Black Diamond Jet Team Among The Headliners On The Bill

The Black Diamond Jet Demonstration and AeroStars Aerobatic Flight Teams will take to the skies above the Richard B. Russell Regional Airport in Rome, GA, on Oct. 12-13 as headliners for the 2013 Wings Over North Georgia, but the weekend will also include a ramp full of outstanding aerobatic performers, a BBQ competition and more.

Other performers include Gary Ward, who began his air show career in 1998 in a Pitts S2-B. In 1999, he moved to the Giles 202, and in 2006 he became the first pilot to begin flying air shows in the awesome new MX2. The MX2 is the absolute latest in unlimited aerobatic aircraft. The entire airframe is constructed of aerospace quality carbon fiber to provide maximum strength and stiffness with minimum weight. The MX2 is powered by a Lycoming engine modified by LYCON to produce more than 350 HP.

Ward will put the MX2 through one of the most exciting performances fans will ever see. The entire sequence is packed with breathtaking gyrations that range from zero speed hovers to dives in excess of 250 mph.

Buck Roetman has been flying for more than 35 years, and he has flown more than 105 different types of airplanes, from Cubs to corporate jets, resulting in more than 13,500 hours of flight time. Roetman will be flying a modified Christen Eagle at the 2013 Wings Over North Georgia. The airplane was completed in 2003 and has been an air show plane its entire life. It differs from most planes today in that is has a Lycoming IO360 4-cylinder engine, built by Penn Yan Aero, and pumped up to 250 HP.

The Pitts Model 12 is the 12th design by legendary aircraft designer Curtis Pitts, and the Standard Model 12 is an extremely high performance, unlimited aerobatic-capable, radial engine powered biplane. However, the "Greg Connell Airshows" Model 12 ratchets up the level of performance even more than the ridiculously incredible abilities of the "Standard" Model 12.

The Connell Model 12 is the only two-place Model 12 in the world with the single place wings and ailerons. This wing-aileron combination gives this massive biplane an incredibly fast roll rate.

FMI: www.WingsOverNorthGeorgia.com