You must Sign-in or Register to post messages in the Hobby Squawk community
Registration is FREE and only takes a few moments

Register now

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Encounters with Famous Flyers

Collapse
X
Collapse
First Prev Next Last
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Encounters with Famous Flyers

    There are those individuals who are more than just pilots. They are people who have managed to make a name for themselves in the Aviation World, and upon whom the rest of us look with awe and respect.

    My Junior year in High School, the nearby Community College decided to experiment with offering classes at some of the local High Schools. My school was chosen for an Aeronautics course, held the hour before regular classes three days a week (IIRC), and taught by none other than Art Scholl.

    My brother and I both took the course, which was convenient for me since my brother already had his driver's license, and I could ride with him to the early class.

    To a kid like me, Scholl was nearly god-like. He flew awesome airplanes in fantastic maneuvers. He drove a classic Cobra Mustang. He worked not only in airshows, but also in movies and television shows. He told flying stories that thrilled us, made us laugh, and even managed to educate us a bit.

    And he got out of bed early, to teach Aeronautics to a bunch of high school kids.

    It was a sad day, in September 1985, when I learned of his death, during the filming of "Top Gun." Scholl was doing the flat-spin in his Pitts biplane, out over the Pacific Ocean, when he radioed in, "I have a problem." The reports are that he was at 3000' at that time. At 1500', he radioed in what would be his last message - "I really have a problem."

    I see his name pop up from time to time, in the credits of old movies and television shows. Over thirty years after his death, and you can still buy RC models of his Super Chipmunk stunt plane, with his paint scheme. Someday, when I'm a much better RC pilot, and can do it justice, I might just have to get one.

    I wonder if he ever knew just how much of an impact he had on some of us kids?

    Next.

  • #2
    Yes he was amazing! I still have pictures of him performing at Abbotsford Airshow near Vancouver B.C.
    He was buddies with Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover. What a generation of pilots those people were. We'll never see the likes of them again. I've watched Bob's Mustang being flown by other pilots and its' nice to see, but you can sure see the difference between the men in the cockpit. Art Scholl's death was such a sad event. The end of an amazing career, truly missed at Abbotsford.

    Grossman56
    Team Gross!

    Comment

    Working...
    X