I first met Daniel Wotring
and Chris Hicks on Facebook some time ago. Being in Southern California
and in the aviation world, your facebook friends become people you meet
face to face. After hanging out with Chris and Daniel at several
aviation events, I learned that they were working on formation training
and doing it properly. They have flown with some of the CAF guys from
the Third Pursuit Squadron, and have learned well. I photographed their
first airshow flights in January of 2011 on a cold, hazy day at Cable
Airport. I was also privileged to be flying with Brian Lepkowski in
April of 2011 to photograph Chris Hicks' check ride for his formation
wingman patch.
Chris, Daniel and others
get together on many Fridays for formation training. I tagged along
with them on July 15 and was able to photograph Chris, Daniel and Tom
Hicks in flight as well as capturing my first video with my helmet cam.
It was a fun day and great to see a younger generation getting involved
in aviation with formation training and airshows. It's also great to
see that they are doing things the right way, with the emphasis on
safety. A big thanks goes out to Chris and Daniel for taking me aloft,
letting me take some photos, act as ballast and have some fun.
