Gary Vacin
A retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral will relate his journey to become a Navy pilot, a Rear Admiral, and an airline executive during a presentation at the Sun Lakes Aero Club gathering on March 16.
Scheduled for the Cottonwood Country Club Lecture Room, the session begins with camaraderie at 6:30 p.m., followed by the presentation at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
A 1967 graduate of the Naval Academy, James Schear received his Navy Wings in 1968 and found himself flying combat missions in Vietnam in 1969. His career included flying some of the most secretive and important missions in Vietnam and throughout the Cold War. Included were low-level night missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the South Sea and flights offshore North Korea and China that resulted in guided-missile radar lock-ons and fighter intercepts.
His aircraft was the Lockheed P-3 Orion, famed for anti-submarine warfare and ocean surveillance. The plane became a major factor in the U.S. Cold War victory.
Attendees will also hear some amusing anecdotes about call signs, how they originate, and why. Like it or not, that call sign is carried with you for life. Lots of his friends, he says, don’t even know his full given name, despite being named after two apostles.
Schear’s presentation will be the fifth in a series of aviation-related talks given at Aero Club gatherings. The final program on April 20 will feature Fred Buckwalter relating activities in preparation for the Artemis II Moon mission. The club’s activities will conclude with a picnic later in April.
Additional information on the Aero Club is available from Cannon Hill at 509-539-7857, Gary Vacin at 480-298-7017, or at the club’s website at www.sunlakesaeroclub.org.