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| Academy Team |
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Sean D. Tucker
President
With more than 20,000 flight hours, Sean D. Tucker is "Aerobatics' Own Ambassador". Fiercely competitive, Sean readily admits he was once afraid of flying. To conquer his fears, he enrolled in an aerobatic training course, overcoming what seemed like impossible obstacles.
By 1988, Sean was crowned the U.S. National Advanced Category Aerobatic Champion and is now one of the premiere air show performers and aerobatic pilots in the world! He currently serves as a FAA designated ACE (Airshow Certification Evaluator) where he spends countless hours counseling young air show performers on their routines. Sean also mentored the stars of tomorrow, a program for up and coming performer which made its debut at Oshkosh in 2003. No one who has ever seen Sean fly will ever forget it . . . and no one who has ever met him, or learned from him, will either.
www.poweraerobatics.com
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Ken Erickson
Chief Pilot
Flying since the age of 14, Ken Erickson has quite literally grown up in aviation. Over the past 27 years he has flown more than 9,000 hours in a large variety of sailplanes and powered aircraft. He also holds an airframe and powerplant mechanic's rating with inspection authorization. He has flown in both aerobatic competition and airshows. Instructing, first in sailplanes, Ken has always enjoyed introducing people to the wonder of flight, and especially the thrill of aerobatics.
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Ben Freelove
Instructor
Since moving to California in 2001 to pursue his life long passion for aviation, Ben has logged over 3,000 hours in more than forty different types of aircraft. One of the San Francisco Bay areas most popular flight instructors, Ben has joined the Tutima Academy Team in order to continue his dream of flying aerobatics. He is a serious aerobatic competitor flying in the Advanced category.
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Bill Stein
Instructor
Bill began flying aerobatics when he was still a student pilot and has been dedicated to perfecting his skills ever since. Since 1995 Bill has performed at air shows all across the United States and has entertained millions air show fans.
Bill’s has a passion for precision flying. He trains every day so that his skills stay razor sharp. Bill’s experience includes competitive aerobatics and years of flying on the world famous Red Baron Stearman Squadron. Bill also mentors many new air show pilots including coaching the “Stars of Tomorrow” team.
www.billsteinairshows.com
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Eric Tucker
Instructor
Eric has been around aviation literally from birth. Actually, his first flight in an airplane was the day before his birth, in the front seat of his father’s Pitts Special biplane. From age 9 to 16, Eric spent his summers touring the airshow circuit as the narrator for his father’s airshow routine and as the copilot in the team’s crew plane. At 14, Eric soloed gliders and at 16, he soloed in a Pitts S-2B. At the ripe age of 18, Eric was the “Rookie of the Year” snowboard instructor at Steamboat Springs Colorado. He is now 24-years-old and has just completed an Aerospace Engineering degree from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. During his university summers and weekends, he worked as a flight instructor teaching aerobatics, stall/spins and unusual attitudes and helping to build the Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety. During the 2005 airshow season, Eric toured the states as the left wingman for the Stars of Tomorrow airshow flight demonstration team. He is now stretching his horizons as the newest engineering test pilot for Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. In addition to his passion for flight, Eric loves to travel the world while putting his Spanish language skills to the test. Eric’s favorite quote: “CHARGE!”
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