(1)
Capt. Terese Barta, Stevens Point Composite Squadron commander, and 2nd Lt. Patricia Miara, the Eau Claire Composite Squadron’s public affairs officer, use L-Tronics Little L-Per to track an emergency locator transmitter signal from a plane in the field.
Photo by Capt. Jeri Gonwa, Wisconsin Wing
(2)
Cadet Airman Jon Cherwin of the Sheboygan Composite Squadron logs in radio communications.
Photo by Capt. Jeri Gonwa, Wisconsin Wing
(3)
Four members of the Kenosha Composite Squadron – (from left) Cadet Senior Airman Christian Ott, Senior Member Michael Marshall Jr., Maj. Michael Marshall Sr. and Cadet Airman 1st Class Edgar Martinez – check their assignments.
Photo by Lt. Col. Denese Helgeland, Wisconsin Wing
(4)
Lt. Col. Jerry Krueger of the Timmerman Composite Squadron, incident commander for Monday, logs in the day’s activities.
Photo by Capt. Jeri Gonwa, Wisconsin Wing
Capt. Jeri Gonwa
Public Affairs Officer
Wisconsin Wing
WISCONSIN – Members from the Wisconsin Wing and throughout Civil Air Patrol completed a successful 15-day recautionary search and rescue mission Wednesday in support of the EAA AirVenture Fly-in at Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport, conducting searches for 30 overdue aircraft, logging thousands of incoming and outgoing planes and carrying out other responsibilities.
AirVenture, the world’s largest fly-in, draws some 10,000 aircraft into Oshkosh and its surrounding airports annually. Every summer, members from across the Wisconsin Wing provide assistance, along with other CAP members participating in Blue Beret, a National Cadet Special Activity.
Four CAP aircraft flew 26 precautionary air patrols during the mission, totaling more than 50 hours in the hour as they monitored for electronic locator transmitter signals. Four such beacons were detected and silenced – considerably fewer than last year.
Ground teams and supporting air crew were placed strategically around the 50-mile radius of Wittman Regional to facilitate a quick response should an emergency arise. This year’s mission was expanded by a 15-mile radius, covering four major airports in the Oshkosh area.
An average of more than 100 CAP members were assigned daily during the mission, which began July 18.
The Wisconsin Wing’s Mobile Command Center monitored all communications within the mission and also watched the weather for any approaching storms. The summer has been unusually hot and dry, but more than 3 ½ inches of rain fell during the AirVenture.
Seaplane Base, on Lake Winnebago, was marred with mud holes in low spots, and choppy waters with whitecaps resulting from high winds forced the bay to be temporarily closed to seaplanes. The planes were diverted to an island two miles north where the waters were a little calmer, but even so one pilot landed his plane rather hard, setting off the ELT.
After the signal was set off, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center contacted CAP to help locate the source. Sheboygan Composite Squadron members who were staffing the Seaplane Base immediately sprung into action when contacted by the Incident Command Post.
Most ELTs that were heard this year simply disappeared when an air or ground crew searched for them. Since these were heard at airports, members believe that pilots, not knowing their beacon were triggered, simply flew on to another destination.
