Pell City Composite Squadron 118Alabama Wing Civil Air Patrol

Flight Log

Volume 1, No. 5 Inside this issue: Commanders Corner Christmas Dinner Invitation Calendar CAP Trivia Veterans Day Event Safety Corner

December 2010

Commanders Corner
From the Commander:

The Holiday Season:

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Cadets Corner 8

Most of us look forward to this wonderful time of year. The holidays bring a time of joy and festivities that only occur this time of year. The air is cold and crisp. We spend time with close friends and family as we celebrate the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. These celebrations may be local or involve long trips to visit family and friends. We gather to celebrate our friendships and common goals with co-workers. We also gather as members of a great civic organization. It is truly a great time of year.

PAO Corner

Standards and 9 Evaluations Did You Know

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During this time of increased celebrations, we need to remain cautious. The days have gotten shorter. The weather is colder. Roadways may be contaminated with water or ice. Visibility may be reduced by fog or darkness. Many impaired drivers take to the road and create dangers for us all.

Cyber Patriot Program Mission Staff Article

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Let us remember the true reason for the season.

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It is my wish that everyone has a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.

Promotions and 12 Iron Man Photos

Jim Gosnell Commander AL-118

The Pell City Composite Squadron's Christmas Meeting

Thursday, December 9, 2010 6:00 p.m. at the Pell City Recreation Center
The Christmas Meeting has been moved to the Pell City Recreation Center due to construction at the airport. This meeting is open to: Pell City Composite Squadron Members: Current or retired Senior Members, Spouses or Guest; Cadets Members and Immediate family. Previous Cadet Members in College or Military, Spouses or Guest; Non-Members of Pell City Composite Squadron: Commander Invitation of CAP members or Individuals that have provided support to Pell City Composite Squadron. The dress for this meeting will be CAP Dress Uniform or other attire suitable for a Semi-Formal occasion. The meeting agenda consist of: Dinner Brief business Key Note Speaker The meat for the meal Main Course will be provided by Squadron 118 We are requesting all members attending bring at least one Large Vegetable Side Dish, and one of the following: Drinks, Bread or Dessert Please RSVP before December 1, 2010 and provide the following information: Name Number of people attending Vegetable you are planning to bring Drink Bread Dessert We are looking forward seeing you there. Jim Gosnell Commander Contrajim@aol.com 205.365.7298

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CALENDAR OF EVENTSDecember 2010

Sun
NO WESS CYCLE IN DECEMBER

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

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Happy Birthday Tony Bedford Cadet Mt. P.T.

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Happy Birthday Ellen Randolph

9 Squadron
Christmas Party 6:00 p.m. Pell City Recreation Center

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Happy Birthday Allison Howard

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14

15

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Testing and Leadership Blues and AE Current Events

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18

19

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Happy Birthday Brian Suggs

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NO CADET MEETING

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Merry Christmas!

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27

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Happy Birthday Jessica Lucy

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30

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New Years Eve

Notes: January WESS is Jan. 14-16 Maxwell

Newsletter Character Deadline for Development, Januarys Aerospace Newsletter and Drill BDUs

From Our Safety Officer

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CAP TRIVIA
Last Months WinnerDaniel L. Smith (Cadet Member)

Last Months Question: What phrase has been used by the military since the 1950s for visual searches or inspections. Answer: Using the Mark I Eyeball This months question: What legislation is pending in both houses of congress which involves Civil Air Patrol? The first cadet and senior member to send in their answer along with where they found the answer (do not use Wikipedia), will win a special prize chosen by the editor. Email your answer to:
BShurbutt@yahoo.com

Cadets Attend Annistons Veterans Day Ceremony

Cadets Brian Scott, Aleena Scott, and Rachel Shurbutt, along with Senior Members Jeannie Scott, Beth Shurbutt and Eddie Shurbutt attended Annistons Veterans Day Celebration. (Kaylee Scott also attended) There were four Pearl Harbor veterans in attendance who were also serving as grand marshalls in the veterans parade. Because of the numerous inquires about the Civil Air Patrol program, plans are being made for our squadron to be represented next year on a larger scale. Thank you, cadets and senior members, for representing us well!

From Our Safety Officer

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Safety:

Sometimes its hard to convince AL pilots that icing can be a problem. So, in our Nov 2009 Newsletter, I briefed you

on an incident involving a Cirrus SR22. The pilot and two passengers took off from BHM and were so severely iced up by the time he was over Childersburg that he ended up using his aircraft parachute and was found soon after lodged in some trees. He and his passengers were not seriously injured but it was a serious accident without a doubt. NASA tells us that Al has icing conditions about 20% of the time during the period of November through March. We are exposed to this hazard a lot less than our northern neighbors but NASA also says that our icing situations are more likely to be severe when they happen. Shortly after writing the November 2009 article, in early December of 2009, my crew and I, consisting of Rich Burke and Jon Garlick experienced a first-hand encounter with in-flight icing. We were to leave Pell City to attend a Saturday SAREX at Bessemer. We were supposed to arrive at EKY at 0800 with briefings to be held at 0900. There was a warm front moving through the area, conditions at takeoff were forecast as IMC with conditions improving to VFR later in the morning. Since the ground level temperature was right at freezing (0 degrees C), I was very concerned about icing conditions in the clouds. In fact, I called flight service (4) times over about an hour and a half period. There wasnt much flying activity in our area that early on a Saturday morning, so there were no pilot reports in our area. One pilot had reported a trace of ice near Montgomery at 9,000 feet. Since our flight was to be at 4,000 feet and well north of the pilot reporting, I didnt think that this report was relevant. After waiting a while to see what was happening to the front, the conditions at PLR started to clear and it appeared that the front was moving through on schedule. We departed PLR and flew through a few scattered clouds on our way to 4,000 feet. No ice was noticed in passing through these clouds and we continued on to Bessemer. Shortly before the time that ATC was to start giving me vectors to the ILS rwy 5 at EKY, we entered a bank of clouds and were IMC. Shortly after that, a few small droplets froze on the windshield and then started a gradual accumulation on the leading edges of the aircraft. The ice we observed could be classified as a combination of rime/clear ice. The OAT was 4 degrees C. The type is important because, as I will discuss later, there is one type of ice that is very severe. Once the icing was observed, I took the aircraft off autopilot and hand flew the rest of the way. We flew the ILS approach, broke out of the clouds at about 1,500 AGL and made a successful no-flaps landing. On the ground, we could see that the ice had covered the leading edges in about to 3/8 inches of rime/clear ice. There was no accumulation on the blades of the prop but there was some on the spinner. I didnt notice any adverse handling of the aircraft but I didnt do anything quick or suddenly either. We were the first aircraft to arrive at Bessemer but within about 20 minutes, two or three others arrived that had flown through clouds coming into EKY, and had encountered no ice at all. That shows how fickle the icing situations can be and why it is so hard to forecast and even harder for a pilot to determine if it will be a hazard to his flight. The above flight was into a slow building sort of icing and, as long as you can exit the situation in a short period of time, will rarely be fatal. There is a type that is a horse of a different color, freezing rain or FZRA on the sequence reports. This type, too, occurs most often in warm fronts and in a temperature range of 0 to 5 degrees C. Freezing rain has to have layers of air in just the right format. There must be a cold layer up high with moisture in the form of snow or sleet, an intermediate layer with above freezing temps, and a colder area below were the melted precip from the higher layer forms super-cooled droplets that are just waiting for a cold object (an airframe will do nicely) to spatter on and freeze into a clear layer. Even airliners with certified deicing systems have been known to succumb to this type of flash freeze situation. Maybe you have witnessed this type of icing on the ground known as an ice storm that brought down trees, power lines, and some buildings. A pilot must do everything possible to avoid flying into this type of icing and must immediately exit the area in the event he encounters it inadvertently. There is much more to learn on this topic, and a good place to start is to view Weather Wise; Precipitation and Icing on the www.asf.org web site. Stay Safe! Ron Harlan, 118 Safety Officer

REMINDER: Read the newsletter and receive a Safety Briefing Credit. Please email Ron Harlan at
reh1685@aol.com

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From Your P.A. O. Officer . . .

My job as PAO has opened many new and exciting opportunities for me. In November, I was invited to attend W.E.S.S. as PAO. My job was to photograph and video the various activities that were performed for that months cycle. Quickly I learned that my ideal camping location is the Holiday Inn and not unheated Army tents! Other than the frigid temperatures, I had a blast! Maybe they will invite me back in January. During the weekend of November 19-20, I found myself running over the hills of Auburn University to keep up with the teams participating in the annual Iron Man competition. In addition to meeting many new cadets and senior members, I got to see teamwork in action and was very proud of our cadets. Other than taking photos and editing the newsletter, the most fun part of the PAO job is seeing cadets learn and have fun! I have come to the conclusion that Pell City has some of the best cadets around, and Im so proud of them. On another topic, my husband recently received an email from one of our senior members asking for financial help. The email went into detail that while overseas, someone had stolen his wallet and he had no way of getting funds to buy a ticket back to the United States unless we sent money. Personally knowing this member, we were immediately suspicious of the email and contacted his wife who confirmed that it was a hoax and that his account had been hacked. Please contact a senior member if you ever receive an email that does not sound legitimate. Never give out ANY personal information through email or phone. The only time you should have to give your CAP ID # is when you sign on to E-Services. It is also very important that when in public, limit your conversations about CAP to general topics. Safety also is important when we are offering information either by mouth, texting, or email. Remember that you can access my photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethshurbutt/

CORE VALUES OF CIVIL AIR PATROL

Integrity Volunteer Service Excellence Respect

Civil Air Patrol www.gocivilairpatrol.com

Alabama Wing www.alwg.cap.gov

If you cant find the photos you are specifically looking for, please contact me. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: LTooney@cableone.net or BShurbutt@yahoo.com

Look for us on the Web: www.pellcitycap.org

Beth Shurbutt Here is a listing of the deadline dates for upcoming newsletters: December 28 (Januarys Newsletter) January 28 (Februarys Newsletter)

ALWG Mission Staff Information

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Mission Staff Assistant

Iron Man www.areyouanironman. com

Last month, I worked on my qualifications to become a Mission Staff Assistant (MSA). Here are the specifics as to the responsibilities of the MSA. First, you need to take the GES, CAPT 117, IS100 and IS700 exams that are found online through eservices and complete BCUT which is often offered at our local squadron. Then you need to get Commander's approval to begin training and to accomplish required tasks. I received most of my training by participating in mission base exercises much like the one that will be held this Sat., Dec. 4. According to the Mission Base Staff Task Guide, the following explains the MSA's job in a nutshell. 1. The MSA serves a much needed function at the mission base by providing support to the staff members. Although considered an entry-level position where many new members get their first experience on a mission, it is a position of importance to the successful completion of the mission. (Several MSA's can be used and needed for each mission.) 2. The MSA may be assigned to any of number of mission tasks, they may be an assistant to a staff member, they may be assigned to collect sign in information, prepare reports, post status information or keep other mission data posted or updated. These are all important tasks even though a new MSA may not immediately see the relevance of them. The MSA must insure that all personnel and resources get signed into the mission and that the information is legible. 3. Financial data. The MSA may be ask to compute the amount of money expended on a training mission or to be accounted to different task numbers on a disaster mission. On a training mission a certain amount of funds are assigned for that mission. Aircraft flight times, communications expenses, and fuel for aircraft and vehicles must be tracked so the allocated amount is not exceeded. On disaster missions, there may be more than one task number that different mission events need to be tracked against. 4. Reports. Depending on the type of mission, there are various reports required. As the MSA you may be ask to collect some of this data and assist in developing the reports. 5. One of the important positions the new MSA may be assigned to is the escorting of visitors to the mission base. This may be an assigned function, or may come about as a result of handling the sign in duties where people first arrive at the mission base. Some of these visitors will require special attention, and since the MSA might be the first person to meet them, he/she needs to understand what to do in each case. There are three types of visitors who the MSA might be the first to meet: the casual visitor, the relative (s) of the person or persons in distress, and the news media. They may try to get information from you or other members on the mission. Be polite, but do not allow this. ONLY the IO or Incident Commander will release information to the media. The best thing to do is to jump in and try it. It can certainly cause you to appreciate those who go out on missions. When you see what goes on at mission base, you can begin contemplating just where your own abilities can be best used. 1Lt Jeannie Scott

WESS Dates

January 1416 February 18-20 March 25-27 April 29 - May 1

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Cadets Corner . . .

Cadets Corner
By Capt. Cindy Bennett
November is almost over. This month and the previous ten have flown by. As usual November was full of events for the cadets. Starting the month was the second WESS training weekend on Nov 5-7. This weekend was colder so there were more gloves and scarves used. Remember the next WESS weekend will be in January, so be sure to check the weather again and dress appropriately. We will be at Maxwell AFB but we will at times be transporting between buildings on base by foot. During the weekend of Nov13 the Cyberpatriot Competition started for the open teams. We have two of our cadets that are members of an open team and as I was watching the ongoing competition I thought it was very interesting even though I didnt understand much of what was going on.

The Cadet Oath

I pledge that I will serve faithfully in the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program and that I will attend meetings regularly, participate actively in unit activities, obey my officers, wear my uniform properly, and advance my education and training rapidly to prepare myself to be of service to my community, state, and nation.

Helpful web sites:

The third weekend Nov 19-20 brought the annual Iron Man competition at Auburn University. Our Iron Man team consisted of team captain C/Capt Peter Randolph, C/CMSgt Daniel Smith, C/MSgt Nathan Bedford, C/TSgt Allison Howard, C/SrA Jessica Lucy, and C/ Amn Nathan Howard. We took two alternates C/CMSgt Wesley Morris, and C/Amn Andy Miller along with spectators C/CMSgt Jerrod Finlay and C/TSgt Allaina Howard. Once there the team members were checked in and sent to have vital signs reviewed. After all team members were checked out physically, they were sent to start the super duper physical training competition. We have some really good athletes, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and flex-arm hang along with a relay race tested each team member to do the best of their ability. After the PT testing was finished, the teams were allowed to hang out and watch other teams progress or start getting for uniform inspection and drill which was scheduled for Saturday morning. Saturday started early with uniform inspection, and drill maze, compass and DF course. Oh, yes lets not forget that yummy breakfast. . . . how many cadets actually ate that uh. . . oatmeal. That should have stuck with you all day. The afternoon brought the actual Iron Man race with its many stations and the activities. Do telephone poles and rope have anything in common. Do you have your ground to air/ air to ground signals memorized? How about those Aerospace and Leadership tests. Do you know who the Chief of the Air Force Is? Name three times that you stand and salute during a military funeral. Who is the SER commander for CAP? After all was said and done the winner of 2010 Iron Man competition was Bessemer Squadron, second place was Chilton County, and third place went to Baldwin County with a little help from Pell City. We supplied two of Baldwin Countys team members after they lost two of theirs at the last minute. C/CMSgt Jerrod Finlay and C/Amn Andy Miller were pulled onto Baldwin's team, so congratulations guys, Well Done! Also congratulations to Cadet Peter Randolph who promoted to Major in November. So the next time you see him, dont call him Captain Randolph! As we enter the holiday season, there are a lot of people out and about, please everybody be very careful, keep your situational awareness up and have a safe time at all activities you are involved in.

www.pellcitycap.org www.capnhq.gov www.gocivilairpatrol.com www.cadetstuff.org www.alabamaftx.com www.areyouanironman.com

??????Capt. Bennetts Trivia Question?????

What publication can the o-flight syllabus be found in and why is the syllabus important? Be the first to EMAIL your reply to: cbennett50@bellsouth.net

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Standards / Evaluations Corner . . .

S.A.
Ask a pilot what the abbreviation S.A. stands for and he will quickly say Situational Awareness. S.A. is extremely important when flying. While flying you need to be aware of not only what is going on with the aircraft but also what is around you and the aircraft, especially in front of the aircraft. This is a good trait to have in general. My wife says she always knows when I have been home because all the TVs are on the weather channel. I guess it is just a habit I have developed. I like to know what is over the horizon. That may mean what weather is waiting for me at my destination or what the surface on the runway is like when I get to my destination. Whenever I am preparing to land I dont just look at the length and width of the runway as that is only part of my S.A when landing. I determine which taxi-way I am going to take and which way I will be turning to get to the terminal or the FBO. If you can develop this habit now it will help you in all parts of your life. Try not to just move through life. Use all your senses. Start practicing now. Be aware of your surroundings and it will help keep you safe. This will make it harder for someone to surprise you. When driving a vehicle S.A. is also very important. We dont always know what other drivers will do, so be prepared for them to do the unexpected. Last February I lost S.A. on a very cold morning as I was driving on a back road going into Birmingham. The roads were fine with good traction. But as crossed a bridge I lost that traction as well as the control of my truck. Thanks to a concrete guardrail I did not plunge twenty plus feet into the creek below. But my truck was totaled. I was lucky not be seriously injured but it never would have happen if I had not lost S.A. Of course, we have more senses than just our sight. We can listen and smell and just that feeling on the back of our neck maybe trying to say, Hey! Dont lose S.A.. I was leaving the hanger the other morning it was very still and quiet. As I shut the door and headed to the aircraft I heard a nose that sounded like water running or a gas leak. I took a flashlight and started looking around. I found a water valve spraying water everywhere. I called the FBO and reported the leak. Later in the day I got a call from the airport manager asking if we had something using a lot of water in the hanger. I asked if he had checked his messages that day where I reported the leak. He had not. A lot of people are so caught up in what they are doing they have no idea what is going on around them. They seem to have no S.A. Dont let this be you. In providing the above examples of my own S.A (and sometimes lack of it) I hope this provides you an opportunity to review your own examples of S.A. (and sometimes lack of it). After all it is often said the hindsight has the benefit of 20/20 vision. I think we can use that to our advantage, to learn from it. So, my recommendation is that you develop (or improve) your S.A. now and it may save you or someones life some day! Maj. Chris Iddins AL Wing Assistant Stand/ Eval

Did You Know Corner . . .

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Did you know that if you get too cold that you can begin to suffer from an ailment called Hypothermia? Sure, most of you already knew that. Some of you have medical training and some of you have already gone through survival training at the Wing Emergency Services School. So for you, hearing what the signs of hypothermia are will be old news. But dont stop reading yet. You may learn something still.

Hypothermia is defined by Wikipedia as a condition in which core temperature drops below that required for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as 35.0 C (95.0 F). A healthy temperature is usually between 98 to 100 degrees. Anything cooler can cause hypothermia and anything warmer can cause hyperthermia (heat exhaustion or heat stroke.) The signs and symptoms of hypothermia vary and may be divided by the three stages of severity. Mild- Symptoms of mild hypothermia may be vague and include shivering, high blood pressure, fast heartbeat or breathing, or blood restriction. These are all physiological responses to preserve heat. Mental confusion, as well as Hypoglycemia may be present. Alcohol use and alcoholism typically increases the risk. Moderate- Low body temperature results in shivering becoming more violent. Muscle mis-coordination becomes apparent. Movements are slow and labored, accompanied by a stumbling pace and mild confusion, although the victim may appear alert. Surface blood vessels contract further as the body focuses its remaining resources on keeping the vital organs warm. The victim becomes pale. Lips, ears, fingers and toes may become blue. Severe- Difficulty in speaking, sluggish thinking, and amnesia start to appear; inability to use hands and stumbling is also usually present. Cellular metabolic processes shut down. Below 30 C (86 F), the exposed skin becomes blue and puffy, muscle coordination becomes very poor, walking becomes almost impossible, and the victim exhibits incoherent/irrational behavior. Pulse decreases dramatically but my increase in some cases. Now for the personal experience part. A couple of days before Thanksgiving I was sitting at the computer for a couple of hours in a cold draft. I began to shiver a little. After a few minutes, it was obvious that it was becoming worse and my jaws even began to clinch. Since I have arthritis my body doesnt flex like most people, so when I began shivering strongly, I also started experiencing a lot of pain. I remembered our survival training and put a jacket on and got into bed to try to bring my core temperature up. What I didnt do was get near a heat source to add warmth. (That turned out to be a mistake.) Since I continued to get worse, and my breathing was getting labored, I told my wife that I thought a trip to the emergency room was a good idea. I dont think I am old yet but, at age 55, I thought it better not to take a chance that this might progress into something worse. Getting into the warm van turned out to be the right thing to do. After only a couple of minutes, I stopped shivering altogether. After a few more minutes of feeling fine, I decided that a trip to the ER and all of those tests and spending the night being poked at was not what I wanted to do. So we returned home and all was well. You might ask yourself if I learned any lessons from this episode. You bet I did. First of all, sitting too long can cut off the blood flow. Sitting in a cold draft is a bad idea. Putting on more clothes doesnt do much to quickly raise your core temperature. Getting into a warm place is the best way to get warm. I also realized that my age and lack of recent exercise may have contributed to it. Then I got to thinking that our pilots may fly around for hours without being able to stand and let the blood flow. They may also fly in cold cockpits. It seems to me that if these conditions exist and a pilot was not in top health, he could experience the same symptoms that I did. There is a lot more to learn about hypothermia. You can find out all you need to know by searching the internet or by going to the Wikipedia site. Learn how to recognize, treat or prevent hypothermia. Believe me, it isnt a pleasant experience. So now you know. Eddie Shurbutt, 1Lt

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CYBER PATRIOT PROGRAMRound 1 C y b e r P a t r i o t R o u n d 1

Cyber Patriot is a National High School Cyber Defense Competition, open to all High School students. The competition began in February 2009 with just 8 teams but expanded to over 150 teams in last years competition. Cadet Brian Scott and Cadet Danny Smith both participated in the competition last year. This year there are 661 teams competing in two different divisions. Our Cyber Patriot team members are Cadet Allaina Howard, Cadet Brian Scott, Christian Hauser, Phillip Hauser and Taylor Lucy. Since all of our team members are not CAP members, we are in the Open Division of the Competition. Maybe next year we can have more CAP members interested to have an All Service Division team. On the Friday evening before the competition, I got a call that the internet was down. I had a plan B though. Then on Sat morning, my monitor quit working so I pulled out my nearly 10 yr old dinosaur monitor. I also found out that the internet was once again working. So we were back in business, ready to start. The competition lasts 6 hrs. Two hours into the competition, they crashed the virtual machine. Then, they recovered from the crash and were working on the last vulnerability when the clock ran out. (94% was our final score!) All in all, we had a blast! It worked the way it was suppose to work even w/ all the "distractions". Can't wait til Round 2 on December 11, 2010. 1Lt Jeannie Scott

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Cadet Promotions and Photos

Congratulations, Peter Randolph

Peter Randolph was promoted to Captain to Major during the month of November. Photos will appear in future newsletters.

IRON MAN 2010

Our Team: Nathan Bedford, Allaina Howard, Nathan Howard, Jessica Lucy, Peter Randolph, and Daniel L. Smith. Alternates were Jerrod Finlay, Andy Miller, and Wesley Morris.

(Left to Right) Randolph, Smith, Bedford, A. Howard, Lucy, and N Howard

Andy Miller and Jerrod Finlay (two on the right end) helped Baldwin County put together a team after they had some last minute cancelations.