Burner: Once A Blue Angel

Aviation enthusiasts will surely enjoy this winning profile of Bill "Burner" Beardsley, a former Blue Angel who now makes the airshow circuit flying the world's smallest jet (it takes about 20 minutes to dismantle and store the Micro Jet in Beardsley's traveling trailer). Long a staple of life in middle America, the "airshow"--with its mixture of barnstorming daredevil feats and advertisements for the military--is like a circus in the air, and the first half of Burner offers a generous sampling of some of the finest acts in the business: the precision moves of Lee Loudenslager, the daring feats of Wayne Hadley (who cuts a ribbon flying 15 feet off the ground...upside-down), the impressive parachuting act from the Golden Knights, the complex interplay of the Eagles Aerobatic Flight Team, and the gravity-defying antics of Bob Hoover, who flies commercial business planes as if they were stunt planes (just watching this segment could make an often airborne executive toss his business lunch). The second half of the program recalls Burner's glory days as a Blue Angel, and provides an insider's look at the incredible stress and strain that goes with the job. While from an observer's point of view, formation flying might look like a smooth aerial ballet, Burner points out that inside the cockpit the pilot and throttle are often shaking like a cement mixer, and "bumping wings" with one's neighbor is a frequent occurrence. At nearly two hours, Burner is a bit on the long side. Still, the tons of aerial footage (much of it shot from the wing and in front of the cockpit) will be like manna for flying buffs, and the insights Beardsley provides are both interesting and general enough for the layperson to follow. Highly recommended. (Available from most distributors.)