EAA Sport Aviation - September 2011

Unlimited category level. Flying hundreds of times in front of judges teaches discipline and perfectionism, and at the same time, it builds street cred, Sean said.

But even that doesn’t automatically make them a performer, and they’ll need to pay their dues and tune their act. To the former, they’ll need to work up to—or rather down to—surface-level shows through progressive aerobatic competency evaluations, and they’ll build requisite experience one show at a time; the good news is this gives them a greater margin of error when they make their rookie mistakes, Sean said. Likewise, having a mentor gives them a guide into the air show culture, not only with regard to safety but also to sponsors and fans and other bits of the business.

They’ll choreograph their sequence, or at least its foundation. They’ll also spend the rest of their career making it more efficient—so each maneuver better flows into the next—and keeping it fresh. Along the way, they’ll concentrate on “expressively flying the airplane,” Michael said; that is, flying like they own the sky, with a bit of showmanship and style that energizes the audience with their presence.

“Understand that it’s really a lifetime journey,” Sean said. Not surprisingly, pilots need passion to carry through with this goal. It very well may take more than a decade for them to become an overnight success.

BOOTSTRAPPING

In the meantime, it’ll seem like they’re one spark plug away from Chapter 11. “Air show flying is very costly,” Sean said, and the show won’t go on if they don’t treat it like a business. David wrote the five-year business plan for Team Aerostars in 2001 that included specific details about how they’d run and market the business and cultivate sponsors— both in-kind product, such as oil and headsets, and financial contributions.

For many performers, though, success proves elusive—particularly in signing title sponsorships. It’s not readily apparent what an honor it is for a performer to have that kind of support, because it requires the sponsor to take that risk, Michael said. It’ll need to feel safe with the pilot, and that only comes with time.

Yet even when it does, sponsorships still
aren’t free rides. With a company’s name on
the airplane, the pilot becomes a piston in
that company’s marketing machine. “They
don’t give you money because they’re gra-
cious,” Sean said. “You need to have a
business metric why they should invest in
your program.”
For example, the act may help its sponsor
create invitation-only opportunities for cus-
tomers, Sean said, including space, catering,
kids’ activities, as well as special events,
forums, and presentations that demonstrate
the sponsor’s values, products, or services to
their prospects. Likewise, everything the act
does reflects its sponsors, whether it’s e-mail
newsletters, shirts, autograph cards, a web-
site, or even the condition of the airplane
firewall-forward if it, say, has a powerplant
sponsor, Michael said.

Best-case scenario, they’ll even have staff to both serve those sponsors and take the show on the road. But that also takes them one step further away from just flying, Michael said; now they’re the leader of a small-busi-ness team. That’s what it means to be a paid personality and fly for a living. “Shows cannot afford to pay that kind of money—no matter how good you are,” Sean said. “You can’t make a living on a show fee.”

ON TOUR

The road tour happens anywhere from 16 to
20 times a year, and each may start days
before the first act does. Airplanes, pilots,
parts, tools, booths, posters, and other
goodies need to be shuttled from one
airport to the next, around weather and
other potential conflicts, either by airplane
or by car. To keep track of his cache, David
uses an elaborate collection of checklists
that break needs down—details like the
color of belts and kinds of shoes so the team
looks like one.