The Horsemen Flight Team
The Horsemen Flight Team is the world’s only three-ship P-51 Mustang formation aerobatic team. Formed in 1994, the team’s mission is to “Escape Life’s Gravity” while honoring historic aircraft that were pivotal during the World War II era.
THE aircraft//
P-51 Mustang//Frenesi
Originally built in 1944 as an F-6K reconnaissance variant, it was piloted by Brig. Gen. Thomas Lloyd Hayes, Jr. as one of the first D-model Mustangs in the 357th Fighter Group. The aircraft participated in the D-Day campaign and believed to be one of the only surviving airworthy Mustangs today that operated on D-Day. It was decommissioned from the USAF in 1946 following a time trial crash. Frenesi spent time with the Dominican Air Force during 1954-1984 before returning to U.S. soil in 1990. A 12-year restoration returned “Frenesi” to its original paint scheme featuring black and white invasion stripes before it reemerged in February 2017. The aircraft has been owned by Horsemen Flight Team pilot Dan Friedkin since 2009
p-51 mustang//bald eagle
“Bald Eagle” pays tribute to D-Day and the 361st Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force with the signature invasion stripe paint scheme. The scheme is based on the P-51 Mustang flown by Lt. Robert Eckfeldt, who served in the 361st‘s 374th Fighter Squadron and is credited with destroying eight enemy aircraft. The aircraft was built at North American Aviation's Inglewood, California plant and accepted into the Army in 1945. It served five years in the Nicaraguan Air Force starting in 1958, served for five years. It has been owned by the Beasley family since 1979.
P-51 MUSTANG// DOUBLE TROUBLE TWO
Built in 1945 at North American Aviation's Inglewood, California plant and restored by Planes of Fame Museum and Fighter Rebuilders in 2005. The paint scheme pays homage to Col. William Bradford Bailey of the 353rd Fighter Group, The Slybird Group. Bailey earned the Silver Star, The Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Legion of Honor, and the Swedish Royal Order of the Sword during his time with the Air Force. Owned by the Friedkin Family since 1976.
THE PILOTS//
Ed Shipley//left wing pilot
Ed Shipley is a founding member of The Horsemen Flight Team, serving as left wing. His air show career began with the Six of Diamond T-6 formation aerobatic team, where he flew right wing and lead. Shipley was a 747 pilot for Atlas Air and has flown air shows for almost 30 years in the T-6, P-51, F4U, F8F, and F-86. He piloted a Mustang across the Atlantic and flew a F4U Corsair off of a nuclear aircraft carrier. Shipley is both a former board member of the International Council of Air Shows and Ace evaluator for warbirds and jets. He also flew as a Spitfire pilot in Christopher Nolan's acclaimed 2017 film Dunkirk, which tells the dramatic story of one of WWII's most important battles.
Jim Beasley, Jr//Lead pilot
Jim Beasley, Jr. is a founding member of the Horsemen Flight Team, serving as lead pilot in the world’s only three-ship P-51 Mustang aerobatic team. Jim has flown in hundreds of Heritage Flights across the United States, Canada and the U.K., accumulating thousands of hours in aircraft, such as his P-51 Mustang Bald Eagle and Supermarine Spitfire. In 2006, Beasley was voted “Civilian Heritage Flight Pilot of the Year.” He is an attorney and trial lawyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and runs The Beasley Firm, LLC, a complex litigation law firm. In addition to his role with Horsemen Flight Team, Beasley is a founding member of the Air Force Heritage Flight program, having performed the first dissimilar formation with the West Coast F-15 Eagle demonstration team at Shaw AFB in 1996.
Dan Friedkin//Right Wing Pilot
Dan Friedkin is the co-founder of the Horsemen Flight Team, the world’s only three-ship P-51 Mustang aerobatic team, performing at select air show events across the globe – from Flying Legends in the UK, to the Italian Air Force’s 100th Anniversary celebration at Pratica di Mare. Aviation has been a passion of Friedkin’s since an early age, when he first took to the skies developing his skills on gliders and a variety of tail wheel aircraft and helicopters. Today, he has a focus and passion for warbirds and actively flies the T‐6, P‐51 Mustang, F-5 Tiger, F‐86 Sabre, F6F, F8F, F4U‐4, Hawker Hurricane and various models of the Spitfire. Friedkin has worked on various well-known films such as Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed “The Mule,” Christopher Nolan’s epic IMAX film, “Dunkirk,” and “The Horsemen Cometh” as a lead pilot, aerial coordinator, and director. Additionally, Friedkin is the founder and chairman of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation and one of eight civilian Heritage Flight pilots qualified to fly in formation with the U.S. Air Force demonstration teams at air shows throughout North America and Europe.