Aerial Teams
One of the school’s notable achievements was its development of two aerial acrobatic teams. Captain Claire L. Chennault founded
the Flying Trapezers in 1932. He used a simple method to choose the team. Anyone who could fly with him in his P-12 for 30 minutes of
head-spinning acrobatics would be selected. Although many tried, only Lt Haywood S. "Possum" Hansell, Sgt John H. Williamson,
and Sgt William C. McDonald accomplished this feat and were selected by Chennault to join the team. By the time the aerial team disbanded in
1936, it had appeared in about 50 air shows and performed to the delight of an estimated audience of 50,000 people. Unfortunately, the
team disbanded in 1936 when two of its three members were refused commissions and, for this reason, they left the service.
 A second aerial demonstration team, the Skylarks, formed at Maxwell Field in 1935. Instructed by Chennault, the Skylarks performed many
of the same stunts made popular by their predecessors, including tight formation flying, loops in formation, barrel rolls, spins, and Immelmans.
However, the double formation roll, the inverted flight formation, and the snap roll from the top of a loop were all Skylark originals. Because of
personnel reassignments, the group disbanded the following year.
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