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. air shows 1Q 2016 51 FREE VIDEO REVEALS... Use this Book to TOP SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING Create Your Own Ultimate Air Show MISTAKES Marketing Machine You can now leverage 10,000 That Waste Your Time and Money! hours of experience spanning over 100 air shows worldwide. Take advantage of thoroughly "Social Media Doesn’t Work the Way You Think it Does. tested strategies to eliminate Many people think social media is free. It’s not. 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This great offer expires air shows 1Q 2016 ® March 15, 2016 or53 while supplies last! air shows 1Q 2016 54 Photo credit Caroline Sheen. began formulating in his mind which led to develop- was to be completed, Loudenslager suffered fatal injuries ment of the one-of-a-kind airplane that he dubbed the when the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car “Shark.” “The Shark was ahead of its time. Leo’s goal near his home in Tennessee. He was hospitalized and was to develop his version of the ultimate airplane and never regained consciousness. “[On] the morning of it took a year of talking between us to decide how to do the accident, the wing was in the paint booth and we it, followed by another year of testing. The result was were preparing for the final assembly of the Shark when revolutionary,” Zivko said. Leo’s family called us and asked us to hold off. We never finished it and it was eventually donated to the Experi- The Shark used carbon fiber tubing joined with welded mental Aircraft Association museum with covering on titanium clusters. When finished, the fuselage weighed only half the fuselage so the tail linkage construction only 38 pounds, compared to 82 pounds for the standard would be visible. We would have loved to see it fly, but it Edge 540 which uses steel tubing. “Every part of Leo’s was so revolutionary that Leo was the only logical choice Laser that was not structural was drilled full of holes to be the pilot,” Zivko said. to make it lighter and all of the aluminum fairings and cowling were very thin. He carried this mentality into the In spite of the Shark never taking to the air, Zivko said design of the Shark,” Zivko said. The Shark incorporated newer airplanes are nearly capable of what Loudenslager composite wings and control surfaces, as well. wanted to do, so his influence continues to be felt.