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Wayne
Handley is a former naval aviator, ag pilot,
aerobatic champion, and preeminent airshow
performer. Since beginning his aviation career in
1957, he has amassed over 26,000 hours of flight
time with little of it spent straight, level, and
upright. During his days spent as a crop duster,
Wayne received a number of awards from the
California Agricultural Aircraft Association
including Member of the Year in 1980, the George H.
Baldrick Memorial Award in 1984, Outstanding Airman
Award in 1985, and Lifetime Member in 1991.
Concurrently, in 1983, at the ripe young age of 44,
Wayne began flying in IAC (International Aerobatic
Club) competitions. In his first contest, with the
extraordinary metric of 15,000 hours in his
logbook, he placed 19th out of 21 competitors.
After such an inauspicious start, Wayne really dug
in. The following year, he won the California state
point series in the Intermediate category. Then, in
an unprecedented move, Wayne skipped the Advanced
category altogether and surprised the aerobatic
community by winning the Unlimited point series in
1985 and thus the title of California Unlimited
Aerobatic Champion. After pocketing this title two
more times, he left competition and chose to fly
airshows full time. In 1989, he became the world
record holder for inverted flat spins by completing
67 consecutive turns. In 1996, he was presented the
Bill Barber Award for Showmanship presented
annually by World Airshow News to an airshow
performer who has demonstrated superb showmanship
ability. In 1997, Wayne received the Art Scholl
Showmanship Award presented annually by ICAS
(International Council of Air Shows) to the airshow
act that best exemplifies the qualities of
showmanship. In 2000, Wayne was honored by the Aero
Club of Northern California, a branch of the
National Aeronautic Association, with its Crystal
Eagle Award. The inscription on this beautiful
award reads "In acknowledgment of sustained
leadership in the field of agricultural aviation
and concurrent record setting activities as a
professional acrobatic pilot who added new
dimensions to the domain of precision airshow
flight". In 2001, he was awarded the ICAS Sword of
Excellence in recognition of his outstanding
service and personal contribution to the airshow
industry. Wayne now spends most of his workdays
coaching aerobatic competitors, airshow performers,
ag pilots, and military pilots, in addition to
maintaining his airstrip in Greenfield, California.
He also remains quite active on the speaking
circuit, delighting audiences by sharing his vast
aviation knowledge, his wonderful aviation stories,
and his dry sense of humor.
Wayne started his aerobatic career flying a Pitts
Special in competition and airshows and
transitioned to the Raven in 1990. The Raven is a
beautiful and exciting monoplane that proved itself
to be a crowd favorite for the next eight years. In
1998, Wayne began flying airshows in the Oracle
Turbo Raven. The Oracle Turbo Raven, powered by a
750 HP Pratt & Whitney PT6A-25C, was the first
airshow airplane to have a positive
thrust-to-weight ratio. With a performance weight
of 1,900 pounds and 2,800 pounds of thrust, the
Turbo Raven could climb straight up, stop in the
vertical line, and then accelerate straight up
again. Another of Wayne's favorite maneuvers in the
Oracle Turbo Raven was to power out of a flat spin
without lowering the nose below the horizon. On
January 20, 1999, Wayne established a world record
for all propeller driven airplanes by going from
brake release to 3,000 meters in one minute and
nine seconds. In April of 1999, flying a G-202,
Wayne broke his own world record for inverted flat
spins by taking the world record up to 78 turns.
(Wayne asks anyone wishing to break this record to
add his or her turns to the top and not the bottom
of this maneuver.) During the EAA convention in
Oshkosh on July 30,1999, Wayne established a new
time-to-climb record to 6,000 meters in the Oracle
Turbo Raven with a time of three minutes and six
seconds.
On October 3, 1999, one year to the day that the
Oracle Turbo Raven had been on the airshow circuit,
Wayne was involved in a tragic accident while
performing in the Turbo Raven at the California
International Airshow. The airplane was a total
loss and Wayne sustained a broken back and other
injuries. Thanks to the preparedness of the show's
emergency personnel and the magnificent staff of
the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, Wayne made a
complete recovery.
Away from the airport, Wayne spends his free time
with Karen, his wife since birth, their children,
and grandchildren. Karen was always recognized as
an integral part of Team Raven. Whether it was
public relations, managing the business details, or
working in the pit area, Karen always had a major
influence on the Team's impression on the public,
the airshow producers, and fellow performers. Karen
is a delight to anyone who has had the privilege of
working with her.
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