Blog as therapy...whodathunk.
Today I experienced one of the most frightening things I have seen in my life. Frightening partially because it involved loss of life, but mostly because of the sheer talent that was snuffed out in the blink of an eye.
Today I was at the Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show in Moose Jaw, SK. As usual there was an amazing array of piloting, and technology that is hilighted at all such airshows of its ilk. One group of people stood out from the crowd. It was a group of perfomers from a group called the X-Team (www.xteamairshows.com). To be specific it was Jimmy Franklin, Kyle Franklin, Jim Leroy, and Bobby Younkin...they amazed the crowd with their aerobatic abilities. I am an airplane buff, and aerobatics fan, and was amazed by the abilities of these pilots. They each performed solo earlier in the day, and Jimmy Franklin and his son Kyle did an amazing wing walking act like none I have ever seen for their second show.
Near the end of the day, for their finale, Jimmy Franklin, Jim Leroy and Bobby Younkin put on a unscripted dog fighting display ala WWI under the name of "Masters of Disaster", with Kyle Franklin acting as announcer. This show was to go on for 25 minutes, and the crowd was mesmerized and amazed by the perfomance these amazing aviators demonstrated. About 15 minutes into the show the three planes came together for a stunt where one plane crosses between the other two, and the remaining two pass over and under each other in a near miss. Unfortunately, they didn't miss...the one plane slammed into the bottom of the other and thye both exploded and plummeted to ground in balls of fire from about 300 feet. At first the audience thought that this was a pyrotechnics display and they reacted to the amazing spectacle. But when everyone realized that only one plane was still in the air, and silence overtook the crowd. The aftermath was that Jimmy Franklin (flying WACO), and Bobby Younkin (flying Samson) were killed.
Jimmy Franklin's claim to fame was as a stunt pilot in numerous movies including "The Rocketeer". The plane he was flying was "WACO" a modified 1937 WACO UPF-7 with a T38 jet engine underneath. An amazing flying machine that did things never before seen in aerobatics.
Bobby Younkin is a veteran of airshows worldwide. The plane he was flying was "Samson" a recreation of a plane built by Curtis Pitt in the 1940's. As amazing an aerobatic plane as I have ever seen.
Loss of life is always tragic, but the pilots knew the risks and accepted them everytime they performed. In my mind the more tragic thing is that amazing talent has been removed from this earth.
My condolences go out to Kyle Franklin and his family and the family of Bobby Younkin at this time of great sorrow.
3 comments:
God rest them. I was there too. When the planes hit, it dropped to my knees. I never want to see anything like that again. There was no air show last year, and there probably won't be this year either.
I wasn't there, but I saw one of the last shows between Jimmy Franklin and Jim Leroy. Jim Leroy being the guy who was also preforming in the dog fight in 2005. Unfortunately, Jim Leroy also bought the farm just yesterday. So I guess that means the Masters of Disater are through, with the founding members and the team leader all gone. Oh well, at least they died doing what they loved. They put on a hell of a air show.
Living in Auckland New Zealand I took my son Rex (13) to see his first serious airshow in Melbourne Australia feb 2007. A local Aussie pilot did his aerobatic routine which was superb, then the real show started as Jim Leroy commenced his routine he just blew every performer away.
I am so pleased I took Rex to the show as I doubt what we saw that day will be topped by too many pilots in the future.
Thankyou Jim for inspiring my son to contunue with his goal to fly. RIP
Rodger and Rex, Auckland New Zealand
Post a Comment