"Dudley Henriques" dhenriques@noware .net wrote in message
.net...

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
. ..

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:H8%Be.157451$_o.96603@attbi_s71...
Hoover is my favorite. An "ultimate expression of the possible" is
a
good way of describing it.

Second that.

Another would be the old "Flying Perfesser" (?) who did amazing
stunts
in
a
J-3 Cub (haven't seen that one in YEARSSSS.)

OTOH, the TB's and BA's are not only demonstrating flying skills, but
aircraft performance at the other end of the scale.

I've seen them all, from Cole to Hoover to Tucker, to the late Bobby
Younkin. They were/are all incredible pilots.

The best I've *ever* seen, however, bar none, was an old guy at the
annual
Stearman Fly In (in Galesburg, IL) three years ago. He was old as
dirt,
totally unknown (I wish I could remember his name) -- and did things
with
that Stearman that had me jumping up and down, first in terror, then in
glee.

I truly thought he was going to hit the ground on any of a dozen
maneuvers.
During some maneuvers he actually went BELOW ground level, as he flew
in
the
drainage ditch alongside the runway! From our ground-level vantage
point,
he looked like he had impacted the ground -- a completely unnerving
sight.

Best part was that it was all done in super slow-motion (a Stearman has
no
other speed), RIGHT in front of us. What an amazing stick.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

And he does it with a rock stock 220 hp Stearman. No 450 hp P&W making
a
racket that wakes the dead. Guys like that have piloting skills far
beyond
Tucker and all the others that would be lost if they had to fly with
finesse
instead of with horse power.

This is simply not true and I'm surprised you felt you had to put it this
way. You know; it's possible to make your point about flying a low
altitude
energy aerobatic profile as opposed to a power profile without demeaning
some of the finest aerobatic pilots in the world. :-))

I can guarantee you that any of the pilots you mentioned can fly with all
the finesse they need, power or power off!!
A Stearman with a 220 mill hanging on the nose is indeed a heavy steed to
be
handling at low altitude acrobatically, but if flown correctly, an energy
management acro program in a Stearman is not all that hard to fly. You
simply compensate for the lack of power by trading off the energy equation
between airspeed and g. Generally it's a loose program, but it's not that
difficult to fly.

Dudley Henriques

We all have our opinions and I don't see any comparison between the two
extremes. One extreme shows piloting skill and the other makes lotsa noise
and impresses the general public. That's what they do for a living which is
fine but it doesn't mean I have to like it or be impressed by it. I'll take
the Aeroshell T6 team, Bob Hoover in the Shrike, a Tcraft or J3 routine any
day over the whiz bang hang it on the prop, make lotsa smoke and noise with
a loud mouth announcer any day.

Have you seen the Stearman routine discussed?