Thematic Photographic 74: "Red" v.1.0 - Red Eagle

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"Express Elevator"
Winston Salem, NC - September 2009 (Click to embiggen)

 Hosted by Written Inc.

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This week's Thematic Photographic theme is "Red", and being a regular on Ruby Tuesday I sort of feel like I'm cheating. Be that as it may, I figured there wasn't a better way of opening than a "Red" week than with the team from Red Eagle Air Sports. This shot is of the eponymous Red Eagle aircraft, piloted -- and at least partially designed -- by Buck Roetman. In addition to holding virtually every rating the FAA has as a pilot, Roetman is also a licensed Airframe & Powerplant mechanic (which, trust me, is not an easy credential to get) and has a long history in auto racing as well. Both he and his wingman Dan McClung (pilot of the Talon Eagle, which is just barely visible at left) are certified as Air Show Competency Evaluator (ACE) for the International Council of Air Shows. These two don't measure their experience in flight hours, they measure it more in flight years. Acording to his bio on the team website, McClung has over 35 years as a professional pilot flying everything from this stunt biplane to a Boeing 767, including over 400 "traps" (carrier landings) while flying A7 and A4 aircraft for the US Navy. Roetman's bio didn't give this kind of detail on his flight experience, it was more focused on his design and fabrication work.

I had the opportunity to see the team in action at the 2009 Winston Salem Air Show and the one thought that kept circling in my head was "You have really got to trust your wingman" to do some of the things these two were doing. Bubble-to-bubble passes with the canopies nearly touching, multiple loops with the landing gear nearly touching (tricky since one must perform an inside loop and the other must match his speed in an outside loop -- meaning they can't actually see each other). It was precision flying on a level to rival the Thunderbirds or the Snowbirds or the Blue Angels. Not the same kind of precision, and while I'm sure the pilots would argue over which requires the greater skill to those of us on the ground that's sort of like arguing the relative merits of a Ferrari over a Rolls Royce.

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