…Unique Show Wowed Even The Jaded Aviation Press…

Franklin, Younkin, Jim Leroy, and Les Shockley came up with the concept called the “X-Team Masters of Disaster” in 2002. Younkin in his big biplane Samson, Leroy in his Pitts and Franklin in his jet-powered Waco all took off together and filled the sky with noise and smoke as Les Shockley’s jet trucks belched fire and fury (and handily outpaced the aircraft) on the ground as pyrotechnics warmed the crowd with a heat that was tangible. An AVweb reporter at Oshkosh last year wrote that “the unplanned acrobatics in the sky seem to bring the planes heart-stoppingly close to each other, and the sky soon goes IFR from the smoke.” The show made quite an impression: “If Masters of Disaster comes to an airshow near you, pay whatever the admission charge is … drop anything you are doing and come to see them,” AVweb wrote. “We promise you that the Masters of Disaster will rock your world, and may change the way you look at airshows in the future.”