Marion Cole (1924–2011) was an American Aerobatic pilot.

Early life

Cole was a flight instructor for the United States Navy in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Cole performed from 1947-1957 as part of the Cole Brothers Airshows along with his brothers Lester and Duane Cole, who remained in the business for many years flying a clipped wing

Taylorcraft Taylorcraft Aviation is an American airplane manufacturer that has been producing aircraft for more than 70 years in several locations. The company builds small single-engined airplanes. The Taylorcraft design is a conventional layout: high- ...

. Cole performed in a variety of aircraft. Cole flew a 450 hp 1951 Stearman 75 with wingwalking apparatus and his name painted on the sides. Cole became the 1952 National aerobatic champion in this aircraft, selling it to Cole Brother's team member Bill Adams. Cole was one of the founding members of the Red Devils aerobatic team with Bob Heuer and

Gene Soucy Gene Soucy is an American aerobatics pilot. The son of two pilots, he would wash airplanes at a local airport in exchange for flight time while growing up in Kentucky. He soloed in a glider at age 14, and in a regular airplane at 16. Soucy began ...

. Cole then formed Marion Cole Air Shows. In 1971, Cole and Art Scholl purchased the first two Pitts S2A models in production, later becoming a Pitts dealer. Marion's original S-2A is still flying, and was returned from Canadian registry to US registry in 2018. In the late 1970s Cole taught aerobatic training for civilian

Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. The six-seater, single-engined aircraft is still produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous productio ...

pilots in a 1968 E33C. Marion's son Donald Cole, became the first person to solo in a Pitts S2A. His other sons became professional pilots. Cole died in 2011 from pancreatic cancer. He had flown safely for over 31,000 hours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Marion Aerobatic pilots 1924 births 2011 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II American aviators