Corkey's Plane Talk

Another sign that the Big Man loves me: a tail wind heading west from McKinney, TX to Midland, TX for the CAF air show. You can’t beat that. I have many fond memories of CAF air shows; I flew my first one in ‘68 in our P-51 Mustang in Harlingen, TX. But then that was a different time and place compared to today’s world. At that time, everyone called me the Kid. “There’s the Kid, what you doing Kid, can’t wait to see your show Kid” yep, I was the Kid. At that time, the headquarters for the CAF was in Harlingen, TX right down on the Mexican Border. Warbirds started arriving the Monday before the weekend show for a week of flying, trading airplanes, photo flights, dogfights, music and a great time. Each type had its special parking place; fighters, bombers, transport, trainers and specialties. Man it was an airplane lover’s Disneyland of fun. I would fly six to eight different airplanes, be in thousands of photos, listen to a million flying stories and treasure every moment with aviation friends. There’s nothing like pilots.

My heroes have always been pilots. Yes, the memories of flying all day, sitting under the wing of an airplane and playing a guitar along with Gerald Martin, Lefty Gardner, Dick Disney, Lloyd Nolen, another kid, Mike Burke and others as everybody sang along. We sang everything, current songs, old fighter pilot songs and many made up songs. Oh we didn’t sound that great till later in the night, after many had talked with Jack Daniels or some other spirited concoctions. At that point, all agreed we should have a music contract. Some nights were ventures into Mexico for a great meal and other various entertainments. The weekend air show drew tremendous crowds and we decided the show schedule in the morning briefing along with the show announcer, Tennessee Ernie Ford.

SEPT. 2008, Midland, TX, CAF headquarters, CAF Air Show 2008: As I sit in the morning briefing amongst other pilots and a F-82 Twin Mustang, I’m thankful that the CAF was founded. They have preserved aviation history and educated many about these flying machines, the stories of the heroes who flew and maintained them and our country’s involvement. Yep, it’s similar but different from my first association with the CAF. Well yes, I’m a little older and hopefully wiser, the sprit is still the same, to preserve, educate and fly these machines but the regulations have changed to limit aviations free sprit. It wasn’t the FAA that changed them as you may think; it came from within the air show industry. Boys and Girls, you better be careful what you ask for ‘cause you may get it and regulate yourselves right out of the sky. You now need a card to circle a jumper, one to fly formation, one to fly a night show, one for each type of aircraft, and the only one that makes sense is one for low-level aerobatics. OK, OK I’ll get off the soapbox and get to the good parts.

The Fury was a BIG HIT, as expected; so big that the Fury and I were asked to be the opening act of Friday night’s air show/concert starring Aaron Tippin, country star and aviation collector/pilot. From the moment we landed we had pilots looking the Fury over and asking questions and making comments. When can I get one, how much does it cost, how fast, is it aerobatic, damn it’s sexy, I want one, does LoPresti need another pilot, what do you wax it with to get this shine? I answered as fast as I could, “about 24 months, 355K, 200+ Knots, yes, no, Knot Wax.” The Fury’s first show answered a lot of their questions. You know, I can’t wait to see the Fury’s show myself, I have never seen it. Oh I love flying it but never seen it. Well, given the choice, I’d rather fly it. The Fury and I flew four shows in three days. With B-25s, P-51s, Corsairs and other warbirds flying above us as we waited our turn, it was fantastic. As they started landing I set the Fury’s iPod for our aerobatic routine. Today it is Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold. I give it a 10; good beat and the Fury and I dance well to it. Life is good.

Lining up on runway 10, the Air Boss, says, “Corkey, the airspace is yours.” I advance the throttle to a great guitar riff and say to the Fury, “Baby, rock and roll hoochi coo!” OHHHHHH there’s nothing like the Fury for fun. The kids love and comment on seeing the “Yippee” on the bottom of the wing and everyone comments on “Peggy’s Tango” a combination of 1/2 a reverse 8, a slow roll and 1/2 Cuban 8. It does look like a tango in the sky. Peggy LoPresti is the Queen of the LoPresti gang, the gracious lady who inspired this maneuver. Who says you can’t have fun doing your job?

Check 6,
“Corkey”

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 5:28 pm and is filed under Fury Flying.