Mark Sampson, also known as 'Sammy', grew up in Cape Town. His flying career started with a PPL in 1990 before joining the South African Airforce (SAAF) in 1993 where he trained on the Harvard T6 and flew helicopters for 22 Squadron based in Cape Town. He joined the Airlines in 1997 to fly the DC9 & MD80 for Sun Air, followed by B737-200 for Nationwide. In 2001 he moved to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific where he has flown the B747-400 & B777-200 as First Officer. He is now a Captain on B747-400 and B747-8F.
Sammy joined Team Xtreme Airshows in 2014 flying the XtremeAir XA42 in China. After buying his own XtremeAir XA41 aircraft the well known 2-ship team expanded and became a regular 4-ship display at South African air shows.
Mark says, Formation Aerobatics is the ultimate challenge of teamwork, precision flying and aerobatics. It is hugely satisfying and provides great entertainment and inspiration to spectators of all ages at airshows.
When not flying aerobatics Mark enjoys helicopter flying and kite surfing at home in Cape Town!
Aircraft Flown at Air Shows:
