The Highland Lakes Squadron - CAF

10/15/2026

10/15/2026

Folks, people will steal just about anything, including C-47s-just like the pretty C-47 "Texas Zephyr" on display in the hangar of the Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF in Burnet, Texas-but C-47s are pretty difficult to steal. In the mid-1960s at Clark Field in the Philippines, two drunken Air Force mechanics actually attempted to steal the base commander’s (or general's) Douglas C-47 Skytrain. These two nuts had been heavily drinking at the nearby entertainment district of Balibago. Needless to say, they were pretty blitzed. Both were certified to start and taxi the C-47 as they were mechanics, but an argument broke out between them if they could actually fly the C-47. In the dead of night, they sneaked onto the flight line, boarded the General’s assigned C-47, and managed to start the engines. They taxied the plane out into the darkness with no lights on. The "pilot" slammed the throttles forward on an unlit taxiway to attempt a takeoff. The plane gained speed rapidly, and the tail wheel even lifted off the ground. At that critical moment, the "co-pilot" panicked and realized the sheer gravity of what they were doing. He reached over, abruptly chopped the throttles back to kill the power, and tried to stop the plane. Naturally the airplane veered off the runway and nose-dived into a drainage ditch. Apparently, suddenly a little more sober now, the pair, both lightly injured, ran off. When the investigation started in the morning, they found the two mechanics had gone to the base hospital with broken ribs. The two would learn a trade in hard labor at Fort Leavenworth prison. Come on by the Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF and see their C-47 "Texas Zephyr". The Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF, one mile and 80 years from town.

10/14/2026

Folks, did you know that the most produced aircraft of the Cold War was the Northrop OQ-19 drone-just like the Northrop OQ-19 drone on display im the hangar of the Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF in Burnet, Texas. This drone had everything an airplane had, except for a pilot. In all over 70,000 of the Doodle Bugs were built. Far more than any other aircraft of the time. They each cost $25,000.00 to make, quite a bit of money in those days. So come on by the Highland Lake Squadron of the CAF and see their drone. Out of the 70,000 made, only around 200 are known to exist today. The Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF, one mile and 80 years from town.

10/13/2026

You know folks, when they made the first Bell H-13/Model 47 helicopter-just like the Bell H-13/Model 47 helicopter on display in the hangar of the Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF in Burnet, Texas-no one had ever made a plastic bubble before, like the one which would make the H-13 helicopters so recognizable to this very day. Designer Arthur Young and the Bell team didn't use high-tech industrial machinery to create the iconic plexiglass bubble canopy. They hand made it in a car garage in New York. They heated flat sheets of plexiglass, laid them on a table, confined the shape with a wooden template, and literally blew the hot plastic into a bubble using compressed air. Now that's craftmanship. They would later find better ways of mass producing once the helicopter was being manufactured. Come on by the Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF and see their Bell H-13/Model 47. Sit in the cockpit and grasp the controls. The Highland Lakes Squadron of the CAF, one mile and 80 years from town.