Jim Bourke

Project Director & Host

Jim Bourke is an active aerobatic competitor and air show pilot, the owner of Knife Edge Software (the makers of the “RealFlight” simulator), the President of the International Aerobatic Club, and a member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics Hall of Fame for his extensive work in model aviation. He lives in Corvallis, OR where he spends most of his free time flying or teaching aerobatics.

more about jim
  • Jim has been an avid fan of the Hall Bulldog for over 25 years, beginning with a friend’s copy of a book on racing planes where he first spotted a drawing of this beautiful aircraft.
  • When Jim isn’t messing around with his airplanes he plays guitar, shares time with his girlfriend, Marianne Fox, and tries very hard to improve his relationship with his weirdly antisocial dog, Marvin.
  • Jim has visited every U.S state but Rhode Island.

Tony Horvath

Project Director & Host

Tony Horvath is the owner of Specialty Aero where he specializes in tube and fabric airplanes. Recipient of the 2019 Curtis Pitts Memorial trophy he has built many airplanes including including Sean D Tucker’s Oracle Challenger III. In his youth Tony could be found every weekend at his home airport of Hobby Field in Creswell, OR. There, his fascination in golden age racers grew from watching Delmar Benjamin’s Gee Bee R2 and Jim Wright Hughes’ racer replicas being constructed.

More about tony
  • Tony’s been in aviation since 1991
  • Tony lives in Creswell, OR with his family – kids Piper and James, and wife Megan. When he’s not at the airport he’s at home working on projects around the house.
  • Random fact about Tony: he is left-handed. He loves his right hand but, clearly, not as much.

Matthew Lawlor

Historian

For over a decade Matthew has devoted his time to studying and preserving the history of the former Bowles-Agawam Airport, where Bob Hall and the Springfield Aircraft Company designed and built the original Springfield Bulldog racer in 1932.

Matt is a former 30-year resident of the Springfield, MA area, and his childhood home was located only a few hundred yards from the site of the old airfield in Agawam. Inspired by his lifelong love of aviation, Matt has been gathering the stories of his hometown’s historic airfield. One of the most important stories is that of Bob Hall and the Bulldog.

These days Matt lives in Wilmington, NC with his wife Sarah and a bulldog of their own “Wilson.”

More about Matthew
  • Matt has been an aviation enthusiast his entire life. The last 12 years have been dedicated to the study of the golden age of aviation in Springfield, MA.
  • Matt is a professional artist. He works primarily as a landscape painter, showing his work in area galleries and competitions. Beyond paints and brushes, he also devotes time to graphic design and colorizing vintage black and white photographs.
  • Matt was recently part of the team that restored the USS Lexington Museum’s F-14 Tomcat. Returning the plane to the paint scheme it wore while filming the movie “Top Gun” in 1985.

Kevin Kimball

Engineer

Kevin Kimball owns JKE Works, Inc. in Mount Dora, Florida, and has specialized in restoring vintage airplanes since 1980. Together with his father, Jim, and son, Kallin, the Kimballs have restored or scratch-built over 130 planes, ranging from cubs to staggerwings. Kevin developed the HP kit version of the Pitts model 12 aerobatic aircraft designed by Curtis Pitts and went on to sell over 120 kits. Kevin was honored as the first recipient of the Curtis Pitts Innovative Aerobatic Design Award in 2009, in part due to the success of the model 12 program. Kevin has designed and built two airplanes, a full-scale and highly accurate replica of the Gee Bee Z and the Mccullocoupe.

More about Kevin
  • Kevin began working on vintage airplanes with his parents at 7 years old.
  • Kevin and his wife, Robin, have two kids, one daughter in law, two grandchildren and 3 grand dogs.
  • Kevin has produced 11 patents in the marine engine propulsion industry.

Mirco Pecorari

Designer

Mirco is the founder and chief designer of AircraftStudioDesign based in Modena, Italy. He studied at Ferrari School and graduated as an automotive technician. Mirco’s passion for aircraft started at age 3 and, according to his mother, his first word was “Aplano.” Mirco founded his design studio in 1991 in a bedroom using AutoCad 2.5. Today the company has produced dozens of unique industrial design products, five aircraft designs, one boat, and hundreds of livery designs for planes, boats and cars.


More about Mirco
  • Mirco loves to mix art and technology.
  • Mirco has designed 7000 aircraft concepts so far.
  • Mirco is getting his PPL at 56… It’s never too late!