Page 8 - Volume 13 Number 5

About the accident, Lonnie said: “He was doing aerobatics in an experimental aircraft called a Bakeng Deuce. He had high blood pressure and found that the meds he was taking for this could have made him pass out under G loads. He was at the top of a loop at high altitude and the aircraft seemed to stall and went straight down impacting the ground. We feel he must have blacked out as there was no sign of trying to pull out. My father was a great pilot and loved aviation. He was always very cautious in an airplane and took it very serious.”
Rather than turn away from aviation, Lonnie said the accident drove him to embrace flying.
“Flying was the most fun I ever had with him and I wanted that back,” he said. “I wanted to get my license more than anything, to make him proud of me and to feel close to him as I fly.”
He got his license in December of that year.
The Rodeo Life
Also in 1994, Lonnie made his first PBR World Finals – every bull rider’s dream – where he finished third in the finals and eighth in the world standings. That year he also earned a spot in the Bull Riders Only Finals,
Lonnie’s bull riding career took off in 1994 – he made it to the PBR World Finals where he finished third and was rated
eighth in the world standings.
6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
MAY 2019