17.000 hours of which 2.500 are military fighters and 3.500 plus aerobatics.
Profession:
Boeing 767 pilot by American Airlines.
Hobby's:
Parachuting more than 4.500 jumps, hang gliding and snow and water skiing.
Achievements:
5x California Unlimited Aerobatic Champion
2x Arizona Unlimited Aerobatic Champion
2x runner-up, US National Championships
2005 Red Bull Air Race World Series Champion
2003 World Air Games - Bronze (team)
2002 US Point Series Champion
2001 World Air Games - Bronze (team)
Ranking Red Bull Air Race 2005:
Champion with 36
points.
Ranking Red Bull Air Race 2006:
Third place with 30
points.
Ranking Red Bull Air Race 2007:
Champion with 47 points.
Results Red Bull Air Race World Series
Mike Mangold:
Mike Mangold Disqualification in third training round
San Diego 2007
Mike Mangold does not consider himself the
best pilot in the Red Bull Air Races series.
“I'm a realist,” said the American Airlines pilot
from Victorville “Personally, I think Kirby Chambliss and Peter
Besenyei have better skills than I have.”
Still, Mangold has won three of the eight races
flown this 2007 season and leads the pilot standings heading into
the penultimate event of the season.
“I think this sport is not unlike most others,”
said Mangold. “One thing, one person does not make for the best
team. It is everything together.
“This thing is 80 percent plane and 20 percent
pilot. I have the best-suited plane for the competition. The secret
to all this is the organization.
“For me, in the end, the difference is execution
– don't hit pylons, don't get penalties. Because the package is
there.”
Responsible for the package is Dennis Sawyer, the
flight equivalent of a NASCAR crew chief, with a twist. Planes do
not run on flat surfaces, which is one reason Sawyer's job title is
“technician.”
But race planes, like race cars, need constant
attention.
“I lost a wing tip at one stop this season,” said
Mangold. “Overnight, Dennis bonded on a new one.”
Bonding a new wing tip on an airplane is a bit
more critical to the operation – not to mention the life of the
operator – than pounding out a fender on a stock car.
“It's one of those things,” said Mangold, “where
the pilot has to develop complete confidence in the equipment and
the man in charge of the equipment.
“Dennis and I have been together for a season and
a half now. We work quite well together.”
Mike Mangold vs Paul Bonhomme Perth 2007
Red Bull pilot number 5 Mike "Mungo" Mangold"
with his Dragon
Edge
540 in the 2005 series.
The former top gun pilot Mike
Mangold in action above the Maas River in Rotterdam. Mike flew the McDonnell
Douglas F-4G "Wild Weasel" Phantom in the United States Air Force.
