 |  | | Jimmy Franklin appeared in films including “Forever Young,” “Terminal Velocity” and “The Rocketeer.” | |
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Aviation enthusiasts around the world are still feeling the shock waves from the loss of two of its best. Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin, who performed some of the country's most popular air show routines, were lost in a midair collision on July 10 at the Saskatchewan Centennial Air Show in Moose Jaw, Canada.
The two pilots were performing their most popular routine, "Masters of Disaster," which they had been performing for about five years, along with their friend and partner Jim LeRoy. All were members of the X-Team acrobatic group, which was formed in 2002.
"The Masters of Disaster show was about the wildest show I've ever seen," observed Bob Bell, who worked with Younkin for more than 25 years.
The act involved a whirling biplane dogfight between Franklin, flying his signature jet-modified Waco, Younkin in his "Samson" 1940 Pitts and LeRoy in his "Bulldog S2S prop, followed by an air-to-ground fight with Les Shockley's jet-powered "Shock Wave" truck, which shot flames into the sky. During the dogfight, something went wrong when one of the planes came up suddenly during the act and collided with the other. No spectators were injured. |
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 | | | Sir Richard Branson applauds Steve Fossett, after the announcement that the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer will again take to the skies on an “Ultimate Flight.” | |
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| Each year the Experimental Aircraft Association tries to create a better convention and fly-in than the previous year, and each year they succeed. This year, attendance for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005, held July 25-31, was up about seven percent to approximately 700,000, with more than 10,000 aircraft, including 2,927 show planes, comprised of a record 1,267 homebuilts, 924 vintage aircraft, 386 warbirds, 196 ultralights, 130 seaplanes and 24 rotorcraft. |
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 | | | The front 35 feet of a retired Boeing 727 airliner, which resides in the Penikas family’s backyard, courtesy of the “Monster House,” makes a one-of-a-kind hideaway recreation room. | |
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| When officials of the Discovery Channel's "Monster House" television show approached Mark and Debbie Penikas with the idea of remodeling their Simi Valley, Calif. home into an "Aviation House," the couple wasn't certain of all it entailed. Still, they decided to take a chance and live adventurously. Little did they dream that within a short time they would find themselves giving space to the front 35 feet of a real Boeing 727 airliner in their back yard. |
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