Pilot Interview: Sean Whitney
Posted on November 22, 2008 by aaronredbaron
Sean Whitney is making the final transition from being just another heli guy to one of the Pros. Sean’s flying is fun to watch because he throws in aggressive crisp maneuvers with lots of big air flying. He tears up the sky, doing tail slides that kick up dirt on a regular basis. There is a certain quality in a very skilled pilots flying that suggests the aircraft is alive, and Sean can make the helicopter dance like few others. His sharp learning curve suggests that he is definitely one to watch.
Aaron: How long have you been flying helicopters and how did you get into the hobby?
Sean: I’ve been flying for about two years now. My neighbor came over one day flying one of those little Blade CX’s and I just had to have one, so thats where I started. I just kept moving up from there. I moved on to a T-Rex 450, and then I wanted something a little bigger and I went with a Raptor 50 Titan. About that same time the T-Rex 600 Nitro came out and I wanted to move on to something a little better and I went to the T-Rex 600 and have been flying it ever since.
Aaron: Have you picked up any sponsors yet?
Sean: At the moment I am current sponsored by FlexPro, Flex Your Rex, and you know, they help me out with some of the stuff and my crashing and also I am representing their landing gear on the T-Rex 450 and the T-Rex 500.
Aaron: Your flying has progressed a lot, you have gone from being an entry level pilot to one of the best hot dogs in the Northwest in a very short time. The thing that is really great to see is you have a very unique style. What is very apparent to most people watching you fly is that you’ve grown at a tremendously rapid pace. You have developed your own concepts and your own unique looking maneuvers in a very short amount of time. What kind of practice routines do you do?
Sean: When I first started I was watching a lot of videos and watching everybody else do this real hard stick banging thing and I kind of liked that at first. Then I began to feel like once you’ve seen one stick banger you’ve seen them all. So, I tried to smooth it out a little bit while still doing the same type of radical maneuvers. I feel like I have progressed a lot doing that.
Aaron: What is your favorite maneuver?
Sean: Backwards upside down tail slides are a lot of fun, I like going backwards upside down.
Aaron: What was the most difficult aerobatic maneuver to work into?
Sean: 4-point tic tocks are pretty hard, I spent a lot of time on the simulator doing that and I’m still trying to do the pirouetting flipping more consistent and lower to the ground and more in a little ball, I feel that thats still one of the toughest maneuvers.
Aaron: What maneuvers are you working on now?
Sean: I have been working on reverse pirouetting flips on the simulator and its not going so good. I think its just a mind game and hopefully my brain can train my thumbs to go the other way.
Aaron: What Helicopters are you flying now?
Sean: Well my T-Rex 450 is pretty much sitting in a room basically in a closet because its not something I really care to fly anymore. My T-Rex 500 is awesome but it doesn’t have the power right now and I think the servos are a little too slow but its definitely flies really smooth. My 600, all around I think its a great machine, and I do want to move up to the T-Rex 700 or another 90 size eventually, but you know, the fuel is kind of expensive. The 600 is really smooth, nice helicopter, and its really stable.
Aaron: Thanks for your time Sean, you are definitely an inspiration to force me to fly harder and get better because I already feel like I am trying to catch up with you, so keep it up!
