In a rare aviation event, Jim Beasley Jr., managing partner of the Beasley Firm and an aviation law expert, led a five-ship formation of Navy Fighter aircraft over Texas during the April 17th Corpus Christi Air Show.

Beasley, along with Dan Friedkin and Ed Shipley of his aerobatic team, "The Horsemen," flew three 1946 Grumman F8F "Bearcats" in formation with two of the United States Navy's Blue Angel flight-demonstration team.

The Navy, which had previously never permitted a flight of this formation to occur, allowed Beasley and his wingmen to not only fly with the Blue Angels, but also lead the historic flight at the recent "South Texas Shoot-Out" Air Show.

The Horsemen are the world's only P-51 Mustang formation aerobatics team. For the Corpus Christi Air Show, however, Beasley and his wingmen traded in their Mustangs for a trio of F8F Bearcats. The last time a formation team of Bearcats flew was in 1946 by the Navy's own Blue Angels.

The F8F Bearcat was the fastest prop-driven fighter ever produced by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. It flew at a speed of 421 mph, but was manufactured too late to see combat in World War II. Fighter pilots of the day likened the fighter plane to a Harley-Davidson. The Bearcat was equipped with a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine and four .50-caliber machine guns.
  
Beasley is a commercially rated pilot with over 5,000 flight hours in high-performance fighter aircraft as well as twin-engine turboprop aircraft. He also is a founding member of the United States Air Force's "Heritage Flight" aerial demonstration team. A considerable part of his trial practice at The Beasley Firm is focused on aviation accident litigation.

Check out videos of The Horsemen's historic flight with the Blue Angels on airshowbuzz.com