Pilots Jayson Scott Wilson (left) and Bryan Regan discuss the flight path before taking a group of reporters for a short flight. (Jerry Battiste/Flyer photo)
Soaring over cornfields, the view is similar to what barnstorming pilots saw in the 1920s. (Jerry Battiste/Flyer photo)
By Jerry Battiste
First Published: The Flyer, August 25, 2006 02:36 pm
MT. COMFORT — Just two decades after the Wright brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk, barnstorming was sweeping the nation, elevating daredevil pilots to the heights of celebrity.
Today, few aerobatics teams of this type remain. Of course stunt pilots abound, but true barnstorming has all but vanished from the landscape.
But not quite. Barnstorming lives on in the 21st century, compliments of an unlikely sponsor: Frozen pizza.
The legend goes something like this: Prior to the 1970s, pizza was considered a purely ethnic food, so giving your product an Italian sounding name made good business sense. Then Tombstone Pizza came along and changed that business model, opening the door for companies to call themselves whatever they wished. As it happened, one of the Red Baron Pizza founders was fond of biplanes, and saw a potential marketing bonanza. So the company bought and refurbished a few vintage aircraft, hired some pilots, and started pulling banners through the skies above every outdoor event they could. A few years later, the Red Baron Pizza Squadron team started doing aerobatics displays at air shows nationwide, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today Red Baron Pizza is owned by the Schwan Food Company, but the squadron remains an integral part of the company’s marketing plan.
Since 1979, the Red Baron Pizza Squadron has been astounding crowds with fantastic displays of aerobatics showmanship. It now boasts a team of four fully restored Boeing Stearman biplanes built between 1941 and ‘43. During World War II, U.S., Canadian, and European pilots trained in these exact aircraft. In fact, more pilots have trained in a Stearman than in any other type of plane.
In the past 27 years, the Red Baron Pizza Squadron has logged more than six million miles and lofted more than 80,000 passengers, taking awe-struck guests through a lightning fast series of loops, hammerheads and barrel rolls; flying formation just a few short feet apart, sometimes with wingtips overlapping, dangerously close but never quite touching.
The seven Red Baron Squadron pilots are among the most highly-trained in the world, with nearly 50,000 hours of flight time among them. The planes themselves are never trailered from site to site. Pilots fly them cross country, about 250 miles between fuel-ups, landing at small airstrips in small communities and meeting the local folks like a barnstormer would have done in 1927.
The most noticeable changes in barnstorming are all safety related: Pilots train rigorously throughout the year and each crew chief maintains the highest rating granted by the FAA; Performance standards are among the highest in the world.
Twenty years ago, lead pilot Bryan Regan had a little college money left over and was itching to take flying lessons. He said he doubted at the time that it would lead to anything, but felt it was something he just had to do.
“I never dreamed I would make an occupation of it,” Regan said. “It was just something I had wanted to do my whole life. I really thought I would do it and get it out of my system, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
Regan wound up getting his license, taking a side job at a local airport, and meeting some people starting an air cargo service. A pilot job flying cargo led to his meeting and piloting for some folks doing a wing-walking act, which in turn led to his meeting the Red Baron Squadron and joining the team.
That decision, he said, was a no-brainer.
“Once you get in one of these airplanes, you realize they’re pretty spectacular,” he said.
Pilot Jayson Scott Wilson flies the left wing position for the squadron. Wilson’s father and an uncle both flew crop dusters professionally. He spent 23 years as a military pilot, flying three combat tours with the U.S. Army. Wilson has led squadrons as large as 260 aviators in both combat and non-combat situations. He is also the director of operations for the squadron, ensuring proper safety and professional standards are maintained during and between shows.
Despite his impressive resume, Wilson is coy about his time as a pilot.
“I’ve only been flying since I was about 11,” he said with a smile. “I’m 43 now, so I guess that’s a while.”
This story originally appeared in The Hendricks County Flyer, 2006.
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