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ISSUE 450 - October 2016
Over 9,000 Total Ads Listed
1,000+ NEW Ads Per Week |
| EAA AirVenture 2016 - Aerobatic Performers - Part I |
By Kevin Moore, Contributing
Editor & Photographer
Watford, Ontario, Canada |
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| Aerobatic performers, such as the Jack Link's "Screamin' Sasquatch," are always popular, head-turning acts at airshows and EAA AirVenture certainly had lots to offer. |
| Over the past several weeks, we've had a look at a variety of aircraft and performers that attended Oshkosh 2016 including assorted Van's aircraft, as well as visiting & performing jet and warbird aircraft. This week we'll have a look at the various aerobatic performers. |
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| Aerobatic performances come in such high intensity displays as that by Sean D. Tucker, left, in his Oracle Challenger III or more graceful displays such as that by David Martin, right, in his 1971 Bucker Jungmeister. |
| Obviously, the daily airshows are a big part of the AirVenture experience, including an assortment of aerobatic performances by a wide variety of aircraft, some we've of which we've already seen in the warbird and jet aircraft as well as with the Van's aircraft articles. Aerobatic performers and teams are always popular and often have airshow spectators gasping at the things some pilots do with their aeroplanes. |
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Some performers, such as Bill Stein, left, may not be as well known as performers such
as Kirby Chambliss, right, but their performances were equally entertaining. |
| There are well known performers such as Sean D. Tucker and Kirby Chambliss, both of whom have their own styles and can shock & awe everyone, but there are also some lesser known performers that graced the sky above Whittman field including Bill Stein, Skip Stewart and Matt Chapman, to name but a few. |
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Sean D. Tucker, flying his powerful and agile Oracle Challenger III,
always offers a great and intense performance. |
| Sean D. Tucker flies a heart stopping, high intensity set of aerobatics in his Oracle Challenger III, powered by a 400+ horsepower Lycoming, specially built engine which can have the aeroplane, and Sean, ripping through the air at over 300mph. Sean's history in aerobatic flying reads like a book and includes many, many accolades over the years including being referred to as the "Ambassador of Aerobatics" by the American National Aviation Hall of Fame. If you've never seen Tucker perform, find an airshow near you and go watch him but, if you have a weak stomach, have lunch AFTER his performance! |
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Patty Wagstaff has quite a history but her performance speaks
for itself whenever she takes to the air. |
| Another popular and long time aerobatic performer, and also a rarity in the aerobatic category being a woman, is former US National Aerobatic Champion (1991, 1992 & 1993) Patty Wagstaff. Patty has had a storied aviation career from her earliest experience in aviation being a 10 year old sitting at the controls of her father's Japan Air Lines DC-6, where she first got hooked on the idea of becoming a pilot, to flying in airshows across North America. However, before flying aerobatics, Patty first obtained her pilot license, Commercial, Instrument, Seaplane and Helicopter ratings, as well as becoming a flight and instrument instructor and is rated to fly anything from World War I fighters to jet aircraft. Her aerobatic performances today are done in an Extra 300S, powered by a Textron Lycoming 350hp engine. Patty and her aeroplane put on a awe inspiring show and are not to be missed at your local airshow! |
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Kirby Chambliss isn't just a Red Bull racing pilot
but also a very high intensity aerobatic performer as well. |
| Kirby Chambliss is another award winning aerobatic performer and Red Bull Air Racer. Kirby has earned 13 medals in world aerobatic competition and was rated as one of the top 15 aerobatic pilots in the world in the early 2000's. Flying performances in his Edge 540 is only one of several aircraft he owns and flies. He also owns another 2 Edge 540s, a Meridian, a Piper J-3 Cub and a Fieseler Storch. Kirby throws his Edge 540 around the sky doing things in it that pilots should never be able to do, and that aeroplanes were originally never designed to do, in a heart-pounding, adrenaline producing performance. Between his Red Bull Air Racing and his aerobatic performances and displays, it's a wonder that he has time to fly anything else! |
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Aerobatic display pilot, Skip Stewart, loves to throw his Pitts S2-S around the sky,
even in a dull, dreary smoke-filled sky! |
| Aerobatic performer Skip Stewart is another award winning pilot having won the Bill Barber Award for showmanship in 2013 and the Art Scholl Award in 2015. His performance is both very entertaining and very rigorous and will have you gasping at some of the things he and his S2-S does. Skip is also an airline pilot with over 10,000 hours of flying experience and a captain on the MD-11 and Boeing 727, as well as being a certified flight instructor. He is also known as the first pilot to fly under a jumping motorcycle, performed at an airshow. Skip throws his Pitts around the sky in a wonderful display of aerobatics, flying a show that you can't take your eyes off. His Pitts S2-S, Prometheus, has been modified to Skip's own requirements and has max speed of 300mph with a climb rate of 4000fpm and gets a whopping 400hp out of his modified engine. |
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| This week we had a look at several of the aerobatic performers that put on displays at AirVenture 2016 such as Sean D. Tucker, left. Next week we'll return to AirVenture 2016 to have a look at other performers such as Jim Peitz, flying his 1986 Beech Bonanza, right. |
| This week we had a look at a few of the aerobatic performers that took to the sky at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016. Next week we'll return to Oshkosh to have a look at more aerobatic performers. |
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| Aerobatic performer, Sean D. Tucker, puts on a great show every time he flies! |
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| Patty Wagstaff flies an intense show every time she performs. |
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| Kirby Chambliss brings his Edge 540 in for a high speed pass. |
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Flying his Pitts S2-S, Prometheus,
Skip Stewart puts on an entertaining, high-energy show! |
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| There's always something entertaining going on at Oshkosh and the Canadian Forces, Royal Canadian Air Force aerobatic display team, the Snowbirds were certainly that, as we'll see next week. |
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| Sean D. Tucker and the Oracle Challenger III. |
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| Skip Stewart in Prometheus doing his thing the wrong way up! |
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| Next week we'll return to EAA AirVenture 2016 and have a look at the Jack Link's Screamin' Sasquatch, The RCAF Snowbirds, Bill Stein and Jim Peitz in his Beech Bonanza. |
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