Aircraft Innovation in the AIR SHOW INDUSTRY

WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE: Aircraft Innovation IN THE AIR SHOW INDUSTRY

BY MIKE BERRIOCHOA

Almost from the beginning of powered in part, because he would fly his lumber- flight, the airplane has been used to enter- ing stick and fabric machine to altitude and tain. And what we think is new and different push the nose straight down, pulling out, it in today’s air show world, likely as not, was was said, a scant 50 feet above the turf. first done decades ago. What has changed is technology. And with each technological While there is no way to know the precise improvement has come new opportunities, altitude at which he would pull out, this both to embrace the changes and move for- one stunt alone helped propel Beachey to ward, as well as to harken back in time. the forefront of the entertainment world. As other pilots tried to emulate Beachey, The Wright brothers’ first flight was straight they learned the hard way that he knew ahead. Imagine the thrill when they perfect- something they didn’t. And, eventually, even ed wing warping that allowed an airplane to Beachey himself pushed the envelope too far make a controlled turn. Wing warping gave and died in a tragic crash. way to newfangled devices called ailerons as turning became the norm. Then, along came Before there was Smoke-n-Thunder, before Lincoln Beachey, who figured out how to do there was Shockwave, and before there was a a loop. And the rest is history. jet-powered school bus, the hottest race car driver on the planet, Barney Oldfield, was Lincoln Beachey, because of his daring challenging Beachey to races at air meets and stunts, became one of the highest paid other events all across the country. Oldfield entertainers in America (ah, for the good old was the first man to coax a car up to 60 miles days). Sitting out over the nose wheel with per hour and was every bit the showman as his massive V-8 pusher engine behind him, Beachey. When the two were on the same his aircraft looked more like a box kite on bill, a paying crowd was assured. Innovative steroids than an airplane. He was acclaimed, for its day. Commonplace today. air shows 1Q 2016 50 “He shaved every part down to the bone and literally tossed out most of the original Stephens Akro design. He rebuilt every- thing and refined the engine so he could pull the airplane through all the tumbling and violent maneuvers that we are so used to today,” said Dorothy Cochrane, Curator of General Aviation, Aeronautics Depart- ment at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

By the time Loudenslager finished his modifications, only about ten percent of the original As science and engineering nity to spin off their advance- Akro airplane remained, evolv- began to be applied to aircraft ments to other aspects of ing into what he dubbed the La- design, there came a better aviation. For example, the quest ser 200 and named his “Beautiful understanding of aerodynam- for speed and efficiency in auto Obsession.” ics, center of gravity and all the racing has given us the clutch- forces of lift, drag and thrust that less manual transmission, four- Loudenslager was on the fore- affect how airplanes fly. Ama- wheel independent suspension, front of American monoplane teur homebuilders and fledgling high-performance tires, disc design, having little interest in startup companies led the devel- brakes, the dual overhead cam the popular Pitts Special biplanes opment of flying machines, but engine, and the list goes on. The that had swept the industry. most of the significant advance- closest that any performer has “The Laser had wood wings, and ments in early aircraft and power come to advancing general avia- the one-piece wood spars were plant design in the first half of tion technology was seven-time becoming hard to come by. We the 20th century came during U.S. Aerobatic Champion Leo had built and sold over 20 wood World War I and World War II, Loudenslager. wings for the Stephens Akro, as countries pressed designers but we were being encouraged To say that Loudenslager was to develop faster, stronger and to make composite wings and obsessed with development more lethal flying machines. As the material was becoming more of a world-class airplane and these wars wound down, many affordable. Extra had come out flying the perfect routine is a of the military aircraft became with a composite wing which serious understatement. The surplus and started showing up pushed us to develop the Edge former B-52 mechanic bought a in air shows, further fueling the 540,” said Eric Zivko, President Stephens Akro kit in 1970, when public interest in aviation and of Zivko, the company that de- he emerged from the U.S. Air air shows. signed and built the Edge 540. Leo Loudenslager’s Laser 200 Force and competed in his first “Beautiful Obsession” now hangs Innovation has fueled innova- aerobatic competition a year As Loudenslager worked with in the Udvar-Hazy Center, the tion within the air show world, later. He then set about modify- the folks at Zivko to develop Smithsonian Institution’s Na- but -- unlike auto racing -- air ing his Akro by removing every wings for the Edge, an idea for tional Air and Space Museum’s shows have had little opportu- bit of weight that he could. a revolutionary new design annex in Dulles, VA.

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And, as light and agile as the plane was destined to be, its most unique feature was the tail section. Both the hori- zontal and vertical stabilizers could be uncoupled, giving greater stick throw and 70 degrees of deflection during flight. “Leo’s intention was to be able to use power to go vertical, and then continuously flip the aircraft end- over-end, pivoting around the wing tips,” said Zivko. In addition, the airplane was to use a brand new Lycoming engine design and a composite Hartzel prop that would give a thrust-to-weight ratio exceeding one to one. Producing 1,480 pounds of thrust and an empty weight of 860 pounds meant Loudenslager could also accelerate The Shark was vertically. completed and donated to the EAA Unfortunately for Loudenslager and for the air show AirVenture Mu- industry, the Shark never flew. Just a month before it seum in July 2002.

air shows 1Q 2016 55 While the passion for innovation took Leo in lot with Sean Tucker to perfect a completely one direction, that same passion took Wayne new act,” Handley said. Handley in a similar, but separate direction. Handley, who operated a crop dusting But, along the way, Handley was nagged by operation for many years, had gained fame the idea of doing something unprecedented flying competition as well as air shows in to improve his brand. “I came up with the a four-cylinder Pitts, at a time when Pitts same idea that Leo had…develop an air- aircraft were dominating the industry. He plane with a positive thrust-to-weight ratio.” was successful, but he wanted something And, with that concept, the idea for the different. Turbo Raven was born. “I wanted to be able to go vertical, hang it on the prop, then go “I was at the national aerobatic champion- up again,” he said. A simple idea, but not so ships in Texas in 1988, when I met Bob Jones simple to implement. “An idea stays a dream company I turned to for the engine wasn’t who was selling a kit called the Rebel 300. until you write it down and develop a plan interested and gave me no help, so I had to It was a six-cylinder monoplane and there to make it happen,” Handley said. find something different,” he said, and the was only one monoplane in competition. I project stalled. But his dream didn’t. was able to work with Jones to design the Like Loudenslager before him, Handley Eventually, Handley found an engine that modifications that I wanted. We stretched it turned to Zivko for help. Working with produced 750 horsepower and it all came enough to install a second seat and called it Zivko engineers, Handley was able to com- together. He found a sponsor who would the Rebel 2300. It took me two years of work mit his dream to paper and designed a new back him, stirred tremendous interest in the to be able to fly it at the same level of profi- airplane that would use a turbine engine air show community, and his dream became ciency that I had flown the Pitts. I was able that produced one thousand horsepower. a reality. Handley’s first year with the Turbo to develop new maneuvers and worked a But there was one big obstacle. While the design was there, the engine wasn’t. “The Raven was very successful, right up until air shows 1Q 2016 56 a mechanical problem with the propeller He was one of the first, with his Zar routine, tion flying the Sasquatch. caused him to pancake, while performing in to adopt a theme for his act. He was well Salinas, California, in 1999. Even though he known for his WACO Mystery Ship routine, Kyle is an accomplished performer in his proved the concept worked, the Turbo Raven and just as popular with stunt man Johnny own right and, learning from his dad’s vision never flew again. He has been approached Kazian walking his wing or transferring from to adopt contemporary themes developed several times to build a new, better version a speeding motorcycle or car onto a rope his Pirated Skies act, capitalizing on the of the airplane, but has declined. “It won’t be ladder slung beneath the WACO. Jimmy popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean me, but there is tremendous entertainment would then fly him around the field and sling movies that starred Johnny Depp. “Unfor- value in such an airplane for anyone who him into a fire wall where he would emerge tunately, this industry does not embrace wants to pursue it,” he said. unscathed time after time. Crowds loved it. change well. I went through some of what Jimmy was also the only pilot willing to do Dad experienced. Initially, there was reluc- Heart surgeon Ray Vetsch of Joplin, Missouri lomceváks, tail slides, torque rolls and snap tance to hire us,” Kyle said. But it didn’t take may just be the one to do it. He had similar rolls with a wing walker on the top wing. long for the industry to catch up and the dreams when he fitted a turbine engine onto Franklins were again in demand all across a Sukhoi a few years ago. The results were “When Dad developed Zar, there was the country. “Pirated Skies was a big biplane impressive and his act has been well received skepticism about anyone liking it. He was act that evolved into the hottest act of 2010,” wherever he has flown. “It is an incred- trying to capitalize on America’s fascination he said. Kyle did many of the same maneu- ibly powerful airplane. The engine pro- with space flight and the Star Wars movie. vers as his father…torque rolls, tail slides, duces 3,400 pounds of thrust against a gross It turned out to be the hottest thing in the snap rolls, all with his wife, Amanda, on the weight of 2,200 pounds,” Vetsch said. air show industry,” said Jimmy’s son, Kyle top wing. He and Amanda concluded their Franklin. Zar wore a black costume with a act by crossing swords on the final pass, a While good in concept, Vetsch said there cape and a black helmet obscuring his face. simple idea that became an iconic symbol of were problems initially. The first engine he Kids would flock to him when he landed, imagination and contemporary interest. tried had issues going inverted and even demanding his autograph. Before long, other vertical. “I overcame that problem when I performers began to try costume ideas to turned to the Walter Engine Company, as add a new spark to their routines. “Dad’s they had developed an engine for Eastern ideas helped the industry get away from Bloc countries that could provide power in the jeans and t-shirts that most pilots wore. all positions. We learned from Wayne’s expe- And today, there is a lot more creativity in rience and were able to develop an airplane costumes and flight suits than ever before,” with an incredible performance envelope. said Kyle. You point it at the sky and it goes there,” Vetsch said. Then Jimmy did something totally unex- pected. With the help of Les Shockley, he Like Handley, Vetsch started flying air shows lashed a jet engine to the belly of one of his in a Pitts. Then he moved up to the Sukhoi WACO biplanes and put it out there at the and added the turbine engine. “It’s different 1999 ICAS Convention for everyone to see. than a flip-flop airplane. I’ve copied some Unfortunately, even among the shows who of Wayne’s maneuvers and learned not only knew him well, the industry wasn’t ready what to do, but what not to do. Many people for such a radical idea and Jimmy booked are quick to offer ideas for maneuvers, very few shows that year. But the shows that but some of them can really get you into did take a chance on this new idea were glad trouble,” he said. they did. It didn’t take long for word to get around that Jimmy had a winner and soon One of the most innovative pilots in the air he was riding a new wave of popularity that show business was the late Jimmy Franklin. is emulated today by John Klatt’s organiza-

air shows 1Q 2016 57 As Kyle has matured in the air show busi- Murphy in the years prior to World War II stay active in air shows while he was working ness, he has maintained his quest to try new had a pilot fitted an airplane so it could take on the airplane, so he created Otto, the heli- things…not so much to reinvent himself, off and land upside down. It was the mid- copter act that evolved into one of the most but to stay current. 1980s and, almost from the moment Hosk- popular air show acts in the world. “I stayed ing’s promotional literature started showing mostly in the western U.S. with Otto the first “Right now, most shows are still doing what in air show mail boxes (the Internet didn’t year, then started branching out as popular- they did 30 years ago,” Kyle says. “It bothers yet exist), the bookings started coming in. ity of the act grew,” Hosking said. But he me that we are so far behind the times. We always intended that Otto would be a stop have to step up our game and find unique The inspiration for Doubletake came from gap act until the Pitts was ready to fly. opportunities. We have to compete with Hosking watching Jimmy Franklin fly his high-tech movies, video games and an as- WACO at the Reno Air Races. “Jimmy did Even though installing landing gear on sortment of other entertainment options. an inverted ribbon pickup with the tail of top of the airplane had been done before, Technology has advanced, but there are fewer his airplane and I knew right then and there Hosking had no knowledge of it. There and fewer variety acts and we need more.” that I wanted to learn to do that. Only it was no Internet, and Hosking did as much seemed to me that if I was going to fly that research as he could to see if anyone else There are no rewards in this business with- close to the ground upside down, I should be had ever done it before, but he found out risk; and most of the risk, especially the able to land that way.” So he bought a Pitts nothing. Only later did he learn that Mike cost, falls on the shoulders of the perform- and set out to make his dream come true. Murphy had done something similar us- ers. If shows are reluctant to hire them, there ing a monoplane. The industry was more is little incentive to try something new or Hosking started flying conventional aerobat- than ready for Doubletake. Hosking soared different. A rare exception was Craig Hosk- ics with his Pitts to gain air show experience to prominence in his first year and very ing and the airplane he called Doubletake, and get his low level waiver. Then the plane quickly received the Art Scholl Memorial a Pitts S-2 with a robust set of landing gear went into the hangar where he installed Showmanship Award. mounted to the top wing. Not since Mike landing gear to the top wing. He wanted to

Craig Hosking’s Doubletake incorporated landing gear on the top wing.

Ball had once crewed for Carlton at a small show in Nebraska when he was 15-years-old. After that show, Carlton set Ball up on his first date with the waitress from dinner the Sunday night Photo credit Allen Ball. after the show. air shows 1Q 2016 58 It bothers me that we are so far behind the times. We have to step up our game and find unique opportunities. We have to compete with high-tech movies, video games and an assortment of other entertainment options. Technology has advanced, but there are fewer and fewer variety acts and we need more.

Part of Hosking’s motivation for an act like Doubletake for my needs.” Originally designed for use in auxiliary was to move the air show industry more toward family power units for Russian fighters and helicopters, the entertainment and away from so much of the hard core company was looking for new markets. “I came along aerobatics that most other pilots were doing. “Both Otto just as they were coming to market with it,” he said. and Doubletake were intended solely for entertainment, using an aerial stage. I was delighted to see acts like Zar, Carlton notes he wasn’t the first to mount a jet engine Smoke-n-Thunder, and the addition of pyro and more to a glider. “It was done in Italy several decades ago,” theatrical acts rather than just pilotage,” he said. he said. And others had mounted jet engines on their gliders to keep them in the air, but the engines were not Soon the sirens of Hollywood lured Hosking away from powerful enough to launch the aircraft. air shows. Today, he flies for the movie industry where he has worked on a wide variety of shows including To date, Carlton has built two jet powered gliders and is Interstellar, Fast and Furious, Indiana Jones and many building a third one for a friend. He sees himself as part television commercials. of an evolution. “Earlier efforts were plagued by heavy engines that were old and unreliable. They were complex Innovation has also contributed to one of the best and hard to start. Modern equipment is clean, simple, known glider acts in the air show business. Bob Carlton sophisticated and reliable,” he said. fitted his Salto sailplane with a small jet engine, not to increase crowd appeal, but for practical reasons. “One of the problems with innovation is how hard it is to get the word out. A sailplane act can be a bit hard to “I performed as a straight glider act for 13 years, but sell, and a jet sailplane even harder. The more outra- often had to struggle to find tow pilots at some of the geous the idea, the more difficulty there is getting it shows,” Carlton said. While a lot of airports have glider accepted,” Carlton said. clubs on the field and have someone with a tow plane, Carlton said he found that tow pilots were reluctant to Carlton said there are additional innovations still to give up a weekend of towing regular customers just to come from his shop, but he’s mum on what they will tow his glider once a day during the show. be. He laments that newer, younger pilots generally don’t share the zeal for innovation that is felt by some His solution was to turn to the model airplane industry. of the older pilots. “We’ve seen a shift in pilot culture. “I started out using two model airplane jet engines, and Older pilots built their own airplanes, worked on them, it worked, but barely. I had to launch 20 minutes early designed them. Today, most new air show pilots buy a to get to altitude to start my routine. It became obvious production airplane and do little or none of the work that the concept worked, but I needed a bigger engine,” on them,” he said. Carlton believes the industry needs to Carlton said. break that mold and get pilots thinking about new ideas, or even resurrecting old ideas with a new twist. “The He started searching and found what he was looking for opportunities are there. We just need to take advantage from PBS in the Czech Republic. “This little engine gives of them.” me 250 pounds of thrust which is more than enough

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