Thank you for taking the time to comment on that brief period of
time in a long life. The flattery I’m experiencing is a gift from
you all, and that is important to me. By the way I answered a
direct mailing from Susan Fassett, so she was not included in this
series of observations and impressions response.

Just to clarify a couple of impressions, we did not do any
supersonic maneuvers. The explosive sound that was heard was in all
likelihood, the afterburner which is a loud and sudden explosive
acceleration which that engine incorporated. The solo pilots used
it more than us working guys in the formation, although it’s
possible anytime. On one of the South American shows we did in 1961
the President of Paraguay asked our lead to do a supersonic pass.
He explained that the shock wave might possibly break many windows
in the air terminal. The president said, “This is my country, and
those are my windows”. So the leader had the solo to open the show
with a boom. No windows were broken, but they had alot of tape
helping to withstand the shock.

What caused KC Sine to fall was not in the plan, but it happened
like this: As lead headed us toward Minot, I asked him permission
to do a slow pass down main street. I wanted to see if my folks
were at our store on main street. I was low and very slow with my
landing gear down. Unknown to me the other wing man pulled out of
the formation, got behind me a good distance then lit the
afterburner, accelerated to nearly 500knots, flew UNDER me as we
passed the bank on the corner. KC explained to me when Dad and I
went to apologize, he had that masterful fast paced dialogue with a
little swearing going on, telling me, that fast one was going to
kill him right in front of his store,etc, etc, then he ended his
tirade, he said, “hey kid, wanna banana?” I’d heard that many
years before that Sept day in 1961. What a piece of work that man
was.

There are Thunderbird reunions every other year in Las Vegas where
we get together with us oldtimers, and all the teams before and
after us, and are treated to a private air show by the current
team in their beautiful F-16 aircraft at Nellis AFB. This year it
was last month. The number of attendees from our earlier teams are
less and less, but it is like being in Dunseith at our famous
100th and125th Celebrations to see all the generations in
attendance, to give the heart a tug, and the mind a blast of
afterburner.

I did eject from the airplane I flew to ND about two weeks after
we had been there. It was not at a show, but during our arrival
maneuvers at a Navy Base in Rhode Island, I had the engine quit
running, tried some emergency airstarts, tried to position the
bird to make a dead stick (engine out) pattern, but was too low,
so ejected without injury, and flew the spare airplane in the show
the next day. The other one exploded in an empty field with no
damage to anything on the ground, except the dirt. I landed in a
tree and I was not as good a tree climber as I was down at Willow
Creek, but shoot.

I’m hoping someone can figure out the best way to get us in
computer contact on a regular basis. I can contribute $$, but my
brain power is limited.

Cheers and Happy New Year to you all, and thank you from my
heart. Bill Hosmer

Hi Gary and Cousin Bill,