What a setting – downtown Memphis on the river at sunset. That’s the way it was, with the symphony playing and thousands of people watching, the Fury and I danced our aerobatic dance. The CAF Memphis Wing put the show together with top performers Greg Poe, Rob Holland, CAF fighters, several others and the Fury.

I left Dallas and flew to Batesville, AR, for a meeting with Precision Aerospace Tech. They were installing five Boom Beams in a King Air. Everyone loves the Boom Beams, not only for the powerful light they produce but the low amperage and their use as recognition lights during the day. No heat, a 5000-hour guarantee, turn ‘em on and forget ‘em. Their customer will be very happy with the results. These guys run a super shop and handle everything from singles to jets with a well-respected reputation. If you’re looking for a great shop, call Mark or Tony at Precision.

Rick, of the CAF Memphis wing, had been trying to get me to this show for a few years and I’m glad he succeeded. It was but an 89 NM trip from Batesville to Memphis, so I had a little time to practice my acro show on the way. The Memphis wing has to be a showpiece for the CAF, for it is truly 1st class, the airplanes, people and atmosphere. I was greeted by Doctor Feeler who owns and flies the Sea Fury among other neat airplanes like an RV-10 and Extra 300. I no sooner got out of the Fury and BAM, I had a car, instructions to the motel and all the information I needed to settle in. The rest of the crew was also very helpful putting the Fury in the hangar with all these fantastic air show and war bird aircraft. The show was an air show performer’s dream, that is, it didn’t start till 6:30 PM when the sun was headed down and the air was as smooth as a baby’s bottom. The brief was at 4:30 PM, so it left the rest of the day for meetings, getting to know the members of the CAF wing, and showing the Fury. I don’t know how many people I had sit in the Fury, it was a bunch. I showed them all of the great features, like the black box iPod system named the Intuition and the camera system. Ohhh Yes, they all wanted one, several wanted to know more about the kit version and when the certified version would be available. I had a lot of questions concerning buying the Intuition and camera systems for their present airplanes. Got to tell you they both are very useful tools.

During the day before the show, they were flying everything. I don’t believe their Stearman or T-6’s ever stopped. We also used this time for some unusual picture taking; Greg Poe and I together in formation over the river with Memphis in the background. In several pics I am in formation in with his A36 Bonanza with Greg next to me in a knife-edge position. Great guy and his show is beautiful. Greg also gave several talks to school kids concerning drugs and making something with your life. Very inspiring, great going Greg. I also flew with Rob Holland, another heart stopping performer. Rob has developed a camera system that allows him to take pictures while he is upside-down and the formation planes right-side-up. I flew formation on him. When we were ready to start shooting, I cleared him, he popped inverted and I slid into position. We took a number of pictures of just the Fury and then were joined by Doc. Peeler in the Sea Fury. WOW, the pictures are fantastic. You see Rob, his tail plane, and the Fury and Sea Fury in formation, with Memphis in the background. As many commented upon seeing the pictures, two Furies together and the yellow one really pops out at you. We were supposed to have the CAF’s T-33 join us but there were gear door problems with it and Ted returned to his home base. Ted has a beautiful T-6 that was actually the attack version of the T-6 that served with the South African Air Force and the T-33. He is also one of the long haul FED/EX pilots in the CAF Wing, another great guy and excellent stick. Put that one on your list to visit, they’re right at the Dwight Spain field at Memphis on the River.

AHHH the show site, it truly was right out of a movie. As I flew the show between the two bridges crossing the Mighty Mississippi River, I could see all the people gathered in the park along with the stage and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. The setting sunlight on them gave them a golden glow. I could just imagine what the Fury looked like and with the James Bond 007 music playing it added a lot of atmosphere. Later that night I gave one of my aviation talks with stunt clips from my film career and am always amazed at the question it brings. You know it’s funny the way people think of how we actually do the stunts but it does give me some new ideas. A lot of the questions are about the locations, customs and if it was difficult to get my license validated to fly in these countries. I must say, flying in all those different countries is one of the attractions of film flying.

After a short stay in Dallas it was time to head to FL for the LSA event in Sebastian. This event is put on by the city of Sebastian and LoPresti to give a Summer Holiday for the Light Sport Aviation pilots and friends. With various events like flour bombing, spot landing, tow-bar golf, movie night and enjoying the other great attractions of Sebastian. The Chamber of Commerce and many businesses had special deals on river kayaking, tours, fishing etc. so the whole family could enjoy the long weekend event. Ohhh yes, I gave a number of Fury rides, one in particular was to Jerry Yellen, a fighter pilot from WWII. Jerry flew P-40’s and P-51’s. A very interesting guy, he told me of flying a formation aerobatic show in P-40’s for Pres. Roosevelt and didn’t know he had ‘til his lead pilot told him so after they landed. He was in heaven flying the Fury, a great stick, he said, it was a joy to fly it and it was like he never left the cockpit of the Mustang. The Fury sits and flies like a Mustang. I felt his joy as, with a smile and a slight tear in his eyes, he hugged me saying, “Thank you “Corkey” you have no idea how much I enjoyed this flight. When can we go again?”

Saturday I did an interview with James Wynbrandt, who is writing an article on the Fury and me for EAA Sport Aviation magazine. Jim is an excellent interviewer as he asked questions I had never been asked before, hahahahaha he made me think. I know you have read his work before; I look forward to reading his article in Sport Aviation. During Sun-N-Fun I flew formation with the EAA air-to-air crew for photos that will accompany this article. In a former blog I had mentioned this flight and wanted to thank Bruce Moore and Jim Koepnick. Bruce and Jim are a super team, Bruce made it easy to fly formation and Jim directed me to the position he wanted for the shots. I would fly wing on this team anytime.

I’m staying in Sebastian for a few more days to attend a meeting of the Valkeria EAA chapter. These are the guys that are building and determining the number of packages; build time and cost of the fast build kit of the Fury. I know I will enjoy that meeting and give a report in my next blog. I’ll head to Lafayette from here for meeting with some helicopter people concerning our Boom Beam lights and other things then on to Dallas. The next Fury Show is in Ada, OK, southeast of OK City in three weeks. If you’re there, come by and say hello.