You are here

Coming this Saturday, Aug 26th - 'Rotors Over Mentone 2017'

The annual "Rotors Over Mentone" Fly-In will be held on Saturday, Aug 26th. The fly-in event begins at 10:00 am with the museum's program beginning at 11:00 am. The Bell Aircraft Museum is located at 210 South Oak St, Mentone, IN.

Event Guest Speaker:
Our guest speaker will be Phil Marshall, a native of Dayton, OH and who still resides in the Dayton area. It was the late 1960's and after two years of college that Phil enlisted in the US Army Warrant Officer Flight School program to become a Warrant Officer Helicopter Pilot. He was selected to fly the unarmed Medevac Huey helicopter in Vietnam. Before graduating from Flight School, he was to receive additional training at Fort Sam Huston in Texas before leaving for duty in Southeast Asia. It was there in Vietnam that Phil flew Huey helicopters with the Red Cross and went by the radio call sign "Dustoff".

Four days after being promoted to Aircraft Commander in Vietnam, he was wounded on an insecure night rescue of three seriously wounded US soldiers. Because of the nature of the wound, he was sent home. After six months, he was able to return to flight status and finish his military service as a Training, Advising and Counseling (TAC) Officer at Fort Wolters, TX. There he trained new Warrant Officer Candidates in Officer Development during their Pilot training. Phil received the Purple Heart and six awards of the Air Medal while serving his country.

Phil's talk will describes some of the missions flown by all helicopter crews in Vietnam, with focus on the unarmed Huey Medevac missions in which he and his crew flew. His presentation plans to include many views of actual rescue missions. In addition, a popular part of his presentation will be a verbal recreation of a typical rescue mission, matched to the in-country photos. Phil will also briefly touch on the seven books that he has authored, which document the sometimes unbelievable, but true, rescue missions flown by all helicopters in Vietnam, and not just by the Huey "Dustoff' crews. There are over 140 missions that are described in these books, mostly first person accounts by the youthful crews themselves, many never published anywhere else.

Schedule of Events (as of 25 Aug 2017):
09:30 Food tent opens until event closes, beginning with Bell egg sandwiches (available all day) and beverages including coffee
10:00 Helicopters rides available (American Huey & Sweet Aviation) until 11 am
11:00 Program
- Welcome Remarks - Tim Croy, Museum President
- Invocation
- Placing of Colors - Warsaw American Legion Post 49 Color Guard
- National Anthem - Band Members of Tippecanoe Valley High School
- Recognition of Veterans in the Audience
- Introduction of Guest Speaker - Tim Croy
- Guest Speaker - Phil Marshall
- Closing Remarks - Tim Croy
12:00 - Helicopter rides resume until close

The American Red Cross (and their Bloodmobile) will be in attendance from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm.
You can sign up in advance to donate. Go to American Red Cross and put in zip code 46539.

Fly-In Note:
For helicopter pilots that fly in for the event, call sign: "Bell Operations". Monitor Frequency is 123.025.
A shuttle from the Mentone Airport to the Bell Aircraft Museum will be made available for fixed wing pilots
courtesy of the Museum. Please contact us a day ahead of time of your time arrival so arrangements can be made.
Point of contact is Marsha Scott at 574-328-2034.

Pilots and crew that fly in for the event will be given vouchers for food items available at our tent.

Food Tent Menu Items:
Bell Egg Sandwiches
Hamburgers & Cheeseburgers
Jumbo & Regular Hot Dogs
Potato Chips
Cookies, Ice Cream (in cups and cones), & Watermelon
Coffee and Drinks

For additional information, please contact Marsha at mscott@frontier.com or by phone at 574-353-7460.