?It?s basically a race car with wings.?
So says Michael Goulian, a champion aviator and brand ambassador for Alpina Watches, about his German-made Extra 330SC plane before he steps into the cockpit. The Extra 330SC isn?t exactly the kind of aircraft you picture when someone says they?re a professional pilot. It?s a sleek flying machine that knifes and tumbles through the sky with speeds that top out at 260 miles per hour, the capability to hit up to 12 Gs of force, and the ability to roll 380 degrees in a single second.
Mike Goulian inside his Alpina-branded Extra 330SC.
Goulian has been flying since before he could drive a car and has performed in over 300 air shows around the world. He?s about as legit as they come in the air show business and is known throughout the industry for his thirty years of championship experience and consummate professionalism. His unique skill set that allows him to overcome gravity and do things like fly upside down for multiple minutes at a time before diving into a series of rolls, spins, flips, and turns is what propelled him to win the United States Unlimited Aerobatic Championship when he was only 27 and represent the United States at both the World Aerobatic Championships and the Red Bull Air Race Championships for multiple years. It?s an impossible combination of grace and raw strength that enables him to make the sky his domain.
The Alpina MG99 Limited Edition Pilot’s watch.
The speciality aerobatic planes that Goulian has been ...