of Nacogdoches, flying his open-cockpit PT-19 trainer; Tom Southern, flying a CAT 10 aerobatic trainer; Col. Stuart Milson, flying a Harvard trainer once flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Larry Jack Richardson of Pittsburg, flying a former Army L-19 observation plane.

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Schedule

Flight of the Phoenix Escadrille

Airshow Coming

Board Moves....Adds to... Airshow Dates....Name Change
In order to maximize the promotional impact and attraction of the airshow, the Yamboree Board moved the dates of the Texas Yamboree Airshow to Sat/Sun Oct 4-5. A sponsors,volunteers, and performers reception is scheduled Friday evening Oct 3 prior to the show.
The name was changed to Texas Yamboree Airshow since the airshow is receiving national promotion and recognition. The new dates allow for a two-day event, plus weekend scheduling, which should bring even greater crowds to Gilmer for the East Texas Yamboree Festival.
With the Airshow at the beginning, the Fishing Tournament in the middle, and traditional festival events at the culmination ....these simple changes expand the Yamboree into a three-week instead of three-day festival.