One Of Our Business's Best Still Having Fun
One of the best seats in any "house" has to be the one occupied by one of the best airshow and stunt pilots the industry has ever known, a rather jovial guy by the name of Corky Fornof.
You've seen him fly at airshows, even seen him play James Bond, but these days Corkey is out extolling the virtues of a little airplane that was the dream of a guy named Roy Lopresti. That plane, the Fury, has been slowly battling its way to a hoped-for production start and deliveries in the next few years.
Fornof is more than James Bond's 'stand-in pilot.' Corkey is a living/flying legend... for all the right reasons. Corkey flew with his father, J.W. "Bill" Fornof, in a world famous two ship air show with matching bronze Bearcats for a number of years (until Bill's tragic loss in 1971).
Their airshow business was based in Houma and involved routines built around the flying of the T6, Mustang and his favorite warbird, the rotund but formidable Bearcat. He has over 17,000 hours in over 287 different types of aircraft and has worked as a test pilot, corporate pilot, and formed the first civilian jet demonstration team. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Motion Picture Pilots Association -- among others.
He has planned, organized and flown some of the most thrilling aviation stunts in movies -- movies with immediately familiar names -- like License to Kill, Face Off, Moonraker, The Phantom, or Six Days and Seven Nights. And to add to these distinctions, he's flown for over 100 commercials and even done his thing on MTV.
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