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The Last "Oh Yeah"
Jul. 12th, 2005 12:05 amHey.
Crashes at air shows, even when unplanned, still happen about every year, so I wasn't so surprised to hear about the mid-air collision at Moose Jaw over the weekend.
But I was surprised--and saddened--to hear that Jimmy Franklin was one of the pilots killed.
http://www.xteamairshows.com
http://www.franklinairshow.com/photos.htm
I'd seen his earlier act, in person, in 1988 at an airport near Orlando. At the time, his Waco biplane still hadn't received a jet engine under the fuselage, and his "dueling partner" for the act was Eliot Cross in another Waco. Describing and cheerleading the action over the public adress speakers was sometime wingwalker/stuntman Johnny Kazian, who punctuated every powerdive and lomcevak with his trademark "Oh yeah!"--which, if he had a good audience, would echo all across the flightline.
My father and I came to the show and dodged rain and mudpuddles much of that day. But Franklin and Cross and Kazian made it all worth it. The other two air acts we saw were Bob Hoover in the Shrike Commander, a Marine Corps Harrier demo and the Thunderbirds in their F-16s. Hoover had the skill, the Harrier had the magical moves, the T-Birds had the tight formations--but the Dueling Wacos had the showmanship.
Luckily, the Dueling Wacos did another show, as part of the Reno Air Races, which was partly recorded by Skyfire in their 1988 video...which I happen to have. So I watched it this evening.
Jimmy Franklin's stunt work appeared in movies too, such as Choke Canyon and Forever Young. He had other acts in his repertoire...in one he would take on the Darth Vader-esque guise of the knight Sir Zar the Gallant. For that role he had a hotrodded Piper Aerostar instead of the Waco biplane. I wish I could have seen that routine.
You'll be missed, Jimmy. Oh yeah.
FP
Crashes at air shows, even when unplanned, still happen about every year, so I wasn't so surprised to hear about the mid-air collision at Moose Jaw over the weekend.
But I was surprised--and saddened--to hear that Jimmy Franklin was one of the pilots killed.
http://www.xteamairshows.com
http://www.franklinairshow.com/photos.htm
I'd seen his earlier act, in person, in 1988 at an airport near Orlando. At the time, his Waco biplane still hadn't received a jet engine under the fuselage, and his "dueling partner" for the act was Eliot Cross in another Waco. Describing and cheerleading the action over the public adress speakers was sometime wingwalker/stuntman Johnny Kazian, who punctuated every powerdive and lomcevak with his trademark "Oh yeah!"--which, if he had a good audience, would echo all across the flightline.
My father and I came to the show and dodged rain and mudpuddles much of that day. But Franklin and Cross and Kazian made it all worth it. The other two air acts we saw were Bob Hoover in the Shrike Commander, a Marine Corps Harrier demo and the Thunderbirds in their F-16s. Hoover had the skill, the Harrier had the magical moves, the T-Birds had the tight formations--but the Dueling Wacos had the showmanship.
Luckily, the Dueling Wacos did another show, as part of the Reno Air Races, which was partly recorded by Skyfire in their 1988 video...which I happen to have. So I watched it this evening.
Jimmy Franklin's stunt work appeared in movies too, such as Choke Canyon and Forever Young. He had other acts in his repertoire...in one he would take on the Darth Vader-esque guise of the knight Sir Zar the Gallant. For that role he had a hotrodded Piper Aerostar instead of the Waco biplane. I wish I could have seen that routine.
You'll be missed, Jimmy. Oh yeah.
FP
