Balloting is Now Closed
Notice of Election • Candidate Profiles • Cast Your Vote
NOTICE OF ELECTION
Tuesday, May 28th, 2019 through Tuesday, July 23, 2019
The IAC Board of Directors invites members to vote in the 2019 Election for Club Officers and Directors. Balloting closes on Tuesday, July 23 at 6:00 p.m. CDT. Ballots must be received before closing to be counted.
Members may cast their votes using the secure online ballot (member login required). Our Webmaster can provide any assistance needed.
A member may not vote in this election in person at the annual meeting; it must be done via electronic ballot.
A Presidential-appointed Ballot Certification Committee will tabulate the election results and announce the election outcome at the annual meeting of members on Friday, July 26, 2019.
By Order of the Board of Directors,
DJ Molny
IAC Ballot Certification Committee Chair
CANDIDATE PROFILES
Vice President: Doug Bartlett
Treasurer: Bob Hart
Directors: • Bruce Ballew • Jim Bourke • Tom Rhodes • Peggy Riedinger
DOUG BARTLETT - FOR VICE PRESIDENT
I am running for the position of IAC Vice President and I am asking for your support and your vote.
I joined the IAC in 2003 and started competing that same year. While working my way up the competition ladder from Sportsman to Unlimited, I served as the contest director for several regional contests as well as for the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships in Texas. I was the treasurer/president of Chapter 1 in Chicago for a number of years. In 2006, I was elected to serve as the IAC Treasurer and held that position until I was appointed to be the president following the untimely passing of IAC's then-president Vicki Cruse. I served in that capacity for the next three years.
My airplane is a Sukhoi 29. I flew this in one competition last year at Salem. Currently I am building an RV-14 that I intend on flying at the Sportsman level in 2021. As a national judge, I served on the line at last year's national championships in Oshkosh. Also, I enjoyed the opportunity of training acro pilots at the primary through intermediate levels.
I was appointed by the Board of Directors last year as the Vice President of the IAC to support and assist Robert Armstrong in his first year as the IAC President. With that first year complete, I am now asking for the membership's support that I may remain in that role of Vice President. It is import to continue supporting Robert and the entire Board of Directors in their goals of getting as many aerobatic airplanes back in the air as possible and simplifying the IAC.
I believe in gathering a strong team fo support when it comes to move the IAC forward. That was my goal when I assumed the IAC presidency in 2009 and it's one of my goals now as Vice President. It also is my opinion that the IAC needs to grow the base of its membership by concentrating on grass roots aerobatic and providing a solid structure for aerobatic enthusiasts and pilots at all levels. Much work has recently been done in this area and, with your help, I look ahead to continuing forward in this process.
BOB HART - FOR TREASURER
Hi, my name is Bob Hart and I would like to again introduce myself as a candidate in the upcoming IAC Board of Director and Officer Elections.
I am currently concluding my latest term as the IAC National Treasurer. It has been an honor and privilege to serve the membership of such a distinguished organization. While my principle responsibilities have been to manage the account for IAC finances, I have found myself active in numerous other endeavors as an IAC Officer. Membership merchandising, program administration, and interaction with appropriate EAA support functions are also areas I've been routinely involved with. Most recently, I have spent considerable time reformulating our IAC financial analytic tools to integrate with the newly updated EAA finance platform.
My aerobatic roots date back to the 1980's flying Decathlons and Citabrias. I spent much of the mid 90's building a Pitts S1C which I flew in Mid-America regional contests. In 2003, I purchased and began flying an Extra 230. Additionally, I have spent several thousand hours in many other general aviation aircraft when not working my day job flying for a major airline. I have been an invited guest speaker at EAA Airventure and have presented at numerous FAA Wings programs on topics including Aerobatics and Stall/Spin awareness. I, along with my wife Kori and daughters Megan (22) and Kaylin (17), consider time spent at the local airport our primary social outlet,. Our family has been heavily invested in the IAC as the girls grew up around our organization, running scores at contests when they were very young. Last year they were present all week at AirVenture working for IAC helping run the Pavilion and social media efforts. Needless to say, sport aviation and aerobatics have been a way of life for our family.
I continue to dedicate myself to grass roots and recreational aerobatics. I believe most strongly in those efforts designed to support acro interests at the basic levels promoting ways to improve IAC and bring additional value to our members. New marketing, branding, programs, and facility improvements are but a few examples of work I have participated in to elevate our organization going forward. My focus now will be to provide a solid platform for the future of IAC with the next generation in mind.
Thank you for your consideration.
BRUCE BALLEW - FOR DIRECTOR
I'm Bruce Ballew and I'm running for reelection to the IAC Board of Directors. I've been a Director for several years now. I've been participating in aerobatics for nearly 20 years, compete in the Advanced category and currently own an Extra 300L (although I was a Pitts guy until a year ago). I'm a corporate pilot in the St. Louis area for a Fortune 100 Company.
While on the IAC Board, in addition to the routine governance duties, I've been heavily involved with the Government Relations committee and am the current Chair of the committee. My duties with this committee include maintaining contact with the FAA regarding aerobatic practice area (APA's) and Aerobatic Contest Box (ACB) waivers and the regulations that govern these. I am also the contact for our members that have questions regarding APA's/ACB's or are having trouble getting these issued from the FSDO's. I'm an industry member of the FAA's Equip 2020 Working Group to make sure our members have a voice in the implementation of ADS-B Out and that issues related to aerobatics are considered.
I'd like to continue as your IAC Board member and would appreciate your vote.
JIM BOURKE - FOR DIRECTOR
I would be delighted to continue to serve as IAC Director. Thank you for your vote.
My love of aerobatics is lifelong, beginning as a young child delivering airplanes with my father, an aircraft broker. As an adult, after a 4 year stint in the Air Force, I turned my aviation passion toward R/C model planes. I founded the world's most popular web site for R/C modeling, RCGroups.com, in 1996 and am the owner of Knife Edge Software, the makers of the RealFlight R/C flight simulator and other flight simulation products.
I enjoy serving the IAC in many areas. Besides being a board member, I am also the IAC's Membership chair, and therefore tasked with increasing our membership rolls. I am a national judge, a frequent juror, and a coach. I've served the IAC on rules-related issues and also as Safety Chair. I've worked closely with Bruce Ballew on government relations issue and have assisted several chapters with attaining or keeping aerobatic practice areas. I am proud to serve my country as a member of the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team.
I believe that flying aerobatics is perfectly approachable with the right training and I've made it my mission to share what I learn. I offer free critique of aerobatic videos on my YouTube channel and stay in regular communication with dozens of pilots throughout the contest season. There is no reason this sport cannot grow if we all pitch in and help each other out. To me a healthy IAC provides something for everyone.
If you have any questions or thoughts for me please email me at jtbourke@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
TOM RHODES - FOR DIRECTOR
I am a candidate for the lAC Board of Directors and am asking for your support and vote.
I grew up in Dallas, Texas, graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1968, went into the Marine Corps and flew as a RIO in F-4 Phantoms. I returned to Dallas in 1973 and went into the real estate business. Suzy and I have 5 children and 10 grandchildren as of 10 a.m. this morning.
I started flying on January 19, 1966. I know this date because I was 21. My dad told me at a young age if I did not smoke before I was 21 he would give me $500. I didn't smoke and with this $500 and $300 I had saved from mowing yards, I took flying lessons at Love Field, Dallas, Texas.
Later, I learned that some pilots were killed in airplanes when they entered a spin and did not recover. I thought I had better learn what spins were about. I signed up for a spin training course in Gene Soucy's Program. On our first flight the instructor covered stalls and spin recovery. At the end of the flight the instructor asked me if I would like to go upside down in this CAP 10. I said OK. Afterwards, we did a couple of loops and rolls and it was magical. I was hooked. I extended my spin training to Gene's aerobatic course and that's how it all started of these times.
I started flying contests in a clipped wing CUB I had restored and later moved up in horsepower to a Pitts. At a contest in Waco, Texas I watched a group of glider pilots compete. Wow, how cool is this and I started flying aerobatic gliders. I made the USA Glider Aerobatic Team and competed in the World Contest in Spain. I have fond memories of those times.
Ron Schreck and Debby Rihn Harvey spoke of this in their Bio's last year and I hear the same thing from many of the pilots who have competed for many years and that is......."what happened to the fun times that we used to have at contests?" I believe that we can return to those times with your input and suggestions.
Also, we need to pass on to our members how important it is to become mentors to the younger pilots and members during their journey in our sport. Ron mentioned one out of three first-time competitors never return to fly another contest....that is our fault and not good.
There are presently 4035 members in the lAC and only about 12% of those members are pilots who compete in contests. What a surprise to me! It means we need to be respectful and attentive to the other 88% of our member's needs, interests and experiences in the lAC.
We are very fortunate to be in a sport that encourages each of us to help each other even those who are in direct competition. We are lucky there are so many mentors in our sport who we can turn to for advice and help. I have certainly taken full advantage of this over the years and have made long lasting friendships.
We have an outstanding Board and I only hope that I can contribute to it. Thanks for your time, Tom Rhodes, President of Chapter 24 and a candidate for your Board.
PEGGY RIEDINGER - FOR DIRECTOR
I have enjoyed serving the IAC as a Director for the past two years, and would be happy to continue in this role. The IAC has many exciting projects going on and I am looking forward to helping us move into the future.
I’m not a typical Director, in that I’m not a pilot. I am an active volunteer, have served as Judge or Chief Judge at 55 contests across the US, and have been Assistant US Judge at four World Championships. I have also been Chief Judge at the US Nationals three times and am looking forward to being the Intermediate Chief Judge this year at the new venue in Salina. Last year I had the opportunity to judge at the British Nationals, and this summer I am honored to be judging at the European Advanced Championship in Poland.
As a Director, I serve on the Policy and Procedures Working Group and the Rule Book Task Force. I am also the new Chapter Relations Chair. I enjoyed meeting many of you last summer at AirVenture – and I’ll be attending again this year. Looking forward to seeing you there.
On the local level, I have been the President of Washington State’s IAC Chapter 67 for over five years. We are an active chapter that hosts two contests and two Acro Camps, plus several practice days each year in Ephrata, Washington, as well as teaming up with Aerobatics Canada Chapter 7 from Alberta to host the Can-Am Championship in Cut Bank, Montana. We also represent the IAC in the Northwest by having a presence at the Arlington Fly-In each year.
If re-elected to the Board of Directors I will continue to be an advocate for volunteers. We know that contests don’t happen without volunteers. Whether you are a Chief Judge or someone who runs into town to pick up lunches and bottles of water, all volunteers are important and should be valued. I continue to stand for all those significant others and spouses who support their pilots by volunteering.
