North American designed the Navion near the end of WWII. They were originally designed for the civilian market but attracted the attention of the US Army, who placed an order for 83 . The US Army called these the L-17A. The design was acquired by Ryan in 1948. They continued to build the successful design. Today, there are quite a few Navions flying at a number of small airports across the United States. This is the 805 Squadron of local Navion flyers that are seen regularly in Southern California. They flew 2 flyovers for Memorial Day. This was the first flight, over a parade in Oak View, California, near Ojai. I flew along in the #4 aircraft with Eric Johnson. The flight was lead by David Swett with Thom Polizzi (#2) and Dave Vanoni (#3).

Departing Santa Paula

Here are some video highlights from my helmet cam.