April 2004 Volume 2, Issue 4

Monthly Newsletter for the Los Alamos Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol
By Capt David L. McClard, CAP

The Mountain Wave

MCCLARDS MOMENTS

Cpt David L. McClard

COMMANDER

DEPUTY COMMANDER FOR SENIORS

LtCol Larry L. Tellier

DEPUTY COMMANDER FOR CADETS

1st Lt Mark V. Peters

h, spring in N.M. never boring, always unpredictable. March and April of 2004 have been extremely wet. Rain, snow, poor visibility, and wind have grounded most general aviation ights. Several commercial ights into Santa Fe and Albuquerque also experienced delays and cancellations. Many New Mexico counties experienced heavy snow and ooding. Several areas were classied as disaster areas and have received emergency state and federal remediation subsidies. Civil Air Patrol crews remain on standby for potential ES and DR Missions. Los Alamos Air Crews are prepared to support as requested. More information will be forthcoming about aircrew training. Last week a MIG was enroute IFR from N.M. to Deer Valley, AZ. After a scheduled fuel stop in Roswell, the MIG departed and proceeded on course. At about 35,000 feet the pilot reported to Albuquerque Center over the Truth or Consequences VOR that he was experiencing fuel transfer problems (the MIG had auxiliary fuel pods).

Within seconds of the last radio transmission Albuquerque Center lost the primary radar return (transponder ID), the aircraft disappeared completely from radar a short time later. The New Mexico State Police (NMSP) contacted the Civil Air Patrol; the CAP Incident Commander contacted the Los Alamos CAP Emergency Services Ofcer, and requested Los Alamos to y a night mission to look for potential wreckage. The Maule was crewed, briefed, and was attempting to depart from Los Alamos around midnight. During the takeoff roll the aircraft experienced a malfunction and the takeoff was aborted. Systems were rechecked, the problem was not resolved, and the ight/sortie was cancelled. Over the next few days, several CAP aircrews, the NMSP Helicopter, and ground teams searched for the lost MIG. Saturday, April 3rd the wreckage was located near the T or C VOR. The National Transportation Safety Board has been performing the post accident investigation in an attempt to ascertain the probable cause of the crash. The experienced pilot had own the MIG for some time, had performed in numerous air shows, and y-ins.

SQUADRON MEETING SYNOPSIS

By 1st Lt C. Lee Knoell, CAP

J.D.
Civil Air Patrol P.O. Box 741 Los Alamos, NM 87544
LA SQUADRON WEBSITE http://sulphurcanyon.com.lacap NM WING WEBSITE http://nmwg.cap.gov/ NATIONAL CAP HQ WEBSITE http://www.cap.gov

Huss and Erick Deschner from the Albq. Flight Standards Division Ofce were the guest speakers for the meeting on 6 April. The topic of their FAA Safety Seminar was Minimum Equipment Lists (MELs) for aircraft. The presentation was informative and, in my opinion, benecial not only for the CAP but for aircraft owners/pilots in general. The seminar qualied as a safety lecture for the FAA Pilot Prociency Program (Wings), so all personnel present had an opportunity to pick up a Wings Application form. For those pilots interested in the

Wings Program, I have the FAA Circular available in PDF and can email it to you. J.D. Huss also pointed out that the requirements for fullling the Wings Program are listed on the back of the application form. As always, J.D. came with lots of handouts for everyone there. One of the handouts included a listing of FAA web pages, which should be very useful for most of us.

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LOS ALAMOS COMPOSITE SQUADRON

SENIOR OFFICERS OPERATIONS Gerald Merkey STANDARDIZATION/ EVALUATION Gerald Schotik EMERGENCY SERVICES Dave McClard CUSTOMS/DEA Brian Smith COMMUNICATIONS Stanley Simmonds LOGISTICS/SUPPLY Tom Marshall SAFETY Lee Knoell TRANSPORTATION Brian Smith MAINTENANCE Crew Chief 4842G Lee Knoell Crew Chief 6319H Richard Pearson Roger Kruse ADMINISTRATIVE Roger Kruse PERSONNEL Dave McClard (acting) FINANCE John Veilleux PUBLIC AFFAIRS Gretta Christensen gschristensen@earthlink.net TESTING Annette Peters WEBPAGE Roger Kruse

CADET CAPSULES

pril 19 marks the day of our Cadet Change of Command. Second Lieutenant Marit Christensen will take over at the helm. The new chain of command is: Cadet Commander c/2ndLt Marit Christensen Deputy Cadet Commander c/2ndLt Curtis Christensen Executive Ofcer c/CMSgt Jesse Peters Flight Commander c/CMSgt Jonathan Kressin Flight Sergeant c/SSgt Matthew Simmonds Additionally, c/2ndLt Shannon Kruse will serve on the staff as the Cadet Leadership Ofcer. ***** ongratulations to Cadet Jonathan Kressin for receiving the Best of All Cadets in Uniform Inspection on April 5.

eve got the plane! Weve got the pilots! Weve got the cadets! Now we need the scheduler! uler! An adult or responsible cadet can meet the need. The orientation ight scheduler arranges ights for the cadets. This person coordinates the availability of the aircraft (scheduling with Brian Smith), the pilots, and the cadets. Our previous scheduler, Sandi Kruse, says it is not a hard jobjust requires good communication between the three entities, usually accomplished through e-mails. Parents and/or responsible cadets: If you would like to assist with this task, please call (or e-mail) Captain David McClard.

MAY: THE MONTH FOR THE PHYSICAL FITNESS AWARD

Myth: If someone walks through a formation, cadets extend their arms out to force the person to stop, and then exclaim, Man in ranks! Truth: There is no such provision in the CAP Drill & Ceremonies Manual. If someone interferes with cadets on a drill eld, the ight commander or a senior member will ask that person to leave.

Myth of the Month

*****

ational headquarters will recognize squadrons that make physical tness a cornerstone of their Cadet Program. The Squadron Physical Fitness Award is a voluntary program open to every cadet unit twice per year. For more details about the awards and the Cadet Physical Fitness Test (CPFT), see CAPP 52-18. If 70% of the cadets in the squadron can perform at the 50th percentile of the PCPFS survey (or higher) for their age and gender, the unit qualies for the award. C/2nd Lt Curtis Christensen will be the cadet responsible for managing the records, determining if our squadron meets the requirements, and submitting our application for the Squadron Physical Fitness Award.

All of the participating entities are meeting weekly to plan the Memorial Day commemoration. CAP cadets have participated in previous years. We anticipate that we will be assisting again this year. As soon as we know something, we will pass the information along.

Memorial Day

*****

One can always do what he wills to accomplish.

Stonewall Jackson

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SAREX UPDATES
Southwest Region Homeland Security Exercise April 16-21 Alamogordo Northern NM is not participating in this exercise. However, the Los Alamos aircraft has been requested as a back-up if required. SAREx April 23rd - May 1st This SAREx commences in Clovis (the rst weekend) and concludes in Gallup (the second weekend). Annual SAREx and USAF Evaluation June 5-6 Location TBA Southwest Region Aircrew Competition (SWRAC) October 15-16 Amarillo, TX Aircrews from NM, TX, LA, and AR will compete in the following areas: ELT target searches, Search Patterns, Slow Scan TV, video, digital, timed and spot landings, and a written 60-1 test. Los Alamos plans to send a team to compete. NM Wing is attempting to establish a training mission number for crew training.

(Blue Card) Col. Robert Haulenbeek has replaced LtCol John Green as the New Mexico Wing Director of Operations. Specics regarding the Blue Card initial and recurrency applications will be released in the near future. New procedures should expedite the application and distribution process.

NEW MEXICO AERONAUTICAL CARD

Those Mission Pilots ying B12 prociency ight and ROTC Cadet orientation ights must contact the USAF Liaison, Mr. Fred Harsany, for an additional release. Mission pilots can log up to four hours each months as B12 (Prociency Flights). B12 ights are covered by FECA and FETA insurance programs. The USAF as more formal ight release and pilot currency verication program has imposed this release requirement. More information will be forthcoming regarding this new requirement.

NEW B12 AND CADET ROTC ORIENTATION FLIGHT RELEASE REQUIREMENTS

MIG (Mikoyan-Gurevich) series ghters were used during many military campaigns; they were designed as air superiority/interceptor ghters. They were extremely effective against their foes, the F-86 sabre, and later the F-4 Phantom. Today vintage MIGs appear in air shows, etc.

MIG TRIVIA

Heres what controllers say off-mic By Alton K. Marsh (from AOPA Pilot, May 2003) Aircraft names: DC10 Diesel 10 Boeing 747 18-wheeler MD-80 and 90 Mad dogs Boeing 727 or DC-9 Jurassic jet Boeing 737 Baby Boeing Boeing 777 Big foot (because of the main gear) Embraer jets Jungle jets (because they are made in Brazil) Alley-oop When controllers take a faster aircraft up over a slower aircraft and back down, often while the aircrafts are in a turn. Often used in box canyon nals where aircraft are boxed in on both sides by adjacent approach or departure corridors. Box em or bring them back around Refers to sending aircraft around a x in a box pattern. Bug smashers Small and slow piston-engine aircraft. To Be Continued

THE UNOFFICIAL CONTROLLER GLOSSARY

Due to an overwhelming response (throughout the U.S.) funding for cadet o-ights has been expended. National is petitioning the USAF for additional funding. More later.

CADET O-RIDES

NMWF-104 When completing NMWF-104s, please complete all information blocks. Mail the 104 and fuel receipts to Wing within 24 hours after mission completion. A NMW104 must be completed for each sortie. Pilots, if you are redirected during a sortie to another grid or target a new NMWF-104 must be completed.

FLIGHT OPS

A formal Aircrew Course will be conducted June 26 and 27, at Wing Headquarters. Individuals desiring to participate in ES crew functions should attend this class.

AIRCREW TRAINING

The Los Alamos Squadron will conduct a basic radio communication class on June 15.

BASIC RADIO COMMUNICATION CLASS

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THURSDAYS FUND RAISING MEALS A HUGE SUCCESS

LOS ALAMOS CADET SQUADRON

CADET COMMANDER c/2nd Lt Marit Christensen DEPUTY CADET COMMANDER c/2nd Lt Curtis Christensen EXECUTIVE OFFICER c/CMSgt Jesse Peters FLIGHT COMMANDER c/CMSgt Jonathan Kressin FLIGHT SERGEANT c/SSgt Matthew Simmonds ***** CADET ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER c/2nd Lt Marit Christensen CADET LEADERSHIP OFFICER c/2nd Lt Shannon Kruse CADET PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER c/2nd Lt Curtis Christensen CADET ADVISORY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE c/2nd Lt Curtis Christensen CADET ADVISORY COUNCIL ALTERNATIVE REPRESENTATIVE open

he NASA eld trip is a little closer, thanks to the hard work by the mother of one of our cadets. Every Thursday for six weeks Cadet Jas Sheppards mother, Karen, prepared meals that were sold at the Homeschool Activities Day. With Mrs. Sheppard cooking and several cadets serving, close to $1,000 for our NASA coffer.

By F. Larry Zentner, Jr., LtCol, CAP Director of Communications

AMATEUR RADIO CLASS TO BE OFFERED

lease spread the word around that there will be an Amateur Radio VE offering a technician no-code class and exam in May, 22-23 weekend.

SWR Staff College

17-24 July 2004 Kirtland Air Force Base College 90.00 Room/night 25.00 6.00-10.00 Food/day Application Deadline 15 June Send Signed CAPF 17 to: Wing Commander and
Maj Mike Swanson, CAP SWRSC 2004 Director 7625 Brook Haven Way Shreveport, LA 71105-5706

The cost is about $40.00 Location is CAP NM Wing HQ conference room, down stairs. This is a simple way to get a ham license. The class is offered to all people interested. If you know of other people interested in SAR and ES they may want to jump on board, too. Look for more information to follow.

15 May 2004 Gates open at 09:00

CELTIC FESTIVAL

Courtesy Copy to:

adets are needed for the Color Guard detail. If you are interested in attending and being a part of the combined Color Guard, please notify c/2nd Lt Shannon Kruse.

Make Checks payable to:

2004 SW Region Staff College

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