Author: Diana Hughes

Special thanks to everyone joining us in Huntsville today for the official public announcement of the Alumni Advancement Board and the launch of the Indiegogo crowdsourced fundraising effort to bring the Grumman Gulfstream II Shuttle Training Aircraft to Shuttle Park at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

You can read the full announcement but these were the words that meant the most to us:

Barnhart also announced the formation of the new 10-member Space Camp/Aviation Challenge Alumni Advancement Board, which is being led by Chairman John Ramsey. A first-generation Space Camp graduate from the 1980s, Ramsey said the G-II aircraft was an ideal first project for the new alumni board.

Join us July 28 – August 3 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the “world’s greatest aviation celebration,” at EAA AirVenture! We invite the alumni community to join us in Oshkosh, as an attendee of EAA AirVenture or as one of our many volunteers for the week of air shows, warbirds, precision aerobatics, vintage aircraft…and Space Camp! That’s right, Space Camp, Aviation Challenge, Robotics Camp and, of course, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center will be featured on the grounds at EAA AirVenture this year and we cannot do it without you. If you are in the area or traveling for the event, please consider volunteering with the Alumni Advancement Board.

The United States Air Force’s F-16 was designed to push the edge and challenge conventional combat assumptions at a time when air-to-air missiles were meant to reign supreme. Aviation Challenge and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center is home to a 1978 model F-16. This year the Alumni community came together with the Space Center to restore this aircraft to a condition befitting its military service. As we began to seek support for restoring the Aviation Challenge aircraft, the 187th Tactical Fighter Wing, based out of Dannelly Field in Montgomery, AL, reached out with the desire to assist the project, making a request to change the livery of the aircraft. Currently, the 187th Tactical Fighter Wing is home to the 100th Fighter Squadron – the Red Tails. The 100th Fighter Squadron has been activated and retired a number of times throughout history. In 2007, the Alabama legislature requested of the Air National Guard Bureau that the 160th Fighter Squadron be re-designated as the 100th Fighter Squadron in honor of the famous Tuskegee Airmen’s Alabama heritage. It was agreed and executed in September of 2009. To celebrate the revival of the 100th, the squadron’s F-16s (C and D models) were painted with a bright red tail and white lettering and logos to echo the designs used on the WWII era P-51 Mustangs. This livery was used for only one year. Currently, the 100th uses a lower profile red stripe with the word “Alabama” in white letters at the top of the vertical stabilizer. This Spring, we collaborated with the U.S. Air Force to receive special permission to refurbish and paint the F-16 at Aviation Challenge in the famed red colors of the Tuskegee Airmen. PPG Industries came forward to support the project by providing the paint, namely the notorious bright red of which the Tuskegee Airmen are famed. Over the past two months, countless staff and volunteers from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Space Camp Alumni Association, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame contributed their Saturday mornings to restore the aircraft, construct a new concrete pad, and relocate to a new home in front of the Aviation Challenge Bubble. At present, the current Red Tail team is currently deployed and flying in Afghanistan – we have been fortunate to have a few of the active team participate in this project prior to that deployment. The Red Tails are an endless source of inspiration for aviators around the world and that’s what we try to do every day at Space Camp and Aviation Challenge — inspire the next generation. We are doing it for the original Tuskegee Airmen, to honor their pivotal role in military aviation history and anchor the Red Tails story at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in their home base in the state of Alabama. Join us, and five of the surviving original Tuskegee Airmen, for the dedication of the F-16 Red Tail commemorating Alabama’s Tuskegee Airmen at the Aviation Challenge Facility – U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, on Saturday, August 9, 2014 at 10 a.m. Celebrate with us as we honor the Tuskegee Airmen, who served our nation as fighter pilots, instructors, suppliers and mechanics during World War II, and as inspiration for generations since.   Spit fire!   A few pictures of the progress before the full unveiling: