Tag Archives: Belle Chasse Naval Base

One Angel Down … Airlift Productions Still Blue

MichealZiantsAKAMikeMcCannQ-93BlueAngelsFlight1984
Micheal Ziants aka Mike McCann, Q-93, ready to board this Blue Angel SkyHawk jet, Belle Chasse, LA – 1984

It’s all over the news this April 2017 week in New Orleans. The Navy’s Blue Angels return, after a six year hiatus, to Belle Chasse for another air show. Along with all the attendant stories of G-force, incredible speeds, and death-defying stunts.

And watching the news coverage I couldn’t help but flashback to my radio days, (cue the harp music interlude) ~ it was the spring of 1984, Belle Chasse Naval Air Base.  As Q-93 Radio afternoon air personality Mike McCann, I was invited to take part in promoting the upcoming airshow at the base.

MichealZiantsAKAMikeMcCannQ-93BlueAngels
Uh-oh, no turning back now …. Airlift Mike preparing to be Air-borne!

This proved to be one of the more remarkable days of my entire life. Picture yourself, if you can, hurtling through the skies over the Gulf of Mexico at over 500 mph UPSIDE down in the cockpit of an A-4 Skyhawk jet!

My co-pilot? Lieutenant Commander Mike Gershon. Square-jawed, clear-eyed, Bond-like, heroic, courageous, fearless… and dead way before his time.  Little did either of us realize the day we flew together that the very next year at an airshow in Niagara Falls he would make history.

Mike Gershon became one of the few Blue Angels to ever perish in action. The crash was fiery, frightening and unforgettable.  And today, courtesy of the you tube crowd, you can bear witness to the tragedy – as well as meet Mike & his widow, Sherri, here …

 

Lieutenant Commander Gershon – together with his #7 jet pictured – now belong to the ages. But today, I’d just like to say…’ Mike, thanks ever so for this incredible memory, sir. For the laughs, jokes, stories, and this fantastically joyous ride-of-a-lifetime!’

 And for the 21st century reminder that not all heroes die in battle. 

 

MikeGershonAndMichealZiantsBlueAngels 1984
Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants with Lt. Cmdr. Mike Gershon ~ Belle Chasse Naval Base, LA – 1984

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“My experience with Airlift Productions was top notch from the start. My company is based in Los Angeles and I had a client that needed to do a last minute VO session in New Orleans. Micheal was incredibly knowledgeable and accommodating, not to mention a blast to work with! Our session turned out beautifully.” 

– Lizz Rantze,  Executive Producer, Rantze + Raves Productions, Los Angeles, CA

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Airlift Productions ~ where the warmth of analogue lives…and the lightning speed of digital delivers!