New Air Ambulance Service Helicopter Stops at St. Louis Downtown Airport

By Carmelo Turdo

Jefferson Regional Medical Center-based air ambulance, a Bell Helicopter 206-L4 Long Ranger, stopped in at St. Louis Downtown Airport today.  In service since November 10, the aircraft is operated by Air Medical Services of Glendale, AZ and serves primarily Jefferson County, MO.  It also shares air ambulance duties with Arch and Air Medical Life Team in the St. Louis and Metro East Illinois area. 

Company Profile: Sabreliner Corporation

By Carmelo Turdo

Sabreliner Corporation continues to thrive as a diversified aviation services company that supports current and older aircraft maintenance, refurbishment and remanufacturing needs for civil and governmental customers. Since its success with the Rockwell Sabreliner line of business and military jets, Sabreliner has become a premier supplier and subcontractor to Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Bombardier Aerospace, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Sikorsky Aircraft as well as the U.S. military. Sabreliner is headquartered in Clayton, MO and has facilities in Perryville, St. Mary and Ste. Genevieve Missouri.

In Perryville, Sabreliner services U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters, U.S. Air Force C-21 Learjets, U.S. Navy T-39, T-34 and T-44 trainers, and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft for civilian customers. In Ste. Genevieve, Sabreliner provides maintenance for flight control components for the Air Force KC-135 and the Navy E-6B. Also, replacement components are made for KC-135 rudders and E-3 Sentry elevators as well as center wing assemblies for the P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft flown by the U.S. Navy, other U.S. agencies and allied governments. In St. Mary, the company also fabricates sheet metal assemblies for Bombardier's production of long-range Challenger business jets and makes assemblies, sub assemblies and components for Sikorsky helicopters.  

Sabreliner will provide special vintage paint jobs for selected U.S. Navy aircraft during the 2011 celebration of the Centennial of U.S. Naval Aviation.  Check back in the future for more photos as they become available.  Go to http://www.amv83.fr/Navycag/centennial.htm for a preview.

For more information about Sabreliner Corporation, visit http://www.sabreliner.com.

(Portions of this post were provided by the Sabreliner public website)

Navy T-34C at the Perryville Plant (Mark Nankivil Photo)

EAA 64 Members Pitch In to Beautify and Repair Historic Hangar 2 at St. Louis Downtown Airport

Historic Hangar 2 at St. Louis Downtown Airport is getting a face lift by members of EAA Chapter 64. Curtiss-Wright Hangar 2, completed in 1930, is home to EAA 64 and the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum. Please join me in thanking EAA 64 for their hard work - painting hangar doors and entrance doors and rebuilding a portion of the roof. 

BD-5 Microjet Returns to Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum Today

The BD-5 Microjet returned to its hangar at the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum today.  Here are some scenes from the delivery - come to the museum to see it in person!

Newly Refurbished BD-5 Microjet Set to Return to Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum in Cahokia This Week

By Mark Nankivil

A BD-5 Microjet will soon arrive at the Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum in its new red, white and blue paint scheme. The aircraft, donated by Mike Kohnen, was refurbished and painted by members of the 126th ARW sheet metal shop at Scott AFB. Mark Nankivil, VP of the Museum, commented, "What a great bunch of guys and what a simply wonderful job they did...If I did not know better, I'd say they went and bought a different one and painted that! I cannot tell you enough how truly great a job they did in restoring this!"

The aircraft should arrive later this week at the Museum, located at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia, IL. Visit this site again for more photos of the arrival and later display of this beautiful aircraft.

McDonnell Planetarium Director and X-Prize Board Member Gregg Maryniak Speaks About Energy From Space

By Carmelo Turdo

Mr. Gregg Maryniak, Director of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium (St. Louis Science Center), X-Prize Board Member, Vice Chairman of the Lindbergh Foundation and veteran pilot addressed students and faculty at the University of MO-St. Louis Friday, November 12. In his presentation, "Can Space Save the Earth," Mr. Maryniak presented conventional and experimental methods of addressing current and future human earthly energy needs. He expertly addressed ways of using technology to obtain the additional resources needed for projected increased energy production. The U.S. space program, Mr. Maryniak explained, began with the four words, "To Beat the Russians." It now can be summed up with the phrase, "To Save the Earth." The point here is that the needs of the earthly population need to be cooperatively addressed, and energy production from space is one area in which many nations can contribute. The earth-moon system is the key to future space exploration, and the moon, with its lower gravitational forces and oxygenated soil, offers a logical base of operations, such as moving toward mineral-rich asteroids. 

First Slide Illustrates Mr. Maryniak's Various Responsibilities 



Energy generation using large solar array satellites is an emerging technology that can directly impact life on earth. The generation of energy for developing countries will eventually consume so much fossil fuel that real impacts on the biosphere will make life difficult for human existence.  Using large solar arrays that transfer energy through microwaves to collectors on earth is a feasible alternative, provided that the hardware will eventually be developed and positioned in high earth orbit. Mr. Maryniak has been instrumental in encouraging private industry to develop the technology to achieve such lofty goals. As a member of the X-Prize Foundation, he has worked to establish several competitions to produce private suborbital space flight, lunar robotic exploration and high efficiency cars.The key to success in the development of new methods of addressing global issues is risk management, he said, and the blending of private investment with governmental support is the best way of encouraging additional participants. Future X-Prizes will continue to encourage this activity.

Additional information on these and related topics may be obtained from these sites:

St. Louis Science Center: http://www.slsc.org/WhatToDo/Planetarium.aspx

The X-Prize Foundation: http://www.xprize.org/

AH-1G Cobra on Display at VFW Post 5077 in Wentzville, MO

Florissant Veterans Day Celebration Includes Blackhawk Display at Florissant Valley Park

St. Louis Veterans Day Parade Includes Salute to Aviation