It all started with a suprise phone call from Tom Palmer back in the fall of 1991. He came right to the point: "I'm representing TRW, (one of my best customers in my machine shop business), and I want to lease your L-19 Bird Dog."Well, I wasn't the slightest bit interested in letting anyone else fly my prize winning L-19 (Oshkosh '85), but when he mentioned TRW, he did get my attention. So, I decided to let the conversation continue. "What are your qualifications, Sir?", I asked. He paused and in a low-key way mentioned that he had flown 0-1's in the military, and had been a member of a unit with call sign "RAVEN", which operated in Laos during the Vietnam War.

Coincidentally, my good buddy and fellow IBDA and ILPA member, Jim Mulvihill, had sent me a copy of the book THE RAVENS, by Christopher Robbins. I had just finished reading it a few weeks prior to Tom's call. Needless to say, that gave Major Tom Palmer instant credibility. I made no commitment, but proceeded to check Tom Palmer out.

I soon learned that he is a retired Air Force fighter pilot with three tours in 'Nam, and extensive experience piloting numerous military and civilian aircraft. He is also an Aeronautical Engineer and an A&P mechanic with inspection authorizatton (IA). Later, I flew with him in his Cessna 320, in my T-34, and in the L-19. He is very good!

It turned out that after USAF retirement, Tom joined TRW as an Aeronautical Engineer and eventually came to the "Hunter" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Project that TRW was developing in partnership with Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd. out of Tel Aviv. Among other things, Tom was charged with developing a chase support program required by our FAA when the Unmanned Air Vehicle flys in U.S. public airspace. After becoming familiar with the performance data of the "Hunter" UAV, Tom decided that the Bird Dog, with it's superb visibility, agility, and performance, was clearly the best aircraft for this mission.

Tom's next move was to find Bird Dog owners. He contacted the FAA registry in Oklahoma City, and also received recommendations from Phil Phillips, President of the International Bird Dog Association, loacated in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This resulted in the phone call to me and to several other L-19 owners.

I should mention that after Air Force service in WWII, I was called back to active duty in 1950 with my National Guard unit, and flew 110 missions in Korea in L-19's. Consequently, I definitely had an interest in an Air Vehicle that would do the same thing I did in combat, but with no pilot or observer at risk.

In December of '91, my company, Spacecraft Machine products, received a bid package from TRW with a requirement to furnish pilots, observers, and L-19/O-l aircraft to provide chase support for UAV operations in Deming, New Mexico, and later in Douglas and Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. This was a competitive bid and my company emerged as the low bidder. Now, I had to produce.

I gathered together a group of my L-19 buddies including Paul Vought, Major John Roberts, and others I had flown with in the military. They were all eager to participate. I tried to get my good friends, Col. Bill Davies and LTC Gary Hanson involved, but their "real jobs" would not permit the time. However, both of them offered me the use of their pristine, restored Bird Dogs, which I gratefully accepted.

Today we are still flying out of Ft. Hauchuca and Cochise College airstrips in Southeast Arizona, and are getting paid to do the things we enjoy.

The "Hunter" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a state-of-the-art system that provides the military commander with real time observations of reverse slope activity in the battle area without risking lives. It can produce superb photo and video resolution with pinpoint accuracy. It also has infrared capability for night operations. Unclassified maximum radius of operations is 200 Km, and unclassified endurance is 8 to 12 hours. Needless to say, the project is under constant surveillance by many high ranking DOD and Pentagon officials.

The restored chase planes blend in with other military equipment on the site. Many times, this provokes a bit of nostalgia as it reminds senior uniformed decision-makers of their early involvement in surveillance and artillery adjustment by light aircraft.

Certainly, these 40+ year old aircraft are still doing Yeoman duty as they continue to be of value to our nation in support of current state-of-the-art surveillance equipment.

The L-19/0-l Bird Dog has come full circle, and has truly passed the baton to the next generation of observation aircraft. Tom Palmer has since retired from TRW and is now my chief Chase Pilot.