Jeannette Remak



Jeannette Remak , owner of Phoenix Aviation Research, is a military aviation historian, writer, author, artist, and photographic engineer. Her books include “XB-70 Valkyrie: The Ride to Valhalla” (1998, MBI Publishing, Co.) and ” A-12 Blackbird: Declassified” (2001, also MBI). She has also written two pieces for the Atlantic Flyer with her co-author (Gilded Cage or Golden Screw and Who’s Got the Bird?) which dealt with the restoration of vintage aircraft and the position of Museums holding aircraft collections including salvagers rights and the US Navy position on such issues, as well as several articles for Air Force Association. Ms Remak had been interviewed by: Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine for the August ‘99 issue concerning the XB-70 Valkyrie and has spent some 25 years in the Museum industry. She  has  published “NASA and the Shuttle Shuffle (2013)”, "To Slip The Surly Bonds Nasa, The Shuttle Disasters, And The Demise of the U.S. Manned Space Program(2015), Boeing B-52 Stratofortress-Warrior Queen of the USAF(Fonthill (2016) and XB-70 Valkyrie-The Return to Valhalla (2016). Her new book "Black Lightning- The Legacy of the Lockheed Blackbirds" (Speaking Volumes Press) will be available 2018.You can view the Phoenix Aviation Research Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/habu122?ref=hl. All books are available along with articles at: Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=jeannette+remak



In the mid-1990s, Ms. Remak worked for six years as the volunteer Aircraft Historian for the Intrepid Sea-Air Space Museum in Manhattan.  Her duties included doing the research for maintenance and restoration along with working on the aircraft under her control at the museum which included many U.S. Naval and U.S. Air Force aircraft on loan to the Intrepid Museum. This includes hands on restoration encompassing sheet metal work, corrosion control of the titanium airframe and appropriation of parts and specialized equipment for work on A-12 aircraft (The Lockheed A-12 is the precursor to the SR-71. There are only nine in the world. The A-12 on Intrepid is the only flight test vehicle left, thus making it a very rare aircraft.) She also worked on the Vought  F8 Crusader, Vought A-7 Corsair, Grumman F-14D Tomcat, Grumman A-6A Intruder and the EA-6B Intruder II, Grumman Albatross, Grumman E1B Tracker, the McDonnell Douglas A-4 SkyHawk, McDonnell Douglas AV-8C Harrier, Bell AH-1J Cobra helicopter, Bell UH-1M helicopter, Douglas F3 Skynight (this was a complete tear down and restoration ) North American FJ-3 Fury, North American RA-5C Vigilante, General Dynamics F-16A.(All these aircraft required various restorative work and upkeep since they are on the deck of the Intrepid and exposed to the elements.  She supported the restoration accuracy of these aircraft by researching each aircraft’s history and records for precise markings and accuracy of paint color for its time period.

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Ms. Remak is also responsible for the rescue of the Sikorsky RH-53D, lone survivor of the Iran Hostage Crisis: In conjunction with the US Navy’s Curator office, she worked on rescuing the last surviving helicopter of the United States Iranian Hostage rescue mission that failed. This aircraft was about to be scrapped when she convinced the Naval Curator and Director not to allow that to happen. The RH-53D is now restored and on display at the JFK/ US Navy Seal Training School in North Carolina. On behalf of Intrepid, Ms Remak headed a “ Grass Roots” to obtain a rare, veteran Vought  F-8 Crusader aircraft for the collection. The aircraft was brought on board with a very unique airlift operation which deposited the aircraft on the Intrepid deck after flying it via Chinhook helicopter from Pennsylvania. Prime among the aircraft she worked with on Intrepid’s deck is the Lockheed A-12 Blackbird, an Air Force-owned but CIA-operated supersonic spy plane that preceded the later and better-known Air Force SR-71 Blackbird. At about the same time, Jeannette worked as a consultant for the Curator’s Office, U.S. Air Force Museum.  She was publicly praised by the Museum’s then Director as having done things [on our behalf that] even we couldn’t do [for ourselves]. Ms Remak also supported the USAF Museum as a Photographic Conservation consultant.Owing to her experiences in doing research for her books, and for the museums she has worked with, twenty five years ago, she and her co-author Joseph Ventolo Jr., formed Phoenix Aviation Research. On a case-by-case basis, they provide historical research services for other writers, researchers, and historians. 



Ms. Remak is an accomplished artist.Although she has done a number of paintings with science fiction and landscape themes, for the past 20 years her work has been mainly aviation oriented.  Nine of her paintings are part of the Air Force Art Collection.  Her art has been shown at the U.S. Air Force Museum at historic Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, placed in the Pentagon, the U.S. Air Force Art Presentation program at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, near Washington, DC; used in the 1999 Air Force Foundation Art Calendar.  Her painting, "CGYNUS RISING" is the first A-12 Blackbird painting to be admitted to the U.S. Air Force Art collection during the 60th Anniversary of the United States Air Force celebration at Wright -Patterson AFB, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

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Jeannette has a degree in Photographic Engineering and was the first woman in that specialty in New York City.  She obtained her Masters Degree in Aviation Science in 2001.  Her many accomplishments are listed in who's Who Among American Women 1994-1995.Her experience in photography and the graphics industries spans 30 years. She is also a lifetime associate member of the Roadrunners Internationale, an association dedicated to and for the  preservation of the history of the people who worked as "silent warriors" at Area 51 on the OXCART/SR-71 programs along with various other black programs.



​Jeannette Remak is a lifelong New Yorker, but has traveled extensively.  She was born in Queens, NY and currently resides in the Borough of Queens.​

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Joseph Ventolo Jr.

Joseph A. Ventolo, Jr. is the former curator of the US Air Force Museum (now the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force), having retired on January 3, 1998


Military Service 
In November 1959 Ventolo joined the 269th Comm Sqn., Ohio Air National Guard, Springfield, OH. In February 1960 entered basic training at Lackland AFB, TX, and in April, transferred to Keesler AFB, MS, completed basic training there, and attended ground radio maintenance school at Keesler Technical Training Center. After graduation in November 1960, he returned to the 269th Comm. Sqn. and served four years as a Ground Radio Equipment Repairman, attaining the rank of Senior Airman. In 1965, he received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Ohio Air National Guard, and was assigned to Headquarters, 251st Comm. Gp., Springfield, OH, as a communications officer. He left the Ohio Air National Guard in 1966 and transferred to the Air Force Reserve where he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. He remained in the Air Force Reserve until 1970. 


While attending Miami University, Ventolo worked as a radio announcer for radio stations WRMU & WMUB, Oxford, OH, and WPFB, Middletown, OH. He was also on the production staff of Miami University Broadcasting, an early educational television service. During summer vacations from Miami, he was employed as an Engineering Aid with the Communications & Navigation Laboratory, Wright Air Development Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. Following graduation from Miami University in 1958, he was hired by television station WLWD, Dayton, OH, as a traffic clerk, and later, as a film clerk and cutter/editor. In 1962, Joe joined the staff of the U.S. Air Force Motion Picture Film Archives at Wright-Patterson AFB as a Motion Picture Archivist. In 1969 he transferred to the Advanced Logistics Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB as a historian and public information officer. Shortly thereafter he was assigned to the Office of History, Headquarters Air Force Logistics Command (also at Wright- Patterson), as a staff historian. While there he authored several monographs and contributed sections to the command's annual official histories.

In 1979, he transferred to the Research Division, U.S. Air Force Museum as the Museum's Historian. Two years later he became a Curator of Aeronautics. While assigned to the museum's research division, he researched and wrote 12 editions of the annual history of the Museum, as well as countless display labels and information brochures for aircraft in the museum's collection. He wrote aviation articles for such periodicals Air Force Magazine, Warbirds International magazine and Aero News Photo. He also co-authored articles that appeared in such periodicals as Air Enthusiast, WW I Aero, and Friends Bulletin. In 1993 he was appointed Curator of the U.S. Air Force Museum and named Curator of the United States Air Force. He remained in that position until his retirement on January 3, 1995. 


Ventolo also volunteered with the Ohio History of Flight, Inc. Air Museum in Columbus, OH, from 1995 until its closure in 1999. In 1999, he joined the volunteer staff of the Clark County Park District at the Davidson Interpretive Center located at historic George Rogers Clark Park, near Springfield, Ohio. 

He is currently a co-owner/consultant with Phoenix Aviation Research, Sunnyside, NY, and heads its Ohio Office. He has co-authored articles in the Atlantic Flyer, and written three aviation books, all with Jeannette Remak, founder of Phoenix Aviation Research. Their first book, XB-70 Valkyrie: The Ride to Valhalla was published by Motorbooks International (MBI) in December 1998. Their second book, A-12 Blackbird: Declassified, was published by MBI in December 2000. A third book, "Black Lightning- The Legacy of the Lockheed Blackbirds" ( Speaking Volumes Publishing) will be available in 2018. Joseph is continuing his writing with a book that examines the certain aspects of the Amateur Radio Service and associated organizations.

Other Activities
Joseph Ventolo has been an amateur radio operator since 1956. His callsign is K8DMZ and he is a licensed Extra Class operator. "Ham" radio is an avocation he shares with his wife and two of his daughters and their husbands. Once a year he edits and publishes the Gearvakf Bulletin, a humor newsletter primarily directed toward amateur radio aficionados.

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Joe is a lifelong resident of Enon, Ohio.

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