Suddenly, Burnett's engine quit. He coolly began a slow climb. At 75 feet, he rolled the plane upright and began gliding toward the field, preparing for an emergency landing. But at that point the engine caught, then started running smoothly once more. Burnett quickly rounded the field and landed at the Chattanooga airport — to a roar of approval from the crowd, which assumed that it was all part of his trademark 'inverted ribbon act.

Born in 1913, Vincent W. Burnett was the youngest of three children. While he was growing up in the quiet town of Lynchburg, Va., his parents, Sam and Nannie, instilled in him a sense of honesty and fairness that he never forgot. But he was also a mischievous, enterprising and independent youngster.

Early on, Vincent would be called Squeak (sometimes spelled Squeek). Some say it was because he had a high, squeaky voice when he was young. Others think that as a youngster he had to wear shoes that squeaked when he walked. Whatever its origin, the name followed him through his life.

His father originally hoped his youngest child would become a doctor — and he might have if it hadn't been for Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight of May 1927. Almost overnight most of America was caught up in aviation fever, and so was Squeak Burnett. At 14 he set his sights on becoming a flier. His father initially thought it was a boyish phase he would soon grow out of. But Squeak refused to give up on his dream.

Not long after Lindbergh's famous flight, Vincent took his first airplane ride. I was riding on a high cloud, he later recalled. That cloud was lined with gold and silver — everything you can name. That cloud really had it all that day. From that time on I was permanently bit.

When the Lynchburg Flying Service was established by Ed Brockenboro and Mac Clarkson, young Squeak started playing hooky from school in order to spend time at the airport, where he quickly became a permanent fixture. Soon he had worked out an agreement with the owners: He would be paid $5 per week to work as a helper, but he would also be given one flying lesson every month.

Through the fall and winter of 1929-30, he was going to the flying field — a cow pasture with a small hangar erected on it — every day. The hangar initially housed their only airplane, an Alexander Eagle Rock, but shortly thereafter a Curtiss Robin and a de Havilland Moth were added to the stable.

During the early part of that winter, Brockenboro and Clarkson began going out on weekend barnstorming trips. Young Burnett went along too. When someone suggested that he might liven up the show by making a few parachute jumps, Squeak — always on the lookout for ways to make more money — quickly agreed. Though his parents were not thrilled, they reluctantly gave permission for him to make his first jump, at Danville, Va.

As a novice jumper, the teenager was advised that he should start out doing a pull off, where the parachutist pulls the rip cord while he is out on the wing, then lets the parachute pull him off the plane. Looking back years later at what could have been his last — as well as his first — jump, Burnett recalled: I got out and moved back to the rear spar. When Mac Clarkson gave me the signal, I would pull the rip cord. He stuck his arm out of the cockpit, signaling for me to pull. I did, and Lord have mercy — all hell broke loose after that. I heard a noise, and I was gone. It yanked me off the airplane like I was a fly being hit by a swatter.

There I was, hanging under that thing all by myself. It was all quiet. I felt kind of lonesome there for a second. I was getting closer and closer to the ground, and there was a little family graveyard that had one big tree next to it. I thought `Oh my goodness, what am I getting myself into now.' And so help me, I didn't know anything about how to handle a parachute. I went right down in the tree. There I was, hanging over the edge of the little graveyard. After a short while, someone found a ladder and helped the shaken youth get down.

As the weekend barnstorming trips continued, Burnett recovered from his rocky start as a parachutist and made more jumps. Even better from his perspective, he was allowed to pilot the plane each time they flew back home to Lynchburg.

From then on, flying consumed Squeak Burnett's every waking moment. By the time he was 17, he had acquired a limited commercial license (he told the Civil Aeronautics Authority he was 18).

By the early 1930s, Burnett was performing regularly at airshows across the country in his Travel Air 2000. He gained a stellar reputation for daring stunts, and eventually linked up with the Flying Aces Air Circus, based in Charlotte, N.C. Founded in 1929 by husband and wife Jimmie and Jessie Woods, the Air Circus operated from 1929 through 1938, eking out a living despite the hard times brought on by the Depression.

Jimmie Woods flew a Travel Air 4D in the shows, doing aerobatics and flying Jessie in some of her wing-walking acts. A top-notch mechanic, he also did most of the engine overhauls and performed inspections. Their operation eventually included 15 employees and a handful of aircraft, including a Ryan B-1 Brougham, the Travel Air 4D and several Stearmans.

Burnett, who stayed with the group until 1937, developed a dogfight act with Jimmie that was reportedly an airshow first. In addition to developing his popular inverted ribbon trick, he also pioneered in picking up small objects, such as handkerchiefs, from the ground with the Travel Air's tail skid.

Jessie Schulz Woods — who would go on to serve as a pilot instructor during World War II and would be inducted into the National Women's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1994 — developed a real fondness for Burnett. Years later, she recalled: There was only one like him. He was an ornery little cuss, but we were real close to him….We had some scary experiences together. One was in Minnesota. Squeak was doing aerobatics, with me on the top wing. Somehow he got the airplane upside down and was spinning flat. I was just hanging on by a rope. I thought the end was coming. When we got out of that, we were down to maybe 700 or 800 feet. We talked about it later, but never could figure out what happened. He had no control over the airplane. Somehow, one of our guardian angels must have set it straight for us.

After staying with the Flying Aces for three years, Burnett began freelancing in 1937. By this time he was well known enough to pick and choose the shows where he would perform. While practicing for a show at Bluefield, W.Va., he met Evelyn Baker. A romance quickly blossomed, and they were married on New Year's Eve in 1938. Until the start of World War II, Burnett barnstormed across much of the country in the Travel Air, with Evelyn accompanying him on all his trips. They had been married a month when Burnett performed at the All-American Air Maneuvers in Miami, Fla. He was reportedly the first person to do a square outside loop maneuver, in which the aircraft climbs straight up, pulls into horizontal on its back and then dives straight down while in the inverted position. In Miami he performed that maneuver for the first time in public.

Burnett was always a showman, and many who did not personally know him considered him a daredevil. But he actually did not take undue risks. For example, before beginning his square outside loop demonstrations, he consulted with engineers at the Ercoupe plant in Washington, D.C., about the stresses the maneuver would impose on his plane. By following their recommendations to the letter, Burnett figured out how to manage the high G load necessary for the stunt.

His square outside loop surely contributed to Burnett's winning the Freddy Lund trophy for aerobatic excellence (named for Freddy Lund, a test and racing pilot, who was killed while flying a closed-course race at Lexington, Ky.) in Miami that year. Just a few days later Burnett flew to Havana, Cuba, where he won the President's Cup competition, established by Fulgencio Batista, Cuba's president.

Burnett subsequently taught private, commercial, instrument and advanced aerobatics at College Park Airport in Maryland. He also helped establish training routes used by the Civil Aeronautics Authority, and instructed students in the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which had just been established by the federal government. He was still an airshow performer on the weekends.

Pages: 1 2