I was truly hoping that I would not have to
display a page like this again this year, and my wish almost came true. It was just a short
time ago on Memorial Day of this year at an air show in Minnesota, that one of the planes from last
year's show went down killing the pilot and Red Tail project leader Don Hinz. Don was not at
last year's show as the Red Tail P-51C was piloted by team member Doug Rozendaal (seen piloting the
airplane below). An excerpt from the local newspaper, the Red Wing Republican Eagle, told it like this:
A P-51 Mustang made an emergency off-airport landing during the "Wings of Freedom: Salute
to Veterans" airshow at the Red Wing (Minnesota) Regional Airport Saturday. The pilot
communicated the plane was experiencing mechanical failure and at about 2:10 p.m., the plane
avoided power lines, a large tree and houses in the area to land in the backyard of a home near
Hager City, Wisconsin. Emergency crews from the airport responded to the scene and the pilot,
who was awake and still inside the plane shortly after going down, was air lifted to a hospital
and was in serious condition.
Don Hinz died of his injuries the following day. I am pretty sure that all who reads this
shares in the sadness that this incident generated. I also hope that it creates a greater
appreciation for the risk these brave pilots endure every time they take to the air to entertain us.
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