You may have met Bob Davis, or at least heard his voice, on a flight to the Far East, Europe or South America during his ”day job” as a pilot on international flights for United Airlines.
But at the Heartland America Family Airshow Festival, Davis will be tumbling his single-engine plane end-over-end through a series of maneuvers and flying upside down to cut a ribbon stretched a few feet over the ground.
Both types of flying, Davis says, require discipline and attentiveness.
In commercial flying ”you`ve got to pay a lot of attention to what you`re doing,” he says. ”It`s very structured.
”Believe it or not, air-show flying is too.
”Air-show flying really isn`t just wild get-out-there-and-try-to-kill-your self flying. It`s a very professional, very structured industry, and we`re making further gains every year (in safety).”
Davis is on the safety committee of the International Council of Air Shows, a professional organization based in Jackson, Mich., that sets standards for pilot and aircraft safety.
Davis, 59, who has lived in Woodstock for 22 years, first became interested in flying when he was about 9 years old, growing up in Zanesville, Ohio.
”A friend`s uncle (Gene Griffin) was one of the better-known air-show pilots of that era,” Davis recalls. ”I used to tag along with him and go to the air shows, and that probably had a big influence on me.
”And in my formative years, World War II and the tremendous emphasis on aviation and air power in those days probably had as big a bearing as anything. When I was just a young kid (in Indianapolis)-14 or 15-I was hanging around airports, trying to get anybody to take me for a ride. I`d wash airplanes, clean out hangars . . . anything they`d want me to do.
”Back in those days there were a lot of biplanes and World War II airplanes around,” Davis says. ”And a lot of the guys would do simple aerobatic maneuvers, like spins and loops and rolls. So I was exposed to it at a pretty early age. It just was something I wanted to do. It can be demanding, but it`s a lot of fun.”
Although he learned to fly when he was teenager, Davis says he ”really learned” how to fly as an Air Force pilot from 1952 to 1958.
He flies in about 10 shows a year but expects to turn to full-time aerobatics when he retires from United next year.
”The challenge always is to do the perfect maneuver if you can. It`s a three-dimensional arena, and, of course, wind affects you (as does) your own personal proficiency. I don`t know if we ever achieve it, but we come close every now and then.”
Davis also enjoys competitive flying and has been a member of the U.S. Aerobatics Team on the international competition circuit.
”We`ve really got some great pilots in this country from an aerobatics standpoint, so the competition is very keen,” he says. ”It`s very satisfying if you can finish up in the standings.
”It`s probably a lot like competitive golf or tennis or anything like that. You`re pretty much on your own. Whatever yo do, you`re responsible for- good and bad.”
Davis has been flying a custom-built plane, the TR-720 Laser, for several years. He recently sold it and is buying a Russian-built SU-29, a larger, two- seat, single-engine plane. During the Heartland show at the Du Page Airport, he will fly a leased German-built Extra 230 that is similar to his old plane.
His act will include his usual maneuvers, among them the crowd-pleasing end-over-end tumbles, the ribbon cutting, and other rolls and spins.
”There are a number of basic air-show maneuvers, but the one that the crowd always finds probably more interesting and pleasing would be the
(tumbles). Aerodynamically (this plane is) not supposed to be able to do that-but it does.”
One reason Davis bought the new plane is that its two seats will allow his wife, Moria, to fly to shows with him next year when he turns to aerobatics full time. It also is a larger and more powerful aircraft.
”It`s also brand new to this country. I`ll be only one of two people flying it at air shows. I wanted a better airplane; I wanted two seats-and, of course, the attraction of (it being) a Russian airplane was there too.”
Davis acknowledges feeling somewhat nervous just before he takes off for his act.
”You`re occasionally asked that question,” he says. ”I was discussing that just last week with another pilot. We find that (question) probably a little humorous-only in the sense that you`d probably be pretty stupid if you didn`t.
”You`ve got a mechanical object that`s traveling around 200, 210 miles an hour close to the ground, and if you hit the ground it could be
catastrophic.
”You always get a little bit of butterflies. I think everybody does. And when I do the inverted ribbon cut . . . that always gets your adrenalin flowing.”
