Report from SkyFest - Day One

Dateline: Fairchild Air Force Base, WA, Thursday, July 27, 2006

I was requested to arrive at FAFB at 1800 GMT (11:00AM). I landed just after an F-51 "Mustang," after a 42 minute flight from the R J Ranch.

After parking next to an F-16, (Very cool place to park!) I was taken to Base Operations to close out my flight plan and get greeted by the show coordinators. After a few minutes, the pilot of the F-51 strolled in while all the air Force folks gave him an overwhelmingly hearty greeting. (as compared to my "Welcome to Fairchild.") After the "smoke cleared and the kleg lights dimmed", figuratively speaking, the F-51 pilot settled close to me while enjoying the refreshments provided. I couldn't help but introduce myself and "slip in the fact" that I had flown an F-51, however briefly. We talked about the "Mustang" and other assorted flying stories - then I looked closer at his name tag on his Air Force flight suit: William "Bill" Anders.

I asked, "Are you related to the Bill Anders that flew F-89's at Hamilton Air Force Base in 1958?" "Yes I am and I know him well." I asked: "Are you that Bill Anders"? "Yes, I am."

Good Grief!

I said, "You were my Flight Leader at Hamilton!" I was a Second Lieutenant and Bill was a First Lieutenant. Small world!

But that is only part of the story: As Paul Harvey says, "Now here's the rest of the story:"

Bill Anders later was associated with NASA and was the third Astronaut aboard Apollo Eight, the FIRST manned flight around the moon! They proved the strategy for the later lunar landings. Apollo Eight was particular risky because virtually everything in Apollo Eight was unproven, including the booster rocket - which had a nasty history of failure. Additionally, if ANYTHING didn't work as planned, everyone would be lost! No rescue was possible! Fortunately, it all worked beautifully. (An interesting note: The Russians thought Apollo Eight had less than a 20% chance of success and was nothing more than a "stunt.")

After attaining the rank of Major General, in the Air Force, Bill later went on to be CEO of General Dynamics Corp., on of the largest corporations in the world.

Later we talked about the Ravens and he wanted to get together with me later to learn more about the Ravens ... Unbelievable!