Mission Accomplished! A Backseat Experience. By John Perchulyn Photographer and Contributor
There wasn’t any New Years Eve celebrating to be done by the 9 Tiger Squadron Pilots assigned to fly the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day. On New Year’s Eve day final preparations were being conducted by the TS pilots to insure all went smoothly for the following day’s mission.
The call for the preflight brief came at 7:30 on New Year’s Day. The pilots and the Forward Air Controller (FAC) gathered around in the hanger to once more go over the plans to hit the Veterans for Coding float at the precise time it passes the review stand.
The team listened intently to Craig Ekberg, the lead pilot going over the route, arrival timing and contingency plans etc., I got goose bumps. As the team photographer I have been privileged to back seat with the Tigers on many occasions but this just was no ordinary mission, so I was very excited to be part of this once in a lifetime event.
Once brief was completed the time came for all pilots and back seat passengers to get on board, get strapped into our parachutes and seat belts.
At the staging area the pilots perform a final smoke check.
The control tower finally gave clearance and all pilots gave the thumbs up signal that they were ready for takeoff.
After the wheels came up we banked right over Carson and headed towards Pasadena. I listened to Craig constantly monitoring the parades progress transmissions from John Bucher, the FAC.
As we got near the parade route we arrived a little bit early so we circled the Hollywood Hills area in a holding pattern.
The time approached for us to head for the parade but at the last minute our time got changed. John radioed that there was a slight delay in the parade due to protesters causing the parade to slow down.
Craig quickly reacted to the issue and adjusted our pattern so we would not arrive too early. After a few loops around the hills again, John radioed to Craig the go ahead.
The Tigers tightened up the formation and headed for the parade route.
As we neared the parade, Craig had the two wing pilots turn their smoke on to alert the crowd we were coming. Craig then gave the signal, “smoke on” and the rest of the pilots switched their smoke on.
Seconds later we were directly over the target at the precise time the float approached the review stand. Mission accomplished!
Upon returning to the hanger for the debrief, texts starting pouring in from parade officials that the flight over the float was spectacular and extremely precise and “well done”!
The next day the headline “Top 5 attractions of the Rose Parade” came across news wires. Many of the local news publications carried the article. It Identified the B2 Bomber and the Tiger Squadron as #1.
The 9 pilot Tiger Squadron lineup for the Rose Parade flight were, from left to right, David Shaby, Gil Lipaz, Ben Holm, Peter Broen, Craig Ekberg, Ryder Adams, Brad Amman, Gary Eliminoufi and Robert McNerney.
Congratulations to the 9 Pilots of the Tiger Squadron for pulling off a flawless formation mission!
It was a once in a life time event for me and I was thrilled to be part of their success being in the back seat.
John Perchulyn and his wife Joyce, have been residents of the South Bay for over 40 years. Both are retired and enjoying the South Bay life. Since John’s retirement he has been filling the role of Team Photographer for the Tiger Squadron as well as doing Public Relations for the team. “Getting to participate in Tiger Squadron practice and event flights is a real thrill and privilege” John adds, “What really impresses me is the team’s dedication to practicing to perfection. I have no fear flying inverted with any of the pilots” The Tigers also conduct many flyovers to honor our military Veterans. “I get emotional when the team conducts a traditional missing man formation flyover at the graveside memorial for a fallen Veteran as well as the many other Veteran events they participate in such as the annual Veterans fishing tournament out in Catalina”. John often displays images he captures from Tiger events on local social media.
