DEBRIEF: HUBIE TOLSON
NEVER A DULL MOMENT FOR ACROBATIC PILOT
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/september/flight-training-magazine/debriefHubie Tolson’s cellphone is rarely quiet. It could be someone calling about commercial real estate, or about one of the airshows at which he performs every year, or even someone hiring him to fly 25 hours off a newly restored Windecker Eagle to meet FAA flight testing requirements. Believe it or not, Tolson’s life has slowed down a little from the days when he was training as an aerobatic pilot five days a week, two or three times a day. He made the United States Aerobatic Team in 2003 and 2007, and finished fifth and seventh in the four-minute freestyle. He introduced Russian aerobatic champion Sergei Boriak to American life in New Bern, North Carolina. Boriak later became the coach of the United States team.
DebriefWHO: Hubie Tolson
OCCUPATION: Commercial real estate developer
HOURS: 10,000
CERTIFICATES AND RATINGS: Commercial multi- and single-engine, and helicopter
AIRCRAFT: Yak–52, Cirrus SR22, Sukhoi Su–31, and Robinson R44 helicopter.
- GETTING STARTED…I took a $20 ride at the airport as a high school junior. The instructor who took me for a ride did a loop and a roll, and I was smitten. I trained on a 1,400-foot strip that had a power line across the middle of it in Bayboro, North Carolina. It was a crop duster’s strip.
- EARLY CHALLENGES…I had the typical money challenges of a 16-year-old who had no money. I washed airplanes and pumped gas as a line boy at the FBO in exchange for flying time. Just picking up the landings was something I never forgot. My instructor had me fly a foot off the ground for the entire length of a 5,000- or 6,000-foot runway a few times to burn in the sight picture. I got it done and soloed in December 1974 in a Piper PA–12 [Super Cruiser], as I recall.
- HARDEST LESSON TO LEARN…Early on it was trying to get the hand-eye coordination thing right. I think the most important thing I learned [later] was taught by some of the old airshow greats—Bill Barber and those guys—about how to think about airshow flying with a minimized risk profile. They watched me almost kill myself and sat me down and said, ‘We gotta have a chat.’ That chat and their influence no doubt saved me from hurting myself.
- FAVORITE AVIATION ACTIVITY…Aerobatics. It has been a part of my life—a life-changer for me—for 40 years, from competition to airshow work around the world. It’s been my whole adult life.
- FAVORITE AIRPLANE…From a standpoint of beauty, the Beechcraft Staggerwing. From the standpoint of aerobatics, it’s a Sukhoi. I’ve had a Sukhoi for 25 years.
Throttle Back Thursday- Hubie Tolson
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/592696/throttle-back-thursday-hubie-tolson
UNITED STATES03.20.2018
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Hubie will be flying in the 2013 Aviation Show in Ansan
http://imnews.imbc.com//replay/nwdesk/article/3276389_5780.html
Draw a Dream and Hope in the Blue SkyAfter years of efforts on sound promotion of leisure aviation sports and advanced leisure culture, the airshow last year ranked as No.1 real-time search keyword on the portal sites and attracted as many as 428,864 attendees for 5 days in total, positioning itself as an event to lead the new era of leisure culture.
hosted by Gyeonggi Province and Ansan City and organized by Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, the Gyeonggi Ansan Airshow 2013 will be wide open to the public!
This year's event will bring you the fantastic flight performances of the newly reorganized world-renowned aerobatic teams, ROKAF Black Eagles and the world's best elite professional civilian jet aerobatic team Breitling Jet Team.
In May, we invite you on the Gyeonggi Ansan Airshow 2013 where you may enjoy the whole new different training and experience programs.
Hubie will be flying in the 2012 Aviation Show in Ansan
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/september/flight-training-magazine/debriefAnsan City’s aviation festival, whose Korean name has been altered, will be held from May 3 to 8 this year.
The programs have been expanded to include camping, outdoor exhibitions, and more.
◇ The 2012 G-Global Aviation in Ansan will be held in Ansan City from May 3 to 8 this year. The opening ceremony of G-Global Aviation in Ansan last year. ⓒ G-News Plus
The Korean name of Ansan City’s aviation festival, the largest of its kind in Korea, has been changed from ‘Gyeonggi International Air Show’ to ‘Gyeonggi Ansan Air Show.’ This year it will be held for six days from May 3 to 8.
Gyeonggi Province and Ansan City announced on February 6 that they were preparing new contents to foster leisure aviation and light aviation industry through the 2012 aviation show so as to reflect increasing public interest in leisure sports and the industry and their consequent status as growth industries in Korea.
Furthermore, there will be travel packages which link the aviation show and the ecological and cultural resources of the area. Naturally, there will be an aviation experience package as well as an air tour of the west coast of the country.
Last’s year aviation show, which opened on May 5, attracted 430,000 visitors and saw a total of 280,000 people participate in various experience programs. The show consolidated its position as the largest participatory-type general aviation exhibition in Asia.
In particular, the show offered 500 visitors a chance to fly in light airplanes, making the transition from a standard aviation show to ‘an aviation show with a flying experience.’
The show was also praised for its contribution to the development of the local aviation industry, particularly through the aviation exhibition, in which some 158 companies participated including Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Korean Air.
An official involved in the festival said, “We are sure that this year’s aviation festival will present visitors with the best aviation experience ever. We expect that family visitors in particular will have lots of fun as there will be a great variety of things to see and do at the festival.”
Spanish pilot Fantoba wins Desert Challenge
https://gulfnews.com/uae/spanish-pilot-fantoba-wins-desert-challenge-1.757558
Al Ain: Spanish pilot Cástor Fantoba yesterday won the Desert Challenge air race at the Al Ain Aerobatic Show, followed by Gerald Cooper from the United Kingdom as the curtain came down on the weather-reduced two-day international event in the oasis city.
Flying a Sukhoi 26, the Spaniard recorded an overall score of 70.85 per cent, just 1.8 per cent ahead of Cooper who was flying a CAP 232 aircraft. Fantoba's triumph came after successfully completing three extremely demanding rounds, incorporating two compulsory sections and one free-style flight, which were marked by the international panel of judges.
Top pilot
Fantoba was among the six world's top pilots who participated in the competition, arranged by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). The Spanish pilot had secured third place in last year's aerobatics competition here."Winning the first ever FAI Desert Challenge, and against such high quality competition, is a great personal achievement and one that I'm very proud of," said Fantoba. He said he had an excellent time visiting Al Ain and experiencing the country, both on the ground and in the sky. Winning this title rounded everything off perfectly.
During the main part of the Al Ain Aerobatic Show, pilots showed their skills in both classic and free-style displays. Flying CAP232, Sukhoi 26 and Xtreme aircraft, the pilots — all top ten FAI event rankers in the last two years — were expected to be the icing on the cake over two days of gravity-defying displays.
Fantoba's other competitors were Gerald Cooper (UK), François Le Vot (France), Philipp Steinbach (Germany), Hubie Tolson (USA), and Juan Velarde (Spain).
Castor Fantoba, winner of FAI Championship Aeros is seen performing during the Al Ain Aerobatic show 2011 at Al Ain International Airport. Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
Tight competition
"It was a very tight competition between some of the world's best pilots, but Fantoba made the least errors and flew the second compulsory section particularly well, which gave him the edge," said John Gaillard, chief judge for the FAI at the show.On the final day of the show some of the world's best stunt pilots continued to perform loops, aileron rolls and hammerhead displays.
Dozens of aircraft from different countries of the world, civil and military fighter jets, with solo and team formations, took part in the show that entertained thousands of spectators in the oasis city.
Clear skies and moderate winds offered good flying conditions for the participants of the event and the spectators enjoyed an uninterrupted display of aerobatic manoeuvres.
Abu Dhabi's Flying Falcon, Hannes Arch, fired up the crowds on the last day of the show with his dazzling new rhythm and air routine that made its global premiere.
The sunset act brought together live music, world-class dancers and eye-catching aerobatics in a breath-taking display themed around the four elements of fire, air, earth and water. And in a spectacular grand finale, Arch piloted his Abu Dhabi-branded Zivko Edge 540 aircraft across the runway and up onto the stage.
Finale
Fazza Sky Team, a celebrated skydiving and aerobatics team, displayed an outstanding performance at the show. The team display concluded with the unfurling of a massive banner of team sponsor Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.Spanish pilot Fantoba wins Desert Challenge
https://gulfnews.com/uae/spanish-pilot-fantoba-wins-desert-challenge-1.757558July14, 2009, the winner of FAI Mamaia – World Elite Aerobatic Formulacompetition held at the coastal resort of Mamaia (Romania) on July 10-11 is Spaniard Castor Fantoba. The43-year-old Spaniard is a captain of Boeing 757, acrobatic flightinstructor pilot and has been participating in various competitions as amember of the Spanish aerobatic flying team for 10 years already.
Notonly Mr. Fantoba received the highest evaluation of the FAI Mamaia – World Elite Aerobatic Formula contest referees, he also won a 10 000Euro cash prize. TheRussian pilot Svetlana Kapanina was second and the Hungarian pilotZoltan Veres was third.
Thefirst FAI – World Elite Aerobatic Formula competition was organized bythe famous Lithuanian pilot Jurgis Kairys and private Romanian companyRegional Air Services – Tuzla Airfield.
By Jurgis Kairys
According to Jurgis Kairys, the FAI Mamaia - Elite World AerobaticFormula competition progressed smoothly and satisfied expectations ofsportsmen, organizers, and audience.
Last weekend the Mamaia beach saw thousands of resort visitors, aerobaticflying fans and the ones curious to see this unconventional event. They watched the competition programs performed oversea and feasted their eyes on the aerobatic show flights. The experienced Unilimited category pilots from eight countries ferociously competed for the right to be called a champion.
“Taking into consideration the unfavourable Sunday weather forecasts, the flights were performed within two instead of three days, as was planned, but on Sunday weather turned out to be excellent, so the spectators could observe even more show flights and, we believe, definitely remained pleased,” said Jurgis Kairys.
The pilots demonstrated their abilities by performing 6 aerobatic figures designated by the competition organizers (Aerobatic against Time) as well as performing a freestyle program (Aerobatic Freestyle). In addition, the pilots had to strictly keep to the time limits as the jury consisting of the four best aviation referees mercilessly appointed penalty seconds for each mistake or failure to perform a figure.
Already during the qualification flights Castor Fantoba, Svetlana Kapanina and Zoltan Veres appeared to be the best; however, after the competition started it did not seem that the Spaniard will win after all – on the first competition day he gathered the highest number of seconds and ended up the last. On Fridaythe best results were the ones of Svetlana Kapanina, Renoud Escalle and Hubie Tolson. On Saturday Castor Fantoba’s performance was more than excellent, thus making him the winner and leaving Svetlana Kapanina and Zoltan Veressecond and third respectively.
The final results were as follows: Castor Fantoba (Spain) – 39,97 sec,Svetlana Kapanina (Russia) – 42,94 sec, Zoltan Veres (Hungary) – 50,37sec, Renoud Escalle (France) – 57,11 sec, Pierre Marmy (Switzerland) – 86,24 sec, Hubie Tolson (USA) – 88 sec, Philipp Steinbach (Germany) – 94,54 sec, and Tom Cassels (USA) – 154,85 sec.