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507th honors a father’s memory

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col Richard Curry
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  It had been 61 years since its last military flight.

And Cecilia Ainsworth figured 61 years was long enough for her father's pilot logbook to be grounded.

On Dec. 3, Ms. Ainsworth, a production management specialist with the 421st Supply Chain Management Squadron, brought her father's pilot flight log with her during an employer support orientation flight held by the 507th Air Refueling Wing.

Employer support flights are routinely conducted by the 507th ARW to provide Reserve employers the opportunity to witness the wing's air refueling mission and develop a greater appreciation and understanding of how their support of the Air Force Reserve is important to national defense.

Ms. Ainsworth said her father, Hulan Lee France, died in 2004 but "would have been thrilled to learn I was getting the opportunity to fly on a KC-135R Stratotanker and watch an aerial refueling mission."

She said she decided to "bring the memory of my father with me" during the flight.

The faded, yellow pages of her father's 5-by-7-inch brown flight log had already seen its share of service.

Hulan France entered Army Air Corps in June 1940 receiving training at Fort Sill in Lawton, Jefferson, Mo., and in Florida. He served overseas in 1943 in the China, India and Burma Theatre and was honorably discharged from the Army Air Corps in September of 1945

Mr. France was awarded the American Defense Service Medal, the China-Burma-India Theater Ribbon with two battle stars and Good Conduct Medal. After a brief transition, Mr. France went back to the Army Air Forces to attend Officer Candidate School. His graduation ceremony was at Indoctrination Division Air Training Command in San Antonio on June 28, 1947.

His pilot log began with the first entry date of March 15, 1948, during an undergraduate pilot training mission flying an AT-6D at Randolph AB (sic), Texas. The log book continued to record a variety of aircraft missions flying the AT-6D, T-6, TB-25S, TB25J, C-45,

C-47 and finally the C-54 aircraft. In all roughly 375 flight hours were logged.

But this mission would hold one last surprise for Ms. Ainsworth.

"When we fly employers, my wing places each person's name in a hat to select two people to ride in the cockpit during the take off and landings," said Maj. Bill Pierce, 507th ARW Public Affairs officer. The luck of the draw favored Ms. Ainsworth, who also sat in the boom operator's seat during takeoff.

After the mission Col. Michael Mahon, 507th ARW vice commander and aircraft pilot for the mission, had the honor of updating her flight log with two additional hours aboard a KC-135R Stratotanker.

For Ms. Ainsworth, the experience will be a memory to treasure.

"Thank you so much for Friday's flight," she said. "I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. This will be something I'll remember always! My father would be so thrilled!"