Author: vfaubert

He has been described as a “Sailplane Superstar” and “The King of Sailplane Aerobatics.” And for good reason. Since starting his career flying sailplanes in 1961 at the age of 17 in Hamburg Germany, he’s logged in excess of 5000 flights and accumulated over 2000 hours in at least 60 types of sailplanes. For years he was the only person in North America who competed in glider aerobatic championships. In 1977 he received an award as the “Best Foreign Aerobatic Pilot”. He’s been featured on television shows such as “That’s…

Matt Younkin is a third-generation pilot. He is the son of legendary airshow pilot Bobby Younkin. Bobby is considered to be one of the greatest airshow pilots of all time. Matt is also the grandson of Jim Younkin who is well known for designing the Century and Trutrak autopilots. Jim is also famous for his antique aircraft restorations as well as building replicas of the 1930s air racers such as The Howard “Mr. Mulligan” and the Travel Air “Mystery Ship”. Matt learned to fly at the age of 14. On…

His first airshow performance was in 1990. He owns and pilots the Tora 101 plane. We talked with Mr. Jackson about his background and this unique plane he flies. Q – So, you are Douglas “Hollywood” Jackson. A – (Laughs). I’ve been called worse. (Laughs). That actually came out of an interesting little story. When I was flying with the rest of the Japanese replicas, most all of them fly with the commemorative Air Force and do a Pearl Harbor routine. We would fly with eight airplanes and we had…

Herb Baker is a retired airshow pilot who performed over 300 plus times in 100 plus venues. He never missed a performance in the first 10 years of his career. He developed the “World’s Only Smoking Ring Aerobatics” when he designed and installed a special wing tip smoke system to enhance his performance. And now the Federal Aviation Administration is bestowing two prestigious awards on Herb Baker the Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” award and the Charles Taylor “Master Mechanic” award. We talked to Herb Baker about his career in aviation.…

Hailing from Masham , Québec, Canada Carol Pilon has been a professional Wingwalker since 2000. She is the first woman and only woman to walk on a jet propelled aircraft. She is the first and only Canadian Wing-walker. She is the first woman, Canadian and Wing-walker to outright own and operate a team in North America. She played an instrumental role in an all-woman Wing-walking team in 2002 and she formed another all woman team in 2011. She performed Wing-walking in the Fox feature presentation of “Amelia”. She was featured…

She is a six-time recipient of the “First Lady of Aerobatics Betty Skelton Award. In July 2004, she was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame and was the recipient of the National Air and Space Museum’s Award for Current Achievement in 1994. She also received the Airshow industry’s most prestigious award, the “Sword of Excellence and the Bill Barber Award for showmanship. Recently she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Air Force Association. We are speaking about the one, the only Patty Wagstaff. Q – I…

Steve Kapur is the Team Spokesperson for the Geico Sky Typers. He’s been with the Geico Sky Typers for over a decade. If you’ve seen the Geico Sky Typers in person, you know you’ve seen a first-class aerobatics demonstration!! Q – Did I see you at this year’s (2016) AirShow at Syracuse Hancock International Airport? A – It was one of the shows that I missed personally, but, the team had a great time from what I heard. Q – You missed it?! A – Yeah. I was home sick…

Kent Pietsch was just four years old when he fell in love with flying. Now, over five decades later Kent has taken his love for flying and developed it into one of the premier aerobatic shows in the U.S. Since 1973 he’s performed at more than 400 airshows thrilling millions of people in the process. You just have to see what this man does with his 800 pound Interstate Cadet. I did at this year’s (2016) Syracuse airshow. Kent Pietsch talked with us about his act. Q – I want…