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Flippin’ sweet

LAMAR, Colo. — At festivals, funerals and graduations, the distinct sputter of their 9-cylinder radial engines indicates an approach.

These warbirds — vintage military aircraft now used for aerobatics and formation flying — cut across the horizon, leave trails of smoke and spiral at dizzying speeds to the cheers of those on the ground.

Once products of the Cold War, these planes are now flown with American pride through aviation groups such as the Colorado Yak Pak, a handful of Denver metro area pilots who fly these military aircraft for sport and recreation.

The Yak Pak, a group of the Red Star Pilots Association, held its annual training clinic recently at Lamar Municipal Airport, where new pilots trained to fly in formation while experienced pilots practiced — and showed off — their skills. Safety is always the first focus.

“It’s loud. It smokes. It stinks. It drips oil. It’s great,” said member Dale Matuska, who said the group’s camaraderie has kept him coming back for the past three years.

“It’s the Harley-Davidson of the air. If John Deere built an airplane, it would be a Yak.”

The Yak-50 (a single-seater) and the Yak-52 (a double-seater), by Russian manufacturer Yakovlev, and the Nanchang CJ-6A were used by the Soviet Union and China to train their military pilots, member Scott McMillan said.

Russian roots are evident: Inside the cockpit, instruments have Russian language wording (English words are now taped on) and metric measurements. One plane at Lamar has the hammer-and-sickle symbol adhered to the dash.

Russia sold the surplus planes. More than 200 are estimated to be in the U.S., the group said.

“It makes me feel young again,” said Roy Murray of Platteville, Colo., a retired United Airlines pilot who has flown with the Yak Pak for six years. “When you fly in formation, it’s not four planes flying. ... It’s just one.”

Most members have had aviation careers, either in the military or as airline pilots.

A few, like Matuska, of nearby Fort Collins, did not have an aviation career. He owns a cosmetology school with his wife, Tina, and the couple just bought a second Yak-52. A pilot since the age of 18, Matuska bought his first Yak-52 three years ago from a seller in Salem, Ore.

“I didn’t know a thing about it, but I was willing to learn,” Matuska said. “I’m one of the few who don’t have an aviation background, yet I’m treated as an equal. It’s awe-inspiring.”

McMillan said the planes are both nostalgic and patriotic, calling them the “spoils of the Cold War.”

“It draws out an emotional reaction in people,” he said.

Each pilot has a call sign, the group said. Call signs are depicted with a symbol on their planes, as well.

McMillan’s is Kong, he said, because once he “looked like a big ol’ ape in the cockpit.”

Murray is called Popeye because he was the group’s first Navy member and has a tight handshake. Mary Jo Yates, a bookkeeper from Longmont, said she is called Natasha because “you have to have a Natasha when you’re flying Russian planes.”

“I really love the Yak-52; it’s such a neat airplane. That military look gives it such a presence,” Yates said.