February 11, 2020 SkyBilly

The Liberty Gazette

February 11, 2020

Ely Air Lines
By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Some may claim to be a hillbilly. But only one can be SkyBilly. He was the proverbial “kid at the airport fence.” He loved aerobatics and formed his own airshow company, “Great American Flying Circus.” If you saw the movies, Fandango, or Bodyguard, you saw Bill Warren’s work.

One day skydiver Kirby Mills was in Bill’s DeHavilland Chipmunk with him for an airshow routine. Kirby was to jump out with the American flag unfurling while the national anthem played, and Bill would fly circles around him with “smoke on”—a fairly common and lovely act to watch.

Now, we must mention that the magneto switches on this Chipmunk were located on a panel between the two tandem seats. These must be on for the engine to run.

Bill flew from the rear seat. Kirby sat up front with an old parachute on his back and a reserve chute on his belly.

The Chipmunk has a lever you must squeeze pretty hard to release a detent, allowing the canopy to open all the way. Otherwise it stops only midway, in case you just want fresh air. Bill explained this to Kirby, and that he must wait for the sliding canopy to be opened all the way before jumping.

Off they go. Bill’s concentrating on cues from air show controllers, and Kirby’s eager to make his jump. He asks, “Is it time yet?” Bill answers, “Just wait a second.”

They drone around a bit longer, Bill listening to the air boss through his headset, Kirby double-triple checking everything attached to him. “Is it time yet?”

“Almost. I’ll let you know,” Bill replies.

Bill turns to the direction called “jump run” to set up for the location, speed, and altitude where Kirby will exit the airplane. He says, “Kirby, I’m on jump run. It’ll take about two minutes.” Anxious Kirby is ready. He unbuckles his seat belt. He’s spring-loaded to the ready position. Half a mile from the exit point, Bill reaches, squeezes the lever, and starts pulling the canopy back. Kirby sees it and figures, That’s my cue! I’m outta here! and leaps out of his seat. This so shocks Bill that he lets go of the release, which causes the pin to drop, holding the canopy in place. Now Kirby is wedged halfway in, halfway out and can’t move either way. Practically over their point, Bill’s adrenaline kicks in as he squeezes hard and opens the canopy the rest of the way, which causes Kirby to fall back in Bill’s lap. In the fall, Kirby’s butt bumps those magneto switches, turning the engine off.

Bill has Kirby in his lap, he’s “dead stick” (no engine power), and he’s on jump run. Very coolly, he rolls the Chipmunk inverted, and there goes Kirby. He then rolls the airplane right side up, turns on the mags, starts the engine, and encircles Kirby in smoke. Just like it was planned. And no one on the ground was any the wiser.

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