To Two of the Greatest Pilots I've Ever Seen

[Photo Op?]

In light of recent events, I must express my shock, extraordinary sadness, and eternal sympathy to the families of Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin.  I don't think many of you would argue that they leave an incredible legacy as some of the greatest airshow pilots in the world.  I never had the chance to meet either of them, but I have the utmost respect for them and wish that I could have met them.  All I have are a few photos.  So I'd like to dedicate these repeat-pictures to Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin and their families, who let them do what they loved despite the ever-constant danger.  My heart and prayers are with all of them.

A few pictures could never do justice to the legacy of these two men, but it's all I have.  I always loved them as a team and appreciated everything they did for the airshow industry.  I hope that we can fill this thread with fond memories dedicated to these amazing pilots.  Sorry to the moderators if there is already a thread like this that I have missed.

[Migz]

Excellent words for 2 extrodinary men. 

Got to meet both of them yesterday and was very impressed to say the least.  I, as well as the rest of us here at the Saskatchewan Airshow are still in shock and express our deepest heartfelt sympathy to their familites.  God bless their souls and may God be with their families and friends during this tragic time.

James

[bcradio]

skyward....

[RichardVM]

Bobby and Jimmy were dear friends and I cannot begin to express the sadness and sense of loss. My prayers are with Katana, Jim and Joan Leroy, and the rest of the Masters of Disaster family and team.

Richard

[Ken Cheung]

My prayer goes out to the families of Bobby Younkin and Jimmy Franklin. We will miss them dearly.

[tvrphoto]

I'm at a total loss for words...these guys were living history and I could never get over how honored I was to be in their presence...those few times I had the chance.

News is a little slow coming here on the east coast...the hurricane kinda took over the stories...

[KL]

A few years ago at Battle Creek, Michigen, I saw both Wayne Handley's Turbo Raven and Jimmy Franklin's Jet Waco for the first time, my jaw dropped to the floor when these two planes took to the air.

While Wayne is still with us after his accident, Jimmy is no longer, some of the pictures I took of these two genlemen and their airplanes together will be treasured forever.........

[Larry Grace]

Like everyone here at Fence Check I'm too at a lost for words.... My thoughts and prayer  go out to their families.

I'm glad I had the honor to meet both of them at Janesville WI  this year.

God Bless Bobby and Jimmy..... We will miss you..

[FAR148]

Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin 
... We will miss you...
My Heart and Prayers goes out to your Families and Friends.

Steven

[Les Baldwin]

My heart is heavy.

I Got to meet both Jimmy and his Son Kyle at Salinas. Jimmy  was wearing a very cool Top Hat ( I want one) I could not beleive that anyone would ever think to bolt a jet engine onto a Waco. I thought that was seriously cool. I was never able to meet Jimmy but I did see him fly,  that was pretty cool too, he  reminded me of Bob Hoover, using a busienss jet for an airshow.

Richard VM had one of the coolest images of Jimmy and Kyle on a cover this year. It was totally vertical. It had great color and lotsa snap. You never know if or when that will be the last time you get to see someone.

It was a sad day indeed, you have to know that you will lose friends in this field.  We spend lots of time looking up toward the sky and never quite understand that your gaze  can quickly have a terrible cost.

I think it's time for a 21 camera salute.

Les

[Tim Adams]

Blue skys forever....

[Liza]

Mix from the Janesville Show.

[CSmallenberg]

Well it's been over 24 hours since it happened and I'm still at a loss for words.  My thoughts go out to both the Franklin and Younkin families and of course the LeRoys and Shockleys as well.  This is a huge loss for the airshow industry.  This was my first chance to see Bobby Younkin perform and I was immediately impressed.  As for Jimmy Franklin, what can I say, truly the best of the best.  The Abbotsford Airshow will just not be the same without Jimmy on hand every two to three years....

Attached are two pics of Jimmy and Bobby doing what they loved to do on that fateful day.......

[Jim Froneberger]

I heard this news for the first time earlier this evening while waiting for a plane at LaGuardia Airport.  I am stunned and deeply saddened. 

I had the pleasure to meet Jimmy Franklin for an interview last fall, and he was one of the most entertaining, engaging people I have had the pleasure of meeting in the air show business. I've enjoyed his flying since I was a teenager and can't really believe that he's gone or begin to express the sadness I feel.

I had not had the pleasure of meeting Bobby, but I have seen him fly for so many years at Oshkosh and Sun-N-Fun, that I feel like I knew him well.

In creating the MOD with Jim LeRoy, Les Shockley, and the rest of the X-Team, Jimmy and Bobby solidified their legacy as two of the most innovative guys in the air show business. I'll never forget seeing Jimmy Franklin doing a ribbon pick-up held at shoulder level ( I even heard he did it with the ribbon strung between two Coke bottles). His Zar act in the black Piper Aerostar from the mid-1980's was one of the most innovative acts of its time (his father died ferrying that airplane between shows). I remember marveling at his dueling Waco Act with Eliot Cross (a precursor to the Masters of Disaster routine) at Reno and Oshkosh. I also vividly remember  the dual wing-walking act he did with Eliot Cross in another Waco, and the two wingwalkers passing a baton as the two huge biplanes flew back-to-back in mirror formation. The first time I saw the Jet Waco, I couldn't believe my eyes and ears, but who else but Jimmy could come up with an idea like that? No one has been a greater air show showman than Jimmy Franklin.

While Bobby Younkin may have been less flashy than Jimmy Franklin, he was no less the innovator with his multiple routines in planes not designed for air show flying. His air show aerobatics in his Decathlon, Beech 18, and Lear Jet made him the "new" Bob Hoover just as Hoover was hanging up his air show routine.  His 2004 Lear routine at Sun-N-Fun was the highlight of that year's show, in my opinion. The routine was so sweeping and smooth, it appeared effortless. His Samson routines were always one of the highlights of the annual Oshkosh shows.

To lose both of these great pilots at the same time is beyond belief. My thoughts and prayers go out to their families and teamates, and to those who knew them much better than I did. Godspeed, Jimmy and Bobby; Heaven's getting ready to have a whale of an air show!


Jim

[M.M.]

Great post, Jim.

I took a quick look last night for photos of Franklin and Younkin.  The ones I found weren't worthy of scanning, but they sure brought back memories.  There was Jimmy Franklin with Johnny Kazian wingwalking in the 1980s, Franklin with Lee Oman wingwalking in the 1990s, even Franklin with two wingwalkers (one is Kazian, but who's the other guy?) in 1989.  Anybody else remember Kazian's over-the-top narration of Franklin's solo routine, before putting down the mike and running out to the idling Waco to start the next part of the show?

I also found shots of Franklin's dual act with Elliot Cross.  (I think Cross flew a Great Lakes instead of a Waco, not that it matters.)  But I'd completely forgotten about ZAR.  Didn't he also have a 400 hp Waco at one time, in addition to the 600 hp "Mystery ship?"

While there were other aerobatic pilots who matched Jimmy Franklin's longevity on the airshow circuit, few of them could match his showmanship or his constant striving to give audiences something new, something more entertaining.  (As you said, even after seeing the jet Waco you couldn't quite believe it....)

The only Bobby Younkin photos I found were of his Beech 18, from 1991.  I remember seeing "Sampson" in the 1980s, but would Bobby have been flying it?  (Wasn't his father also a performer?)  I think my earliest airshow programs are still in a box at my parents' house.  I'll have to dig them out, both to straighten out whom I first saw when and to re-live the excitement....

-M.M.