How about, “Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder”?

Nope, the Air Force doesn’t have an official motto, such as the Marines’ “Semper Fi.” But then, the Navy doesn’t have one either, although it occasionally claims “Non sibi sed patriae” (Not self but country). The Army has three:

“This We’ll Defend,” the official motto. On recruiting posters the motto is “Army Strong” but at the U.S. Military Academy, it’s “Duty, Honor, Country."

The Coast Guard has one, “Sempter Paratus,” Latin for “Always Ready” or “Always Prepared.”

In the Air Force, there are many squadrons who have their own motto, of course. Our favorite is, “We were going by there anyway,” belonging to the 327th A /913 AW, Willow Grove ARS Station, Penn. “Peace is our Profession” belongs to the Strategic Air Command, bombers only.

So Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Carrol H. “Howie” Chandler has put out the word. He wants a motto for the Air Force, “an enduring and distinctive way to reflect the Air Force’s cultural identity and adapt to changing missions.”

“The intent is to create a phrase that captures the spirit of the Air Force, is inspirational, and serves as an enduring rallying cry for Airmen, from Airmen,”  Chandler said.

He approached the Air Force Ad Council in February, said Lt. Col. Clark Groves, the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs chief of opinion research and media assessment. The general directed the council to explore ways to gather Air Force-wide inputs to create a motto that distinctively captures what it means to be an Airman and to communicate what the Air Force represents.

“We're an all-volunteer, expeditionary Air Force at war,” Colonel Groves said. “Even while we maintain a wartime tempo, we must continue to attract, recruit, retain, educate, develop and unify our force.”

Air Force officials expressed confidence that the nearly year-long process to gather input from Airmen will yield worthy candidate mottos reflecting a research-supported sense of their unique military service identity.

And, they’re getting tired of the Navy calling them a country club with air planes.

The Air force the “input and research process” will soon yield a list of 10 candidate mottos that will go to a “rack-and-stack” preference test in a survey sent to thousands of Airmen throughout the Air Force. The commander of Air Education and Training Command will then present the final three selections at the upcoming CORONA hosted by the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., at the end of September (The Corona meetings happen three times per year and they allow Air Force senior leaders to come together for frank, open discussions and decision-making about the future of the Air Force, said Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force. )

“To be enduring, the motto must represent the essence of the Air Force culture,” Colonel Groves said. ”It must capture the Airman’s sense of what it means to be part of that culture, a sense of their Air Force identity.”

If there’s a prize for the winner, it wasn’t mentioned.

Members of the family of the now-deceased crew of a WW II Curtiss SB2C-4 Helldiver were on hand last month when the plane was raised from a San Diego lake known as the Lower Otay Reservoir.

The plane had crashed into the water on May 28, 1945 when Navy pilot E.D. Frazar of Texas and Army Sgt. Joseph Metz of Ohio were forced to ditch. The  Helldiver finally was lifted off the lake by crane Aug. 20th.

The tail was damaged and the was engine dangling off the front but to the Navy, the city of San Diego and the crew’s family, it was beautiful.

The discover began in February 2009 when fisherman Duane Johnson and Curtis Howard spotted the plane on Johnson’s electronic fish finder from his bass boat. He saw the outline of the plane and reported it.

Just over a year later, through the coordination of the City of San Diego, Navy, and the California Office of Historic Preservation and several attempts, the plane was brought up and will be sent to  the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla. for restoration and exhibition.

The museum’s foundation is paid an estimated $325,000 for the recovery and restoration.

Ensign Frazar was stationed at Brown Field, a Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) in San Diego.

On that May 28 Frazar and Army Technical Sergeant Joseph M. Metz went on a training exercise aboard the USS Wasp CVS-18. Frazar and Metz took off from the  Wasp and flew east toward the Lower Otay Reservoir to practice training maneuvers at 1,500 feet. While pulling out of a practice dive bombing run, Frazar encountered engine problems, the Navy said.

Frazar called out his mayday signal and then was able to belly land the aircraft without severely damaging the aircraft and he and Metz were able to climb out of the plane and swim to safety. The  Helldiver aircraft then sank 85 feet to the bottom of the  reservoir.

Among those on hand to see the plane emerge from the silt were Frazar’s son Richard and his daughter, Allison. He climbed up on the wing to recreate a photo of his dad from that long ago era.The two fisherman who discovered it were there as well as Metz’ brother, Joseph, 85.

Recovering the plane was no picnic as the silt was deeper than first thought and a pump broke. Divers called it “braille diving.”

A&T Recovery diver Keith Pearson told the San Diego Union Tribune, “This is the 38th plane we’ve recovered but this one was particularly challenging because of the zero visibility. I know every inch of this plane by feeling it in the dark down there.”

Nuts, eh?

It happened, although it ended in disaster.

In an attempt to give long range bombers fighter protection someone came up with the idea to have the F-84s connect to a B-29 and shut down their engines until they were needed.

There were several programs conducting such experiments, and one, called project MX-1018, was done with a B-29 mother ship and two F-84D “children.” It was code named appropriately “Tip Tow.”

The Tip Tow aircraft consisted of a specially modified EB-29A and two EF-84 Thunderjets. Believe it or not, a number of flights were conducted successfully,  using, first one, and then two F-84s.

The pilots of the F-84s maintained manual control when attached, with the roll axis maintained by elevator movement rather than aileron movement. Engines on the F-84s were shut down in order to save fuel during the tow by the mother ship, and in-flight engine restarts were successfully accomplished.

Wing flexibility of the B-29 as well as wing-tip vortices were concerns, and the mechanisms for attachment, as you would expect, required modifications. The first hookup of both F-84s with the B-29 occurred on the 10th flight on Sept. 15, 1950.

The longest flight with all connected was on Oct. 20, 1950, and lasted for two hours and 40 minutes, all with manual control of the F-84s.

Republic received an additional contract to continue the experiments by incorporating an automatic flight control system. As the modifications proceeded, additional test flights were made, including night flights, which must have been scary as hell for the jet jockeys.

The automatic flight control modifications were ready for testing in March 1953 and a number of hookups were made with only one or the other of the F-84s while attempting to sort continuing electrical issues.

On April 24, 1953, the left-hand F-84 hooked up and the automatic system was activated. The jet immediately flopped over onto the wing of the B-29 and both crashed with loss of all on board both planes.

The program was abandoned after that.

Thanks to Ross Diehl

Servicemembers deployed to Iraq will still receive hostile fire/imminent danger pay, hardship-duty pay and incidental expenses. Some servicemembers will qualify for family separation allowances.

Also, all pay for warrant officers and enlisted members is tax exempt, while officers are exempt from taxes for up to $7,611.30 each month they serve in a designated combat zone.

Troop levels in Iraq peaked at nearly 170,000 in 2007 during the height of the troop surge. Today combat operations there officially Sept. 1. Fewer than 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq until Dec. 31, 2011, to serve in an advise and assist role for Iraqi security forces.

Troop levels do not affect these special pays, said Eileen Lainez, the Defense Department spokeswoman for military personnel policy, diversity management and equal opportunity and readiness.

For some troops, the additional pay could mean as much as $680 a month, not including tax exemptions, while deployed to a combat zone.

The President deems what is and is not a combat zone, through executive orders. Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula were deemed combat zones in January 1991.

Afghanistan received the same designation Sept. 19, 2001.

In November 2000, Lt. Col. Carmichael was selected to fly the #3 position with 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, becoming the first female pilot to ever fly with the Snowbirds Aerobatic Team. Upon promotion to the rank of Major in 2001 and in her second year with 431 Squadron, she served as the team's Executive Officer.

The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels have never had a woman pilot but the Air Force Thunderbirds have had two. The first was Capt. (now Major) Nicole Malachowski, an F-16 pilot, was chosen in 2006. She was joined in 2007 by Capt. Samantha Weeks, who flew F-15Cs.

Both are now off the team on new assignments.

Lt Colonel Carmichael was born in QuÈbec City, QuÈbec in 1971. She began her career in aviation as an Air Cadet from 1984 to 1988. She enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1990 and completed pilot training in January 1994. She was selected to remain in Moose Jaw as a Flying Instructor with 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (2 CFFTS), where she was awarded the A2 instructional category and served as the School Operations Officer and Standards Officer.

She subsequently flew the Bombardier-Canadair CE-144 and CC-144 Challenger Aircraft with 434 Combat Support Squadron in Greenwood, Nova Scotia, and then with 412 Transport Squadron in Ottawa, Ontario, in the VIP transport role.

In November 2000, Carmichael was selected to fly the #3 position with 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, becoming the first female pilot to ever fly with the Snowbirds. Upon promotion to the rank of Major in 2001 and in her second year with 431 Squadron, she served as the team's executive officer.

In 2003, she was posted to 3 Wing Bagotville to serve as the Deputy Wing Operations Officer but returned to flying in 2007, this time on the Canadian C-130 Hercules, flying Tactical Transport missions.

This year, she was promoted and appointed as the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron's Commanding Officer. This new assignment will mark a return to 15 Wing Moose Jaw.

She has accumulated, to this day, over 3200 hours of flying time and is married to Major Scott Greenough, a fighter pilot with the Canadian Forces, and they have two daughters, Georgia and Danielle.

Although the Canadian Air Force has CF-18 Hornets, Lt. Col. Carmichael has apparently never flown one. The Snowbirds use the two-seat CT-114 Tutor in their nine-plane act.

The Russian Mi-17 helicopter is a workhorse transport aircraft seen as versatile and easy to maintain.

Maybe that’s why the U.S. has spent more than $800 million over the past several years to buy them; a single Mi-17 costs around $12 million, according to the State Department. The helicopters are mostly used for airlifting troops and equipment to fight insurgents in remote regions.

But the buying of foreign military aircraft may not stop there: the Obama administration’s recent lifting of sanctions against Russia’s state arms exporter could boost orders for Russian aircraft from the U.S. military. As part of its effort to equip the militaries of Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, the Pentagon has in recent years been snapping up helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from the arsenals of its former Cold War rivals, including Russia.

The goal is to help the three countries build air forces that are rugged, affordable and easy to operate. Washington sanctioned Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state arms dealer, in 2006 for its dealings with Iran, and lifted those restrictions in May as part of an effort to win Moscow's support for new Iran sanctions.

However, U.S. lawmakers are complaining about a lack of oversight of the procurement process and asking the military to consider buying more American-made aircraft. A Department of Defense spokeswoman said the Pentagon had received “several inquiries” from lawmakers about the purchase of Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, adding that the department issued a report to Congress in March addressing the issue.

“Analysis conducted by [U.S. Central Command] in 2005 identified the Mi-17 as the most cost-effective means - at the time - for addressing the operational requirements of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan,” the spokeswoman said.

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) reached a historic milestone with the success of its 200,000th trap on its flight deck July 13.

Lt. Ben Hartman and Lt. Ian Hudson, attached to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129, said they were honored and surprised to learn they got the 200,000th trap.

Cakes were presented in Wardroom III to the aviators who landed the EA-18G Growler, and in Arresting Gear Room 4, to the Sailors manning the V-2 engine room who manned the arresting gear for the landmark trap.

"It feels good to be part of Carl Vinson’s history. It's a new community we’re apart of, so everything is new and exciting,” said Hudson. “It takes 25 years plus to accumulate 200,000 traps on an aircraft carrier.

“It’s really surprising we got the 200,000th.”

The aviators expressed how proud they were to be manning the aircraft, but also recognized the Sailors who made the monumental achievement possible.

“It definitely feels good, but it’s more of a testament to the guys working on the flight deck and the arresting gear. They’re the ones working hard all day every day,” said Hartman.

“This is a testament to the kind of Sailors we've had working this flight deck for the past 28 years,” said Cdr. Richard Wiley, Carl Vinson’s air department head. “Two-hundred thousand traps means we've done it right, and we’ve done it safely for a long, long time.

“Carl Vinson, also known as the ÔGold Eagle,’ has built a legacy of excellence, and it’s been built by the Sailors we had out there today and the men and women who served before them.”

Both South Korea and Israel are showing interest in a new stealth version of Boeing’s classic F-15 fighter called the F-15SE1 “Silent Eagle.”

Both nations already have conventional versions of the F-15 in their air force inventories. The Silent Eagle, which is a stealth version of the F-15, was designed to supplement American tactics until the F-35 is finally up and flying, if ever, plus be sold to allied nations.

The modified version of the fighter/bomber uses new radar absorbing coatings, canted vertical tails and weapons bays inside the aircraft body to reduce its radar signature.

Boeing is marketing the Silent Eagle as a less expensive and more immediately available alternative to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II, especially to those countries who are in line for their own F-35s, which is years behind schedule and costs are expected to top $120 million each - some experts say much more.

Boeing says its list price for the F-15SE including spare parts and training is about $100 million. The F-15SE is planned to be available two years or so before the F-35, match the stealthiness of the F-35 when viewed from the front, but likely to have a larger radar profile when viewed from the side or from the ground.

The new fighter will be built in Boeing’s St. Louis plant.

The military said there is not enough time to add a substitute pilot for the rest of the eight air shows across the country and in California.

The Hornet jet crashed and was destroyed on July 23 during a practice session for the Alberta International Airshow in Lethbridge.

Pilot Capt. Brian Bews ejected from the aircraft and is currently recovering from a back injury. He is expected to make a full recovery but isn’t expected to fly for several months.

“It is unfortunate we will not be able to finish the season, but we simply cannot and will not rush the preparation of another demo pilot,” Brig. Gen. Richard Foster, acting commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, told the local media.

Col. Holloman continued to serve during the Korean War and became the Air Force’s first black helicopter pilot. He went to war again in Vietnam.

A St. Louis native, he volunteered for and graduated from an all-black aviation training program at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Ala. Col. Holloman flew a P-51 Mustang as part of the 99th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group from a base in Italy to targets in Germany, Austria and Eastern European countries in 1944 and 1945.

He flew 19 combat missions, including escorting bombers and bombing and strafing enemy targets. After World War II, he worked in South America and flew small commercial planes in Canada. Later as an Air Force reservist, he was called back to active duty for tours during the Korean War and in Vietnam.

It was during that time he switched services and joined the Army. After he retired in 1972 from the Army, he continued to serve his country by teaching younger generations about how the war and aviation intersected in a way that helped end racial separation.