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Bill Reesman

Seasoned Combat pilot and airshow pilot

"Airshows aren't really about flying. They area bout evoking emotion," says Bill Reesman. He should know: Reesman has more experience dazzling crowds with the amazing MiG-17F aircraft than any other American pilot.

And if creating emotion is the key to a successful show, Reesman has no peer. He performs the world's only nighttime jet-fighter pyrotechnic act, called "Red Bull Meteor." With over 1,000 feet of fire coming off each wing, his jet looks like a shooting star and astonishes spectators up to thirty miles away! But the emotion Reesman evokes can be up close and personal, too. He and his wife Julie Nistico Reesman, also a pilot, donate their time and resources to conduct Make-A-Wish flights, giving children with life-threatening conditions a thrill to remember.

"I have a risk-oriented personality," admits Reesman, noting that he sees risk and stress as positives that "let you know your 're alive."

Reesman's penchant for dicey pastimes first became apparent when he was a seven year-old in Wooster, Ohio. His dad took him to the Cleveland Air Races, and young Bill was enthralled. He learned to fly at 13 and soloed at the minimum legal age of 16.
After college at Ohio State, Reesman turned his avocation into a career - initially with the U.S. Air Force.

Reesman's daredevil personality manifested itself in a different way when he founded a marketing company, which he ran successfully until 1991. That's when he "retired" to become an airshow pilot. Some retirement!

"Flying a jet-fighter at 600 miles per hour is a very physical activity," Reesman explains. "I'm pulling 8-G's which means my ten-pound helmet becomes equivalent to 80 pounds, and my 200-pound body weights 1,600 pounds. Plus, it can get to 110 degrees in the cockpit. In a 12 minute airshow, I'll lose four to five pounds." Reesman regularly hikes near his Beverly Hills home to build stamina, and like all high-G pilots, he lifts weights religiously.