Rugby, motocross, race cars and flying in formation – it’s all about camaraderie, claims Guido Rietdyk.
Guido Rietdyk with his Russian-built Yak-50 aerobatic plane and his 1959 Jaguar XK150 S. Guido will exhibit the Jaguar on Sunday at the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance. He also plans to fly over the vintage car show in his Yak-50, information with fellow members of the Torrance Tiger Squadron. Photos by David Fairchild
Guido Rietdyk in the driver’s seat of his 1959 Jaguar XK150 S. The car, which had 17,000 miles when he purchased it, is regularly run in the Colorado Grand, a vintage car rally.
Sky rider
It’s almost 9 p.m. mid-week and Guido Rietdyk’s Rolling Hills home is buzzing. He grabs a pair of beers from the fridge while his wife Sophie entertains a friend from down the street.
“We’re Europeans,” he said, referring to his penchant for late nights and friendly pours. “We’re very much an open door family. We’ll sit at home, and have neighbors around for a drink.”
Friendships with his neighbors are what led to his latest passion: flying classic airplanes.
The 20-year South Bay resident is a member of Torrance’s Tiger Squadron, which flies vintage war planes in formation at events across Southern California. Rietdyk’s passion has led him to take part in this year’s Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance, at Torrance’s Zamperini Field.
“The freedom [from flying] is very addictive, and it’s elevated when you get to do it with your best friends,” Rietdyk said.
Rietdyk moved to the United States from his native Netherlands to study international business at San Jose State University. He returned home to complete his compulsory military service, then returned to the U.S. for his graduate degree in marketing and branding at the University of Southern California.
“For a tiny country, both in surface and population, the only way to survive is to trade,” Rietdyk said.
What made him want to work in the States was the American ideal.
“Americans think big and unbridled, they think outside the box, and never think something is too big to attempt,” Rietdyk said.
That attitude perfectly fit his philosophy. Though hesitant to call himself an adrenaline junkie, Rietdyk loves to get his blood pumping. Growing up, he played soccer and rode motocross. But rugby made his heart sing.
“Everyone is part of that chain – if you don’t do well if you become the weakest link, the chain breaks,” Rietdyk said. “You better be on your game and look out for your buddy…it’s the ultimate in camaraderie.”
After the games, he and his teammates would join their opponents for what they called the “third half.” All the competitors would get together to cheer, drink and congratulate each other on a game well played. “If I had to do it over again, I’d play rugby again…that camaraderie doesn’t happen in soccer, sadly.”
After finishing school, Rietdyk sold life insurance (“not so glamorous”) and then exported telecom equipment with a partner.
In the mid-1990s, Rietdyk’s brother-in-law was selling “the remnants of a small French knee brace company.”
“I had severe knee surgery from playing soccer at USC, so I knew more than the average person about knee braces,” Rietdyk said. From his motocross racing days, he realized there was a broad market for the braces.
Rietdyk and a partner purchased the company, EVS Sports, and their timing couldn’t have been better. The ‘90s saw a spike in motocross popularity. The business moved from his living room to a small office at Santa Monica Airport, and then to a Torrance warehouse. EVS expanded its market to industrial workers, bull riders, and – very recently – pilots.
Rietdyk was introduced to flying by his neighbor Craig Ekberg, founder of Tiger Squadron. That was after Rietdyk retired from racing motocross at the age of 40, and became involved with the Porsche Owners Club and started racing on the GT3 Cup Series.
Racing led him into the world of vintage cars. He began traveling with Ekberg to car shows across the U.S.
“One day, I was flying in the backseat while Craig was flying low over the water and the big rocks of Lake Powell, and I said ‘this is the coolest thing that you could possibly do,’”
He wondered, though, is this something he could learn to do later in life?
“Absolutely,” Ekberg told him.
Rietdyk began flying in January 2013. The learning curve was beyond steep, he said.
“You need to know everything: Landing, taking off, understanding what can go wrong, emergency procedures — and be able to fly within 10 feet of another plane,” Rietdyk said.
Formation pilots aren’t able to keep an eye on their instruments because they’re looking at the planes next to them.
“You have to be able to feel your plane along your spine — you use that feeling to be one with it, like with a bike or a car,” Rietdyk said.
As part of Tiger Squadron, Rietdyk has flown in formation over fundraisers for the LA Philharmonic, over the USS Iowa and, last month, over the USC football season opener at the LA Coliseum.
Two things drive his newest passion. First, he’s chasing the rush he found racing motorcycles and cars. “You’re seeking the thing that gets your heart pumping…the more adrenaline the activity has the more fun it is,” Rietdyk said. “Flying less so, because I don’t do anything too crazy anymore. This is less dangerous than racing motocross or cars.”
But more than that, it’s the feeling of camaraderie that he’s sought since his rugby days.
“Whether it’s racing or doing a rally, you’ve got everyone getting together, sitting around, and it’s just fun,” Rietdyk said. “It’s a warm feeling, an inclusiveness that’s just…addictive.”
That addiction also explains his community volunteer work. He was recently voted president-elect of the Cancer Support Community Redondo Beach Board of Directors. CSCRB provides support for cancer patients and their families and friends.
“It’s completely pro-bono, all volunteers, and it’s amazing — such a powerful group,” Rietdyk said. “There’s a lot more we can do for people, too — we still think we have a long ways to go.”
This year, Rietdyk is also supporting the Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance. For the first time, the Concours is including vintage planes and is taking place at Zamperini Field. He’s submitted two entries for the event, a Yakovlev Yak-50 Russian aerobatic plane, and a 1959 Jaguar XK150 S, which he owns with neighbor Tony Powell.
“We’re the Jaguar’s third owners. It had 17,000 miles on it when we got it. It’s restored with new paint, a new interior and it’s mechanically meticulous,” Rietdyk said.
Rietdyk hopes the Tiger Squadron will perform a flyover for the Oct. 1 show, adding excitement to what he believes is already going to be a spectacular event.
“The Palos Verdes community and the Beach Cities have an inventory of vintage cars that rivals almost anywhere in the world,” Reitdyk said. “If a great venue and organization can put them in a place where they can be seen with the excitement of airplanes, we have a total win. No doubt it’s going to be the coolest thing to see anywhere near Los Angeles — I guarantee it.”