AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - 112

PILOTS

CAMERAMAN

Kevin LaRosa II
Hollywood's youngest aerial coordinator
B Y C H A D S L AT T E R Y
KEVIN LAROSA II has heard the sound of engines
and propellers for as long as he can remember.
His grandfather flew P-51s and C-97s; his dad is a
famous stunt pilot who ran strings of Cessnas and
helicopters out of Southern California's Van Nuys
Airport. "I grew up at the airport," he recalls, "and
in grade school I started flying with my father on
afternoon traffic watch flights and to airshows. He
says I could have landed a 172 by age 12 if my feet
had reached the pedals."
Today he flies a variety of aircraft for an array
of missions, but he's best known as Hollywood's
youngest aerial coordinator. "Sometimes I fly
the airplane being filmed, but usually the airplane doing the filming. And sometimes I'm on
the ground with the director, using radios to tell
other pilots how to make the story come alive."
His father, Kevin LaRosa Sr., began taking him
along on movie shoots at age 10. Kevin II (K2 to

friends) started formal flight lessons at 14, soloed at 16, and got his certificate at 17.
Now 29, he is already a veteran of countless air-to-air photo flights. "It's a close-knit
industry. Parents who are in it want their kids involved too," he explains.
"My true passion is flying the camera plane, talking to the other pilots and
directing them." As lead pilot for Wolfe Air Aviation, a provider of aerial filming
services, LaRosa's main platform is a highly modified Learjet 25B. "I started flying Lears when I was 19. Wolfe's 25B is basically a jet-propelled camera dolly. The
straight turbojets give terrific acceleration and responsiveness. But you have to
be real comfortable in it; you're flying the jet, thinking like a camera, and directing other pilots-all at the same time."
LaRosa flies from the right seat when filming jetliners for Boeing and other
clients. "Airliner liveries read correctly on their left side, so we have to favor that
side. I get better visibility out the right window."
He never wears noise-canceling headsets. "The airplane is always talking to
you, be it the vibration, a smell,
a sound-I pay close attention
LOGBOOK
to them all. You have to lisWHO | Kevin LaRosa II, motion picture
ten, to feel your aircraft. I don't
aerial coordinator
FLYING | Learned to fly in a Cessna 172 at
want to lose any noises." AOPA
age 12 on his father's L.A. traffic watch
patrols.
HOURS | Has logged almost 4,000 hours,
from Cessna 152s to AS350s to P-51s
and Learjets.
RATINGS | Airline Transport Pilot, airplane
multiengine land, LR-Jet; commercial
privileges, airplane single engine land,
rotorcraft-helicopter
EXTRA | Avid water skier, plays rock 'n'
roll drums, and drives a pristine 1956 yellow Ford pickup.

CHAD SLATTERY

112 | AOPA PILOT February 2015



AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - 2
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - Cover4
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