Acrobatics, Tucker Style!!!
What’s it like to pull 5 G’s with two planes just 15 feet off your nose and take pictures at the same time??? Well, yesterday I had a chance to find out. I went down to King City, CA; home of The Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety and training grounds for world famous acrobats Sean D. Tucker, Eric Tucker, Bill Stein, and Ben Freelove to shoot the cover for In Flight USA. And the images below are the proof off the amazing flying skills that can be honed at Tutima. I even got a chance to test my skills at flying some acrobatic maneuvers. But with a rockstar like Eric Tucker coaching you, it’s all blue skies!!!
And with an hour briefing behind us, it was off flying!
In the shot above, we flew a Quarter Clover maneuver. Here’s the video as viewed from the wingtip of our Extra 300L
And when it was all said and done, I pulled +5 and -2 G’s!!!
Here’s a video of the Inverted Outside Loop.
Eric showing me how to do a barrel roll.
And then it was time for me to try it myself.
And now Eric showing me a Hammerhead.
And after a lot more stuff, it was time for one final loop.
An hour of flying, and I was exhausted. But I nailed the shots and managed to do some fancy flying myself….and most importantly I kept my lunch. 
A very special thanks to Eric, Sean, and Ben for the thrill of a lifetime! And look for these shots in the April “Airshows” issue of “In Flight USA.”
For the complete set of images, be sure to click here:
March 26th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
You guys make it look too easy! Glad that I did not look at these right after lunch.
Awesome shots!
March 26th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Those pics and videos are surreal! It looks like something straight out of a movie, not at all real.
PS> Impressive that you held it together, and even executed a loop yourself. How many times have you done this before?