Stephen Chapis, EAA 449485, author of the new book Poor Little Lambs: The Baa Baa Black Sheep Story, will be the next presenter of the EAA Aviation Museum Speaker Series on Thursday, June 18, at 7 p.m. He’ll take you behind the scenes of the 1976 TV show loosely based on Marine Corps fighter squadron VMF-214, famously named “Black Sheep,” while under the command of Major Greg Boyington, with never-before-seen footage, pilot and veteran stories, and more.
Before he was writing for aviation magazines and authoring books, Stephen was a kid enthralled by anything related to aviation and Corvettes. At 5 years old, he sat on his grandmother’s lap as his grandfather took him up for his first airplane ride. Around that same time, Baa Baa Black Sheep debuted on NBC and Stephen never missed an episode.
“I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime so I could watch it. It was a huge deal for me,” he said. “I was 5, 6 years old watching Corsairs and Japanese Zeros flying across the screen. It was really neat.”
At 21, Stephen earned his private pilot certificate, and not long after he started getting serious about aviation photography. When he bought his first digital SLR, he began submitting his photography to various magazines.
In 2007, during his time with the D.C. Guard at Andrews Air Force Base, photography turned to writing when he found a copy of Warbird Digest with a blurb seeking story submissions.
Stephen’s first published article in Warbird Digest was about his experience on a Living History Cruise aboard the restored Liberty Ship SS John W. Brown, which featured a mock attack by a Tora Val and a Yak-52 painted as a Japanese Zero, but was then thwarted by a P-51, P-40, and B-25.
Through that article, he was invited by the Yak-52 pilot, Charlie Lynch, to join him on the next reenactment flight. “That is what really kicked off my writing career with the magazine,” he said. “Flying with Charlie and getting to know him and some of the guys he flew with is what really opened up the door to the warbird community for me. I just started meeting more people, flying with more people, taking more pictures, writing more things. It just snowballed from there.”
Fast forward to 2010, Stephen came home to an “old World War II movie” on the DVR thanks to his wife. “It was “The Flying Misfits,” the two-hour pilot episode of Baa Baa Black Sheep. I was like, ‘Holy cow, I don’t believe you found this,’ and my whole youth came rushing back.”
He decided to write a story on the Corsairs and pilots that were in the show, which took him two and a half years to track them all down. The article was first published in print in 2013, then for the 40th anniversary in 2016, WarbirdNews.com republished the story online. “It blew up, and everybody started talking about Baa Baa Black Sheep again,” Stephen said.
Some of the many great photographs Stephen has captured of Corsairs over the years, among many other aircraft types. Courtesy of Stephen Chapis
As the article continued to gain traction online, more and more details came out of the woodwork — enough to write a book, evidently, which he’s completed just in time for the 50th anniversary of the show’s premiere.
During the presentation, visitors will see some never-before-seen footage shot by show pilot John Schafhausen, provided by his son, Mark. “Mark sent me a DVD that contains almost an hour of 8-mm home movies that his father shot during the filming of the series. It shows briefings and airplanes taxiing, as well as air-to-air footage of the Corsairs and the Zeros taken from the B-25 photo ship. It is just amazing. I’ve seen it a dozen times because I’ve used it for research, and it never gets old,” Stephen said.
He’ll also reveal some lingering questions show fans have wondered. “One of the big questions that people have always wondered about is why [did] Gutterman, who was played by James Whitmore Jr., leave the show in the second season? Well, I know why he left the show, and he told me himself. So, that’s going to be in the book, but I’m not going to tell the whole story [in the presentation].”
Speaker Series-goers can get the full scoop as Poor Little Lambs will be available for purchase following the presentation.
“This book is not just about the airplanes,” he said. “It talks about everything. A lot of the things that are in the book have been talked about separately, but they’ve never been brought together in one volume.”
Thursday’s presentation is free for EAA members and youths, and just $5 for nonmembers.
If you’re unable to attend, all Speaker Series presentations are recorded and will be available to members to watch here at a later date.
Speaker Series is supported by Alro Steel, Capital Credit Union, Community First Credit Union, Cozumel Mexican Grill, Kwik Trip, Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists, Pilotsmith, Sargento, and The Taqueria.