Red Baron 4-Plane Squadron Team

Bryan Regan – Lead Pilot, Red Baron Squadron
As a veteran pilot, Bryan Regan controls the lead position in the Red Baron formation, guiding his wingmen through a series of aerobatic maneuvers. He has been with the Red Baron Squadron since 1992 – fulfilling a boyhood dream of flying.

Regan started his career in aviation by flying anything he could get his hands, including cargo planes, skydiving carriers and even ferrying planes for a wing-walking act. It was his involvement with air shows that eventually lead him to his career with Red Baron. He loves seeing the country in an open cock-pit biplane.

“We’re barnstormers at heart. You never know where we’ll drop down…I’ve seen hundred of cities and met all different people…it’s something new all the time”, Regan says.

Regan has accumulated more than 6000 thousand flight hours during his tenure as a pilot.

When he’s not flying, you’ll find Regan reading, studying or playing golf in his current hometown of Phoenix, Ariz.

Jayson Scott Wilson – Director of Squadron Operations/Left Wing, Red Baron Squadron
Jayson began his career in aviation at a young age, following in his dad and uncle’s footsteps flying crop dusters. He started flying at 11-years old behind the controls of the same biplanes the Red Barons fly. Before joining the Squadron in 2004, Jayson spent 23 years as a military pilot, serving in three combat tours with the army. He has accumulated more than 5400 flight hours. The veteran pilot now uses his experience in the left wing position during the Red Baron Squadron’s aerobatic performances.

Jayson says he always wanted to be an air show pilot, “I love the team atmosphere and meeting people all across the country,” he said. “I have the opportunity to influence a child into pursuing the magic of flight.”

Jayson lives in Marshall, Minnesota. When he's not flying for the Squadron, Jayson enjoys snow skiing and running.

Matt Losacker - Right Wing, Red Baron Squadron
Matt Losacker was a flight instructor in Arizona until he crossed paths with the Red Baron Squadron. In 2003, Losacker turned in his teaching hat and started flying right wing for Red Baron’s formation aerobatic flight team.

As the son of an air force pilot, Losacker wanted to fly planes ever since he was a young boy. At the age of eighteen years old, he enrolled in flight school and was on his way to becoming a real pilot. Six years after learning how to fly, Losacker earned status as a flight instructor. Now with more than 5,500 flight hours, he is one of the best formation aerobatic pilots in the country.

Losacker is thrilled to fly with the Red Baron Squadron. “It’s so unique,” he says. “It’s cool to be one of the few pilots performing formation aerobatics in WWII Stearman biplanes.”

When Matt’s not performing loops, turns and barrel rolls through the sky, he’s roaring down the open road on his sport motorcycle.  

Travis Aukes – Slot, Red Baron Squadron
Travis Aukes joined the Red Baron Squadron in 1992 and currently flies slot in the Red Baron formation. Aukes brings more than 20 years of flight experience to the team. A third generation pilot, Travis grew up around planes; his family owned and operated crop dusters – the same Stearman aircraft the Squadron flies at air shows across the country today. He says the best part of this job is traveling the country.

Aukes has accumulated more than 5,500 flight hours since he started flying at the age of fourteen. Aukes became connected with the Red Baron Squadron in the late 1980’s when his brother was the Squadron crew chief. A few years later, Travis jumped at the chance to try out for the team and has been a Red Baron Squadron pilot ever since!

Aukes lives in the small farming community of Aledo, Illinois. When he isn’t piloting planes, he enjoys restoring them, as well as rebuilding cars, operating farm and construction equipment, and spending time with his family.

Originally built as a WWII training plane for U.S. Army and Navy pilots, the Stearman biplane went on to become one of the most respected primary trainer planes in the military. After the war, many Stearman biplanes found new life as cropdusters. The current Red Baron Squadron planes were built between 1941 and 1943. Since then, they have been slightly modified to include fuel and oil systems which allow the planes to fly inverted, and are equipped with engines that double their original power.

SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 25 feet
Height: 9 feet 6 ¼ inches
Span: 32 feet 2 inches
Horsepower: 450
Construction: Tubular steel fuselage truss covered in fabric, wooden wing
Fuel: 100 octane LL
Max speed: 186 mph
Max cruising speed: 130 mph
Max maneuvering speed: 140 mph
Max roll rate: 60 degrees/second
Max rate of climb: 1500 feet per minute
Occupancy: Pilot & 1 passenger
Category: Aerobatic
Empty weight: Approx. 2700 pounds
Gross weight: 3200 lbs (aerobatic)
Range: 180 miles
Manufacturer: Boeing

http://www.redbaron.com/squadron.htm

See more exciting air show photos in the AirVenture photo gallery.