Heckel, Charles, Col

Deceased

Service Photo

Service Details

Last Rank
Colonel

Last Primary AFSC/MOS
21-Organization Commander

Last AFSC Group
Command and Control

Primary Unit
1973-1975, 21, 77th Air Base Wing

Service Years
1943 - 1975

Official/Unofficial US Air Force Certificates

Cold War Certificate

Lucky Bastard Club

Last Photo

Personal Details

Home State

Illinois

Year of Birth
1924

This Military Service Page was created/owned by Philip Johnson-Family to remember Heckel, Charles, Col USAF(Ret).

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Contact Info

Home Town Decatur, IL	Last Address 6705 Brookfield Rd Columbia, SC 29206
Date of Passing Sep 22, 2015
Location of Interment Fort Jackson National Cemetery (VA) - Columbia, South Carolina	Wall/Plot Coordinates Section 4, Site 1274

Official Badges

Air Training Command Instructor (pre-1966)

US Air Force Honorable Discharge (Old Style)

Unofficial Badges

Military Associations and Other Affiliations

91st Stratigic Reconnaissance Wing Association


	1946, Military Order of World Wars (MOWW)
	1947, Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) - Assoc. Page
	1950, Reserve Organization of America, Department of Illinois (Illinois)
	1956, 91st Stratigic Reconnaissance Wing Association
	1965, 9th Air Force Association
	1975, Air Force Memorial (AFM) - Assoc. Page
	2015, National Cemetery Administration (NCA)

Photo Album (More...)

65-1870

1943-1943, PT-13 Stearman

From Year 1943	To Year 1943

Personal Memories

8.1943 P- 10.1943 Primary Flight Training, Ft. Stockton, TX Class 44-B

Image	PT-13 Stearman Details
	Aircraft/Missile Information Ode to a Stearman Indeed, were it not for the noise, the relentless hurricane-force wind sometimes mixed with bullets of rain in the face, the occasional bug in the mouth, the near impossibility of communication, the danger of hypothermia, the unshielded exposure to the sun's deadly gamma rays, the non-existent baggage space, the low-pressure airflow over the cockpits that can suck out charts and papers, the dismal forward visibility, and its otherwise shameless impracticality, an open-cockpit biplane might just be the most ideal aircraft ever conceived - surely the most magnificent of all of man's wondrous machines. Author Unknown The PT-13 was typical of the biplane primary trainer used during the late 1930s and WW II. Whereas it was powered by a Lycoming engine, the same airplane with a Continental engine was designated the PT-17, and with a Jacobs engine, the PT-18. A later version which featured a cockpit canopy was designated the PT-27. Of 10,346 Kaydets ordered for the U.S. and its Allies, 2,141 were PT-13s for the AAF. Following WW II, the Kaydet was phased out in favor of more modern trainers. SPECIFICATIONS Span: 32 ft. 2 in. Length: 24 ft. 10 in. Height: 9 ft. 2 in. Weight: 2,717 lbs. loaded Armament: None Engine: Lycoming R-680 of 220 hp.. Cost: $11,000 PERFORMANCE Maximum speed: 125 mph. Cruising speed: 104 mph. Range: 450 miles Service Ceiling: 14,000 ft.