Articles written by Gary Palamara

The USAF Thunderbirds

In May of 2003 the United States Air Force's Demonstration Team, The Thunderbirds, celebrated their 50th anniversary. As an Air Force Veteran and an air show buff for many years, I decided to write about the team. During the 2002 season, I asked for and received permission to get an up close look at the workings of this very fine organization. It was the thrill of a lifetime to follow the team around and report on their Golden Anniversary year.

Eventually, four articles were written and later published in three different magazines. Included among these was the "Friends Journal" which is the official publication of the United States Air Force Museum.

On a personal basis, perhaps more important than writing the articles, was the relationships I formed with some of these outstanding people during the many days I spent with the team. They are truly dedicated to their mission, and to defending our country. It was a pleasure to become a part of their inner circle... at least for a while.

Article one appeared in Radio World magazine in 2003. It's titled "Take A Ride On The Wild Side" and looks at Thunderbird Media flights. The Article was written and photographed at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Air Show in 2002.

Take a Ride On the Wild Side

A Golden Jubilee Part 1

Articles Two and Three were written for the United States Air Force Museum "Friends Journal". Many more photographs are included here on the website than was possible to print in the magazine. Most of the photographs also appear in color, which was also not possible in most of the Journal pages.

The first part of this two part series covers Air Force and Thunderbird History from the old Army Air Corps days during World War II, to the present day. Vintage aircraft and team photos, many of which were supplied by the Thunderbirds have been restored and are presented here.

The second part of this series "A Golden Jubilee" examines the 50th anniversary Thunderbird's team (2003). Again it has many color photographs. Some of the photos were taken in 2002 and 2003. Others are vintage Thunderbird shots taken from my photo archive.

A Golden Jubilee Part 2

My article, "Airwaves and Afterburners" was written for Popular Communications magazine and graced the cover in April 2003. While the article covers some of the history of the Thunderbirds team, it specifically highlighted Thunderbird's communication systems and the very special people who make that happen for every show.

Airwaves & Afterburners

Aviation Articles

Behind the Scenes Look at United 93

The UNITED 93 web page contains photos which were taken during my visit to the remote crash site in 2004. It also gives background info about the flight and tells of my involvement with the film's promotion during April of 2006. There are links to Audio excerpts of interviews as well as an audio clip of an actual FAA control tower tape which was recorded on September 11th. A shortened version of this story appeared in the September 1, 2006 issue of Radio World Magazine on page 18.

The Army Golden Knights

In June of 2005 my wife Bonnie and I were given the rare privilege to spend some time with the World Famous Army Golden Knights Skydive Team. The team was one of the featured performers at the 2005 McGuire Air Force Base Open House weekend.

These folks couldn't have been nicer and more helpful. They even allowed us to fly along with them as they performed for the crowd. As a result, we got a once in a lifetime experience and lots of cool photos for my May - 2006 Pop Com article.

"One Giant Leap" tries to answer the age old question "Why would anyone, intentionally jump out of a perfectly good air plane?" For the Army's Golden Knights, skydiving is not a hobby or a job, it's a way of life.

The Navy Blue Angels

At the end of World War II, the United States Navy officially organized a flight demonstration squadron. That group eventually became known as the World renown Navy Blue Angels. In 2006, the team celebrates their 60th anniversary. My article "The Blue Angels at 60" appeared in the March issue of Popular Communications Magazine.

This article also marks the first time that one of my photographs appeared as a magazine cover. This photo shows all six Navy Blue Angels performing an Inverted Bomb Burst maneuver.

September 11, 2001

Listening In On Uncle Sam was an article that I wrote for Radio World magazine, just after the September 11th attacks on America. As an avid radio listener and scanner enthusiast, the article describes what it's like to monitor military communications, during a time when the nation was experiencing War-Like security.

One Hundred Years of Flight Pt. 1

The Friends Journal is the official publication of the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. In 2003 it was my pleasure to write a two part article documenting the Wright Brothers invention of the airplane. Part one of Orville and Wilbur's saga was published in the Fall of 2003 and is entitled "Those Crazy Young Men... How the Wright Brother's Invented the Aero Plane." It follows the pair from their birthplace in Indiana and Dayton, Ohio to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and back again.

One Hundred Years of Flight Pt. 2

Just as interesting as the story of flight and the invention of the airplane, was the Wright Brothers struggle to refine and then market their creation. So many had tried and failed, that few people believed two bicycle mechanics could unlock the secrets of controlled flight. Part two of the Wright Brother's story begins in the winter of 1904, just after the successful flight at Kitty Hawk and chronicles the brother's battles both in the air and on the ground. It is titled "The Rest of the Story... The Wright Brothers Struggle for Acceptance". It appeared in the Winter 2003 /2004 issue of the Friends Journal.

Audio Engineering & Construction Articles

Wall Street Journal coverage of the story

View from the Back of the Room - Pt. 1

The 1986 Tylenol Crisis

On a cold February day, a routine morning of work turned into one of the biggest News stories of the decade. In this Radio World article about Press Conference Audio, I relive the events surrounding the Tylenol Poisonings of 1986 and the national media events which helped get the word out.

Tom Cruise & Steven Spielberg - War of The Worlds P. C.

View from the Back of the Room - Pt. 2

Tips for Reporters & Others Covering Press Events

Part II of the Press Conference Audio series speaks directly to reporters and field crews. I give some practical advice on how best to improve your chances of getting good quality sound, while attending press conferences and other media events.

View from the Back of the Room - Pt. 3

Still to Come

The Problems with Breathing Solder Smoke

As technicians, we are surrounded by hazardous conditions and materials. Working with Lead Based solder and breathing in the smoke fumes can cause long term health and environmental problems. In August of 2002 my article "Improving the Air Around Solder Smoke" appeared in Radio World Magazine. The story outlines the some of the risks involved and discusses some practical ways to avoid some of the health issues.

Building the Regency Tester

The "Regency Tester" and "Flying Solo Tester" were two construction articles written about a piece of equipment that I designed and built while supervising the installation of audio and video wires into a New York City hotel. Hundreds of wires were run throughout several floors of the building and needed to be checked for continuity. Adding more people to the crew for quality control would have stretched the budget to the breaking point and using untested wires was unacceptable. Another way was needed.

The design of the Regency Tester which is named for the hotel who spawned it's creation, allows one person to check the continuity of multiple cables from one end of a wire run to the other, without requiring a second person as a helper. Simply connect the tester to the wires at one end of a cable bundle, and continuity can be checked pin for pin at the other end. Depending upon how the tester is built, as many as 25 wires can be checked at one time. Of the two articles written about this design the one presented here is the original article and design. It was published by the broadcast journal, Radio World in November of 2000 and appears here with photos and schematic drawings.

Building a Simple IFB System

Building A Simple I.F.B. System is an example of the type of article I remember from my youth. It offers a practical solution to an everyday problem often found if you are a working radio engineer. At the heart of the system is the venerable old Shure M-67 audio mixer. The project was fun to build, easy to use and won't break the bank if you only have a shoestring budget. On September 16, 2005 Building A Simple I.F.B. System was published by Radio World magazine.

Ham Radio QSLing

When I got into Amateur Radio in the mid 1990's I really enjoyed talking to people all over the world. Like most active Hams, I also started collecting QSL Cards with the eventual goal of submitting them for awards. Several years later I had already sent out thousands of post cards and stamps and had quite a collection of interesting QSLs. Then, in 2000, I discovered a new and different way to verify my contacts and decided to write an article about it for CQ magazine. "QSLing in Cyberspace" was published in April of 2001 and at the time received a fair amount of attention from the Amateur Radio community.

For this website version, I recently went back to the internet and downloaded several more electronic QSL cards. They are reprinted here along with the original text.

Because of web site size restrictions and download speeds, the actual magazine pages for these articles were too large to reproduce here. So, they have been recreated as standard web pages. All of the original photographs and text are included and the page layout has closely followed the format of the magazine pages. In some cases additional photos have been added to help tell the story. More articles will be added as they are published and as time permits.

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