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Fla.-based school offers thrills of flying WWII trainer planes
Monday, July 10, 2000 By Steve Twedt, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Nothing beats a sunny Sunday afternoon riding around with the top down,
the wind in your hair and the soothing purr of an engine in your ears.
Except, when it's pilot Josh Wilson at the controls, this is all taking
place 4,500 feet off the ground in a World War II-vintage single-engine
fighter pilot training plane, and that purr is more of a lion's roar.
Then, through the headset, Wilson suggests it's time to try a couple of
rollovers.
"I'll run you through it once, then you do it," he said.
That's the kind of gut-grabbing moment people signed up for this
weekend at the Zelienople Municipal Airport, where the Florida-based North
American Top-Gun Inc. pilot school offered rides in two fighter trainers.
The rides, available through today, cost more than $100 for 15 minutes, up
to $590 for an hour of aerobatic-filled fun in the Butler County skies.
Nobody climbing out of the cockpit after the ride yesterday was
complaining about the price.
"It's a dream of a lifetime, just going up in a World War II prop
plane," gushed Rich Bozigar, 46, of Emsworth. Bozigar's flight was an
anniversary present from his wife, Joann, who didn't have to guess that
he'd like the ride.
For their honeymoon 11 years ago, Rich had taken his bride to see the
U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and they still go to every air show
they can.
On his first-ever aerobatic flight, Bozigar did rolls, loops,
figure-eights and a maneuver in which the plane eventually faces all four
directions.
"It reminds me of being at Kennywood," he said, then decided that
didn't quite capture it.
"You're up in the air, and the ground's below you rolling by. ... You
really get a sense of moving in three dimensions."
The main attractions are the two planes, a canary yellow Army Air Corps
AT-6 Texan and a blue Navy SNJ, both still held together with nearly all
the original parts. Called "the pilot-maker," these nearly-identical
planes were a mid-step training plane for World War II pilots headed for
real combat fighters. More than 15,000 were made in the later years of the
war and Wilson said about 400 are still flying.
David Inman, 77, of Upper St. Clair, didn't attend yesterday's event
but he trained in one of the planes, after starting out in a BT-13,
affectionately known as the "Vulte Vibrator" because of how noisy it was.
Going from that to a 600-horsepower AT-6 "was like going from a sedan to a
sports car," Inman said. But after three months in the AT-6, he graduated
to a P-40 that could top out at more than 300 miles an hour, nearly half
again what the AT-6 could safely do.
"That was like going from a sports car to a rocket ship," said Inman,
who saw the ad for the AT-6 flights but wasn't planning to go. "If it were
a P-40, I'd be there tomorrow."
The sports car was more than enough for the would-be pilots yesterday,
if for no other reason than flying in an authentic World War II fighter
costs about $2,500 an hour and, unlike the AT-6, it doesn't necessarily
come with dual controls. Another nice feature of the AT-6 is the sliding
canopy that gives a true open-air ride.
"I've flown in about every kind of plane except the World War II
vintage. I wanted to give it a try," said Mark Neely, 45, of Glenshaw,
just before his ride. Neely, wife Jane, and their sons Dave, 15, and Matt,
17, are hot air balloon enthusiasts and he has ridden in gliders, small
jets, biplanes and helicopters.
Balloons are quieter, he said, but a balloon won't give you a g-force
tug like the AT-6 does when it starts into a loop.
For Mt. Lebanon attorney Gene Tabachnick, the ride was a 40th birthday
present from a childhood friend.
"It's very cool," said Tabachnick, who spent an hour doing loops, rolls
and other maneuvers. He has had a pilot's license for 15 years, but he'd
never had a ride like that. "When we got to the last one, my stomach was
saying, 'Let's take a break.' "
For Dale Nicholson, 40, of Chippewa, Beaver County, it was a childhood
dream come true.
"I was raised on an Air Force base," he said. "I used to see [fighter
jets] go over the house all the time. I just wanted to experience it."
Gary Hudzik, 49, of Castle Shannon, got his ride as a 10th anniversary
present from his wife, Barb.
"She knew I love flying and I love the sensation and everything that
goes along with it. If I were a millionaire, it would be one of my goals
to fly myself," he said.
Bozigar, as he pulled out of the airport parking lot, said he's not
waiting for his first million.
"After experiencing this, I'm getting my pilot's license," he said.
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