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Pilots Display Passion and Skill at Grand Junction Air Show

by KREX News Room
by Amanda Brandeis

Story Created: Sep 23, 2012 at 7:40 PM MDT

Story Updated: Sep 24, 2012 at 7:48 AM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.- The Grand Junction Air Show has provided audiences with action packed shows for three days. Sunday was the last day crowds could head head to the Grand Junction Regional Airport to enjoy the aerial acrobatics.

For these pilots, the sky is their highway.

Gordy Horvath, the team leader of the U.S Army Special Operations Command, Black Daggers, said, "It translates exactly to military free fall, which is the capability that allows the guys to get as high as 35,000 feet, open up their parachutes and fly into a remote area, completely undetected."

They've made it their mission to patrol the airways.

"To me, to be able to go in and to make sure that my family at home is safe, I'm down range doing things. I know in my heart that because I'm here everybody back home is safe," said Horvath.

Jeff Finman, a parachute maintenance technician and member of the Black Daggers, said, "It was truly an honor. Yesterday I flew the American flag in, and today I flew in the POW flag. It's a higher honor than I could ever imagine being bestowed on myself."

For Dan Buchanan, losing his ability to walk couldn't keep him out of the sky.

"There was no decision to make about getting back in the sky; there was no reason not to," Buchanan said.

Buchanan suffered a spinal injury in 1981.

"I got hurt flying in stormy weather. I shouldn't have been flying at all. it was my dumb decision, and yeah, I got hurt and paralyzed my legs. It was about five months before I got in the air again," said Buchanan.

Now he thrills crowds with a one-of-a-kind show, "I love doing the entertainment, and the kids make it all worth while."

"It's awesome. You hear all the little kids, and that's the big thing. On show sites you see little kids yelling and screaming and cheering; that's probably the biggest part of it," Horvath said.

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