Congratulations to Bill who took 1st place in the Sportsman category today at IAC 19's Blue Ridge Hammerfest in Morganton, NC (MRN) flying his RV-4. As you can see below, Bill flew against quite a few very capable airplanes (and pilots). I had the pleasure of meeting Bill and watching him fly for the first time this weekend, and he is one of the most relaxed, nicest guys you will meet. It was a great seeing an RV flown so well. Bill has really put in a lot of time and effort in last few years getting to this level.
Also flying very well was Ron Schreck who is getting back into competition acro in his RV-8. Saturday was a total wash, and Ron had to leave and didn't fly the 2nd and 3rd flights, hence the standings. I was looking forward to watching him fly his Intermediate level Free sequence which included a snap. I saw him practice this last weekend, and I can confirm that RVs do in fact snap very nicely if you have the technique. FYI - both Bill and Ron's airplanes have full inverted systems.
So... about 50% of the total RV population involved in competition acro across the country was present at this one contest. No reason why these numbers cannot go up! Now the next time I hear someone say RVs are not well-suited to competition acro I guess I'll just simply post a link to this thread. It's all about practice and seat time. The airplane will do it just fine.
Also flying very well was Ron Schreck who is getting back into competition acro in his RV-8. Saturday was a total wash, and Ron had to leave and didn't fly the 2nd and 3rd flights, hence the standings. I was looking forward to watching him fly his Intermediate level Free sequence which included a snap. I saw him practice this last weekend, and I can confirm that RVs do in fact snap very nicely if you have the technique. FYI - both Bill and Ron's airplanes have full inverted systems.
So... about 50% of the total RV population involved in competition acro across the country was present at this one contest. No reason why these numbers cannot go up! Now the next time I hear someone say RVs are not well-suited to competition acro I guess I'll just simply post a link to this thread. It's all about practice and seat time. The airplane will do it just fine.