Phantom Jet at St. Louis Regional Airport Getting New Paint Job During Restoration Project

By Carmelo Turdo

The Phantom jet on display at St. Louis Regional Airport received most of its new paint job during a fair weather spell over the weekend. Following the application of the primer coat on Friday, the three-color Southeast Asia camouflage paint scheme was clearly in evidence by Sunday afternoon. The aircraft, F-4C Phantom II serial number 63-7491, has been on display near the airport tower and restaurant since 1993. It is shown here receiving its second paint treatment since then by Joe Steimann, a USAF veteran airframe specialist who has restored this and other display aircraft in the region. Further work on the nose radome, trim and pedestal will continue for several more weeks.  

The Aero Experience Visits Missouri and Arkansas Sites on Spring Road Trip

By Mark Nankivil and Fred Harl

The Aero Experience team went on a springtime road trip in March, making several stops to visit static aircraft displays and airports in Missouri and Arkansas. 

The Midwest is replete with aviation monuments and memorials to our military veterans, and we always make the effort to find them as we travel. First, we feature F-4E 66-0315 on display at the veterans memorial located in Monett, MO. The memorial was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Monett, and features a Phantom jet once flown by the USAF Thunderbirds. 

Another aircraft static display was found at Rogers Municipal Airport, AR. F-101B Voodoo 58-0329 and an unmarked UH-1 Iroquois helicopter are prominently displayed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

One of the airports we visited during the trip was Drake Field near Fayetteville, AR. Featured here are a Bombardier CRJ700 flying as Elite Airways and an Embraer Phenom 300 light business jet.

Another stop on the trip, Ft. Smith Regional Airport, AR, offered a sighting of an F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA-105, NAS Oceana, VA. The jet was on a cross-country flight back to NAS Oceana from NAS Fallon, NV. Also, a Bell 407 from AirCare Medevac landed not far away.

The Aero Experience will have more coverage from other Midwest Aviation locations coming soon!

Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum Hosts School Field Trip

By Carmelo Turdo

The Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum hosted about 100 City of St. Louis School District students, teachers and parents today as they visited while on a tour of several southwest Illinois educational sites. The students rotated through the exhibit stations, including aircraft and trainers in the museum hangar, the St. Louis Downtown Airport Fire Department's Panther 6X6 Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Vehicle, the museum's Lockheed JetStar once owned by Howard Hughes, and Bob McDaniel's Cessna 172 aircraft. The museum wishes to thank Bob McDaniel for organizing the Young Eagles events we featured here this week, and for flying in early this morning to display his aircraft to the visiting students. His presence today was especially appreciated, as McDaniel's aircraft resembles one featured in literature recently studied by the students.  

The Aero Experience thanks the museum and the airport staff for making this educational experience for these students possible. Here are some views of today's visit.

Parks College Hosts Aviation Summer Academy This Week

By Carmelo Turdo

Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology hosted over twenty high school juniors and seniors from around the country for the annual Aviation Summer Academy this week. Students checked into their St. Louis University residences on Sunday and toured the Aviation Science facilities on campus. The week's activities included simulator training and flights in the Parks College training aircraft at St. Louis Downtown Airport. The students received instruction and practical experience in navigation and flight planning, aircraft pre-flight inspection, air traffic control, aerodynamics, unmanned flight operations, and aviation industry management. Another Aviation Summer Academy will be held in July.

The Aero Experience is pleased to support programs that encourage the promotion and expansion of Midwest Aviation. Parks College, founded by Oliver Parks as the first federally certified school of aviation in the U.S. in 1927, continues to provide aviation education and flight training in the St. Louis area. We accompanied the students on several activities, with permission from St. Louis University program staff, to highlight some of the week's activities. 

On Monday, students met at the Parks College Center for Aviation Science at St. Louis Downtown Airport to begin flight simulator training and pre-flight inspection procedures of the Diamond training aircraft.      

The Aero Experience joined the Aviation Summer Academy students again Thursday for three activities at St. Louis Downtown Airport. The students visited the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum from 11 a.m. to noon. The museum contains a rich collection of aviation and space memorabilia, aircraft and pilot trainers directly related to the St. Louis and Metro East IL aviation community. The students enjoyed sitting on the refurbished F-4 Phantom II jet cockpit and visiting the Lockheed JetStar business aircraft, once owned by Howard Hughes.

The next stop for the day was a tour of the airport fire department facility, hosted by Firefighter Terry Bowman. The students were given a behind-the-scenes look at the emergency response operations room, crew quarters, and the rescue vehicles in the main bay. Firefighter Bowman opened all of the panels on the Rosenbauer Panther 6X6 Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Vehicle to show the water and foam pumping systems, along with the portable rescue equipment, all designed for use by only one or two firefighters. Response time of less than three minutes, from alarm to spraying an aircraft, are achieved in regular drills. Also featured here is the Mass Casualty Response Team supply trailer available for use by the airport and neighboring fire protection districts. And yes, there is a pole from the second floor to the vehicle bay!

The third activity for the day at the airport took place back at Parks College flight operations, where the fire station tour group members (above) began their short cross-country flights to neighboring airports (the first group was returning from their flights). Parks College Certified Flight Instructors flew the students in the fleet training aircraft, which include the Cirrus SR-20, Piper Seminole, Piper Arrow and Diamond DA-20. Much of the knowledge gained during the week about flight planning, air traffic control, and navigation was synthesized during this flight experience.

 

  

The Parks College Aviation Summer Academy provided opportunities for high school junior and senior level students from all over the country to receive a well-rounded introduction to the aviation field. The Aero Experience thanks the staff and those students featured here for allowing us to share this great Midwest Aero experience!