CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 20
WE NEED MENTORS LIKE YOU
ASI MESSAGE
BY RICHARD G. MCSPADDEN, JR.
ON A HUMID SUMMER AFTERNOON AT TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE
NEAR PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA, I WAS SUMMONED FROM THE
FLYING OPERATION I LED TO MY BOSS' OFFICE FOR AN URGENT
MEETING. Upon arriving I noticed my boss' boss, a colonel, in
the room-and his boss, a one-star general. All with stern faces.
My boss, the squadron commander, got right to the point: "It's
clear we need a new operations officer" (my position). I surveyed
the stern faces, everyone standing. The general picked it up:
"We need a new operations officer...because you're leaving
to be Thunderbird 1." The stern faces turned to smiles, and
vigorous handshakes. It took me a few seconds to process it all, to
transition from thinking I was being fired, to accepting that I had
been selected for the job of a lifetime.
Departing the meeting, I detoured slightly and paused on a
small hill to survey the bustling Tyndall flight line. My mind
drifted back, and almost visible through the heat shimmering
up from that very ramp was a dad hustling across the
sweltering concrete to watch the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds,
his young son jostling atop his shoulders. The noise, the sight
of jet airplanes flying so fast and so close to the ground and
each other, the smell of burnt JP-4-all so intimidating, and
yet intoxicating.
Returning to my office, I phoned that dad to tell him the young
boy atop his shoulders had just been selected to command the
team they'd seen fly so many times. That call remains one of
the most cherished memories of my life. My dad would be the
first of many mentors so important to my aviation career.
Shortly after I took command of the Thunderbirds, my new
boss advised that retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Wilbur "Bill"
Creech would be my mentor. Although I had never met
Creech, I certainly knew of him. An imposing figure, with an
incongruous high-pitched voice, Creech was one of the chief
architects for the U.S. Air Force in its modern form: night,
stealth, precision attack, and an equipage strategy favoring
high-tech aircraft over superior numbers. The U.S. Air Force
that dominates the skies today is largely the U.S. Air Force
that Bill Creech built.
Early in his Air Force career, then-Capt. Creech was a
Thunderbird pilot and later the commander and flight leader
of the U.S. Air Force Skyblazers, the jet demonstration
team in Europe. As a four-star general, Creech rescued the
Thunderbirds from the congressional chopping block in 1982
when four pilots died practicing a line-abreast loop over a
training field in the Nevada desert.
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter—Vol. 10, Issue 3
CFI Notes and letters
CFI Notes: Did You Know? ASI's In-Person Flight Instructor Refresher Course—Then and Now
On landings—Finding the Sweet Spot
Safety Seminar: Difficult Decisions—What Would You Do?
Collected Wisdom: Tricks of the Trade
CFI News
CFI Tips: Maintenance Minded—Get Your Hands Dirty!
ASI Message: We Need Mentors Like You
Real Pilot Story: Backcountry Flight—One Way In, No Way Out
Standards Dissected: ACS Tidbits and Beginnings
Chart Challenge: I Follow Railroads
You Can Fly: The AOPA Flight Training Advantage—Take a Sneak Peek
Safety Quiz: Obstacle Departure Procedure
CFI Tools: Air Masses and Fronts—What Will the Weather Do?
Chief's Corner: Get Excited—Share that Excitement!
Safety Tip: Hot Starts—Demystified
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - CFI-to-CFI Newsletter—Vol. 10, Issue 3
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - CFI Notes and letters
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - CFI Notes: Did You Know? ASI's In-Person Flight Instructor Refresher Course—Then and Now
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 4
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - On landings—Finding the Sweet Spot
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 6
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 7
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 8
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 9
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Safety Seminar: Difficult Decisions—What Would You Do?
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Collected Wisdom: Tricks of the Trade
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - CFI News
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 13
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 14
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 15
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - CFI Tips: Maintenance Minded—Get Your Hands Dirty!
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 17
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 18
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 19
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - ASI Message: We Need Mentors Like You
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 21
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Real Pilot Story: Backcountry Flight—One Way In, No Way Out
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 23
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 24
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Standards Dissected: ACS Tidbits and Beginnings
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 26
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Chart Challenge: I Follow Railroads
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 28
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - You Can Fly: The AOPA Flight Training Advantage—Take a Sneak Peek
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Safety Quiz: Obstacle Departure Procedure
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 31
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - CFI Tools: Air Masses and Fronts—What Will the Weather Do?
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Chief's Corner: Get Excited—Share that Excitement!
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 34
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - 35
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 10 Issue 3 - Safety Tip: Hot Starts—Demystified
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