Blog Mirror: Women In Aerospace History: Katherine Stinson

11 December 1917: Katherine Stinson

11 December 1917: Katherine Stinson flew her custom-built Curtiss-Stinson Special from Rockwell Field, North Island, San Diego to the Presidio of San Francisco, a distance of 606 miles (975 kilometers)¹ in 9 hours, 10 minutes. This was a new American duration distance record.

And more on this interesting story follows on the noted blog site.

Piper Seneca. Natrona County International Airport

Boeing 737 Max, Natrona County International Airport.

 

 This is the new Boeing 737 Max, Boeing's new narrow-body airliner which is the fourth generation of the venerable Boeing 737.  This example was at the Natrona County International Airport undergoing some testing at this famously windy airport featuring very long runways.

National Aviation History Month

Somehow I managed to miss the fact that November is National Aviation History Month.

Something that would have fit in well as a topic here on our blog.

Well, at least there's a little November left anyhow.

Face of Defense: Marine Aviator Draws Forward Air Controller Duty

Face of Defense: Marine Aviator Draws Forward Air Controller Duty

Lex Anteinternet: Persistent Myths XIV: The Korean War Edition

Lex Anteinternet: Persistent Myths XIV: The Korean War Edition:  The Korean War, we were poorly armed with antiquated stuff, edition.   " U.S. Marines wounded at Kari San Mountain are evacuated...

Wyoming Air National Guard Static Display, Republic F-84 Thunderjet

This is a F-84 Thunderjet on a static display at the Wyoming Air National Guard's main gate at the Cheyenne Regional Airport in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The Republic Thunderjet was a very early USAF jet fighter, first entering service in a straight wing version and then being modified to be a swept wing version, like the one on display here. 

Plagued with various problems throughout its service life, the F-84 none the less was a very significant US combat aircraft during the 1950s and saw heavy use during the Korean War.  It later saw widespread use around the world and completed its service in Angola in 1974.  As can be seen from this example, it saw use by Air National Guard units as well as the regular United States Air Force.

Wyoming Air National Gaurd C130 Static Display, Cheyenne Wyoming

The Wyoming Air National Guard has this C130 on a static display at their gate at the Cheyenne Regional Air Port.  Cheyenne's airport is a major air national guard base.

Lex Anteinternet: Poster Saturday: I'll be with you, boys.

Lex Anteinternet: Poster Saturday: I'll be with you, boys.

You can't fly there from here.

 

 Over the Laramie Range.

Unfortunate news from the Casper Star Tribune:

CHEYENNE – A legislative committee chose not to move a draft bill forward this week that would have made fundamental changes to commercial air service in Wyoming.

I was really hoping that the bill would pass.

But I wasn't optimistic that it would.  Wyoming has never been very sympathetic to public funding of business unless its vicarious.  People support funding of highway construction, for example (although lately not so much in the way of school construction) and the legislature is keen on investing in "clean coal" development, even though the prospects for that appear to be rather remote.  But on a project like this, it would have surprised me if they'd supported it, even though I think it was an excellent idea.

I travel for work constantly and one of the questions I get from my out of state customers is "why don't you fly?"  And by that they mean, why don't you fly from one town to another, as in, why don't you fly from Casper to Jackson, or Cheyenne to Worland, or Gillette to Green River?

Well, you can't.

Oh, of course you can, but not easily.  For example, a person wanting to fly from Casper to Jackson would actually have to fly from Casper to Denver, or Salt Lake, and then from those cities to Jackson.  It'd be an all day ordeal.  It's easier, and much cheaper, to drive.

For us.

Because we're acclimated to it.

But that doesn't work that way for most people from other places.  So, when a company looks to relocate, let's say, from New Jersey to Wyoming, it looks at this stuff.  They figure that if they can fly anywhere on the East Coast, or the West Coast, or the No Coast, in a day hop, well surely they can do the same in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Well, outside of Colorado and Utah, not so much.

At one time, oddly enough, you could.  I can recall when I was young being on planes that went from Casper to Cheyenne or Casper to Billings, Montana. But all of that is long gone. And that fact hurts Wyoming businesses and the prospect s for business.

Well, the Tribune also reported:

But all sides agree the issue isn’t dead for lawmakers.

Hmmm, I bet it is.  And here's the reason why:

An appropriation between $29.5 million and $37.2 million out of the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account – commonly known as the “rainy-day fund” – to enact the 10-year plan would have been made under the bill.

As far as various governmental bodies around here are concerned, it never rains.

Sky Aviation Boeing CH-46 Chinooks. Worland Airport

A collection of CH-46s in Worland Wyoming.  These belong to the fire fighting company, Sky Aviation.