Aviation Groups Gather at First Missouri Aviation Historical Society Meeting of 2018

By Carmelo Turdo

St. Louis area aviation groups gathered together to share their aspirations and projects planned for 2018 at the first Missouri Aviation Historical Society meeting of the year on Thursday at Creve Coeur Airport.  In a spirit of great cooperation, representatives of each group briefed the members and guests on their core missions and proposed event schedules for the coming year.  More importantly, each presenter noted the necessity for teamwork among the area aviation groups in an effort to make a positive impact on our region and state of Missouri.  The Aero Experience will participate in many ways to make 2018 a great year for Midwest Aviation with these excellent partners.   Check the links below for each group and look for our event coverage and stories featuring their contributions in the coming year.

Carmelo Turdo, The Aero Experience

Mark Nankivil, Greater St. Louis Air & Space Museum

Bob Dowgwillow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Mel Keith, Army Aviation Heritage Foundation

Bruce Scheidhauer, Boeing St. Louis History Council

Bob Lawrence, Commemorative Air Force MO Wing

Larry Corbin, Civil Air Patrol Gateway Squadron

CDR James Wong, Defense Contract Management Agency

Brian Lorenz, Fair St. Louis Airshow

Roger Mollman, Greater St. Louis Business Aviation Association

Al Stix, Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum

Dan O'Hara and Gary Liming, Missouri Aviation Historical Society

Christian Greer, St. Louis Science Center

Earl Robb, The Space Museum Bonne Terre, MO

Phil Bissonnette, Spirit of St. Louis Airshow and STEM Expo

Rena Schergen, Association of St. Louis Archivists

Daniel Gonzales, St. Louis Regional Historical Societies

Lee Rottman, National Museum of Transportation

Phil Liming, TriStar Experience

Students from the UMSL Transportation Club

A special attendance prize, a Navy Jack that was flown aboard a Boeing EA-18G Growler over St. Louis on December 14, 2017, was presented to the winner, Lee Rottman, by Commander James Wong and Captain Paul Filardi.

Canadian Fire Fighting Aircraft Make Stop at St. Louis Downtown Airport

By Mark Nankivil

Two Canadian CL-415 firefighting aircraft stopped at St. Louis Downtown Airport for a few days recently during a cross-country return flight to their base in Quebec, Canada. The CL-415 amphibious "Super Scooper" is a turbo-prop powered development of the piston-engine CL-215 series. This aircraft can continuously load water from a local source and deploy it on the fire site. It also has a foam injection system. Along with the powerplant upgrade, the CL-415 provides heavier load carrying ability, modern avionics and aerodynamic improvements over the 1960s-era CL-215. The Bombardier type certificates for the CL-215 and CL-415 aircraft are now owned and supported by Viking Air Ltd.

    

Kaman K-Max Deploys to St. Louis for Some Construction Work

By Mark Nankivil

A Kaman K-MAX (K-1200) crew assisted with some construction work today from a temporary base at Creve Coeur Airport. The K-MAX, operated by Rainier Heli International of Kirkland, WA is often used for heavy lift duties in the construction and logging industries as well as for aerial firefighting operations. It can lift a cargo hook capacity load of 6,000lbs, that being more than it's empty weight. Rainier Heli International, one of the Halvorson Family aviation businesses, also provides helicopter leasing and sales services.

Below is a sequence of photos taken from Creve Coeur Airport this afternoon as the K-MAX took off and went to work.

 

 

For coverage of K-MAX fire fighting operations, see an earlier story on The Aero Experience: The Aero Experience In Santa Fe: Airport Visit Yields Surprises.