Will Perform Upset Recovery Demonstrations In Columbia 400SL

Columbia Aircraft announced Wednesday it is launching a second product demonstration tour --the Columbia Airshow Tour featuring Sean D. Tucker. On the tour, the world-renowned aerobatics performer will fly a Columbia 400SL at major airshows throughout the United States, performing a routine demonstrating upset recovery techniques.

The goal of the tour is to demonstrate the capabilities of the Columbia – the only Utility Category aircraft certified since 1968 -- as well as to promote Tucker’s E-PATS (Executive Pilot Awareness Training School). All maneuvers demonstrated fall within the Columbia’s higher G limit load for Utility Category aircraft and some maneuvers are also those used in the E-PATS program.

"E-PATS is Sean D. Tucker’s specialized course at the Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety that teaches pilots how to recognize and recover from unusual attitudes," stated Randy S. Bolinger, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Columbia Aircraft. "E-PATS is a tool to help train the pilot to be a safer operator."

"E-PATS is available to pilots of all aircraft types," said Tucker (right). "I selected the Columbia 400 for E-PATS because the Utility Category airframe has the robustness needed to withstand the day-to-day rigors of such advanced training and demanding maneuvers... [and] the 400 recovers from spins more predictably than many aerobatic aircraft I’ve flown."

The Columbia Airshow Tour is scheduled to make 24 stops in 2006, beginning at the upcoming Fly-In at Lakeland, FL next month. The Columbia Airshow Tour featuring Sean D. Tucker runs concurrently with Columbia’s other national tour, the Fly Columbia Tour that is making an additional 30 stops in 2006 at FBOs, trade shows, special events and both regional and local fly-ins.

"We’re thrilled that Sean D. Tucker selected the Columbia and that major sponsors have chosen to support this unique demonstration and valuable E-PATS safety training," Bolinger added. "This tour isn’t a paid endorsement; it’s a real-life product demonstration in the type of aircraft that GA pilots fly everyday. The fact is that aircraft can get into unusual attitudes and pilots must be able to recognize the scenario and understand how to recover. Pilots should be continually training and upset recovery is an important part of advanced flight training."

While it's certainly true Tucker will be demonstrating some much-needed skills that can benefit pilots of all stripes -- Aero-News is admittedly curious to see if Tucker will also be able to make the 400SL hover inflight...

FMI: www.flycolumbia.com