The gift of flight is nothing short of a super power.  While us mere mortals need a little help, this little plane will give its lucky pilot both lift beyond belief!

Meet the “Window World MX2”.  At only 6’ tall and 21’ long, it is no giant in the aeronautical world.  With a top speed of 253 MPH, it is not a speed demon.  Being able to withstand up to roughly 12 Gs makes it possible for this plane to nail tighter aerobatic maneuvers than gold medal gymnasts!  The Wright brothers flew for seconds at only a 10’ feet off the ground.  100 years later this little plane can fly at full speed 7’ off the ground and then, in only seconds, do a perfect vertical climb to several thousand feet.  A short time later, after a series of snap barrel rolls, the skilled pilot points the nose back to the earth, only to pull up within feet of certain death.  All this is done in front of over 100,000 excited on-lookers at airshows around the country up to 24 times a year.  Rob Holland is the lucky, and extremely skilled, pilot that performs these adrenalin filled stunt shows in the MX2.  On the fuselage us painted “Fly it like you STOLE it.”  A very fitting saying to describe exactly what he does at work each day.

I had the opportunity to visit Rob and his MX2 at the Wings Over Homestead airshow last year.  I made this image when he was quietly fueling his plane and visualizing his upcoming performance.  While Rob is standing on the far side of the plane in this frame, it looks as though they are bonded as one.  It reminded me of how it is during a show  – his split second thought becomes immediate action in a place man once only dreamed to experience.

3 Frame HDR, Processed with Protomatix Pro, LR, PS