COMMEMORATIVE AIRFORCE IN ABILENE, TEXAS

 Bobby and I went to the Phi Delta Chi crawdad supper which was held at the Commemorative Air Force hanger right outside of Abilene at the Elmdale Airport.  Bill Masters was good enough to show us around the facilities.  Mr. Masters joined the Army Air Force in 1945 when he was only 17, and he is still flying today.  I know that is what keeps him so young.   He said during WWII there were three levels of training: primary, basic and advanced.  The CAF has two of these training planes.

Mr. Masters is standing by the 1941 North American SNJ-2.  This is the advanced trainer plane with 600 horses.  It was armed and carrier qualified--this is the last plane that a pilot flew before getting into a bigger combat plane to go into battle.

Below is the 1941 basic trainer by Consolidated Vultee.   This plane had 450 horses and was not armed, but used to teach instrument flying.  A hood was placed around the pilot so all he could see were the instruments while flying with an instructor.

After we looked these planes over we went in the hanger to see a one-of-a-kind flying machine.  The plans for this little number came from France, but it was put together here in the US.  This looks like it would be scary fun to fly.

I like the old 1945 ambulance.

 The CAF members built and maintain the facilities here.  I am not sure when the name change occurred, but this used to be the Confederate Air Force.

Thanks to all the hardworking members for maintaining our proud history, and for their service to our country.

MUDBUGS IN ABILENE!

I was counting the days until I could go to a sea food supper right here in Abilene with my husband, Bobby.  He had to go  to a bid meeting in Cheyenne on Wednesday, and was scheduled to be back on Friday, so everything was going to work just fine.  Cheyenne had snow Wednesday night, but I wasn't worried.  This was just one of those spring storms and the sun would be out the next day.  NOT!  Bobby couldn't get a flight out on Friday.  I had my fingers crossed Saturday morning, and thank the Lord, he got a flight to Denver, and was #1 on standby out of Dallas to Abilene.  He made it with a few hours to spare, and we did get to go to the crawdad feed out at the Commemorative Air Force hanger.

Brianna Chesser and the gang planned the event as a fund raiser for their Texas Tech Pharmacy School fraternity.

There were all kinds of opportunities for drawings.  These students have been busy contacting businesses for donations.

Delilah brought her dog to help, and he licked her friend's face just as I took the photo.  I asked Delilah what they were going to use all this money for, and she said part of it would go to their charity, St. Jude's, and then the rest will be used for educational conferences.

I just had to get a picture of that blue eye!

There was a good crowd, and these are just a few of the participants--crawdads are sort of a novelty out here in West Texas.

Bobby Stanaland enjoying the refreshments before the supper.

The cooks are James Fountain and Craig Chesser.  Craig is over safety at the Troy Construction office in Abilene, and James has a restaurant called Oceanwide Seafood at Nellysford, Virginia.  He is also a wholesaler for other restaurants.

The weather was beautiful and the music was fine.

The food was yummy!  Thanks Phi Delta Chi; I think you need to make this an annual event.