I got in the plane, we flew about in an adventurous manner, and I didn’t vomit. I consider that a noteworthy accomplishment to this day.

By WILLIAM M. HARTNETT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

STUART - Aerobatic pilot Alan Henley has never killed a reporter.

Landed in a bean field? Yes. Killed a reporter? No. Not even one or two.

And with that crucial piece of information out of the way, a couple of white-knuckled newspaper types went for a short flight with Henley and the rest of the North American Aerobatic Team on Thursday.

The four-man team will show off its formation-flying skills and vintage AT-6 airplanes this weekend at the Stuart Air Show. Hundreds of World War II-era fighter pilots honed their flying skills while training in planes like those in which Henley; his brother, Mark Henley; Steve Gustafson; and Gene McNeely perform.

“So many of the veterans can relate with the airplane,” said Alan Henley, who is making his third appearance at Stuart’s annual air show.

Though one would think a 600-horsepower airplane on the verge of qualifying for Social Security would feature something less than a silky ride, the Henleys promised it was “big and smooth.” Like driving a big ol’ Cadillac on a race track. Real plush. Honest.

Plush, that is, by the standards of a couple of aerobatic formation-flying pilots. On the official Scaredy-Cat Journalist Rating Scale, Thursday’s admittedly tame flight nonetheless scored significantly closer to “uh-oh” than to “plush.”

“Probably 99 percent love it,” Alan Henley said ofhis passengers on these demonstration flights. In the flights’ 15-year history, just one person has vomited in the plane. And, for the record, that lone incident did not occur Thursday.

Lost lunch or not, one thing is certain: Something about sitting in a 60-year-old airplane that’s zipping along at nearly 200 mph about 2,500 feet in the air and seeing the ground when you look up just isn’t quite right.

But that’s enough about the world’s wussiest reporter. You want answers to the burning questions. Questions like: Have the Henleys seen the movie Top Gun? Ha! Of course they have. Next question.

Has either Henley ever brought a CD player into the cockpit during a particularly rockin’ flight and listened to Danger Zone, Kenny Loggins’ hit song from the movie’s soundtrack?

Well, Mark Henley sometimes straps a CD player to his leg on long flights and listens to country music, and Alan Henley has flown to Jimmy Buffett. But neither pilot has ever taken the “highhh-wayyy to the dan-ger zone.” Shocking.

Copyright 2000 Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
November 10, 2000 Friday
MARTIN-ST. LUCIE EDITION
SECTION: LOCAL, Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 401 words