cbk07

My Feedback: (64)

Check it out. Sean Tucker had to bail out today after his control stick breaks

http://www.aero-news.net/

Ozzy37

Also see this article. Thank God he's okay.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/...604050324/1002

Ozzy

CHassan

My Feedback: (13)

Oh man, that is a bummer. Sure hope he continues his airshows.

Gotta love the press

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

Dontcha just love the quote "Tucker began experiencing problems when the stick used to control the plane's rudder broke, Norman said. " ? I know Sean is a highly accomplished pilot, but if he's managing to use the stick to control the rudder, he's in a league all of his own !

Seriously though - good to see that he's fine.

The broken stcik issue reminds me of an incident that happened while I was at Reno Pylon school a few years ago. One guy (I forget his name) was trying to get certified for the sport class racing, and his own aircraft was not ready at the time so he borrowed a friend's aircraft (IIRC, it was a Long-Eze or similar). One of the maneuvers they had to do involved rolling the aircraft over on its back (as if being accidentally flipped by hitting the slipstream of the aircraft in front), and then righting the aircraft without significant altitude loss. This guy goes up with CJ (the check-pilot) on his wing, rolls over at altitude, and stays that way rather than righting himself, somewhat to CJ's surprise. Turns out that the stick came off during the half-roll, and here's this guy pretty much upside down with a broken off stick in his hand, and a look of puzzlement on his face. Took him a little while, but supposedly he managed to get control by reaching down and grabbing the mount that the stick should have been in, and using thumb and forefinger to move that around. He landed successfully, but probably had a few words for his friend about maintenance !

Gordon

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Sean Tucker Bails Out Of 'Oracle Challenger'

Tue, 04 Apr '06

ANN REALTIME Update: 04.04.06, 1932 EDT: ANN talked to Karl Koeppen of Sean's Contrails Group, this evening, who confirmed much of the details we got in bits and pieces... and summarized the days' events.

"Tucker parachuted from his aerobatic biplane on Tuesday, April 4, 2006 at 10:45am CDT over the I Hope Plantation farm south of Coushatta, LA. Tucker's biplane suffered a mechanical failure in the elevator control linkage during a practice flight in the aerobatic box at the Coushatta airport.

Following the mechanical failure, Tucker was able to climb the aircraft safely to an altitude of 8,000' using a backup elevator trim handle located in the cockpit. During this time Tucker was in radio contact with his crew on the ground and a suitable location was found to conduct a safe bailout that would minimize any chance of personal or property damage on the ground.

Tucker bailed out and landed safely. The biplane impacted near the center of I Hope Plantation, approximately one mile from the nearest road which had been closed to vehicle traffic as a further precaution."

ANN will be talking to Sean in the next day or two and expects to offer both a written as well as audio update on this amazing story. One thing we thought amusing , though, in addition to the disappointment of losing the airplane, Sean is apparently unhappy with the fact that he "didn't 'stick' the landing..."

Hey Sean... any landing you can walk away from...

ANN REALTIME Update: 04.04.06, 1532 EDT: It appears that the control malfunction that downed Sean Tucker's beloved biplane was a broken control linkage. According to a number of reports, a linkage attached to Sean's control stick broke shortly after takeoff from the Red River Regional Airport and required some fancy flying to keep it in the air, and to nurse it to a safe altitude and area while he attempted to diagnose the problem and the chances for a safe landing.

Upon determining that a safe landing was not possible (and let's face it, if anyone could have, Sean is the guy), Sean maneuvered over unpopulated territory and exited the aircraft., Despite getting hung up temporarily on the tail, Sean freed himself and managed a controlled deployment and safe landing using a Para-Phernalia emergency parachute.

Initial Report, 04.04.06, 1251 EDT: Details are somewhat sketchy for the moment, but ANN has confirmed that Aerobatic Pilot Sean D. Tucker had to bail out of his 'Oracle Challenger' biplane today.

The aircraft was being used in a practice session when a control malfunction occurred requiring some 15 minutes of trouble-shooting before Sean was forced to leave the aircraft at a reported 8000 feet.

The aircraft went down over Coushatta, some 40 nm South of Shreveport, Louisiana and impacted in an open field after Sean deliberately chose an area likely to produce no hazards to anyone. The accident occurred at 1045 local time, the aircraft is pretty much destroyed, and most important of all -- Sean landed with no injuries.

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

I wonder if he's applied for his Caterpillar Club pin yet?

The guy is a real pro; no doubt about it.

scottrc

Count blessings that it came off during the takeoff roll and not when he was coming out of loop.

Deadeye

Betcha that's on the new preflight checklist next time he goes up. "Elevator linkage? Check." Sure am glad he made it OK. I saw him in that plane at the Reno Air races in 2004. The wind was blowing pretty hard, so he 'hovered' that plane for over 5 minutes at about 300 feet up. Incredible to see, that was. It was like it was mounted on a pole.

Dauntae

I sure hope he has a backup, That bipe looks so cool, Seen it 3 times so far, Well I guess 3 will be all, Thank god he is OK.


Dauntae

Deadeye

Me too, but I doubt it. I remember reading somewhere where that plane was a Pitts / Christian Eagle hybrid (please correct if I am wrong). If anybody has that story, I'd love to read it again.

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Glad he got out OK and that nobody on the ground was hurt.

If he doesn't have a backup already, I can't wait to see the replacement plane!

icrashbipes

My Feedback: (18)

video of oracle challenger after it wadded up

[link=http://www.ktbs.com/news/local/2574846.html?video=YHI&t=a]oracle challenger[/link]

migflyer

My Feedback: (2)

thats great hes ok got to see him fly at the riverside airshow april 1 ( yes i know the date but its true) THAT NEW ELEVATOR is probly 70 percent of the horizontal tail he told me he still trying it out and its not the final version yet the cool thing is now hes doing a triple hammerhead and this great picture

Ercoupe N99879

I met Sean Tucker at Oshkosh several years ago.
What a really great and personable guy he is!!
Entusuastic and friendly as can be!!!
Glad he's okay!!
He'll still be flying air shows, I'm sure he'll work something out and be in another airplane soon.

Ercoupe N99879

Sean Tucker is a great guy!
very friendly, very personable!
I work in Vintage Aircraft Security at Oshkosh Air Show every summer, and during air shows help do crowd control and safety line patrol.
After one of his performances several years ago, Sean rode down in front of the air show crowd, setting on the back seat of the car used to haul airshow performers waving to everyone. He bends over, tells the driver to stop, hops out of the car, runs out into the crowd, and stops and kneels down to talk to some very young kids, then runs back to the car, opens the trunk, grabs some pictures of him and his airplane, runs back out into the crowd, gives both these kids pictures and autographs them right then and there while still talking to them.
That just shows the class this guy has!!!
What a great guy!!!

stick

My Feedback: (14)

According to his website he will still make his show schedule. I believe he has another plane he keeps overseas for international performances.

tigertaildan

I talked to Sean at sun n fun "where he was headed" when the crash occured. Sean DOES have another Challenger and will be ready very quickly. He is a great guy to talk to. I have been in aerobatics for 37 years and I have never met anyone that has such a deep very real passion for flying as Sean D. Tucker.

Goinstraightup

My Feedback: (26)

Yeah, I'm glad it didn't happen when he was 10' off the ground inverted cutting ribbons. Saw his show at Osh a few years ago - stunning!

DMUCOP

My Feedback: (4)

Wow I wish there was pictures!

BigK9

My Feedback: (92)

I've been fortunate to have been friends with Sean for the past 6 years from my days at Oracle. We became personal friends quickly and he is always a ball of energy.
I can tell everyone out there, that in all sincerity, you will never meet someone as genuine, with such a love for life, other people and what he does for a carrer, as Sean. An A+ player.
I missed him at Riverside but was able to hook him up with a couple of kids I know from the RC group in Orange County. He took the time to speak with them and made their day. He does this with every kid he gets a chance to speak with.
He has alwasy told me that there is no such thing as good luck. As he says 'good luck comes to those best prepared'....
He proved this once again. It sure helped that he has about 10,000 jumps under his belt too!!!

gump

i think i know what my problem is, i was not paying attention to the K , i was thinking 50 weight should be 50 weight in shock oil or diff fluid, but 50k i think should be alot thicker than 50 weight shock oil, am i thinking about this right? thanks

Big_Bird

My Feedback: (1)

Huh? [sm=confused.gif]

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

My brother built and now flys A Rans KR-2 (see my gallery) just this past week he had "another"mechanic Dbl check his aircraft,after a 100 hour (I think was performed) Now I'm glad about that Me baby brothers flying exploits makes me nervous. though he is highly skilled-

Now speaking of sticks I very recently watched the 'maiden'of a 'rebuilt and beautiful Vultee BT-13,as it made its sucessful test flight out of Charles County Maryland and was told the stick is made of
Oak..you know the thing that operates ailerons and elevator .Perhaps I can get the movie up loaded or is it down loaded

CigarSlicer

My Feedback: (2)

Ercoupe N99879 , you need to sell me your Ercoupe. C-85? Anyway......see you at Oshkosh. Small world if you were on the vintage team. I brought my Beechcraft Super 18 last year. Polished metal with blue trim. Got rid of that oil leaking monster so it's a surprise what I'm bringing this year. If you won't sell the Ercoupe, I've got something you may want. A Chris Teena Mini Coupe. All metal single seat shrunken Ercoupe. It's one of my projects that ( pardon the pun) never got off the ground.

Bass1

I'm jealous!