A recent article by Patty Wagstaff in Plane and Pilot sparked some memories. In that article she wrote about learning to do and then performing inverted ribbon cuts. That article inspired me to share my experience of ribbon cutting from the viewpoint one of the ones on the ground holding the poles.

The Abbotsford airport has hosted an annual airshow for what seems to be forever. I started attending in the mid 70’s and have only missed one show since. Let’s see, at 3 shows per weekend that would be around 117 days at that particular airshow. Another regular was Art Scholl. Art was an aerobatic pilot who not only flew airshows and competitions but also worked for the movie industry, flying in movies such as The Great Waldo Pepper, The Right Stuff, Blue Thunder and finally, Top Gun. Aviation and airshows lost a great personality when he was killed flying a sequence in Top Gun in California in the fall of 1985. We all miss Art, his wife Judy and his co-pilot-dog Aileron.

He was a regular at the Abbotsford Airshow in British Columbia through the 1970’s and 1980’s. Art would come to Abbotsford and perform in a borrowed Piper J3 and in his highly modified “Super” D H Chipmunk. The ribbon cut was the climax of his show and was a huge crowd pleaser. It was the ribbon cut that I remember most vividly. One year during the Friday show, I was selected to hold one of the two poles that supported the ribbon.

That year the airport had resurfaced the show runway with nice black asphalt just prior to the annual airshow. Airshow weekend weather was “clear and a million” with temperatures in the high 90’s. This created some interesting air over the runway as Art would find out.

During Art’s show, his ground crew would set up for the ribbon cut, readying the poles and ribbon and briefing the volunteers on when to raise and how to hold them. They were in contact with Art by radio and when he was ready we were told to raise the poles. We were also told to concentrate on keeping the poles vertical and not to watch Art. Like that would happen!

As Art descended to the show line, he rolled inverted and approached the ribbon. I saw what looked like “lock to lock” movement in the ailerons as he dealt with the hot rising air over the runway. Large power changes were also apparent as he appeared to control altitude with throttle. In spite of my best intentions, I never saw him cut that ribbon. I closed my eyes just as he passed through. If you have ever been that close to an inverted airplane that was no more than ten feet away from you both horizontally and vertically, you will understand.

I was disappointed in myself for my lack of intestinal fortitude and total inability to watch what was clearly a once in a life time opportunity.

Well, the stars were aligned on Sunday and I was once again asked to help out. It was a great experience and one I have never forgotten. This time I kept my eyes open. I can’t imagine how it feels to fly that sequence but I do know that standing out on the runway holding the poles has to come a close second.