Wayne Handley

In 1963, when faced with the choice of either transitioning into the F-4 Phantom or taking an aerial application job back at home, he chose to be with his family, and started flying agricultural operations in fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft.

On the airshow circuit, he initially flew a Pitts Special biplane in an act that he called Agrobatics in which he merged some of the techniques that an agricultural pilot might employ while applying chemicals to crops with his own graceful style of aerobatic flying.

The Raven is a composite monoplane with a unique paint scheme that paid tribute to the bird species Corvus corax, which has been observed performing aerobatics apparently for fun.

It was fitted with a 750 horsepower (560 kW) Pratt & Whitney PT6A-25C turboprop that generated 2,800 pounds (12,500 N) of thrust, which gave the aircraft a power loading of less than 2.7 lb/hp at ready-to-fly weights.

On October 3, 1999, exactly one year to the day after its debut, the Turbo Raven was destroyed after the engine failed to deliver power during one such approach at the California International Airshow at Salinas Municipal Airport, and Handley was unable to accelerate above stall speed with the propeller in reverse pitch.

Handley continues to train, coach, and evaluate aerobatic students and airshow pilots from the ground and in flight as well as presenting safety seminars on spins and unusual attitudes.