We Fly with the Geico Skytypers: A Truly Unique Act

By Larry E. Nazimek

Full team formation. (Geico Skytypers)The GEICO Skytypers are a precision formation flying team, but they are also an aerial advertising team that gets the messages out in a most unique way: “skytyping.”

“Skywriting,” with a single aircraft flying in patterns and releasing smoke to form large letters, was far more popular 50 years ago than it is today. What had been common then is not common now.

“Skytyping” is a type of dot matrix printing made by puffs of smoke released by a five aircraft flying line – flying abreast.

Geico

Sponsorship is a very important factor in getting acts to perform at airshows, particularly those that do not charge an admission, such as the Chicago Air and Water Show. This factor is even more prevalent now that the military is not participating in such shows thanks to the sequester.

Any American with eyes or ears is familiar with Geico, thanks to their advertising on television, radio, printed media, internet, billboards, public transit, etc. In addition, they have booths at many different events.

The Aircraft

The SNJ was the Navy’s version of the Army Air Corps T-6 Texan (Harvard in the RAF) two-seat advanced trainer in the Second World War. The Skytypers fly the SNJ-2 version with the enlarged 180-gallon fuel tank that allows them to fly for more than four hours when conducting skytyping missions. Of the 61 built, only 11 are still flying, of which the Skytypers operate six. This aircraft is eight inches shorter than the other variants, has a larger round rudder, and a non-steerable tail wheel, and it is the fastest of the SNJ series.

Skytyping

If the winds aloft are kind, the typing stays intact longer and has a crisper look. Blue skies help a great deal. (Geico Skytypers)It is common to see airshow performers releasing smoke. The Skytypers do this by opening a valve to release a non-polluting mineral oil into the exhaust manifold. This solution is steamed, compressed, and forced out of the engine exhaust on the right side of the planes. As soon as the steam hits the cold air at 10,000 ft., the white puffs of smoke appear.

The aircraft fly approx. 250 ft. from each other, with the lead aircraft carrying a custom programmed computer that sends a command to each of the other aircraft so that each one’s valve will open at the right time to release the puffs, forming “dot matrix” letters 1,000-feet tall. The pilots fly the planes and let the system automatically take care of the smoke releases. This process is 17 times faster than skywriting, producing a letter every four seconds. On a single mission, the same message can be repeated, or several different messages can be presented.

Obviously, skytyping cannot take place with clouds at the selected altitude, but even a high overcast can scrub a mission, because the white puffs of smoke cannot be seen with a white background. Pilot Ken Johansen, the pilot with whom I flew, explained that, “…we have a person on the ground in contact with us who will look up and make a go/no-go decision.” Fortunately, for this 2013 Chicago Air & Water Show, the weather was perfect.

Pilot Tom Daly explained that the airspace over a large city can be the determining factor in the altitude they select. At a recent airshow in New York City, they used 7,500 feet, but “…for Chicago, where the top of the Class B airspace is 10,000 feet, we fly at 10,500 feet.”

The computer carried by the lead aircraft looks like a small laptop. The messages are entered into it while on the ground. Marketing officer/pilot Steve Kapur explained that the original computer utilized a teletype roll of paper, but that the paper occasionally tore, causing a delay while the lead pilot fixed it.

When one considers the alphabet of upper case letters, it stands to reason that the outer aircraft must release more puffs than the other three. Consequently, the outer two planes carry an extra oil tank in place of a rear seat.

Kapur explained that their sixth plane flies along, just in case one plane has a malfunction and to relieve the aircraft on the inside of the formation with the smaller smoke oil tanks. The “boss” will swap smoke radio receivers in the computer, and the spare aircraft will then move into position so the mission can resume.

The Pilots

The Skytyper’s pilots are all highly qualified pros with extensive military and/or civilian experience.
Larry Arken, the flight lead/boss of the operation, is a major airline pilot with more than 25,000 hours and seven type ratings. His interest in flying began as a child, sitting in the seat behind his father, Mort, a former Naval Aviator and founder of the Skytypers. He currently flies the P-47, F4U, and P-51 for the Air Power Museum in Farmingdale, NY.

I flew with Ken Johansen, who first flew with the Skytypers at the age of eight, thanks to his father, Bob, who still serves as an instructor pilot with the team. Ken earned his Navy wings in 1991 and went on to fly P-3s, C-9s, and C-40s (Boeing 737-700). He has also flown MD80s, B757s, and B767s with the airlines. In his off-duty time, he flies Aeronca Champs, Citabrias, and Stearmans. He normally flies right wing, but for our flight, he flew as lead.

The Performance

As was stated at the opening, the Skytypers are both a precision formation flying team and an aerial advertising team. For the 2013 Chicago Air & Water Show, they performed in both capacities.

Early in the show, while other performers went through their low-altitude routines, the Skytypers flew overhead, leaving various messages such as “GEICO SKYTYPERS WELCOME YOU,” a back to school reminder, and messages from the show’s major sponsors.

Later in the show, they performed various formation aerobatic maneuvers. In one impressive maneuver, the two solos released smoke as they flew a heart pattern, with the four-ship diamond formation flying through it as the “arrow.”

While the four-ship performed its formation maneuvers, the solos demonstrated some basic air combat maneuvers – maneuvers these planes would have flown back when they were new.

The Geico Skytypers were certainly a welcome addition to the 2013 Chicago Air & Water Show.