The Mile High Flight 18

This award is intended to recognize the performance and achievements of one of the fighter pilots assigned to the Colorado Air National Guard's 140th Fighter Wing at Buckley AFB. The 140th Wing Commander is invited to nominate one of his pilots for the award for a specified year. His nomination then goes to the Flight 18 officer staff for approval. Selection criteria are airmanship, leadership (or leadership potential) and personal character. The first Distinguished Pilot Award was presented to Lt Col Michael A. Loh in 2004 for CY 2003. Subsequent recipients were Maj Floyd W. Dunstan and LtCol Mitch Neff. A nomination for CY 2009 has been received, with a follow-on nomination pending.

The selected Distinguished Pilot receives a formal letter and award citation endorsed by the Governor, a framed DPA certificate, an information packet about The Order of Daedalians and Mile High Flight 18 and a crystal eagle trophy. He is also invited to join the Order of Daedalians and Flight 18. Should he choose to do so, his first-year's national and flight dues are paid for by the Flight.

Meanwhile, Mile High Flight recently commissioned construction of a Daedalian display case for permanent placement in the squadron ops building foyer. The case contains a duplicate of the crystal eagle trophy given to the award recipient plus Daedalian-related backdrop materials including artwork and a history of The Order.  This display will be ready for placement in Spring-Summer 2009 when the new ops building is completed. Below are photos of the completed case and display items. Now awaiting the addition of a Daedalian crest on the front panel.

The display case

        Approximate dimensions

 69" high by 31" wide by 26" deep.

Backdrop items (all 11" by 17"):

 Name of display, "Daedalus Ascending" artwork*** and History of the OOD.

(To view a readable version of the History of the OOD, click here.)  

Crystal eagle DPA trophy  

  *** A note about the "Daedalus Ascending" artwork.  This is a compilation of portions of two different high-resolution photos. The background is a photo of sun, sea and clouds obtained from NOAA. The bronze winged figure in the foreground is Daedalus, taken from a photo of the new Daedalian Memorial at Wright-Patterson AFB. The memorial photo was arranged for and provided by retired MGen Ray Moorman, Ohio ANG, of Flight 9 at Wright-Patt.  Our thanks for his invaluable contribution.   

Plans

Overall diagram

Construction plan A

Construction plan B