Latest news with #Hiester
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Air Force major and Berks native returns to the roost for new air show
When Maj. Taylor Hiester was 9 years old, his mother surprised him with a trip to Reading Regional Airport. She didn't tell him that the visit would bring him inside the cockpit of one of America's most legendary aircraft — a plane that once ferried Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. 'I got all shaky for a moment,' a young Hiester told the Reading Eagle at the time. Taylor Hiester as a child poses for a photo with his mother. (Courtesy of Taylor Hiester) Despite his excitement, Hiester's encounter with the former Air Force One was far from his first time around a plane. He'd already been taking flying lessons for a year in pursuit of his dream of becoming an Air Force pilot. Today that dream is Hiester's reality. 'I grew up in Robesonia and went to Conrad Weiser and just fell in love with planes,' Hiester said. 'Learned to fly at the Reading Airport and went off to Air Force pilot training. Fast forward about 10 years later, I'm the Air Force's F-16 demo pilot.' On the weekend of May 24, Hiester will return to his roots, flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon in a new air show at Harrisburg International Airport. 'To have the opportunity to come back and fly so close to home … feels like once in a lifetime,' Hiester said. Air Force Maj. Taylor Hiester, F-16 Viper Demonstration Team commander and pilot, briefs the demonstration profile at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., in April. (Courtesy of Nate Reimers) Hiester's career Hiester's tenure with the Air Force has taken him on adventures across the country and beyond. He's served with the South Dakota Air National Guard's 114th Fighter Wing and the 81st Fighter Squadron in Georgia and was an F-16 instructor pilot in the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. His role as an alert pilot on watch for foreign threats even saw Hiester patrol the skies of Washington, D.C., during the presidential inauguration in 2021. 'Having that front seat to history … that is something I look back on with a lot of endearment,' Hiester said. In 2024, Hiester was chosen to lead the Air Combat Command F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, a group of specialists dedicated to showcasing the F-16. The F-16 Viper Demonstration Team at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., in March. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Steven Cardo) Since then he's performed at more than 30 air shows in the U.S. and abroad, including Peru and Belgium. 'It's about 15 minutes of the most aggressive flying the F-16 can do,' Hiester said of his demonstrations. Pushing limits His single-plane display is designed to force the F-16 to its limits, and will involve flying just short of the speed of sound. 'It's as fast as we can go (around crowds),' Hiester said. 'We don't want to break the sound barrier … (a sonic boom) would break some belongings.' That speed will see Hiester cover roughly three football fields per second. It will also subject his body to 9 G's of force, or nine times the force of gravity. 'A roller coaster is probably anywhere between one-and-a-half and two G's,' Hiester noted. '(When I fly) I wear a pair of what look like snow pants. They squeeze my lower legs to keep the blood into my brain so I can stay awake and make decisions.' As the only pilot, the stakes for Hiester are high — passing out could mean crashing the plane. 'Even with the equipment and the training I've received, staying awake is still a challenge,' Hiester said. 'I'm flexing all of my lower body muscles, keeping my upper body relaxed and also doing some (breathing techniques) that allow me to keep air in my lungs.' Despite the strain, and the stakes, Hiester said pushing the boundaries of machine capability and human potential in the cockpit is an unmatchable high. 'As a little boy that grew up dreaming of flying the F-16, it is a thrill that I know I will not be able to get anywhere else,' Hiester said. 'To merge man and machine like we do in an F-16, it's just the coolest job in the world. I feel like it's an opportunity I will never be able to repay the country for. That's why I try and cherish every moment of it.' For Hiester, cherishing that opportunity means sharing it with the people he grew up with. 'All my closest friends and family are still in the Robesonia area … the people that I grew up with, I'm looking forward to sharing it with them,' Hiester said. 'It feels like a huge homecoming, to be able to do an air show so close (to where I grew up.)' For more information about the Harrisburg Air Dot Show tour, including dates and times, visit A Reading Eagle article featuring a young Taylor Hiester touring the former Air Force One plane at the Reading Regional Airport. (Courtesy of Maj. Taylor Hiester)
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Berks native to lead F-16 Viper Demonstration Team at Harrisburg air show
(WHTM) — Later this month will mark a special homecoming for a western Berks man has he leads a U.S. Air Force demonstration team over the skies of central Pennsylvania. U.S. Air Force Maj. Taylor Hiester was tapped to lead the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team in 2024, leading a team of nine hand-selected and highly trained specialists, the Air Force says. He's been an F-16 pilot since 2017, eventually becoming an instructor pilot at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter, South Carolina. He grew up in Robesonia and graduated from Conrad Weiser High School and his first flying lesson was nearby at Reading Regional Airport in Bern Township. 'As a kid who grew up learning to fly at the Reading Airport, dreaming to fly the F-16, it's surreal to have the opportunity to serve as the Air Force's F-16 demonstration pilot and perform for the place and the people that I call home,' said Hiester. On May 24 and 25, he will lead the demonstration team, piloting the F-16 Viper over Harrisburg International Airport in Middletown for the 2025 Air Dot Show Central Pennsylvania. Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV devices He will be joined by his family at the air show, the Air Force said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
