Blog Archives

Good morning Gregory,
Ok I’ve seen you perform at a few air shows in New England. Before that I’ve only seen T-33s in books. I understand you are from California and took your first flight at 7 years old.
You got your pilot’s license while in the Army in 1982. It seems you had a plan but things didn’t exactly happen the way you expected. Can you explain what happened? Knee injury kept me from flight school, then I wanted to be airline pilot, but my son was born and could not afford $9 an hour to fly for regional airline, so I became a controller instead. But I kept flying.

What got you hooked on the T-33? The T-33 was always my favorite plane as a kid. I flew a friends and had to have one. Bought my first T-33 in 2008.

How is the T-33 as a cross country ride? Great! Long legs, fast but ha...

Unfortunately, it seems that 2021 will be the last year we will see Mike Wiskus flying that little orange – or is it red – biplane on the air show circuit.

At 63 years old (in November) Mike will be losing his sponsor, Lucas Oil, after 20 years.

I asked Mike if he had his way, how many more years would he prefer to fly his biplane at air shows.
“One to two more years, but I’ve got no regrets. I’ve had a sponsor as long as anyone. Do I want to quit?-No, I’ve made some calls, but I can’t imagine re- branding now, getting a new sponsor now, with the way things are, everyone is so apprehensive.”

I told Mike that I love how he doesn’t have an actual ‘routine’, and I especially enjoyed the annual “Mosquito Pass” at the Orange County New York Air Show...

This article with photos is the third of three parts written by Kevin Burke, who was fortunate to witness Sean D. Tucker’s flying prowess closer than most! The 2018 air show campaign will be Mr. Tucker’s final solo aerobatic season.

The Man – Sean D. Tucker

To endure the extreme physical demands of his performance and remain G tolerant, Tucker maintains a physical training schedule, working out more than 340 days per year.

Tucker practices his air show routine as many as three times every day during the air show season.

During his 13 minute Sky dance performance, Tucker will pull more than 9 positive G forces and more than seven negative G forces.

More than half of Tucker’s power aerobatic maneuvers are unique.

Tucker is the world’s only pilot to perform the triple ribbon cut, in whic...