Inside the Cockpit: How Air Show Aerobatics Are Successfully Performed

When Brad Wursten tells you to “step inside my office,” don’t be surprised if he leads you to a cockpit, in the most remarkable plane you can’t help but gawk at.

Then, he’ll describe it, and it will make your stomach turn with excitement and fear, all at the same time.

“This is a state of the art airplane,” the famed air show aerobatics pilot said. “It’s the lightest, most powerful airplane you could buy. There’s nothing better than this plane.”

He was talking about the plane he uses for air shows, already totaling 70 in his young life.

The lightweight, patriotic plane was built to race in the Red Bull air races and completely built out of carbon fiber.

“This is as much of a model plane as you could get,” the Logan, UT native said.

And at only 1,155 pounds, that plane could probably be carried through an air show, and would make most people queezy at the thought of hopping inside.

However, that’s who he is, and what has made him arguably one of the best pilots in the world.

“I’m a motorhead at heart and love lots and lots of horsepower. So, this airplane is exactly that.”

Wursten got his winged footprint at just eight years old where he started building and flying model planes.

Decades later, he’s still at it, but just smoking the competition out of the sky.

So, I did what anyone would do after interviewing one of the top pilots in the world – “step into his office” and take the model plane for a spin.

Literally.

This time, we hopped on over to his Extra 330LX, two-seater, fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft. Not as light as his air show pride and joy, but still a (G) force to be reckoned with, weighing only 1,400 pounds.

I’m telling you, I couldn’t imagine anyone who handles 10 G’s at 140 miles per hour, while spinning toward the Earth, more calmly and with more focus than Wursten.

And that, right there, is how it’s done: with focus.

“Your life is on the line. It’s not something you just dabble in. It’s something you have to be passionate about and take very seriously on a pretty high level,” Wursten added.

He also mentioned the importance of rigorous practice and living a clean lifestyle in order to get to where he is today.

Wursten took me through several of his routines, with the speed and force so powerful, you couldn’t put your feet down on the ground, no matter how hard you tried.

Although he normally reaches 10G’s, today, we clocked-in at six. Keep in mind, Formula One racers usually pull about half of that.

Needless to say, that’s a lot of G-force.

We ended the day with his signature move, a terrific nod to his personality – he drew a “thumbs-up” in the sky. To the average person, that kind of maneuver is so disorienting, you can’t figure out if you’re flying up or down.

Then, you hear him counting, “one knuckle, two knuckles, three…” And you realize just how fast you’re really moving.

When Wursten isn’t a motorhead, he’s hitting the powder just as intensely as a sledhead – riding snowmobiles to the point where even everyone in that industry knows his name.

It actually took me a little by surprise – a personality so driven toward success, yet so humble, he it took a few questions and praise from his crew for me to quite grasp just how talented he is before ever seeing him get inside the plane.

Carrying-on his own mentor’s legacy, he’s part of the “Elevate Your Life” mentorship program, helping youth achieve their dreams.