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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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