Old-Fashioned Stick and Rudder Airshow Flying At It's BEST!

We have tremendous respect for the folks who make their living in the turbulent and demanding airshow business. For some, it is a business fraught with stress, sacrifice and unending complexity. But for most, it's more than a job... its a life.

Imagine, if you will, though the extra demands placed on a performer who has to deal with a life-threatening illness to not only survive, but to regain his place in the airshow biz. THAT takes guts... and perseverance... and incredible professionalism... THAT takes a guy like Texas T-Cart Airshow's Randy Henderson. Following a health threat that grounded him for a number of months, Randy is climbing back into the cockpit of his beloved T-Craft in order to demonstrate the kind of old-fashioned stick and rudder airshow flying first pioneered by the likes of Duane Cole and now kept alive by Randy's inability to say 'Uncle' to whatever obstacles life hands him.  

Henderson claims to have launched his aerobatic career by executing his first barrel roll at 5,000 feet -- with his eyes closed! Just a few years later, Randy won the very first contest he flew in the Texas T-Cart. He's the star of the show, a well-known aerobatic performer who now has a number of regional, national and international titles to his credit.

The Texas T-Cart driver earned his private pilot's license during the two years he spent stationed in England as a medic in the U.S. Air Force. During that time, he began skydiving as well, and made 24 parachute jumps. Randy later began his professional career flying DC-3 freighter planes with only 380 hours of flight time under his belt. In just three years, he logged 3,000 hours in the air -- and survived thirteen engine failures as he worked his way up to Captain. Since January 1979, Randy has been a pilot for Southwest Airlines. He became their youngest Boeing 737 Captain ever when he upgraded less than three years later.

The Texas T-Cart is a highly modified, clipped-wing Taylorcraft BC12-D, and first rolled off the assembly line in 1946. Randy spent two years modifying this homebuilt taildragger in his hangar at Cottonpatch Aerodrome in Frisco, Texas.

The wings of the Texas T-Cart have been clipped eight feet for a total wingspan of twenty-eight feet, and the engine is a 180 horsepower Lycoming. It also has both an inverted fuel system especially designed for aerobatics and a smoke oil system that Randy uses during all of his air show performances.

Get Some Texas T-Cart Aerobatic Time With Randy Henderson and Aero-TV!

FMI: www.texastcart.com, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews