The Horsemen P-51 Flight Team, consisting of Dan Friedkin (left), Jim Beasley (center) and Ed Shipley, will have two performances at the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show.

Photo courtesy of the Horsemen P-51 Flight Team

It's been nearly 70 years since World War II pilots flew the plane, but Ed Shipley says ghosts still inhabit it.

Each time he climbs into the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang the spirits of the pilots who flew the iconic World War II fighter plane revisit him.

Shipley and his two teammates, Dan Friedkin and Jim Beasley, make appearances at airshows as The Horsemen P-51 Flight Team, the only P-51 Mustang aerobatic flight team in the world.

This weekend, the trio will fly their three Mustangs for fans at the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show at Willow Run Airport, a site known for its own World War II history.

“We feel so fortunate to fly these aircraft and showcase them in way never done before,” Shipley said. “They are living memorials.

“Getting into these aircraft is like taking the Washington Monument for a spin. It’s such a special thing. Once the aircraft starts up and you hear that noise, you realize you’re watching something important. We feel like we’re custodians of that (history).”

As preservers of America’s World War II aviation history, the Horsemen appreciate Willow Run’s importance to America’s war effort 70 years ago. The Willow Run plant made B-24 bombers, producing nearly 14 planes a day at its peak.

The B-17 and B-24 aircraft endure through the efforts of the Yankee Air Museum, one of the sponsors of the airshow. The airshow will be the largest gathering of World War II heavy bombers in the world.

“We’ve been really looking forward to this one,” Shipley said.

The Horsemen’s performances this weekend are just a part of their mission. They serve as curators of the three majestic fighter planes, which are owned by Friedkin and Beasley.

“There are certain people and things that come together in a really unbelievable way,” Shipley said. “The Mustang came together like that. It’s got those wonderful sweeping lines.

“Dan said it looks like it’s going 500 mph standing still.”

The Horsemen have taken to reality television to promote the aircraft and tell their story. The trio is part of an ownership group that established ASB.TV, a media production company and website devoted to airshows and aircraft.

ASB.TV has produced an online reality show, "The Horsemen Cometh," on the squad, and with Shipley’s background in television and marketing, he’s in final negotiations to bring the series to network television.

The show has raised the trio’s visibility. Composer James Horner, whom Shipley knew through his connections in the media industry in California, is one of the h biggest fans.

Horner, who wrote the score for “Braveheart,” “Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind,” and “Avatar,” and won the Academy Award for the score to “Titanic,” is a pilot and flew with the Horsemen.

The experience compelled him to write music to accompany the Horsemen’s performance.

“We’ve had people ask us what’s like to fly a Mustang,” Shipley said. “It’s hard to explain, but then we bumped into James Horner.

“James has his own Piper Cub. We call him the Fourth Horseman. It really is the most beautiful piece of music. He’s a true artist of a very unique magnitude, and he’s helped us express what it’s like to fly.”

Shipley hopes aircraft aficionados and followers of World War II history get a chance to see their 12-minute performance at Willow Run.

“We encourage people to come out and enjoy the history of the planes,” Shipley said. “The ghosts that used to fly them never left.”