Now, if the announcer were to say something like, "And now (insert
usegroup participant name) will demonstrate the Columbia's aerobatic
capabilities!", my response would be, "This is going to be REAL
interesting... at least for a couple of seconds." :-)

That WOULD be fun.

I think what made the Columbia's performance more interesting was the
incredibly hot conditions, and resulting high density altitudes.
Climbing out of Waukesha later on, when it had cooled down some, Atlas
-- normally pretty sprightly, with those 235 horses -- was huffing and
puffing, and it took FOREVER to get to 6500 feet.

Knowing how degraded the engine performance was really made the
Columbia's exhibition all the more impressive. Tucker really racked
that thing around!

(On a side note, we saw Tucker perform his regular routine at Reno, in
his Oracle plane, and were struck by how he had to change his routine
to take the altitude into account. He even commented on this during
his routine.)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"