By Barbara A. Schmitz
Their name and paint job may be new, but their crowd-pleasing show will remain the same as the TITAN Aerobatic Team in its AT-6 Texans takes center stage for both day and twilight air shows this week at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
“The routine was developed over years of flying,” said Steve Gustafson, who flies left wing and is the only remaining original member of the team known as the North American Aerobatic Team from its inception in 1984 and the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team from 2000-23. “What we do is about energy management. If you change the routine up, you have to be careful or you won’t have energy for the next maneuver.”
Jimmy Fordham is the newest member, with 14 years on the team. “When you fly 20-25 events a year and have flown with each other as many times as we have, it’s almost like dancing together. It makes it easier to do,” said Steve.
But the friendship among team members is even more important than the flying, Steve said. “I have seen teams come and go who had good pilots, but they couldn’t get along. We’re the exact opposite. We hang out so much together that we could order each other’s food since we know each other so well.”
Yes, they still occasionally argue. “But it rolls off, and two minutes later we’ve forgotten about it,” Steve said. “We don’t hold a grudge,” added Mark Henley, who generally flies lead but is currently not flying due to a medical issue.
Steve and Mark said they enjoy flying their twilight shows more than their day shows. “The air is softer, and the airplanes perform a little bit better,” Steve said. “It is usually smoother too,” Mark added.
The group works to not become complacent. “We always fly our next air show like it’s our first,” Steve said. “We work to stay on guard.”
While technically they could switch positions, it would take time for them to become proficient in different roles. “But nobody likes to lead,” Steve said. “Flying lead is hard because you have to think about a lot of crap. You have to fly, but you also have to be working the radio, thinking about the wind, the altitude, the speed.”
Mark had been flying lead and said it took time for him to become confident in the role. “I didn’t like it at first because there’s a lot more to it than flying.” This week Jimmy will fly lead.
The group is getting older and talks of retiring someday, but they know it will be difficult to find replacements for each of them. It’s not that there aren’t talented pilots out there, but few people want to give up about half of their weekends each year and put in all the work and time it takes to get good, or don’t have the family support to do so, they say.
But it’s events like Oshkosh that have kept them in the air show business so long.
“We like seeing old friends when we come here,” Jimmy says. “When we were signing autographs today, we saw many people we’ve seen before. You really get to know your fans.”