As you may know, I can be a \u201cglutton for punishment\u201d, so here goes:\u00a0 The reason I thought of this article is because I was working with a guy from Reading, PA on a Maule checkout.\u00a0 Thinking about Reading, I remembered all the announcers I\u2019d worked with during my fourteen years in the airshow business but one stood out because of Reading.\u00a0 That announcer is \u00a0my old pal, Kirby Mills.\u00a0 Kirby is the subject<\/h3>\n![\"Kirby](\"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Kirby-in-140-300x225.jpg\")
Kirby Mills in the Cessna 140 during a visit several years ago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nof one of my stories on \u201cNuts from a Blind Squirrel\u201d, and the similar video, \u201cBill\u2019s Wake<\/a>\u201d (about 6 min in) on the Tailwheeler\u2019s Journal.\u00a0 Kirby stands out primarily for his imagination and enthusiasm.\u00a0 He was the only announcer who thought it would be cool to try to stop my character, Krashbern T. Throttlebottom, from taking off during the show.\u00a0 So ol\u2019 Kirby would grab one of the struts of my 100HP Cub and I\u2019d drag him a while before he finally dropped off, then got bonked by the horizontal stabilizer as he tried to sit up.<\/h3>\nBut what Kirby did to liven up a show is, in my opinion, what set him apart from so many others.\u00a0 Kirby would take a look at the schedule.\u00a0 He\u2019d look for gaps, then design pre-recorded \u201cbits\u201d to fill those gaps.\u00a0 One such bit was at the Cross-Florida Barge Canal show.\u00a0 It was a boat race and Kirby knew that there would be gaps while boats were being lined up for a start.\u00a0 I was there as a between-the-races act, performing my \u201cCap\u2019n Splash\u201d over-water show.\u00a0 The night before the show, Kirby sat in his motel room and recorded what in my opinion is a classic bit. \u00a0Because manatees abounded in that waterway and there was such importance placed on their protection, Kirby recorded an interview with the head of Manatee Security.\u00a0 Kirby\u2019s imagination being what it was, the head of Manatee Security was, of course, A MANATEE.\u00a0 And he was a Manatee named Merle (after Kirby\u2019s father).\u00a0 It was a brilliant stroke and entertained thousands between races.<\/h3>\nBut perhaps Kirby\u2019s greatest bit was the one he thought up for the Redding, California Airshow.\u00a0 At Redding, there were airline arrivals and departures.\u00a0 Kirby knew that he\u2019d have to fill while United was coming in, so he decided to create a bit based on \u201cthe wonders of technology\u201d.\u00a0 He told the audience that United was coming in and that through those wonders, he\u2019d been able to patch into the cockpit intercom and that he\u2019d share that audio with the audience.\u00a0 He pushed \u201cplay\u201d and the audience was treated to the following conversation:<\/h3>\n(Pilots, running through checklist) \u201cFlaps, seatbelt light, cockpit announcement, uh, hang on a second (then, on the P.A. System)\u00a0 \u201cLadies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our approach into Redding, so please make sure your seatbelts are fastened, tray tables are in their upright position.\u00a0 Flight attendants, prepare for landing.\u201d<\/h3>\n(Pilot to First Officer) \u201cGee, the airport looks a bit different than the last time I was here.\u00a0 Oh well, things change, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 Yup\u201d.<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u201cAirport in sight, speed 120.\u00a0 Flaps 20, landing gear, down and locked.\u00a0 Hey, what\u2019s that approach plate you\u2019ve got?\u201d<\/h3>\n(First Officer) \u201c It\u2019s the approach plate for Redding, California\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u00a0\u201c Oh, no.. well, too late now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get this piece o\u2019 crap on the ground\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nKirby paused the tape as the 737 touched down.\u00a0 Then, as it taxied in, he pressed the play button again.<\/h3>\n(Captain on the P.A.) \u201cUh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Redding, California.\u00a0 For those of you who were under the impression that we were landing in Reading, Pennsylvania, there will be a Greyhound Bus waiting outside baggage claim\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nYep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\n![\"0683](\"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/0683-Feick-300x234.jpg\")
George Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
of one of my stories on \u201cNuts from a Blind Squirrel\u201d, and the similar video, \u201cBill\u2019s Wake<\/a>\u201d (about 6 min in) on the Tailwheeler\u2019s Journal.\u00a0 Kirby stands out primarily for his imagination and enthusiasm.\u00a0 He was the only announcer who thought it would be cool to try to stop my character, Krashbern T. Throttlebottom, from taking off during the show.\u00a0 So ol\u2019 Kirby would grab one of the struts of my 100HP Cub and I\u2019d drag him a while before he finally dropped off, then got bonked by the horizontal stabilizer as he tried to sit up.<\/h3>\nBut what Kirby did to liven up a show is, in my opinion, what set him apart from so many others.\u00a0 Kirby would take a look at the schedule.\u00a0 He\u2019d look for gaps, then design pre-recorded \u201cbits\u201d to fill those gaps.\u00a0 One such bit was at the Cross-Florida Barge Canal show.\u00a0 It was a boat race and Kirby knew that there would be gaps while boats were being lined up for a start.\u00a0 I was there as a between-the-races act, performing my \u201cCap\u2019n Splash\u201d over-water show.\u00a0 The night before the show, Kirby sat in his motel room and recorded what in my opinion is a classic bit. \u00a0Because manatees abounded in that waterway and there was such importance placed on their protection, Kirby recorded an interview with the head of Manatee Security.\u00a0 Kirby\u2019s imagination being what it was, the head of Manatee Security was, of course, A MANATEE.\u00a0 And he was a Manatee named Merle (after Kirby\u2019s father).\u00a0 It was a brilliant stroke and entertained thousands between races.<\/h3>\nBut perhaps Kirby\u2019s greatest bit was the one he thought up for the Redding, California Airshow.\u00a0 At Redding, there were airline arrivals and departures.\u00a0 Kirby knew that he\u2019d have to fill while United was coming in, so he decided to create a bit based on \u201cthe wonders of technology\u201d.\u00a0 He told the audience that United was coming in and that through those wonders, he\u2019d been able to patch into the cockpit intercom and that he\u2019d share that audio with the audience.\u00a0 He pushed \u201cplay\u201d and the audience was treated to the following conversation:<\/h3>\n(Pilots, running through checklist) \u201cFlaps, seatbelt light, cockpit announcement, uh, hang on a second (then, on the P.A. System)\u00a0 \u201cLadies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our approach into Redding, so please make sure your seatbelts are fastened, tray tables are in their upright position.\u00a0 Flight attendants, prepare for landing.\u201d<\/h3>\n(Pilot to First Officer) \u201cGee, the airport looks a bit different than the last time I was here.\u00a0 Oh well, things change, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 Yup\u201d.<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u201cAirport in sight, speed 120.\u00a0 Flaps 20, landing gear, down and locked.\u00a0 Hey, what\u2019s that approach plate you\u2019ve got?\u201d<\/h3>\n(First Officer) \u201c It\u2019s the approach plate for Redding, California\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u00a0\u201c Oh, no.. well, too late now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get this piece o\u2019 crap on the ground\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nKirby paused the tape as the 737 touched down.\u00a0 Then, as it taxied in, he pressed the play button again.<\/h3>\n(Captain on the P.A.) \u201cUh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Redding, California.\u00a0 For those of you who were under the impression that we were landing in Reading, Pennsylvania, there will be a Greyhound Bus waiting outside baggage claim\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nYep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\nGeorge Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
But perhaps Kirby\u2019s greatest bit was the one he thought up for the Redding, California Airshow.\u00a0 At Redding, there were airline arrivals and departures.\u00a0 Kirby knew that he\u2019d have to fill while United was coming in, so he decided to create a bit based on \u201cthe wonders of technology\u201d.\u00a0 He told the audience that United was coming in and that through those wonders, he\u2019d been able to patch into the cockpit intercom and that he\u2019d share that audio with the audience.\u00a0 He pushed \u201cplay\u201d and the audience was treated to the following conversation:<\/h3>\n(Pilots, running through checklist) \u201cFlaps, seatbelt light, cockpit announcement, uh, hang on a second (then, on the P.A. System)\u00a0 \u201cLadies and Gentlemen, we are beginning our approach into Redding, so please make sure your seatbelts are fastened, tray tables are in their upright position.\u00a0 Flight attendants, prepare for landing.\u201d<\/h3>\n(Pilot to First Officer) \u201cGee, the airport looks a bit different than the last time I was here.\u00a0 Oh well, things change, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 Yup\u201d.<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u201cAirport in sight, speed 120.\u00a0 Flaps 20, landing gear, down and locked.\u00a0 Hey, what\u2019s that approach plate you\u2019ve got?\u201d<\/h3>\n(First Officer) \u201c It\u2019s the approach plate for Redding, California\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u00a0\u201c Oh, no.. well, too late now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get this piece o\u2019 crap on the ground\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nKirby paused the tape as the 737 touched down.\u00a0 Then, as it taxied in, he pressed the play button again.<\/h3>\n(Captain on the P.A.) \u201cUh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Redding, California.\u00a0 For those of you who were under the impression that we were landing in Reading, Pennsylvania, there will be a Greyhound Bus waiting outside baggage claim\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nYep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\nGeorge Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(Pilot to First Officer) \u201cGee, the airport looks a bit different than the last time I was here.\u00a0 Oh well, things change, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 Yup\u201d.<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u201cAirport in sight, speed 120.\u00a0 Flaps 20, landing gear, down and locked.\u00a0 Hey, what\u2019s that approach plate you\u2019ve got?\u201d<\/h3>\n(First Officer) \u201c It\u2019s the approach plate for Redding, California\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u00a0\u201c Oh, no.. well, too late now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get this piece o\u2019 crap on the ground\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nKirby paused the tape as the 737 touched down.\u00a0 Then, as it taxied in, he pressed the play button again.<\/h3>\n(Captain on the P.A.) \u201cUh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Redding, California.\u00a0 For those of you who were under the impression that we were landing in Reading, Pennsylvania, there will be a Greyhound Bus waiting outside baggage claim\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nYep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\nGeorge Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(First Officer) \u201c It\u2019s the approach plate for Redding, California\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\n(Captain) \u00a0\u201c Oh, no.. well, too late now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get this piece o\u2019 crap on the ground\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nKirby paused the tape as the 737 touched down.\u00a0 Then, as it taxied in, he pressed the play button again.<\/h3>\n(Captain on the P.A.) \u201cUh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Redding, California.\u00a0 For those of you who were under the impression that we were landing in Reading, Pennsylvania, there will be a Greyhound Bus waiting outside baggage claim\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nYep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\nGeorge Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Kirby paused the tape as the 737 touched down.\u00a0 Then, as it taxied in, he pressed the play button again.<\/h3>\n(Captain on the P.A.) \u201cUh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Redding, California.\u00a0 For those of you who were under the impression that we were landing in Reading, Pennsylvania, there will be a Greyhound Bus waiting outside baggage claim\u2026\u201d<\/h3>\nYep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\nGeorge Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Yep, ol\u2019 Kirby stands out as one of the best I ever worked with.\u00a0 George Feick was<\/h3>\nGeorge Feick with \u201cAce\u201d, the Wonder Dog at an airshow years ago. In the background is the late Art Scholl along with Judy Scholl and Art\u2019s dog, \u201cAileron\u201d behind him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nanother, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
another, a guy whose timing and delivery were superb.\u00a0 He later teamed up with Mack Lochrie.\u00a0 Mack had come from the worlds of Radio and Rodeo.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know an Extra from a flying saucer, but had a great voice and delivery\u2026 and George could keep the planes straight!<\/h3>\nSandy Sanders was for years \u201cthe Voice of The Reno Air Races\u201d.\u00a0 I loved working with Sandy and even featured him in my demo reel.\u00a0 Sonny Everett should be dead now, as long as he\u2019s been doing airshows, but he\u2019s still kicking and is one of the greats.\u00a0 Hal Biestek<\/a> had a great sense of humor and was also one of my favorites.\u00a0 A former C5 pilot, he\u2019d figured how many ping-pong balls a C5 could carry and shared that fact with the audience.\u00a0 \u00a0Steve Stavrakakis<\/strong> <\/a>was one of the few announcers who was also a flying performer.\u00a0 Mike Berriochoa<\/a> is a multi-talented guy who produced shows and now mostly announces.\u00a0 The list goes on.\u00a0 Some guys were locals\u2026 and some of those were great.\u00a0 My act was a \u201cscripted\u201d act and depended on a good announcer.\u00a0 Most aerobatic performers didn\u2019t hear a thing the announcer said until they finished their act and opened their canopy in time to hear the guy say, \u201cLet\u2019s hear it for this great pilot!!!\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019d never know if he\u2019d done a good job or not.\u00a0 But I sure did. And for every great announcer there was a dud.\u00a0 I always felt that if an announcer thought\u00a0it necessary to make sure that the audience knew that he, too, was a pilot, he\u2019d failed at his job, which was to simply enrich the airshow experience and provide accompaniment for the performer. That doesn\u2019t even mention how well they handle an emergency.\u00a0 \u00a0Some great announcers have been left out.\u00a0 Remember, I said \u201cthe list goes on\u201d and indeed it does.\u00a0 I guess those who haven\u2019t been mentioned will hate me now!<\/h3>\nThe announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The announcers and performers have changed, but certain things about the airshow business have stayed the same:\u00a0 Airshows are still the place where a few people in that audience make a decision.\u00a0 They silently say to themselves, \u201cI think I\u2019d like to do that\u201d.\u00a0 And they become pilots.\u00a0 They never consider how much that announcer contributed to their airshow experience.\u00a0 Perhaps they should.<\/h3>\nThe late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over.\u00a0 All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him.\u00a0 And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The late Bill Warren once commented that Kirby Mills was a mess by the time an airshow was over. All that physical comedy and all those pratfalls in the dirt had made a filthy wreck of him. And I never saw another announcer come close to that kind of dedication.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,35,67,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}