Eric Tucker
Ambulance chaser... sort of
You’d probably think the son of aerobatic superstar Sean D. Tucker would take his lead from his father.
But Eric Tucker was influenced by airshow comedy performer Jim Mynning, who among performing other feats, landed a Piper Cub on a pickup truck he called “The world’s smallest airport.” The younger Tucker decided he wanted to perform airshow comedy, so he has perfected an act during which he lands on an ambulance—a moving ambulance. His wife found the 1990 ambulance at an Arizona fire department. Tucker designed a platform to attach to the roof of the ambulance. Landing a J–3 Cub on top of a moving ambulance isn’t an aerobatic feat, Tucker said, but more a type of formation flying. The ambulance motors down the runway centerline at 55 mph and Tucker positions the Cub over top. “The car-top landing is the raddest thing. It’s a total wrestling match. It’s pretty challenging and super personally satisfying,” he said. Tucker will be a featured performer at Arizona’s Buckeye Air Fair and AOPA event in February.
How did you get started in aviation? I guess you could call it the family business. My grandfather was an aviation attorney, and my dad is an airshow pilot and crop duster. I had my first aerobatic airplane ride before I was born. I was two weeks overdue, and my dad said Let’s get that kid out of there and four hours after the flight my mom was in labor.
Biggest challenges? When I was young, and still today, I think decision making and how to set up for stress are the biggest challenges all of us face.
Favorite aircraft? My wife recently asked that same question but added “if money were no object” and I told her there’d be five aircraft: my J–3 Cub, an Albatross, Citation jet of some kind, Staggerwing, and an Extra 300. But I love my J–3 Cub and I love flying the Falcon 900 (for work).
Favorite aviation-related activity? I really love teaching and helping my kids to fly. I want to give my kids a similar experience growing up that I had. I was never in the shadow of my dad; he opened up a world for me. My son Phoenix says he wants to have an epic solo and land on an ambulance. I’ll support that but he needs to be really good, especially at formation flying.
Advice for students? The right habits, do the right thing. I really believe you have to understand how your brain works, how it reacts to stress, or otherwise your decisions and actions are left up to chance. I always recommend people to read Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales; it really influenced me.
Related Articles
