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Byron Originals: Striking Back

trucker17

trucker17

Charter Member
For those of you who do not know who Byron Godberson was or what Byron Originals is. Here is a little info on the man and the company.
Byron Godberson was owner and founder of Byron Originals, a small company located in Ida Grove, Iowa. Byron Originals quickly became the industry leader in mass produced Giant Scale R/C aircraft.
When Byron had passed away, the company stopped producing the giant scale kits, and continued to sell only R/C fuels.
In the 1980's Byron Originals started hosting R/C airshows. These shows led to the Striking Back shows. Striking back was a mock air battle set in the Pacific during WWII......
These shows became world renowned for these shows, with people driving and flying in from all over the world.
Sadly when Byron passed these shows also stopped.
Thanks to BigInfidelis from Youtube, one of the original Videos from the Striking Back shows can be seen......
Grab some popcorn, and pull up a chair, for one of the greatest R/C airshows ever produced.....
ENJOY.....
icon_mrgreen.gif


Part 1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J3TtNpJnp4

Part 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmZIu29_Sbc
 
Hadn't thought of that company name in years until I saw this post. I always wanted to get a Byron P-51D when I was into R/C's back in the early 80's but mine and my Father's budget made that prohibitive. Still, I got to see a number of Byron models fly in person both the piston and ducted fan jets. I saw these movies way back(can't remember what year) but it brings back a lot of good memories from those R/C days.
 
I was a Byron show team member and flew in the Striking back show for a couple years. I flew a Mustang that fired six Estas rockets and then switched to a 200 pound C-47 that dropped paratroopers. It was exciting but scary at the same time. Your in the air with 14 or more other RC warbirds and you have to stick to your routine. I have a lot of stories about this event but here are a few.

When I first arrived at the hangar (we had to go a month before the show to setup all the planes and gear) I saw a guy putting a plastic bag of gun powder in one of the Zeros. This plane was the designated blow up plane and always wore a red tail so we could keep clear. The guy doing the Zero setup was a Pyro expert from Hollywood and he also set up all the explosions and fires during the show. I watched him for a bit and noticed he had on a red shirt and in white letters on the back it said "If you see me running try to keep up"

This pyro guy almost blew my C-47 out of the air at one show (I did not really own the plane, just flew it and also was set for one million in insurance) . I was flying over the main show ready to drop the paratrooper when the large C-47 jerked to one side. I noticed the rudder was damaged so I aborted and landed. The pyro guy had a special cannon with 50 barrels that shot a quarter stick of dynamite into the air like an Ack Ack gun. He did his best to get close to us flyers and he got me with one round.

Flying the large C-47 was an experience and because it was very tail heavy from the 8 to 12 paratrooper it was a real handful until they were dropped. The first time I flew it the show manager was watching from the hangar. I took off and was flying around and the manager came down and said "your very far out, bring it in closer". Because of the size this plane could be seen half a mile away and I was flying over a small airport and did not realize it.

I had to fly a Mustang that shot six Estas hobby rockets made to look like WWII air to ground rockets. The rockets were set up with a rotary switch so that I could fire one or all six. I used to come in low and aim for my target, a train, and let all six go. It made a great sound and almost stopped the Mustang in the air like brakes.

The B-29 was the show final and dropped a fake nuke bomb behind the shows mountain. This nuke bomb explosion was very large and we could all feel the heat. Before the show a large hole was covered in plastic and a gas tanker would pull up and unload hundreds of gallons of gas into the hole, that was then set off with dynamite when the bomb was dropped, this of course stopped all traffic on the nearby interstate.

The show was not easy and my wife and I would take an hour walk before the show to settle the nerves. We all were members of the Byron 5th Air Force and wore uniforms and were as professional as possible under the circumstances. Because the show cost million or more to produce and was a labor of love there will never be another like it again and I am honored and very lucky to have been there and be a small part of it for a time.

I took a ton of videos of this show and some of the best such as a mid air of two Byron B-25's that got together because the pilots lost them in the show smoke, two crashes of the largest flying RC B-29 in the world during the show and others at my old web site RCWarbirds - be sure to watch the exploding Zeros one because it includes a composite of all the ones I taped over the years.

Link to my Bryon movies http://www.rcwarbirds.com/Video/videos.htm
 
Awesome story their TeiscoDelRay. I attended a couple of the shows, while driving trucks. Ida Grove is such a small town, that i had to get permission to park my rig at the supermarket, and catch a cab the first time i went to the show.....One of the parking attendants took me back to my truck so i could park at the show....
The members were real nice and very helpful. The shows were always awesome......
Craig.
 
Thanks for sharing those stories TeiscoDelRay. My Grandpa had a VHS tape of the 1984 show, that my brother and I watched over and over and over again. There will never be anything like that again. Good times!
 
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