The bank BISE uses has recently raised fees.  Please don't expect your dues checks to be deposited promptly.  Our bank checking account has a base charge of $19 per month for 150 transactions (one ck deposited is one transaction) after the 150 transactions, each additional transaction costs us 50 cents.  Our Treasurer, Wayne Williams, holds back depositing checks
that would exceed the 150.  Most members pay their dues between Jan. 1st and March 1st so this time of year it could be 60 days before your check is deposited.

Thank you for your patience.

Wayne Schrunk
BISE Secretary
wayne@biseonline.com

Well another year has come and gone for the BISE website.  We averaged more hits this year than any in the past 5 years of operation.  A combination of the BISE Mailing List, NewsGroup and the main BISE Web Page are helping members stay in touch and keep up with what is going on in an easier manner than ever before.  We had 10,225 visitors to the website for 2003.  That count does NOT include visits by myself when updating the site.  This is a total for people really visiting the server and reading the guestbook or looking for old friends.

I hope everyone continues to enjoy the website.  Should you have any suggestions for improvement please don't hesitate to drop me an email at support@biseonline.com.

Thanks again for a great year!

Jeff Schrunk - BISE Site Administrator

BISE MEMBERS: Any help Dr. Carlson receives in his collections effort will be greatly appreciated.

____________________________________________________
January 2004

Dear Silver Eagles:

The History of Aviation Collection (HAC) houses the amazing aviation history of Texas, the United States, and the World with one of the largest aeronautical archives and libraries in the United States. One of the
strengths of the collection is our material on commercial aviation. HAC is the home of the Braniff International public relations papers. These valuable materials, however, tell the history of Braniff from a corporate perspective. I hope over the next few years to strengthen the Braniff collection from an individual (pilot, flight attendant, and ground crew) standpoint. The History of Aviation Collection is looking for former Braniff employees who want to help build the collection by donating any records, documents photographs, and films on their careers at Braniff. All materials donated will be cataloged by an archivist and added to the History of Aviation Collection. Donations are tax deductible at a value estimated by the donor. I am also making contact with members of the Clipped Bs.

In addition, I am in the process of collecting materials for a biography of Braniff Airways from 1928-1965.  I want to include in the book the experiences of pilots. I am interested in interviewing any former Braniff
International pilots in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that worked during this time period. Please call 972-883-2570 or email carlson@utdallas.edu.

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Erik D. Carlson, Ph.D.
Coordinator
The History of Aviation Collection
Special Collections Department
McDermott Library
The University of Texas at Dallas
972-883-2570

BISE Newsgroup Server Now Online!!

I have had numerous requests for ways that BISE members can stay in touch more regularly without have to post into the Guestbook.  So with this in mind I have put a new server in place that houses BISE Newsgroups.  You access these groups by going to news://news.biseonline.com/ and using your normal news reader or by clicking on the link to the left that says B.I.S.E. NewsGroup.  Either way will bring up a list of different groups that you can post in.  Currently there are three groups:

1. bise.general - This is just a general discussion forum.
2. bise.pilots.general - This is really just for pilots and their stories and conversations.
3. bise.website.support - This one is for support of the BISE website or any other questions you may have about the site.

There are a few ISPs that block normal newsreaders.  AOL and CompuServ are one of those.  This will be a great opportunity to keep those stories around for a long time to come.  I hope that you will find these of value and will use them as often as you like.

Jeff Schrunk

BISE Site Administrator

The pictures for the latest Fly-In are now on the website.  Please use the Fly-In Information link on the left side of the page to access the pictures and movies.  Should you have any problems please don't hesitate to drop me a note.

Also, the pictures are large to make sure the quality is excellent.  Due to this it may not fit your screen completely.  If this is the case you can have Internet Explored automatically resize the picture to your screen size by following the next few steps:

This will fix you right up.  As usual if you have any questions please don't hesitate to drop me a note.

Jeff Schrunk

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN

In the December newsletter we included a remittance envelope, and a request
to send in your annual dues as soon as possible.  The first newsletter, with
the annual phone directory, is mailed early in 2003 to current paid members;
we don't want anyone to miss it.  And by getting those dues in on time,
makes our jobs a whole lot easier and saves mailing expense.  Dues for 2003
are due on January 1st.  If your address, phone number etc. has not changed,
it is not necessary to fill in that information, however, we do use it to
check the accuracy of our records.

The last two digits on the top line of your mailing label indicate that your
dues are current for that year.

If you are one of the 450 plus members that have paid dues for 2003, thank
you, however, there are still nearly 300 that are not paid up for 2003.

If you have misplaced the remittance please mail your check to:

BISE
PO BOX 29092
DALLAS TX 75229

Wayne Schrunk
BISE Secretary

 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Owen Brown"
To:
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 10:36 AM
Subject: Retiree Medical and Dental Insurance


Rick, Good morning.

I thought I would let you know what I have found  out  in reference to retiree medical and dental insurance at US Airways.

During the most recent negotiations, December, changes were agreed to that will effect active and retired employees. The plan provisions changed slightly and provider remain the same, however, the percentage that the employee will contribute toward the premium cost increased and the base premium increased, a double whammy!

Some of the employee contributions will more than double if you stay with the same plan as before.  Talking with Karen Browne-Fleck yesterday, she informed me that there will be another Open Enrolment period early next year after which the increased costs will go into effect.

If you could send this out on your Silver Eagles grouping it may answer some questions if people have been keeping up with the recent negotiations.

Thanks, Owen Brown

THE FOLLOWING FROM Joe Dimaggio:

WIDOWS ARE ALSO ELIGIBLE FOR PASS PRIVILEGES


Since the take over of Transworld Airlines (TWA) by American Airlines (AA)and a reorganization of Retiree pass privilege the Widows of all deceased Braniff Pilots are now eligible to receive pass privileges thru the Airline Retiree Pass Bureau (ARPB).  The organization handles pass privileges for Braniff, Eastern, Pan American and retirees of TWZ prior to American Airlines take over.  To become a member of the ARPB group you need to join Braniff Retirement Club which fees are $10.00 per year or $50.00 for a Lifetime membership.  You will also need to obtain a Pass Identification Card issued by the Braniff Club which cost is $2.00.

This will give privileges of six airlines who offer members passes on airlines (ATA,AWAL,SWAL, JET BLUE, NATIONAL,FRONTIER) and more to come.

You can call Joe Dimaggio at 972-513-1888 to obtain a package which will give you all the necessary forms and information.

Wayne Schrunk
BISE Secretary

The 2002 Braniff International Silver Eagles Convention was another great success.  We had approximately 157 for the banquet Saturday night, 40 for golf and 38 for the Business Breakfast.  BISE is doing great and growing every year.  So far this year we have 812 members which is more than we have had in years.  I have put all the pictures that I have received so far at the link below.

Please send me any additional pictures you would like to see on the website in electronic format.

Thanks for your continued support of B.I.S.E.

Jeff Schrunk

BISE Site Administrator

THE FOLLOWING FROM Joe Dimaggio:

WIDOWS ARE ALSO ELIGIBLE FOR PASS PRIVILEGES


Since the take over of Transworld Airlines (TWA) by American Airlines (AA)and a reorganization of Retiree pass privilege the Widows of all deceased Braniff Pilots are now eligible to receive pass privileges thru the Airline Retiree Pass Bureau (ARPB).  The organization handles pass privileges for Braniff, Eastern, Pan American and retirees of TWZ prior to American Airlines take over.  To become a member of the ARPB group you need to join Braniff Retirement Club which fees are $10.00 per year or $50.00 for a Lifetime membership.  You will also need to obtain a Pass Identification Card issued by the Braniff Club which cost is $2.00.

This will give privileges of six airlines who offer members passes on airlines (ATA,AWAL,SWAL, JET BLUE, NATIONAL,FRONTIER) and more to come.

You can call Joe Dimaggio at 972-513-1888 to obtain a package which will give you all the necessary forms and information.

Wayne Schrunk
BISE Secretary

There have been many requests over the past few years that the BISE website has been online for a repository for the BISE Newsletter.  While it is not the best quality I have scanned the most recent newsletter into a PDF format and put it on the web.  It is 8MB in size so it will take someone on dial up a LONG time to download.  Those that are using high speed broadband internet access should be able to get it fairly quickly.  Please take a look at it and let me know what you think by dropping me an email at webmaster@biseonline.com.  You may access the newsletter by clicking on the following link:

BISE Newsletter

Thanks,

Jeff Schrunk

Dear Group,

Today I received my Braniff Retiree Pass Card in the mail, it took about a month. For those of you that don't know, as a retiree you get passes on Southwest, America West, Jet Blue, Frontier, American Trans Air, and National. Remember in order to be considered a retiree you must join the Braniff Retirement Club.  It costs $10.00 for the membership and 2.00 for the pass card. Let me know if you any of you need the forms.  The web site to pull up the service charges and various airlines offering passes is www.airlineretirees.com

Have a good one, John G. McFarlane airsf@earthlink.net

Additionally:

Here is the address and telephone # for the Braniff Retirement Club.  You must join to receive a Braniff Pass Card. This is the address and number I got off the form that John McFarlane sent to me earlier this month.

Braniff Retirement Club

521 Shalamar PL.

Irving, Texas 75061

972-513-1888

Regards,

Nancy Glennan Tomberlin, Former Braniff F/A, Clipped B's member (Dallas Chapter)

Dear Jeff:

I am a former Braniff pilot.  All your members may be aware of this, but I just found out today.  In June of 1997, Braniff flight crews and aviation ground personnel who served overseas under the jurisidcition of the North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command during 2/26/42 to 8/14/45 were granted Veteran status.  The list is on the pueblo.gsa web site.  This would include my father, Dick Carr.

I do not see any way to post a note to the members, but my son is doing a research paper on the airlines in WW2 and especially Braniff and the Banana Run.  He would be interested in corresponding with any participants.  His name is Mark Carr and his email is CARRMA@mail.vmi.edu

Thanks-----Steve Carr-------SScarr10@cs.com

BISE now has it's own domain name.  Currently when you go to this web site you type www.bise.tzo.com.  Now you can type www.biseonline.com.  This is a great step forward for the BISE website as well as helping to identify BISE in a better fashion.  

Starting on March 1st the www.bise.tzo.com domain and information will all be moved to www.biseonline.com.  This means several things.  You will need to change your bookmarks to recognize that you have the new address to go to.  Also, for those of you with BISE WebMail or normal email accounts your email address will change on March 1st, 2002.  Currently my email address is webmaster@bise.tzo.com.  Starting the 1st of March it will be webmaster@biseonline.com.  Your old address of username@bise.tzo.com will start forwarding to username@biseonline.com starting March 1st.  That way if you have a few people that miss your change you will still get their mail.  I'll leave this forwarding in place for at least 6 months to make sure you don't lose any mail.  If you subscribe to mailing lists or any automated mailers you will need to change your address to reflect the new domain name.  Your existing address book and information will transfer to the new domain name so you shouldn't lose any information.  Do NOT start using the biseonline.com domain until March 1^st.  If you attempt to use it before then your mail will not be sent and anyone sending you mail to that address will get a failed delivery attempt.

I hope that giving a months notice will allow you to notify your friends and family of the domain change and that will give them enough time to change their address books and make their necessary changes.  If you have ANY concerns or comments about this change PLEASE email me at webmaster@bise.tzo.com and I will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Thank you,

Jeff Schrunk - BISE Site Administrator

Most of you have read and heard about the Excite @home internet service going bankrupt.  What most people have failed to realize is that their email address has changed if they were using the @home service.  As an example, I am/was an @home user.  My email address was jschrunk@home.com.  However, after the bankruptcy my address is jschrunk@attbi.com.  While this may seem simple to most people it can cause profound problems when sending email messages, subscribing to lists or using any other function that grabbed your email address.  I know for a fact that this has caused numerous problems with the BISE mailing list.  There were over 75 users that had @home addresses of some form or fashion.  Those addresses are now bouncing and those people are not getting their email messages from the mailing list.  We have no way to find out what their address is because some were moved to the new AT&T Broadband Internet or attbi.com and some were picked up by other cable companies that stepped in to help.  So until those users that had @home addresses contact us and help us fix the database there is not much we can do.

However, there are a number of ways to fix this problem.  The first being to go to the link at the bottom of the page and click the link to Subscribe or Un-Subscribe from the list.  At this point you can un-subscribe your old @home address and subscribe your new email address.  This is a fairly simple procedure and works instantly.  Another option is to click here:

I thought everyone might want to know how busy the B.I.S.E. site was for the year 2001.  We had 8141 visitors to the website and 104 people sign the guest book.  That is up from 2000 when we had just a bit over 7000 visitors and about 50 people sign the guest book.  B.I.S.E. lost some good friends and people in the year 2001 and our hearts and prayers go out to all the family members and friends left behind.

I look for 2002 to continue to be an exceptional year for B.I.S.E. and the B.I.S.E. web site.  Comments, suggestions, criticisms and any other feedback you may have are always appreciated.  Thanks for helping make the B.I.S.E. web site such and big success over the past 3 years.

Jeff Schrunk

B.I.S.E. Site Administrator

Paul Leighton has reserved the banquet room at Spring Creek Barbeque / Grapevince for the BISE Lunch Bunch - DFW. They will gather on the third (3rd) Wednesday of the month at 11:30am for lies and Barbeque (quoted straight from Paul).

Spring Creek is located along restaurant row on the South side of SH 114 just West of Grapevine Main Street. The address is:

315 State Highway 114 W. (at Main) 817-416-6250

If you bring your wife, drop her with money/credit card at Grapevine Mills Mall..

Charlie Haus sent word that Mark Farmer, former head navigator for Braniff, has written a book about his flying career. The title of the book is: "FLIGHT TO ANYWHERE" and can be ordered from:

CORALREEF GROUP
PO BOX 2299
YOUNTVILLE, CA 94599

The price to Braniff people is $14.95 including postage.

THE LEGEND OF CRYSTAL LAKE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE FORWARD TO MEMBERS

I'm a Friend of Braniff and was a hostess from 1958 to 1960. I've had two articles published on the Fly-In in the BISE Newsletter. I've recently had my children's, middle-grade historical novel, THE LEGEND OF CRYSTAL LAKE, published by Eakin Press. It's about a twelve-year-old girl who leaves Abbotsbury, England, with her father and older sister to start a swannery in Texas as part of the Stephen F. Austin settlement in the 1800s. 136 pages, 6 X 9, Glossary, Illustrations, RL Grades 4-6, Hardcover, ISBN 1-57168-369-0, $16.95, Eakin Press 1-800-880-8642, Sales@eakinpress.com.

Thanks for your help. Sally A. Roberts

I hope that 2001 will be as awesome!!

Jeff Schrunk
Site Administrator

Also, just for anyone that would like to know for the year of 1999 we had 2,921 visitors to the B.I.S.E. site.

Thanks everyone for your support of the site.

Jeff Schrunk

Jeff Schrunk
BISE Webmaster
webmaster@biseonline.com