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NEWS | Jan. 26, 2007

Farewell, Flyer

By Amy Robinson 1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Today marks an end and a beginning in Langley history.

After almost six decades, today is the last edition of The Flyer, the base newspaper published by the 1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office.

The public affairs office will continue to produce news, features and sports articles; however, they will be located on Langley's Web site at www.langley.af.mil.

In addition to the Web coverage, Military Newspapers of Virginia will continue to provide a publication called The Langley Fighter, which will be distributed on base beginning Feb. 2.

Since the first edition of The Flyer in 1952, which was also used as today's front page, the base newspaper has kept Langley Airmen informed on a multitude of events from deployments and changes of command, to Langley firsts, such as the arrival of the first F-15 in 1976 and the arrival of the first F-22A Raptor in 2005.

In more than 60 volumes of bound archives, a consistent theme from the base newspaper's history is: although many things have changed throughout the last 55 years, many more have stayed the same.

For example, the Langley Service station shuts off its gas pumps Sunday at 6 p.m. to make room for hospital renovations. In the spring, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service will open the doors to its new mini-mall, which will contain a restaurant, Class Six and 28 gas pumps. Just as AAFES did in 1961, once again, they're giving customers timelier and more convenient service.

Another example a long-standing theme is safety. In 1961, Langley was the pilot base for Tactical Air Command's seat belt campaign. The fact that seat belts save lives has not changed; however, one of the few differences is in the 60s, seat belts were purchased and installed. In fact, they were sold at the auto hobby shop for $5.48 and $5.98 and could be installed for $1.

The Flyer staff writers have covered a number of firsts and historical items of interest over the years, and it's impossible to cover them all, but this week's, The Flyer, the last of its kind, contains a special section devoted to the history of the paper and the Airmen who made the news.