Around Labor Day each year, I say to myself:  "This year, I'm gonna start my newsletter right about now, so when December rolls around, I can add the last few items and be out-the-door with it.  On time!"  I say that in full knowledge that the time from September to December flies by with incredible speed, and, in fact, I will NOT be "on-time" - but rather LATE - as usual - or close to "on-time" at best.  As with all my term papers in school, when the teacher said (in September) that they were due in June, I usually sat down and began typing the night before it was due.  Must be a gene defect.

Well, here goes our 41st Newsletter. We are alive and well (?), but saying that with enthusiasm, or should I say truthfulness,  is getting more difficult as the years go by.  I remember meeting my old boss Andy Jones at a Christmas lunch one year and asking him what he was doing.  His reply "Trying to stay alive!"  Later on, when I'd call Dick Taylor, another former boss, and asking him how he was doing, he'd always reply "Well, I'm vertical."  Yikes!  More and more, I can relate.  More on this subject later.

     

    

Flying Activities

Always awe-inspiring crossing the Cascades


The I-90 bridge crossing the Columbia River at Vantage


Saddle Mountains east of Matawa


On the upwind leg for landing at Ritzville, west of Spokane


Wilbur, Washington - in the heart of the wheat country

 
Different country over there - AvGas is on the honor system.
Fill up your tank, calculate your bill, and then leave your money - cash (!) or check made out to Greg's Crop Care - in the payments sleeve of the payments book.
I love Flyover Country....


Westbound - heading home crossing the Columbia again by Lake Chelan




Glacier Peak sparkles in the late afternoon sun - that was Sept. 25


Two days later, we visited Westport on the Pacific Ocean


The miracle of a small airplane

Boeing B-52

Last year I wrote of the activities involved in saving our Boeing B-52G - a second time - an airplane that arrived here originally in 1991.  Summer 2017, we moved her off the grass, cleaned and re-painted her. (Reported in last year's Newsletter - story here.) This year - Spring and Summer, 2018, we disassembled her and moved her by surface about 40 miles from Paine Field in Everett to the Museum's main campus at Boeing Field in Seattle - to be the centerpiece for a new Viet Nam Air War Memorial Park.

All the brutal details, with tons of pictures, covering Disassembly, Transport, and Reassembly, can be found in 3 web picture pages on my web section beginning here.

We began disassembly in March and she was reassembled at Boeing Field by early July - the whole operation taking about 4 months.  It was a very big job!

Almost daily trips to Paine Field for 4 months

Thank goodness for my airplane!

(12 minutes vs 3 hours (each way) and 2 ferry rides.)

Getting ready to head out

Down the Freeway in the middle of the night

Arrival at Boeing Field

Reassembly in the parking lot of the Raisbeck Aviation High School

Temporary location until movement to the Memorial Park

The Viet Nam Air War Memorial Park

The airplane currently resides in the parking lot of the Raisbeck Aviation High School, immediately adjacent to where the park will be constructed.  It is hoped that - following completion and move of the airplane, the dedication will be on Memorial Day 2019.

  

  

We flew over to check the saved airplane pieces in Moses Lake shortly after their relocation.
 The airplane's story can be seen on my web page here:
http://www.rbogash.com/FedEx/FedEx-727.html

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Public Speaking

I've continued an active public speaking schedule, including 2018 talks to the Annual Washington State Aviation Show, the Quiet Birdmen (QB), Society of Flight Test Engineers, and the SETP (Society of Experimental Test Pilots.)  The SETP seem to like my stuff, since I've been invited to talk at their last 4 Annual Meetings!

JFK Connie

At the time, I said Saving Connies had apparently become my Destiny - and last year I  got really serious with my fifth airplane - a TWA L-1649 model.  This one was going to be a showpiece in front of the old TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New York, which is getting made-over into new hotel.  But, before that could happen, she would have to be acquired, restored, re-painted, disassembled, transported, and then re-assembled on-site.  A big job that the  hotel company wanted me to Project Manage - a job I declined.  So, I served as a sort-of remote adviser (after having been coaxed into a survey trip to Auburn, Maine - where it was located), and negotiating with various contractors (I should be on Commission!)

 
Starting like this - on the left; progressing through repairs and make-over




My good friend Carlos Gomez from Miami was the refurb contractor


An amazing transformation - and another Connie saved.
To scrap a Connie is to commit a Mortal Sin!

One of my other pals, Marty Batura of Worldwide Aircraft in Omaha - fresh off the B-52 move described above - was also the mover from Maine to New York.

  
Leaving Auburn, Maine and passing through Worcester, Mass. en route JFK

Visitors and Visits

Kari Rankins, from Chicago (former Boeing colleague) came and visited for the umpteenth time.  You could say we have remained "in touch!"

Dot's niece Elisabeth and husband Norm stopped by the day after Christmas on their way to Mexico.  They stopped twice, coming and going, last year - and really liked it down there - they live in Mission, B.C.  They're going for 3 months this year.

Medical Happenings

My Motto has always been:  "Death, is Nature's way of telling you to slow down."
 Well, maybe I was being "sent a message?"
Guess I could leave this out, but what the hey!

  Used to be, I was an "Observer" of the Health Care scene.  You know, visited friends and relatives in the hospital - wished them well, walked out to my car in the parking lot, and drove home.  Over the past 10 years or so, Father Time has invited me to become more of a "Participant."

First, there was my hip replacement in 2011, then a procession of medical procedures - colonoscopy, cataract operation, then a couple of cardiac "events" followed by a lengthy cardio "procedure."  While I was used to taking Dot to lots of doctors, now I was taking ME to lots of doctors.  Or Dot was doing the driving.  Once, the Fire Dept. Aid Car was nice enough to take me to the ER - lights and siren all the way!  About October 2, I had a "minor" eye operation.  "Two stitches and a band-aid", he said.  Near blind for about 5 days, I looked like I had just spent 10 rounds with Mohammad Ali.

  2 stitches and a band-aid?  C'mon Doc....

  Then, two weeks later, I wound up in the ER with a suspected cardiac event - turned out not to be a heart attack.  But, by the time the month was up, I had been in the hospital 5 times - the last "visit" for 5 days.  I'll spare you the gory details, but after a zillion tests, expensive ones - initial treatment for sepsis (an infection of the blood stream, and "life-threatening"), I wound up being treated for Acute Pericarditis - inflammation of the sack surrounding the heart, which traps fluid (effusion) that makes it difficult for the heart to do its job.  Various possible causes, but usually an infection of bacterial or viral origin.

   Harrison Hospital - Bremerton

My "home" for much of October.  After 5 admissions, I got a Season's Pass for next year.
I'm hoping to give it to someone else.
Hospitals are where healthy people go to get sick..... sick people?  Forgetaboudit.
Oh!  Did I say my Bill has passed $50,000 and still climbing - a Cat Scan here, a Cat Scan there, everywhere a Cat Scan.  E I E O U.

Truth be told, I was pretty sick - I'd have to be at Death's Door to even consider going to a hospital.  And I noticed on the Medicare Billing Summaries (27 pages in the last batch) the ominous coding # 99285 - "Emergency department visit, problem with significant threat to life or function."  Well, that gets your attention - even if it's after-the-fact!

OK, so I've been taking drugs for the pericarditis and they appear to have successfully knocked it out.  But along the way, with innumerable tests (doctors have never seen a test they didn't like - and, I say - take enough tests, and the undertaker will come calling), they decided I needed to see some more "specialists".  A rheumotologist because my blood inflammation markers were sky high - meaning Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Lupus, or assorted other auto-immune system diseases.  And a hematologist/oncologist, because my Red Blood Count was low, with anemia, which could mean diseases of the blood and bone marrow (lymphoma, leukemia, etc.) Long story short - I seem to have cleared those two hurdles (but only after two months of innumerable visits and tests).  My cardiologist, Chris J., was right from the beginning - the event that initiated the pericarditis kicked all my blood chemistry askew, and as the pericarditis shook out, the blood parameters  slowly returned to nominal values.

Lesson One:  When you get referred to anyone with a "gist" in their title - run the other way!

It will be good to - hopefully - cut back my multi-medical trips every week (at least 12 in December - no kidding!) - (I used to laugh when my father said all he did was go to doctors) - the doctors will be even happier, since I'm not what you would call a "good patient."  I ask too many questions - like, -- when they want yet another test - I ask "Why?"  Some are cool with that, and we have a dialog, but some don't like you asking anything, nor practicing doctor sans license.  Aaaahhh, the internet - first we talk, and then I research on the internet.  Then the questions.  I'm a firm believer in managing your own care.  Some of those ER docs had a real hard time with that - and, after our first interview -  two refused to even talk to me!

Well - there was some "good news":  Hospital food was so good, I lost 22 lbs - much needed.  And, after 2 months, I've managed to keep it all off.

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.... anyhow, I'm still kicking and have returned to flying...... that's the main thing! - and so, as we put a wrap on another busy and eventful year, we are blessed.
  Every day is a Blessing, so never waste one!

Earthrise

Taken by Bill Anders - Christmas Eve
exactly 50 years ago - December 24, 1968
One of my very favorites - it truly puts everything in perspective

Fifty years to the day after taking the photo, Anders observed,
 "We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth."

    Peace..........

Bob and Dot

Passings

Obits below the vignettes.

	My good friend Steve Huemoeller passed in August, just shy of 80.  Steve was a retired United Airlines mechanic who helped me extensively refurb and prepare the Number One 727 and 737 airplanes for their Final Flights to Boeing Field in Seattle.  I could not have done those jobs without him. I wrote an extensive Tribute describing his activities.  You can find it by clicking here: http://www.rbogash.com/Stories/Steve-Huemoeller.html
	Ron Och's wife Laurice passed in January. Here they are standing in front of our airplane.  Ron was a Korean War fighter pilot and kept flying throughout his life.  Ron and I became friends at the Museum of Flight, where he was a Trustee and a member of the Collections Committee.  He ranched a large piece of land near Madras, Oregon, which had its own airstrip in front of their old farm house.  We flew our plane in to visit them for several days in October 2014. Laurice was one great cook!  Her Obit below.
	Larry McShane died suddenly March 24, 2018.  Larry worked with me my last 9 years at Boeing and was a Boeing Quality Control/Factory veteran of many decades, who thankfully shared his knowledge and energy with us.  He was a man of incredible smarts and organization and knew more than most of us could ever hope to about building big airplanes.  He was also an incredible family man and stayed a friend after our mutual retirements.
	Donna Schoening was an H.R. person ('Personnel') who supported our group at Boeing for many years.  She passed August 19, 2018 at 83.  Donna moved to Tucson after retirement and we maintained a constant email dialog for many years.  We certainly agreed with each other on some of the things going on in the world today! She was born Sept. 1, 1935.
	Chuck Foster passed April 10, 2018 at the ripe old age of 96.  Chuck was a long time pilot and officer in the Air Force, later with the FAA where he became the head of the NW Mountain Region based here in Seattle.  Chuck had a lot of aviation experience under his belt!  We became close friends after retirement, and he was a big fan of mine - coming to all of my Museum talks.  Both of us had the same goal - of acquiring a certain C-54 airplane for the Museum.  Unfortunately, that is still on my To-Do List, and I could still use some of Chuck's influence.  As with so many of my friends, I only wish Chuck and I had been so close during our working years, when I could have used some help working with the FAA!  Aahhh, it's a familiar story. Chuck in his younger days.
	Anita Baar died July 28, 2017 at 82 in Montreal.  I didn't learn of it until this year.  Anita was a Flight Attendant (Stewardess, in those days) with Nordair.  I think her Seniority number was #1 - or close to it.  I flew with her often and we became good friends, and later neighbors, and maintained contact after we left Montreal.  Anita was, well, she was one of those dynamite people who make a huge impression on people.  She was a great Stew and a great ambassador for the airlines she flew for (Nordair, and later CAI.)  Everybody knew her.  She was born in Germany and, I don't believe, ever married. Here we are in Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island in March 1969, en route to Hall Beach, where we made one of the first revenue gravel runway landings in a 737.  Anita is on the far left, and I am standing next to her to her left.

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Obits

Steve Huemoeller - see here:   http://www.rbogash.com/Stories/Steve-Huemoeller.html


Laurice Ochs

Laurice Mary Ochs (LaFranchise)
from the Madras Pioneer  Wednesday, January 17, 2018
November 5, 1930 - January 12, 2018 ~ Laurice Mary Ochs was born Nov. 5, 1930, in Spokane.

Laurice Mary Ochs was born Nov. 5, 1930, to Edwin Peter and Maria "Mae" LaFranchise, in Spokane, Washington, and passed away January 12, 2018, in Bend, Oregon.

Laurice grew up in Portland, Oregon, on Haight Avenue near Peninsula Park with her two older brothers, Jack and Charlie, and Tommy — nine years her junior. She attended Holy Redeemer Catholic School, St. Mary's Academy, and Oregon State University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in elementary education.

She moved to Madras, Oregon, in 1954, and taught fourth grade; then to Gateway, Oregon, in 1956, where she lived in a tiny apartment behind Noah Vibbert's general store and taught first through fourth grades simultaneously in the same room of the Gateway school.

Laurice married Ron Ochs on Nov. 23, 1957, after growing up less than two blocks from him and attending the same school through eighth grade. She had five children in less than five years and a sixth 15 years later. She lost her third child, Nels, to a car accident two weeks before the birth of her sixth child.

Laurice, raised in the city, kept the books and helped run the Ochs's 17,000 acre farming/ranching operation north of Madras near Willowdale. She drove tractor to rake and haul hay, drove truckloads of wheat to Madras, moved cattle on horseback, vaccinated calves during branding operations and cooked lots of food. Early on she weighed, cut, polished and sold thunder eggs out of the Priday Agate Beds located on the ranch. While Ron and Laurice owned 20 percent of the Madras Auction Yard, she helped keep its books. She served on the library board and contributed to their winning a major grant allowing the building of the current library without tax dollars.

When Ron, a former fighter pilot, started flying private planes, Laurice soloed a Cessna 150 "just in case" something happened to Ron in flight and she had to land the plane. She never pursued it further.

Laurice was known for her infectious laugh and her prowess in the kitchen. She could produce prodigious amounts of food. In the 1960s she cooked for her growing family and the hired men. During the 1970s and '80s, she cooked food for hundreds of people for class reunions and weekend-long fly-in's held at the ranch. She enjoyed great help from long-time friends.

She took up calligraphy and oil painting, always enjoyed playing bridge and the piano, stained the dining room table and chairs, and the woodwork in the main floor bathroom during remodeling.

She spent all of her remaining days, save for her final five, in the ranch house she and Ron moved into in 1959.

Laurice is survived by - Brother Charles Joseph LaFranchise, husband Ronald Bernard Ochs; daughters Barbara Catherine and Marie Laurice Ochs (Mallon); sons Edwin Bernard, Benedict Charles and Charles Matthew Ochs; granddaughters Maureen Laurice and Evelyn Cecilia Ochs; and grandsons Nels Anthony and Seth Michael Mantia; Aaron Craig, Jordan Jeffery and Charles Patrick Mallon, and Palmer Benedict Ochs; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Laurice was preceded in death by her parents, Edwin Peter and Maria "Mae" LaFranchise (Aspen); brothers, John Edwin and Thomas Peter LaFranchise; and son Nels Robert Ochs.

Laurice always insisted she did not want a funeral. "I just want a big party where everyone is having fun." To honor her wishes, there will be a simple mass and burial ceremony Friday, January 26, at 1 p.m., at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Madras. She will be interred at Mt. Jefferson Memorial Park next to her late son, Nels. At a later date, yet to be determined, a large celebration will be held in the Madras area where we hope to enjoy the company of all Laurice's friends and family.


Larry McShane

LAWRENCE G. MCSHANE
Born:
December 17, 1932 in Seattle, Washington 
Passed Away:
March 24, 2018 in Bellevue, Washington

Larry McShane passed away peacefully on March 24, 2018, at the age of 85. He leaves his loving wife, Charlotte and their children, Colleen (Jeff) deCillia, Jeff McShane, Suzi (Mark) Kuenster and Carolyn (John) Janisch and Grandchildren; Stephanie (Matt) Druyos, Alex, Travis and Garrett deCillia, Gordon, Owen and Katherine Kuenster and Sam, Michael and Adam Janisch. He also leaves 2 great grandchildren, Carson and Avery Druyos. He also leaves his 2 brothers, Pat (Lexie) and Tim (Caroline) McShane. Larry was preceded in death by his parents, George and Betty McShane.

Larry was born in Seattle and graduated from Edmonds High School and the University of Washington. He lived in Bellevue for 55 years and celebrated 57 years of marriage with Charlotte. Their married life included many family trips and events and their "famous" Sunday night dinners. One of his greatest joys was the college graduation of his 4 children. Larry dedicated his life to providing for his family and took great pleasure in being able to do so.

Larry and Charlotte traveled through Europe numerous times and made yearly trips to Hawaii and Cabo San Lucas, often with their entire family. Larry was employed by The Boeing Company for 42 years, mostly in Quality Control. He was proud of his work on the various airplanes and kept a close watch on the Company even after his retirement. He was an avid UW Husky football fan and followed them his entire adult life. One of his favorite places was his family beach house on Pickering Passage, in Shelton, where he and his family spent numerous weekends and holidays throughout the summers.

Larry will be missed by all of us and will be in our hearts forever!


Chuck Foster

Charles "Chuck" Foster, 96, a long-time pilot and pioneer in American aviation safety,

died April 10, 2018, in Issaquah, Washington. Chuck, when he was young, looked up to see a barnstormer fly over his hometown of Heavener, Oklahoma. This was the moment that forged his passion for aviation.

At Heavener High School he loved playing trombone, became an Eagle Scout and was valedictorian of his class. A proud Sooner, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Upon receiving his commission, he served in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Far East. He went on to North Carolina State to receive his Master's Degree in Nuclear Engineering. Subsequently, he was assigned to the Air Force Research and Development program at Wright-Patterson.

His life-long goal, though, was to fly for the Air Force. The highlight of his flying career was his tour on Hokkaido, Japan, and Naha Air Base, Okinawa. He commanded the Sixteenth Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on Naha, where he was the first to fly the all-weather single-seat supersonic F-102A Delta Dagger. As part of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, his unit was recognized by the Air Force, for its deployment to Taiwan in the 1958-1959 Crisis, specifically for deployment within four hours' time of the official notification. The unit demonstrated outstanding night flying in weather below minimums, landings as low as 200 feet, and 1/16th of a mile visibility.

His next two tours of duty were quite different: first, he headed the ROTC program at the radicalized campus of San Francisco State College, during the Vietnam War. Then he was assigned to the Pentagon. He retired from the Air Force in 1967, having been decorated with the Air Force Commendation Medal and Legion of Merit for his work in sonic boom research. He served as U.S. representative to the international meetings of ICAO on aircraft noise. He joined DOT as Director of Noise Abatement. His work there included determining the impact of supersonic transport aircraft flying across the U.S.

Charles continued his career in aviation with the FAA. He was honored at the White House by President Carter for his work developing aviation safety and certification standards, the FAA's "Lead Region" concept, and for his work as the lead investigator of the tragic 1979 Chicago DC-10 crash. During the course of the investigation the DC 10s were grounded world-wide.

Working as the Director of the Northwest Mountain Region allowed him the opportunity to enjoy the area of the country he loved the most and continue his passion for aviation. The Northwest's beauty, its hunting and fishing opportunities, brought together life-long joys. He retired in 1986 from the FAA, but he continued in aircraft consulting work and became a proud member of the Seattle Hanger QB. Always a pilot, his last air adventure occurred on his eightieth birthday when he piloted a glider.

His daughters, Linda (Linda Foster Tolman), Franny (Frances Foster D'Ooge), Ruth (Ruth Foster), and Jane (Jane Foster Iacono), always felt very lucky to have had him as a father. They and his wife Helen (Helen Sharenberger Foster) travelled with him for many of his world-wide, momentous career years and were enriched, as few children can say, to have been part of such a wonderful man's life. He is missed by his many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and his dear friend Jim Cain. His second wife, Evelyn Mauterer Foster, and her children also loved and appreciated him as well.

With everyone he met he shared a story and delighted them with his openness and his genuine concern for their lives.

Friends may sign the online guest book at www.FLINTOFTS.com (Flintoft's Funeral Home 425-392-6444).

Article and pictures here:   https://jdasolutions.aero/blog/chuck-foster-aviator-par-excellence-dies/

Copyright 2018 by Robert Bogash.  All Rights Reserved.

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