AOPA Pilot Blog: Reporting Points

The formation biplane Aeroshell team will have a new temporary leader, Bryan Regan, who is standing in for Alan Henley, founder and leader of the Aeroshell team. Henley was injured in an accident at his home last summer.

In this video, which I personally shot, you can see Regan briefing the Red Barons a few months before that team was disbanded by the sponsor. He leads a rehearsal and then leads them through a loop. Be warned, this is noisy, unrestrained engine and air blast noise. Get that volume down if you are in the office.

Explanation: Regan waits to feel the lift from air off the accelerating airplane beneath him as his signal to start the loop. If the slot airplane, the one I was in, does not accelerate, it will finish behind the team because it is on the outside of the loop and must travel farther. You’ll see us rush beneath Regan as the group dives to gather speed for the loop. The air off the top wing lifts Regan, signaling our presence.

Tags: Al Marsh

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 at 11:53 am and is filed under Al Marsh, Pilot Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.