 Suzanne Asbury-Oliver, a brown-eyed blonde, began flying gliders
at age 14 while attending junior high school near Portland, Oregon. At 15,
she soloed. By age 18, she was certified as a flight instructor. She also
holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating. She has logged over 5,500 flying
hours.
She is the nation's only female professional skywriter, and her
aerial artistry -- painted on a canvas some 10,000 feet high -- dazzles
many. Millions have met Suzanne through national media attention such as
the Today Show, US Magazine, People Magazine, and front page coverage in
the Wall Street Journal. It's all in a day's work to Suzanne
Asbury-Oliver. "Skywriting is very much like a dance routine,"
says Asbury-Oliver. "I count off seconds just like a dancer would
count off steps. Everything is choreographed. Timing is essential. Lose
count, no matter what the distraction, and you count on failing at
skywriting."
Steve Oliver is the other half of the skywriting team,
a skywriter himself. Steve Oliver met Suzanne Asbury in 1981 at the
Kentucky Derby, where she was skywriting for a local Pepsi-Cola bottler
and he was pulling advertising banners with his 1941 Stearman biplane. It
was love at first flight! They were married in 1982 and are still on an
extended honeymoon.
Steve also began his flying career as a teenager and has logged more
than 13,000 flight hours in everything from helicopters to sailplanes to
biplanes. He holds commercial, instructor and Airline Transport Pilot
ratings, plus Airframe and Power Plant Mechanic licenses. But vintage
aircraft are his first love. Dear to his heart are the vivid boyhood
memories of seeing skywriters perform.
Suzanne and Steve use SkyMagic to perform
their art of skywriting.
SkyMagic was specifically built to perform skywriting and night shows.
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