Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame

https://youtu.be/rPwnTOMh-8I?si=sNqVgjm0PY_7ajEe

Lockheed A-12 first flight narrated by its test pilot Lou Schalk 11-1-2010 The Lockheed A-12 is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft that was designed and manufactured in the late 1950s by Lockheed Corporation for the Central Int...

Today. April 26 we celebrate the 62nd anniversary of the test flight of the A-12
‘Archangel’. Piloted by Lou Schalk at the hidden test site of Area 51/Groom Lake she went on to mission "Operation Black Shield" at Kadena AFB in Okinawa. It was there that overflights were done over North Korea--- and the USS Pueblo held by the North Koreans were photographed. There are currently nine at museums throughout the United States. The predecessor to the SR-71 which is more widely known. we all owe so much to pilots crew technicians, and everyone involved in the Oxcart program. All part of our history fighting for freedom. Check out www.roadrunnersinternational.com for more info.

Lillian Yonally was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). During World War II, this group of about 1,000 civilian women flew aircraft for the military, serving primarily as ferry pilots or target towers for live fire exercises. Yonally, who passed away in 2021 at age 99, worked as an air traffic controller before joining the WASP.

Image Description: Photo of Lillian Yonally superimposed with the text: "You can always get married, but you can't always fly a B-25!" - Lillian Yonally.

Image Source: Lillian Yonally

We would like wish Thornton D and Doris Ray Barnes a Happy 69th wedding anniversary!
These have quite a story to tell and set a wonderful example for others.
Raising two beautiful daughters while serving our country for so many years throughout the world.
They have stayed strong and steadfast throughout when TD served our country in secret during tumultuous times and exciting times with the projects at Groom Lake and other desert locations.
Former President of Roadrunners Internationale and Director of the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame, TD and Doris are a team. Congratulations on your Wedding Anniversary!

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform the CIA, USAF, and aviation community of the final Flight of Col. Charlie E. Trapp, Jr.
Trapp arrived at Area 51 as a Captain in September 1962, was promoted to Major in April 1967 and departed Area 51 in June 1967. He went on to become commander of seven Air Force units. He was the 3rd Air Rescue Group Commander and on the staff of USSAG/7th AF staff in SEA 1975 at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Base, where he planned and participated in the evacuation of 287 non-combatants from the embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the Ambassador and 6,000 non-combatants from Saigon. Two Air Force helicopter units, four of his staff, and he was deployed out of Thailand to the Aircraft Carrier Midway, where they helped plan and execute the evacuation of the non-combatants. His helicopters also participated in the recovery of the United States civilian container ship Mayaquez from the Cambodians. He commanded two flying squadrons, the 41st ARRSq (HH-53s and HC-130s) and the 37th ARRSq (52 UH-1Fs, 105 pilots, and 275 enlisted); the 450 men 11th ARRS Consolidated Maintenance Squadron; and three HH-43 local base rescue units (two in SEA and one in the CONUS). Colonel Trap retired from the US Air Force in 1982. In addition to his exemplary service at Area 51, the Roadrunners International Association remembers Charlie Trapp for his humor at the “House Six” poker games and his leading role in the parasail boondoggle at Lake Mead, Nevada. https://roadrunnersinternationale.com/parasail.html.
Trapp’s activities at Area 51 also involved testing equipment such as pressure suits, floatation devices, and survival procedures with the pilots. Following the drowning of the M21/D21 backseater, Ray Torrick, water survival training using parasails lifted aloft by US Coast Guard whalers at Lake Mead, NV. First, he attended ground parasail training at Randolph AFB, TX, and water training in Pensacola with the Navy, where he and his team learned how to conduct parasail operations. However, the initial launches at Lake Mead were not without unexpected incidents, including dragging a few individuals, including the Area 51 commander, Col Hugh “Slippery” Slater, into the water at Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Staff pilots served as test subjects before launching the A-12 pilots, eliciting nervous reactions from some of them, as told in the Parasail story linked above. Capt Trapp took pleasure in flying his helicopter over the Lake Mead island beaches covered with n**e sunbathers calling out “naughty - naughty” on his external loudspeaker.
Colonel Trapp was a huge individual whom Area 51 veterans Frank Murray, Roger Andersen, TD Barnes (the Three Amigos - Area 51 veterans and present and past Roadrunner presidents), and others had the pleasure of hours-long telephone conversations through the years up to his passing. We shared so many memories, some of which I will share below in remembrance of one of our best.

TD Barnes
President Roadrunners Internationale

22 years ago. Never ever forget 9/11/2001. Comfort to those left behind.

Why do you love it?

Today is National Aviation Day in the United States, named in honor of Orville Wright birthday.

We're curious - what do you love about aviation? What keeps you glancing up at aircraft zooming overhead? What brings you back into places like The Museum of Flight time and time again? Share your answers and memories in the comments!

Aviation has come a long way since that first flight in 1903. Thank you Oroville and Wilber for your determination, talent and passion.
We thank you!

A good time was had by all at the North Las Vegas Airport Aviation Open House today. Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame had a wonderful display depicting the rich aviation history of the Silver State!
For more information on NVAHOF visit: www.nvahof.org

More on beloved man, Frank Murray.
Patriot, husband, father, grit and courage who served in secret to protect our Country. He’s at Mach 3+ now.
He is missed by so many.

Roadrunners Internationale regrets having to announce the final flight of Frank Murray.
Frank Murray, born on September 21st, 1930, was an Army brat of William and Agnes Murray. He grew up in San Diego, California, and graduated from St. Augustine High School in 1948. In August of the same year, he enlisted in the United States Air Force (USAF), following in the footsteps of his two older brothers. After attending A&E Mechanics School, he was advanced to the rank of corporal and was later promoted to sergeant. He was subsequently accepted into the Aviation Cadet Flying Training Program, which he completed in April 1952 at Columbus AFB, Mississippi, and Laredo AFB, Texas. He graduated with Class 53-C, became a second lieutenant, and transferred to Laughlin AFB and Luke AFB for Gunnery School in the T-33 and F-84B. Murray's first fighter plane assignment was the F-84G and F-86-F at Chaumont, France. Later, he was assigned to Bergstrom AFB, Texas, to fly the F-84F and F-101A/C. He then moved to Otis AFB, Mass, to fly the F-94C and F-101B. In 1963, the USAF selected Murray for the 1129th Special Activity Squadron at Groom Lake in Area 51, where he flew the F-101, T-33, and Cessna 180/210. However, the CIA later selected him as a Project Pilot flying the A-12, and he resigned his USAF commission to take on this new assignment. Known under the callsign "Dutch 20," Murray stayed with the OXCART Project until it shut down in 1968. During Project BLACK SHIELD, Murray flew the Mach 3 reconnaissance missions over Vietnam and one over North Korea during the seizure of the USS Pueblo, for which he earned the CIA's highest award, the Intelligence Star for Valor. He then rejoined the USAF and was assigned to Tyndall AFB, Florida, where he flew the F-101 and T-33 until volunteering for training in the A-1 Skyraider at the 56th Special Operations Wing, 1st Special Operations Squadron (Hobos) at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand. Murray flew 67 combat missions in the A-1 before being reassigned to Tyndall AFB to continue flying the F-101. Throughout his flying career, Murray accumulated 6,000 hours of flying military aircraft and another 1,000 hours flying civilian planes.
After 29 years of combined service in the USAF and CIA, Murray retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. Murray served as president of Roadrunners Internationale and is enshrined in the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame. He was preceded in death by his spouse of over 62 years, Stella Jane, who passed away May 9th, 2016, and is survived by his spouse, Jolene in Gardnerville, Nevada, with whom he spent the last three years of his life. Frank is survived by Joe Murray, Diane Peart, Janice, and Johnny La Pointe, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Services will be conducted on April 17th at 1 pm in Minden, Nevada, at the East Side Memorial Park cemetery.

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas. 🌲🌲

Always honor and remember.

Thank you Veterans! To all who served our great country! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Keep watch! Thank you, United States Navy!

U.S. Navy Birthday 2022 is celebrated on October 13.
It is the anniversary of the foundation of the naval warfare service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress established a naval force. In 1785, after the end of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy was disbanded. In 1794 President George Washington created a permanent U.S. Navy.

Roadrunners and CIA community lost a great friend and colleague with our losing Gene Poteat. He headed Project PALLADIUM that determined the Soviet Tall King would be able to track the Blackbird planes in time to shoot them down. He was very involved with Area 51 during the U-2 and A-12 CIA era.
Samuel Eugene "Gene" Poteat, 92, a retired senior Central Intelligence Agency scientific intelligence officer, inventor, teacher, and association executive, died May 22, 2022, in Alexandria, VA, after a long illness.
Gene was born in Bessemer City, North Carolina in 1930 to Eugene Justice and Sarah Darnell Poteat. The family settled in Charleston, South Carolina. Before entering college, Gene served in the military in Europe at the end of World War II. Gene later graduated from The Citadel with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, one of many Americans who obtained college degrees under the G.I. Bill. He earned a master’s degree in Statecraft and National Security Affairs with a specialization in Intelligence Studies from the Institute of World Politics and was awarded an honorary LL.D. for his service to intelligence education and the profession.
Prior to the CIA, Gene worked at Bell Labs and Cape Canaveral, where he designed missile guidance systems during the Cold War. Gene was recruited to join the CIA while serving at Cape Canaveral. Once at the CIA, Gene worked on U-2 spy plane and designed the cloaking system for the Lockheed Martin SR-71 aircraft. He provided scientific expertise on space and naval reconnaissance systems in the Directorate of Science and Technology, and served at the National Reconnaissance Office, as Technical Director of the Navy’s Special Programs Office, and as the Executive Director of the Intelligence Research and Development Council. Gene also served overseas tours in London, Oslo, the Middle East, and Asia, with his family often relocating with him. He also managed the CIA’s worldwide network of monitoring sites.
Gene was awarded the CIA’s Medal of Merit and the National Reconnaissance Office’s Meritorious Civilian Award for his technological innovations.
Gene’s lifelong love of airplanes began as a teenager when he was permitted to fly a Piper Cub airplane, and later enjoyed the Piper Cherokee he purchased for family travel.
During his long career, Gene found himself playing a role in major events in American history. In the summer of 1964, Gene was asked to give a scientific determination about whether a radar operator’s report proved the U.S.S. Maddox was under attack by enemy P.T. boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. Trusting facts and science, Gene replied no conclusion could be reached absent other data regarding weather and surface conditions. Instead, the White House pressed Gene to decide without regard to additional information. Gene stated “no,” the Maddox was not under attack. Gene’s conclusions were ignored, and President Lyndon B. Johnson went on to escalate the Viet Nam War. More than three decades later, when documentarians for the BBC revived interest in the Tonkin incident, Gene had the opportunity to speak face-to-face with the captain of Maddox, who confirmed he saw no P.T. boats that night from his position on the bridge.
Throughout his life, Gene continued to believe that good intelligence, underpinned by hard science, could prevent armed conflict, and promote global stability. He welcomed women into the intelligence community ranks as a positive influence and promoted the admission of women to The Citadel. He also taught classes on women spies and gained expertise in the history of women in espionage.
After leaving the CIA, Gene held many other positions, including as the Director of the Strategic Research Group of the Electronic Warfare Association, president of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) from 1999 to 2015 and served on the Board of Advisors of the International Spy Museum. Gene was Professor Emeritus at the Institute of World Politics, where he taught Technology, Intelligence, Security, and Statecraft, a columnist for The Charleston Mercury, and a contributor to AFIO's Intelligencer journal.
Martha Cox Poteat, Gene’s beloved wife of 50 years, passed away in 2004. After spending decades as a traveling CIA wife, she became a local photojournalist and airplane pilot. His siblings, Donald W. Poteat, Wayne M. Poteat, and Aloma Faye Ostendorff are deceased.
Gene is survived by his daughters, Sarah Elisabeth Poteat (Bradley J. Garrett), a counterterrorism attorney in the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Mary Ann Poteat Schaffer (Gary Wayne Schaffer), the Managing Director-Systems Chief Pilot for United Airlines and an attorney, and his grandson, Max Poteat-Garrett, a middle school student.
In addition to the love and comfort of his family, Gene’s last days were brightened by his daughter Mary Ann’s dogs, Bella and Bodie, who remained at his bedside until the end.
Throughout his life, Gene kept a letter from his commanding officer, who wrote that, if Gene chose not to become a military officer, he would likely find success as a “song and dance man.” Gene Poteat loved to play the piano and dance.YTT

Lest we never forget.