European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday March 13, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 3 profile Navy flier helping train test pilots in Britain by j. King Cruger . Bureau Boscombe Down England an american Navy instructor at Britain s Only test Pilot school believes his Job is no More dangerous than flying High performance combat aircraft. What i do Here is no More dangerous than what Guys Are doing in front line units said it. Cmdr. Elmer l. Standridge an sex test Pilot for the Navy and a former Pilot in an a-7 Squadron aboard the Carrier Forrestal. He currently is on a 30-month assignment As an instructor Pilot at Britain s Empire test Pilot school. Probably the Accident rate in the test Community is no More dangerous than flying elsewhere although things arc More Likely to break when you arc test Fly ing said the 34-year-old native of Warrior Ala. Safety is Paramount in any testing program because of the enormous Cost of the aircraft and the value of experienced lest pilots he said. Actually test flying is a lot of fun since you rarely do the same thing twice he said. Standridge is one of a Trio of fixed Wing instructors and the Lone american on the school s staff. The school is part of the ministry of defense s aeroplane and armament experimental establishment at Boscombe Down near stonehenge in Southwest England. The Annapolis graduate who has 2,500 hours flying Lime and his fellow instructors arc responsible for 19 students 11 pilots in the fixed Wing program seven helicopter pilots and an Engineer. The students who vary in age from 26 to nearly 40, come from All Over the world the United Stales Thailand. France Australia Norway and the Netherlands. The school is one of Only a handful of test Pilot training facilities in the Wester world. We can Tell the students what to do but essentially they have to learn in All on their own said Standridge who Flics at least once a Day. We give them enough room to hang themselves. They have to be Able to come up with conclusions about is photo by Gus Schuettler it. Cmdr. Elmer Standridge takes a spin around Brit Ain s test Pilot school at Boscombe Down. An air plane and to stick with those conclusions. Preferably in teaching test piloting you want a plane that has some built in problems so that the Stu dents can find them. We want the slide nos to find out whal is difficult about flying a particular plane and what is causing that difficulty but not to come up with solutions to the it took him Ihrck months to qualify on All seven of the school s aircraft none of which he had Ever flown before. The aircraft Range from the bag one eleven Airliner used to teach the characterises of Large air Craft through the twin Turboprop Andover transport the bag Jet Provost the Royal air Force s Basic Trainer. And the Hawk Hunter and Jaguar fighters. The remaining plane the Light Basset aircraft with its twin gasoline engines is particularly suited to a teaching role because its computers can be programmed to change its stability Standridge said. You can make it Fly like a number of different air Craft for the students he said. Students spend one year at the school. By the end of that time because of visits to other test Pilot schools each student will have flown 18 to 20 different aircraft. Students arc asked to evaluate the performance turn ing and flying qualities of All planes they Fly. Thai s where it takes a lol of practice so that they arc Able to ask themselves what could be fixed on this air plane to make it easier and better " the last exercise of the students course is a rigorous one taking 45 Days to Complete Standridge said. In re quires them to look at an air plane they have never flown Fly it for five hours Ihnn compile a report typically two inches thick and deliver an Oral presentation on their test flight. Standridge who arrived at Boscombe Down last octo Ber occupies a Billet provided under an arrangement Between the . Navy and the Royal Navy through the personnel Exchange program which allows americans and British to serve with each other s forces. Standridge s predecessor in the Job it. Cmdr. Mike Baker now is a Nasa astronaut but Standridge said that is not his ambition. I would t Sec the variety of flying thai i do now. I Hope to Lake command of a f-18 Squadron when i leave Safe s family nominee taking it in stride by Joe Mapother Bremerhaven Bureau Berlin the Chance logo to Washington and be recognized As an american family worthy of emulation is pc try Heady stuff but the Vonarx family is taking it in stride. We talked about it said chief master sgt. Victor Vonarx and decided if the lord wants us to win Well we re going to the von axes Are one of 14 air Force families one nominated from each major command competing in the great american family awards program. The program sponsored by the american family society and the while House will pick one family embodying traditional family values in the United slates. Contest ans include civilian families As Well As re pc Senna lives from other service branches. The von arcs the Safe nominee will be honoured in a ceremony at noon thursday in Mannheim. They will receive a $250 gift Cerli finale from a a fes and iwo Days and iwo nights at an arc recreation area. Also they will be honoured thursday evening at a dinner Al rams Cin a. Omaha special place the von axes number six Allouc Lucr and the family with Swiss German roots spent enough of their Lime stationed in Omaha neb., to make it a special place. Both Victor and his wife of 24 years Yvonne Are Californi natives. Daughter Jocelyn 19, is a freshman at inc University of Southern California Heather 20, is married and living in Maine and Randy 22, is a special isl four Slation cd at fort Stewart ga., with an army artillery unit. The last child living at Home is 15-year-old Sean who plays in his High school band. We were always to Gelhar the sergeant said. There was always the six of Vic and i never did anything separate until our oldest boy was 18," Yvonne Vonarx said. Recently promoted to chief master sergeant Victor Vonarx tracks the fortunes of 160 vehicles in his Job with the 7350lh air base group at Tempelhof Central Airport. Off the Job he is involved in a variety of Community activities including scouting and singing in the Church choir. On the Job Yvonne Vonarx works at the education Center. She also keeps a Busy schedule that includes at tending night classes with her husband and directing the Church choir. Photo for is by Thomas far chief master sgt. Victor Vonarx his wife Yvonne and son Sean sing at Tempelhof Church service. At Home father s in charge she said. At choir i m in a repeated theme when the von axes speak about How their family works is their presbyterian Faith. All family members Are churchgoers but the von axes do not preach their Faith they speak it quietly. You can t shove your christianity Down your kids throats Yvonne Vonarx said. They have to want in she said she encouraged her children to question social values. The values that they have will not be their own if they Don to she said. They their values will be something that they have carried on from mom and
