The A-10 is the Air Force’s premier close air support aircraft, providing invaluable protection to troops on the ground. The Air Combat Command A-10 Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team, stationed out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, brings the aircraft to air shows around the country to showcase the unique combat capabilities of the A-10 “Warthog.” They perform precision aerial maneuvers while highlighting the mission and professionalism of the men and women of the United States Air Force. Additionally, the team brings attention to the air force’s proud history by flying formations with historical aircraft in the Air Force Heritage Flight.

The A-10 Demo Team originally consisted of two East and West counterparts before both were deactivated in 2011. The A-10 flew in heritage flight formations in 2012 and 2017 before reactivating as a single-ship demonstration in 2018.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is the first Air Force aircraft specially designed for close air support of ground forces. They are simple, effective and survivable twin-engine jet aircraft that can be used against light maritime attack aircraft and all ground targets, including tanks and other armored vehicles.

Founded by unrestricted aerobatic performer and former Canadian Forces Snowbird, Brent Handy, flanked by Wingmen Todd Farrell and Greg Hume-Powell, the Northern Stars Aerobatic Team formation aerobatic routine combines discipline and precision with adrenaline-filled, heart-pumping tumbles, torque rolls, and loops. The Pitts Special is THE air show airplane to inspire young and old to pursue their passions!

Flying the MXS-R aerobatic aircraft by MX aircraft, Brad Wursten brings power and performance into each airshow. Watch as he pushes the envelope of one of the most advanced aerobatic aircraft in the world today. Brad will delight and amaze the audience while remaining well within his tight margin of safety. Sit back, strap in and enjoy, Brad Wursten’s power addiction airshows may be coming to an airshow near you.

Ross Granley comes from a large family of pilots that include grandparents, uncles, parents, cousins, brothers, and sister Deb, and wife, Shari. He was born in Red Deer, Alberta Canada in 1963, A Royal Canadian Air Force base, where his father was instructing on the Harvard/T-6.

The third of six children, Ross showed an early love of flying and a strong desire to make it his life’s ambition. Ross joined the Canadian Air Force in1985. He received his wings in 1987, then instructed in the Canadair CT-114 Tutor aircraft in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. This aircraft is still used by the Snowbirds. He earned his A2 Instructor’s rating, then was selected to fly as #2 with the Snowbird’s 1990 and 1991 teams. After his tour of duty with the Snowbirds, he moved on to fighters at Cold Lake, Alberta. He underwent basic and advanced fighter pilot training in the CF-5 and CF-18. He earned top honours in both courses then flew the CF-18 with 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron for three years. In 1996 Ross was selected as a team member for Canada’s participation in the William Tell air combat competition. This included teams from all commands in the US Air Force. Canada swept the competition in nearly all categories including the top team.

Born and raised in California, Vicky Benzing is an accomplished pilot, skydiver, aerobatic performer, and air racer. With over 8000 hours of flight time and over 1200 parachute jumps, Vicky has a passion for everything airborne. Her flying career has spanned more than thirty years and she currently holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating as well as commercial ratings in helicopters, seaplanes, and gliders.

Vicky still remembers her first flight in her uncle’s small airplane when she was just a small child. Inspired by that flight at a very young age, Vicky learned to fly in a family friend’s antique Taylorcraft in her hometown of Watsonville, on the California coast. She was thrilled by the spins, loops, and rolls that her ex- military instructor taught her and subsequently took aerobatic instruction from legendary pilot Amelia Reid.

Vicky’s aerobatic flying took a brief back seat when she earned her PhD in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and began working in the Silicon Valley high tech industry. But her passion for spins, loops, and rolls soon returned when she took an aerobatic flight with air show legend, Wayne Handley.

Greg’s background is primarily military, with over 4500 flight hours. After graduating from the US Air Force Academy in 1985, he spent 15 years on active duty and 6 years in the Idaho Air National Guard flying A-10’s for 190th Fighter Squadron at Boise. In the Spring of 2003, he was activated for a four-month deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He flew 27 sorties in the A-10 during major combat operations, and numerous combat sorties during the build-up. He has been mission qualified and an instructor pilot in the F-15E and the B-52. On the civilian side, he is currently flying the P-51 and most of HFM’s aircraft, as well as his AT-6D “Hog Wild Gunner.” Greg is a regular on the airshow circuit and at HFM Fly Days.

The P-51 Mustang is one of the most recognizable aircraft in military aviation history, and the story of “Val-Halla” illustrates just how far the Mustang’s legacy reaches. Built in 1945, the aircraft that would become “Val-Halla” first served in the Texas Air Guard and was then sold to the Indonesian Air Force under the Lend-Lease Act, which was in effect from 1941 to 1945. This act created a system where the United States military could lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed “vital to the defense of the US.” 

Mike Tryggvason is a Canadian competition aerobatic and airshow pilot with more than 5000 hours of total flight time. He works at a major airline as a pilot and instructor. He currently flies a Giles 202 in airshows and Advanced competition. His group, 10g Aerosports, strives to promote and inspire the next generation of aviators across Canada and the USA.

Canadian pilot Pete McLeod is a top Red Bull Air Race competitor and a World Championship contender.
Truly a lifetime aviator, McLeod received his first flight in the family plane at six weeks old. His mother recalls how a six-year-old Pete would sit on his father’s lap, hands on the control column during flights to remote lakes. From that point on he learned to fly float and ski planes over Canada’s rugged north.

McLeod qualified for his private pilot’s licence at 16 and earned his aerobatic-instructor rating when he was 18. But it wasn’t until he took delivery of his first high-performance aircraft — a Pitts Special — that he began flying serious competition aerobatics. The self-proclaimed ‘kid from small-town Canada’ had already rewritten history in 2009, when he became the World Championship series’ youngest pilot at age 25 and the only Canadian ever to compete in elite sport.

The Erickson Aircraft Collection is a vintage aircraft collection started by Jack Erickson in 1983. The collection features over twenty rare aircraft, most of which are still in flying condition. The newly named Collection will feature rare aircraft that are still in flying condition such as the P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, Ki43 Hayabusa, F4U Corsair, SBD Dauntless, Grumman Duck and B-17 Flying Fortress.

F4U Corsair
Serving mainly in World War II in the Pacific Theater, the F4U Corsair was the finest carrier-base fighter deployed by any navy and became a fast, versatile and deadly performer and perhaps the best of any U.S. fighter in that conflict.
The most instantly recognizable feature of the Corsair was its inverted “gull wing” which accomplished two purposes: (1) it permitted a shorter landing gear while still allowing a 13-foot propeller, the biggest fitted to a fighter at the time, to clear the ground, and (2) provided aerodynamic benefits for greater streamlining.
This aircraft is an F4U-7, one of the rarest surviving variants from the last of 94 built in 1952 exclusively for use by the French Navy. It saw combat in the Indo-China War in 1953-54, the Suez Canal War in 1956 and later in the Algerian War. Taken from combat service in 1963, it was flown to England where reconstruction began in 1974 to include rebuilding extensive damage forward of the firewall and repairs to three bullet holes in the fuselage. Restored to its original French markings with invasion stripes which it sported in the Suez War, it was repainted to the Marines’ colors after its acquisition by the museum in 1994.

The Erickson Aircraft Collection is a vintage aircraft collection started by Jack Erickson in 1983. The collection features over twenty rare aircraft, most of which are still in flying condition. The newly named Collection will feature rare aircraft that are still in flying condition such as the P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, Ki43 Hayabusa, F4U Corsair, SBD Dauntless, Grumman Duck and B-17 Flying Fortress.

P-40 Kittyhawk
The P-40 is most famous as the aircraft of General Claire Chennault’s American Volunteer Group – the Flying Tigers. Their P-40Bs defended China against the Japanese. P-40s also serviced in the Pacific, Middle East and Europe and defended North America in the Aleutians. The P-40 was operated by England, France, China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Turkey as well as the United States.
This P-40E has undergone a 21 month restoration. Originally restored in the early 1980’s it was badly damaged in a forced landing in 1996. Stored for some time, it was initially purchased by Dick Thurman and subsequently sold to Tony Banta. Restoration was begun in June 2000 and it flew again on the 24th March 2002. The aircraft has made its debut at the ‘Warbirds Over Wanaka’ 2002 airshow.
The aircraft was another that was restored as joint venture between Pioneer Aero Restorations and Avspecs, using Pioneer’s large selection of tooling.

The Erickson Aircraft Collection is a vintage aircraft collection started by Jack Erickson in 1983. The collection features over twenty rare aircraft, most of which are still in flying condition. The newly named Collection will feature rare aircraft that are still in flying condition such as the P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, Ki43 Hayabusa, F4U Corsair, SBD Dauntless, Grumman Duck and B-17 Flying Fortress.

B-17 Flying Fortress
The B-17 was employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command’s nighttime area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields. From its pre-war inception, the USAAC (later USAAF) touted the B-17 as a strategic weapon; it was a potent, high-flying, long-range bomber that was able to defend itself, and to return home despite extensive battle damage. It quickly took on mythic proportions,[ and widely circulated stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage increased its iconic status. With a service ceiling greater than any of its Allied contemporaries, the B-17 established itself as an effective weapons system, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II.
The Museum’s B-17G Bomber was manufactured by Lockheed-Vega and delivered to the U.S.A.A.F. on October 16, 1944. It was modified to be a “Pathfinder” B-17, equipped with the latest ground scanning H2X radar for nighttime bombing. It was used purely stateside in a training role during WW II before being dropped from the U.S.A.F. inventory in May 1959. Of the B-17 “Pathfinders” that were built, it is the only one left in existence.