Wednesday, December 17, 2014

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 Airshows: Geico Skytypers


Fred Harl and Carmelo Turdo
http://www.airassociatesmo.com/tae/EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 featured the top-tier airshow performers.  Today we highlight the Geico Skytypers, that two-for-one skywriting and aerobatic team that keeps the audience looking to the skies all day long.  The team flies 6 early model SNJ-2 Texans equipped with enlarged fuel capacity and smaller overall dimensions than other Texan models.  The aircraft are ideal for the team - slow and stable for skywriting and maneuverable for the dogfight portion of the show.  

The Geico Skytypers use a ground-based, computer-controlled program to produce the skywriting messages.  Each sequence of smoke trails is commanded by radio signals to each aircraft at the correct time to form letters 1000 feet tall at 10,000 feet altitude.  This process forms letters much faster and at a larger size than the typical skywriting process.  


The Geico Skytypers could be seen in the air during the day at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 forming "EAA" and "GEICO" in large letters along with their airshow performance.  The Aero Experience presents their airshow formations and dogfight routine in the following photo essay:



































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