All language subtitles for Flying.For.The.Flag.2023.720p.BluRay.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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My grandmother said
a long time ago,

"An idle mind
is the devil's playground.

You need to have a goal,
you need to have a purpose,

and you need
to have a mission."

And, uh,
one of my buddies said,

"Hey, let's go over
and check it out."

And really it was just
three guys at that point,

um, kind of getting together,
fly in formation.

Having a little fun,
going around,

see what we could do.

And then started
getting a couple events

to go fly for.

The very first flight
and the real Bandit Flight Team

was the Vince Gill concert
at Pinehurst right over here.

♪

You have to get used to flying
close to another airplane.

And then just
putting your airplane

where it's supposed to be.

When you're up there flying,
you're working.

It's great
to be a pilot.

But without the grounds crew
and the support staff,

this show
doesn't get off the ground.

Coming up on 45,
mark 45.

And it's more than just then
these guys just flying over.

These guys have been
giving back, doing the mission.

This is a lot of fun,
but we call it serious fun.

We're real serious
about it.

That total
confidence and brotherhood

that you develop
with just that ultimate trust,

you're trusting those guys
with your life.

The Bandit Flight Team

is the most active
flight team in the country.

Nobody comes close to doing
what we do.

50 events a year,
that's a lot,

and they don't get paid
for their time.

So that's a huge dedication
on their part,

but we have
ground coordinators,

we have the pilots.

These are great people,
really dedicated.

If we didn't have them,

I-- the Bandits
just would not exist.

-Bob Ingle.
-I'm Flash Baysden.

-Stephen Graham.
-Hal Bowman.

-I'm Andy Stanaski.
-I am Wanda Jackson.

-David Schlabch.
-My name is Vince Tr yer.

-My name is Abigail Ingle.
-I'm Cecil Boyd.

-My name is Greg Vouga.
-My name is Haroun Azizi.

Jim Kilpatrick.

We actually got together,

started flying
in formation in 2009.

Our first big formal event
flying in formation was 2011.

When we came back
from Vietnam

and landed and...

I had done, like I said,
250 missions,

and I had as many awards
as anybody else, I guess.

I had 13 air medals.

The Distinguished Flying Cross

is the fourth highest
in the country

and I had two of those.

And when I came back to the
United States and we landed,

we were advised
to take our uniform off.

"Do not travel
in uniform."

'Cause a lot of people landed
at Travis Air Force Base

and they had to go
through San Francisco.

That was terrible,

that affected me
for a long time.

Those Distinguished
Flying Crosses that I had,

which I was pretty proud of,

but with the reception I got
back in the States,

made me very leery
of even bringing them out.

And I'll be frank
with you,

those awards
stayed in a cardboard box

in my attic
for 25 years.

I couldn't bring them out,

and that's hard 'cause I was
quite proud of them.

I think that...

spending a year in Vietnam
probably changes-- changes.

I mean, I was just
an 18-year-old kid,

so I can't tell you how--

How-- how I feel now
versus how I felt then, but,

um-- and I was awarded
the Bronze Star,

and I put all of my stuff,
including that,

in a box
and I stuck it in the attic

and I didn't take it out
for a long, long time.

Finally, my wife said

"No, let's take them out.
Let's show them."

So we did, we mounted them
and we put them on the wall.

Now, I think
our country understands

that you have to separate
the warrior from the war.

The warrior's doing
the same thing every war,

he doesn't make
the policy decisions.

He's doing what his country
asked for him to do,

and I certainly don't think
I was a hero

and I can speak
from my squadron mates.

They felt the same.

We just did what the country
asked us to do.

But that reception-- and I
think the country understands

it now and I think
we're reading our military men

much, much better.

So you can see the--
what drives me

to have
the Bandit Flight Team

flying for the flag
and salute our military.

By flying over
the national anthem,

we are-- we're--
we're paying our respects

to all the people
that we've known before,

all the ones
who didn't come home,

all the--
all of our buddies, you know.

And, um,
it's always the flag.

You know, for me
today in-- in this airplane,

I've always got
a flag on.

Well,
I went to a reunion

with some of my, uh, mates
from Vietnam.

And one guy
had this Russian yak,

and-- which I said, "What
in the world is a Russian yak?"

He said, "Well,
it's a Russian trainer."

And this is
a Yak 52, uh, Russian trainer.

It's a 1986 plane.

Soviet Union
was in operation.

They built the Yak
with a five-year plan.

They put out an order,

the-- the planes were built
in a-- a plant in Romania.

Because most people say,
"Well, how the hell can you fly

a Russian airplane right
over top of a stadium here,

flying for the flag?"

And we say, "Well, we won,

it's our airplane, we took it."

So I buy a Russian Yak

and I come here
to the local airport

and I find that there's
three others based here.

Um, there was one other--
at least one other guy here

and then they became two,

and then they became three
and so forth,

other pilots who had
formation capable airplanes

and-- and we would
go out and fly.

Now,
they were not military,

they were trying to learn
how to fly formation.

I had a military background.

So I started working with them
just flying formation,

having a little fun,
going around,

see what we could do.

And really it was just
three guys at that point,

um, kind of getting together,
flying formation.

And so we all got together

and started flying
larger formations

and then started getting
a couple events to go fly for.

The very first flight
and the real Bandit Flight Team

was the Vince Gill concert
at Pinehurst right over here.

So we did
a few things like that

and then we got more formal,
more intense,

and then we started
developing strict procedures.

Everybody got formation, uh,
we call "cards,"

but licensed
to fly formation.

And it just developed and re--
we did an operations manual

and got much more serious.

And as we developed,
a good friend of NC State

got me in contact
with NC State,

and we did
a flyover for them,

and that was kind of--
we got rolling from there.

Right,
we want to have a team,

so we started
putting guys together,

deciding what our name,
who we are, that type stuff.

So we got together.

One of our guys came up
with the name "Bandits."

The reason
we have the name Bandits

is from World War ll.

All the movies,
they identify--

Unidentified aircraft
are bandits.

"Bandits
at 12 o'clock high."

We probably heard that
in the movies,

so we developed that name
because that's us.

We're out there flying,
you see six airplanes,

it's-- you say, "Bandits."

Wha-- Sure enough,
you're right, it's the Bandits.

So that's how we came up
with the name.

And then one of the guys
got the logo.

We did the red,
white, and blue

because obviously
we're saluting our military,

and that's how
that got formalized.

You have to get used to flying
close to another airplane,

which is,
uh, um, not normal.

Our reflexes are,
get away, pull back,

don't get too close
to another airplane.

It's-- it's pretty challenging
at first,

but once you get used to it,
it becomes a real thrill.

When you learn
how to fly formation,

they-- they-- of course you
have some ground school

about how to do it.

Um, then you go out

and the instructor shows you
how to do it

and then lets you do it.

It's really not that hard.

It's a matter of seeing
what the references are

for the other airplane

and then just
putting your airplane

where it's supposed to be.

♪

So, um, if you can see
on the airplane here,

we have some,

uh, various things
on the airplane

that we can use
to make a line of position.

And we standardize
that on the Bandit team.

We have our little logo
here on the front.

And we use that with the flap
hinge here in the middle

that defines a line.

So we call
that the bearing line.

And there are other references
on the RV-8 that we use,

like the outer
flap hinge on the prop spinner

is the same bearing line.

And then on the back,
on the tail,

we have, uh, some references,

so you have two lines

and where those two lines
intersect,

that's the proper
position to be.

Up and down-wise,

you want to
split the wing,

so you see
the same amount on the top

as the bottom
of the wing,

and that's the correct
up and down position.

♪

And that puts you
about 38 feet

from fuselage to fuselage,

and it gives you about,
oh, five feet or so

of wing tip,
uh, clearance spacing.

But the other airplane's
behind you,

so it's not like the wingtips
are right next to each other,

it's offset so that
we're behind each other.

And that is
the correct position to be in

when we're in
what we call "fingertip."

♪

There are
other positions we fly.

So we fly a, uh--
or, what we call a root

or in-root position,

and that is spaced out
two to four ship widths,

so that's
a little bit more relaxed.

So when you're just
flying someplace

and we need to, uh, not have
to concentrate the whole time,

we can fly out in that little
bit more relaxed position.

Biggest issue
that young pilots have

when they're first
starting to fly formation

is they're just
over correcting.

They're-- they're grabbing
onto the stick

and they're moving
the airplane

and it's dancing
all over the place

because they're like,
"Oh, a little too high,

oh, little too low,
oh, a little too high."

You have to just calm down,
light touch on the stick,

and just keep moving
the flight controls around.

So when you think about,
"Oh, I'm a little bit low

and I need to move up"
and start moving up,

"Oh, I'mma get
a little too high,"

you're always
a little bit behind movement

where you're supposed to be.

But if you just
keep stirring

the controls around
a little bit,

moving the throttle,
moving the controls,

and not think about moving
them, just stirring them,

then you-- you see
that you're a little bit low

and you just think,
"I need to move up,"

and you just move up
without even thinking

about moving the controls.

It's like driving a car.

So when you first
started driving,

you're like,
"Oh, I gotta turn,"

and you thought about turning
a little bit, moving the wheel,

and, you know, "Oh, I gotta--"

Now you're, like--
you just drive, right?

So it's kind of
the same thing.

When you teach somebody
how to fly,

you show them the techniques,
and after they've learned,

after a while they're-- you're
not even thinking about it.

I-- I'm-- I never think
about what I do

moving the flight
controls anymore.

It's just-- I want to move
the airplane someplace

and it goes there.

I think
military organizations

are one of the highest
standard, uh,

organizations that are around.

Uh, a lot of people think,

"Hey, that guy
must be having fun,"

but really and truly,
when you're up there flying,

you're working, and the same
thing goes on here.

And so you're
constantly looking at the cues

that we have on the airplane
to get into position,

and you may be out an inch,
you may be out a foot,

you may be out three feet,
but you're constantly fighting

to get back
in that perfect position.

And so that's really
the focus of the entire flight

if you're one
of the wing men.

It's all of
this depth perception

and rate of speed, rate of--

The rate of closure
on the other airplane.

I think
some of the difficulties are,

you are focused on one position
on another airplane,

and outside your peripheral,
you may feel one thing,

but you gotta stay
with your sight line

on that one position
of the airplane

to maintain integrity
in the formation.

That becomes
somewhat challenging at first,

but once you get over
that peripheral

telling you to do
something else

other than what
that standard point

on the aircraft's
telling you to do,

it becomes a lot easier.

You'll hear this
from all of the-- the Bandits,

the only thing you look at is
the plane you're flying off of.

You don't know where you're
are-- where you are,

theoretically, you don't know
if you're upside down

or, uh, uh,
in a 90-degree bank,

you're just looking
at the airplane

and maintaining your position
on the one airplane.

Number four
or number two or number three,

those are a little
more relaxing positions,

all you have to do is
follow the guy in front of you.

But when you're out
on the wing tips,

uh, number five or number six,

usually those guys
have got responsibilities

with comms
or with, uh, um, chase,

um, and it's also
a more challenging position

to fly in the formation.

So we're typically
in a delta formation,

and the further away you are
from the lead,

if you can imagine,
you have lead,

and then you have,
uh, uh, either two or three,

in this case three,
and then out on the wing

you have a-- a little bit more.

So lead'll move,

and then that movement
is a little bit amplified

by number three,
and then this guy's chasing

and so it--
it ends up being a whip.

Um, and so you
really have to work hard

to dampen out
some of that movement

when the formation turns.

It-- it's all about
turn radiuses.

When, uh-- when the planes
are turning,

you have basically
a fixed point

that they're turning around,
an imaginary point in space.

The further away
from that point,

you're gonna actually have,
uh, a larger turn radius.

And so if you're
at a larger turn radius,

you're going
a further distance

and you have to add power
to keep up.

Your speed
has to be, uh, faster.

And conversely, if you're
on the inside of the turn,

you have to slow down as the,
uh, formation has turned.

So it's really important
for lead

to keep
all of that in mind.

If he turns too sharp,

then the guys
may not be able to keep up.

Either the guy
on the outside

may have not enough power
to keep up,

or the guy on the inside
will be at flight idle

and-- and still
moving forward.

And so lead
has a big responsibility

to keep the, uh, flight safe.

Yeah, we-- one of the unusual
things about our team--

Most of these kind of
formation flight teams,

it's all
the same airplane.

So, we have
dissimilar airplanes,

and so therefore
not only the Yak--

The two Yaks
in the-- in the flight,

but the RVs have to adjust
a little bit to deal with us.

And so, for example,
flight lead.

Flight lead would probably go
a little faster in times,

but they purposely go
a little slower

just so the Yaks
can keep up.

So to get one
of your formation cards,

you have to study
the manuals,

you have to learn
all of the-- the maneuvers,

and the station keeping,

and everything that goes along
with the formation flying.

Then you need to fly
with other experienced people.

You have to get a check pilot
to actually check you off

and approve you
for the-- the card.

And, uh, those guys
are really brave, you know,

sitting inside-- sitting
in a backseat of an airplane

that's got a rookie, uh,
formation pilot in it

and, uh,
coming in to rejoin,

and there it is.

And so once they give you
your check ride,

it's just like
any other flying.

Everything requires
a check ride.

Formation's no different.

Man, it's just
total trust.

You know, when you're flying
that close to everybody,

uh, you have to know
that they're gonna be

where they're supposed to be.

When-- you know, when you're
flying two or three,

you got planes
all around you.

There's only, uh, one or
two ways out of the formation

and you can't see
everybody else

except the plane
that you're looking at,

so that total
confidence and brotherhood

that you developed
with just the ultimate trust,

you're trusting
those guys with your life.

♪

So the-- uh, the flight lead
is a key position

because the flight lead
is responsible

for everything
that goes on in the flight.

As we talked about before,

everybody else is flying,
you know, on--

On these references
and they're flying in position.

They're looking at you.

They're not looking
where we're going.

They're not looking at,
uh, you know,

stuff that's out there,
for other airplanes, whatnot.

The flight lead's doing
all that for the entire flight,

so it's a very,
very responsive position--

Responsible position.

The flight lead
starts early.

When we get the tasking
a lot of times,

uh, Jim, the chief,
will give us the tasking

and we'll go to Google Earth
and we'll plan it up.

We'll actually get coordinates.

We'll look at the venue,
get the, uh, coordinate,

the run-in line
with the venue,

uh, making sure
that our coordinates match up.

And then we get
all the coordinates

loaded up
in the aircraft.

Then you have to
look at your flight

and see
what conflict you have

with air traffic control.

At NC State game,

we're in
the airport traffic area.

We have to get clearance
from them

to get in their area
to fly over NC State.

So we have to
coordinate that.

So that's one of
the big things we have to do.

And then once
you get the plan in

and get the times down,

and then we have
a very detailed briefing card

that we send
all our flight members.

So we have a checklist

and we print it out on
what we call a "lineup card."

So one side of the lineup card
has all of the--

Who's flying,
in which position.

It has the-- the frequencies
of the various places

we have to communicate with,

it has
the-- the mission sequence,

the pictures of the formations
we're gonna fly

all the way
from beginning to end.

On the other side,
it has the checklist.

So the checklist,
we start with a-- a time hack,

so everybody's
on the same time.

And we go through
a lot of standard stuff,

like how we're gonna deal
with airplanes,

you know, the--
by getting pre-flight done,

how we're gonna taxi,
and all that kind of stuff.

That's all pretty standard.

Um, just basic stuff
we do every flight.

And then we have a section
about emergencies.

Now, that stuff we're not
going to do on every flight.

We hope
we never have to do it.

But we always
have to cover it

so that if something
were to happen in flight,

then it would be
fresh in your mind

what you need to do,

like, where are the airfields
that we can go to

when we're in our, uh, uh--
during our mission time frame?

And if something happens
to an airplane,

how we're gonna handle it.

So, we-- we have
all that section.

And then we have the meat
of the mission section,

which is to say
what are we doing today,

and how are we
going to conduct that,

and what are we gonna do,

and how are we
gonna accomplish it?

And then the other thing
we always have to do,

if it's a big event
over 30,000 people,

which would be
the football games and NASCAR,

they make
a temporary flight restriction.

Aircraft cannot fly over that
event without authorization.

So we have to go to the TSA,
make an application,

I have to show them
every pilot,

where they were born,
their social security number,

uh, an aircraft,
where it's registered.

A lot of data
has to go to them.

They come back
and give us an approval

to go into that area.

So it starts usually
a couple of weeks out

and then the week of,

we have to fill out
our lineup card

to make sure we got
the players in the right spots,

the coordinates
are on the card,

and then, uh, the briefing
is on the card as well.

And then the day of,

we're usually making
the weather call,

uh, with the team chief,

and then we get together
and we brief it up.

We tell everybody
what they're gonna do precisely

in the formation.

Got me in the lead,
um, by myself today,

we've got-- Ben's number two,

making everybody look good
and in position.

Flash, you're gonna match him.

Jim, we've got you
at number four

on the right side
with Dan,

Um, Andy, you're number five
on the left side,

back in the pit
with the backup lead

in the columns, okay?

And here's the thing,
I'm not exactly sure--

I know they're gonna be
on this side of the runway.

We'll come back
perpendicular this way,

circle first time 304,

keep it going,
second time, 040.

Leave fairly tight,

make sure
everybody's exiting the circle,

and I'm going to go
straight down the runway,

uh, on 22 this time.

Offset, just slightly
over the people.

Any questions with that?

And then
the execution part of it

is the difficult part.

Uh, we get up there,
we get into a holding pattern.

We've got a route of flight,
we know our timing,

we're working ground speed
versus winds

and all that other stuff
to be on time.

And then you've got
to get the s-- the formation

in the right formation,

30 seconds prior,
lined up on the venue.

Smoke on.

If you've got
any pyro or colored smoke,

it comes next.

And then if we're doing
a bomb burst in a circle,

you're organizing all of that
and adjusting that,

and then leaving
the venue from the circle

and getting everybody
joined back up

and getting
them home safely.

♪

And look up in the sky
and make some noise.

Let's hear it
for the Bandit Flight Team

from Raleigh,
North Carolina...

I'm trying to sound calm
on the radio,

I was probably
fooling everybody.

The planes look cool

and I just wanted to know
more about them.

It's this formation team,
they fly over NC State,

and I think
that they would be great

for the opening
of the Lineman Rodeo.

Plus, who doesn't
love formation?

It's great to be a pilot,

but without the grounds crew
and the support staff,

this show
doesn't get off the ground.

Mark three minutes
'til flyover.

Copy three minutes.

The Bandits learned early on

that the ground controller
was essential.

Uh, and that
we wouldn't do anything

without a ground controller

to have that interface
with the venue.

So those guys are just critical
to the success of our flyover.

We're trying to hit the mission
within four seconds.

Couldn't do it without them.

The national anthem,

we want to be
right over the field

when they say,
"Home of the brave."

We give ourselves four seconds,
that's our window,

that's the goal line
to midfield.

And we hit it
about every time.

That's how
sophisticated it is.

Yeah, uh, I went
to NC State,

um, so my first event

was actually supposed to be
a football game,

uh, but then
the FAA shut down

all the flyovers
at the time,

actually all the way
to the event.

And so about a year later,

uh, ended up, uh, at
Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It got rained out on Saturday,
they pushed the event to Sunday

so the other coordinator
had to leave.

So I was thrown
into it automatically

and that end up being
my first event coordinating.

I was extremely nervous,

um, because I had only
shadowed a couple of times,

so doing it
at a NASCAR event,

televised, front of
tens of thousands of people.

I'm trying to sound calm
on the radio,

I was probably
fooling everybody.

Um, but it went over
perfectly.

Afterwards, I was like,
"This is nothing."

And it's been history
ever since.

We were at a fly-in in Beaufort

and I saw them taxiing together

and I knew that they were
gonna be flying formation

and I had not seen
that before.

So the planes looked cool

and I just wanted to know
more about them.

Well, my dad has been
part of the team

for about four or five
years now,

and I decided to take up flying
about 2018,

so then I was like,
"Why not?"

Sometimes,
I plan an event,

sometimes
Stephen plans an event.

Yeah, uh, once I know
about where the venues at,

uh, time of day,

um, I kinda actually go
on Google Earth

and look at the event
'cause I need to figure out

where do I want
to be positioned

to get the best
radio signal,

uh, where the performances
are gonna be at,

um, just try to figure out

where to pos-- position
myself physically,

then start working
on the timing,

make sure I know how long
the anthem's gonna be,

and start building up
my time sheet.

We take an active role

in dealing with people
on the ground at the event

to actually come together
with the schedule.

Uh, from that point, obviously,
we need to know the venue,

um, we need to know
the direction of the flyover,

what looks the best,

and we need to know

if there's live music
or if it's recorded.

We need to know
when the music starts, that's--

You know, always starts
with the national anthem,

so if it's a live singer,
or if it's recorded,

it makes
a big difference in timing.

So we ask,
"When is it starting?

How long is it?"

And that tells us
our first target time.

And there's always
a second piece of music.

Uh, sometimes they speak

between the first
and the second pass.

So we have to coordinate
how much time

does the team need
to turn around, for example,

because six planes
flying in formation,

it takes three minutes
and 30 seconds for them

just to turn around
and get back to the same point.

Uh, if they're coming back
from a different direction,

that's a factor.

For my timesheet,
we got, um,

obviously a countdown
starting at about

an hour out for each pass.

Uh, we also have a countdown
for the anthem.

So we know roughly
how long the anthem should be,

when it should be starting,
when it should be ending.

Also, we have a countdown
for the second pass

if there's one.

And, of course,
that can be very fluid.

And also throwing
their radio frequencies

just in case
we ever have to switch over

to another frequency.

I have everybody
in the flight, their positions,

so that way,
if I need to call somebody out,

I know who's in that position
to call them out.

Obviously we have a tripod
which everything attaches to.

We got, uh, poles to boost up
the antenna plate,

which, got an antenna plate

that has
four small antennas on there.

And that also is where our
big main antenna connects to.

And that antenna plate
just helps increase the plane

for the radio frequency.

Uh, we also have
multiple timers,

'cause you always want
to have a backup just in case.

Uh, we have two radios, again,
just in case one goes wrong.

And then we have just
the hookups for your headset,

we-- um, for that extra
batteries for the radio.

There's a lot.

That's about-- that's about
the best way to describe it.

It's-- it's not the same
for every event.

Well,
sometimes some people decide

to start early,
or they extend their music

a little too long
and we have--

Often us ground controllers
have to say, uh,

"You might want to delay,
they're extending,"

or sometimes
they don't start on time.

There's a lot of things
that can go on

that cause quite a bit
of a fuss, I would say.

And then we learned
shortly thereafter

that it was really nice
to have a ground controller

as what we like to call
lead ground controller

in the lead aircraft,

working a separate timing
and helping the flight lead

with timing
and the avionics setup as well.

Um, and so we have
now always assigned

a ground controller
to fly with the flight lead

and help with orchestration

of coordination with the ground
and mainly timing.

It's basically to be

a secondary voice
in the backseat

to make sure
that the lead pilot

has everything they need
to be successful.

Ten seconds
to national anthem start.

Are you-- Is that possible?

Yeah, that's possible.

Okay, ten seconds

to national anthem start.

Typically we're listening

for the controllers
on the ground,

and I help
the flight leader

by telling him his ground speed
and calculating,

"Okay, you need to
push it up or slow it down."

And typically with the time
there is on our scopes,

it tells us,
like, a time of ETE or ETA.

And it tells us
how we try to match

the time with our clocks
that we have

with the ground
controller below.

Yeah, so it's just
a standard timer,

but this one has
three different times

it can keep track of,
which works out great for us.

Because the first one
is set to the initial TOT,

the second one is set
to the national anthem,

and the third one
is set to the second flyover.

And what's so special about

having the national anthem
i-- on there

is that once
the national anthem starts,

nothing else matters.

And we can use that time

to give the guys
the most precise timing

they can get
to be over the stadium on time.

Coming up on 45, mark 45.

Two miles out,
we got a 60-degree turn,

go out four miles
for our start point.

Why do you do
a 60-degree turn?

We do that
because we're not jets.

The jets can push
the power up if they're behind

by ten,
or 15 seconds, or 20.

Let's say
they start early.

Oh, my goodness,
now we're behind.

What do we do?
We can cut the corner,

go 60 degrees,
so we can cut the corner

and make up the time.

On the other hand,

we're coming in,
they start late.

We can go away from the target
and then eat up time.

So we found out that helps
us a lot to adjust our time

at the last minute
to make our flyover time.

... standing, coming over

the target now.
Good job, guys.

Uh, the Russian Air Force,

the Soviet Air Force, uh,
really didn't need

as man-- an-- as many
as they had-- had ordered,

so they'd fly them
500 hours,

park the plane,
and get a brand new one.

So when the wall came down,

there were a lot of
500-hour Yaks sitting around

at, uh, various fields
in the Soviet Union.

And they were sold
all over the world

at fairly inexpensive prices.

The Russians at that time,
they didn't have any money.

So they were selling
these airplanes cheap

and also, uh--

But they weren't flying
them much because they had

no money to buy gas
and fuel and maintenance

and all that
kind of stuff.

They put, uh,
US instruments in the front,

so instead of
meters per second

and, uh,
Russian instruments,

I've got, uh, US instruments
in the front,

They rebuilt
the engines,

so zero time on the engine,
500 hours in the airplane.

The airplane
now has about, uh,

850 hours,

and, uh, the engine,
500 hours less than that.

A Yak's a lot easier to fly
than it looks like.

You know, it's a big,

uh, tall on its
landing gear plane.

It-- it looks, uh, uh,
fairly challenging,

but it's really
a-- a very straightforward

airplane to fly.

It's-- it's not
heavy into controls,

but it's not light either.

And I like that because
it's got a good feel to it.

With the right attitude,
it takes off on its own.

Uh, you set the speed
correctly on landing,

it will, uh, land
nose up fairly gently.

You-- you know, on takeoff
and landing, good visibility.

Fully aerobatic.

It's stressed
to, uh, seven positive

and four negative G's,

and you can fly it inverted,

uh, negative G's,
for about a minute,

which is
a limitation on the engine.

This airplane has
a-- all of the Yak 52's

and actually the Yak 55's,

M-- what's called an M14P.

It's a Vendeneyev,
it's made by a Russian company,

and the name
of the engine is a Vendeneyev,

and it's 360 horsepower.

Burns about 15, 16 gallons
an hour in regular flight.

And aerobatics, do-- pulling
some hard aerobatics with it,

it's probably burning
more like 25 gallons an hour.

But-- but it's a regular
engine, it has nine cylinders.

That means 18 spark plugs,

so, every year,
when you do

the ins-- maintenance
inspection on it,

18 spark plugs,
they're not cheap.

Fortunately,
we've got a good part source

in-- in the United States.

There's a woman who has a--
a shop in, uh, Arizona

and got all the parts,
pieces, rebuilt the engine.

So we've got
good maintenance.

I came home
and told my wife,

"I think I'm gonna build
an airplane" and she said,

"Don't you think
you ought to get

your pilot's license first?"

♪

The plans are really good
with these airplanes

and the--
and the support network

out there is tremendous.

Uh, you can get on the internet
and have an answer

to any question
you have

within minutes,
if not sooner.

Um, and a lot of--
and a lot of cases people say,

"Hey, I'll just run over there
and show you how to do it."

And so they'll run over
and there's just

thousands of people
building these things.

So building the airplane
really isn't that difficult.

I tell most people
that anybody can do it

as long as they have--

As long as they have
some basic handyman skills.

You learn how to rivet.

It takes you a few hours

to learn
how to rivet pretty good

and then
you just do it 12,000 times.

And the airplane I fly
and built, uh, is the RV-8A,

the Van's aircraft.

Um, and it's
the A-model which means

that the nose gear is up front
where it should be.

Uh, the tail guys
may disagree with that,

but, uh, I think the tricycle
gear is the best model.

So I fly the RV-8A.

We helped
with some fiberglass work,

um, a little bit of that.

Mostly try to learn a lot about

what goes on in the engine.

Um, just a-- riveting,
pop riveting,

doing stuff like that, um,
doing-- using the deaver tool

and using that
and just a lot of

different little
eclectic skills.

The RV-4 is like
flying a corvette.

I mean,
it is so responsive, so fast.

It's got
a lot of engines

so the thrust
to weight ratio is-- is great.

That thing
has so much power

for a little airplane
that it's incredible.

It just wants to keep
going up if you point it up.

The stick is
so sensitive that it's just--

It's just
point and shoot.

Wherever you put it,
it's gonna go.

And it's responsive
with the push tubes

that it has in it.

If there's no delay,
no stretch, anything on it,

so it's just--
it's automatically responsive

no matter what
you're doing to it.

For me,
my wife and I have a rule.

I will not fly
in an airplane I built.

So I went to a professional
builder who built this,

it's a-- called RV-14.

It's the latest model.
And that's what I have.

I love it.
It's fully aerobatic.

It'll do loops,
whatever you want to do.

It's got a smoke system
which we use on our events.

And the other thing
that I like about my aircraft

is its
side by side seats.

Only got two seats,
but my wife and I

use it a lot to travel
'cause it cruises 190 mph.

But I still wanted to
scratch that itch a little bit

to where-- to get out and fly
formation and high performance.

Uh, Spock knew a guy who
was selling this airplane here.

And he said, "Hey,
I'll get in touch with him

and see if he really
wants to sell it."

Uh, when he got in touch
with him-- he's a former

F-15 driver,
so, uh, we knew each other

through the association
of just being around base.

And when he loaned
this airplane to me,

I bought it quickly.

Uh, you don't get
a lot of these RV-8A's around

and when I did acquire it,
I'm like-- I knew exactly

what I wanted to do:
join the Bandits.

Oh, that's a trade secret.
I can't tell you that.

No. No, really,
it's not that complicated.

It's normal
in the, um, air show business

and we have
special oil that's clear

and we buy--
we got tanks of it,

called smoke oil,

and we have tanks inside
the aircraft and we load it up.

I have
about a five-gallon container.

And that smoke oil,
we inject into the exhaust,

and the exhaust
vaporizes it and makes smoke.

And that's
how it's done.

Now, a lot of people say,
"Can you have colored smoke?"

Because some jets can.
Well, the jets have the exhaust

at the end of the airplane
and they inject

their-- their oil out the back
and they put a color in it.

But ours is up front engine
where the exhausts are.

So if we put
a dyed color in there,

it would dye
the airplane that color.

So, naturally,
we can't use color smoke,

we just
use white smoke

which just
comes out of the clear oil.

And a hawk comes

straight through
the front windshield.

We have procedures in case

something happens
to your airplane,

how you pull up and out
of the formation.

Everybody knows
what it is.

So we really do
practice for that

to make sure that it doesn't
turn into something that--

Some catastrophic event.

We also designate
one of the aircraft

to be a chase in case we have
any kind of issues or problem.

They will go
with that aircraft.

We cover any type of emergency
we might have.

We go over
all the airports near us

where you can go
if something happens.

And that training
has to do with going back

and repeating the maneuvers
over a couple of times

to see that everybody's
kind of fresh with it.

And if not, we go
do it some more, you know,

so, uh, safety's
our number one thing, I mean...

This is a lot of fun,
but we call it serious fun.

We're real
serious about it.

We were doing a flyover
over Dorton arena

in, uh, Raleigh,
and, uh, we were coming over

in a six ship formation,
delta formation,

and we were
just about over the target.

Uh, we were
getting ready to turn on smoke

and a hawk comes straight
through the front windshield.

It blew out about
75% of my windshield.

It came between
my head and my son's head,

and my son
was with me that day.

He was
three years old at the time.

And it came
right between us

and ended up in the baggage
compartment of the aircraft.

I immediately
pulled out of the flight

and, since we were
so close to the target area,

I had my finger
on my smoke button,

so I immediately turned on
my smoke just from the flinch.

And, uh-- and so
I was trailing smoke.

We were pretty close
to Raleigh, Durham.

I announced
on the, uh, radio to Raleigh

to clear their runways,
I'm coming in.

Really couldn't hear much,
because the wind was so violent

in the aircraft,
but we landed safely,

and once we got
on the ground

I could talk
to the tower controllers,

and they were telling me,
"Pilot, shut down your engine,

get out of your plane,"
and I was like,

"No, just tell me
where to taxi."

The reason
they were saying that

is because I was
trailing smoke, they thought

I was on fire. And so, uh, they
were rolling the fire trucks.

We landed safely,
um, everything

turned out about as good
as it could possibly turn out.

Yeah, um, it was
an NC state fly-by

and we were holding
right there off of Highway 64

and the intersection of US-1.

And we always coordinate with
Raleigh approach control, uh,

so they have a squawk
and they can see us

and deconflict
with obstacles and aircraft.

And they
called out traffic

that didn't
have a squawk.

So this drone
was large enough

for them to get
a radar ping off of.

That tells you
how big it was.

They said, "You have traffic
one mile co-altitude,"

and I'm looking
and I don't see it.

Again, it's very small,
but it's still

very large
at the same time.

And then when I do
pick it up it goes right by me

in our formation
and near misses three of us

as it goes in
between us.

So we filed a report
with the FAA and Raleigh

right there and, remember,
they're not supposed to be

above 400 feet,
and he was at 1,000.

And we almost had
a near mid-air with a drone.

♪

My grandmother said
a long time ago

the-- you know, "An idle mind
is the devil's playground.

You need to have a goal,
you need to have a purpose,

and you need
to have a mission."

So our organization, uh, does
hands-on community service.

It's basically
food, toys, house.

We build houses if you're
injured in combat operations,

or houses go
to the family of the fallen.

Uh, we're in the Guinness
Book of World Records

for largest toy drive,

we're in the Guinness
Book of World Records

for largest food drive.

In other words,
everything we do

is hands-on
community service.

So what happens
is in the past

we had-- we had been nominated,
our organization,,

for the US Presidential
Volunteer Service Award

for missions
that we had done.

This comes
from the White House.

And then we noticed
some of the groups around us,

especially the Bandit
flight team, um,

that we need
to nominate these guys.

We'd only known them
for so long, you know,

only for, you know,
so many years and said,

these guys have been
giving back, doing the mission,

uh, flying for the flag
as part of their-- their motto.

Uh, and not only
have they flown for us,

we've also put
wounded warriors,

gold star families,
spouses, you name it,

and have flown
with this-- with, you know,

they say ride-alongs,
I guess you would say,

like the police do.

They've done these ride-alongs
and-- and these guys,

um, didn't have to do this,
and realize that these guys

don't get paid
to do this.

They're using their
own aircrafts, their own fuel,

and they want to give back
in some sort of way.

And it's more
than just--

Than these guys
just flying over.

To see the look
on someone's face afterwards

when they've
gone up with these guys,

this euphoria
that happens to them,

and you bring
someone like a-- a fallen wife

on that aircraft,
or if you fly the ashes

of someone's relative,

that's-- that's
important to them.

And not only
did they get this award

from the White House,
but also two US Senators

stepped in
from North Carolina

and also
gave them recognition.

So we are very grateful the--
for the Bandit flight team

that flies
these flights for the flag,

that flies these missions
for our hero homes

for Operation Coming Home,
for the fallen,

and also
for combat-injured troops.

And we will see these guys
again on December 22nd

when they're gonna fly
for a gold star family,

a green beret that was killed
in combat operations,

and we're giving away the house
to the wife and daughter.

And the Bandit flight team
not only is gonna fly over,

they're gonna do
the missing man formation

with his ashes.

♪

And we want to
thank you guys very much.

We're eternally grateful
for you guys.

Thank you very much, Andrew.

We really are very honored
to receive this award.

It means a lot to us
and it blends right in

with our motto, which is,
"flying for the flag."

That's what we do,

saluting our
military men and women,

so we are so honored
to receive this award.

We did not even know
we were nominated.

We just got a call
that we had been

presented this award

and that was from you, Andrew,
you nominated us and put us in.

We certainly appreciate that.
It came quite unexpectedly.

We looked forward
to flying with your group,

saluting our
returning members,

and you did
such a wonderful job

of donating houses.

This will be
house number 24.

So we're looking
forward to that.

And like I said,
we are very honored

and thank you very much.

♪

National anthem
is about to start.

So for the ground controllers,

uh, you don't need
to be a pilot, um,

for-- obviously, if you're
gonna be on the flying side,

you need to be a pilot and you
need to have, uh, a plane,

and we have
requirements on the planes.

Um, it has to be, uh,
a completely clear

canopy over--
over top, um,

generally a low-wing, you know,
type of thing,

not a high-wing, uh, aircraft.

Uh, we have
certain engine requirements,

and then there's
the additional training,

but we do have
some people that were just

good civilian pilots
that we brought in

and we provided them
the formation training

and the training
of the team

to be able
to make them formation pilots.

But if you want to be
a ground controller,

you don't need
to be a pilot, but...

enjoying flying
is a definite bonus.

Two and a half years ago,
I switched over

to become
a commercial pilot.

I quit selling
circuit boards for 20 years,

because this is
really my passion.

I just love
doing this stuff.

If you want
to do something

and you have the passion
to do it, you can do it.

Stay involved.

Um, when you're involved,
you'll figure out

exactly what it is
you're passionate about.

I-- I'm a lucky guy,
I say it all the time.

I get to work
inside my passion,

so when I go to work,
we teach the young members

of the Air Force
how to employ the Strike Eagle,

how to train
the Strike Eagle,

and that's a passionate job
for me and I love it.

The most important thing
is knowing what you wanna do.

No one's gonna help you

do something
you don't want to do.

When you're passionate about
what it is you do and you try

to be the best at what you are,
then other people see that

and they want to
climb on board with you

and they want to help you
achieve those goals.

So once you figure out
that you know exactly

what it is you want to do,

everything else becomes, uh,
just a goal-getting point.

Small goals first,
then large goals,

and they may even
change along the way,

but hit those small goals,

build that confidence,
you know what you can do.

You may not
have an airplane,

but you can go to the airport
and find somebody

that does have an airplane
that'll take you up and fly.

Um, Haroun,
Abigail, I mean,

all of our ground crew,

a lot of those people
don't have airplanes.

And so they've come on,

they've been
able to find a position

here in the Bandit group.

We all take
them under our wing,

we take them up flying.

Eventually, many of them
will get their own airplane

and we'll train them up
to fly as Bandits.

The Bandits have definitely
influenced my decision

to be a pilot, and as--

I guess refined it, in a way.

So I decided
to take a gap year, actually,

from high school, um,
from that summer of 2018.

I started flying in May

and then I went
on a mission trip,

so I had to take
a two-week break,

and then I soloed
right afterwards.

So, in general, it does,

I would say,
take quite a bit of maturity,

but also,
it takes a lot of guts.

I would love to be
a missionary pilot.

That is something
that I have laid--

Been laid on my heart
since 2016, actually,

and I didn't think,
again, I would be a pilot.

But to get there,
well, I mean,

I'm looking at
being an airline pilot.

I'm also looking at
joining the guard unit.

I have looked
into being a CFI,

which I hope
to complete again by 2022.

Um, that is something
that has inspired me,

but also, again,
the end goal to all this,

the reason I want
to be a pilot is so that

I could be a missionary pilot.

I'm proud to be
a first generation American

that was invited
to work with this team.

I think that
this is one of the best, um,

volunteer jobs
I've ever had in my life.

And to be honest with you,
being able to see the world

in a different perspective,
whether it's over an event,

or just flying to an event,

is something that I cherish
every single day.

If you find a team
that is local to your area,

I would recommend,
uh, reaching out,

you could
go to their websites,

they should have
contact information,

say that
you want to volunteer.

And then from there they
should be able to provide you

with some opportunities
that you'll be able to.

They need people
like ground coordinators

and other people
who are going to be those

kind of key personnel
that keeps the wheels going.

You know, you think about it,
you're talking about

a time commitment
and a financial commitment,

and being away
from your family.

So it's really something that
you have to be committed to

and-- and really want
to be a part of.

Always comes
to mind is age.

Age and flying.

"How much
longer can you do this?

What business
have you got flying formation

when you're 86 years old?"

Uh, I claim to be,

as far as I know, the oldest
active formation pilot around.

I can't prove that, but, uh,
it may or may not be.

Uh, and people
don't ask the question,

but there's always
this unspoken question about,

"How long
can you do this?"

I don't really
worry about it very much.

I plan for the next month,
the next mission.

Hopefully the next season.

I know,
when it comes time to quit,

hopefully I'll know that.

But also
I'm flying with nine other guys

who won't hesitate to tell me
when it's time to quit.

The Bandits are
just a great group to fly with.

I-- I really enjoy
the guys that I fly with.

I enjoy doing
the events and it's--

It's about much more
than just flying the event.

We just have
a good time together.

For us,
we enjoy the flying,

it's a lot of fun,
it's what we call serious fun,

because it's
a very serious thing.

We never take it lightly,
we never take it for granted.

We always keep it serious,

but it's fun
at the same time.

Now, some of the events
are super meaningful,

because they have
so much meaning

for the people
on the ground.

For us,
when we do the flyover,

it's not like business,
it's like fun business,

if you would, but it's-- it's
always kind of the same for us.

We're doing the flyover,
we're conducting the mission,

you know, it's like, uh--

It's like you have your game
face on, we're doing our thing.

But for the people
on the ground,

and-- and if you've been there
for the people on the ground,

you'll see what a--

What a really
special thing it is.

♪ O'er the land ♪

♪ Of the free ♪

♪ And the home ♪

♪ Of the brave ♪

♪