Pilot Briefing

Introducing Team Oracle

Sean D. Tucker shares the sky with some friends

By Collin Callahan

High above Wittman Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the Oracle Challenger III hangs in the air, suspended by its propeller. As the engine roars, the wings rotate around in a torque roll, and the biplane begins to slide backward toward the ground.

At the controls, Sean D. Tucker flips the airplane over, pointing the nose straight down to get his speed up. It’s a familiar sight for airshow patrons who have watched Tucker perform over the past four decades.

But today is different. As Tucker dives toward the runway, an Extra 300 dives from above, giving chase. Jessy Panzer rolls the Extra over Tucker’s airplane, forming up on his wing, and the two fly in tight formation.

This is Team Oracle.

In October 2018, Tucker retired his high-energy solo aerobatic performance. His one-of-a-kind biplane, the Oracle Challenger III, will take its final flight later this year before it’s displayed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Without his signature airplane and in search of a less physically punishing airshow routine, Tucker started thinking about what he would do next. That’s when Team Oracle was born.

More than a decade ago, Tucker was part of a four-ship formation team called The Collaborators. Today, he’s revisiting that idea with Panzer.

Panzer is a corporate pilot who started flying in 2000. She flew her first airshow in 2004, and a year later she found herself being mentored by Tucker through the Stars of Tomorrow program. Flying with Team Oracle is her dream job, she says. When Tucker invited her to join the team, she almost couldn’t believe it.

Panzer chases Tucker’s smoke, following him through loops, rolls, and half-Cubans. Then, the two aircraft split off for high-energy aerobatics that Tucker describes as “Sean D. Tucker, hair-on-fire, extreme aerobatics.”“It doesn’t get much better than this for me,” Panzer said. “Flying with Sean and doing formation aerobatics is what I’m meant to do at this point in time, and it’s just perfect.”

“She’s all in,” Tucker said. “She’s willing to dedicate her professional life to becoming a professional airshow performer. And she’s enthusiastic, reverent, happy, and she flies with joy. So, it’s really been a pleasure to fly with her on the wing.”

Tucker and Panzer worked with renowned formation aerobatic pilot Bill Stein to develop their performance. It was Stein who coached The Collaborators in 2007, and he’s worked with Team Oracle since November 2018 to craft and polish a safe routine.

The performance opens with Tucker and Panzer in close formation. From behind the crowd, they pull and roll through a clover loop and barrel roll. This style of flying is drastically different from the solo aerobatics that Tucker is used to. Leading a teammate through the aerobatic box requires extreme focus.

“I’m pushing my own personal, professional envelope,” Tucker said. Through every formation maneuver, he needs to monitor his speed, altitude, and roll rate with exacting precision to allow Panzer to hold her position on his wing. Tucker makes it look easy.

“The aerobatic box is his world,” Panzer said. “He is so good at box positioning and planning and all of that. It’s a great new challenge for Sean and I think he’s really enjoying it.”

After a series of formation passes, a tail chase begins. Panzer chases Tucker’s smoke, following him through loops, rolls, and half-Cubans. Then, the two aircraft split off for high-energy aerobatics that Tucker describes as “Sean D. Tucker, hair-on-fire, extreme aerobatics.”

Tucker’s classic music hits the speakers, and he shows off some of the signature moves that have earned him accolades during his 42 years flying on the airshow circuit. He front-flips the Oracle Challenger, tumbles it through the Centrifuge, climbs into the “Tucker Upper,” and kicks it through a double hammerhead turnaround. “This is the last year I get to fly this biplane, so I want to make sure I utilize them every opportunity to showcase it very well,” he said.

Panzer follows suit, showcasing the flight capabilities of the Extra 300L. She rolls the airplane twice at the top of a loop for a double avalanche, performs a Cuban eight, and turns it around in a hammerhead.

The performance ends with the pair forming a heart over the runway. Thirteen minutes after it started, Tucker and Panzer are on short final. They taxi past waving and applauding spectators.

“The thing I want the audience to go away with is that flying is possible, and everybody should give it a shot,” Tucker said. “When you elevate yourself above the Earth, you elevate your soul, and it changes you.”

The last chance to see the Oracle Challenger III before it heads to the Air and Space Museum will be at Wings Over Houston October 19 and 20. Afterward, Tucker plans to transition to a high-performance monoplane. Next year may also see additional teammates, as Tucker has indicated that he wants to grow Team Oracle to as many five aircraft.

Collin Callahan is an aviation photographer and writer in Alexandria, Virginia.

Piston, business jet aircraft shipments growing

Slowing noted for turboprop, rotorcraft segments

By David Tulis

Piston aircraft and business jet deliveries show gains over 2018, while rotorcraft deliveries continued a downward trend, according to the latest General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) report.

The first six months of 2019 saw the piston-engine aircraft fleet notch 567 deliveries, an increase of 15.2 percent over 2018’s second quarter shipment figures, the report noted. The increase appears to come on the heels of a strong training market with commitments from colleges, flight schools, and other training programs to fill the career pilot ranks in the face of an industrywide workforce shortage.

On the flip side, rotorcraft and turboprop airplane deliveries slowed during the first six months of 2019. Piston helicopter shipments slipped from 149 to 110 units and turbine-powered helicopter deliveries dropped by more than 10 percent over the previous midyear mark. The value of airplane deliveries totaled $9 billion, an increase of about 13 percent.

Pete Bunce, GAMA president and CEO, said the mixed results “should not obscure the outlook for a bright future for general aviation” because additional aircraft models “are expected to enter into service by the end of 2019.” Notably, Piper Aircraft’s stripped-down $369,000 PA–28 Archer TX is morphing into additional new models known as the Piper Pilot 100 and Pilot 100i—with accompanying reduced prices of $259,000 and $285,000—and is marketed to colleges, flight schools, and other training facilities.

Market-leading Cirrus Aircraft delivered 172 piston aircraft and appears to be on track to equal the Minnesota company’s 2018 figure of 380 single-engine piston aircraft. Diamond Aircraft Industries’ 48 DA40 singles delivered so far already surpassed the Austria-based manufacturer’s 2018 total of 45 units delivered. Textron Aviation delivered 52 Cessna 172 Skyhawk SPs in 2019 on the heels of a deal with ATP Flight Schools for 100 of the models through 2023.

The Aircraft Electronics Association also announced a 14-percent increase in sales over the first six months of 2018, marking “an increase in year-over-year sales for 10 straight quarters,” said association President and CEO Mike Adamson.

The report noted that 52.7 percent of the more than $1.5 billion in 2019 midyear sales came from the retrofit avionics market as aircraft owners upgraded their instrument panels with the latest digital technology and ADS-B before the January 2, 2020 deadline. The sales figures include all business and GA electronics sales and take into account “all component and accessories in cockpit/cabin/software upgrades/portables/certified and noncertified aircraft electronics; all hardware (tip to tail); batteries; and chargeable product upgrades from the participating manufacturers.”

Airframe manufacturers accounted for the remainder of avionics sales during new installations on their production lines.

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