Bob Blankenship

Raised on the family farm at Goat Shed, Arkansas, Bob Blankenship began his flying career at Pine Bluff’s Grider Field. After a number of years of crop dusting for Ag-Air Flying Service in Pine Bluff, Bob decided to pursue a career with Southwest Airlines where he remained until retiring at age 65. Bob continued flying a Dassault Falcon Jet in a corporate capacity.
In addition to the aforementioned careers, Bob was also renowned for flying the airshow circuit. He was especially well known for his “Granny” act of landing his J-3 Cub on a modified rack on a pickup truck which was racing down the runway and performing aerobatics in his modified Stearman, “Ol’ Red”.

Bob acquired numerous type ratings during his career including the Douglas A-26 Avenger and C-47, Vought Corsair, North American P-51 Mustang and Grumman TBM Avenger to name a few. He has accumulated in excess of 40,000 flying hours.