Taking flight with pilot Jeff Shetterly

By Kyle Schmidt

Jeff Shetterly, a third-generation aviator will fly in a 1945 SNJ-6 “Texan” also known as T-6, during the Sound of Speed Airshow, an aircraft he has fallen in love with.

“I just fell in love with these, I love the shape of them,” Shetterly said. “It’s huge and just a giant beast and fun to fly.”

Shetterly has been flying all of his life and is joined in the sky with his dad Greg and brother Joe. The three of them make up the Shetterly Squadron.

“There’s nothing like being on the wing, we’re communicating so we have audible way of hearing each other,” Shetterly said. “You can actually see their thoughts, in the movement of the airplane, it’s sort of like body language.”

The T-6 aircraft trained fighter pilots in World War II and can preform aerobatic maneuvers. 

“I try to do just about everything that you can do safely and with precision that’s my goal,” Shetterly said. “It’s delightfully light on the controls and just a fun airplane to fly, totally impractical.”

In the Sound of Speed Airshow, Shetterly will perform solo with potential interactions with the rest of the squadron.

Jeff can be identified as the Radial Rumble pilot as well. Radial Rumble is the name of his airshow business.

As for the Sound of Speed Airshow, Shetterly is excited.

“This is really one of the United States best possible airshows, one of the greatest airshows in the United States,” Shetterly said. “It’s an unimaginably difficult job to organize an airshow, and I think they (139th Airlift Wing) may do it better than any other show of this size in the U.S.”