JON MELBY
Jon loves to fly. As a child, Jon used to dream about flying like a bird. He
first attempted flight when he was eight years old. He climbed onto the roof of
his Duluth, Minnesota two story bungalow, tied some boards to his arms and
jumped into a pile of raked leaves. Then, he fabricated a parachute using rope
tied to the four ends of a blanket and the other end to his back, he then jumped
again! A crowd of neighborhood children gathered to watch him "fly". For the
first time, Jon experienced the combination of flight and "on the edge"
performance. He was hooked.
Growing up, Jon also enjoyed motor-cross racing, snow skiing in both freestyle
and slalom racing, ice hockey, and flying U-Control model airplanes. Whatever
involved speed, flight, and competition appealed to Jon's innate need to perform
before an audience.
Throughout the years, Jon continued to pursue his dream of flying. His first
airplane flight at age 12 fueled his desire to become a pilot. By age 15, he had
the goal to solo in a sailplane before his 16th birthday. For one hot Arizona
summer month, Jon rode his bicycle 45 miles to the airport each weekend to learn
to fly gliders. He soloed one week prior to his 16th birthday. Then, at age 19,
Jon pursued his pilot's license by buying an airplane first, then hiring an
instructor to teach him to fly! Jon also served in the US Air Force as a Special
Operations MC-130 Aircraft Loadmaster flying in many dangerous and classified
missions. Years later, after flying with a friend in a Pitts S2B aerobatic
aircraft, Jon found his passion - flying upside down.
Jon received 3 months of aerobatic training, practiced nearly every day, and
entered his first aerobatic competition held in Borrego Springs, California. He
placed third out of 24 pilots in the Sportsman level and received the "Best
First Time Sportsman" trophy. One month later, he attended two Arizona contests
and placed first and second. He won the Arizona State Sportsman Champion title
for that year, Walter Briggs memorial trophy for the highest scoring pilot of
the year, Pitts Trophy (the highest scoring Pitts pilot), and the Sportsman
Pilot of the Year. It was then that Jon knew aerobatics was where he enjoyed
aviation the most. Now, years later, he is an Advanced Level Aerobatic Pilot
flying a beautiful Black and Yellow Pitts S2B.
The Pitts S2B Jon flies has a 260 HP motor and is an exciting airplane to watch.
With a black and yellow checkerboard paint scheme, the Pitts is a classical
beauty. Jon’s routine includes his opening maneuver the "Rubber Band Man", along
with Torque Rolls, "Double Trouble", multiple point rolls, multiple snap rolls,
tail slide, 45 degree slow flight, "Vertical Tumbles", snapping humpty bumps,
"flat top turn around", Centrifuge, "Upright multiple flat spin", his ending
"inverted wing wave" to the crowd, plus much - much more.
His goal is to perform his aerobatic routine in as many Airshows as possible in
order to share his passion for flying with others. As Jon likes to say, "...it's
all about the airshow crowd and demonstrating to them the joy of flying...maybe
I can pass the flying bug on to them!".