high alpha airshows

https://bobhooveracademy.org/

Jason Somes pilots the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. It is a Russian fighter jet that was developed in the 1950s as a successor to the Mig-15 and saw combat in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. Although not supersonic, it was capable of very tight turns and armed with three cannons, making it deadly against American fighters like the F-4 Phantom and the F-8 Crusader. The MiG-17 was the first Russian fighter jet to have an afterburner, which dumps raw fuel in to the exhaust to increase the thrust.

Jason’s first flying lesson was in a Cessna 150 at the age of 12, and as a teenager he started his flight training in a Pitts S2-B and progressed to getting a multi-engine commercial license. He raced in the Reno National Championship Air Races from 2003 to 2007 in the Biplane Formula One and T-6 classes. Jason loves the challenge of flying the MiG-17 because of its performance across the board... acceleration, turn rate and speed. Flying the MiG at airshows is meaningful to him because it’s a chance to help preserve aviation history and inspire young people to become interested in aviation.