OK, here are the last-minute updates for the B-29 Event at Eppley.
John Sheffield, Ray McNally, and I went to the Elliot Aviation ramp and
inspected the layout. The B-29 had just landed (having been escorted in
the air by General Urschler and his P-51 Mustang "Gunfighter") and was
moved to its position while we were there. We spoke with the CAF crew,
received a tour of the aircraft, and got our questions answered with
regard to access and equipment. The Omaha Airport Authority Executive
Director, the Chief of the Airport Police, the Chief of the Airport Fire
Department, the Captain of the B-29, and General Urschler were there and
had no serious objections to our proposed plan of operation. The only
potential, albeit highly unlikely, snag would be our interfering with
airport radio communications and being forced to shut down.
We can operate under one of the wings, or in the tail-gunner
compartment, or both. We'll have plenty of room in either location, but
inside the plane may get hot. We will be operating 1 HF radio and 1
packet VHF station (plus our handhelds) running off of deep-cycle marine
batteries, intermittently charged with solar cells. Our HF antenna will
be an Outbacker vertical, ground-mounted on a tripod and 10 feet of mast,
with a short run of feedline. We'll have a publicity table with a
banner, poster, and literature (plus some warm bodies to answer questions).
We'll likely be working 7.29, 14.29, 28.329, 28.429, etc. MHz. (i.e.,
frequencies in the General or Novice/Tech phone bands with "29" in them,
consistent with the previous B-29 operation in North Carolina). John
Sheffield had an excellent suggestion, which we've implemented, to have
a script of facts about Eppley Airfield, the CAF, amateur radio, the
SACMARC, and the B-29, that we can intersperse during contacts, which
will be serial-numbered. We will tell contacts to send us a SASE to our
Box 1292 address if they desire a QSL card (i.e., a confirmation). Such
QSL cards are to-be-determined, based on number of overall contacts.
Fire control, also quite unlikely to be necessary, will be amply handled
by the airport fire department (which shares our great concern over the
safety of this irreplaceable aircraft). Our only duty in such an event
is to clear the aircraft as quickly as possible before they hit it with
the chemicals.
Setup will be by Ray and myself at 9 AM. We'll have a brief license
signing ceremony and photo op at the start of the day to officially
reactivate K0AIR after over 2 decades of hibernation. The event starts
at 10 AM and runs to 6 PM. We'd like to encourage everyone to return on
Wednesday for the same, and will be asking for volunteers at the event
(though we're likely to leave early on Wednesday for the business
meeting at the Bank of Bellevue).
I have an access letter written up with the following callsigns on it:
N9XTN
N0RG
K0FG
KB0MYH
KA2NIC
K30XQ
N5SEZ
N0UEA
WB5HZH
W0WWH
K3FU
N0TJQ
N4OWG
WA6LBU
KB6IFP
W0PYA
Naturally, not everyone above has committed to be there, but I've
included them just in case. Show up to the gate, present a copy of your
amateur radio license, and a photo ID if requested, and you should be
admitted for free. The event will be at the Elliot Aviation Beechcraft
ramp. Take the "General Aviation" turnoff on the airport access road,
and follow it around the airfield. The turnoff for Elliot Aviation
should be clearly marked.
This should be obvious, but bring plenty of liquids to drink, some food,
sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, and dress appropriately for very warm and
humid weather. Also make sure that your HT batteries are well-charged.
Talk-in, and frequency announcements, will be on 146.94- (to avoid a
"pile-up" on the repeater, which belongs to another club, I'd recommend
against making contacts on the repeater). Packet radio operation will
be 145.01 simplex.
Looks like a high likelihood of media coverage. I received a call from
Fox 42 asking if we would be out there from 2:30 to 3:00 (yes) and would
we be willing to talk to their reporter (yes). We'll be taking a
generous number of still photographs during the event from two cameras,
but we would like to repeat the call for someone with a camcorder for
audio and video recording.
Hope to see you there!
Paul W. Schleck
pschleck@novia.net
K0AIR Trustee
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jan 03 2000 - 15:17:41 CST