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.
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