A Little History “Those who ignore history are damned to repeat it” Red Star Aviation started about 1990, when a few local friends who flew a mixed bag of Yaks, Zlins, Buckers, Broussards, AN-2's, and other strange European airplanes decided to have T-Shirts made with "Red Star Aviation" printed on them in order to be a "Display Group" at airshows. There was no organization, other than the fact that Dave Sutton paid for the shirts and handed them out to his friends, thus making him the "Leader". Those shirts are still prized by the original "Gang"! We were nothing too organized, just a group of guys who banded together for self-preservation, mutual assistance, and weekend fun. For many airshow attendees, local pilots, and local FAA Inspectors in the Northeast, the Yaks (Yak-50, Yak-52, and Yak-55's) and Zlins brought out for display by "Red Star Aviation" were the first Eastern European (Read that "Russian") airplanes that they had ever seen. Remember, that this was before the Cold War had really even ended. Interest grew exponentially, and before long we were fielding technical questions, requests for parts, and requests for airplanes and training from a wider and wider geographic area. As the years went by, European Warbirds began to become more popular, and more and more of them became available. Our "Little Group" got larger and larger, and pretty soon we began sending out newsletters and other information. We absorbed the US Zlin Club and published the Zlin Club Newsletter for a short time. We watched the first days of the Yak Pilots Club, run by Bud Harrell, and worked on safety programs and checklists with Bud from the very start of that organization (now reincarnated as "All Red Star"). Eventually, enough people wanted Yaks that Dave began importing a few for friends, and eventually handled about 15 of them from different sources along with owing at one time or another two Max Holste Broussard's, one Yak-50, one Yak-55, three Zlins (Z-126, Z-326, and Z-42), and a Bucker Jungmann. Naturally, the piston engine European Warbirds led to jets, and before too long a Fouga Magister was added to the fleet. That led to a second Fouga, which led to a few more, which led finally to a bunch of different Fougas being passed through Red Star Aviations hands (which was by then incorporated as a museum). Purchase of the first few Fougas from Warplanes Inc of Burlington VT, run by the affable pirate and pioneering Jet Warbird Pilot Dean Martin, led to involvement with MiG's, our first fighter being a MiG-17F. Dean also was expert in MiG-21 circles, and it wasn't too long before we were operating them too. Naturally, T-33's were around so we flew them too. And we flew L-29's, and L-39's, and T-28's, and a Mustang. One day a nice Australian Vampire came on the market and so we traded a Fouga for it and had a Vampire too. All in all, Red Star Aviation has now owned and operated about 40 different examples of 13 different Warbird models. Every one is a new challenge, and every one its own reward. During the early 1990's, the FAA began becoming more and more skeptical about the very large number of European Warbirds entering the USA, and began to make it harder and harder to certify and operate them. Red Star Aviation was already well established, and had gained a lot of operational expertise especially regarding FAA issues, so it was natural that many operators began to turn to our organization for assistance in dealing with the FAA. We are proud to have written the first L-39 Approved Inspection Program ever approved by the FAA, and were closely involved with the efforts to repeal the ill-conceived FAA moratorium on the certification of imported aircraft. Dave Sutton realized that it was important to become more involved with the larger groups representing Warbirds, so he joined both the EAA Warbirds and the Classic Jet Aircraft Association. He was already a member of the CJAA when EAA Warbirds attempted to dissolve the organization, and supported the CJAA President, Kay Eckardt, in his successful effort to separate the CJAA from the EAA. At the same time, Dave had become the Contributing Editor of EAA Warbirds Magazine, and had put some dozen safety and classic-jet oriented articles in print by 1993 and was well known for his work with the FAA at both local and national levels on behalf of the Warbird community. Through the mid 1990's, Red Star Aviation expanded and grew, and attendance of our group at Airshows become more and more active. For example, at the Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania Airshow in 1995 our informal group of "Red Star Friends" fielded no less than twelve airplanes: Four Zlins, Four Yaks, one Fouga, a T-33 (flown in for the occasion by Dave Van Liere, one of our present advisors), a Broussard, and a NA-50. To say that we enjoyed ourselves is a real understatement. In 1996, a change occurred in the focus and mission of Red Star Aviation. This was due to a defining event that took place in Dave Suttons' life: He almost died. Dave was purchasing a new airplane for the Red Star collection, a Yak-18T, and was being given a demonstration ride by the sellers, who were two brothers. On the demonstration flight, the engine failed catastrophically after takeoff and the Yak was forced-landed into a dense forest. The two brothers, who were the owners and sellers, were killed. Dave was critically injured and spent the better part of the next year healing and learning to walk again. He also spent the next year contemplating to following questions: “What could have been done differently? What link in the error chain could have been broken that day, or the week before, or the year before, in order to have stopped this mishap from occurring?” How can I get this message out to the Warbird community?” Dave's research showed that the owners of the Yak had been sold the airplane "sight unseen" by am aircraft dealer. This dealer took their money, even though they were obviously not going to be able to operate it due to the fact that both of the brothers who purchased the Yak in partnership had lost the fingers on their right hands in a gasoline fire years before. This made it impossible for them to use the hand-operated brakes to stop or taxi the Yak-18. The seller who delivered the Yak to the buyers brought it up from his sales-facility and dropped it off and then left without taking even an hour to help the new owners learn to preflight it. Nobody apparently told the new owners that they needed to clear the oil from the cylinders of a radial engine before starting it, so they never did. The new owners had never flown the airplane in the year that they owned it, but had started it several times without clearing the oil from the cylinders. By doing this they had badly damaged the number 5 connecting rod. On the mishap flight the connecting rod failed, and the engine failed instantly. Here is the final result of the error chain: A series of factors had lined up wrong, nobody had ever looked out for the buyers of this exotic airplane, and they were killed. We wish to make something very clear: The men who were involved in this mishap, all three of them, were victims. The neglect that we mention is not theirs; it is the neglect of the system and the suppliers who provided the aircraft to them. They were victims of a system where certain sellers of aircraft will sell aircraft to unsuitable buyers, or sell aircraft without including training or the strong recommendation that training be arranged by the purchasers. In this case, the men who bought this aircraft were physically incapable of operating the aircraft due to being physically challenged by pre-existing hand injuries. The seller should have identified this and not sold the aircraft to them. In addition, it is our belief that the seller had the obligation to provide at least rudimentary training in the operation of the engine. The fact that neither of these things were done was the beginning of the error chain. Another point to make at this time is that error chains can trap even the most experienced pilot. It is due to these realizations that we have studied aviation mishaps in general, and Warbird mishaps in particular, and have attempted to quantify the parallels between various mishaps, to attempt to determine common threads that once recognized, can be broken before a mishap occurs. What we do is done out of respect to men like the ones who perished in the Yak-18, added to the other many friends who have been killed in Warbirds over the years. The only mishap that is wasted is one from which we fail to learn lessons. The only wasted life is one that we do not learn from. Honor these men by remembering what happened to them, and then honor your own family by operating safely so that you may go home to them at the end of the day. Upon reflection, the actual reason for the mishap became clear. It was obvious that the mishap occurred because, when they purchased the Yak-18T: Nobody was looking out for the buyers of this exotic airplane, certainly not the seller. They didn't know what questions to ask. They didn't know who to ask. Once their check was cashed, the seller was history. Nobody cared if the airplane was unsuitable for them or if they had been trained to operate it-even for ground engine runs. The buyers paid for this neglect with their lives. Based on that realization, Red Star Aviation has set only one set of goals: To save human life through safety training.  To be an advocate for the OPERATOR, not the seller. To assist OPERATORS as their trusted source of information. To do without financial motivation, and to divorce ourselves from conflict of interest. Once we identified our mission, we began studying Warbird mishaps seriously from a statistical analysis standpoint. What we found is that the majority of Warbird accidents are almost entirely predictable. There are a number of reasons, but for now let's just say this: Warbird Accidents statistically occur either during the first few years of operation, or after many years of operation. On one side of the equation, there are men who are so experienced that they believe that they cannot learn anything, and that they are immune to mishaps. Interestingly enough, ex-Military and Airline pilots have some of the WORST mishap rates. On the other end of the spectrum new operators who are overconfident or poorly trained or who are motivated by the desire to "show off" are killed with regularity. Low level aerobatics and displays over the "Cone of Stupidity" (the area over a pilot's airport or home, where he wants to "show off") kill pilots every year. Flight into IMC weather kills another batch every year. In piston engine aircraft, engine failures kill pilots every year (and not so with jets!). But, here's the scary thing: In many of the fatal mishaps, some of the "Old Hands" knew in advance that the pilot was heading for trouble! The pilot had followed an identifiable path to the mishap, and other people knew it! Our question is, "Why wasn't this message communicated to the operator before it was too late?" Well, sometimes it has been. We have identified no less than six different operators that we felt were heading for a mishap, have informed them, and in every one of the six cases the pilot has been killed within six months. That's pretty scary. We realize that the message will not always be heard, and there's precious little that we can do about it. But remember: If we suggest to you that you might want to revisit your safety culture, pay attention. There's a reason that we are concerned. We don't want your photo to join the others on our wall of memories. "Into the woods I fell, with a tight harness, a bit of luck, and a prayer that my Daughter would not need to do without her Father. When the metal stopped moving the dice had been rolled and the game was on. The game? To live: Nothing more, and nothing less." - Dave Sutton   Red Star Aviation has taken on the mission of doing the following: Attempting to break the error chains that lead to foreseeable mishaps. This is our stated path to a reduction in Warbird mishap rates. In short, we are TRAINING and SAFETY. Training starts long before a pilot enters a cockpit. It starts with a mindset, one that says "Our job is not to FLY today; our job is to GO HOME to our family tonight, nothing more. If we happen to fly today, that's a bonus". We know that it isn't a joke: We have seen the result of many error-chains up close and personal. We take this work VERY seriously. If we are able to save the life of ONE operator through our work, our life's work is complete. Our problem is that we never know which one of YOU we might be saving! So, we treat everyone with the same care, and do our best to help anyone who wishes to learn from us. “There are no new accidents, just new pilots” Over the years the agenda and mission of Red Star Aviation has been controversial among some operators. This is just fine with us. Although we wish to be respected, we have no wish to compromise our standards in order to be liked. Our training and beliefs sometimes impact people's egos and current belief systems, and one of the many ways we identify operators who may be heading for trouble is to see if they accept the message that every operator can benefit from a safety audit. We have no political agenda, or any aspirations to do anything other than our mission. Yes, we hold and at times offer strong opinions. They are based on proven facts, science, statistics, and professional practice, not speculation. Our opinions are not our alone: They mirror the military and civil professional flight test environment, where experimental aircraft are operated for real. It's sometimes hard for operators to accept the fact that an arms-length professional opinion of their safety culture and operation is less than flattering. Are you surprised? As we often point out, "Getting Away" with an operation is a far cry from "Reliably Conducting" an operation. Do you know the difference? We ourselves are not perfect. We make errors. The big thing that we ensure that we do is to LEARN from our errors, and to PUBLICIZE our errors so that others may learn from them. Yes, we sometimes also run against the grain of the less reputable for-profit providers of warbird services. Again, are you surprised? For the record: We believe that a vibrant and productive for-profit Warbird Industry is essential to the continued operation of these aircraft. Without fair men making a fair profit for a fair days work, there is no industry. Without a supporting industry of people who earn their living working with these airplanes there will be no airplanes available for the consumer. We are always pleased to recommend a good commercial operator, and we never wish to interfere with their business. With that said, it's just as essential to have a good non-profit advocate for the consumer who can help operators sort out the "Good Citizens" in the industry from the bad apples. That's where we come in. Today, Red Star Aviation has a facility, its own fleet of piston and jet training aircraft, and superb capabilities. Our non-profit status and our policy of its leadership not accepting any personal compensation for their work sets us apart, as we have no potential for any conflict of interest when working with a client. Dave Sutton, our President, works as a professional flight instructor in the large new-generation Falcon Business Jets. He works at the US Naval Test Pilot School, is a consulting Test Pilot, and is a Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He volunteers his time to lead Red Star Aviation in its mission of saving human life through training, in the hopes that he can help us make a positive influence in the lives of real people, and is our leader. But please note this: Red Star Aviation is not Dave Sutton: We draw on the volunteer efforts of over 25 different expert volunteers to assist in meeting our goals. Our Board of Advisors consists of 16 men ranging from the Chief Test Pilot of a major business aircraft manufacturer who also happens to fly Classic Jets, to a former NASA Astronaut and L-39 owner, to several former Instructors and Test Pilots at both the USAF and USN Test Pilots Schools with Surplus Aircraft experience, to working civilian Warbird Instructors and Warbird Maintenance Technicians. Our Advisors also include several active and successful amateur Warbird operators who are dedicated to spreading our message of safety. Our members range from Student Pilots to U-2 pilots. All have one thing in common: The thirst to be SAFE, the thirst to LEARN, and the thirst to SHARE. Join us, learn from us, and, most importantly, let us learn from you.   Safety is our Only Goal. Fly Safe: That’s the best wish we can make for you.