The Tennessee Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presents a luncheon meetingTuesday, April 30th, 11:00 am-1:00 pm at the University of Tennessee Space Institute Room H-111.with a presentation by Col. Charles Vono:“In-flight Refueling SR-71s during the Cold War”Lunch will be served at 11:00 AM followed by the lecture. Lunch will be a buffet with Chicken Captiva (chicken with pasta in a cream sauce), salad, green beans, rolls with butter, and a cookie tray.The cost for the event is $12 per person for professional society members, $15 for non-members, and $7 for students, payable at the door.Please RSVP by 4:00 pm, Thursday, April 25th to Joe Sheeley, joseph.sheeley.ctr@us.af.mil, 931-454-7627.Lecture AbstractCol. Vono’s (Charlie’s) first assignment in the USAF was as a pilot in KC-135 refueling tankers with the mission to in-flight refuel SR-71s world-wide for Joint Chiefs of Staff directed recon missions. Charlie introduces the Cold War, then talks to the technology of the fastest-ever manned aircraft. He also speaks to the upgraded tech and modified techniques of the KC-135Qs that refueled them. He intersperses his talk with “there I was” stories about what he and his squadron-mates did when the tech failed to work as it should -- and the mission still had to be successful. Charlie flew USAF jets in the “good old days” of needle-ball-airspeed, navigation by sextant, and not unfrequent jet engine explosions. You can find out more at his web site: charlesvono.com.Speaker BiographyCharlie Vono is a retired USAF colonel, pilot, and engineer & a retired defense contractor engineer and manager. In retirement, speaks across the country on various topics such as “How ICBMs Work”, "How to Keep Complex Systems Working for Decades”, and “Mega Trends in Systems and Systems Engineering”.