Wings Over Cullman air show headliner, Joe "Rifle" Shetterly, flew his A-10 West Demo on Armed Forces Day last year to the delight of thousands. This year, the USAF announcement that Warthog demo teams for the 2012 show season would be on hold was met with huge disappointment by all air show fans. That loss left a gaping hole for a highly popular military jet demo performance. For all those "Rifle" fans, he is back, but with a new ride. Rifle will still be flying an A-10 in the military but has found a way to perform in air shows on his own terms, in a stunning RV-8.
According to his website, Joe "Rifle" Shetterly flat out LOVES TO FLY! His dad logged Joe's first flight when he was 6 months old. Rifle has continued that same tradition by logging similar entries in both of his own son's logbooks. Joe flew U-control airplanes since before he can remember and began competing with radio-controlled airplanes at 8 years old. When his parents bought a Citabria, learning to fly full-scale airplanes was a natural transition. His first solo flight was on his 16th birthday and at 17, he earned his Private Pilot's License in the family's Citabria. Rifle flew his first aerobatic competition as a teenager about a year later. Joe became a Flight Instructor in 2002 and has logged nearly 1400 hours as a civilian flight instructor. He currently holds a Commercial Pilot's License for single and multi-engine aircraft as well as a Commercial Glider License.
Rifle was the 2010-2011 A-10 West Demonstration Pilot flying nearly 250 aerobatic performances in the A-10C at more than 60 different events around the world. He has logged 1300+ hours in the A-10 (including 140 in combat) and is currently an active instructor in the mighty Thunderbolt II (The Warthog). Rifle's total flying time is 4000+ hours. He has flown as Pilot-In-Command of more than 115 different makes and models of airplanes and has test-flown (flown the very first flights) on 6 different experimental aircraft.
The Rifle Airshows RV-8 is a highly polished member of the most prolific family of homebuilt aircraft ever made. N76540 is a beautifully built example with a unique history. The N-number tells the story of the builder (Eugene Gaddis) who served as a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. The N-number stands for the jets that Gene flew during his time as a military aviator: 7 is for A-7, 6 - F106, 5 - F5, 4 - F104, and 0 represents the F-100 and the A-10, according to his website.
Rifle hopes his aerobatic performance, flown in today's most prolific homebuilt aircraft, will spark an interest in learning to fly or even owning your own airplane. "It's never too late to learn." -B Meyer, FMI: booking, photos and video: Rifle Airshows