This picture is out of sequence of what I have been posting the last two months. It is a tribute to 'Copper 5', the call sign of a KC-135A that crashed on 13 March 1982. 'Copper 5' was one KC-135A of a three-ship MITO (Minimum Interval Take-Off) that departed Sky Harbor IAP with a water-injection take off to the east. The three tankers flew to their respective refueling tracks and refueled military aircraft. After that task was done, KC-135A, tail number 57-1489, flew approaches to Luke AFB, AZ. The crew consisted of Major Truman Young, Jr., pilot; Lieutenant Colonel James N. Floor, co-pilot; Lieutenant Colonel Ted L. Beam, navigator; and Technical Sergeant Donald F. Plough, boom operator. Here is a narrative of what happened: The KC-135 was on an IFR flight plan and was returning to Luke AFB. The crew were carrying out a TACAN runway 3L approach. At the same time a Grumman-American AA-1 Yankee (N6160L) was in the area. The airplane had just departed from Phoenix-Sky Harbor Airport and was flying in a special traffic area where he was requested to be at or below 2000 feet. The AA-1 however, flew at 2500 feet skimming along the cloud base. The KC-135 descended through the cloud deck and collided with the AA-1. The empennage of the KC-135A separated. Control was lost and the airplane crashed inverted. The AA-1 crashed as well. Fatalities: 4 on the KC-135A, 2 on the AA-1. Time of crash: 10:51AM. PROBABLE CAUSE: 'VFR procedures-improper-pilot of other aircraft'. BTW, the pilot of the AA-1 was not instrument rated. Major Truman served on active duty to include two tours of duty as a tactical fighter pilot in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War where he was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal fourteen times for his combat service. In his civilian job he was a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix. Colonel Floor went into combat during the Korean War and flew one hundred fighter missions, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal seven times. Colonel Floor joined the 161st 'Copperheads' as a fighter pilot in 1957. Colonel Beam served in the Active Air Force as an aircraft navigator from May of 1955 until January 1960. He joined the 161st ARW as a navigator in April 1967. Sergeant Plough was a veteran of the Marine Corps service. He joined the Phoenix Air Guard in May 1970 as an aircraft mechanic before he became an air refueling boom operator. In his civilian occupation Sergeant Plough was a supervisor for the Salt River Project (SRP). What made the loss of the crew doubly painful was the fact that only two weeks prior to the crash, members of the 197th Air Refueling Squadron, consisting of pilots, navigators, boom operators and members of the Life Support Shop flew to Hill AFB, Utah for winter survival training at Park City West, where, at 9,000-ft elevation we were instructed by Army Rangers in the techniques of winter survival. In our off-duty time we ate at Colonel Floor's brothers restaurant in Salt Lake City and afterwards had a few beers. I remember the day of the crash as if it had happened yesterday. I had gone to a German Bakery in the morning and once I made it home I received a call from my professor. He started out with 'Thank god Siggy you are alive', before he proceeded to tell me about the crash. I had been a teaching assistant for him and he also held a pilots license. This picture was taken on 13 March 2012, a week and half ago during the dedication of the memorial to honor the crew of 'Copper 5'. The ceremony included the Posting of the Colors, the Invocation, Final Military Honors and a Fly-by of a KC-135R. Many former members of the unit attended this dedication. I will answer mail and comment later today.