That’s how it is supposed to go—and often it does go that well, provided you do your homework before you launch for the big event.

If this is your first flight to a given airshow or fly-in, look for a pilot who has made the trip before and is willing to share information. You might even find someone who will make the flight with you.

Pick the route that works best for your aircraft, keeping in mind performance, especially when it comes to climbing over any high terrain on the way. A turbocharged Cessna T182 might not have any trouble, but the pilot of the vintage Taylorcraft might take a longer route that keeps the airplane over lower terrain.

Consider using supplemental oxygen. Though the regs say that the minimum flight crew needs to be on supplemental oxygen at 12,500 feet after 30 minutes, most pilots begin to experience hypoxia at much lower altitudes—sometimes as low as 6,000 feet—so be prepared.

Know how to calculate performance and use the avionics you’re flying with. You don’t want to be the pilot randomly pushing buttons to update a flight plan while hurtling through the air.

Be conservative about weight and balance as well as performance. While it is tempting to overload your aircraft by ‘just a little’ with all the gear you want for camping, it can come back to bite you. Remember, the OEM determined the calculations in the POH using a new airplane and a test pilot at the controls.

Have at least two methods for updating your preflight briefing in the air—a tablet and com radio, for example—and always carry a backup handheld radio. If you’ve never used a payphone (these people walk among us—payphone operation is now part of my curriculum), learn how to use it. There are places that lack cell service but still have a payphone on location, believe it or not.

Pack water and snacks for the trip, and be wary of dehydration and hunger as they make you sleepy. Drink some water before the approach to landing, as water wakes you up—and an alert pilot is a better pilot.

Plan each leg of the flight meticulously. Be careful that get-there-itis does not cloud your judgment. Build in extra days, and ID places to divert to on each leg.

Make sure you are night current and proficient before you begin the journey. There are times when a pilot finds themselves playing “beat the clock” in an aircraft not certified for night flight because the last flight segment went longer than they anticipated.

For navigation, use a combination of digital and analog methods—if the digital goes tango uniform, the paper could save your trip. Make sure both paper and digital materials are current. You do not want to fly with a sectional years out of date and enter Class D airspace thinking it’s a Class E airport—only to learn the airport now has a tower.

Be conservative about fuel burn. Make a list of all the airports that have fuel, located along your route and within 20 miles off to each side, just in case.

If you are flying with a copilot or a companion, have a discussion about cockpit duties before you leave the ground. With a copilot, make sure to designate who is the ‘pilot flying’ and who is the pilot monitoring and fielding radio calls and programming avionics.

If they are not a pilot, you can still assign them the task of watching for traffic and dialing in frequencies on the com side.

Airshow NOTAMs

By regulation, specifically FAR 91.103: “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight.” This means the pilot needs to know what weather to expect, be familiar with the forecasts, fuel requirements, aircraft takeoff and landing data, weight and balance, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC. If your intended destination is an airshow or fly-in, this regulation is now on steroids—expect to find a multi- page notice to air missions (NOTAM) released several days before the event.

The larger the fly-in, the larger the NOTAM. Pay special attention to the communication procedures. If the airport is non-towered, it is likely that a temporary control tower will be brought in for the event. The procedures are created to lessen frequency congestion.

Instead of having hundreds of pilots all talking at once, it’s often one radio call made over a specific landmark to establish contact. Rock your wings when recognized, then follow instructions for landing.

Most NOTAMs have traffic pattern diagrams imposed on Google Earth images for illustration—it’s easy to see where you should be and where you need to avoid when you have an image to refer to.

Pilots who have flown into airshows before—like Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo and EAA AirVenture—recommend having a hard copy of the NOTAM with you in the cockpit along with any digital presentation. Paper doesn’t run out of batteries.

Even if you have flown into this particular event before, still study the NOTAM, as they are often adjusted year to year—for example, traffic patterns may be altered to move aircraft away from heavily populated parking areas.

Skills for the Airshow Arrival

Brush up on specialty takeoffs and landings, crosswind approaches, and go-arounds before you head out on the great adventure. You do not want to be rusty flying into an airshow.

There is a maneuver you were probably not taught as a student pilot but you need it to establish communication and many of these events—that is rocking the wings of the aircraft.

It sounds simple enough, but the controllers who ask the airplanes to identify themselves by rocking their wings really want to see you rock those wings. Make that airplane thrash around like a 10-year-old who has had a frog put down their shirt—but don’t stall or roll inverted.

Practice approaches, especially short approaches and precision landing technique, because “land on the green dot” means land on the green dot.

Study the airport diagram for the facility and know where you will be expected to park. Usually, airshows have ground marshalers, often people on scooters wearing safety vests with FOLLOW ME on the back.

Remember to watch your wingtips as you taxi, especially when there are lots of people around. Though there may be designated pathways for pe- destrians, some people drift outside of their lanes. You don’t want to be the pilot of the Cessna 172 who hits someone in the back of the head with your wing while you taxi, or the guy in the Beechcraft Baron who decides to ignore the ground handlers and taxi into the grass—putting the nosewheel into a gopher hole, resulting in two propeller strikes.

And, in the end, if you are delayed getting to the event, learn from the experience—and realize that it will make a better story to be told around the campfire.

The post A Fond Memory: Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo 2023 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In 1964, Lacy was a demonstration pilot for Pacific Learjet, and he flew one of the first Learjet 24s into Van Nuys, California (KVNY), an airport that would become identified with him over the years—from the Air National Guard, to the charter company that he founded there in 1968, to the movie One Six Right, released in 2005, which capped his career as an actor and photo pilot. Lacy helped develop the Astrovision camera system mounted on Learjets and others. With it, he filmed for Bombardier, Boeing, and Lear, as well as other manufacturers, not only for marketing efforts but also flight test segments. Film credits for the Astrovision system include Flight of the Intruder, The Great Santini, Armageddon, and Top Gun.

Lacy raced airplanes as a passion, and served as president of the Air Racing Association from 1966 to 1970. He won the Unlimited category at the National Air Races at Reno in the stunning purple P-51 Mustang, Miss Van Nuys, he owned for many years. In 2010, he received the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Now, Lacy continues to give back, just as he always has over his career. Today, he’s working with the Aviation Youth Mentoring Program (AYMP, www.aymp.world), a women-owned and child-centered nonprofit committed to involving and inspiring underserved communities through aviation. AYMP students had the privilege to meet Lacy in person at the Van Nuys airport and learn what it takes to be an aviator. Through the Clay Lacy AYMP Flight Scholarship, Lacy has funded 12 students in 2023 for their private pilot certificates, and aviation management and/or aerospace education.

FLYING Magazine (FM): You started flying early in life in Wichita. Can you share a story from those teen years when you first took flight?

Clay Lacy (CL): I remember seeing my first airplanes when I was five years old. There was Continental Airlines flying into Wichita from Denver [Colorado], same time every day, in a Lockheed 12—smaller than a DC-3—and I’d watch it every day. When I was eight years old, my mother took me for a ride in a Staggerwing Beechcraft at the airport—I was into model airplanes by then. When I could see my house from the air, I just thought this was great. From that time until I was 12, occasionally, I would get a few dollars and buy a ride. My grandmother had a farm outside of Wichita…and across the road was a golf course, and in 1944 a guy named Orville Sanders started bringing airplanes in there. I started going over there and helping him. [My grandmother agreed to rent land to Sanders] and three weeks later there were airplanes landing there. So from the time I was 12, I got to fly almost every day.

FM: In flying for United Airlines, you saw the breadth of some of the greatest transport category airplanes ever built. Does one stand out as your favorite?

CL: I had a great career at United—a good company—I had the opportunity to be copilot on a DC-3 for my first year with United. The Convair came in new in 1952, so a year later—they had a contract with the union so the company just assigned people to be copilots—I was assigned it and what a lucky thing that was. It was a modern airplane, with a lot of new systems and good things—and just a great opportunity.

FM: You flew the Learjet early on, and worked with the company and Bill Lear. Any stories to share from that time?

CL: I was really immersed in corporate aircraft sales at an early age, and then I became manager of sales for Learjet in [11] western states in 1964, and with Al Paulsen and his company. I introduced Bill Lear—and his company got the distributorship for those states. I flew the Learjet and I met so many people, like half of Hollywood, giving them demonstrations on Lears. It was a great period in my life. And I started my own charter company in 1969.

FM: For the first flight of the “Pregnant Guppy,” how did that come about?

CL: There was a fellow in the Guard named Jack Conroy. He was always into something new. He had set a record in F-86s from LA to New York and back in one day. He ended up in 1961 building the Pregnant Guppy airplane, which is a big airplane—it would carry the [Saturn rocket] engines that would take man [up to] the Moon, in the Apollo program. Jack would build a lot of airplanes in those days, and I was test-flying most of them. So we flew the Guppy in September 1962—at the time it was considered the world’s largest airplane. It lost some speed—about 18 percent at a given altitude. But Boeing was interested in the project because they were in the process of building the 747. They were interested in how much performance it was going to lose [with the wider cross section]. They were very happy when the numbers came in.

FM: Any good memories of flying the F-86? What was it like balancing the flying with United and keeping your commitment to the Air National Guard?

CL: In January 1954, I went into the air force pilot training for 20 months and was in Georgia, Greenville, Mississippi; Del Rio, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nellis Air Force Base. I came back to United Airlines and the [Air National Guard] in September 1955. I got to fly F-86s on my days off [from the airline]—it was a great life. [The F-86] was a great airplane—I loved it. It was new to the USAF, then the Guard got it during the Korean War. I became head of instrument training for the Guard, and it gave me the opportunity to fly with the general, wing commander, and group commander. We had problems in the Guard, they had had several accidents—like seven accidents in one year—the year before I came in. They were primarily people on cross-countries, with problems in instrument flying. They had a big inspection—and our Air Force advisor chose me to do the instrument flying. I really knew a lot about it because of my job with United. When the inspection was over, he gave me a ’10,’ the highest score he could give me.

FM: What drew you to the P-51, and to race it in the Unlimited Class at the first Reno Air Races?

CL: I always thought it would be fun to do the air racing—I had never done it. I was flying for United, early January 1964, into Reno [Nevada], and I got snowed in one day and I was walking around downtown, and I went by the Chamber of Commerce’s office. They had a sign in the window that the air race was coming in September, and I went in and got the information on it. The next day I was back in Al Paulsen’s office, and I said, ‘They’re gonna have races in Reno, and I’d like to get an airplane and fly it, a P-51.’ He looked shocked, and he said, ‘I just talked to a guy on the phone, and he wants to trade me a P-51 on a Cessna 310 he had for sale.’ The guy was in Lewiston, Idaho. In those days, the P-51s weren’t worth near as much as they are today. So Al wanted $17,500 for the Cessna 310, and…Al told him [he’d give him] $7,500 on the P-51. It was low time, one of the very last ones built— and it flew very nicely.

FM: You’ve made the move from pilot to philanthropist full-time—but you’ve been involved with charitable work all of your career. Tell us about the Clay Lacy Foundation, and the Aviation Youth Mentoring Program you’re involved in now—and what drives you to support kids?

CL: It’s something that I got into some time ago, just overall supporting kids. It’s been a good experience. I’ve had so much fun in aviation—I’m told I might be the highest-time pilot; I have over 55,000 flight hours. I love people in aviation—they’re good, honest people, I think. You tend to be honest in aviation, because if you’re not, you get in trouble if you’re a pilot. So they make good role models for young people. If [a young person] is really interested, they need to meet people who are in aviation who can sponsor them and help get them going.

Quick 6

Is there anyone living or dead who you would most like to fly with?

So many good friends…one being Bill Lear

If you could fly any aircraft that you haven’t flown yet, what would it be?

Several aircraft that I’ve filmed but not flown—like the SR-71

What’s your favorite airport that you’ve flown into?

When I was flying the line for United, Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport

What do you believe has been the biggest innovation breakthrough or event in aviation?

With the advances we’ve made in supersonic flight by the 1950s, I’m surprised we’re not flying faster now. But the increase in safety—it’s remarkable.

What is one important life lesson you’ve learned from being a pilot?

Learn all that you can—always be on the lookout to learn something new.

When not flying or promoting your charitable foundation, what would you rather be doing?

I have a place in Idaho, in the mountains. But, the main thing has always been airplanes and the people in aviation.

The post A Life in Pursuit with Clay Lacy appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

During the last race on Saturday officials said John Maloney, pilot of the Yak-3U Miss Trinidad flew above the maximum allowed altitude on part of the course during the Unlimited Class Heat 3A. The resulting penalty is expected to place Maloney in Sunday’s Unlimited Silver Race instead of the Gold, according to members of Miss Trinidad’s crew.

Altitude regulations instituted by the FAA after the 2011 crash of racer Jimmy Leeward in the P-51 Mustang Galloping Ghost set the maximum racing altitude at 400 feet agl for Unlimited competitors in the Bronze Race, 325 feet in the Silver, and 250 feet in the Gold. Minimum altitude for each race is 50 feet agl.

Some pilots have long criticized the altitude rules for making them feel hemmed-in while flying. Others have called the rules “political” weapons often used to harass competitors and to deny or nullify their victories. Earlier this week Brent Hisey, owner and pilot of the P-51 Miss America, received a penalty for flying too high and was bumped down to a subsequent heat filled with slower aircraft. The penalty essentially forces pilots to race their way back into the competition.

After racing ended on Saturday the pit area buzzed as annoyed as pilots and crew members, annoyed and frustrated, discussed possible strategies to eliminate the maximum altitude rules and even talked about staging a walkout to compel officials to amend the rules or at least develop a system for applying them more consistently.

As of Saturday evening the issue had not been settled and Reno Air Racing Association’s contest committee was meeting to consider the penalty and perhaps the objections.

The final day of racing begins at 7:45 a.m. and the Unlimited Bronze is scheduled for 12:25. Unlimited Silver kicks off at 2:15 p.m. and Gold begins at 4:55. The P-51 Bardahl Special flown by Steven Hinton is favored to win the Gold. The Hawker Sea Fury ‘Dreadnought’ remains sidelined for the final.

The post Air Race Pilots Say Altitude Rules at Reno Have Not Improved Safety appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The P-51C known as Thunderbird is one of these airplanes. Thunderbird made its EAA AirVenture debut this year, following a 24-year restoration. 

Warren Pietsch took ownership of it in 1999 when it was, in his words, “a pile of parts.” Pietsch thought he had purchased a damaged P-51A, but examination of the parts and some research revealed he was in possession of a P-51C that belonged to and had been flown by actor-turned-World-War-II-bomber-pilot Jimmy Stewart. In 1949, Thunderbird came in first at the Bendix Trophy transcontinental race and set several speed records. 

At one point, it was owned by Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran, the founder of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and the first woman to break the sound barrier. Cochran flew it on several record-setting flights then sold the airplane back to Stewart.

Pietsch, who comes from a family of aviators and mechanics, spent more than a decade gathering parts for the restoration. But he didn’t have the time to finish the project, so he turned it over to AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. AirCorps Aviation is known in the warbird community for award-winning restorations. Thunderbird was returned to airworthy status, making its first flight in more than 50 years just weeks before AirVenture at the end of July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The airplane now belongs to the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot, North Dakota.

The post ‘Thunderbird’ Is the Most Famous P-51 You’ve Never Seen appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton, Ohio

“Many have asked about the National Museum of the United States Air Force curators’ favorite artifacts,” a museum spokesperson tells FLYING. But with more than four dozen curators, the list is not a short one.

“Members of museum’s curatorial team, consisting of more than four dozen professionals in the Research, Collection Management, Exhibits, and Restoration Divisions, are consistently drawn to artifacts that embody the people, events, organizations, places, and technologies that have shaped the history and heritage of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force,” the spokesperson said.

“Choosing a favorite aircraft is a tough one. Each curator typically provides a different response—some have more than one, and their favorite aircraft could be located in preservation storage, on display at the museum, or on loan and display to another organization or institution,” they added. “Regardless of the choice, our curators hope guests will pay special attention to some of these aircraft listed below when visiting the museum onsite or online.”

Among the aircraft that curators considered to be favorites:

B-17F Memphis Belle

X-15-A2

F-104C Starfighter

SPAD XIII

P-26 Peashooter

P-51D Mustang

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero

Fokker DVII

F-86 Sabre

F-100D Super Sabre

A-1E Skyraider

MH-53M Pave Low IV

VC-137 (SAM 26000)

Visitor Favorites

“The National Museum of the United States Air Force has 19 acres of indoor exhibits and features more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles,” the spokesperson said. “Among the most popular exhibits and aircraft that visitors flock to include:

• Early Years Gallery: The Wright 1909 Military Flyer, the first military heavier-than-air flying machine.
• World War II Gallery: The B-17F Memphis Belle, which is part of the “Crippling the Nazi War Machine: USAAF Strategic Bombing in Europe exhibit. The famed B-17F Memphis Belle became the first heavy bomber to return to the U.S. after flying 25 missions over Europe. The Belle’s 26th mission was a widely-publicized war bond and morale-boosting tour with more than 30 stops across the U.S.
• Korea and Southeast Asia War Galleries: The “MiG Alley” exhibit tells the story of early jet combat between F-86 Sabres and MiG-15s over Korea. The B-52D looms over the Southeast Asia War Gallery and was part of key air campaigns such as Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker I and II.
• Cold War Gallery: YF-117 stealth fighter, B-36 Peacemaker bomber, SR-71, and B-2. The size, shape and speed of these four aircraft pushed the boundaries of aerospace engineering through the Cold War. The museum’s B-2 is the only B-2 on display in any museum.
• Space Gallery: The Space Shuttle Exhibit features NASA’s first Crew Compartment Trainer (CCT-1). As a major exhibit component in that gallery, visitors can walk onto a full-size representation of a NASA space shuttle payload bay and look inside the CCT-1 cockpit and mid-deck areas. 
• Presidential Gallery: The VC-137C, also known as SAM (Special Air Mission) 26000, was used by eight presidents—Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton. The Presidential Gallery gives visitors the opportunity to view an historic collection of presidential aircraft, and walk through four of them.
• Global Reach Gallery: C-130E Hercules (Spare 617), anchors the “A Force For Good: Department of the Air Force Humanitarian Missions” exhibit. Demonstrating the history and role the Air Force plays in humanitarian operations to assist people domestically and around the world, the exhibit includes: aerial deliveries, goodwill missions, relief and rescue, firefighting, and critical care responses. Artifacts on display include diving equipment used during the Thai Cave Rescue, and firefighting tools used to combat wildfires in Alaska. You can also see a fully assembled Transport Isolation System.
• Research and Development Gallery: XB-70 Valkyrie bomber. The futuristic XB-70A was originally conceived in the 1950s as a high-altitude, nuclear strike bomber that could fly at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). Any potential enemy would have been unable to defend themselves against such a bomber. It is the only Valkyrie still in existence.
• Throughout the museum: the “Women in the Air Force” exhibit. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force honors women with an exhibit highlighting their achievements in civilian and military aviation with emphasis on the U.S. Air Force and its predecessors. The exhibit covers historical issues, changes in laws and attitudes, and women’s contributions. Specific women and groups from all eras and various career fields are noted to emphasize the impact women have played in establishing current positions in the Air Force.

The post Museum Spotlight: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

As aircraft designs advanced, engineers pushed the limits ever further. In late 1939, when the Army requested a new fighter that performed better than any existing fighter at a lower price, the Curtiss engineers indeed challenged convention. They responded to the Army proposal with a swept-wing canard, powered by a 1,275 hp Allison V-12 as found in P-38s, P-40s, and P-51s. Unlike these more conventional aircraft, however, the XP-55 design mounted it behind the pilot and drove an aft-mounted pusher propeller.

Curtiss reasoned that the XP-55 would provide many benefits over traditional designs. They claimed the unusual configuration would achieve equal or better speeds, better maneuverability, and superior outward visibility. They also touted design aspects that would make the XP-55 a safer aircraft for the pilot, including the superior ground handling characteristics afforded by the tricycle gear and engine placement that would help protect the pilot from engine fires. 

One unique safety-related feature was a jettison system for the propeller. In the event the pilot was forced to bail out, they could first pull a lever that would detach the propeller entirely. The propeller would depart the aircraft, thus providing a clear exit path for the jumping pilot.

The Army awarded Curtiss the contract, and Curtiss proceeded with building a flying testbed to test flight characteristics. Designated the CW-24B, it utilized a diminutive Menasco C6S-5 Super Buccaneer 6-cylinder inline engine that produced 275 horsepower—1,000 less than the XP-55.  Because of the lower power rating, Curtiss engineers reduced weight wherever possible, utilizing a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and fixed landing gear that occasionally sported wheel pants. 

Although the CW-24B could reportedly only attain 180 mph, it sufficed for testing purposes and produced valuable data. As a result of 169 flights between December 1941 and May 1942, engineers determined the need for various aerodynamic modifications. They increased the wingspan, added larger vertical stabilizers to the wingtips, and added dorsal and ventral fins to the engine cowl—all to improve stability and controllability.

The first of three XP-55s made its maiden flight in July 1943, only to reveal significant controllability issues that the CW-24B failed to uncover. In addition to insufficient pitch authority on takeoff, the first prototype struggled with inflight stability—so much so that when a test pilot entered a stall, the aircraft flipped over and entered an unrecoverable, inverted descent. The pilot managed to bail out, but the first prototype was destroyed. 

Curtiss proceeded to build and fly the second and third prototypes, and testing continued. Despite significant efforts to address the aircraft’s deficiencies such as poor stall recovery, insufficient engine cooling, and performance that remained inferior to existing, conventional designs, these issues would remain unsolved. In addition, the jet-powered Bell P-59 Airacomet had, by this time, been flying for nearly two years, and it was becoming clear that jets would replace propeller-driven fighter aircraft. The XP-55 program was, therefore, discontinued.

In 1945, the third XP-55 was chosen to fly in an airshow held in Dayton, Ohio. Tragically, while performing a roll in front of the crowd, the aircraft dove into the ground, killing the pilot and leaving the second prototype as the sole remaining example of the type. Today, that XP-55 is on display at the Air Zoo aviation museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

The post The Short, Unconventional Life of the Curtiss XP-55 Ascender appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The aircraft spent a year at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota, undergoing repairs. AirCorps Aviation is known for its work on World War II-era aircraft.

“It takes a whole lot of people in this industry to keep these airplanes flying safely,” said Eric Trueblood, one of the owners of AirCorps Aviation. “It takes a community from propeller shops and engine shops and the like.”

Trueblood noted that when working on a World War II design, the history of the aircraft and its role in the war is very important.

“We have a historian on staff who researches and writes about each airframe,” he said, adding that the story of the Tuskegee Airmen is poignant on several levels. “The story resonates with many, not only for what the Tuskegee Airmen had to overcome, but what they achieved in terms on flying cover for the bombers.”

• READ MORE: How LaGuardia Airport Inspired a Tuskegee Airman to Dream of Flight

The P-51 is painted in the colors of the Tuskegee Airmen, sporting a distinctive red tail. When it is parked on the ramp, it always attracts a crowd of admirers.

Doug Rozendaal, leader of the Commemorative Air Force Rise Above Squadron, performed the post-maintenance flight, taking the aircraft to Raymond, Mississippi, where John 360° Coatings repainted the repaired parts of the aircraft to get her “show ready.”

Tuskegee Airmen‘s regular pilot, Alan Miller, then flew the airplane to Brandon, Mississippi, for propeller rebalancing, then this past weekend it was on to Windsor Locks, Connecticut, for the Rise Above exhibit at the New England Air Museum.

Tuskegee Airmen is now on the way to Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD) for the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas airshow, November 11 through 13.

“I am happy to have the airplane back out on the road and telling the story of the Tuskegee Airmen,” says Rozendaal.

• READ MORE: Remembering Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson’s Lofty Dream

About the P-51 Mustang

According to Mustangs.com, some 15,586 North American P-51 Mustangs were built between 1940 and 1945. During World War II, they were used as escorts for bombers, and referred to as “little friends.”

After World War II, many of the aircraft were scrapped, although some saw action in the Korean War. Stateside, there was a time where you could buy a demilitarized P-51 for $600.

Today, there are some 303 P-51 Mustangs left, of which 172 are airworthy. The rest are either on static display or undergoing restoration.

About CAF Rise Above

CAF Rise Above, formerly known as the CAF Red Tail Squadron, is part of the CAF’s educational outreach program that celebrates the legacy and shares the history of the Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

Both the Tuskegee Airmen and the WASP programs had to overcome societal bias in addition to the added challenge of learning to fly military aircraft.

The post P-51 ‘Tuskegee Airmen’ Flies Again appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Cruise, one of Hollywood’s most famous pilots—on screen and off—could possibly be on his way to becoming the first civilian to conduct a space walk on the International Space Station, if executives at Universal Pictures have their way.

“I think Tom Cruise is taking us to space. He’s taking the world to space,” Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Chairman Donna Langley told BBC in a recent interview. “That’s the plan. We have a great project in development with Tom that does contemplate him doing just that, taking a rocket up to the space station and shooting, and hopefully being the first civilian to do a space walk outside of the space station.”

Cruise proposed the idea to the studio during the pandemic, Langley said.

“The majority of the story actually takes place on Earth, and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day,” she said.

• READ MORE: Actor Tom Cruise Headed for Outer Space

Rumblings of the actor blasting off into space aren’t exactly new. In the spring of  2020, Deadline reported that the Top Gun: Maverick actor was collaborating with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to film an action-adventure movie.

It’s a collaboration that NASA officials support, according to then-NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

“We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASA’s ambitious plans a reality. NASA is excited to work with Tom Cruise on a film aboard the Space Station.” Bridentine said, according to the Deadline report, “There has never been a leading man… who puts himself at risk as often as does Cruise, in the name of the most realistic action sequences possible. If he is successful shooting a project in Musk’s space ship, he will be alone in the Hollywood record books.”

The ISS, which is about the length of an American football field, orbits 227 nm above Earth, according to Kennedy Space Center.

Last year, the actor interviewed NASA astronaut Victor Glover about his ISS mission.

• READ MORE: Pilots Will Love Top Gun: Maverick—It’s a Lot More Real

Cruise, who has been a pilot since 1994, flew in many of the scenes in the Top Gun: Maverick. 

“The Navy wouldn’t let him fly an F-18,” the film’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer said, according to USA Today. “But he flies a P-51 in the movie and he flies helicopters.”

• READ MORE: Tom Cruise Takes James Corden on ‘Top Gun’ Flight

The post Tom Cruise On Course For First Civilian ISS Space Walk appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Indeed, the apparent slowdown might be a product of our imagination, as there are still many shows scheduled across the U.S. from midsummer through the fall. Because many spectators judge airshows by how many warbirds show up, we are listing events where people can see these beloved antiques take to the sky. Below is a small sample of opportunities to see wartime fighters, bombers, trainers, and transports in action between now and the beginning of the school year.

Oregon International Air Show

August 19-21, McMinnville Municipal Airport (KMMV), McMinnville, Oregon

The well-known P-51 Mustang “Val-Halla” will perform at this long-running show that also includes the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and F-35A Lightning II demo teams. There will also be a flight of warbirds from the Erickson Aircraft Collection, including a Douglas AD-4W Skyraider, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Ye Olde Pub,” and a Grumman F8F Bearcat.

The Show continues to grow! On Saturday & Sunday, a C-17 Globemaster III from @446AW will flyby! THEN, on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, a F-15C from the Oregon Air National Guard will flyby! Don't miss them & more at the McMinnville Airport on August 19-21. https://t.co/DxsGFxwdkO pic.twitter.com/3iF0DInUza

— Oregon Int'l AirShow (@oregonairshow) August 2, 2022

New Garden Festival of Flight

August 30, New Garden Airport (N57), Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania

This evening show is set to begin at twilight and finish off with a lightshow-style demonstration by renowned aerobatic performer Matt Younkin and his Twin Beech 18. Other featured warbirds include a North American SNJ Harvard trainer and Vought F4U Corsair fighter. There is also a Mitsubishi A6M Zero, which is far from an everyday sight.

Wildwood Air Show

September 2-5, Cape May County Airport (KWWD), Wildwood, New Jersey

The show will feature World War II aircraft potentially including a Corsair, a PBY Catalina, and a JU-52. The airport, which served as a training base for dive bomber squadrons during the war, is also home to the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, located in the airport’s historic Hangar 1.

Garmin KC Air Show

September 3-4, New Century AirCenter (KIXD), Olathe, Kansas

A huge event with dozens of performers, the KC Air Show includes a big military contingent, from the Air Force Thunderbirds and A-10 Thunderbolt II demonstration teams to an Air Force Heritage Flight and Navy Legacy Flight. A P-40 Warhawk and P-51 Mustang will also perform, as will the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in their 1940s-era T-6 Texan military trainers.

You can see an Osprey, Sea Dragon, and an A-10 up close at the Garmin KC Air Show!

Take a look at all of our static displays here: https://t.co/dvftC80Q5R #A10 #osprey #seadragon #garminkcairshow pic.twitter.com/qUlXOxnTIG

— Garmin KC Air Show (@KCAirShow) August 2, 2022

Tri-State Warbird Museum Flying Warbirds Showcase

September 24, Clermont County Airport (I69), Batavia, Ohio

The Tri-State Warbird Museum’s restored aircraft visit numerous air shows around the U.S. but this is its home event, which helps fund the museum’s mission to preserve World War II aircraft and educate visitors about the role of U.S. aviation during the war. Attendees will see the museum’s P-40 Warhawk, TBM Avenger, P-51D Mustang, B-25 Mitchell, and a Flug Werk FW 190.

The post Calling Warbird Fans: Late-Summer Air Shows Featuring World War II Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

In a rich life that spanned humankind’s scaling of the heavens from Charles Lindbergh’s Atlantic crossing in a flimsy monoplane to tourists joyriding in space atop sleek rockets, Alexander Jefferson could proudly stake a claim as one of the begoggled pioneers who blazed an indelible trail in the sky. His dream of flight was born while growing up in Detroit and it rooted in Rouge Park, a sprawling green space on the city’s west side, where he delighted in slinging his hand-built model airplanes into the freedom of the open air.

He got to taste that freedom for himself after graduating with a chemistry degree from Clark College in Atlanta in 1942. By then, America was at war and desperately needed pilots. Along with nearly a thousand other African American men, he earned the coveted silver wings of an Army aviator at the historic air base in Tuskegee, Alabama. 

A Combative Introduction to Combat

During advanced gunnery training at Selfridge Field near his hometown back in Michigan, he got a jarring introduction to the commander of First Air Force, Major General Frank O’Driscoll Hunter. In front of the assembled Black flyers, the World War I ace and Savannah, Georgia, native laid out an anachronistic and dispiriting view on race that included keeping the officers’ club segregated. 

Sadly, it was neither the first nor the last of the wartime indignities endured by “Jeff,” as the pilots who knew him used to call their friend. In a conspicuous incongruity, he soon set sail for Italy to fight for liberty abroad while being denied its full fruits at home.

Jeff’s aerial exploits reached their climax over Toulon, France, on August 12, 1944. He bore down on a Nazi radar station in one of the red-tailed Mustangs of the 332nd Fighter Group, the all-Black unit led by the steely Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., who exhorted his pilots to give their all. Braving intense enemy ground fire as he pressed the attack, Jeff stayed on his strafing run until his airplane erupted in flames, forcing him to bail out. After 19 missions, his combat days had ended; he was captured by German soldiers and held at Stalag Luft III. Later transferred to Stalag VIIA, he remained there until liberated by Gen. George Patton’s Third Army in May 1945.

Many years afterward, Jeff often visited the airport north of Detroit that my wife and I owned for more than three decades. It was fascinating when Jeff regaled us and our guests with stories of his prison experience. He enjoyed telling the part about how he was billeted in a certain barracks at his first prisoner-of-war camp at the behest of the senior-ranked prisoner. 

Once inside the austere quarters, he found himself surrounded by other downed pilots and flight crew, who he described as “good ole white boys from the Deep South.” Incredulous, he looked at the barracks leader and asked, “Of all the newly arrived airmen, why did you select me to be a bunkmate?” Savoring the punch line and pausing for effect, Jeff quoted the senior officer: “We know there is no way you can be a German plant.” 

For as long as the men shared a common fate as prisoners, they got along well enough. But, in an ironic twist that shed new light on historical stereotypes, Jeff singled out both camps’ German guards, saying that they had treated him “like an officer and a gentleman.” 

After his liberation, he saw the nearby Dachau concentration camp. The unspeakable sights and unbearable stench imparted a lifelong lesson about the grotesqueries that certain individuals are capable of perpetrating if left unchecked.

Like the others serving overseas who had survived the travails of the world’s deadliest conflagration, he was elated to be going home. He had nothing but joy in his heart when the Cunard ocean liner that had been converted into a troop transport got within visual range of America’s coastline. Yet, when Jeff began to make his way off the ship by stepping down the gangplank to the pier, an Army private in the shore security detail called out to him with the n-word and barked the command to use a different exit ramp as he was on the one for whites.

Going to Work at Home

It was a rude awakening that the homeland’s racial attitudes and precepts had changed little if at all during his absence. Jeff and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen had set out to achieve the Double-V—victories against the twin evils of totalitarianism and racism. They had undeniably contributed to the accomplishment of the former, but the latter clearly required more time. 

Indeed, three years later, in 1948, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the armed forces. It is not a stretch to say that the selfless service and extraordinary sacrifices of patriotic Black Americans in hostile skies and on scarred battlefields were among the factors that paved the way for Truman’s decision.  

In turn, that giant leap forward in race relations fostered a change in societal views that shattered the barriers that had held back earlier generations of minority group members. Other civil rights breakthroughs followed, making opportunity and fairness more widespread. Despite this flowering of the Red Tails’ shared legacy, the sting of the pier-side incident regrettably ate at Jeff for the rest of his life.  

Jeff left the active-duty Air Force in 1947 (retaining a commission in the reserves until 1969 when he retired as a lieutenant colonel). Because commercial flying jobs were closed to Blacks at that time, he assessed his prospects. He determined that his college education lent itself to his becoming a science teacher. For the next 30-plus years his lectures animated classrooms of the Detroit public schools where his fatherly discipline endeared him to his students.

The positive impact of his teaching career was on display at his 90^th birthday celebration in 2011. Hundreds of his former students, mostly members of the Black middle class, came to pay their respects and Jeff greeted each by name as hugs were exchanged. Many brought their children and grandchildren to meet the kindly but demanding war hero who had mentored them. I was touched as the heartwarming scene unfolded. It spoke of a life well lived.

A Lasting Impact

Wanting to keep the history of his unique fighter unit alive, especially as a source of inspiration for young people, he and a small group of like-minded souls gathered in his basement in the early 1970s to plot a pathway for that future. The result was the creation of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., a national organization with the surviving veterans as the nucleus. A museum in Detroit was also established with activities that now include a youth flight academy at the city’s Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport (KDET).

Through the pirouettes of his life’s odyssey, Jeff’s enchantment with flight never waned. He co-authored a memoir and was featured in a documentary. His core message about attaining one’s dreams through perseverance was timeless. By overcoming obstacles to participate in a noble cause that involved personal risk, he proved anyone with the motivation and the training can succeed. The power of his example has changed skeptics into believers, observers into doers. 

Coinciding with Jeff’s centenary in 2021, his hometown of Detroit rededicated a section of Rouge Park in his honor where a sign stating “Alexander Jefferson Field” marks the site until a plaza and statue are completed in the near future. The same grassy expanse where Jeff launched his model airplanes long ago continues to welcome youngsters to do likewise in the presence of a reminder of the would-be aviator who went on to fulfill his lofty dream. 

The post Remembering Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson’s Lofty Dream appeared first on FLYING Magazine.