Mike Mangold was born on October 10, 1955, and died on December 6, 2015.
He was a Boeing 767 and 757 commercial pilot for American Airlines and a former aerobatics pilot.
Mike competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Series from 2004 through 2009, where he repeatedly placed first and won the World Championship in the 2005 World Series, as well as the 2007 World Series.
His nickname and call sign in the military was “Mongo”.
Mike was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the oldest of three children (Robert and Frank).
He moved to California at 3 years old and then to Pennsylvania for his high school years.
Mike also skydive, hang glided, and skied. In 1996, Mike, along with 296 other skydivers, set a world record for the largest number of people in a skydiving free-fall formation in Anapa, Russia.
Mike commented on his passion for skydiving: “Skydiving; that’s how I relax now.
It’s great, you are at one with the air, you are totally relaxed, no pressure.” Mike’s wife Julie was once a test pilot for the US Army and now is also a commercial airline and aerobatic pilot.
They have a son, Nicholas, who loves doing rolls in his father’s aircraft, and an acrobatic daughter, Melissa.
Mike Mangold passed away on December 6, 2015. Mangold died when his L-39 Albatros crashed on takeoff from the Apple Valley Airport in Apple Valley, California.