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Doug Lovell and I will be posting IAC aerobatic contest results and IAC Regional Series competitor standings updates here as the season progresses. If anyone has questions, please start a separate thread to capture that question and all of the info that is offered as answers.
As they say in the auto racing world, gentlemen start your engines. :)
Wes
N78PS
March 22
IAC Chapter 288 hosted our first aerobatic contest of the 2014 season. Aptly named "Kickoff", the Phil Schacht Aerobatic Kickoff flew March 21, 22 at Keystone Heights (42J), between Gainesville and St. Augustine, about forty miles SSW of Jacksonville, in northeast Florida.
Andrea Luethi directed the contest.
Primary flew four flights at Keystone with four pilots participating. The first flight was won by John DeGennaro, who flew second place on the remaining flights and took first place overall. Winston Wright won the second flight and made second overall. Richard Snarr won the last two flights, but could not make up for zeroed figures on the first two. Faith Drewry placed third overall. Judging Primary were Kevin Campbell, Steve Johnson, Marty Flournoy, Mark Stewart, and Jim Wells. Fred Weaver was Chief Judge.
Sportsman flew three flights. Six pilots participated. Michael Breshears was first place overall, followed by Chris Rudd and Ken Hunt. Marcus Cade earned first place on the first and third flights. Jeffrey Schneider won the second flight. Sportsman judges were Jim Wells, Kevin Campbell, Mark Stewart, Stan Moye, Chuck Cohen, Lauren Thornton, and Foster Bachschmidt. Steve Johnson was Chief Judge.
Jim Wells won Intermediate with first place and a solid point lead on the Unknown. John Wacker was second, winning the Known. Chuck Cohen was third, winning the free. These were the three pilots competing in Intermediate. Steve Johnson, Marty Flournoy, Fred Weaver, Kevin Campbell, Stan Moye, Foster Bachschmidt, and Lauren Thornton judged Intermediate. Chris Rudd was Chief Judge.
Advanced had six competitors. Marty Flournoy earned first place, followed by Stan Moye and Mark Stewart. Steve Johnson won the Known and the Free. Mark Stewart won the Unknown. Advanced judges were Chris Rudd, Jim Wells, Chuck Cohen, Kevin Campbell, Foster Bachschmidt, and Laurie Ramirez.
Unlimited had two competitors. Nick Onn won the Known and the Free, the only flights flown. Val Rahmani was second. Kevin Campbell, Steve Johnson, Marty Flournoy, Mark Stewart, Jim Wells, Fred Weaver, and Stan Moye judged, Chris Rudd chiefed Unlimited.
Congratulate the Keystone Winners: Primary, John DeGennaro Sportsman, Michael Breshears Intermediate, Jim Wells Advanced, Marty Flournoy Unlimited, Nick Onn
Congratulate Chapter 288 on posting the kickoff of the 2014 IAC Aerobatic Contest season.
April 23
Results from Borrego are in. The San Diego Hammerheads, Chapter 36 hosted their Roundup at Borrego Springs, CA. Borrego sits between Escondido and the Salton Sea; between Palm Springs and San Diego in southern California, thirty five or forty miles north of the border with Mexico. This is reported to be one of the best marked boxes in the nation. The IAC Board has selected Borrego as the U.S.A. bid site for the World Advanced Aerobatic Championships in 2016. Yolandi Jooste directed the contest.
In Primary, Nicolaas Vlok was best of four pilots. He won the first and third flights. Thomas Goetze, second place, won the second flight.
In Sportsman, Beth Stanton bested a field of five. If you have read the April Issue of Sport Aerobatics Magazine, you might have enjoyed Beth's very fun article about mentally preparing for competition flights. She's doing something right. She won the second and third flights. Jim Bourke won the first.
Intermediate pilot Matthew Dunfee earned best of three. He also earned first place for the Known, Free, and Unknown. Congratulate Matthew on his perfecta trifecta and 82.65% take of the points.
Advanced had the largest field, with six pilots. Hiroyasu Endo won overall, the Known, and on the Free, just a shade ahead of Michael Hartenstine, who won the Unknown and second place. Four pilots flew Unlimited, with Tim Just ranking at the top. Tim won the Known and the Free flights. He took second to Malcolm Pond on the Unknown.
Judges for the contest were Doug Sowder(P,I,U), Hiroyasu Endo(P,I,U), Mike Eggen(P,I,U), Hal Raish(P,S,I,A,U), Bob Meyer(P,S,I,A,U), Peggy Riedinger(P,S,I,A,U), Barrett Hines(S,A), Norman Manary(S,A), Michael Church(S,A), Tim Just(S,A), and Malcolm Pond(S,A). Casey Erickson presided as Chief Judge for all categories and all flights.
Congratulate the Borrego Best: Primary: Nicolaas Vlok Sportsman: Beth Stanton Intermediate: Matthew Dunfee Advanced: Hiroyasu Endo Unlimited: Tim Just
Things are quiet this weekend; however next weekend, the first weekend of May, has a full calendar of three contests. According to the IAC contest calendar, http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/...estListing.asp the Southwest will host the Duel in the Desert at Apple Valley, CA; the Southeast will host Sebring at Sebring, FL; and the Northeast Chapter 19 will host the Carolina Boogie at Wilson, NC.
Spring Sebring Contest Results!
Congratulate Cortland Dines, Primary; David Cade, Sportsman; Dean Meredith, Intermediate; Stan Moye, Advanced; and Hector Ramirez, Unlimited-- all power, all winners at Sebring Spring, hosted by IAC Chapter 23 and John McKinney in Sebring, Florida at the beginning of this month.
This Sebring contest suffered unusually mean weather from a rainy front that poured water all over the gulf coast and northern Florida. Sebring flew the Known and Free flights of each category.
Cortland Hines won both Primary flights to best Douglas Gallagher and a field of four. Cortland flies an S2B. Two pilots shared an S2A. We're curious to see something about the "Rud Aero RA-3" flown by Eugene Zakharenkov. Jim Wells was chief, Lauren Thornton, Chuck Cohen, Bill Dearman, Stan Moye, and Mark Stewart judged.
David Cade won the Sportsman Known, Shiloh Dudley won the Sportsman Free. They were first and second, respectively overall, in a field of eight competitors. David flew an Extra 230, Shiloh a Super Decathlon. The rest of the field flew an S2A, S2B, and Chris Rudd flew a One Design. Jim Wells was chief, Lauren Thornton, Chuck Cohen, Bill Dearman, Stan Moye, Mark Stewart, Gary Soud, Liz Weaver, and Thomas Bittle judged.
Intermediate, the largest category at Sebring, with nine competitors, showed some drama as Dean Meredith came back from sixth place on the Known to win the Free and win the category. He received an unheard-of 90.27 percent of possible points for his performance in the Free program flying a Giles 202. First place on the Known went to Fred Whitsitt, who did not fly the Free. Fred flew an S2B. Alain Aguayo took second overall, flying an S2B, placing third on the Known and second on the Free. Jim Wells took second on the Known flying his Giles 202.
Fred Weaver served as chief for Intermediate. Robert Gordon, Foster Bachschmidt, Marty Flournoy, Stephen Hill, Pete Eslick, Thomas Bittle, and Gary Soud served as judges.
Stan Moye won both flights and overall in the Advanced category. He is flying an Extra 300S this year. Foster Bachschmidt took second to Stan on both flights flying an Extra 300LX. The remaining four Advanced competitors, each flew a different make and model. Marty Flournoy flew a Giles 202. Abbott Kagan flew a Sukhoi 29. Mark Stewart flew a Panzel S330. Dan Salcedo flew his Supah Stinkah Pitts S1-11. Jim Wells was chief judge. Stephen Hill, Chris Rudd, Hector Ramirez, Thomas Bittle, and Fred Weaver judged.
The two Unlimited pilots Hector Ramirez and Joe Brinker took first and second, respectively, of everything. Hector flies an Extra 300SC. If you would like to see the relatively new, rare, German, XtremeAir XA42, find a contest where Joe Brinker is flying. The plane Joe flew at Sebring has a German registration.
Fred Weaver was chief judge; Robert Gordon, Foster Bachschmidt, Marty Flournoy, Stephen Hill, Pete Eslick, Thomas Bittle, and Gary Soud served as judges for Unlimited.
Coming up on the IAC Contest Calendar, http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/...estListing.asp are the Ben Lowell Aerial Confrontation, May 23, at Lamar, Colorado; and the following weekend, May 30, three contests: the Bear Creek Bash in Rome, Georgia; the Wildwoods Acroblast in Cape May, New Jersey; and the Coalinga Western Showdown in Coalinga, California.
From Apple Valley, California
Twenty-five pilots posted results at Chapter 49's Duel in the Desert at Apple Valley, CA at the beginning of the month. The contest included a Duel between Tim Just and Patrick Dugan on the Four Minute Free program.
Apple Valley is Northeast of Los Angeles, up interstate 15 through the pass north of San Bernadino, just past Victorville. By air, ten miles east of the Victorville VOR at 3062 feet elevation.
Mignon Gery dueled with Gary Debaun in Primary. Gery vs. Gary, and Gery won. Mignon Gery was first Primary overall, top ranked on the first and third flights. Gary Debaun won the second flight.
Six pilots flew Sportsman. Seven pilots flew Intermediate. Jim Bourke won Sportsman in a Super-D. He made a clean sweep of every flight. Matthew Dunfee won Intermediate flying an Extra 300. He likewise made a clean sweep of every flight.
Michael Hartenstine flew an Extra 300 to victory in Advanced. He won only the Free, second on the Known, third on the Unknown. Hiroyasu Endo was first on the Known. He flew an Extra 300 and placed second overall. Margo Chase won the Unknown. She also flew and Extra 300. She placed third overall. Six pilots flew Advanced.
Pilots of the Extra 300 topped the four competitor field in Unlimited. Tim Just won the Free and Unknown, first place overall. Patrick Dugan won the Known, second place overall.
No doubt, the Extra 300 was a popular, winning airplane at Apple Valley.
Bob Meyer, Jerry Riedinger, Peggy Riedinger, Dave Watson, Howard Kirker, Tim Just, Barrett Hines, Kathleen Howell, Hiroyasu Endo, Andrew Slatkin, Casey Erickson, and Tom Meyers judged at Apple Valley. Bob Meyer and Tom Myers served as Chief Judges. Chris Olmstead directed the contest.
Bob, Jerry, Peggy, Dave, and Howard judged the Four Minute program. Three out of five ranked Tim Just ahead of Patrick Dugan. Tim pulled top Unlimited bragging rights by a percentage point. And no, Peggy and Jerry did not agree. They cancelled each other out at the polls.
Coming up on the IAC Contest Calendar, http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/...estListing.asp are the Ben Lowell Aerial Confrontation, May 23, at Lamar, Colorado; and the following weekend, May 30, three contests: the Bear Creek Bash in Rome, Georgia; the Wildwoods Acroblast in Cape May, New Jersey; and the Coalinga Western Showdown in Coalinga, California.
Results from the Carolina Boogie!
Lucky thirteen pilots competed at Wilson, North Carolina the first weekend of the month-- two in Primary, five in Sportsman, four Intermediate, and two Advanced-- all power.
Eric Sandifer, Sarah Tobin, Adam Cope, Charlie Harrison, and Steve Johnson judged the categories. Eric Sandifer served as Contest Director for IAC Chapter 19 and judged all four categories flown. Charlie Harrison served as Chief Judge for all flights, and often at the same time as grading judge.
Advanced had three judges, as the remaining two of the five judges at the contest were flying the category. The Chief Judge was the third grading judge.
Peter Walsh beat Michael Pearce in Primary, both flew the same S2C. William Cox bested the field in Sportsman flying an Extra 230. Larry Macon won Intermediate flying a Pitts S2B. In Advanced, Steve Johnson in his MX-2 bested Adam Cope in the DR-107 one-d.
The winner in every category of the Carolina Boogie was also the winner of each of the three flights flown in their category.
Coming up next weekend on the IAC Contest Calendar, http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/...estListing.asp are three contests: the Bear Creek Bash in Rome, Georgia; the Wildwoods Acroblast in Cape May, New Jersey; and the Coalinga Western Showdown in Coalinga, California.
More contest results!
The Ben Lowell Aerial Confrontation flew over the weekend at Lamar, in the high plains of Eastern Colorado. Judges Betty Stewart, Dick Bevington, and Pat Fogarty braved a judge line littered with prickly pear cactus to grade all of the flights. Mike Forney was Chief Judge for Primary and Sportsman. Paul Thomson was Chief Judge for Intermediate and Advanced. Chris Leach acted as contest director with help from Registrar and Scorekeeper Ron Duren, IAC Chapter 12 members DJ Molny, Betty Stewart, Dan Peters, Marc Connolly, and all present.
Primary had two first time competitors Chad Ollinger and Patric Coggin. Chad flew Paul Thomson's Super-D, which Paul also flew for patch. Patric flew his RV-4. The first and second flights had Chad barely ahead of Patric, the third shows Patric ahead of Chad by half a percent. Chad accumulated the most points for first place.
Sportsman had a full field of seven pilots. Paul Thomson from Kansas in his Super Decathlon won all flights and overall primacy.
It was Giles vs. Giles in Intermediate. Doug Lovell (me) flew in from New York to participate in Sportsman, then volunteered to make a contest with Steve Bergevin in Intermediate. Steve won the first two flights, but turned himself around on the Unknown. Doug flew without zeros on the Unknown to pull the contest in his favor.
DJ Molny and Mike Forney faced off in Advanced. DJ flies his Giles 200, Mike his S1T. DJ won the known by a good margin. Mike came back most of the way with a win on the free. On the Unknown, each zeroed a different figure, 30K and 29K. DJ got the better scores to pull off a win.
If you wonder about lack of penalties, the boundaries at this contest are well marked, but inaccessible. There were no boundary judges. Any penalties you see will be breaks.
Coming up this weekend on the IAC Contest Calendar, http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/...estListing.asp -- the Bear Creek Bash in Rome, Georgia; the Wildwoods Acroblast in Cape May, New Jersey; and the Coalinga Western Showdown in Coalinga, California. If you are at Coalinga flying Advanced, you will compete against IAC President Doug Sowder.
Another week of contest news!
Wildwoods is in Cape May County, at the southern tip of New Jersey. It is an Atlantic seaside and summer resort community with boardwalk, amusement park, conference center, beach condominiums and hotels. A new micro-brewery near the airport has hosted an evening barbecue the last two years. Attendees at the Acroblast and their families enjoy great contest and after contest hours amenities. Dave Crescenzo directed and IAC Chapter 58 hosted the Acroblast this year. The contest flew five power categories. Mike Ciliberti with his Sukhoi 31 and John Fellenzer with his Giles 200 competed for Unlimited. They flew the Known and the Free. Mike won both and overall. Advanced had six competitors. Eric Sandifer won the Known and Free flights over Mark Stewart. Mark won first on the Unknown to place overall first. Second place on the Unknown was earned by Del Coller. Mark flies a Panzl S-330, Eric a Pitts S1S, Del an Extra 330. Congratulate Chuck Cohen on a big win in Intermediate over a strong field of six competitors, including Bill Gordon, who made a very close second. Very close. Last year's IAC Open East Intermediate Champion Hans Bok took third. Chuck won first on the Known and second on the Unknown. First on the Free was Sarah Tobin flying a Lazer. First on the Unknown was Bill, with a Pitts S2B. Chuck flies an Extra 330SC. Sportsman at the Acroblast was a well contended category, with twelve competitors. William Cox, flying an Extra 230, shook out at the top with a win on the third flight and good placings on the first two. Robert Mann won the second flight flying his Decathlon and a Sportsman free program. First time competitor Robert Dumovic won the first flight, flying the Executive Flyers Decathlon. Executive Flyers is Mike Goulian's school at Hanscom airfield near Boston, Mass. They bring a few students every year to contests near Boston, much appreciated. Speaking of, first time competitor Robert Pinksten also came with the Executive Flyers Decathlon and won Primary. Primary had three flights. Robert won the second and third. First time competitor Tom Barrett won the first. Congratulations to the winners at the Acroblast: Robert Pinksten, Primary, Decathlon William Cox, Sportsman, Extra 230 Chuck Cohen, Intermediate, Extra 330SC Mark Stewart, Advanced, Panzl S-330 Mike Ciliberti, Unlimited, Sukhoi 31
Coalinga Contest Results!
Legend has it that Coalinga was originally a railroad coaling station. The identifier for the station was, "Coaling A". When a town grew around it they simply called the town, "Coalinga". It is a small place in Fresno county, in the Central Valley east of San Francisco. It hosts a state hospital and the "Pleasant Valley State Prison". How would you like a trip to Pleasant Valley?
Last weekend, Coalinga was host to what used to be the Paso Robles contest now the Coalinga Western Showdown, an IAC Southwest regional contest hosted by Chapter 38 and directed by Martin Price.
First time competitors Jake Carter and Mark Guerrero faced off in Primary for three flights with Jake winning, by a fairly narrow margin, all three. Mark became a brand new member of IAC as of last weekend and made a great showing. Welcome! Malcolm Pond, Andrew Slatkin, and Miyako Kanao judged Primary.
Beth Stanton placed first in a field of eight Sportsman competitors flying Dave Watson's Super Decathlon. She won both the second and third flights flying her own free program. She placed second on the Known to Kevin Elizondo. Kevin somehow got spun around flying his Free program on the second flight of Sportsman. It happens. Kevin came back for second place on the third flight. Doug Sowder, Mike Eggen, Norman Manary, and Barrett Hines judged Sportsman.
Christopher Combs beat the field of six Intermediate flying an Edge 540. He won the Unknown flight. Rimas Viselga won the Known flying a Yak 55. A.J. Wilder won the Free flying a Pitts S2C. First time Intermediate competitor Jim Bourke took second place overall. Malcom Pond, Andrew Slatkin, and Miyako Kanao judged Intermediate.
The Advanced category also had six competitors. Advanced competitor Hiroyasu Endo lives and works in Japan, commutes to California to fly his Extra 300. And fly it well he does. He took top scores on every flight. You might bet on Hiroyasu Endo if he flies at Delano. Or you might bet on Doug Sowder. Or Randy Owens. But very possibly the IAC Open West Advanced Champion title could go to Japan this year. Malcolm Pond, Andrew Slatkin, and Miyako Kanao judged Advanced.
Unlimited was a face off of four. Malcolm Pond won every flight flying an Edge 540. Is that name getting familiar? It is the fourth time you have read it in this post. Malcolm judged Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced AND won Unlimited. There are other competitors judging multiple categories while competing, including all of the Unlimited judges-- Doug Sowder, Mike Eggen, Norman Manary, and Barrett Hines.
Unlimited competitor Yuichi Takagi gave a show by flying a Four Minute Free program.
We mentioned Dave Watson's Decathlon, but we haven't talked about Dave's Lazer. Three competitors shared the Lazer: Dave, and Howard Kirker in Unlimited, and Mike Eggen in Advanced. The Lazer was hand made by Hans Bok, who was flying a Sukhoi on the East coast, at the Acroblast last weekend. Dave stole the Lazer from Hans and flew it across the country a few years back. Hans hasn't tried a repo, but might sometimes wish so. But really, Hans and Dave are friends who sometimes take an airline across the country to join together at a contest.
Beth Stanton contributed a story about Dave and the Lazer. She writes, "Dave was last to fly it of the three, and he could not get it started. As he kept getting pushed down the order of flight, with a dozen guys trying various combinations of voodoo to no avail, he jumps out and runs over to his Super Decathlon to fly it in the UNLIMITED UNKNOWN. He yelled over his shoulder to Howard to try to start her one more time. He is now the last flight of the contest, since Yuichi just flew the 4 minute free and the whole judges line is on the edges of their seats with glee to watch the spectacle of the Decathlon fly the Unlimited Unknown. He taxied out, did the run up and made his radio call. He did a 180 hoping against hope that the Lazer had started. Just at that second, Howard fired her up! Dave zooms back, jumps out of the Decathlon, runs to the Lazer, jumps in and takes off. And came in second on the flight!! We gave him an Achievement Through Adversity award at the banquet."
To further add to the legend of the Hans Bok Lazer, Unlimited pilot Tim Just from Chapter 36 did not make the line-up at Coalinga. It is speculated this is because he is intimidated by the Lazer's powerful four-banger engine and might be disgraced, and have to sell his Extra, and beg Hans to build him an airplane like the Lazer. I don't know about this. It sounds like chapter rivalry. Perhaps they'll all make it to the IAC Open West and we'll find out.
Chapter 38 sends out thanks to Ron Johnson of KVA Aerospace who is a generous sponsor of all five California contests this year.
Winner recap at Coalinga:
Primary, Jake Carter
Sportsman, Beth Stanton
Intermediate, Christopher Combs
Advanced, Hiroyasu Endo
Unlimited, Malcolm Pond
This week's news!
The second ever IAC Open East and the 40th anniversary contest of IAC Chapter 34. 40th anniversary, let's see… That means 34 was founded in 1974. Might we ask which current members were around, then? Do we know any of the founding members?
Larry Ernewein is the IAC Open East Sportsman Champion, 2014. He won flying a Bucker Jungmann of Canadian registry. Is it true to say he holds the first Open title to a member outside of the U.S.? The Bucker shows beautifully in the box, and you can view one of Larry's Sportsman Known performances here on youTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8E41IXNzA8
http://youtu.be/C8E41IXNzA8
Larry won the first two flights, and took second to Gordon Penner on the third. Gordon was second overall.
The Advanced title winner, Steve Johnson won all four flights flying his MX2.
Unlimited title winner, Brett Hunter flew an MXS against Steve Grohsmeyer who flies his very own designed and built Eigenhawk. Few design and build their own airplane, then fly it well at the Unlimited level. Steve won the Free and the Unknown after Brett won the Known. Brett pulled it out of the bag with an outstanding performance on the Free Unknown.
The Free Unknown flown by Advanced and Unlimited at the Open East is an unknown built by competitors from figures posted by competitors. The competitors post sequences using the submitted figures with up to four connectors. They then each select among the sequences posted which one they will fly. Thus the sequence is a little like a free in that you can design and fly a sequence with best advantage with your airplane. It is a little like an Unknown in that you have never flown it and do not know in advance what figures it will have.
Jeff Granger, the IAC 34 President, flew well in his Extra 300L to win the title in Intermediate. He won over Mitch Wild, who won the Known flight in a Pitts S2B.
Primary competitors Tom O'Neil and Giles Henderson both flew Cassutts. Giles took first on the third flight, but not by enough to win over Tom, who had a large lead after winning the first and second flights.
Judging at the IAC Open East were Sandy Langworthy, Sheri Davis, Hugo Ritzenhaler, Steve Johnson, Marty Flournoy, Stan Moye, Wayne Buecher, David Underwood, Giles Henderson, and Jeff Granger. IAC Rules and Sequence committees Chair Brian Howard presided as Chief Judge for all flights, all categories.
Overall there were twenty-seven competitors at the IAC Open East, including eight Sportsman, six Intermediate, and nine Advanced.
Lorrie Penner showed up in person at the Fall IAC Board meeting to pitch 34 for the Open East this year. Lorrie does so much for this club, she's difficult to deny, and Chapter 34 made good with a well attended, fully flown contest; including the free-unknown flights. So great to see the Open East contest at Ohio. Who will host next year? Will we get it to the South Central or Southeast region? Have your Director pitch for you at the Fall meeting.
Wow. The Lone Star State of Texas held a huge contest at Sherman last weekend. Eleven Primary competitors, nine Sportsman, eight Intermediate, five Advanced, and two Unlimited-- thirty five total competitors flew a full set of three flights each category.
Patric Coggin found first out of a relatively huge field of Primary competitors flying a Vans RV-4 monoplane. Patric won first on the second flight, second on the first and third flights. Mitchell Reeves won first on the first and third flights, but a fourth place showing on the second flight knocked him down to second place overall. Mitchell also flies a monoplane-- an Extra 300L.
Four competitors shared a Great Lakes in Primary at the Lonestar. Now that is Great! Would like to have seen the Great Lakes flying.
Moving up to Sportsman, the Lonestar saw Erik McDaniel prevail in that same Great Lakes. Erik won the Free and Unknown flights. The Known was won by Doug Jenkins in his Pitts S1S. Doug earned second place overall.
Home town host Mike Plyler in his Staudacher S300 beat-out Tom Rhodes in Intermediate. Tom flew a DR-107. Curt Richmond and James Doyle were one and two after the Known, and dropped places after the Free flight. Mike won both the Free and Unknown flights.
Craig Dobesh made the trifecta in Advanced flying a Pitts S1T. Mike Gallaway did the same in Unlimited, flying an Extra 300SX against Andy Macha.
Darren Behm, Curt Richmond, James Doyle, and Pete Setian judged Advanced and Unlimited. Tom Adams, Craig Dobesh, Mike Gallaway, Bill Denton, and Andy Macha judged Primary through Intermediate.
IAC Chapter 24 hosted with Kathleen Kyer directing. See detailed results of the Lonestar Aerobatic Championships at https://iaccdb.iac.org/contests/431
Coming up this weekend, two contests: get ready for the Apple Cup in Ephrata, Washington and the Michigan Aerobatic Open in Jackson, Michigan. Summer is in swing and some of those more Northern venues are getting their wings rolling.
Doug Lovell
Here you go, Doug!Quote:
Originally Posted by WLIU
http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/P...264053821.html
This week's update from Doug Lovell.
If you drive Interstate 80 West and get to Nebraska, you'll be in Omaha. Leaving Omaha, you'll go southwest to Lincoln. From Lincoln to Grand Island is eighty miles of highway drawn with a tack line due west. From the air, the landscape is checkered into one mile squares by the grid of farm roads. Not too far out of Lincoln you'll pass, Seward, Nebraska.
There in Seward, you can visit the Bartels Museum, home to more than seventy-five displays of minerals, agate, fossils and rocks. Or, if you were there the weekend of the twentieth of June, you could hang out with aerobatic sky gods of the Midwest Aerobatic Championship.
First place Primary was earned by Dale Byrkit in a Super-D. Dale won the first and third flights. Richard Bertrand won the second flight with a Christen Eagle. There were five competitors in Primary.
You might remember Paul Thomson from the Ben Lowell contest at Lamar, CO a month ago. He won every flight of Sportsman at Lamar. He won both flights of Sportsman at Seward. Nine other pilots at Seward took aim at Paul, including at least five members of the University of North Dakota (UND) collegiate aerobatic team.
Really cool of UND to bring seven or more college aerobats to try IAC competition. Two flew the UND Super-D in Primary, five in Sportsman.
Intermediate had six pilots who flew a Known, Free, and Unknown. Michael Lents won the Known. He flies an Extra 300L. John Owens won the Free. He flies a Pitts S2B. Jon Vanderhoof won the Unknown. He also flies a Pitts S2B. John Owens won overall with second place showings on the Known and Unknown. Michael was second and Jon Vanderhoof third.
The highest category flown at Seward was Advanced. Five pilots flew the Known and the Free. Douglas Roth won overall with second place showings on both flights. Mike Forney won the Known. John Ostmeyer won the Free. The scores in this category are amazing. It's a very competitive category there in Nebraska. Last place pilots Jessica Panzer and Bruce Ballew had high seventies percentages on the Known and mid eighties on the Free.
Brian Johnson, John Ostmeyer, Betty Stewart, Bruce Ballew, Douglas Roth, Robert Ator, David Moll, Jon Vanderhoof, and Linda Meyers Morrissey judged at the Midwest Championship. John Morrissey was Chief Judge for all flights.
IAC Chapter 80 hosted and David Moll directed the Midwest Aerobatic Championship.
Winner wrap-up:
Primary: Dale Byrkit
Sportsman: Paul Thomson
Intermediate: John Owens
Advanced: Douglas Roth
Ongoing this weekend: the Apple Cup in Ephrata, Washington and the Michigan Aerobatic Open in Jackson, Michigan.
Next weekend, at Springfield Hartness Airport (VSF), Springfield, Vermont. It is the Green Mountain Aerobatics Contest (GMAC) hosted by IAC Chapter 35. Arguably one of the more beautiful settings for a contest, the green hills of Vermont in Summer.
Apple Cup Results
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Sun, 2014-07-06 10:44
You can take Amtrak to Ephrata, Washington. You can walk to the airport from the station. But, better to land with your aerobatic airplane and participate in the Apple Cup.
Ephrata is in central Washington State, across the coastal mountains to the East of Seattle, on the Northwest edge of the agricultural portion of the state, which is otherwise mountainous. Spokane, pronounced Spoke-Ann, is about a hundred miles East-Northeast of Ephrata. Mount Ranier is about a hundred miles West-Southwest. Mount Baker and Snoqualmie National Forest are about a hundred miles West-Northwest.
Zoom in on the Ephrata airport with Google Maps, and you can see a clearly marked aerobatic box, site of last week's contest hosted by IAC Chapter 67, with co-CD's Jerry Riedinger and Larry James.
Primary was a three competitor category won by Jodi Rueger flying a Super-D. Jodi won the first and third flights. Peter Gelinas won the second flight with his Pitts S1E.
Sportsman had seven competitors. Terry Middaugh flies a Boeing Stearman PT-17 in Sportsman at Apple Cup, and you might have seen him do the same at the Nationals. Terry won the second and third flights, but not by sufficient margin to overcome the performance of Pat Lavielle, who won the first flight and the overall Sportsman first place flying a Christen Eagle.
Congratulate Jim Bourke with a win over a field of five Intermediate. Jim won the Free and Unknown flights to make a comeback ever Christopher Branson, who won the Known. Jim flies a Super-D. Christopher flies a two place Pitts.
Someday maybe we'll do a study on winning the known, how many go on to win the contest. Being first after the Known is a tough spot. All of a sudden it's not, "Hey, I'll do my best at this contest." It's "Hey, I'm a contender. I could win this thing." Adds pressure. And, like playing King of the mountain, everyone else in the category knows you're the one to pull down.
IAC President Doug Sowder, flying in his home turf with his home chapter, won Advanced. He held on after winning the Known, won the Free, and picked off second in the Unknown to Guido Lepore. Guido flies a Pitts S1 with Canadian registration. Doug flies an Extra 300L. There were five competitors at the Apple Cup in Advanced.
Look out for Malcolm Pond, West Coast Ace in Unlimited. He has won again. Malcolm took first Unlimited flying his Edge 540. After placing third on the Known, he won the Free and Unknown. Malcolm made up about an eighty point deficit on Lewis Shattuck. Lewis won the Known flight in a Giles 200 that he himself built.
Judges at the Apple cup were Robert Harris, Terry Burch, Cheryl Bloom, Malcolm Pond, Jim Bourke, Jeff Hirschaur, and Jerry Riedinger. Robert Harris and Terry Burch judged all five categories and did not fly. Cheryl Bloom judged three categories, and assisted Terry Burch on the other two. Doug Sowder and Peggy Riedinger served as Chief Judges.
Some have noticed the stars to the left side of some of the names in the contest results. The star signifies that the competitor had a stars qualifying contest performance. Stars is part of the IAC Achievement awards program. You can read more about the program at https://www.iac.org/legacy/achievement-awards. A stars performance at a contest means, basically, no grades below five-- no zeros --from more than one judge on any figure. You can read the detailed criteria in Appendix 5 of the IAC Contest rule book.
Winner recap at Apple Cup:
- Primary, Jodi Rueger
- Sportsman, Pat Lavielle
- Intermediate, Jim Bourke
- Advanced, Doug Sowder
- Unlimited, Malcolm Pond
Coming up on the IAC Contest Calendar, http://www.usnationalaerobatics.org/...estListing.asp: The Great Green Mountain Aerobatic Contest (GMAC) at Springfield, Vermont. If you are within a few hops of Springfield Hartness Airport (KVSF), hop over. It's a beautiful setting. IAC Chapter 35 puts on a well organized, friendly, competitive event. Bring a good cigar, if you can, for CD Bill Gordon. He's working hard on making GMAC one of the finest aerobatics events you'll attend this Summer.
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Wed, 2014-07-09 21:13
IAC Chapter 88 and Contest Director Brian Roodvoets hosted the Michigan Aerobatic Open in Jackson, Michigan on the weekend before the Fourth of July. They flew sixteen competitors in four categories, Primary through Advanced Power.
Find Jackson, Michigan at the bottom of the Michigan "Mitt," the lower peninsula, north of the border with Ohio. It's thirty or forty miles West of much maligned Detroit, the same distance East of world famous Kellogg's Battle Creek. Snap, Crackle, and Pop were unable to attend. The Great Lake Erie is East. The Great Lake Michigan is West.
Two competitors faced off in Primary. Tom O'Neil won the first flight, then held on as Giles Henderson won the next two flights. Giles had to scratch the second two figures when flying the first time. There's likely a story there if you ask them. The two were otherwise very evenly matched.
Tom records a Meyers Cassutt as his aerobatic machine. Giles a Cassutt Racer. Curious about the differences. There's a picture of the Cassutt Racer at the online forum for the planes, http://www.cassutt-racer.com, and several in the Cassutt Special Wikipedia entry, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassutt_Special. Tom's Cassutt N26EC is a Cassutt model IIIM, according to the FAA N-number registry. The same source reports Giles' Cassutt N429PM as a Pete Meyers Special model PM-2. Possibly these two airplanes have similar provenance, and stories of their own that could be shared by their owners.
Sportsman was the largest category with seven competitors. IAC Open East 2014 Sportsman Champion, Larry Ernewein from Ontario, won the first flight flying his Bucker Jungman. He held on with second place to Matthew Wild on the next two flights. It was so very very close. Larry was ahead forty-five and one half points after the first flight, barely more than three percent. Matthew gained about seven points with his lead on the second flight. The third flight Matthew won by a single point. Matthew flies a Super-D.
Four contended in Intermediate. Mitchell Wild started in fourth place in the Known. Wayne Buescher was the winner of that flight. Mitchell's first place showing on the Free gave him the overall title. Mitchell flies a Pitts S2B. Wayne a Staudacher S600F.
Andy Ernewein, flying a Pitts S1S, won both the Known and Free flights in Advanced for overall Advanced bragging rights. He won over fellow competitors Klaus Mueller, second in a Yak 55M; and Michael Wild, third in a Pitts S2B.
Perhaps you have noticed some repetition of last names. The Michigan event is something of a family affair. Larry Ernewein is Andy Ernewein's father. Both are from Ontario, Canada. Michael, Mitch, and Matt are the Wild bunch. Michael runs IAC 124 out of Kokomo, Indiana. Mitch & Matt are his sons. Mitch has been competing for 3-4 years and does very well. He cleaned up at Oshkosh last year in Sportsman. A bunch of Sportsman pilots are glad he moved up. Matt is a new competitor this year. Welcome, Matt!
Sheri Davis, Donald MacDonald, Giles Henderson, and Klaus Mueller judged all four categories. Sandy Langworthy served as Chief Judge. Yes, we also wonder how Giles Henderson judged himself in Primary. We think this is likely a computer room anomaly, that Giles did not view himself from outside his body while flying.
Some have noticed the stars to the left side of some of the names in the contest results. The star signifies that the competitor had a stars qualifying contest performance. Stars is part of the IAC Achievement awards program. You can read more about the program at https://www.iac.org/legacy/achievement-awards. A stars performance at a contest means, basically, no grades below five-- no zeros --from more than one judge on any figure. You can read the detailed criteria in Appendix 5 of the IAC Contest rule book.
Winner recap
- Primary, Tom O'Neil
- Sportsman, Larry Ernewein
- Intermediate, Mitchell Wild
- Advanced, Andy Ernewein
Coming up on the IAC Contest Calendar, The Great Green Mountain Aerobatic Contest (GMAC) at Springfield, Vermont. Chapter 35 President Farrell Woods reports forty-one pre-registered and great weather in the forecast. If you are within a few hops of Springfield Hartness Airport (KVSF), hop over. It's a beautiful setting. IAC Chapter 35 puts on a well organized, friendly, competitive event. Bring a good cigar, if you can, for CD Bill Gordon. He's working hard on making GMAC one of the finest aerobatics events you'll attend this Summer.
7/17/2014
The 2014 Green Mountain Aerobatic Contest at the Hartness State Airport in Springfield VT is now in the history books. This years’ contest was the best attended event in many many years with 43 competitors! There were 2 Primary pilots, 19 Sportsman pilots, 14 Intermediate pilots, 5 Advanced Pilots, and 3 Unlimited pilots. 14 of those pilots had not previously flown the GMAC.
Springfield Vermont is in the southern end of the Green Mountains. From pattern altitude you can look west and north and see the ski runs on the peaks that form the backbone of the Greens. Springfield itself was originally an anchor in the Precision Valley where machine tools were made. With the migration of those industries elsewhere, southern Vermont is now dotted with bed and breakfast inns, antique stores, micro-breweries, dairy farms, and ski areas.
For the aerobatic contest Mother Nature generously provided perfect weather for Thursday practice, and competition flying on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon a front and thunderstorms approached from western New York causing the Canadian pilots to run for home early.
Contest Director Bill Gordon and Chief Judge Jim Wells called the contest briefing to order at 1PM Friday. With Starter Paul Russo waving pilots off, on Friday afternoon, all 5 categories, totaling 45 flights, were able to fly their Known Programs. Saturday, the Unknown Programs were started, and by the end of Saturday afternoon, the Advanced and Unlimited Free Program flights were also complete. Sunday morning the Intermediate Free Program flights were done.
As always, every competitor flew their heart out. The final results were:
Primary
1st Olga Mitchell in a Decathlon
2nd Patrick Sweeney in a Decathlon
Sportsman
1st Philip Joseph in a Decathlon
2nd Blair Mohn in a Pitts S-2A
3rd Dimitri Cuesta in a Pitts S-1S
Intermediate
1st Weston Liu in a Pitts S-2A
2nd Adam Cope in an Extra 200
3rd Krysta Paradis in an Extra 200
Advanced
1st David Windmiller in an Edge
2nd Mark Stewart in a Panzl
3rd Paul Russ in a Lazer
Unlimited
1st Goody Thomas in an Extra 330SC
2nd Mike Ciliberti in a Sukhoi 31
3rd Bob Cipolli in a Staudacher
To make a contest this size run too many people to mention helped with registration, scoring, judging, etc to list them all. The one special thanks we want to mention is for Miriam Levin from Chapter 52 who has driven a long way the last few years to run registration and train our local folks on how to make the paperwork flow smoothly. Thanks Miriam!
The next contest on the northeast calendar is the Kathy Jaffe Challenge at the South Jersey Regional Airport in mid –August. The contest calendar is at www.iac.org. The Kathy Jaffe is put on by Chapter 52 and is a great contest every year.
See you at the box.
Wes
N78PS
Doug Yost, Spencer, Iowa
One of the fun events at the Doug Yost, held in Spencer, Iowa, was a surprise appearance of a P-51 Mustang to fly in Primary. Harry Barr and Jessica Panzer showed up with the North American World War II classic to have fun pacing it through Primary. It was an exhibition effort, not for trophy; but, which of the two flew it better? Awe. Sorry Jessy. The two swapped on the first two flights, but Harry clinched it with the third. Flying a P-51 in Primary. How cool is that, you two?
Someone captured one flight of each pilot in their vid cam and posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQYjkMJXZgY Watching you notice no gear hanging down, big loops, and then, in the up close taxi shots, those tiny looking pilots in the cockpit give you an idea how big the plane is.
The actual competition in Primary had five competitors all flying the Super-D. In battle for first place were Patrick Mills and first time competitor Sara Arnold, daughter of long time IAC Chapter 78 member Dick Swanson. Sara was third, and Patrick first after the first flight, with Sara trailing about eight points, two percent. Sara and Patrick tied for first place on the second flight, with almost eighty-two percent each. Third flight, Sara scored an average of 8.5 and Patrick 8.8 to win the flight and the category.
Thanks to Primary judges Peter Tallarita, Justin Hickson, and Paul Thomson.
Sportsman at the Doug Yost had nine competitors. Cory Johnson in his Pitts S1C got a first flight jump on MidAmerica Sportsman Ace Paul Thomson from Kansas. He could not hold on, however, taking second to Paul on the next two flights for second overall. Paul won the category with an 8.7 overall average score flying his Super-D.
Thanks to Peter Tallarita, John Ostmeyer, Klaus Mueller, and Craig Gifford for judging twenty-seven flights of Sportsman.
Six pilots battled in Intermediate there in Spencer. Brent Smith Won the Known and Free flights in his Pitts S1S for the overall title. Jon Vanderhoof stole the trifecta from Brent with a win on the Unknown.
Thanks to Peter Tallarita, Juston Hickson, Paul Thomson, and Dick Swanson for judging Intermediate.
The highest category flown at the Doug Yost was Advanced, with three competitors. Craig Gifford won the Known flying a Staudacher S-300. John Ostmeyer won the Free and Unknown flights, and overall, flying a Pitts S1T.
Thanks to Peter Tallarita, Justin Hickson, Paul Thomson, and Dick Swanson for judging Advanced. Peter judged every flight at the contest and made an excellent job of it. We love our non-flying judges, and thank you to Peter.
The Doug Yost was organized by Dan Pichelman and IAC Chapter 78.
Winner recap, Doug Yost
- Primary, Patrick Mills, Super-D
- Sportsman, Paul Thomson, Super-D
- Intermediate, Brent Smith, Pitts S1S
- Advanced, John Ostmeyer, Pitts S1T
Best Box in Texas, Edna, Texas
Concurrent with the Doug Yost, and about one thousand miles south, IAC Chapter 25 held the Best Box in Texas. Edna is just south of a line between San Antonio and Houston, near the Gulf of Mexico.
Eight pilots had the Best Box all to themselves. They split themselves up into two Primary, three Sportsman, and three Intermediate.
The upper three categories had one pilot each. The three got together to fly Intermediate. Debby Rihn-Harvey dropped from Unlimited to win the Known, Free, and Overall with her Hurricane CAP-232. Jeff Stoltenberg dropped from Advanced and won the Unknown flight with his Giles 200. Intermediate competitor Robert Salter held tight for second place against his upper category competition flying a DR-107.
Doug Jenkins won everything in Sportsman. He flies an S1E.
Juan Carlos Campos Jurado battled with Benjamin Cory DuBose in Primary, both flying Super-D's. Benjamin won the first flight. Juan Carlos won the rest.
Thanks to Lynne Stoltenberg, Jeff Stoltenberg, David Jenkins, and Debby Rihn-Harvey for judging at Edna. Danny Beacham and IAC Chapter 25 organized the contest.
Winner recap, Best Box
- Primary, Juan Carlos Campos Jurado, Super-D
- Sportsman, Doug Jenkins, Pitts S1E
- Intermediate, Debby Rihn-Harvey, CAP 232
The report below is from our Canadian friend Larry Ernewein.
Aerobatics Canada Chapter 3 held the fourth annual Upper Canada Open August 15 to 17 at the Tillsonburg airport with 13 competitors in 4 categories - including 3 pilots from the United States.
Though preparations started many months earlier, the box markers were put out on Wednesday by Andy Ernewein, Pat Rebtoy, and Larry Ernewein. Pat had spent a fair amount of time with Trevor Rafferty making and bending the 400 quarter inch steel rods that held our box markers securely in the ground. Pat was also the competition’s starter – keeping things going very well during several bouts of bad weather.
Paperwork arrived Friday morning with Chapter President Josh Pegg who also served as technical monitor doing the tech inspections, and the guy with the VHF radios during the contest. He effectively kept itinerant aircraft out of the box. Several important jobs were unable to be assigned prior to the event but, as so often happens, all positions were filled by volunteers arriving on Friday.
Laura Buescher and Carol Granger did the always-formidable task of arranging the PAPERWORK! A contest cannot function without a lot of it and it MUST be very organized, or chaos ensues. Don’t ask how I know….
They did a fantastic job.
Joy McKinney, who was the Volunteer Co-ordinator at the 2013 WAC in Texas, did the same job for us. She and Pat had to leave the contest on Saturday night at 5pm, drive 70 miles, attend a family event, get some sleep, drive 70 miles back for the 0700 briefing – that we all forgot to tell them had been moved to 1000. Ooooppss…
Pat used the extra time to gather the old merchandise and sell it! Because of her efforts the contest did not loose money. (In Canada the entire contest registration fee is used to pay for insurance - and sometimes even that is not enough!)
Ever try to run the IAC scoring system (Jasper) on a Mac? Nope – it won’t work. So Elaine Ernewein, our scoring guru and computer nerd who likes the Apple computers, put an old PC to work. It only took about 300 hours of prep time before the contest, but the work paid off because the scores were usually posted before the judges left the line for category changes.
Sandy Langworthy and Hugo Ritzenthaler of IAC Chapter 88 drove from Michigan to judge under the watchful eye of Chief Judge Carole Holyk. Wayne Buescher (Ch. 88) and Chris Pulley completed the line. Assistants and recorders included: Pat Barrett of Ch. 126 (driving in from New York), Brianne McCutcheon, Dan Unger, Hella Comat, Meghan MacNeil , Andy Ernewein, Andrea Kuciak, Bill Ludwig, Desmond Lightbody, Trevor Rafferty, Charles Phillips, and Jeff Granger – who was also our medical director.
Practice day, Friday went well and we all retired to a local restaurant for dinner and drinks.
Saturday morning briefing was a bit late because Contest Director Bjarni Tryggvason’s Pitts mis-behaved. So he drove to the contest and arranged to fly a Harvard (AT-6 in the U.S.) in Primary instead of his usual Sporstsman. Which conveniently made a contest for first-time competitor Charles Phillips in his Citabria. This made all the other pilots happy as they were trying to decide who would have to embarrass himself by flying Primary to help Charles out. It turned out he didn’t need any help. He won the Category! But it sure was neat to see and HEAR a Harvard at a contest!
In Sportsman, Dan Unger (also of Chapter 88) flying a Pitts S1 took 3rd, Chris Pulley flew his Pitts S1 to second, and Larry Ernewein won flying the Bucker Jungmann.
Jeff Granger (IAC Ch. 34) took the top spot in Intermediate in his Extra 300, Trevor Rafferty (winner of the unknown) was second in the Javelin he built, and third place went to last year’s winner Bill Ludwig in a Pitts S1T. Wayne Buescher (Ch.88) was in 4th with the Staudacher S600 ahead of Desmond Lightbody flying a Pitts S2A.
Scott McMaster, who flies and teaches in just about everything – especially gliders – managed 3rd in the One Design, Hella Comat in her S1T placed second to Andy Ernewein flying an S1. Nobody zeroed an unknown figure!
Quite a few locals turned up to watch the flying, and a surprise visit was paid by Gerry and Doreen Younger, who flew a Pitts S2A (open front cockpit) to the field to see how aerobatics are done now-a-days. For those who don’t recognize the name, Gerry pretty well started aerobatics in Canada back in the 1960’s – that’s right! Over 50 years ago! And he’s still doing airshows and unlimited-type aerobatics – even with his new hips – though he hasn’t competed in about 20 years. He recently went through his archives and found 13 Aerobatics Canada beer mugs that he arranged to have delivered to the competition. We gave one to each pilot. The mugs are older that some of the contestants! When the rain started on Saturday afternoon, Doreen climbed into the front seat and Gerry flew them back to his hangar in Kitchener. Gerry, in the back seat with the canopy, stayed dry…..
Food was looked after by Jess and her staff at the airport restaurant. They opened VERY early, stayed late, and provided the excellent banquet meal for us on Saturday night. Pilots looking for that “hundred dollar hamburger” will do well by flying to CYTB - which also has the cheapest 100LL in southern Ontario!
The staff of Tillsonburg airport (Claude, Grant and Mary Ann) could not have been more helpful. Manager Annette Murray is attempting to make the airport a vibrant place again and we’re very glad she directed her efforts our way. Stay tuned for next year’s bigger and better Upper Canada Open!
3
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Tue, 2014-08-26 23:44
Kokomo, Indiana is between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne; between Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio; South of Lake Michigan and the Michigan Mitten. Mid-America IAC Chapter 124 held their contest, the Hoosier Hoedown in Kokomo earlier this month.
Wade Ayala won Primary with Kevin Coleman flying for patch.
Mitchell Kay won Sportsman over a field of six. He was first on the Known and Unknown. Kenneth Hunt was first on the Free program.
Intermediate went to Mitchell Wild. He won the Known and Unknown. Sarah Tobin won the Free.
Steve Johnson won Advanced over four other pilots. First on the Known was Kevin Coleman. Steve won the Free and Unknown flights.
Judging were Klaus Mueller, David Underwood, Steve Johnson, Sarah Tobin, Thomas Hartvigsen, Sheri Davis, Sandy Langworthy, and Tom Adams.
One essential to winning an aerobatic contest is good critique from the ground. The winners of Primary, Sportsman, and Advanced at Kokomo have all received extensive ground critique by flying to Tom Adam's place and getting coaching from Tom. Sarah Tobin, who won the Intermediate Free, has also received ground critique from Tom Adams.
Some people are just lucky to live close enough to Tom's place and smart enough to run over there for coaching. Everyone can get critique from IAC judges by joining IAC chapters and organizing chapter practice days. Practice all you can. To win, you need frequent feedback from people with trained eyes watching from the ground.
Winner recap, Hoosier Hoedown, Kokomo, Indiana
- Primary, Wade Ayala
- Sportsman, Mitchell Kaye
- Intermediate, Mitchell Wild
- Advanced, Steve Johnson
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Thu, 2014-08-28 00:04
The Kathy Jaffe Challenge has run since 1999 at various places in IAC Chapter 52 territory-- first at Monticello, New York in the Catskill Mountains, then for many years at the Flying-W in Lumberton, New Jersey; one year at Hammonton in southern New Jersey; lately at South Jersey Regional, also in Lumberton, New Jersey. The Flying-W and South Jersey Regional airports are very close together. One year at the Flying-W a beginning competitor flew their Primary sequence, got completely turned around, flew the pattern and and lined up to land at South Jersey.
Chapters 35, 52, 58 showed in force at this fifteenth annual Kathy Jaffe Challenge. Some good sports from further south, Chapters 11 and 19 showed as well.
Best in Primary was Ron Smith. He gave away the first flight to Phillip Palmer from 52. All three Primary pilots flew the Super Decathlon.
Sportsman had a dozen pilots. Ron Mann won the weekend with first placings on the second and third flights, after placing fourth on flight number one. Ron was the last man to step back after 52 asked for a Contest Director. Good sport that he is, he took the role and flew his Super-D in Sportsman as if he was Ron Chadwick and Paul Thomson all in one person. Chapter 58 President Blair Mohn won the first flight of Sportsman.
Chuck Cohen won the Intermediate Known in his Extra 330. Ron Chadwick took an airline up from Arizona and flew Aaron Ham's S2C, LLC Pitts to a first place on the Unknown flight. Ron was Contest Director of the Kathy Jaffe more than ten years. At the top of Intermediate was Jim Wells with his Giles 202 and a win on the Free.
Four pilots fought a tough battle in Advanced. Mark Stewart in his Panzl earned first on the Known. Adam Cope in his Extra 200 won first on the Free. Jason Flood kept his head together and won first on the Unknown. Jason's totals made him first overall. The point spread from first to fourth in Advanced was two-thirty-two, a little over two-and-one-half percent.
Mike Ciliberti and John Fellenzer battled Unlimited. Mike flies the Suk-31. John flies the Giles 200. Mike flies at the national level and very close to world class. He won it all.
The two Unlimited pilots and winner of Advanced, Jason Flood lined up for the Four Minute Freestyle at the Kathy Jaffe Challenge. The panel of eight judges rated John Fellenzer top awesome. Jason Flood was second and Mike Ciliberti third. I'm not certain, but I think this was the first time one of our clubs took advantage of our little rule that allows some Advanced competitors to join the Four Minute.
Adam Cope, Krysta Paradis, Wes Liu, Bill Gordon, Mark Stewart, Tom Barrett, Blair Mohn, Farrell Woods, Chuck Cohen, and Ron Mann judged at the Kathy Jaffe Challenge. Most judged two or three categories. Registrar Miriam Levin joined to judge the Four Minute.
You know, Registrar and Scorekeeper are tough jobs. We don't give enough recognition to their efforts as we should. Here's a big shout out to all of the people who help administer our three or four dozen aerobatic contests each year. Every chapter knows who they are. Give them a big smooch. Give them dinner for two. Give them a pair of tickets to the Super Bowl AND the World Series. Thank you!
The Kathy Jaffe Challenge has one special award given in the name of Ron Chadwick, who for two decades acted as coach, mentor, leader, CD, and fun person in the chapter and always has encouraged pilots in Chapter 52 to stay with the challenge of excelling in aerobatics, get good, and move up. The Ron Chadwick Chapter Supremacy Award at the Kathy Jaffe Challenge goes to the Chapter that fields the best pilots in the highest categories. Neighboring chapters believe that it was designed to go to Chapter 52 because, since its inception, Chapter 52 has won it. This year is no exception. Mike Ciliberti, Kirill Barsukov, Mark Stewart, and (Well, how about that?) Ron Chadwick won the trophy at the fifteenth, 2014 Kathy Jaffe Challenge for Chapter 52.
Winner recap, Kathy Jaffe Challenge, Lumberton, New Jersey
- Primary, Ron Smith, Super-D
- Sportsman, Ron Mann, Super-D
- Intermediate, Jim Wells, G-202
- Advanced, Jason Flood, Pitts S1S
- Unlimited, Mike Ciliberti, Sukhoi 31
- Four Minute, John Fellenzer, G-200
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Wed, 2014-09-03 00:24
Reports from the Rebel Regional at Union City, Tennessee are that it was one of the more fun and pleasurable contests in recent experience. Weather was favorable. Lots of great people showed up. There was a whole lot of flying. Food was delicious and abundant. Attitudes were upbeat, moods happy, dispositions positive. Great company was enjoyed by all. Mike Rinker Directed and Chapter 27 hosted the contest in the northwest corner of the state, near the Mississippi river and borders with Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.
Twenty-seven pilots competed. The biggest category was Sportsman, with lucky thirteen competitors. Instructor pilot Shiloh Dudley brought three students of the Patty Wagstaff Aerobatic School in far away Saint Augustine, Florida. Shiloh competed Sportsman along with student, Mathieu Barbin. Students Evan Vines and Henry Rollings competed in Primary. A large showing of pilots from IAC Chapter 3 based around Atlanta, Georgia participated at the Rebel.
How many contests do you know that complete four flights of Primary? I can count one-- the four Primary category pilots at the Rebel completed four flights and what do you know? Giles Henderson won all of them in his Cassutt Racer. That is somewhat of a foregone result that doesn't require four flights to conclude; however, the experience for the group making four turns in the box was of great benefit and much appreciated by them.
Contest Director and Unlimited pilot Mike Rinker joined three of the Primary flights and entertained all with a 1932 Curtiss-Wright B-14-B Speedwing open cockpit biplane. Only two of this particular model, with 300hp Wright R-975, nine cylinder Whirlwind engines were built. This survivor was displayed for some time at the Aerospace Museum of California in McClellan, then sold. Flying Magazine publicized the sale in the April, 2014 issue, including a nice aerial photo.
Sportsman pilot Michael Tipton carried two seconds and a first with his Yak-55 to win. Chris Rudd won the first flight and his first competition medal. Shiloh Dudley won the third flight and overall second place with the Patty Wagstaff Flight School Super Decathlon. The Rebel had a Van's RV-4 in competition for Sportsman. Pilot William McLean flew it to a very respectable fifth place. His Sportsman free had a push out of forty-five and an inverted spin. Asked why an inverted spin, he said, "Well, it spins better inverted." Says Tom Adams, "All airplanes spin better inverted."
Speaking of Tom, he chiefed the Intermediate and Unlimited categories and judged the rest. Tom coaches the Advanced category winner, Steve Johnson, who carried all three flights against Stan Moye. Stan kept Steve honest, giving him no room for a zero nor as much as a low scoring figure. Steve flies an MXS. Stan flies an Extra 300S.
But we skipped Intermediate. John Wacker took all three flights of Intermediate from a field of four. He flies an Extra 300L.
Unlimited was a battle of four pilots. Brett Hunter from Ohio beat the field on the Known and Unknown, and overall with his MXS. Steven Grohsmeyer took second on every flight. Andy Macha won the Free.
Judges were Kenneth Hunt, Steve Johnson, Stan Moye, Liz Weaver, Thomas Hartvigsen, Tom Adams, Giles Henderson, Andy Macha, and Chris Rudd. Fred Weaver chiefed Primary, Sportsman, and Advanced.
Contest participants got to tour the Discovery Park of America and banquet with the dinosaurs. A great wrap-up to a great weekend of fun, flying, and comraderie.
Winner recap, Rebel Regional, Union City, Tennessee
- Primary, Giles Henderson, Cassutt Racer
- Sportsman, Michael Tipton, Yak 55M
- Intermediate, John Wacker, Extra 300L
- Advanced, Steve Johnson, MX2
- Unlimited, Brett Hunter, MXS
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Mon, 2014-09-08 22:06
Congratulations to the 2014 IAC Open West Champions Zinnia Kilkenny, Beth Stanton, Cameron Jaxheimer, Sam Mason, and Tim Just.
The 40th Annual Happiness is Delano in centennial late summer heat, in the Central Valley of Southern California north of Bakersfield, was a 44 competitor big contest, next to the last of the 2014 contests in California. IAC Chapter 26 hosted and Stephen de la Cruz Directed. Four Primary, nineteen Sportsman, ten Intermediate, six Advanced, and five Unlimited joined a dozen judges, staff and volunteers for the annual Delano and second IAC Open Championship West.
IAC Judges Howard Kirker, Malcolm Pond, Tim Just, Barrett Hines, Matthew Brill, Timothy Brill, Bob Meyer, Yohei Shiratori, Dave Watson, Margo Chase, Tom Meyers, and Mike Eggen selected the Champions at Delano.
Jake Carter flew for patch and Zinnia Kilkenny for a win in Primary, both flying Dave Watson's Super-D N59AC. Zinnia won all three flights in the field of three plus one patch. This was Zinnia's first contest. Great start!
Beth Stanton, whom we're getting to know and love from the fun column she's writing for us in Sport Aerobatics, won, came out on top, earned the championship title for Sportsman. She started out second on the Known to Scott Malherbe. She went on to win both flights of Sportsman Free, also flying Dave Watson's Super-D. It takes a lot of coaching, practice, and talent to top a field of almost twenty Sportsman pilots. Congratulations, Beth!
Cameron Jaxheimer came out for the first time this year, and for the first time in Intermediate to win. He won by the slimmest of possible margins, one one-hundredth of a percantage point, less than one point total ahead of Contest Director Stephen de la Cruz. Stephen won the Known, always tough. He flies an S1T experimental Pitts. Christopher Combs won the Free. He flies an Edge 540. Cameron won the Unknown. He flies an Extra 300L.
We noted in the report about Coalinga earlier that Hiroyasu Endo was a strong contender for the Open West Champion title in Advanced. He won at Coalinga, and at the San Diego Hammerheads Roundup. He was second at the Duel in the Desert to Michael Hartenstine. Michael was also a contender. He was second at San Diego. However, as you have now read, Sam Mason won the title. This was Sam's first contest this year. Sam won every flight and overall with a margin of less than one and one-half percent. Michael Hartenstine was second and Hiroyaso Endo third in Advanced. These three top pilots all posted in the eighties. That means their average score on any figure was above eight. Pletty slick. The six competitor Advanced category was tough at Delano.
Hiroyaso Endo now has a slim margin over Michael Hartenstine in the SouthWest Regional Series. If both show up at the Nationals, or if Michael shows up, that series Champion title is in play. A quick check of the registration system shows Michael registered.
We're down to Unlimited. In the Southwest, Tim Just with his Extra 300S and Malcolm Pond with his Edge 540 have been trading the top spot. Howard Kirker with his Lazer 230 has been in the mix. It was the same here. Malcolm Pond won the known. Tim Just won the Free and the Unknown. Tim won overall.
Two Unlimited pilots, Yuichi Takagi and Howard Kirker flew in front of Tom Myers, Margo Chase, and Tim Just in performance of the Four Minute Free. Judges Margo Chase and Tim Just tied the two. Judge Tom Myers favored Yuichi Takagi in what we show as a Pitts S2S. A beautifully flown beautiful biplane won the Four Minute at Delano this year.
A big shout out to Dave Watson who does so much for his chapter, and shares so much of his love for aerobatics, and his airplanes, growing the sport one new pilot at a time. If you missed his great article in Sport Aerobatics about first time aerobatics in a glider, go back and read it. Super, much fun.
Thanks to scorekeeper Leni Malherbe and all of our scorekeepers for tracking the thousand grades recorded by judges at these contests.
IAC Open West Champions and category winners at Happiness is Delano, Delano, California
- Primary, Zinnia Kilkenny, Super-D
- Sportsman, Beth Stanton, Super-D
- Intermediate, Cameron Jaxheimer, Extra 300L
- Advanced, Sam Mason, Pitts S1S
- Unlimited, Tim Just, Extra 300S
Four Minute Free Category Winner
Yuichi Takagi, Pitts S2S
The following report comes to us from Hella Comat, who competed Advanced at the contest. Take it away, Hella!
https://www.iac.org/sites/www.iac.or...?itok=Ct0Zw9sN
From a 1952 Harvard to a brand new Extra 330 and with the remaining 13 aircraft in between, the Bill Thomas U.S./Canada Aerobatic Challenge illustrated the broad variety of aerobatic airplanes that participate in IAC contests. The enthusiasm was widespread too: two days before the contest, many pilots had already arrived at Olean, NY - KOLE - to familiarize themselves with the aerobatic box and get in some last minute cramming.
From a 1952 Harvard to a brand new Extra 330 and with the remaining 13 aircraft in between, the Bill Thomas U.S./Canada Aerobatic Challenge illustrated the broad variety of aerobatic airplanes that participate in IAC contests. The enthusiasm was widespread too: two days before the contest, many pilots had already arrived at Olean, NY - KOLE - to familiarize themselves with the aerobatic box and get in some last minute cramming.
The Cattaraugus County, Olean Airport (soon to be renamed after aerobatic legend Bill Thomas - but more about that later) is located in the wooded ski hills of western New York state. It is at an elevation of 2135 feet and the unusual high density altitude on hot practice days Thursday and Friday offered pilots the challenge of flying aerobatics at about 9000 feet!
Generous critiquing sessions were offered by Mark Stewart, Bill Gordon, and Chuck Cohen. Thank you! This is a really invaluable contribution to the contest - although we ended up flying only one flight each, most of the pilots who were able to arrive for as many as four practice sessions agreed that the two days prior to the contest were enormously beneficial.
https://www.iac.org/sites/www.iac.or...?itok=gapuSY59
In the afternoon, host Chapter 126 President Pat Barrett arranged a significant presentation to the airport. A large framed photograph of Bill Thomas and a plaque recognizing his accomplishments and contributions to IAC was presented by enthusiastic local supporter of our contest, County Legislator Joe Snyder. Bill was a 2002 IAC Hall of Fame inductee. He was a member of the 1972 U.S. Aerobatic team, winning a silver medal on the first flight in France. He wrote the well known aerobatic instruction books “Fly for Fun” and “Fly for Fun to Win.” Bill based an aerobatic school at the Olean airport. Pat Barrett is also working tirelessly to have the name of the airport acknowledge these significant contributions by including Bill Thomas in its name.
Friday evening marked the beginning of a super gastronomic effort on the part of President Pat, his wife Cheryl, and Treasurer Rob Busch. Chicken wings, to coordinate with Chapter 126’s nickname, The Buffalo Wings, were being deep fried and soaked in contest sponsor Mammoser's Tavern’s own hot sauce as fast as they were being enjoyed. Cheryl’s homemade chili was an additional treat!
The contest had been moved from its original dates in June to September to try to take advantage of the usually fine fall weather. No such luck! Saturday morning started with low cloud which turned into rain. Contest briefings were held every two hours, as the TAFs were encouraging. Sadly, the day passed with no flights.
On the bright side, we had lots of time to hangar fly. Talking to other aerobatic pilots and examining their aircraft offers a wealth of valuable information. And then it’s always just plain fun to get together with people who share the passion of aerobatics.
Then it was time for the feast to continue. All day, President Pat had been preparing turkeys for the banquet - one in a roaster and one in a smoker. Rob had prepared a fantastic selection of make-your-own-salad ingredients. And to top it all off, Cheryl’s chicken and sausage gumbo was spicy and super delicious! For lunch on both days, Rob had also prepared a wonderful buffet of salads and ‘make your own sandwiches’.
https://www.iac.org/sites/www.iac.or...?itok=WgQ0BkwO
Fortunately, Sunday dawned blue sky and sunshine. The town of Olean is deep in the valley and was shrouded in fog, but by the time we drove to the airport which sits scenically at the top of a hill, the sun had burned it all off. The Sportsmen competitors had virtually no wind and CAVU for their flights. For a short time, 2300 foot clouds from Lake Erie passed over and put a hold on flying. Then it was the Intermediate and Advanced pilots’ turn to fly.
Since competitors came from fair distances and some had more than three hour flights to get home, the contest was declared finished by 2 pm. Only one flight was completed by all pilots.
Dmitri Cuesta in his S-1S and Luc Martineau in his S-2C, both from Quebec, placed first and second in Sportsman. Ron Mann in his newly purchased Extra came a commendable third. Rick Volker provided the best airplane noise of the weekend in his Harvard MK 4. It was a treat to see him fly it! Eric Anderson, who came all the way from Chapter 58, scored within 6% of the winner - a close competition.
Even though he was enduring a miserable cold all weekend, Chuck Cohen took home the first place plaque and medal for Intermediate in his beautiful new black, red, and yellow Extra 330. Chuck has been practising a lot, seeking frequent instruction and critique, and competing at many contests for the past few years. His flying shows his dedication. In second place was this year’s Harold E. Neumann Award winner Jim Wells flying his Giles G-202 and in third place was Canadian Trevor Rafferty in his self designed Javelin, which he flies in air shows as well. Wes Liu, Marc Nathanson, Bill Gordon, Neville Hogan, and Desmond Lightbody provided the usual intense, close competition that the Intermediate category always maintains. Only six per cent separated the top seven pilots.
Mark Stewart won Advanced in his Panzl S-330, followed by Hella Comat in her Pitts S-1T.
Many thanks to Chapter 126 volunteers Roy Berube and John Denardo who worked tirelessly to set up and take down the box markers and sighting devices and were running around helping constantly for the 4 days we were there. Roy, a retired career pilot, also doubled as the contest bugler. He played the national anthems of the two countries in the contest name each morning, called us to briefings with his trumpet, and entertained us during the nasty weather on Saturday.
Sincere thanks to Chief Judge Carole Holyk and judges Sandy Langworthy and Chris Pulley who all drove fair distances to the contest just to help out. Volunteer Coordinator Joy McKinney and starter Pat Rebbetoy worked to keep the contest running smoothly. Lucky for Chapter 126, we have a new registrar, Pam Wende, who despite being at only her second contest, prepared meticulously and more than thoroughly to take on the role. She’s a keeper!
Finally thanks to our sponsors, whose contributions were raffled off:
- David Clark - headset
- Lord - an engine mount
- Hooker Harness - an aerobatic harness set
- Gibson and Barnes - a flight jacker
- Aircraft Spruce - gift certificate
- Mammoser’s Tavern - 5 pounds of chicken wings and sauce
- Hope Aero - a decorative propeller blade
- Blackstone Laboratories - 2 oil analyses
- Gene Beggs - book “Spins in the Pitts Special”
Learn more about Chapter 126, The Buffalo Wings, at: http://iac126.blogspot.ca We’re always thrilled to have new members, or just keep in touch and join us at a meeting, where yummy Buffalo wings are an honored tradition.
See complete contest results at https://iaccdb.iac.org/contests/448
See you in Sherman and Denison Texas for the U.S. Nationals!
Submitted by Douglas Lovell on Tue, 2014-09-16 06:05
We've seen Ephrata Washington earlier this year, when we wrote about the Apple Cup. It's a contest location about as far north and west as you can get in the lower forty-eight. The Fall contest at Ephrata, the Apple Turnover, had reported awesome weather. Says Contest Director Peggy Reidinger, "Not a cloud to be found the entire weekend, and the temperature was perfect."
Jim Bourke, Jeff Hirschauer, Rochelle Oslick, John Smutny, Charlie Teeuwsen, Cheryl Bloom judged the five category contest hosted by IAC Chapter 67. Judges called from as far away as Idaho and Alberta. Peggy Reidinger and Doug Sowder served as Chief Judges.
Peggy writes, "At least one future judge (possibly more...) completed their assistant requirements to become a regional judge. Many non-flying volunteers helped make the contest run smoothly. Some who had never seen an aerobatic contest before came to check it out, and stayed to volunteer for the entire contest! They said that they had lots of fun and will be back again for another contest, possibly as competitors. The Judges learned to what lengths the Chef Judges will go in order to protect them - thank goodness for improvised snake-killing tools out on the judges line..."
Sean Van Hatten flew for patch and Ken Hewson won Primary flying a Canadian registered Pitts S1S.
Sean Van Hatten won Sportsman flying a Super Decathlon. He won both free flights. Kevin DeVan won the known, also flying a Super-D.
Jim Bourke won Intermediate flying a Super Decathlon against two Christen Eagles. He won the Free and Unknown flights. Rochelle Oslick won the Known.
Doug Sowder won the trifecta in Advanced with his Extra 300L.
Jason Bialek flew the Unlimited flights in a Yak 55M.
In the Northwest Regional Series we now have Ken Hewson leading in Primary, Pat Lavielle in Sportsman, Jim Bourke Intermediate, Doug Sowder Advanced, and Jason Bialek in Unlimited.
Thanks to scorekeeper Laurie Johnson and all of our scorekeepers for tracking the thousand grades recorded by judges at these contests.
Category winners at Apple Turnover, Ephrata, Washington
- Primary, Ken Hewson, Pitts S1S
- Sportsman, Sean Van Hatten, Super-D
- Intermediate, Jim Bourke, Super-D
- Advanced, Doug Sowder, Extra 300L
- Unlimited, Jason Bialek, Yak 55M
The US National Aerobatics Championships have concluded. The 2014 top guns are
Sportsman Power: Paul Thomson (Decathlon)
Sportsman Glider: Steel Shoaf (DG-1001)
Intermediate Power: Curt Richmond (Pitts S-2B)
Intermediate Glider: Joshua Wilson (DG-1001)
Advanced Power: Foster Bachschmidt (Extra 300LX)
Advanced Glider: Henry Leewenburg (DG-1001)
Unlimited Power and US National Aerobatic Champion: Rob Holland (MXS)
Unlimited Four Minute Freestyle Winner: Rob Holland (MXS)
Some fun videos have been posted of the flying and socializing.
http://youtu.be/JdJ5csXW5qU
http://t.co/huBNW4z8YD/s/zx_r
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fe2qsw6X8M