pell city squadron - may 2011

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  • 8/2/2019 Pell City Squadron - May 2011

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    Volume 2, Number 5 May 2011

    Inside this issue:

    Commanders

    Corner

    1

    Calendar 2

    PAOs Corner 3

    Safety Officers

    Corner

    4

    W.E.S.S. 5

    W.E.S.S. Photos 6

    Standards and

    Eval.

    7

    AerospaceCorner

    8

    Trivia 9

    Promotions 10

    Newsletter

    Editor

    2nd Lt.

    Elizabeth

    Shurbutt

    COMMANDERS CORNER . . .

    Due to the storm damage received by the Gosnells, Maj.Gosnell will not have an article this month but will resumehis regular contribution in Junes newsletter.

    Here is what he reported after the storm:

    Rebecca and I are fine. Thank you all for your calls andmessages. We did have significant damage, but not nearlyas bad as some of our neighbors. We are grateful the weescaped injury. We are truly blessed.

    We caught the edge of the morning storm and have a lot of damage. We have abo30 downed trees. Some of them hit the house and deck. One pine tree centeredRebecca's car. Our roof, which was only one week old, is damaged, but intact. Thefront and back decks are both severely damaged. We have siding damage. Ourpower is out, with our service torn off of the house. We are using our generator forpower.

    We are still waiting to see insurance adjusters for the house and the car, so we cannot clean up any of the damage involving them. We have been given permission tostart cleaning the areas where trees are down and not involving the house, car, orfences. We are working on the back yard, which is covered with downed trees. Italone will take quite some time.

    The wireless service is very poor in Moody right now. My cell phone currently is notworking at home. I am able to retrieve my messages when I am out picking upsupplies. If you need to reach me during this time my home phone is best.

    I will send more information as it is available.

    Jim GosnellCommander

    Squadron

    Commander

    Maj. Jim Gosnell

    Cadet Commander -

    Capt. Cindy

    Bennett

    To serve America by developing our Nations youth; accomplishing local

    state and national emergency and humanitarian missions; and educating

    our citizens on the impact of aviation and space.

    - CAP Mission Statement

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    Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

    1 2 3 4 5Cadet MeetingP.T. ClothingLakeside Park

    1800

    6

    8OTHERS DAY

    9 10 11 12

    Cadet Meeting

    Blues1800

    13

    15 17 18 19 20Cadet Mt.

    1800BDUs

    Happy Birthday,Beth Shurbutt

    21 Armed Fo

    Day

    Trent JohnHigh SchGraduat

    23 23 25 26 27

    Cadet MeetingBDUs1800

    28

    30 31Memorial Day

    June 1 June 2 June 3

    Cadet Mt.PT1800

    June 4

    LAKE

    WESS

    June

    LAK

    WES

    MAY 2011MAY 2011

    Calendar . . . Page

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    PAOs CORNER . . . Page 3

    Its great to be alive following the recent tragic storms that passed through our beautiful state. Imconstantly reminded on the fragility of life and how quickly circumstances can change. Lets alllook at this time to refocus on what we want to accomplish with our lives and how we will live theremainder of our time on this sphere.

    I find it exciting when cadets promote. It represents dedication, commitment, and hard work. The

    promotion is the payback for those elements. As PAO, it is my job to place information in localnewsletters and publications. If you have recently promoted, and Ive not asked you forpermission to publish your promotion, please come and ask me. I will not put any cadets name orphoto in a newspaper or publication without your and your parents permission.

    Thanks to all of you cadets who have joined the Yahoo mailing group. If you set up a Yahooaccount, you can access the files and calendar. Please make the most of this tool. If you shouldchange your email address, please let me know so that I can update it on the group. Sometimesincorrect information is sent out by mistake. If you should see that happening, please contact mepersonally, including the corrected information, and I will do my best to correct it.

    Junes newsletter will focus on the storms, damage, and the part Civil Air Patrol is playing in it all.Please send me any information that would help support that focus.

    2nd Lt. Elizabeth Shurbutt

    WHERE TO FIND US ON THEINTERNET:

    Civil Air Patrolwww.gocivilairpatrol.com/

    Cadet Serviceshttp://www.capmembers.com/

    Alabama Wing of Civil Air Patrolhttp://www.alwg.cap.gov/

    Pell City Civil Air Patrolhttp://www.pellcitycap.org/

    Wing Emergency Services School (WESS)http://wess.alwg.us/

    Photo Files on Flickrhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/bethshurbutt/

    collections/72157615727997818/

    On Facebook: Civil Air Patrol, AL WingCivil Air Patrol, Pell City Composite Squadron,

    SER-AL-118, Civil Air Patrol

    CADET PROGRAM EMAILGROUP:

    A Yahoo Email group has been set up tomake communication between memberseasier. Invitations were sent to all thecadet members.

    If you are not receiving updates andreminders from the Yahoo Group, youmost likely are not a member of it yet.

    Please contact Beth Shurbutt at:

    [email protected] and request thatshe add you to the group.

    You can also go to the Yahoo Group siteand join:

    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PellCityCAP/

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    Safety Corner . . . Page 4

    From Our Safety Officer . . . SAFETY

    Its nearly time for the 101 Hazardous Days of Summer!

    Yes, at the end of May, Memorial Day will signal the start of the 101 days of summer thawill extend through the Labor Day holiday. Of course, they dont have to be hazardous, iyou follow some common sense safety rules in your recreational activities. You mayrecall the story about how military base commanders noticed a sharp increase inabsences during the summer. It seems that the military members were doing many ofthe same activities that we all do for summer recreation, boating, swimming, camping,hiking, riding motorcycles, etc.

    They were also experiencing many of same injuries that the civilian population doeswhen their recreation turns harmful. The military started to focus on the off-duty activitiesand put in place programs to help the soldiers learn safer ways to do the activities orrecognize some that were so risky that they should be scratched altogether.

    I know boating, swimming and other water sports are very popular with our membersand well they should be, with a wonderful lake so close to you. Just remember the safeway to perform all the fun things so that fun doesnt end up with pain or worse. Ofcourse, warm weather also encourages us to get out and do work items that can expose

    us to dangerous conditions so follow the safety rules here also.

    The events on April 27 have dramatically shown us that the storm season is upon us. Ihope that you werent affected adversely by the storms but I already know that some ofour members were. While we are taking a breather we should take another hard look atour preparedness for another onslaught if it were to occur. The FEMA web site hassome very good suggestions if you want use it as a checklist to see if your preparationsare done well.

    Please have fun this summer but plan to be safe as well!

    Ron Harlan, 118 Safety Officer

    Reminder: Read the newsletter and receive a Safety Briefing Credit.Please email Ron Harlan at [email protected]

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    W.E.S.S. (Wing Emergency Services School) Corner .. .Page

    W.E.S.S. - 20102011 at Vigilant Warrior

    NESANational Emergency Service Academy

    http://nesa.cap.gov/

    Another cycle of WESS is now behind us, and Pell City was well represented at the training.Congratulations go to those of you who started and completed this vigorous training!!! You madeus proud!!

    Nathaniel Bedford - Basic SchoolChristian Blankenship - Basic School

    Thomas BrackerBasic SchoolTiffany ChandlerBasic School

    Jerrod FinlayAdvanced Staff SchoolAllaina HowardBasic SchoolAllison Howard Basic School

    Jessica LucyAdvanced SchoolMark LucyBasic School

    James Mastroni Basic School

    Raymond MillerBasic SchoolChristian NorwoodBasic SchoolMichael NorwoodBasic SchoolJonathan WatkinsBasic School

    Peter RandolphICS/StaffRachel ShurbuttICS/StaffMajor Cindy BennettStaffMajor John RandolphStaff

    2nd Lt. Elizabeth ShurbuttPhotographerLt. Eddie ShurbuttStaff

    LAKE F.T.X.LAKE F.T.X.

    June 3June 3 -- 4, 20114, 2011

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    WESS PHOTOS . . . Page 6

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    STANDARDS AND EVAL . . . Page

    Its the Little Things. . .

    Last month I was flying into Birmingham from a trip to the east coast in a twin engine aircraft. When Iput the landing gear down there were only two green lights instead of the normal three green. Iinformed the tower that I needed to depart the area and work out the problem.

    After I had stabilized the aircraft and made certain the autopilot would maintain the heading and altitudneeded I began the process of trouble shooting the landing gear indicators. I ended up changing a fewlight bulbs, which did not correct the problem. So, I requested a fly by of the tower so they could lookat my gear with binoculars to see if it appeared to be down. The tower said everything looked in placeSo I made a very smooth landing and taxied very slowly to the ramp.

    This same problem happened to an Eastern Airline aircraft that was landing in Miami back in the 70s.The three man crew also requested to leave the airport area so that they could evaluate why one of thelanding gear indicators was not working. Unfortunately the three pilots became so focused on theinoperative landing gear indicator light bulb they missed the fact that the autopilot had disengaged. Thaircraft made a very shallow descent into the everglades where the L-1011 airliner crashed. Many

    people were killed, some did survive. This became a landmark accident in the aviation community as re-emphasized that, as pilots, we must always fly the aircraft first.

    I will tell you that this accident was on my mind as I worked the problem with the landing gear. We allneed to keep situations like this in mind no matter what we are doing flying, driving, or cutting the grassalways pay attention to the task at hand. Do not let yourself become distracted. And always remembeit is the little things that will get you every time.

    Maj. IddinsAL-118Standards/ Evaluations

    Pell Citys Cadet Squadron welcomes Col.Beth Dumont as a temporary Senior Membeof the squadron. Beth is living in Pell Cityand working temporarily at Regional MedicaCenter in Anniston.

    Col. Dumont is originally from the HighpointComposite Squadron in Cadillac, Michiganand attained the General Carl A. SpaatzWard March, 2008.

    Welcome, Beth!!!

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    Aerospace Article . . . Page 8

    Space Probes

    Space is a dangerous and unpredictable place. That fact standing, we have sent out probes to scouahead into space. Probes are robots, programmed to send back data gathered from missions. Spaceprobes are a helpful tool in learning about our Universe. When they fail, it does represent a loss of millions

    of dollars, but no lives are lost, and that is their purpose. Some have been invaluable, like PIONEER andVIKING. Some, however, were faulty, such as MARINER 3 and MARINER 8. We will discuss thesemissions in greater detail.

    In 1959, the USSR launched LUNA 3, which sent back photographs of the far side of the moon.MARINER 2, sent to Venus, made the first successful probe flyby of another planet. MARINER 3 wasdestroyed when its protective shroud failed to deploy. MARINER 4 made a flyby of Mars in '65. MARINER 8failed to launch, so its sister probe MARINER 9 became the first probe to orbit the red planet. PIONEER 10and 11 both made flybys of Jupiter in the mid-70. PIONEER 11 went on to flyby Saturn. These two probeswere designed to test long range space probes, and the successes and failures of these missions made theVOYAGER missions possible. MARINER 10 used Venus as a slingshot to reach Mercury, and as it did so imade the first ultraviolet scans of the planet's surface. The probe made three flybys of Mercury. VENERA 7

    became the first probe to return data from another planet in 1970, and VENERA 9 became the firstspacecraft to land on the surface of another planet when it landed on Venus in '75. Both these probes werelaunched by the USSR.

    VIKING 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 20, 1975 on a TITAN 3E-CENTAUR D1 rocket. The probe entered Mars orbit on June 19, '76, and set down on July 20th. There itbegan its programmed search for Martian micro-organisms (It did not find any little green men, but it mighthave found remains of life. That is still in debate.) VIKING 2 was launched on September 9th, and enteredorbit on August 7th, 1976. It touched the surface on the 3rd, doing much the same thing as VIKING 1,except its seismometer worked, and recorded one land quake. Earth received the last transmission fromthe VIKING probes, from the VIKING 1 Lander, on November 11th, 1982. The VOYAGER missions are

    possibly the most widely known space probes. VOYAGER 1 was launched on September 5, '77. It flew pasJupiter on March 5, '79, and Saturn November 13, '80. Voyager 2 was launched August 20, 1977 (beforeVoyager 1), and flew by Jupiter on August 7, 1979, by Saturn on August 26, 1981, by Uranus on January24, 1986, and by Neptune on August 8, 1989. Voyager 2 took advantage of a rare once-every-189-yearsalignment to slingshot its way from outer planet to outer planet.

    MAGELLAN, launched May 1989, mapped 98% of Venus, and mapped a gravity field of 95% of theplanet. In 1994, just before it batteries would have run out, it was sent into the atmosphere for a finalatmospheric entry test. Hubble Space Telescope, launched April 1990, is a high-resolution camera, capablof taking pictures of nebula, stars, etc. that are millions of light years away, providing data about othergalaxies, black holes, and other planets, called explants. After its November 1, 1994, launch, NASA's WINDsatellite will take up a vantage point between the Sun and the Earth, giving scientists a unique opportunity

    to study the enormous flow of energy and momentum known as the solar wind.

    Written by Cadet John Smith

    CADET OATH"I pledge to serve faithfully in the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program and that I will attend

    meetings regularly, participate actively in unit activities, obey my officers, wear my uniformproperly and advance my education and training rapidly to prepare myself to be of service

    to my community, state and nation."

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    Civil Air Patrol Trivia . . . Page 9

    Trivia Question

    for April

    What connection does NASAs

    space shuttleDiscovery have with

    CAP?

    To win, be the first cadet and

    senior member to email the answer

    to Beth Shurbutt at:

    [email protected]

    Last Months Winners:Cindy Bennett and Michael Norwood

    AlabamaMississippi Summer Encampment

    June 24July 2, 2011Ft. McClellan, Alabama

    The AL/MS Wing Summer Encampment will be held at Ft McClellan, AL during 24 Jun 2 Jul 2011.

    A Letter of Instruction with application forms for senior member and cadet staff is attached. We ex-perienced delays in securing Ft McClellan this year which delayed our staff application process. Re-quest that members quickly complete and submit staff application packets by 15 Apr 2011.

    The encampment operations order with Basic Cadet application forms will be published soon.

    Thank you.

    JOHN HALL, Lt Col, CAPALWG/DCP

    [email protected](256) 656-5925

    Staff Application:http://alwg.us/cp/2011%20Encampment%20Staff%20Application.pdf

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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    Promotions and Photos . . . Page 10

    Cadet David Thompson promoted to C/AMN

    Cadet Nathan Bedford promoted to C/SMgt Cadet Christian Norwood promoted to C/SSgt

    Cadet Wesley Morris promoted to C/2nd Lt Cadet Jerrod Finlay promoted to C/2nd Lt

    SENIOR PROMOTIONSenior Member Elizabeth Taylor

    Promoted to 2nd Lt.

    CADET PROMOTION(photo unavailable)

    Cadet Allison Howard

    Promoted to C/SSgt.