Michael Eugene Mangold (October 10, 1955 – December 6, 2015) was an American

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

and

757 757 may refer to: * Boeing 757: a narrow-body airliner * AD 757: a year * 757 BC: a year * 757 (number): a number * Area code 757 Image:Area code 757.png, The area colored red indicates the southeast corner of Virginia served by area code 757 po ...

commercial pilot for

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

and an

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

pilot. Mangold competed in the

Red Bull Air Race World Series The World Championship Air Race is a series of Air racing, air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors na ...

from 2004 through 2009, where he repeatedly placed first and won the World Championship in the

2005 World Series The 2005 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2005 season. The 101st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Chicago White Sox and the National ...

, as well as the

2007 World Series The 2007 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2007 season. The 103rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Colorado Rockies and the American Le ...

. His nickname and call sign in the military was "Mongo".

Biography

Early life

Mangold was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and was the oldest of three children. He moved to California at 3 years old and then to Pennsylvania for his high school years.

Career

Mangold began his aviation career in 1974 as a skydiver while attending the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

. He went on to USAF pilot training in 1977 and learned to fly fighters, graduating from the academy the following year with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree, and eventually attending the

United States Air Force Fighter Weapons School The USAF Weapons School is a unit of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, assigned to the 57th Wing and Space Delta 1. It is located at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Mission The mission of the USAF Weapons School is to teach gradua ...

. Mangold graduated first in his class in 1983 and earned the "Outstanding Graduate" award. During his military career Mike served in the Pacific and

CONUS ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

theaters, flying nuclear, conventional, smart weapons, and air intercept missions in the

F-4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

, including the F-4G Wild Weasel variant. He flew Phantoms for the USAF for about 10 years. After leaving active duty in 1989, he became a commercial airline pilot for

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...

and then

, flying a variety of jetliners, including the

. Although Mangold was a jet pilot, he continued to enjoy skydiving. He was a member of the U.S. Parachute Team from 1981 to 1985 and won multiple national awards as a skydiver. He participated in a record-setting formation skydive in

Anapa Anapa (russian: Ана́па, ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. Population: History The area around Anapa was settled in antiquity. It was originally a major seaport (Sin ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 1996 as one of 296 parachutists. Mangold started his competitive aerobatic and air show career in 1990, flying a Super Decathlon. He went on to win medals at the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship, as well as the L. Paul Soucy Award from the

International Aerobatic Club The International Aerobatic Club (IAC) is a division of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the National Aeronautics Association (NAA). It promotes aerobatics and governs the sport of competition aerobatics in the United States under ...

in 2002 as the highest-scoring unlimited pilot of the year. He first participated in the

Red Bull Air Race The World Championship Air Race is a series of air races sanctioned by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI). Originally established in 2003 as the Red Bull Air Race, and created by Red Bull GmbH, the event involves competitors navigating a c ...

in 2004 and raced in the competition until 2009, winning the World Series in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. In 2010, Mangold retired from active Red Bull Air Racing, and became the RBAR rookie (Challenger) coach, as well as an air race commentator, including for

FOX Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

. He served for four years as president of the

Racing Jets International In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

board of directors, presiding over the

Reno Air Race The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. ...

until 2013. Mangold also sat on the board of directors for the Classic Jet Aircraft Association.

Death

Mangold died on December 6, 2015, in an air crash. His

Aero L-39 Albatros The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. It is the most widely used jet trainer in the world; in addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also fl ...

crashed due to engine failure and exploded shortly after takeoff at about 2:20 p.m. from Apple Valley Airport, California, killing Mangold and one other person on board. He was survived by his wife Julie, also an aerobatic pilot, and their children Nick and Melissa.

Career results

Red Bull Air Race

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

References

External links

Mike Mangold Air DisplaysMike Mangold Air RacingRed Bull Air Race World Series official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangold, Mike 1955 births 2015 deaths Accidental deaths in California Sportspeople from Cincinnati American air racers Aerobatic pilots Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Aviators from Ohio United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers Red Bull Air Race World Championship pilots Red Bull Air Race World Championship winners Commercial aviators Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2015