Julie
Clark
Reprinted with permission from Richard S. Smith,
Belleville, Mich., who wrote this for Great Lakes Pilots News
in 1996.
You
would think being a captain for Northwest Airlines would
satisfy one’s desire to be up in the air. Not so for Julie
Clark! After delivering business travelers and vacationers
safely to their destination you will find Julie taking her
love of aviation to new height in her Chevron Mentor T-34 "Free
Spirit" (N134JC) or her yellow T-28 "Top
Banana" (N128JC).
Julie’s father,
Ernie Clark, was an airline pilot and her inspiration for
becoming a pilot. After a few trips with her father she
realized what airplanes did and how they flew. Early in her
childhood she made a decision that aviation would be a major
part of her life. By the time she was in grade school she was
reading all she could read about aviation, especially military
aviation. There wasn’t an airplane Julie could not identify.
Life soon became difficult for Julie. At age 14 her mother
died and at age 15 she was orphaned with the tragic death of
her father. In 1964, before today’s airline security
measures were even thought of, a deranged passenger entered
the open cockpit and shot her father and the co-pilot causing
the airliner to crash, killing all on board.
Mixing brains with
beauty, Julie was crowned San Carlos High School Homecoming
queen in 1964. In 1966 she was crowned Miss San Carlos.
Finding the money for
flying lessons at UC Santa Barbara, California was not easy
for Julie. She water-skied professionally at Marine Works; she
used her college book money to pay for flying lessons. In time
she earned her commercial pilot’s license and went hunting
to find that dream aviation job.
For 18 months,
between 1974-75, she was a contract instructor for the US Navy
at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. In 1977, Julie
said she felt like she died and went to heaven; she was hired
by Hughes Air West Airlines as their first female pilot. In
1980 Hughes Air West merged with North Central Airlines and
Southern Airlines to become Republic Airlines and in 1986 they
merged with Northwest Airlines. After more than 20 years of
flying and three mergers, Julie is now a captain for Northwest
Airlines.
Julie, a Life Member
of the Confederate Air Force, started her air show career
flying for the CAF as part of a three-ship team of T-34’s
called the CAF Falcons. She has also flown the B-17 and PBY
for the Arizona and Pacific Wing of the CAF. Since 1980 she
has been flying as a solo act.
In 1976 Julie
borrowed $1,000 from a schoolteacher friend and flying
student, and submitted a US Government auction bid of $18,000
on a T-34 she had never seen. Six months later Julie
was notified she had submitted the winning bid. She then had
to borrow another $14,000 which was not easy to do being a new
airline pilot making $475 per month. She flew the T-34 2,900
miles from Anchorage, Alaska to her home in California where
she restored the aircraft inside and out. Today her aircraft,
with its Air Force One paint scheme and limited edition Victor
285 HP engine (Continental I0-520) is worth in excess of
$450,000.
Each performance,
which is approximately 15 minutes, has G-forces ranging from
five-and-a-half to six positive, and zero to one negative. As
the Chevron Mentor T-34 does not have an inverted fuel or oil system,
the fuel tanks are always full due to the tank baffling.
Otherwise when Julie goes vertical the engine would quit. She
is constantly working the boost pumps during her maneuvers-
turning them on to maintain fuel flow and turning them off
because they tend to cause rich fuel flow. Julie wants at
least a 1500-foot ceiling AGL for her air show routine. Her
only other concern is when the wind is blowing towards the
crowd as extra effort is required to keep the airplane within
the show lines.
Julie’s sky dance
with "Free Spirit" is an aerial ballet choreographed
to Lee Greenwood’s "God Bless the U.S.A." and
"God Bless You Canada." She named her airplane
"Free Spirit" for the spirit of freedom of the
United Stated of America. For her junior year in high school,
Julie spent a year as an exchange student in Chile. After
returning home she realized what a great country we have.
Patriotism is very important to Julie and she has chosen to
express her patriotism in her flying.
Also important to
Julie are the air show aficionados. She always takes time to
talk to her fans and sign autographs. Julie said, "If I
can inspire just one persona, one little kid each weekend, I
feel I’ve accomplished something."
It is not easy for
Julie to schedule her air shows around her airline flying. She
can fly as a captain on larger aircraft and make more money.
However, Julie chooses to stay on the DC-9 for now because she
is a very senior captain on the DC-9 and finds it easier to
schedule her time off for air shows.
One day while antique
hunting in Minnesota Julie met Gladys, the owner of Hot
Sam’s Antiques in Lakeville, Minnesota. Gladys has become
Julie’s adopted mother who attends most of Julie’s air
shows. Sometimes she will travel with the support unit, other
time she will fly there with Julie in the Chevron Mentor T-34.
A friend and constant
companion of Julie is her dog, Magneto. Thirteen years ago
while on an airline lay over she found Magneto, and animal of
various pedigrees, in a state of declining health. With a new
home and a good medical plan, Magneto enjoys a life of
adventure and good health. Magneto flies in "Free
Spirit" to all the air shows with Julie.
When asked what was
her most memorable flying experience Julie said she had two.
One was in 1994 when she gave then Chrysler President Bob Lutz
a ride in "Free Spirit." "It was memorable
because he was the number one person at Chrysler and a former
marine pilot. He had me do aerobatics over the Chrysler
proving grounds with a lot of people watching on the ground
knowing Mr. Lutz was in the back seat." The other was
flying with Canadian Snowbirds, as a passenger, for their full
air show.
Her more memorable
flying experience was early in her flying career (1984) when
she was doing a four-point roll and her seat slid all the way
back. Barely able to right the airplane and narrowly missing a
tree, she immediately landed. The front seat is now bolted in
place. If someone were to fly her airplane they would have to
be short.
Julie says her father
is always with her. Before each flight she says a little
prayer, "Don’t let me do noth’n dumb Dad." In
over 25,000 hours of flying , including over 1000 air shows,
she has never bent an airplane, never landed gear up, never
been violated by the FAA. With her dad’s help we’re sure
she never will.
The Plane
Chevron Mentor T-34
The
T-34 Mentor was the brainchild of Walter Beech. Following
W.W.II Beech began the T-34 design based on his Beechcraft
Model 35 Bonanza. Although no defense budget existed at the
time for a new trainer model, Beech developed the T-34 as a
private venture, hoping to sell it to the military as a more
economical alternative to the North American T-6/NJ then in
use by all services.
During 1948 Beech
completed three concept aircraft which were based on the A-35
Bonanza and designated Model 45 by the company. While Beech
included a V-tail similar to the Bonanza in this group, the
final design emerged with the more conventional tail for the
benefit of a conservative military.
The first flight was
on December 2, 1948 by company test pilot Vern Carstens.
Following a demonstration for the Air Force, they ordered
production of three military test aircraft with the military
designation YT-34.
First flown in 1949,
the Mentor was demonstrated by famed acrobatic pilots Bevo
Howard and Betty Skelton at the Cleveland Airshow.
The T-34 eventually
won a long competition to determine a new trainer but Walter
Beech did not live to see production. He died of a heart
attack in 1950. The T-34 went into service with the USAF
(T-34A) in 1953, and with the U.S. Navy (T-34B) in 1955. It
was also license built in Canada, Japan and Argentina. T-34A
production ran from 1953 to 1956.
Restoration
fans will appreciate that Julie bought her Beechcraft T-34A in
1977, "sight unseen" at a government surplus
auction, in Anchorage, Alaska, for $18,000. She flew the
airplane, dubbed "Free Spirit", 2900 miles to her
home in California. Julie then personally began the
painstaking process of restoring the hand-polished, aluminum
airplane inside and out. "Over the next four years, I
spent many long hours bringing the airplane back to mint
condition" says Clark, "and it requires daily
maintenance to keep it that way".
Beginning
with her own creative version of the "Air Force One"
paint theme, the aircraft is constantly undergoing upgrading
and modification. Julie’s T-34 now sports a, 24-karat
gold limited edition, 285 horsepower Victor Engine. This fully
blueprinted engine, built by Victor Aviation of Palo Alto,
California, replaces the original stock 225hp engine. It is
coupled to a Hartzell three-bladed prop serviced by American
Propeller of Redding, California.
Julie
chose the T-34A because she had flown many hours in T-34’s
while a civilian instructor for the U.S. Navy at Lemore Naval
Air Station in 1974-75. She was Navy trained in tactical
maneuvers, formation flying and aerobatics. Although T-34
aircraft saw countless hours as trainers, for both the U.S.
Air Force and Navy pilots, in the 1950’s, the airplane
demands tremendous skill to fly aerobatics.
Julie
explains, " the T-34 requires great concentration and
anticipation during aerial maneuvers, as the aircraft does not
have an inverted oil or fuel system, so inverted flight must
be very carefully calculated.
Julie is a member of
the T-34 Association and a strong supporter of warbird
preservation. For an illustrated history read Lou Drendel’s
book, "T-34 Mentor in Action" (ISBN 0-89747-249-7)
by Squadron/Signal Publications, 1115 Crowley Drive,
Carrollton, TX 75011-5010.
CHEVRON MENTOR T-34 A/B
SPECIFICATIONS
| Wingspan:
32’9" |
| Length:
25’9" |
| Height:
10’6" |
| Empty
Weight: 2250 Lbs |
| Max
Gross Weight: 2950 Lbs |
| Engine:
Continental 6 Cyl. IO-520 285hp |
| Max
Speed: 214 Knots |
| Cruise
Speed: 160 Knots |
| Service
Ceiling: 20,000 feet |
| Range:
500 Miles |
| Initial
Rate of Climb: 1,000 FPM |
U.S.
PRODUCTION
YT-34A 3
T-34A-BH (A-45) 350
T-34A-CCF (A-45) 100
T-34B (D-45) 423
EXPORT
PRODUCTION
T-34A (B-45) 161
T-34A (FUJI) 162
http://www.americanaerobatics.com
