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Flight of fantasy

Piper Tri-Pacer pilot invited to fly EAA AirVenture airshow

I was nervous, even after poring over diagrams of the aerial parade route, attending two airshow performers’ safety briefings, and asking dozens of follow-up questions that were patiently answered by EAA AirVenture Air Bosses Kriss Kliegle and Kellie Hudson.

A museum-restored 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer turns right during a Vintage in Review aerial parade lap for 12 pilots and their historic aircraft who participated in the Thursday afternoon airshow at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 25. Photo by David Tulis.

Flying at 500 feet and 90 knots while I crossed airshow center in my restored 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer, I could hear myself second-guessing. “How’s my airspeed? Am I flying dead-center over the grass median between Runway 36L and 36R as briefed or am I drifting right? And what about my altitude?”

A quick glance at the altimeter set to QFE, or zero, confirmed I was about 100-feet low during this parade-lap pass. Looking up from the altimeter needle I wondered aloud, “Hey, where’s that triple-tail Bellanca CruiseAir that I’m following?”

All twelve of our classic aircraft were flying in a conga line spaced about 30 seconds apart. That meant simultaneous operations including takeoffs, aerial parade laps in front of the crowd, and landings, all while my vintage teammates were in other phases of the brief—but highly orchestrated flyby review.

We were the warmup act before aviation greats including Michael Goulian, Greg Koontz, Jim Peitz Skip Stewart, Philipp Steinbach, Matt Younkin, and the Red Bull Air Force took to the crystal blue sky for the Thursday afternoon airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on July 25.

With the Bellanca relocated at my 12 O’clock, the absolute splendor of flying over Wittman Regional Airport in the daily airshow finally hit me. I soaked up the spectacle of thousands of attendees looking skyward from the flightline and I silently marveled how a VFR pilot in a Piper Tri-Pacer could perform during the afternoon airshow at the world’s biggest aviation stage.

Wow!

A chance meeting months ago during the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Innovation in Fight event set the gears into motion. Ramp guide Kathy McGurran spotted my museum-restored cream-and-red high-wing Piper and the knot of young people crowding around its smiling nose as I lifted one little person at a time into the pilot’s seat. McGurran, an aircraft owner from Colorado, is also the EAA Vintage in Review chair. Prior to departing the ramp at Dulles International Airport where the Udvar-Hazy Center is co-located, she leaned into the cockpit and invited my airplane (and me) to the EAA AirVenture flyby. As my mom always said, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

It turns out that McGurran wasn’t kidding. The next morning EAA Vintage in Review flyby coordinators Jennifer Jacob and Jennifer Payne began contacting me to verify me and my airplane’s credentials. Copies of my pilot certificate, medical, flight review, and insurance were exchanged, along with history about my aircraft’s restoration for the airshow announcers.

Then it was a whirlwind of activity, procedures, and briefings leading up to the big day. As showtime arrived, the 12 of us taxied a variety of airplanes that included the Bellanca, a Stinson Reliant, Globe Swift, Piper Super Cub, Luscombe, Taylorcraft L–2 Grasshopper, Howard DGA-15, Aeronca Champion, and an Aeronca Sedan to the staging area by Taxiway Papa.



With an orange safety vest on, Vintage in Review flyover pilot David Tulis is ready to participate in the July 25 afternoon airshow during EAA AirVenture. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Payne, EAA.
Vintage in Review flyover pilots attend a final briefing at the staging area before participating in the July 25 afternoon airshow. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Payne, EAA.

The “show lap” was over almost as quickly as it started, and I turned hard right to lineup for a landing on Runway 36R as briefed. The short-wing Tri-Pacer can drop like a stone during a power off landing approach, so I kept my pattern predictable, tight, and to the right.

Finally on the ground and taxiing to parking, my short shift in the airshow world was ending far too soon, but not without a little drama to make it even more memorable. I felt like a real performer—and a real pilot—as people waved and cheered from the flight line.

As I returned their waves, I thought, “That was the coolest thing ever. Let’s do it again!”


Vintage in Review flyover pilots line up for a group portrait after attending a thorough preflight flyover briefing. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Payne, EAA.
Zoomed image
Vintage in Review flyover pilots line up for a group portrait after attending a thorough preflight flyover briefing. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Payne, EAA.
David Tulis
David Tulis
Senior Photographer
Senior Photographer David Tulis joined AOPA in 2015 and is a private pilot with single-engine land and sea ratings and a tailwheel endorsement. He is also a certificated remote pilot and co-host of the award-wining AOPA Hangar Talk podcast. David enjoys vintage aircraft and photography.
Topics: EAA AirVenture, People

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