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Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
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ChipBeck Offline
High Mileage

Scottsdale, Arizona
Posts: 886
Joined: May 2013
Post: #1
Video Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
Gentlemen,

Not exactly another bike but I thought some of you might enjoy this anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtX01zufCDU

I received a note on Facebook yesterday from a friend of mine named Vic Cleary. Vic was one of the organizers of the Cox Communications Phoenix 500 Air Races held in 1999 at Williams Gateway Airport in Arizona. In addition to the air racing there were some airshow performances scheduled that included United States Air Force Captain Matt Beal flying a demonstration in the F-15 Eagle and yours truly performing in my Glasair III. During the pilot briefing the morning of the show Matt and I found out that we would be flying back to back. He had become a good friend over the previous two years as we had performed many airshows together and I had even let him take my Glasair III up to show him what a REAL aerobatic aircraft could do! :-)

I could not resist the temptation, given that we would be in the air at the same time, to suggest that we should do a very high speed formation flyby in between our two performances. This stunt would be most illegal and obviously very public to boot. US military pilots are strictly forbidden from flying formation with civilian aircraft with one exception. World War II military fighters whose owners have undergone special training are allowed to perform what are called "Heritage Flights" where current modern military jets do a formation pass at an airshow to display past and present military aircraft together in a patriotic display.

My Glasair III was obviously not a military aircraft, I had not undergone the Air Forces mandatory training, Captain Beal had not gone through Heritage Flight training either, and the on-field FAA monitors when neither aware nor had they given their authorization for such an off-the-cuff stunt. Given all that, Matt's answer to my suggestion was, "Hell yeah, that's exactly what we should do!".

I watched Captain Beals aerobatic performance in the F-15 Eagle from above as I was flying a holding pattern in the staging area just outside where he was performing. When he finished he pointed his F-15 in my direction and hit the afterburner to join up with me. My plane is very small, painted white, and against the clear blue sky he couldn't see me. Closing in fast at about 500 mph I radioed him and said "Matt do you have me in sight? You are about to center punch me! " "I can't see you" he called back and so I turned on my smoke briefly. The moment he had me in sight I started a wide left-hand turn and pointed the nose of my little aircraft downhill. Matt joined up on my left wing at about 275 mph. Throttle, mixture, and prop pitch all to the firewall and as I headed downhill toward the runway threshold we passed through 300, 325, 350, and neared 400 mph as we reach the approach end of the runway and I leveled off at about 30 feet and turned my smoke on again. The F-15 looked and felt enormous off my left wing. I could hear and feel the shock wave from its monstrous engines and when I looked over Matt was grinning ear to ear and so was I.

To quote the great philosopher Ferris Bueller during his day off, "Sometimes you just have to say, What the ****!" I knew there would be hell to pay when I finally got back on the ground after my performance and Matt knew he would have some explaining to do as well. But here we were, the first, the last, and the only time anyone would ever see an experimental, nonmilitary, civilian aircraft performing in an airshow with a current United States military fighter. It was freaking awesome and every other performer in the show was pissed that they were not a part of it.

On the ground, my propeller had not even stopped before the FAA monitors got to my aircraft to ask me what the hell I was doing. I didn't want to tell them the truth which was of course that it is always easier to seek forgiveness than permission. A permission that in this case, would never have been granted. And so I blundered through a series of feigned ignorance and apologies hoping they would not violate me or suspend my license.

Captain Beal self-reported himself to his commanding officer before he could be reported. He told his CO that he had made an error in judgment. That the airshow had some dead space in between two acts and asked him if he would mind doing a flyby with Chip Beck, a pilot that he knew well and who he knew would be safe to fly close formation with. That on the spur of the moment he had agreed to help the show out. But upon reflection he knew that it was a mistake that he would never repeat. His commanding officer gave him a mild reprimand and told him he appreciated his self-reporting and that that the incident was over. I ended up receiving a tongue lashing but no violation. All's well that ends well.

The entire event was videotaped but at the end the show organizers told me that the cameras were not rolling in between Matt's and my performances because they did not know we would be ad-libbing a formation flyby so I thought the incident was lost for posterity. Until last night when Vic Cleary was reviewing some old airshow footage and he came across it and put it up on Facebook. So here it is, the most unique Heritage Flight ever performed at an airshow in the United States and one that will never be repeated. Chip Beck and Captain Matt Beal doing a 400 mile-per-hour formation pass at the Phoenix 500 Air Races.

"Life moves pretty fast, and if you don't stop and look around once in a while, it just might miss it".

Chip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtX01zufCDU

The road to hell on earth is paved with the good intentions of liberals.
(This post was last modified: 10-30-2013 01:23 PM by ChipBeck.)
10-30-2013 01:20 PM
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CIP57 Offline
High Mileage

NY & NC
Posts: 1,410
Joined: May 2013
Post: #2
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
What a rush Chip. I fly when ever a can, a good friend of mine ( Retired Airborne Ranger ) has a 1956 tail dragger that we go up in all the time.

1982 Suzuki GS1100EZ
10-30-2013 01:45 PM
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The ferret Offline
Forum Moderator

Ohio
Posts: 31,282
Joined: Apr 2013
Post: #3
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
That is so cool Chip! Have you ever flown in the F 15? That thing has to be awesome to fly in.

Glad neither one of you got in trouble.

.
Defender of the Realm
2014 DLX (the pleasure horse)
2021 NC750X DCT (Angry Bird)
10-30-2013 01:48 PM
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cbfan Offline
1st Service Completed

Texas
Posts: 193
Joined: Jul 2013
Post: #4
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
Since we are on the subject of flying.............back in the early '80s I built part of this in my living room. It had an 18hp engine, cruised about 30 (on a good day) and stalled around 18-20mph. It was slow and fun. Lots of fun...............had 3 inflight engine shutdowns, first time my bad ran out of juice, second time centrifugal clutch flew apart and last time spark plug went south.........and that is why most my flying was around the dirt strip.


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10-30-2013 02:53 PM
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cb400four Offline
1st Service Completed

Manhattan, New York City
Posts: 222
Joined: Apr 2013
Post: #5
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
Awesome!

2013 Honda CB1100A, 1983 Honda CB1100F, 1982 Honda CB900F with Hondaline sport fairing, 1980 Honda CB750F, 1975 Honda 400/Four, 1982 Honda CBX
My only fear is that after I die my wife will sell my motorcycles for what I told her I paid for them
10-30-2013 05:12 PM
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Flynrider Offline
Been There

Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 3,233
Joined: Apr 2013
Post: #6
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
That was you? Hahaha! Pretty impressive!

I was at the races that day. Standing next to me was a friend who also happened to be an F-18 pilot. I enjoyed the flyby and didn't think anything was out of the ordinary until my friend look up and said, "Those two guys just bought a bucket load of trouble". I always wondered how that turned out.

A few years earlier my buddy's squadron was doing some demos at an airshow up at NAS Fallon. One of the fighter guys goofed and accidentally cracked the sound barrier during a low pass over the runway (ouch!). I happened to be sitting next to the FAA guy and he really blew his top. The post flight brief took an extra half hour to accomodate all of the military and civilian ass chewing that resulted.

Phoenix, AZ
2013 CB1100 - Big Red
1993 CB750 Nighthawk - Tahitian Blue
10-30-2013 11:21 PM
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OldF7Guy Offline
Running Like a Top


Posts: 746
Joined: Apr 2013
Post: #7
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
Awesome! Thumbs Up Love the sound of that piston engine screaming in your plane Chip. You guys have balls of steel to cut a caper like that. Clap How far were the planes apart? What kind of engine does your plane have and what kind of horse power does it make. I am just curious how much power it takes to make a plane go that fast. Good stuff man. That must have been a thrill to be so close to a F15.

2003 Honda 750 Nighthawk
2013 Honda CB1100
(This post was last modified: 10-31-2013 03:51 AM by OldF7Guy.)
10-31-2013 03:37 AM
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Rboe Offline
Been There

Phx, AZ
Posts: 3,228
Joined: Jun 2013
Post: #8
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
That dang F-15 looks even bigger next to your little prop job. Holy Moly!

2013 Honda CB1100 Red
2014 Honda CB1100 Black
2008 Honda XR650L
10-31-2013 09:01 PM
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thumper Offline
Running Like a Top

Bakersfield, CA.
Posts: 510
Joined: Apr 2013
Post: #9
RE: Great Fun with Very Fast Company.
Very cool.

I'm guessing the F-15 has a ground taxi speed faster than that of my OH-58! Big Grin

***ATGATT--Because if you crash, the world is your belt sander***
[size=x-small][color=#000000]The Stable--[/color][color=#0000CD]TEx[/color],[color=#FF0000]CB11A[/color],[color=#32CD32]ZX6R[/color][/size]
11-02-2013 03:20 PM
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