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RV IAC Aerobatic Competition Standings - 2018

ronschreck

Well Known Member
Four RV pilots competed this weekend in two separate contests. Jerry Esquenazi and Randy King dominated the Sportsman category at the Southeast Aerobatic Championships in Rome, Georgia taking second and third place among a very competitive field of twelve. Bill McLean had a good thing going for the first two flights in the Intermediate category but faltered in the third flight. (You don't get to count the best two out of three!)

Still to report is David Schmitz who is competing int Salem, Illinois this weekend. Weather has delayed the contest and we are still waiting for final results. More news to follow...




Jerry and his pile of hardware:

 
More reporting...

The Salem contest just posted their results. David posted a great score of 82.55% over two flights; the third flight cancelled due to weather. But, get this... he came in 8th out of a field of 9 pilots in the Sportsman category! And all seven pilots who scored above David had scores of 84% and change! It gets better: Eight pilots in Primary and Sportsman flew the same Super Decathlon! Can't wait to hear what David has to say about the contest.



Here are the revised standings:

 
Heard from David Schmitz. All the Decathlon pilots are from the University of North Dakota. They have one of the finest aeronautical programs in the country and have been dominating the regional contests that they attend. I am interested to hear how they manage to keep the contest going smoothly when they have to change pilots so often. That Decathlon gets a workout! And checkout the scores! David had two clean flights and even without considering that he doesn't have inverted systems on his RV-8 those scores are great!

I'm impressed with the skill being shown by the RV pilots who are participating in IAC competition. If we can get even more interested in competition I think we can take over the Primary and Sportsman categories just like the Pitts took them over in the 70s and 80s.
 
Agreed!

Heard from David Schmitz. All the Decathlon pilots are from the University of North Dakota. They have one of the finest aeronautical programs in the country and have been dominating the regional contests that they attend. I am interested to hear how they manage to keep the contest going smoothly when they have to change pilots so often. That Decathlon gets a workout! And checkout the scores! David had two clean flights and even without considering that he doesn't have inverted systems on his RV-8 those scores are great!

I'm impressed with the skill being shown by the RV pilots who are participating in IAC competition. If we can get even more interested in competition I think we can take over the Primary and Sportsman categories just like the Pitts took them over in the 70s and 80s.

http://www1.und.edu/features/2015/01/aerobatic-team.cfm

My son went there after visiting several other colleges with aviation programs. He could have been on the beach in Florida, but he thought the challenging weather in Grand Forks would make him a better pilot.

UND usually comes in First or Second place in the NIFA SAFECON competition and they have been cleaning up in IAC.

Sorry, just had to brag a bit...
 
Thanks for posting Ron. Great job and great write-up on Yahoogroups, David! Congrats to Jerry and Randy! I heard about how well you guys were doing almost as it was happening. I have a secret source who's buddies with Randy in FL who's keeping me updated. :D
 
Thanks for the support guys! Here is an overview of last weekend that I shared on the Yahoo group.


Salem was my first contest of the season and was a lot of fun. One of my goals this years was to develop and fly a free program. Work has been getting in the way of my aerobatic habit this year, so my preparation wasn't what I would have liked, but I had the weekend off and didn't want to miss a contest opportunity. With the help of some friends we devolved a free that better suited my non inverted fuel/oil RV8. I was able to get a few good practice days in the wed and thus before the contest.

Friday started out with a much needed oil change and then a short flight over to Salem for registration and practice. This is where my lack of preparation really showed. The great folks/volunteers from local chapter 61 were very accommodating in helping sort out my paperwork. In my haste to get over to the contest for some much needed practice, I forgot to make a copy of my condition inspection. After getting someone to send me a pic of it, I was able to get 2 practice flights in that evening.

Sat started with a 7am brief. We were flying by 8am. There were 9 competitors in sportsman, 6 of them were on the UND aerobatic flight team using the same Decathlon, 1 Pitts S1C, 1 Pitts S2B and me RV8. Stormy wx started approaching as we started the sportsman class. I flew second and was the last flight before a weather delay was call. Once on the ground we put the planes away and waited out the wx. Around 4pm we started back up and finished the knowns. I was pretty happy with my score 80%, but I really wasn't happy with some of the mistakes I had made.

When the flying was over we had a nice banquet where all the volunteers and competitors were able to get together and share some comradory. This year the Salem contest was renamed the Giles Henderson Memorial Challenge, In memory of Giles Henderson. Giles passed away last Dec in a skydiving accident and will be sorely missed. Giles is an IAC hall of fame pilot and was a huge propionate of the the grass roots pilots competing in the sportsman class. The IAC has named the nationals sportsman trophy in his honor as well. The evening was filled with memories and stories of Giles. His wife was also in attendance helping support the event. It was a very nice evening.

On Sunday the flying continued. The pilots decided to only fly the unknown sequence do to time constraints. In the sportsman class this meant I had a chance to fly my free. I thought I flew it pretty well for only practicing it a few times(84%). I have lots of room for improvement and have my work cut out for me for the rest of the season. My hats off to the guys and gals that came down from North Dakota, They flew very consistent all weekend and are going to be tough to beat.

To sum up the weekend. The great folks at IAC chapter 61 put on a great contest. I always enjoy these events and had a wonderful time. I was able to learn from some very experienced aerobatic pilots and improve my own skills. I can't wait until the next one!


Dave Schmitz
 
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Hey Dave, I ran into Cory Johnson (Pitts S1C) today at C75. He got grounded here for weather as he was heading north after the contest. He was telling us that Sportsman will now get a trophy and will get to keep it! That sounds like some incentive for this class.

Can you tell us more about it?
 
Can you tell us more about it?

Sure can.

During our wx deley IAC Vice President Doug Bartlett gave us a run down of some current events happening at the IAC. One of them was the introduction of a Nationals Sportsman Trophy that will be presented to the winner in honor of Giles Henderson. Only the First 5 winners will get to take one home. After that the winners name willl be added to the plate and kept at IAC headquarters. He said the Trophy is already finished and would have to be shipped back home after you won because it will not fit in anybody's plane! Sure would be cool to Have an RV be the first name listed on the plaque.

Doug also spent a considerable amount of time talking about wind correction techniques used by the pros. This was one of the many examples of the veteran pilots passing along important tips to help the other competitors improve their skills.

For more information on the new Sportsman Trophy go here

https://www.iac.org/news/2018-05-04-giles-henderson-trophy-to-be-presented

Also say hi to Cory for me..Great guy...He is the contest Director for the Spencer IA contest in August.
 
Alright Dave!!! Way to go! River Rats rock. Even more reason for a PARTY at HAO. Smokey can be our moderator. No flying, so plan on spending the night. BB will have details on RR party plans. I?m interested in details about your prep for the IAC competition.
 
Alright Dave!!! Way to go! River Rats rock. Even more reason for a PARTY at HAO. Smokey can be our moderator. No flying, so plan on spending the night. BB will have details on RR party plans. I?m interested in details about your prep for the IAC competition.

Scott,

Interested in IAC competition? You got questions? I got answers. Give me call anytime. Ken and Jon have my number if you don't.
 
Thanks Scott,

I'm in..just let me know when.

And for pilots in the Louisville area that want to practice aerobatics. I have received approval for an APA (aerobatic practice area ) over the Lebanon Springfield Airport (6I2).If your interested in joining us for practice days or just want to find out more about it. Send me a PM with your email or phone number.
 
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