Pagosa Springs' Amazing 4th of July Parade

Posted by Shellie Peterson
 
 
San Juan Squadron set to open the Independence Day Parade!!
 
For the 12th consecutive year, the San Juan Squadron, Pagosa’s own formation flying team will open the Independence Day Parade.  The Squadron will make three passes, each in a different formation, over downtown Pagosa Springs.  The first pass will be at exactly 10:00 AM as the parade begins its trek through downtown.  It is highly recommended that you make your way to downtown early to pick your best vantage point for viewing the fly overs.  The Lead aircraft will be flown by Craig Taylor of Pagosa Springs.
Prepare to be impressed by these pilots and their abilities with these beautiful airplanes!
 
Solo Aircraft:
  1. John Vander Horck;  Van’s RV12 white with blue trim
  2. Doug Dellmore; Carbon Cub yellow with silver wings.
Formation Aircraft (the exact position of each aircraft is yet to be determined):
  1. Craig Taylor; Van’s RV8 silver and red.  Flight Lead
  2. Dave Peart; Van’s RV 14 Red and Black
  3. Michael Arbuthnot; GlassAir III White
  4. Skip Thomas Van’s; RV4 White and Red
  5. Tim Gallagher; Van’s RV4 White and Blue
  6. Travis Reese; Van’s RV4 Black and Silver
The Formation passes will be:
  1. Diamond with two in trail (Like a kite)
  2. Double “V” formation
  3. Arrowhead (five aircraft in a “V” with one in trail as a stinger)
From the Arrowhead, we will perform a fleur de leis  break, with the left side aircraft turning sharply to the left, the right two aircraft turning sharply right, and lead and stinger go straight ahead
 
Craig Taylor flies this year’s Parade formation in Lead position, making smoke during the Parade overflights. The aircraft is a Van’s RV8, painted red and silver. 
Taylor joined the Navy in 1966, through the Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida.  He earned Navy Wings in February 1968, and was assigned to Attack Squadron 25 in the A7Corsair II aircraft. He flew over 100 combat missions in Viet Nam from the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga (CVA-14). 
 
After Viet Nam, Taylor spent three years as an instructor pilot for Naval Aviators transitioning to the A-7E aircraft.  After active duty service he began a 20 year career as a corporate pilot flying a number of different corporate jet aircraft. 
 
In 1990, Taylor left aviation, starting a small engineering firm in Texas with his wife Marcie. Taylor gave no thought of flying again until 2005, when Tom Broadbent of Pagosa Springs provided a ride in his Stearman biplane.  What a joy to fly again!  The engineering business was sold in 2008, providing an opportunity to buy an aircraft, a kit-built RV8 in 2009. The San Juan Squadron has welcomed the Taylors, and provided great flying, camaraderie and friendship. Thanks, Pagosa!  To date has Taylor has flown for over 10,000 hours, with 1600 hours in the RV8.
 
Dave Peart is one of the original members of The San Juan Squadron formed in 2006.  He now flys a candy apple red, black, and gold RV-14A that he and his wife Becky spent 5,022 hours building in their basement.  Dave is a retired Chrysler Corporation Executive and a retired National Guard Special Forces Officer.  They also operated a family business called Times & Vectors, Inc. which the bought and sold airplanes for three decades.
 
Dave and Becky have been married 47 years  and have 21 kids/grandkids and have moved 21 times.  Accordingly, they tell their story in the paint scheme on their plane with 21 gold stars/TIMES & VECTORS on the nose and a Viper and a Special Forces Crest on the sides of the tail.  
They have lived in Pagosa Springs since 2002 and are active members of the LDS Church where Dave has taught an early morning Seminary class to High School students for ten years.  They love Pagosa Springs.  
 
Michael Arbuthnot is a retired CEO of an electronics manufacture. He and his wife, Caroleen, moved to Pagosa thirteen years ago and built their home. Michael received his Pilot’s License in 1968 and started building his aircraft in 1988. He completed it in 1996 and has flown it for over 3400 hours. He and his wife have flown it across the United States many times. He has been flying formation for 10 years here in Pagosa.
 
Doug Dellmore, Pagosa resident since 1990 and local pilot will be flying a Cubcrafters Carbon Cub, which is a short takeoff and landing recreational aircraft.  Doug has been retired from business since 2009 where he was active as an entrepreneur in various water treatment technologies and overseas ventures.  He now enjoys spending time in Pagosa and the surrounding mountains for recreational opportunities such as flying, fishing, hiking and entertaining his children and grandchildren who are growing rapidly and enjoy visiting our community.
 
Skip Thomas will be flying a Van’s RV4 in the Pagosa Springs Fourth of July Parade.  Skip began formation training with the San Jan Squadron three years ago and has attended a formal training program at Fredericksburg TX.  In addition to aircraft, Skip is an accomplished helicopter pilot.  He is also a classically trained violinist, and is learning to fiddle with his friends in Pagosa Springs.
 
Jim Lane is the founder of the Pagosa Springs own San Juan Squadron of Formation Pilots.  Jim organized the Squadron in 2006, and has trained all of the pilots and served as Lead for the last eleven Pagosa Springs Fourth of July Parades.  He has been flying precision formation flights for over 20 years.  He has over 4300 hours’ total flying time as a civilian and served in the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
 
Jim will be riding as Copilot with Lead Pilot Craig Taylor for the 2018 Parade.  He will insure that the formation arrives overhead just as the last words of the National Anthem are sung.
 
Tim Gallagher flies a Van’s RV4 painted white with blue trim.  Tim has been flying with the Pagosa Springs San Juan Squadron for eight years.  His at first flew his Piper Comanche in formation, then opted to rebuild and restore a damaged RV4 for formation and acrobatic flying.
Tim spent his career in Alamosa as a farmer and farm equipment dealer, and now splits his time between Pagosa Springs and Alamosa. Tim and his wife, Marsha, are avid ATV riders and participate with the Pagosa Trail Riders ATV club.
 
John Vander Horck moved to Pagosa Springs five years ago with his wife Stacey from Southern California after retiring from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a Commander with 34 years of county service.
 
As a young man, he began flying in 1965 at Van Nuys Skyways, a Cessna Aircraft dealer at Van Nuys Airport in Southern California, where he worked. He attained his Private Pilot’s license in 1966 and his Commercial Pilot’s license in 1970. In the early 70’s, John worked for Ted Smith Aircraft as a flight line mechanic and flew with the production test pilots on the first 100 high-performance Aerostars built in Van Nuys. He later worked for Lockheed Aircraft in Palmdale, California, on the new Lockheed L1011 airliner. He joined the sheriff’s department in 1971. John built and dabbled in ultralight aircraft during the ultralight heyday of the early 80’s during which time he also owned and flew single engine Cessna aircraft.
 
Upon moving to Pagosa Springs in 2013, he spent three years and 1,800 hours building his current aircraft at home, a Van’s RV-12, a low-wing, two-place side-by-side experimental light sport aircraft, white with dark blue trim, powered by a 100 HP Rotax engine. It cruises at 120 knots (138 MPH).  
 
Travis Reese, from Grand Junction, is the newest member of the San Juan Squadron.  He flies a black and silver Van’s RV4 aircraft.   Travis began formation training at  formal training programs at Lake Havasu California, and at Madera California this spring. Travis is an accomplished competitor in acrobatic flying. He and his wife, Elizabeth are both back country pilots flying “bush” aircraft.  Their son, Colby hopes to become a pilot, too.  Travis is a real estate developer, specializing in larger apartment buildings in several locations in the US.