What keeps you from flying aerobatics? Really?

[BMC_Dave]

Originally Posted by ronschreck

Never heard of anyone setting up a TFR for a practice day. I doubt you would get the FAA to do that. So, see and avoid is the usual practice and we have an observer on the ground with a radio to look for traffic and advise them of the aerobatic activity and suggest a course of action to avoid conflict. The pilot in the box may not see conflicting traffic as he is usually pretty busy. He can be directed to "knock it off" if necessary to avoid traffic.

Ah, that makes sense. The context made it sound like it was the transiting pilot's fault for not reading a NOTAM for a field they don't intend to land at.

[Pilot135pd]

Originally Posted by ronschreck

Never heard of anyone setting up a TFR for a practice day. I doubt you would get the FAA to do that.

Thunderbirds and Blue Angels do it.

[luddite42]

Originally Posted by Pilot135pd

Thunderbirds and Blue Angels do it.

FYI the military has a little more pull than little recreational IAC meet ups.

[ksdflying]

Originally Posted by ronschreck

IAC 27
Collierville, TN
President: Michael Tipton
Contact: 573-922-9600 | michael.tipton@hotmail.com
Meetings: Every 1st Saturday 9:00 AM
Location: DeWitt Spain Airport-CAF Hangar
2787 N 2nd Street
Memphis, TN 38127


IAC 3
Atlanta, GA
President: Thomas Hartvigsen
Contact: 931-962-0811 | thartvigs@comcast.net
Meetings: Every 3rd Saturday TBA
Location: Contact President
115 Airport Road, Box 2
Newnan GA 30263

Either chapter may have practice days at an airport nearer to you. Feel free to PM me if there are specific questions you have.

Thanks Ron!
I am just about to complete my IFR and Commercial license training...IFR check ride Next Friday after Sun n Fun. (Goal for Commercial is to be done before end of April.)
Speaking of, I hope I can run into you Friday or Saturday at Sun n Fun if you are going to make it.
Either way, I will get my tail down to Georgia or that IAC in Tennessee. Hope I run into you sir.
Thank you
Dan

[mbauer]

Well, found someone who can teach. Took my first lesson yesterday in a Citabria.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer

[RV8Squaz]

Congratulations! So how was it? What did you do?

[mbauer]

Originally Posted by RV8Squaz

Congratulations! So how was it? What did you do?

It was Great! During one of the hammerheads, was so busy enjoying the view watching the wing as it went vertical then vertical the other way, instructor was telling me to use opposite aileron, almost put us over on the back, finally added some to keep the instructor quiet...

Was shown how to draw things with the spinner (boxes, circles and figure 8s), keeping the wings level and just moving the nose around.

Loops were a blast. Forgot to "float" across the top on the first one, but the second much better.

More practice maneuvers along a road, guess you would call them wing overs with wing level when crossing the road of reference.

Will be going again this week.

Spins, rolls and lots more fun planned a few times after work this week! Scott then heads out for his regular job.

Just can't get over how beautiful the wing looks when going vertical! Looks natural!

Scott flies a show at the Valdez STOL competition. Highly recommended locally, then at the last EAA Chapt 975 meeting we met.

Just learning the basics, not much competition in Alaska.

Best regards,
Mike Bauer

[Gash]

I just found this thread. Thanks Ron for starting the discussion. As you know, I was completely unaware of IAC and the possibility of doing aerobatics in my RV-8 until I stumbled upon your presentation at Oshkosh 3 years ago. For me, it was a game changer.

Motivated by your speech and slides, I started doing aerobatics on my own, and then showed up cold at my first contest 2 years ago. Believe it or not, my first time diving into the box was the very first time I had seen an aerobatic box with markers on the ground. Despite my almost comical lack of experience, I had a wonderful time and met some of the friendliest and most supportive people I know in all of aviation!

You can read the article about it that I wrote for EAA here.

I had a good first year in competition aerobatics. I won first place in the Southwest Regional Series in the Sportsman category. I also won the 2017 California Point Series first place trophy. I've now flown a total of 7 contests, and will probably fly another 5 this season, including Nationals.

My trusted Vans airplane turned out to be my "gateway drug" leading to further advancement in aerobatics. I sold my RV-8 and bought an Extra 330LX. I'm now flying in the Intermediate category, and plan to move up to Advanced later this year. I've trained with Rob Holland, Bill Stein and Sergei Boriak, as well as many other talented pilots in my local IAC Chapter 62. You could say that I've gone "all in".

So why do I do it? First, I LOVE challenging myself to fly every single figure in the book as perfectly as possible. After 15,000 hours in 36 different aircraft, the only place I still find difficult and exciting challenges is in aerobatics. It's physical, mental, emotional, and an even spiritual experience when I achieve that elusive perfect double vertical roll and "reach out and touch the face of God". It's even better when I fly an entire tank of fuel doing snap rolls for Sergei, and I finally do a perfect snap and hear a Russian accent on the radio saying "good Karl, now go land and think about it."

Second, I think I thrive on "pre-game jitters". Living on the edge of something competitive just makes me feel alive. I got to experience it when playing football in school and when going feet dry in combat in my F-16. But at this stage in life, the only times I can feel the same sense of purpose is when I'm risking embarrassment in front of a crowd and 5 judges.

I tell everyone that if I can do it, anybody can. Walking into Ron's Oshkosh presentation was a random event that changed my life. I said "what the heck, I'll give it a try". Since then, I've had some of the my best-ever experiences in aviation.

[ronschreck]

Karl, It's always great to hear from you, the "poster child" of IAC competition. Or maybe you and Jerry Esquenazi are the poster twins. I re-read your article and one thing hit me that needs to be said more often: IAC competition is supported by volunteers and we couldn't exist without them. Only about 11% of IAC members actively compete. The rest are there for a variety of reasons. Maybe they want to learn more about recreational aerobatics or just want to become a safer pilot. We have lots of members who aren't even pilots; they just enjoy being around an exciting sport. My friend and neighbor, Gary Sobek attended an IAC judge's school earlier this year and volunteered as a judges assistant at a contest this past weekend. He will need to assist at one more contest and he will be ready to take the exam and become an IAC judge! Gary is a RV-6 pilot who many of you know from his formation activity. He may not compete in aerobatics but he sure seems to enjoy being a volunteer. I hope he leaps on this thread and tells you all about his first contest experience.

[RV6_flyer]

Originally Posted by ronschreck

Karl, It's always great to hear from you, the "poster child" of IAC competition. Or maybe you and Jerry Esquenazi are the poster twins. I re-read your article and one thing hit me that needs to be said more often: IAC competition is supported by volunteers and we couldn't exist without them. Only about 11% of IAC members actively compete. The rest are there for a variety of reasons. Maybe they want to learn more about recreational aerobatics or just want to become a safer pilot. We have lots of members who aren't even pilots; they just enjoy being around an exciting sport. My friend and neighbor, Gary Sobek attended an IAC judge's school earlier this year and volunteered as a judges assistant at a contest this past weekend. He will need to assist at one more contest and he will be ready to take the exam and become an IAC judge! Gary is a RV-6 pilot who many of you know from his formation activity. He may not compete in aerobatics but he sure seems to enjoy being a volunteer. I hope he leaps on this thread and tells you all about his first contest experience.

The IAC Judging School is one of the most intense training classes I have been in. There is a lot of information presented in a short period of time. None of it is difficult but there is a lot of info in a short period of time. Volunteering at an event is also another challenge. After passing the written test after the school, you may feel like you know a lot BUT there is just as much more that is needed to know.

The Competition is something that is hard to describe. By flying each flight figure the pilot is showing the precision of what they can do with an airplane. Flying Formation or Flying IFR both are pilot flying airplane with precision. Now take that precision and make your airplane do acrobatics with precision. You must have complete control of your aircraft and situational awareness to have the airplane travel a perfect flight path to earn a good score.

The RV series of aircraft is a very capable aircraft. It may not be as good as a PITTS or other aircraft designed just for acrobatics but it has the capability to do well considering all the other things it does.

Are your pilot skills up to it? The performance of the pilot using RV aircraft in the acrobatic box that I saw over the weekend was impressive.

I was also impressed with a first time competitor who we shall call Joe. Joe was flying a Ran's S-9. An S-9 is a small inexpensive 65 HP 2-cycle engine powered acrobatic capable airplane but Joe was able to make the airplane do everything required to make a good showing and show off what he as a pilot was capable of.

Volunteering at IAC is a chance to help support part of aviation. It is also an excuse (just like the $100 hamburger) to use your airplane for travel and to meet more great people that are also pilots. The greatest thing about being an RV pilot is all the other pilots you have the chance to meet. In the past 21+ years that I have been flying my RV, it is the people that I have met that have enriched my life the most.