Page 4 - Volume 15 Number 7

editor’sbriefingMy Airshow Girlfriend is GonePhoto by Richard VanderMeulenAmanda Younkin-Franklin was my Airshow Girlfriend. No, it was not a sordid secret affair. She was young enough to be my daughter and in truth our relationship was like that ofniece and uncle. But when I took her for a ride in the P-51 Mustang, much to the chagrin of Steve Gustafson from the Aeroshell Aerobatic team, Amanda anointed me her No. 1 Airshow Boyfriend.The competition was good fun; she made Steve and I, a couple 50-something, balding, fat guys, feel like we were movie stars and we loved it. But in reality, it wasn’t just Steve and I; Amanda made everyone feel special. She had that gift.Amanda was ravishingly beautiful with an enormous personality and an infectious laugh. She was loyal to a fault and she loved dogs. She was an excellent pilot and passionate about all things aviation.Amanda was an airshow wing-walker with her husband Kyle. They called their act “Pirated Skies, the Search for the Treasure of Flight.” It was all about entertaining and inspiring with their passion for flying. Sadly, their Waco biplane suffered an engine failure during their performance in Brownsville, Texas March 12th.Kyle flew the airplane to the best spot he could find but a fire broke out and Amanda was seriously burned. She fought courageously for more than months before she passed away May 27th.This is not a love story about an old fat bald guy and a pretty young woman. It is a story about the harsh realization of the risks in aviation.Amanda was interviewed by the Brownsville Herald and said, “We both have such a passion for flying. It’s in our blood. There is risk in what we do. We acknowledge that. We take every precaution that we can to eliminate the risk to make it safe. But if you live your life in fear that something could go wrong, you’re not living your life.”Amanda and Kyle were keenly aware of the risks in aviation generally and airshow flying specifically. Both their fathers were killed in a single mid-air collision during an airshow in Canada before they were married.Certainly, airshow flying is at the far end of the risk scale. But, whether it’s shooting touch-and-go’s in a Cub on the grass, an ILS-to-minimums in a Baron or flying low-level aerobatics in a P-51 Mustang, there is risk. All of us need to acknowledge the risks in our flying.All too often we tend to believe we have this flying thing all figured out. We have all the answers for all the problems. The reality is that we don’t. The statistics and the accident reports bear that out. Unless we are honest with ourselves about the risks, there is no way we can mitigate them.Amanda’s accident is not the first time I have considered whether the risk outweighs the reward and if I should hang up my helmet. But I know that Amanda would not want her accident to cause me, or anyone else, to stop flying. Her accident is, however, the bitter med- icine that causes me to look in the mirror and acknowledge the risks in my flying and redouble my efforts to drive out the unnecessary ones. Later in this issue is a story that highlights the reward side of the airshow flying equation for me.By the time you read this Steve and I will be packing for Oshkosh. If you look up during the airshow and see Steve or I flying, know that our girlfriend is the angel flying on our wing. And that will be a great comfort, but it just won’t be the same without her bright smile.We miss you, Darlin’... Doug Rozendaal22 • TJULY 2011TWWIIN &&&&TT T TUUURRBBIINNEEE