The Performer – By Jim Froneberger

Jim LeRoy was a crusader for change and innovation in the air show industry. He began flying air shows in the mid-1990s and soon became one of the top performers in the business. His aggressive, entertaining style of flying left audiences cheering for more at air shows from coast to coast.

His highly-modified, yellow and black Pitts, nicknamed the Bulldog, was one of the most recognizable aircraft at an air show. His most recent aircraft, Bulldog II, was in its first season on the airshow circuit. Jim's growing international reputation led to his decision to build Bulldog II for his North American performances, and ship Bulldog I from country to country for worldwide performances.

Jim was one of the most ardent voices advocating innovation and change within the air show industry. Concerned that air shows, particularly civilian air show performers, were losing out to other forms of entertainment, Jim made it his goal to bring new and innovative acts to the table.

Along with the late Jimmy Franklin and the late Bobby Younkin, Jim was a founding member of the X-Team and helped to create the Masters of Disaster, a wild theme act featuring up to three aircraft, a jet truck or two, and pyrotechnics. When Jimmy and Bobby tragically died in a mid-air collision in 2005, Jim made sure that the X-Team continued at the forefront of the air show business.

Jim brought aerobatic champion Jurgis Kairys of Lithuania onto the X-Team in 2006 for a new act with Rich Gibson’s pyro, called Tinstix of Dynamite. This explosive act featured a multitude of opposing passes, lost of smoke and pyro, and culminated in an opposing inverted ribbon cut in front of one of Rich’s trademark walls of fire.

In 2007, Jim added Skip Stewart to the X-Team for the newest act, CODENAME: MARYSLAMB. A reinvention of the old Masters of Disaster act, the new act featured Les Shockley’s jet trucks and, at some sites, Gibson’s pyro. Based on a sci-fi story line, the act was to have formed the basis for a whole new concept in air shows where the lines between air show entertainment, stunt shows, video games, and movies would begin to blur.

Jim was an amazing and innovative performer, a vocal industry advocate, and a devoted husband and father. The last time I spoke to Jim was in May 2007 at the Lumberton, North Carolina air show for the debut of CODENAME:MARYSLAMB. As usual, Joanie and Tommy were at his side, and Jim was fired-up about the things he was planning, the future of the X-Team, and air shows in general. For many of us in the air show business, Jim was one of the brightest stars in the sky. We will all miss him very much.

The Person – By Pierce Havilland

I was first introduced to Jim LeRoy at the 2006 Willow Grove airshow. Although he was a very busy man, Jim would always look you in the eye and give you a firm handshake. While millions had the privilege of seeing him fly, only a select few got to know the man. I was fortunate enough to be in that group as I worked with Jim at several shows during the 2006 season.

At one show, an airport manager wanted Jim to move his RV right before he was scheduled to fly. While Jim was doing his pre-flight checks, this hostile individual got right in Jim’s face and started yelling at him. If there was ever justification for a physical altercation, this was it. Instead, Jim repeated several times, never raising his voice, that he would move the RV as soon as he was done flying. He stayed focused on his pre-flight. When I asked him about the situation later, he told me that the person who loses his temper never wins.

Jim did not fly his plane from show to show. He would remove the wings and put the Bulldog in a trailer that he pulled behind his RV. He did this to spend more time with his family. His wife Joanie and their young son, Tommy, completed the team. One of the first things I asked Jim was how long it took his team to assemble the plane at a show. He looked at Joanie and laughed. They were the team – he and Joanie did all the work together.

The LeRoys planned to continue their traveling family show until 2008, when Tommy would start school. While Jim was doing his double ribbon cuts, Tommy would wait patiently on the ramp until Joanie came back with the pole holders. After a performance, when Jim was done greeting the crowd and signing autographs, he would find his son and lift him on his shoulders.

Jim was the best pilot I have ever known. He was a great husband and father as well.

The Inspiration – By Bernardo Malfitano

Jim will always be remembered as a uniquely creative and skilled aerobatic pilot. Winner of the Bill Barber Award for Showmanship in 2003, he was one of the few airshow pilots who could surprise and amaze even the most knowledgeable airshow fan. More than any other pilot, Jim often seemed to have a new maneuver in his display, a new way to show off the Bulldog’s thrust, rotation rates, and control authority. He always came up with more "extreme" version of maneuvers, such as the double hammerhead or the double ribbon cut. Even what spectators might have considered as old, tired moves were impressive when Jim flew them: exceptionally long and smooth tailslides, unbelievably fast aileron rolls, Sukhoi-like backflips, Raptor-like pitch-ups on takeoff, and an incredibly steady nose-up hover. His high-energy, low-altitude aerobatics kept audiences on the edge of their seats, and had even the pilots and aeronautical engineers in the crowd saying, "I didn't think an airplane could do that!"

I had the opportunity to interview Jim a few years ago. His passion for all things aeronautical really shone through as he talked not only about the discipline and concentration required to develop his skills (something that service in the Marine Corps had given him plenty of), but also about the intuition and fun involved in yanking a Pitts through the air. When he learned that I too was an aerospace engineer, he gave me a thorough tour of the “Bulldog,” a Pitts he had modified almost beyond recognition. He explained how the powerful engine and prop required a whole new fuselage structure to be designed, how the wings had been built to take frequent high Gs, how he had tweaked the control surface shapes and positions to generate high forces at any speed or attitude, and how he came up with new ways to cover critical structural parts so that the airplane did not have to be disassembled to inspect them. To me, this made Jim even more impressive. Here was not just a great pilot who loved a wild ride, but also someone who appreciated the subtleties of aerodynamics and the tradeoffs of materials. Not only was his flying the product of tremendous creativity and analysis, his very aircraft was as well.

And on top of it all, Jim was just a really nice guy. The very first time I took a pretty good camera to an airshow, I wrote a short review and emailed the performers a link to it. To my surprise and delight, Jim personally wrote me back. He told me he loved many of my pictures. He said that a lot of people online would probably enjoy my photos and my review and sent me a link to the ICAS forums, which at the time were the main gathering place for airshow fans online. That was my entrance into the airshow community, and in a way, I have Jim to thank for it.

We airshow fans cannot say we feel the impact of his death in the same was as do his close friends and family. But even for those whose interaction with Jim was limited, his absence from the airshow world will leave a great void. Many of his innovations have since been adopted by other pilots, so his legacy lives on. We'll all miss that cheerful, tall, skinny bald guy in his souped-up yellow biplane. Year after year he showed us that methodical perseverance could allow you to do more and more. As an aeronautical engineer, an airshow photographer, a student pilot, and just a human being who struggles with goals, discipline, motivation, and humility, I know I won't forget Jim's example. And neither will the rest of the airshow community.