Jim Beasley, Jr.: Horsemen Flight Team Lead
As a founding member of the Horsemen Flight Team, Jim Beasley, Jr. has been flying historic fighter aircraft for over 20 years and has flown in hundreds of air shows across the United States, Canada and the U.K. He has accumulated thousands of flight hours in vintage military aircraft as team lead of the Horsemen’s one-of-a-kind aerobatic routines in his beloved P-51 Mustang “Bald Eagle,” as well as the F4U Corsair and the F8F Bearcat.
Having flown in airshows since the late 1980s, Beasley maintains commercial and multi-engine instrument ratings and holds a surface-level aerobatic waiver for solo and formation aerobatics in a multitude of piston-powered fighter aircraft. Beasley is an attorney and trial lawyer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and runs The Beasley Firm, LLC, a complex litigation law firm.
We caught up with Jim as he prepares to showcase the legendary P-51 Mustang in an exclusive three-ship formation at Rome’s historic Pratica di Mare Air Show as the Italian Air Force celebrates its centennial alongside his wingmen, skilled pilots Dan Friedkin and Ed Shipley.
Q: What was the inspiration or mission behind the creation of the Horsemen Flight Team?
A: Fellow Horsemen pilot Ed Shipley and I had spent several years flying with a formation aerobatic team called the Six of Diamonds, which was a six-ship T-6 Texan team. We took the formation skills learned there and developed a two-ship formation aerobatic team with P-51 Mustangs, expanded it to four P-51s, and then back to the two-ship, using P-51s and a F4U Corsair. Once pilot Dan Friedkin joined us in 2008, we evolved into the three-ship formation team we are today. The mission is simple, to demonstrate various aircraft in precision formation aerobatic performances to honor the military aircraft from the various wars, but also to challenge ourselves to fly as precise a routine as possible in these aircraft, akin to what the Blue Angels did in the 40s and 50s.
Q: What originally sparked your passion for flying? Do you remember your very first flight?
A: My dad flew. He had a Cessna at first, and then he ended up having a twin-engine airplane. We had a home in New Jersey, and we were near an airport, so we would fly down there. I didn’t really think too much of it, but I always built models and I was always enamored with the P-51 Mustang, and there were two of them for sale in Cape May in 1976. I was eight years old at the time, but I kept telling my Dad, “you gotta get it, you gotta get it.” He didn’t do it. Then, we were flying across the country in his Aerostar and I persuaded him to take a left to go down to Texas to see the Commemorative Air Force, and there was a Mustang there that was for sale. The registration number actually had his initials — 51JB — and even though I was only 10 years old at the time, I persuaded him to buy it, so he got it. That’s kind of what started it for me, and it’s the same plane I have today.
Q: What are some of the most difficult formations or missions you’ve flown?
A: Ed and I flew on a formation aerobatic team called the Six of Diamonds in the SNJ or T-6, and anyone who wants to do warbird formation aerobatics needs to learn to do it in the SNJ or the T-6 because it’s relatively underpowered so it requires a lot of technique. The rolling maneuvers are obviously the most difficult, the barrel roll formations, so you just to try to keep it smooth and consistent and have the planes look proper. That’s a challenging one.
As far as Horsemen routines go, we have a few sequences depending on the weather and show conditions, as well as whether we are performing a two-ship or three-ship demonstration. While the performance contains unique maneuvers not done by any other piston driven aircraft (e.g., the formation Cuban eight), the sequence is safe and exciting to both fly and watch. We fly to a music score written by the world-famous composer James Horner, and the marriage of the music with the demonstration is quite impressive. The score is roughly 12 minutes, and we match the length of the performance to the music.
Q: What does your preparation for a performance with the Horsemen Flight Team look like?
A: The initial preparation is different for each of us. As lead, when I do a solo aerobatic sequence at practice I pretend as though I have my fellow Horsemen pilots Dan Friedkin and on Ed Shipley my wing, flying as though it is a formation act since we can’t always get together as often as we’d like. I also watch our old videos and do a lot of visualizing of what I should be doing to make the ride easier for the guys and hit my marks.
Pre-flight prep also involves the maintainers as much as the pilots, so we spend a lot of time coordinating with them to ensure that the planes are ready to go. Sometimes adjustments and flight testing are needed to make a particular plane more suitable for the position it flies. For example, the lead aircraft has a different configuration than the wing planes. Our goal is to reach consistency for each show even if different aircraft are being used.
For the pilots, it’s a lot of talking and walking through the sequence, anticipating emergencies, briefing failure plans, as well as reviewing recent training flights and show positives and negatives.
Q: Can you provide some insight into the different roles of each member on the Horsemen Flight Team and what the in-flight dynamic is like?
A: The basic roles and rules are simple: I don’t drive them into the ground or over the crowd, and they don’t hit me. The more nuanced part involves everyone supporting each other during practices, communicating during the shows, and having a solid pre- and post-debrief on the shows with honesty about what was good and what wasn’t.
Q: You have already logged thousands of flight hours in various aircraft from the P-51 Mustang to the Supermarine Spitfire to the F4U Corsair. What’s your favorite aircraft to fly?
A: The P-51 Mustang.
Q: If you could fly one of the modern fighters, which one would it be and why?
A: Probably the F-15, just because it’s cool. It doesn’t have all the voodoo of the F-22 or F-35, but it’s still enough of a brute. It’s more like a P-51.
Q: You are the proud owner of several aircrafts including a P-51 Mustang “Bald Eagle,” a TBM850 and a T-6. What makes “Bald Eagle” such a special plane? Why did you settle on this particular design?
A: The Bald Eagle is a part of the family. It has my initials and my dad’s initials in the registration number, 51JB. I’ve been flying that airplane since 1990 or 1991. It’s been decades and decades of tweaking that particular machine, so it fits me. It’s like sliding into a really comfortable pair of pajamas. That’s why it’s so special — I’ve just become one with it. I still enjoy flying other ones, but that one’s just different.
Q: You are also the proud owner of a large collection of motorcycles. Do you find any similarities between driving or racing motorcycles and flying historic aircrafts?
A: In my view, it’s the same mindset. This might be a weird analogy, but I look at flying or racing motorcycles as a meditative process. When you’re flying in an airshow, you have to be precise and focus on the one thing you’re doing. It becomes a very calming experience. It can be hard and rough, and remarkably physical, but you’re thinking about just the one thing because if you’re distracted you can get killed. Racing motorcycles is very similar.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve received that you’d like to pass along to aspiring aviators?
A: Don’t allow technological advances in these new planes to take away from your piloting skill. Learn to fly in an old Piper Cub, for example. You need to learn to be precise and fly right, and you have to know the airplane and learn proper technique. Learn that basic stuff. Learn how to be one with the airplane as opposed to setting auto-throttles and just going.
Q: What does it mean to you to have been a founding member of the Horsemen Flight Team?
A: We are all very fortunate this team has lasted almost 30 years, and I am equally thrilled to have this team alongside Ed and Dan. These are the two guys I’d fly with anywhere.
Q: How does it feel to have the Horsemen Flight Team return to the air show circuit after its hiatus since 2008?
A: It is great to be back. Logistically, it can be challenging at times with all our busy schedules, but when it comes together again it’s like we never stopped.
Q: What are you most looking forward to with the Horsemen Flight Team this upcoming season?
A: Our upcoming Tuscany practice and subsequent Rome air show is the most exciting for extrinsic reasons, but once we’re flying the location is secondary.
Q: If you could describe the Horsemen Flight Team’s performance in three words, what would it be?
A: Never reach perfection.
