MATTOON - An airplane plummeting 200 mph toward the ground and recovering at the last moment can be a jaw-dropping sight to behold for air show audiences.

For pilots Kyle Franklin and Matt Younkin, aerobatic maneuvers like this are part of a normal, albeit adrenaline pumping, day's work.

"This is all that I do for a living. I don't have a real job so to speak," said Kyle Franklin on Friday during Air Show 2008 at the Coles County Memorial Airport.

The young men earn a living entertaining audiences at 18 to 20 air shows per year throughout the country, continuing a tradition set by their fathers.

Their fathers, Jimmy Franklin and Bobby Younkin, died July 10, 2005 when their aircraft collided during a show in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Franklin said he and Younkin formed their "Sons of the Legends" act three years ago to continue the family business and keep their fathers' memories alive.

Their act is part of Franklin's Flying Circus, based in Neosho, Mo. Their manager is Franklin's wife, Amanda, who is Younkin's sister. She is an accomplished pilot, too.

Asked about the riskiness of his work, Franklin replied that risk in involved in anything people do during their daily lives. Franklin said people risk their lives every time they walk across a street or drive to the store.

Still, Franklin said flying nose down 200 mph toward the ground can be "hazardous to your health" if a pilot is not careful. Franklin said he became a professional airborne wing-walker at age 17, but his father made sure before then that he understood the dangers.

Of all their acts, Franklin said the most difficult one is their crowd-pleasing comedy act.

Franklin enters the runway disguised as a drunk spectator and sneaks into the Super Cub. He skids his wing tips, protected by steel skid plates, on the runway and performs other erratically flown stunts before landing and falling out of the plane.

"Everything that you are not supposed to do when you learn how to fly is what I go out to do," Franklin said. "It takes a lot out of you to fly that badly. You are basically flying on the edge of a crash the whole time."

Rob Stroud can be reached at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.