'Air Pirates' know too well the risks of their business

“She’s in 2-inch heels. I’m trying to fly,” Kyle Franklin said. “It’s a very difficult thing to do.”

Dressed as a pirate (Captain Kyro) and his wench (Scandalous Scarlet) for their “Pirated Skies” act, the Franklins are performing in 20 shows this year, including the Vectren Dayton Air Show on July 17-18.

The couple are dedicated to their work as air show performers, even though their fathers died together in a July 2005 crash at a Canada air show, Kyle Franklin said. Pilots Bobby Younkin, 49, and Jimmy Franklin, 57, part of an aerobatics team called the Masters of Disaster, were killed at the Saskatchewan Air Show in Moose Jaw, Canada, when their biplanes collided as spectators watched.

“It was one of those things,” Kyle Franklin said. “We all know the risks in this business.”

Kyle Franklin had done a wing-walk with his father earlier on the day of the crash. Amanda Younkin-Franklin now walks the wings for her husband.

Amanda, 24, and Kyle, 30, are third-generation pilots in their families. The plane he uses for their act was bought by his father in 1967.

Kyle and Amanda met at an air show in 2004, started dating, and married a few months after their fathers died.

From Neosho, Mo., where Kyle’s business Franklin’s Flying Circus is based, the couple commute to the air shows. They disassemble the airplane to truck it to shows. It takes two hours to assemble the plane, and 90 minutes to take it apart.

Although their act seems to be fraught with hazards, the performers know their limits, Kyle Franklin said.

“We know our airplanes. We know our capabilities,” he said. “The trick to surviving in this business is staying within that envelope, knowing your capabilities.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@coxohio.com.