Julie Clark has been flying as a solo aerobatic air show pilot for more than 30 years, but if you were traveling in the early 2000s, you might have flown with her. She’s also a retired Northwest Airlines captain.

If you venture to Robins Air Force Base for the Thunder Over Georgia air show Sept. 28 and 29, you’ll get the opportunity to see Clark in action. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and F-22 demonstration teams may be headlining the show, but Clark puts on a show to remember!

According to her website at http://julieclarkairshows.com/air-show/, Clark is America’s only solo T-34 aerobatic performer. The site describes her performance as a “graceful aerial ballet, breathtakingly choreographed to Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA.’”

It also states, “Her performance is a beautiful symbol of pride and patriotism.” 

Clark’s performance at Robins will be a special one as it will be her final road show before retiring from flying in air shows altogether. After Thunder Over Georgia, she will travel back home to give her final performance at the Julie Clark’s Farewell Air Show, Oct. 19, in Rancho Murieta, California.

ABOUT THE AIRCRAFT

The T-34 was the brainchild of Walter Beech, who developed it as the Beechcraft Model 45 private venture at a time when there was no defense budget for a new trainer model. Beech hoped to sell it as an economical alternative to the North American T-6/NJ Texan, then in use by all services of the U.S. military. 

According to her website, the T-34 Mentor was special to Clark as she logged many hours as a civilian T-34 instructor for the U.S. Navy at Lemoore Naval Air Station from 1974 to 1975.

She was Navy trained in tactical maneuvers, formation flying and aerobatics. Although T-34 aircraft saw countless hours in the 1950s as trainers for both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, the airplane demands tremendous skill to fly aerobatics.

“The T-34 requires concentration and anticipation during aerial maneuvers as the aircraft does not have an inverted oil or fuel system and inverted flight must be carefully calculated,” she said. “Also, due to its larger size than most air show aerobatic aircraft today and its low power-to-weight ratio, the airplane’s flight controls become very heavy during the aerobatic routine.”