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September, 2018 Meeting: “Top Gun” Behind the Scenes
Admiral Pete Pettigrew USN (Ret.)
Top Gun (1985) Behind the Scenes
“…you’re making a mistake with that… older man…”
Vietnam War veteran, Rear Admiral Pete “Viper” Pettigrew was a Top Gun instructor and the technical advisor for the Tom Cruise hit Top Gun, as well as being the guy in the bar that Kelly McGillis was sitting with after Maverick’s “You Lost that Lovin’ Feeling”.
RADM Kenneth “Pete” W. Pettigrew is a native of Glencoe, Illinois. He graduated from Stanford University in June 1964, under the Regular NROTC Program with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Science. He reported to flight training in November, 1964 and was designated a naval aviator in June 1966.
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Find out more »October, 2018 Meeting: WWII Background Stories—Bong, McGuire and Lindbergh
Lt. Col. Blaine Mack, US Army (Ret.)
“WWII Background Stories of Dick Bong, Tommy McGuire and Charles Lindbergh”
Blaine Mack holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Oregon State University and a Master of Education degree in Music from Lewis & Clark College.
He entered the U.S. Army at Santa Ana Army Air Base as an Aviation Cadet April 10, 1943, graduating February 8, 1944 at Luke Field, Arizona, at the age of 19, where he received his coveted wings and his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, becoming the youngest pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force.
He served 16 months in the Aleutian Islands flying P-38s, first with the 11th Fighter Squadron, 343rd Fighter Group, before being transferred to the group headquarters, where he completed his tour as Group Operations Officer.
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Find out more »November, 2018 Meeting: Pan Am Africa Ltd.
Pete Fleury
Pan American Airways Africa Ltd (1941-1942)
Pete Fleury spent more than 20 years flying for the US Army and Army National Guard, including 2 tours in Vietnam. His aerospace career spanned 26 years with Rockwell International and the Boeing Company, modernizing military aircraft in service worldwide. Helicopter qualifications include the CH-47 Chinook, UH-1 Iroquois, OH-58, OH-13, and OH-23. Airplane qualifications include Cessna 150, Piper PA-28, and Mooney M-20E, with IFR certification.
Pan American formed a subsidiary, contracted by the US and British governments, in mid 1941 to develop an air transport network across middle Africa to Cairo to resupply British combat units engaged with German ground and air forces. Pan Am further ferried US military lend lease aircraft from the US to Africa, Pakistan, and China. More than 1000 American men were thus engaged in WWII before Pearl Harbor and the formal US entry into the war.
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Find out more »December, 2018 Meeting: Palm Springs International Airport Update—A to Z
Tom Nolan
Palm Springs International Airport Update: A to Z
Thomas Nolan, A.A.E. will provide another colorful update to all the cool stuff going on at the Palm Springs. It’s been a few years since his last very popular presentation, and you won’t want to miss this one.
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Find out more »January, 2019 Meeting: Life with “Gramps” Jimmy Doolittle
Jonna Doolittle
Granddaughter of Jimmy Doolittle
Life with my grandfather, “Gramps” Jimmy Doolittle
Jonna Doolittle is an educator, author and advisor to Hollywood for several TV programs. She is working on a third book that will include interviews with other World War II veterans including Major General Johnny Alison. She serves on the board of directors for the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, and the Air Force Historical Foundation.
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Find out more »February, 2019 Meeting: CHP Air Operations at TRM
Sgt Mark Cannon, CHP
CHP Air Operations at TRM
The History of the California Highway Patrol Air Operations located at Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal, California and what the unit has evolved into today.
Sergeant Mark Cannon has many stories to tell about his experiences in law enforcement and in air operations serving our state. He is a 34-year veteran of the CHP, a fixed-wing pilot, Aerial Supervisor, and founding member at the CHP Thermal Air Operations unit.
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Find out more »March, 2019 Meeting: The Marines’ Lost Squadron: The Odyssey of VMF-422
Mark Carlson
The Marines’ Lost Squadron: The Odyssey of VMF-422
The last great secret of World War II–for more than seventy years, the true account of the worst non-combat loss of a Marine fighter squadron has been suppressed and ignored. Now, the story can be told.
After four years of research, interviews with veterans, and study of previously classified, official documents, aviation historian Mark Carlson has uncovered what happened to VMF-422 on a seemingly calm day over the south Pacific on a routine ferry flight from Tarawa to Funafuti. They were intended to join the huge campaign to invade the Marshall Islands, but instead were thrust into the core of a tragedy that has entered history as the Flintlock Disaster.
Mark Carlson, author of three books and over two hundred articles, presents the gripping saga of how twenty-three young Marine pilots were faced with bad leadership, the fury of nature, and the heavy hand of fate in a desperate fight for survival in the Pacific War. With rare wartime photos and a gripping narrative, Carlson will tell you what really happened.
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Find out more »April, 2019 Meeting: USS Midway: Surprises, Milestones & Disasters
Captain Douglas J. Bradt, U.S. Navy (Retired)
USS Midway: Surprises, Milestones & Disasters
The USS Midway, America’s longest-serving aircraft carrier, had its share of hair-raising missions, pranks, heartbreaking disasters, and remarkable accomplishments. Shared by about 150,000 sailors whose average age was only 19, “Midway Magic” became famous throughout the Navy.
Captain Bradt’s USN (ret.) illustrious career spanned over three decades and included Staff Tours at the Naval Academy and Naval Staff College, serving aboard the USS Independence, and four combat Command Tours.
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