Martinsburg  -- Martinsburg Composite Squadron's August 18 meeting featured Aerospace, which was held for the first time at the new unit hanger.   

 

The presentation was by Donald Siler, Jr., vice president and chief pilot of Air Photographics Inc. All members were given a tour of the company's Piper PA 31-310 Navajo twin engine aircraft used for aerial photography. Siler who has been a mapping pilot over 14 years, explained the nature of aerial photography.

 

Siler went on to explain that air photos are used by government planners, and planning commissions for growth studies and development characteristics and to check on who has built a structure without a building permit. 

 

Topographic mapping is also used by engineers for site development design and development of USGS maps. Some photos are just promotional to give a birds eye view of a notable place or structure.                                           

 

Siler explained the difficulty in keeping a plane on course so that the overlapping photos make the correct coverage. He further compared the old "fly the target" method to the present GPS directional control that is now used.                                                              

 

Siler started his flying career as a CAP cadet in the Martinsburg Squadron many years ago. He finished his presentation by emphasizing the importance of education.

 

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 57,000 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 91 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for 67 years. 

For more on the CAP go to www.gocivilairpatrol.com