Model Airplanes

Now 94, Ray Shewfelt clings to a life he once lived — piloting some of history’s most important bomber planes — by surrounding himself with books on aviation and model airplanes.

For most of a 27-year military career, he flew around the globe as an Air Force pilot.

During one stretch, the B-52s he commanded carried payloads with the potential to destroy millions of lives.

“It wasn’t a job. It was a way of life,” Shewfelt said.

He joined the Army in World War II, transitioned to the Air Force and remained on active duty long enough to serve alongside his son in Vietnam.

He recently sat down with The News-Journal in his home in Oak View Suites, an assisted-living apartment in John Knox Village, and shared some of the lighter moments that accompanied the weight of the Cold War.

A CHILDHOOD DREAM COME TRUE

Born in 1920, Shewfelt grew up in Chicago, where his father served in the 131st Illinois Infantry of the Army National Guard. His room, he suggested, likely wasn’t much different than his room today: Filled with model airplanes and books.

One year, his father’s boss took him on an airplane ride, cementing his passion for aviation.

By 13, he moved to Odessa, north of Tampa, in Pasco County, where he graduated from Gulfport High School in New Port Richey.

But he didn’t have the money or the education to learn to fly a plane.

Shewfelt did, though, gain a love interest when a rookie schoolteacher named Leila Turner Clark a couple of years

Article source: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20150111/NEWS/150119890?Title=PILOT-OF-PEACE-Orange-City-retiree-flew-nuclear-bombs-near-the-U-S-S-R-as-part-of-Cold-War-deterrence

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WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. – Aircraft enthusiasts have a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with several historical aircraft at the New England Air Museum’s “Open Cockpit Day.” Up to 10 vintage aircraft will be open for visitors to check out all day on Sunday, Jan. 18 at the Windsor Locks museum.

This will be the first Open Cockpit Day for new New England Air Museum Executive Director Jerry Paul Roberts.

The aircraft opened for “Open Cockpit Day” will include the Vietnam-era “Huey” helicopter, the North American F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter, the Coast Guard HH-52 rescue helicopter, the Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon, the Lockheed F-104C Starfighter, and more.

The Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon, on loan from the Coast Guard, is one of the museum’s newest aircraft. It is a military derivation of the Falcon 20 business jet. The aircraft performed search and rescue, law enforcement, marine environmental protection and military readiness duties. The HU-25s have been phased out as of 2014.

Visitors can also check out the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, the heaviest single-engine, single-place fighter built in its time. It was used frequently in World War II. The museum’s aircraft wears the colors of the 65th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, a Bradley Field unit which went to combat in North Africa, Italy and Germany.

In addition to the open aircraft, the Wings Wheels Modelers Club will present a plastic scale model show featuring hundreds of model airplanes,

Article source: http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/01/air_museum_to_host_open_cockpi.html