Participants
Civilian Acts
Greg Koontz
Greg Koontz learned to fly in 1969 getting his Private Pilot Certificate when he turned 17 years old. In his senior year in high school, Greg restored a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub in his mother’s garage and flew the antique plane for 300 hours to gain experience for a flying career. Before turning 18, he sold his Piper Cub, using the money to take lessons for his commercial pilot certificate and all the pilot ratings he would need to pursue the pilot profession.Well before that birthday, Greg was working as a flight instructor and attending Business College at the University of Montevallo in Alabama.
At age 20, Greg got his start in the airshow business when he bought another Piper Cub from Ernie Moser in St. Augustine, Florida. Soon Ernie was calling Greg wanting to borrow back the Cub to use it in his traveling airshow called Ernie Moser’s Flying Circus. Greg agreed to lend Ernie the use of the Cub if he could perform in the airshow doing a comedy act. Ernie agreed and after the first show Greg was hired to perform in all the shows the flying circus did. Greg soon was working full time for Ernie Moser and his son Jim Moser living in St. Augustine, FL. As the years went by he learned more aerobatics and other airshow skills. Ernie let Greg perform his famous “World’s Smallest Airport” stunt where he lands on a moving pickup truck. Jim Moser taught him to perform low level aerobatics in the Great Lakes Bi-Plane and later in the Super Decathlon. Greg stayed with the flying circus until deciding it was time to “get serious work” and persue a corporate flying career in 1981.
Until 2002 Greg flew jet aircraft for a corporation in Alabama and performed airshows in his spare time. Greg is known throughout the USA and parts of Latin America as the foremost authority on the Super Decathlon aircraft. Besides doing an inverted ribbon cut 15 feet above the ground in airshows, Greg specializes in teaching pilots how to fly aerobatics in his Super Decathlon.
Today Greg is a full time airshow and aerobatics professional. Greg and his wife Cora run a Bed & Breakfast on a private grass strip in Ashville, AL. The B&B is home for Greg’s busy aerobatic school and airshow business. Since 2003 he has been sponsored by American Champion Aircraft which supplies him with new Super Decathlons to demonstrate in front of millions of people each year.
You can find out more about Greg Koontz Airshows and how you might learn aerobatics at his B&B, the Sky Country Lodge, by checking out http://www.gkairshows.com/.
Michael Wiskus – Lucas Oil
New to the Indianapolis Air Show — but not new to the airshow industry — Mike as been performing competition aerobatics and airshows for many years. The Pitts S-1-11B has been highly modified by Michael for crisp aerobatic performances to please the air show spectator.
Mike found his passion for aviation at the age of 10 after his Dad took him to his first Air Show. At 14, Mike took a job at the Mason City Iowa airport washing airplanes and cleaning hangars just to be around airplanes. Later, he traded his work for flying lessons and received his Pilots License on his 17th birthday.
Thirty years later, Mike has accumulated more than 20,000 hours of flight time managing aircraft and flying for Corporate America. 3,500 hours of that flight time has been piloting some of the highest performance air show and competition aircraft in the world.
Mike’s air show has been described as aggressive, high performance aerobatics smothered in smoke and noise. Mike can climb and tumble his plane end over end, seemingly out of control, only to dive in for his next outrageous maneuver. At a youthful and somewhat mischievous age of 47, Mike has the experience and personality fitting of an air show pilot.
Below are just a few of Mike’s aerobatic accomplishments:
2002 – First Place – North Central Regional Aerobatic Competitions
2002 – United States Aerobatic Champion (Intermediate Category)
2003 – First Place – North Central Regional Aerobatic Competitions
2003 – Qualified (one of six) for the United States Advanced Aerobatic Team.
2004 – Traveled to Sweden and competed in the World Aerobatic Competitions as a Member of the United States Aerobatic Team. Mike finished with a Silver Medal for one of his flights.
2005 – Winner of the Fred Leidig Trophy and Sword for Aerobatic Excellence.
Very happily married to Tammy, they have four children and two golden retrievers. Learn more about Michael Wiskus Airshows.
Rob Reider – Air Show Announcer
Rob is “The Voice” of the Indianapolis Air Show! Rob Reider has been an important fixture at the Indianapolis Air Show since its beginning in 1996 and is the person that has the very important and demanding task of keeping the air show attendee informed of who is flying and what the actual maneuvers are that are taking place in the air. Rob is currently one of the premier announcers in the country today and in 2007 will do 21 air shows and aviation events that will take him all over the country for ten months of the year.
Starting early in the morning, and working through the heat of the day until the gates have closed, Rob is always striving to keep the audience engaged and informed of all matters that pertain to the pilots in the air and the aircraft they are flying. However, the most important thing he will say at the 2007 Indianapolis Air Show, as he has every year in the past, is the following and is from the words of Marine Corps Chaplain Father Dennis O’Brien and applies not only to the Soldier, but the Airman, the Marine, the Sailor and the Coastguardsman:
“It is the soldier, not the poet who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer who has given us the freedom to demonstrate,
And it is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protester the right to burn the flag.”
Learn more about Rob Reider.
Rich’s Incredible Pyro
When Rich was eight years old, he asked his mother if there was anything in the medicine cabinet that could blow up. She told him, “Of course not!” Within 30 minutes, he proved she was wrong. This inquisitiveness has grown over the years, and Rich is still trying new and different ideas with explosives, marking Rich’s Incredible Pyro as the leader in air show pyrotechnics.
Rich Gibson and his wife, Dee, travel all over the world “blowing things up.” Both pyrotechnicians received formal training with explosives in the United States Army. Rich served a tour in Viet Nam, putting his skills to work with the 101st Airborne Division. Dee, a retired Major, helped blast rock in Honduras while building roads between small villages. Both state that safety is the main element in their setup. After 25 years, no spectator, crewmember, or volunteer has been hurt or injured. This could be a very dangerous business, but Rich and Dee continually eliminate as many risks as possible with their knowledge and training.
Using a carefully controlled mixture of dynamite, gasoline, and other explosives, Rich & Dee and their crew will create special effects to simulate an air attack on the airfield. They work closely with the pilots, airfield officials, and the announcer to choreograph a truly realistic bombing display, where you, the spectator, will surely “Feel the Heat.”
For more information, visit Rich’s Incredible Pyro.
