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One of the most beautiful examples of the P-51 in existance, "Gunfighter" was present for two days of battle with a Japanese Zero - and some aerobatics on the side. This photo, taken
over the Topeka's suburbs, was shot during the Saturday morning "Dawn Patrol". Nothing gets a potential air show fan's dander up more than being awakened by the growl of a P-51's Merlin and a couple of noisy radials. Sole sponsor and pilot Reg Urschler i
s a retired Air Force Brigadier General, who at one time flew RB-47's (among many others) while stationed here in Topeka. To get a P-51 of your own, check out this link.
Doug Jackson and his AT-6-turned-Zero were on hand for the Dawn Patrol as well. During the air show, Doug raids the show line as the P-51 is preparing to take off for an aerobatics demonstration
. Air-raid sirens wail and the guns of the Zero echo up and down the flightline as an indoctrination for many to the sights and sounds of a real air battle. Doug occasionally participates in the Confederate Air Force's "Tora, Tora, Tora" demonstration, wh
ich includes Zero fighters, Val dive bombers and Kate torpedo/level bombers.
The feature act of this year's show was the "Halcones" (Falcons), the Aerobatic Demonstration Team of the Chile Air Force. The five-plane team features four-plane formation maneuvers and a
solo aerobatic demonstration. They fly the German-made Extra 300, equipped with 260hp Lycombings. This photo is of their four-plane cross-over, in which all members experience up to 9 positive G's, except the lead, who experiences up to 6 negative G's fo
r a few seconds. All of the ground and air representatives of the Halcones were friendly and served as excellent ambassadors for Chile.
Halcone flight lead and Number 2, perform the very difficult mirror formation loop. Less than 2 meters seperate the canopies as they perform this graceful and beautiful maneuver. All the p
ilots for the Halcones are active duty combat pilots in the Chilean Air Force. They have a wide background of experience and all have over 1500 hours in the air. The trip to Topeka was the final stop on a month long tour of the United States and Canada. A
fter the show Sunday, the Halcones flew to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, KS to disassemble their Extras, pack them into their C-130 support plane and fly home.
Tight formation is the name of the game for the diamond pilots. This photo, taken on the press hop Friday before the show, demonstrates just how close the formation's planes are to one ano
ther. While the Extra is an inherently unstable aircraft, as most championship aerobatic aircraft are, it is rock steady in the hands of a seasoned pilot. This hop was the first aerobatic experience for the photographer. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity fulfilling a lifelong dream.
Bob Hoskings was on hand with his comedy helicopter act. Otto delights children and adults alike with his aviating antics. Light aerobatics, and extremely skillful flying make for a good show as O
tto runs barrel races, blow's bubbles, YoYo's and captures purse snatchers as seen in this photo. Bob's wife Annette narrates the show, and the couple sells rides before, after and sometimes during the airshow. Otto is a modified Hughes 300. Bob has over
15,000 hours in helicopters and performs mountain search and rescue missions when not doing air shows. Bob and Annette have done over 450 demonstrations at over 150 airshows in the last 5 years.
Very few air show fans have the opportunity to view a real air race. Superbatics '95 featured a simulated T-6 race that provided many with their first glimpse of a modern air race. The T-28
pictured acted as the pace plane, while the Harvard (right, a T-6 varient) was a participant. The T-28 also acted as a saftey plane for a simulated emergency by one of the aircraft in the race. The T-28 and Harvard show in the photo are owned and operated
by Topeka's Combat Air Museum.
Bobby Younkin was on hand for two performances daily, one in his highly modified Pitts biplane, "Samson". Samson is a 650 horsepower Wright radial with wings attached. Ample power, noise, and
copius amounts of smoke make this demonstration a show stopper. Bobby's affinity for flying close to the ground (only occasionally upright, at that) makes for a thrilling demonstration.
As if plowing around the sky with Samson's one noisy radial engine wasn't enough, Bobby returns later in the show with his his beloved 1947 C-45. What this aircraft will do in Bobby's hands is
mind boggling. Loops, tailslides, barrel rolls, all make for an exciting show. The unforgiving sound of the twin radials, combined with beautiful double smoke, is an awesome display, not soon to be forgotten.
comments or questions about this web site. All photos copyright 1995 Michael Forman, and the Combat Air Museum.
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