The Pitts Formation

Four generations of biplane pilots. Three generations of airshow formation aerobatics.

John Boyd: RFC, World War One
Tim Boyd: RCAF F-86 F-104, Pitts
Andrew Boyd: ATP/CFI L39 L29 T-6 Stearman Pitts
Eric Boyd: ICAS Form 500 at age 18 Pitts

Our aviation history actually goes back much farther than World War One, when John WG Boyd and his brother Philip B Boyd flew
biplanes in the RFC.

Our 4th cousin Sir George Cayley was the pioneer of aviation, starting in the 1700's. He was a polymath that built the first heavier
than air, fixed wing aircraft to carry a human aloft. It was his butler, actually, who promptly quit, so cousin George employed
neighborhood children to fly his later gliders. They were light and had no morbid fear of death, and as such were well suited to
the role of the world's first test pilots. If you have a technical background, you are probably more familiar with our 1st cousin
Arthur Cayley the mathematician.

You might be familiar with our other cousins, Orville and Wilbur Wright. If not, turn your pilot certificate over.