Page 22 - World Airshow News Final

...A WACO WItH AN AttItuDE...

Jarrod Lindemann with his steed (photo by
Mo Satarzadeh courtesy of RAD Aerosports).

that would eventually open the next chap- taking over for the 2017 through 2019 had been instrumental in the develop-
ter of Jarrod’s airshow career. seasons. ment and ongoing operation of Screamin’
After the 2019 season ended, Klatt de- Sasquatch, so he offered his expertise. He
tHE SCREAMIN’ SASquAtCH cided to retire from airshows. John had and Jarrod soon became good friends.
Over a decade ago, John Klatt Air- always been impressed by the way Jarrod Jarrod got checked out in the Jet Waco
shows introduced the Screamin’ Sas- handled the former Red Baron Stearman right away and immediately began learn-
quatch Jet Waco to the airshow industry. whenever their paths crossed in the up- ing about the many unique characteristics
Sponsored by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky, Sas- per Midwest. He also knew that Jarrod of his awesome new airplane.
quatch was a 1929 Waco Taperwing out- had the mechanical and business skills to “Managing two different types of pow-
fitted with both a 450 horsepower Pratt take over the Jet Waco program. John of- erplants with two throttles is one chal-
& Whitney 985 radial engine and a GE fered Jarrod the opportunity, and over the lenge, and managing the aircraft’s energy
CJ610 jet engine. 2019-2020 offseason, they struck a deal, is another,” explains Jarrod. “If you don’t
The Sasquatch was actually the sec- and Jarrod became the owner of the Jet have that jet engine at flight idle when the
ond Jet Waco to ever fly at airshows, fol- Waco and all of the associated support nose is at the horizon or pointed down,
lowing the famous 1937 Waco UPF-7 Jet equipment (which included a full tractor the airspeed rips up so fast that you could
Waco that the late, great Jimmy Franklin trailer rig to transport the airplane from get yourself into a predicament really fast.
flew for fifteen years. That Jet Waco was show-to-show). With even a little bit of power, it really
destroyed in Franklin’s fatal crash in 2005. “Honest to gosh, I don’t think the ink screams, so you have to be cognizant of
In 2013, Klatt had purchased a Waco was dry on our contract for a week before where you’re at all of the time.”
rebuild project from Kent Pietsch with COVID really got messy,” laughs Jarrod Once airshows resumed after COVID
the intent to create the world’s second about what happened next. “I think John in 2021, Jarrod flew the Waco in some lo-
Jet Waco. With the help of engineer Ed- called me back a couple of weeks later and cal airshows in the North Dakota area, but
die Sauerman and mechanic Dell Coller, he was like, ‘Sorry. What do we do now? he asked Dell to handle the flying duties
Klatt’s team beefed up the airframe to ac- Airshow season’s cancelled.’ I told him I at some bigger national shows like EAA
commodate the stresses from the jet en- was happy with what I got and this all just AirVenture in Oshkosh. Dell flew the Jet
gine, adding heavy-duty fuselage tubes gave me more time to learn and step into Waco at Oshkosh and a few other venues
and strengthening the wing ribs and it really slowly.” in 2021 and 2022, but by the 2023 season,
spars. Jarrod was ready to take over on his own.
Screamin’ Sasquatch first flew in Janu- buILDINg A NEW PROgRAM Jarrod says he hasn’t made a lot of me-
ary 2014, and after an in-depth flight test While the Jack Link’s sponsorship chanical changes to the plane, but prior to
program, aerobatic pilot Jeff Boerboon ended after the 2019 season, Jarrod says the 2024 season they did take the plane
began flying Sasquatch at airshows in May he was fortunate to have the continued apart, inspected everything, recovered
of that year. Boerboon flew Sasquatch help of former Klatt mechanic Dell Coller it, and repainted. The most significant
through the 2016 season, with Klatt then to assist with the Jet Waco transition. Dell change was using new EarthX batteries

www.airshowmag.com 22 The Final Issue