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This article is a continuation of the story we published and posted in the February 2025 issue of “Midwest Flyer Monthly” entitled “The First Phone Call”.
Peggy and I started Wisconsin Flyer magazine in 1978, changed the name and format to Midwest Flyer Magazine in 1980, published magazines and a professional service catalog for the airshow entertainment industry from 1983 to 2004, and converted the format of Midwest Flyer Magazine from print to all digital in 2021.
Within a day of mailing our first issue of Wisconsin Flyer in December 1978, we received a phone call from EAA Founder Paul Poberezny who wanted to introduce himself, support our efforts, and invite Peggy and I to a dinner being held at the EAA Headquarters & Museum in Hales Corners to meet him and his wife Audrey, their son Tom and daughter-in-law Sharon, and their daughter Bonnie and son-in-law Bud Judy. What an honor… we just started an aviation magazine and get a call from the founder of EAA inviting us to dinner!
Interesting was that the keynote speaker at the meeting going on in the adjoining room that evening featured airshow performer Bill Barber. As you will read in this article, our paths later crossed.
When we were ready to leave the museum, Tom escorted us to the door, and we walked past one of pilot/actor Cliff Robertson’s vintage airplanes. I don’t recall which plane it was for sure, but I was impressed that it was owned by an Academy Award-winning actor who I had admired for years, especially for the 1963 motion picture “PT 109,” in which Cliff portrayed President John F. Kennedy as a Navy captain during World War II. Cliff also received the “Academy Award for Best Actor” in 1969 for his role in the motion picture “Charly.”
While publishing in the airshow entertainment industry, we created three awards: Airshow of the Year and Airshow Performer of the Year in 1986, and the Pitch & Prop Celebrity Award in 1989. We presented the “Airshow of the Year Award” to EAA Founder Paul Poberezny at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 1989; airshow performer and producer, Tom Jones at Aerospace America in Oklahoma City in 1990; airshow chairman Dave McGeorge of the Exchange Club of Redding, California in 1993; and airshow producer Ken Hopper at the Quad Cities Airshow in Davenport, Iowa in 1994.
The first and only performers to receive the “Airshow Performer of the Year Award” was the “Eagles Aerobatic Flight Team” in 1986, starring Charlie Hillard, Gene Soucy and Tom Poberezny. I presented the team with the award at an airshow in Fort Worth, Texas. The award was renamed the “Bill Barber Award for Showmanship” beginning in 1987 in honor of the late Bill Barber, airshow performer extraordinaire, who was one of our contributing editors, and an airshow historian. Bill passed away from cancer in 1986. Receiving the first Barber award in 1987 was The French Connection, starring Daniel Heligoin and Montaine Mallet. We presented the award to them at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh that year.
Among the other top airshow performers who I personally had the pleasure of presenting the Barber award to include Jimmy Franklin at the Quad Cities Airshow in Davenport, Iowa in 1989; Leo Loudenslager at the Byron Originals Airshow in Ida Grove, Iowa in 1990; Julie Clark at AirVenture in 1991; and Sean D. Tucker at the Rockford, Illinois airshow in 1992. Beginning in 1993, EAA President Tom Poberezny gave us a permanent evening timeslot to present the award each year at Theater in the Woods during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
Recipients who I had the honor of presenting the Barber award to at AirVenture, in addition to the French Connection in 1987 and Julie Clark in 1991, included the Red Baron Stearman Squadron (1993), Bob and Annette Hosking (1994), Bob Hoover (1995), Wayne Handley (1996), Gene Soucy and Teresa Stokes (1997), Patty Wagstaff (1998), Dan Buchanan (1999), John Mohr (2000), Northern Lights Aerobatic Team (2001), AeroShell Aerobatic Team (2002), Jim LeRoy (2003), and Bobby Younkin (2004). The award continued to be presented at AirVenture through 2024 after we sold our airshow publications in 2004. The Barber family and friends hope to continue the award program.
Another “backstage” moment was when Jimmy Franklin became our official escort for the wives of our male award recipients. Most memorable was in 2004 when Jimmy — dressed in his black and red costume and wearing a black top hat — walked up to the stage arm-in-arm with Jeanie Younkin in support of her husband, Bobby Younkin, who received the award that year. Bobby flew the custom-built biplane “Samson,” a Twin Beech, and a Lear Jet.
Anyone could nominate a performer for the Barber award, but recipients were selected by individual ballot by their peers who were past recipients to ensure that only the most deserving performers received the award.
The “Pitch & Prop Celebrity Award” was created in 1989 to recognize a celebrity who had made a significant contribution to the airshow entertainment industry. The first award was presented to Robin Leach, who in addition to hosting the television program “The Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous” (1984 to 1995), hosted a worldwide televised broadcast of the “Dayton International Airshow.” We presented the award to Robin at the Dayton airshow in 1989, and he was very humble and most appreciative of the recognition.
When I returned from Dayton, I called Tom Poberezny and asked him if he thought that Cliff Robertson would make a good recipient for the award, as Cliff selected World War II British fighter pilot, Jerry Billing of Ontario, Canada, to fly his rare British Mk IX Spitfire in airshows throughout North America. Tom concurred, so together, we put the wheels in motion to present Cliff with the award during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 1990. EAA arranged for Cliff’s visit, and Tom gave me explicit instructions on how best to host him, beginning by meeting Cliff at the entrance gate at a specific time of the day on the day of the award program.
When I met Cliff at the V.I.P. entrance gate, he was driving a car wearing sunglasses and an Eastern European cap having just returned from making a speech in eastern Europe. If you didn’t know it was Cliff, you would never have recognized him.
I first escorted Cliff to airshow center for an interview with announcers Roscoe Morton and Walt Troyer, then to the flightline for a group photo with airshow performers. While at the announcer’s stand, Walt complimented Cliff on the role he played in the motion picture “The Pilot.” It was shortly after that I suggested to Cliff that he make a movie with Tom Cruise as a sequel to “Top Gun,” and he was all for it, but he wanted me to do the legwork to make that happen. Not knowing the Hollywood crowd, I took a pass.
After meeting the performers, Cliff wanted to find an avionics dealer in one of the exhibit buildings, so off we went. I was acting as Cliff’s point man, asking dealer after dealer if they knew the person we were looking for. At one point a dealer turned to Cliff and asked him, “Aren’t you Cliff Robertson?” Cliff smiled, may have shook his hand, and we moved on. We never did find the avionics dealer we were looking for, but we had fun trying!
Cliff had some errands to run in town, so we met “backstage” at Theater in the Woods that evening for the award program.
On stage, I described the purpose of the award to the audience and introduced Cliff. He walked on stage to accept the award, spoke of his love for aviation, and took questions from his fellow EAA members.
One member asked Cliff if he flys his Spitfire himself, and he replied with a smile and said that his insurance company — I assume for acting — would not permit him to do so.
Following the award program, Cliff and I walked “backstage” where we were greeted by EAA Founder Paul Poberezny who seemed to want a few minutes alone with his old friend. So rather than stick around, I reached out and shook Cliff’s hand and thanked him for coming to Oshkosh to accept the award. He responded by stating, “Dave, did I make you happy?” to which I replied,
“Boy, did you ever!”
In the weeks following Oshkosh, Cliff sent me a thank you letter for the award and offered to emcee a showing of his motion picture “The Pilot.” I forwarded his letter to Tom Poberezny to follow up, and he did by naming Cliff the first Chairman of the EAA Young Eagles program beginning in 1992, and through 1994. We believe Cliff also emceed the film in 1991, but that could not be confirmed.
I last saw Cliff on the flightline at Oshkosh sitting in the cockpit of an SR22 with Cirrus Aircraft cofounder Dale Klapmeier. Cliff passed away not too many year later in 2011, one day after reaching his 88th birthday.
Chuck Yeager and actor Harrison Ford assumed the reins of the Young Eagles program in 1995, followed by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles in 2009, after they successfully landed their US Airways Airbus 320 on the Hudson River.
Of course, with Jeff Skiles living in my hometown of Oregon, Wisconsin, Tom called to see if I knew him, which I did not at the time. But as soon as I heard of the emergency landing, I was preparing a packet of information for Jeff with a letter requesting that he call me once he returned home from New York. Tom asked if I would include his cell phone number in my letter, as he was also out of town, and wanted to invite him to get involve in AirVenture later that year. It was shortly afterwards that Jeff and Sully were named cochairmen of EAA Young Eagles (https://midwestflyer.com/jeff-skiles-retires-from-american-airlines-but-continues-his-career-in-general-aviation/)
Backstage With Bob Hoover!
When I presented Bob Hoover with the “Bill Barber Award For Showmanship” at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 1995, we were waiting “backstage” at Theater in the Woods to be introduced. Waiting with us was none other than Capt. Scott O’Grady, whose F-16C Falcon was shot down June 2, 1995, over Bosnia by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) and he was forced to eject into hostile territory. After evading capture from the Bosnian Serbs for six days, Scott was rescued by the Marines and flown out by helicopter. Scott was the featured speaker that evening.
Coincidentally, Bob Hoover flew Spitfires with the 52nd Fighter Group over Sicily and Corsica during World War II. On his 59th mission, he was shot down by the Nazis, captured, and held as a prisoner of war for 16 months. He later escaped, stole a Focke-Wulf 190, and flew it across enemy lines to Holland.
Since both Scott Grady and Bob Hoover were shot down in combat, I asked Scott if he would like to meet Bob. He said something like, “Would I ever!”
If you recall, the FAA revoked Bob’s medical beginning in December 1993, which took three years to get reinstated, so the timing in presenting him with the Barber award in 1995 could not be better!
Both Bob Hoover and his attorney, F. Lee Bailey, appeared at a press conference at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 1994, and at Aerospace America in Oklahoma City in June of 1995. As we all know, Oklahoma City is where the FAA is headquartered, and where an FAA inspector revoked his medical following the airshow in 1993.
Appearing with Bob and Lee at Aerospace America in 1995 were some of the biggest names in the airshow entertainment industry including Sean D. Tucker, Steve Oliver, and 1980 World Aerobatic Champion Leo Loudenslager. The three top performers met with Bob to discuss his situation. I remember Leo telling me then that the FAA had no grounds to ground Bob, and if they could do it to him, they could do it to anyone!
While Bob could still perform in Canada and Europe, he was prohibited from performing in the U.S. until October 5, 1995, when he performed at Daytona Skyfest. That was Bob’s first performance upon returning to the U.S. airshow circuit, and the Eagles Aerobatic Flight Team’s final performance, celebrating a 25-year career. This was undoubtedly the most historically significant airshow I ever attended in my career, and one which would later prove beneficial for the Barber award program.
Bob Hoover’s final performance was on November 13, 1999, at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. He flew his last non-aerobatic airshow in 2000 at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Fla., then delivered his Shrike Commander to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum at Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, immediately afterwards where it has been on display ever since, along with Leo Loudenslager’s Laser 200, and Steve and Suzanne Asbury-Oliver’s Pepsi Skywriter. If you get the chance, be sure to visit the museum to honor the memory of these truly great performers!
BTW, Bob Hoover and Cliff Robertson were very close friends, and Cliff once recalled his experience flying with Bob during one of his performances in the Shrike Commander. Cliff was amazed as to how Bob could carry on a normal conversation while executing aerobatic maneuvers.
While we all hold great memories of friends and relatives who have passed away, some of my best keepsakes are letters and photos they sent to me over the years. So let this be a reminder to everyone reading this article to write letters to your friends and loved ones, and to keep a file of the letters and messages you receive from them. For one day, they will bring you much joy and happiness. Remember, it’s not always what someone says or does that will be remembered, but how they made the other person feel.
