Every hear of Art Scholl?

He flew the Cessna 150 Aerobat in the movie Iron Eagle and the movie Top Gun is dedicated to him in the opening credits. He lost his life filming a flat spin for the Top Gun movie.

 

I remember a few air shows with the Super Chipmunk. Good stuff....

 

I watched him many times in the late 60's flying the Chipmunk. Abbotsford sticks out the most.

 

Great pilot.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UShzXAS50yQ[/ame]

 

Spasso (AKA Dana) was with us many times at Abottsford and at many other air shows in which Art performed. Crazy and fun guy when he wasn't performing and he told us that we were nuts to be flying an airplane with the parts falling off. Then he goes out and does a demonstration of his new auto pilot just installed in the Chipmunk by flying by the crowd at 400 feet STANDING ON THE WING OUT OF THE COCKPIT AND WAVING TO THE CROWD. He arrived at one show there in his single place Chipmunk with a girl, Carolyn S., sitting in his lap. She worked the stick while he worked the rudder pedals. Not intending a double entendre here. She did an aerobatic show with a borrowed Decathlon and he did his regular show in the Chipmunk. One never discussed anything with him prior to his performing, he had his head in the cockpit, as the saying goes. As with most air show types, he became complacent about the dangers and did things quite a bit on the edge. That is what did him in, I think. With a heavy camera mounted aft on his Pitts he put it into a spin with a mass too far aft and it progressed into an unrecoverable flat spin. I saw him perform a back-to-back routine with a new aerobatic partner, Skip Volk, that almost ended in disaster at the one and only 1969 Spokane Air Show. Then Scholl did a new routine on Sunday with photo flash flares firing off every 2 or 3 seconds. This was in August and all the grass on the field was dry. When we left to fly home there were seven large fires burning in a widespread area. Yep, I remember Art Scholl.

 

Aileron was cool! I always wondered what effect the high Gs had on him, though.

Watching the video...do any of you guys know the entry/exit procedure for a Lomcevak? It looks to me like a knife edge spin entry and recovery, but I'm guessing there is more to it than that. How do you get the pitch axis tumbling effect? Just dump the nose while you still have a little elevator authority?

 

That Super Chipmunk has retractable main gear... modification?

Possibly the only one that's a retractable.

Couldn't find info on the gear, but found about shortened wings, strengthening, bigger rudder, etc. etc.

Saw Art perform a couple times here in CO.

 

The "Stiles Skystreak" that appeared in the movie "The Great Waldo Pepper" was one of Art's Chipmunks modified with an open cockpit and other features that made it look like an aircraft of that vintage.

This is from Wikipedia's entry for Art: "Art Scholl's Super Chipmunk N13A was sold in April 1972 to J. Reid Garrison, FBO operator at the Oconee Airport in Clemson, South Carolina, and moved to the Anderson Municipal Airport in Anderson, South Carolina, when Garrison relocated his business there in the 1980s."

 

As told to me by Art; Pull up into a 45 deg. climb with max speed, enter an outside snap roll to get the momentum, when coming around to the wings level position, center everything, leave the throttle open, and then give full forward stick. I think that is what i remember and he said that the combo doesn't always work and that if they do, the maneuver isn't always the same. Tough on the pilot and tougher on the prop hub and engine mounts. The late Dave Rham's airplane, a Bucker Jungman, was subjected to many hard and harsh maneuvers including Lomcevaks and when it was rebuilt, many bolt lugs had to be beefed up and re-drilled because they were stretched and figure-eighted.

 

Another Tidbit. Scholl would wince and give us a dark look when we addressed him as " Art School."

 

Thanks, Bob! I figured you would know!

Whew, sounds like that plane may have been near the end prior to rebuild. I guess it takes a tough plane to get through all that. Tough pilot, too!