2022 Board Election

Notice of Election • Candidate Profiles • VOTING HAS CLOSED

NOTICE OF ELECTION

Monday June 27, 2022 through Tuesday July 26, 2022

Members may cast their votes using the secure online ballot (member login required) Voting begins June 27 and closes July 26, 2022. 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 July 29, 2022 at the IAC Annual Membership meeting will be held in the Vicki Cruse Educational Pavilion at the IAC Aerobatic Center at 8:30am during EAA AirVenture, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

CANDIDATE PROFILES

JIM BOURKE FOR PRESIDENT

Thank you for another opportunity to serve as IAC President. As the leader of the organization, I work hard on your behalf to ensure fairness in our competitions, safety in our operations, and joyful participation of the sport in all of its forms. I serve the IAC board by keeping our business orderly and making sure everyone has a fair chance to speak and vote on the issues in front of them. I help our members find a voice in the many policy discussions that come up throughout the year. I work with all of our committee chairs to facilitate their communication with the board and all of our members. I manage our two full-time employees, our Executive Director, Steve Kurtzahn and our Editor, Lorrie Penner.

In my first term as IAC President, I created two initiatives to increase awareness of aerobatics and encourage new members. The first initiative, National Aerobatics Day was a huge hit last year as it was celebrated all over the globe. In fact, this year we've chosen to rename it to "International Aerobatics Day". The second initiative, "Get Your Start" is a marketing campaign designed to get people to take their first brave steps into the sport of aerobatics. These marketing efforts are working well for us, so they can continue as they are. In my second term, I want to put my focus on our website and social media offerings. These important services must be modernized.

Much of my time in my first term has been spent on governance and communication with other aviation industry leaders. I've strengthened our communication with our partners at the EAA, NAA, FAI, and FAA. While there are some in the IAC who think we should withdraw from these important partners, I do not agree with them. It's very important that the IAC leverage every opportunity it has to gain visibility and participate in knowledge sharing.

While my goal is never to wade into controversy or divisiveness, I've proven I'm not afraid to take a position and defend it, and I've tried very hard to model a respectful way of approaching disagreements. I am a strong believer in trying new ways to do things. If those ways don't work, we can always try something else or go back to how we did things before; our ways are not sacred no matter how long we've practiced them. At every opportunity we must evaluate new ideas and be willing to make mistakes so we can change and grow.

I look forward to serving you for another two years.

SARA ARNOLD FOR SECRETARY

Fellow IAC Members

I have had the pleasure of serving as your IAC Secretary for the past two years and as a candidate again for that position, I am asking for your vote and support for another term.

What we call “grassroots” in the IAC is where I am most focused as aviation and aerobatics have been a part of my life since I was little flying with my father. I was eager to earn my Private Pilot certificate and then had the pleasure of competing against him both in Regional and National competitions. Our family’s love of aviation has now trickled down to the next generation and my daughter now is actively pursuing her ratings. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing others enjoy aerobatics as I have and watching them realize what they are capable of.

My first competition was in 2014 and ever since I have tried to become more involved every year. As a member of IAC Chapter 78, I have served in so many positions at contests - from working on the corners, being a Recorder on the Judges Line, serving as a Contest Director for our chapter, a Volunteer Coordinator, and other positions. I am always active wherever I can help. On the national side of the IAC, I have overseen scheduling webinars, writing articles for Sport Aerobatics, fundraising in 2020, as well as tending to the daily business as your IAC Secretary. In 2020, I brought to the Board and received approval to create the American Champion medallion through American Champion Aircraft who sponsors the medals. This year I am a part of the AirVenture committee in which we hope to enhance the experience for everyone who comes to the IAC building.

My full-time career is a Project Engineer at the Des Moines International Airport and prior to that I was an Airport Operations Supervisor. Both jobs have help me keep on top of the ever-changing climate of aviation along with being able to handle multiple projects within the safety and guidelines that are set. In 2018, I founded the Women in Aviation Heartland Chapter and in 2019 was able to have the Governor of Iowa sign a proclamation for the Girls in Aviation Day to be October 5th.

Grassroots aviation is where I am the happiest. The camaraderie at competitions and training camps is the heart of this club. I believe the energy of the IAC is in the excitement that surrounds aerobatics whether it is competition, weekend loops and rolls, or the aerobatic enthusiast. All deserve our attention and respect. As Secretary and member of the IAC Board of Directors, I will continue to represent those beginning in the sport and stand for clear rules and safety.

DOUG BARTLETT FOR DIRECTOR

I have been a member of the IAC for 20 Years and am presently one of the President Emeritus for the club. I started at the chapter level in Chicago with Chapter 1. It was there that I ran contests in Aurora and Peru, Illinois, and served the local chapter as a treasurer. I later served as its chapter president.

When asked to become active at the national level, I ran for the position as treasurer and served in that position for three years. At the untimely passing of then-President Vicki Cruse, I stepped into the position of IAC President serving the balance of her term and was re-elected to serve two additional years. After stepping away from the leadership role for several years, I was asked by the Board of Directors in 2018 to be the vice president in support of President Robert Armstrong. I was reelected to that position by the members and served two additional years. I served as the Contest Director for the U.S. National Championships in 2007 and again for the 2021 U.S. National Championships.

I worked my way up the ranks as a competition pilot from Sportsman to Unlimited, but those days have passed with my last competition being in 2018. Most recently my efforts have been in supporting and coaching local pilots in southern Florida and Chapter 23.

I am passionate about grassroots aerobatics and understand it is the foundation of our club. Further, I believe safety is job number one at the IAC. The P&P’s, rules and historic protocols have made the club a cohesive and safe organization over its first 50 years. I know that the way to provide future world class competition pilots is to encourage fun and safe activities along with competition at the local levels. The stronger we make the base of the pyramid, the stronger the top will be. Both levels are important to our success.

The high-end competition pilots and our national teams are well represented on the board by the abundance of unlimited pilots and airshow pilots now holding director and leadership positions. The aerobatic enthusiasts and grassroots members (over 90% of our members) are not sufficiently represented on our board resulting in a widening gap between the top of the IAC pyramid and the base of the club. In order to better represent the demographics of the IAC population, I am asking for your support. My addition to the board will provide experience and stability to the IAC along with giving the grassroots members a much stronger voice.

MATT DUNFEE FOR DIRECTOR

I am excited to announce my candidacy for a National Director position within the IAC. Like many of you I still remember diving into the box during my first aerobatic contest.

I had no idea that a few short aerobatic flights would reignite my passion for aviation and lead me into a sport I am still actively enjoying today. For those of you I haven't had the pleasure of meeting, I began my IAC journey 11 years ago in the Southwest Region. Like many competitors I was constrained by money and time as I started the sport, renting aircraft to compete in Primary and Sportsman. Eventually, my finances and time management improved so I could purchase an aerobatic aircraft of my own and make the jump to Intermediate. I continued to compete for 2 years regionally in Intermediate before making the jump to Advanced, where I compete at the US National and FAI CIVA level.

I attended my first US National Aerobatic Competition in Oshkosh Wisconsin in 2017 where I was selected to the 2018 USA Advanced Aerobatic Team. When I stood to be recognized during the closing ceremonies, I appreciated for the first time the legacy left by those that have served and flown before us in the IAC. I believe it's important to honor the heritage of the IAC by ensuring we keep evolving as an organization to best serve the needs of our membership. The last several years have brought many positive changes to the IAC. I look forward to building upon this progress while serving in the Director position.

I appreciate your vote to serve our membership as an IAC National Director. In the interest of condensing as much information into 400 words or less I have conveniently listed my qualifications in bullet format for your reading pleasure.

Senior Test Pilot for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. 5000+ Hours developing the IGNAT/Predator/Reaper and Avenger series UAV's
ATP/CFII/MEI with 3000+ Hours
Lifetime Member EAA & IAC
I have flown 39 contests along with US Team training camps across the country to include: Washington State, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, and Florida
I have attended the US Nationals Aerobatic Championship continuously since 2018
2021 US Advanced National Champion
Twice qualified for US Advanced Aerobatic Team
I represented the USA at the 2018 World Advanced Aerobatic Championship in Romania. I was able to bring 2 Individual Bronze medals home to the USA for the 1^st and 3^rd Unknown Flights
Regional grading judge since 2014
I have twice been asked to serve as a grading judge at US Nationals for Unlimited in 2018 and 2021.
I hold a lifetime rho of 88 as an aerobatic grading judge across all categories.
I currently serve on the sequence design committee with Mike Cilliberti as chair
I have previously worked on additional committees to assist Bob Freeman in updating the P&P's for US Team Selection
I have worked numerous volunteer positions at the IAC contests to include: tech inspector, boundary, chief judge assistant, recorder, caller, and grading judge.
I have served as a Board member for IAC 36, helping run and organize two annual Borrego aerobatic contests for a number of years.

MARTY FLOURNOY FOR DIRECTOR

I am interested in supporting and furthering the efforts that have been put in motion to make IAC a more inclusive and welcome place for pilots, aspiring aviators, and generally anyone with an interest in sport airplanes and those who support them.

During 25 years of contest organizing with IAC Chapter 3 in the Southeastern United States, like many members I began in Sportsman with an older Citabria and competed later in a Pitts I rebuilt before flying into Advanced and eventually taking it to the Nationals. Like many of you, I judge and volunteer and give back as much as possible. Our club also works to appreciate the dedication of mentors and unseen support key members such as scoring directors and registrars behind the scenes in our local IAC chapters.

Our local chapters have seen how involvement with practice days is critical for growth. The benefit of hosting an annual judges' school with minimal cost and maximum fun and education as our goal has helped expand our core volunteers.

Acquiring a two-place Pitts years ago, our chapter has the goal of recruiting and keeping members active, which only happens if they can participate in some way. As with collegiate programs or aero club members, having a less expensive entry point available without initial maintenance concerns or lump sum outlay for an aerobatic plane helps lower the barrier for aspiring pilots. As such, promoting club activities with insured aircraft and safety pilots should be a goal IAC supports and improves.

If elected, I will have the goal of reinforcing the current IAC leadership efforts that work to be proactive in the broader pilot community — not only as a place for competition but also as a place to find a mentor, become better pilots, and most importantly, to enjoy the fellowship experience through the collective knowledge we have in over 50 years.

BOB FREEMAN FOR DIRECTOR

I’ve been flying for 50 years and have been a member of the IAC for 41 years. I started flying as a Junior in High School, inspired by my dad and his love of flying. I joined the IAC at the Fond du Lac contest and became completely hooked. My focus has been on IAC aerobatics for most of my 41 years of flying. Inspired by the success of the US teams at the Worlds in the 70’s, it became a goal to one day fly for the U.S. on the Unlimited team (accomplished in 2017). I ‘ve been on three U.S. teams and placed 4th overall at the 2002 AWAC. My journey from Sportsman to Unlimited is probably the longest of any pilot ever to make the journey. Balancing my IAC team goals with family, career, and financial constraints, I fully appreciate the challenges, from the grassroots end of our sport to the U.S. teams that represent us.

Over the course of my IAC years, I’ve served in many roles; Contest Director, Chapter President, Judge, Asst Judge, Boundary Judge, and IAC Board Member. I volunteered to and led the effort to find a new home for the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships. I was appointed by the Board to serve as the Team Liaison, acting as a conduit and facilitator for communications between the teams and the Board.

Our club has many challenges and faces many issues, but we are united in our love of airplanes, aerobatics, and our incredibly talented, interesting, and diverse members. While on the Board, I’ve worked on several significant, controversial issues. I do my best to take a thoughtful, objective, fact based, balanced approach to the resolution of these challenging issues. I hope my reputation reflects this. I led the effort to select a new site (Salina) for the Nationals using a clear, objective, and non-political process. As the Team Liaison, I led a working group in the rewrite of P&P 504, for the selection of US teams. I led another effort to consolidate three different versions of our team Code of Conduct and to formally document the organization and process for managing our teams. I proposed, established, and administer the National Championship Point Series, which requires tracking and processing the scores of every pilot of every contest each year for all categories. I sponsor the trophies along with Tim Just and Tom Rhodes. I also proposed and established, with the help of Dave Watson, the new awards that recognize our most active competitors annually as well as their lifetime participation.

I respectfully ask for your vote to continue to serve as one of your IAC Directors.

• 1981: Attended Fond du Lac with my Dad…Dad finished last in Sportsman, non-inverted 7ECA (watched newly released Cloud Dancer movie at the membership meeting –met lifelong friends, IAC hook fully planted)

• 1982: Bought Decathlon

• 1983: Sold Decathlon, bought Pitts S1C

• 1985: Sold Pitts, bought AcroDuster II, 1st contest Eloy AZ (Sportsman 3rd met Wayne Handley) Longmont CO (Sportsman 1st), Nationals Sherman (Intermediate 12th met Bob Herendeen)

• 1985 to 1997: Flew AcroDuster II in regional contests at Intermediate level (lots of 1st place)

• 1994 started Giles G200 kit

• 1998: Moved to Advanced – flew borrowed Laser (Fred Zayas), US Nationals

• 1999 – 2000: Regional success in the Laser in Advanced

• 2000: Leukemia diagnosis, G200 kit completed, test flights, fly off restrictions

• 2001: US Nationals Advanced, 5th place, qualified for US Advanced Team

• 2002: AWAC Slovenia, team captain, 4th overall

• 2002 – 2003: Chemotherapy battle 1 for the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

• 2004: US Nationals, Advanced, 2nd place

• 2005 - 2008: Moved to Unlimited flying G200

• 2009: US Nationals, qualified for Advanced Team

• 2009-2010: Chemotherapy battle 2 for CLL

• 2010: AWAC, Radom Poland – (shipped G200), 23rd (4th flight oops)

• 2011: Sold G200, bought Panzl

• 2011-2012: IAC BoD, South Central

• 2012 – 2014: Overseas job assignment, Seoul South Korea. Earned commercial and instructor licenses in South Korea. Became Instructor Pilot for Advanced Aerobatics at Hanseo, University (Extra 330LT)

• 2014: Repatriated to US, sold Panzl, bought Extra330SC

• 2015: US Nationals, Unlimited, 3rd place

• 2016: US West Region Unlimited Champion

• 2016: Qualified for the US Unlimited Aerobatic Team

• 2016: Won the Silver medal in the 4 Minute Free program at the US Nationals

• 2017: Flew for the US at the World Championships in South Africa, Class IV IAC Director

• 2018: US West Region Unlimited Champion

DOUG JENKINS FOR DIRECTOR

Why I would like you to consider voting for me, in 600 words or less.

1. Decision making style. Throughout my life I have made decisions a certain way…based upon facts, rules and logic. I am not swayed by emotion, loud voices or the crowd. I am not afraid to stand for what is right. I am also not an entrenched ideologue. I am willing to listen to all positions on an issue and even change my mind if I become convinced of a better way. I certainly don’t hold the monopoly on good ideas.

2. Responsiveness and representation. As a Board member I would work for you. That means that if you communicate with me I will respond to you as promptly as possible. I will spend most of our communication listening to you, not talking to you. I promise you that I will never talk down to you and that I will give whatever concern you have a fair and thorough consideration. As your representative I will take your concerns or ideas to the Board, even if I personally don’t agree with them. Also (see above), if you can sway me with logic, I am all in. Similarly, if there is a clear majority position on an issue among the members I represent, I am willing to vote the way the majority feels vs. my own personal opinions. That’s representation.

3. Perspective. I would bring a fresh (and I believe needed) perspective to the IAC Board. I fly a 180 HP open-cockpit biplane in Intermediate. This represents the absolute pinnacle of my aviation budget and skills. I have zero hopes, dreams or aspirations of ever doing more. I love my airplane and the flying we do together. I accept her limitations, and she accepts mine. Among my aerobatic achievements the “Grass Roots” and “Highest Scoring Biplane” medals I have earned are the most meaningful. To me they represent the beating heart of our sport. This is not to disparage folks who fly upper categories and aspire to (or are on) our teams. Some of them are my friends and I stand in awe of the things they can make an airplane do. But, as of now, my (and maybe your) perspective is lacking in our Board room and in the conversations the Board has.

4. Obligatory aerobatic biography. I bought my Pitts in 2012. Our first contest was 2012 Nationals where I flew Primary and got schooled by the crew from UND! From 2013 to 2015 we flew Sportsman with varying degrees of success, but always having fun. From 2015 to 2017 my airplane was down for a re-build but I stayed active in the sport by judging and contest directing. We made a triumphant return to Sportsman in 2017 before finally moving up. From 2018 to now we have flown Intermediate at as many contests as we can afford. This has enabled me to meet some truly fantastic pilots and even better people. I am a Regional Judge (and have been for many years). I Judged at Nationals in 2019. I have been a multi-time Contest Director. I created and manage the “Texas Championship Series” to enhance participation at and recognize excellence in Texas aerobatic contests.

For additional insights into my aerobatic/life philosophy and history I recommend some of the articles I have contributed to Sport Aerobatics over the years. Specifically…April 2013, December 2013, December 2014, June 2015, December 2015 and January 2018 (we made the cover!)

If you would like to know anything else about my history or my vision for the future please contact me at bagsf15@yahoo.com or 210-485-8025.

ADAM MESSENHEIMER FOR DIRECTOR

I got involved with competition aerobatics in 2016. As many of you will probably agree, I found the welcoming and stimulating personality types within our community to be an incredibly attractive element of this sport. It was the generosity and encouragement of my peers that I credit significantly for my opportunity to train with the 2020 Advanced Aerobatic Team. Furthermore, I have no doubt that the positive impact stemming from aerobatic competition flying has helped me in my professional career and current position as a Learjet captain.

My decision to run for the IAC board is taken with humility and the desire to bring more of an influence from the younger generation. I have been privileged to spend time training and learning under the guidance of so many accomplished individuals within our sport. As a director, my aim would be to continue learning while providing perspective that is unique to my experience and background.