Sean Tucker‘s Oracle Challenger To Be Enshrined"Upside Down

Photo courtesy of Michael Pereckas via Wikimedia Commons.

The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly tough on veteran air show pilot Sean Tucker. But after a year's delay, he was finally able to follow through on plans to have his signature Aviation Specialties Unlimited Challenger III biplane donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It will hang---upside down, of course---just inside the entrance to the museum on the Mall in Washington, D.C. "People are going to see that and go, ’Wow!," and come in," Dorothy Cochrane, curator of the museum's "We All Fly" gallery, told the Washington Post.

Having just retired as a solo performer when the pandemic hit, Tucker's year was challenging as he was trying to get a formation flying team together. A multimillion-dollar corporate sponsorship fell apart, and with no air shows to fly, his savings were depleted. Now 69, he had to lay off 11 members of his air show team during the dark months of the pandemic and sell two aircraft to make ends meet. But in response to the finalized plans to have his airplane enshrined, Tucker shook off the setbacks, telling the Post, "All pilots are optimists."

It was David Ellison, chief executive of Skydance Media, who heard that his former mentor Tucker was struggling, bought the world-famous red biplane from Tucker, and made the donation to the Air & Space Museum on his behalf.

Even before the financial challenges during the pandemic, Tucker characterized his parting with the airplanes as "bittersweet," the tangible closing of a long career as one of the best known solo performers in the air show industry. But now, as co-chairman of the EAA Young Eagle program, Tucker relishes the prospect of inspiring the next generation of aviation enthusiasts and professionals.

Samantha ThomasWriter