ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Sept. 1, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What's faster – a World War II-era, open-cockpit SNJ trainer plane at full throttle or the 8-time world champion offshore catamaran? Crowds along Atlantic City's famed boardwalk will find out Wednesday when two GEICO Skytyper pilots break away from the team's famous low-altitude precision flying demonstration and swoop down to an altitude just above the deck of their water counterpart: the Miss GEICO.
The planes will compete against the world champion superboat in two, half-mile races along the New Jersey shoreline, pitting their 75-year-old, 550-horsepower Pratt & Whitney engines against Miss GEICO's piston powered engines that produce nearly 3,300 total horsepower. Technically the WWII SNJs are rated at a top speed of 213 mph at six thousand feet. The Miss GEICO, on the other hand, regularly exceeds 200 mph in its 45-minute races against the world's fastest powerboats.
"The thing is, each race is utterly unpredictable," says Miss GEICO Throttleman Scott Begovich. "You've got a liquid track with constantly changing conditions like wave size and wind strength. Not to mention two WWII airplanes screaming down out of the sky and racing so close it feels like we could reach up and touch the wings."
It's a friendly sky vs. sea duel between the pilots, based out of Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York and the Riviera Beach, Florida-based Miss GEICO crew.
"Experience and skill are the real differentiators," says Tom Daly, GEICO Skytyper solo pilot and Dean of Students at Dowling College. "The boat will be tough to beat because it has more power and is completely state of the art. But we rely on expert management of geometry and physics to extract the maximum output possible out of these 75-year-old vintage aircraft."
The planes flown by the GEICO Skytypers are nicknamed "Pilot Makers" because they trained Navy pilots of the Greatest Generation. They still fly actual missions because they're kept in mint condition by a year-round, full-time staff of three expert mechanics based on Long Island.
"Most of our team earned their wings in the military and we always pay tribute to the brave pilots of the 'Greatest Generation,' " says Larry Arken, Commanding Officer and GEICO Skytypers Flight Lead. "It is a special privilege to fly these warbirds over the Atlantic City boardwalk on behalf of GEICO."
In addition to the precision, low-level air show demonstrations, these retrofitted SNJ's type giant messages in the sky. On rehearsal day, Tuesday September 1st, they'll be flying flying wingtip-to-wingtip over Philadelphia promoting the mid-week airshow in Atlantic City. The lead plane sends computer signals synchronized to each aircraft in the line abreast formation. Each dot-matrix style letter formed by the six World War II SNJs is taller than the Empire State Building.
"The size lets people see our messages for 15 miles in any direction, depending on wind conditions," says Steve Kapur, GEICO Skytypers pilot and team marketing officer. "Think tweets or text messages, but on a monumental scale and 17 times faster than traditional skywriting."
The GEICO Skytypers are the only skytyping team in the world that also flies low-level, precision formation demonstrations in airshows around the country. Their 18-minute exhibition features the techniques and skills used by Allied Forces to win WWII and the Korean War, including ground straffing, formation bombardment and aerial dogfighting.
"The Atlantic City Airshow gives the public a rare chance to see our airshow demonstration and the air-sea duel, something we only do a couple of times each year," says Daly.
AIR VS. SEA DUEL DETAILS FOR WED, SEPTEMBER 2nd
- GEICO Skytypers will race Miss GEICO immediately after their airshow demonstration, which begins at 1:30 pm
- Miss GEICO's Driver and Throttleman will grant media interviews at the Golden Nugget Marina at 9:30am
- Interviews with GEICO Skytyper pilots available on the boardwalk from 12:30 – 1:30pm
Photos accompanying this release are available at:
