Page 18 - World Airshow News Final

...INtRODuCINg tHE NExtgEN EAgLES.

Leland and Tom cross head-on right at show center (photo by Ken Cheung).

AEROBATIC TEAM

WORLD’S ONLY

CHRISTEN EAGLE AEROBATIC TEAM

airpark. He says his experience flying in the virtual formations in their debut season and both Leland and Tom now have surface-
really helped him understand the sight picture he would see in level aerobatic authorizations. During the 2024-2025 offseason,
real formation flying. Tom’s Eagle was repainted to match Leland’s aircraft, so both Ea-
“Leland’s enthusiasm for formation flying really clicked gle’s now feature the traditional Eagle feathered scheme.
with me, so I flew with him as much as I could,” adds Tom.
“I finally had someone who I could learn formation aerobatics OPERAtIONS MANAgER JEREMy MEyERS
with and start building that skill set.” The third member of the NextGen Eagles team is Operations
Tom’s extensive aerobatic experience also helped Leland re- Manager Jeremy Meyers. Growing up in Spokane, Washington,
fine his aerobatic skills, so for the next two to three years, Tom Jeremy was always enamored with aviation and airshows. He has
and Leland flew together whenever they could, in whatever air- been active duty in the U.S. Air Force since 2006.
planes they each owned at the time. Tom eventually sold his Jeremy is a skilled aviation photographer and has also worked
Pitts and bought a 540 Laser, and Leland eventually wound up in airshow operations for a number of military airshows. For the
flying the RV-6. NextGen Eagles, Jeremy handles media and public relations, acts
“We were mostly just flying formation for fun, but all I’ve as the team’s safety observer during the performance, and assists
ever wanted to do in airshows is to be the flight lead of a Chris- with other operational duties such as smoke oil, fuel, and keeping
ten Eagle formation team,” admits Leland. “So, since Tom was the airplanes looking shiny and sharp.
an experienced biplane pilot, I was sort of pushing for us to do a
team. After I bought my Eagle in early 2023, all we needed was A SHOW fOR A NEW gENERAtION
the second Eagle.” Leland says the NextGen Eagles show fits into a twelve-minute
In October of 2023, Leland and Tom finally found an Eagle airshow block and features modern music designed to showcase
for Tom at an airport about a 30-minute flight away. With the the Christen Eagle for a new generation. Their routine kicks off
second airplane finally in the stable, they immediately began with a series of graceful formation maneuvers and builds to a cli-
intensive practice to develop their airshow routine, flying to- max of high intensity solo maneuvers, including gyroscopics and
gether three times a week, twice per day. They announced the opposing passes. They then rejoin to end the show in another
NextGen Eagles in December at the 2023 ICAS Convention in graceful formation ballet in the sky.
Las Vegas. “Our show is lots of smoke paired with the beautiful colors of
“David Martin has been our primary coach and mentor the Eagle,” says Leland. “Our mission is to present the Eagles. If you
from the beginning, but we’ve also worked with former Red don’t know our individual names, it’s fine with me. You just need to
Baron Squadron pilot Tom Womack as well as with Eric Tuck- know we’re the NextGen Eagles.”
er,” explains Leland. “Eric came out to Texas and flew with us. “We’re the next generation of Eagle teams, but we hope to not
Smooth, predictable, and consistent is the name of the game, so be the last,” concludes Leland. “I hope in 20 or 30 years, when we’re
Eric coached us in the airplane and on the ground. We already done, there’s another set of kids coming up that want to do it all
had the fire going, but Eric was the kerosene.” again. We are only in our 30s, but if we can help usher in the next
The NextGen Eagles made their airshow debut at the Buck- generation of pilots, performers, and producers, we’ve done some-
eye Air Fair in February 2024. They flew a total of 18 airshows thing right.”
LELAND KRA CHER | 972-746-7631

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