Sean Tucker Challenger III

whifferdill

whifferdill

Line Up and Wait
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whifferdill
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D54zZlG5J6c&feature=player_embedded

I'm not typically a huge fan of Sean's flying, even though I think he's very talented, but I'll give him credit for a couple things here that I haven't seen anyone else replicate - just before the flat spin entry at 2:22 that had the plane do a full lateral rotation before starting to lose altitude, and the torque roll at 6:00. I've seen plenty of torque rolls before and done them myself, but that was the most ridiculous long and fast torque roll I've ever seen...unreal. Amazing aircraft.
 
Thanks for the link! Can't wait to see him this year.
 
Love the show. Hate the sponsor.

But it's amazing what the cash from a giant company that makes a popular bloatware RDBMS can buy their airplane guy. ;)
 
While I personally like a more graceful, flowing air show over the the tumblefest style, you have to admire the level of skill and dedication that Tucker puts into his performance, both in the air and on the ground when he's fronting for Oracle. I guess you could say that Oracle bought that performance but it still took an extraordinairily skilled pilot that's put 1,000's of hours of time into it to fly it. There are only a few air show pilots you could put in that airplane and do something resembling that performance.

I agree that tumbles are more fun to fly than they are to watch :)
 
Seems I forgot some of what the masters invented decades ago...the lateral pirouette at 2:22 is the "spiraling tower", invented in 1974 by European Aerobatic Champion Eric Muller with his Hirth Acrostar.

Quoting from Muller's book "Flight Unlimited":

"The upward climb starts with a vertical roll, then a series of negative ascending spins, until at the highest point all acceleration is lost and the aeroplane appears to hang stationary in the sky for an instant in horizontal pirouette, before descending in final flat spins."
 
Oh oops. Didn't mean to imply that Tucker's flying the crap out if the airplane. Mostly just barking at Oracle as software. That they're even willing to be a long term sponsor of an airshow pilot and buy him custom built aircraft these days, is impressive

His AOPA Live interview and associated link to his training videos was impressive last year at OSH. He lives his dream, and no one can fault that!
 
Larry Ellison does have quite a few passions, and airplanes are one of them. Sean Tucker and Oracle sponsorship is a natural combination.
 
gkainz said:
Larry Ellison does have quite a few passions, and airplanes are one of them. Sean Tucker and Oracle sponsorship is a natural combination.
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Heck, don't forget that Larry's son is an aerobatic pilot (and movie star!)
 
flyingriki said:
Sort of an understatement in the big scheme of things.......:yikes:
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Many of the best aerobatic pilots in the world don't fly air shows. The number of competition acro pilots is greater than the air show guys but it's still a small world and the pilots that compete at Wifferdill's level number less than a few hundred. Tucker flys a very entertaining air show and was himself an accomplished competition pilot before he started his show career. But Whiff's assessment is a pretty well informed one.

I personally think Rob Holland is flying the most dynamic and entertaining air show today which is saying something since he's handicapped by flying an airplane with only one pair of wings. And unlike Sean, Rob still competes at the World level.
 
PittsDriver said:
The number of competition acro pilots is greater than the air show guys but it's still a small world and the pilots that compete at Wifferdill's level number less than a few hundred.
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Same goes for PittsDriver here. Though he does need to improve his ability to read a sequence card. :D
 
It's a shame aerobatic contests don't get more visibility as I think many pilots would enjoy them way more than your tradition flyin. The problem or benefit, depending on which way you look at it, is that the FAA makes important distinctions between an air show and an aerobatic contest which make it much less expensive and easy to hold a contest. One of those distinctions is that we can't advertise them to the public.

But if you were to go on the IAC web site and locate the link to the contest calendar and just happen to show up... You'd be treated to some very high precision aerobatic flying.
 
PittsDriver said:
It's a shame aerobatic contests don't get more visibility as I think many pilots would enjoy them way more than your tradition flyin.
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I thought about going to one once as a "fly-in", then I read that the airport and airspace were completely closed down for the thing, which seems quite appropriate... but I wasn't going to arrive at the crack of dawn and be "stuck" there all day.

There'd have to be a little better coordination with some "arrival windows" for us spamcan folks and specific things like knowing there's a good place to tie down for the airplane and stuff like that... I've never really seen an aerobatic competition that WANTS the spam-cans to come out, or "marketed" itself that way.

Probably a liability thing... surely at least one spam-can driver would show up over the airport having glanced at a flyer asking folks to come, without reading the NOTAM or anything and plow right into someone's aerobatic box...

That brings up an interesting question for those of us who don't do it. If a transient busts your airshow box while you're being judged, and you bail out (of the routine, of course!), do you get a "do-over"? :)
 
PittsDriver said:
It's a shame aerobatic contests don't get more visibility as I think many pilots would enjoy them way more than your tradition flyin. The problem or benefit, depending on which way you look at it, is that the FAA makes important distinctions between an air show and an aerobatic contest which make it much less expensive and easy to hold a contest. One of those distinctions is that we can't advertise them to the public.

But if you were to go on the IAC web site and locate the link to the contest calendar and just happen to show up... You'd be treated to some very high precision aerobatic flying.
Click to expand...

I had intended to go to the Cape May, NJ competition in June but couldn't make it. Why don't the IAC members simply post the events on boards like this a week or two prior to the event? Seems like an easy way to get more people out to the events.
 
denverpilot said:
I thought about going to one once as a "fly-in", then I read that the airport and airspace were completely closed down for the thing, which seems quite appropriate... but I wasn't going to arrive at the crack of dawn and be "stuck" there all day.

There'd have to be a little better coordination with some "arrival windows" for us spamcan folks and specific things like knowing there's a good place to tie down for the airplane and stuff like that... I've never really seen an aerobatic competition that WANTS the spam-cans to come out, or "marketed" itself that way.

Probably a liability thing... surely at least one spam-can driver would show up over the airport having glanced at a flyer asking folks to come, without reading the NOTAM or anything and plow right into someone's aerobatic box...

That brings up an interesting question for those of us who don't do it. If a transient busts your airshow box while you're being judged, and you bail out (of the routine, of course!), do you get a "do-over"? :)
Click to expand...

I've never been to a contest that closed the entire airport for the duration of flights each day, but each waiver issued by different FSDO's have different requirements due to the location of the box and other factors. Closing the airport all day seems excessive...contests just aren't that big a deal, and the cost to the airport in most cases would be greater than the benefit of having the contest there in the first place. A waiver I recently obtained required the airport to be "closed" during Advanced and Unlimited flights only, since the floor of the box in those categories is below standard traffic pattern altitude. All other contests I have been to have not had airport closures at any point.

Visitors are welcome, and most sites will not have an issue with other aircraft getting in at any time. NOTAM's should be checked, as they will indicate the location and times the aerobatic box is active. A different traffic pattern may need to be flown to stay out of the box. As long as you know where the box is, and use common sense, there's no problem flying in. We always have at least one person on the ground monitoring the CTAF at all times, so they can give you the status if needed. And I can't imagine anyone would not accommodate incoming traffic that wanted to visit, even if the airport was "closed" during a particular flight.

We have no problem with visitors, and welcome anyone who has an interest in the goings-on, but it seems there has been some historical reluctance to advertise and promote in some cases. The FAA lets us operate under different and less restrictive rules than true airshows, so there is a bit of a fine line between allowing the contest to turn into a big event with "crowds", yet not isolating the contest from those who would potentially be interested. I have confirmed with IAC that we can promote the contest, invite and welcome anyone who wants to come as long as we do not charge. Part of the reason we don't go full tilt on PR and promotion is that contests are pretty "boring" to those who are not involved. The flights can be repetitive among categories, most flights are flown high, and there is no smoke. It's not like airshow flying at all - it's about precision, not entertainment...hence many casual observers will watch a few flights, then lose interest. But then it is something you don't get to see everyday. There are some very talented and knowledgeable folks at contests, and most are happy to talk to anyone who expresses real interest in acro. Contests are very busy, so you might have to approach someone at the right time. If you'd like to attend a contest at a site that you've found to have an airport closure in the past, contact the Contest Director. I guarantee they will work with you on getting in and out without having to be "stuck" all day. I would hate to run a contest that truly closed the airport to transient traffic all day. I don't think that's appropriate.
 
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I always post on my local pilots boards and e-mail lists when the local contests are. We typically get 3 or 4 people per contest that drop in.

Adam
 
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