2023 US Advanced Team Bios

Marty Flournoy

I got into aerobatics rather late in my aviation adventure as a 40-year veteran of general aviation and experimental aircraft of all sorts. We rebuilt a hurricane-damaged Citabria, and I was so glad to be flying and not rib-stitching anymore that I didn’t realize how slow it rolled or climbed as I struggled to get through Sportsman sequences in 1996 at the Bear Creek Bash in Georgia. Spurred on by Paul Logue and Robert Armstrong, I found a wrecked Pitts Special S-1S and started building again while setting my aspira

tions higher. Along the way, while working my way through Intermediate and Advanced, I became a monoplane convert.

As a member of the 2012 Advanced team that competed in Hungary, our coach Nikolay Timofeev opened all our eyes to what hard, no-compromise training and coaching could do to help build our skills and raise our flying to a much higher level.

Now approaching my 27th season of competition flying, after being on four prior U.S. teams, joining the ’23 Advanced team, and being selected as a CIVA judge at several Unlimited world championships, I appreciate that I have truly been blessed with the opportunity to participate in this sport and compete with some of the greatest pilots in the world.

The teams require an army of volunteers and supporters. The key to making it all work is the support you get along the way from mentors who encourage you to be your best. They act as role models and help you get better through constructive criticism.

This year the Advanced team, captained by Matt Dunfee, has loads of talent and motivation and just enough experience to know hard work is the key to making this world championship one of the biggest rivalries in a long while. Team France is always a perennial favorite, as they are well trained and usually enjoy home-field advantage in Europe — but not this year.

Michael "Mike" Lents

My aviation journey started at an early age. I would play flight simulator on a neighbor’s computer, watch aviation documentaries, and was inspired by air shows near my hometown just north of Detroit.

I enrolled at the University of North Dakota (UND) and began flight training in 2001. An elective aerobatic flight course gave me the opportunity to explore all-attitude flight. Once I began instructing, I started providing spin and aerobatic instruction in UND’s Super Decathlons. Beginning in 2008, the UND Aerobatic Team needed another safety pilot. I fell in love with competition and became the team’s head coach in 2011, a role I continue to take pride in today. Over the years, we’ve won 10 national collegiate titles, with team members making the podium at Nationals numerous times.

At UND, I specialize in teaching aerodynamics, aircraft systems, human factors, and aerobatics. Since 2013, I’ve been sharing my passion for aerobatics as a regular presenter at AirVenture and maintain a NAFI Master Instructor-Aerobatic designation.

Managing an Extra 300L with Cameron Jaxheimer and the late Charlie Atterbury enabled me to qualify for the 2018 U.S. Advanced Aerobatic Team. In Romania, I partnered with my brother-in-arms Aaron McCartan in his Panzl S-330. As part of the U.S. Advanced team, we performed under pressure overseas to bring home a team silver.

2022 was a banner year in many ways. Andrew Coughlin, one of my aerobatic students, nominated me to fly with the Thunderbirds. It was a true honor, and I got some stick time in an F-16. My wife, Amy, our two teenaged sons, and I made an amazing 4,000-mile road trip from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean. Completing another bucket-list item, UND trusted me to demonstrate our hardworking UND Super Decathlon at an air show in Williston, North Dakota, with my family watching.

While aerobatics is my passion, my family owns my heart. After all the excitement, I was uncertain about flying to qualify for the team. With encouragement from Amy and my boys, the support of my students, and kind words from Linda Meyers-Morrissey, I became determined to fly my best in the hopes of representing Team USA. Through the generosity of Spread Aviation and Rob Dumovic, we worked out a plan so I could fly the most patriotic midwing Extra ever devised at U.S. Nationals. It was an amazing field of highly skilled pilots competing for slots, and I’m honored to be part of such a talented team!

Mike Ciliberti

I’ve been a chief pilot for the same corporation for the last 23 years. I’ve flown 11,000 hours and am an airline transport pilot with five type ratings. I have more than 1,500 hours flying aerobatics and got my start in a Pitts Special S-1S. I have flown a Lazer, Sukhoi 26M, Sukhoi 31, and an Extra 330SC, and I now fly aerobatics in my MXS. I’ve been an IAC member since 1985 and most recently joined the IAC sequence committee.

I was a member of the U.S. Unlimited Aerobatic Team in 2017 and 2019. Due to a mechanical issue before the 2021 Nationals, I was unable to compete for a slot on the Unlimited Team. Though I was disappointed about not making the 2022 team, I served as a warmup pilot at the 2022 WAC in Leszno, Poland, and was able to compete in Advanced at the 2022 Nationals and qualify for the Advanced team.

My goal as a member of this team is to help the United States bring home the gold! Marty Flournoy sold me on trying out for the team. I had mixed feelings about it, but he convinced me to give it a shot. His love of the sport is obvious, and like all the team members, he wants to bring home the gold.

I’m looking forward to working with the other team members and growing together as a unit. This is my favorite part of the journey: training together, learning, and (hopefully) getting better. My wife, Carmela, is 100 percent behind me, and her unwavering support certainly makes the journey easier.

I love to train because there is always something to strive for or get better at, so peaking for WAAC without overtraining is my primary goal this year. Building up slowly to be at your best at the WAAC is an art. I’m counting on Jim Bourke and Alice Johnson to reel me in.

See you at WAAC!

Don Hartmann

Don started flying as a child with his father, who was also a pilot. After flying straight and level for many years, he decided to give aerobatics a try. His first contest was at Sebring, Florida, in 1992 in a Citabria. After that contest, he was hooked. He would later fly a Pitts S-2B for 15 years in Intermediate. In 2005 he made the jump to an Extra 300S. He has been flying Advanced since 2006.

Don has long been interested in the U.S. Aerobatic Teams. He knew it wasn’t easy to earn a team slot, but he wanted to go for it, so he trained with some of the best coaches for many years, and in 2019 thought he was prepared to finally try out. At the 2019 Nationals, Don finally made the team, but then COVID hit in 2020. He continued to train through 2020 and 2021 until he made the difficult decision not to attend WAAC in Europe later that summer. The training continued, and he gained the No. 3 slot on the 2023 Advanced team at the 2022 U.S. Nationals.

While he did the flying, he did not achieve this goal by himself. Every step of the way, a few key people have been there to help him with training, encourage him, and push him toward his goal. Alan Bush has been right there coaching, and Mike Mays has helped keep his Extra 300S going. Without the help of Alan and Mike, Don would have never achieved his dream.

The sport of competition aerobatics has survived so long because pilots are always giving back and supporting each other. Don got here with the help of fellow competitors and pays it forward when he can. He loves helping a new Sportsman or Primary pilot learn the basics of flying Aresti figures — and showing them how fun the sport is. Each pilot and volunteer is vital to the IAC. Don thanks every member for the opportunity to have a venue, staff, and the freedom to fly aerobatics at the world level here at home.

While the excitement is full throttle, many other emotions are going on as well, but it’s safe to say all those emotions will be used to push this momentum all the way to Las Vegas. This entire 2023 team is committed to competing together under the American flag. The opportunity to fly at this level in the United States doesn’t come often. If you can watch the contest in person or online, make sure you do. History will be made by this 2023 team!

Brittanee Lincoln

I was born and raised on a ranch in Montana where my grandfather, who was a crop duster, taught me to fly in the family Super Cub on our grass strip (12MT). I earned my private pilot certificate in November 2017 and went on to earn my instrument, commercial, multiengine, and commercial seaplane ratings over the course of the next year. I realized my true love and passion were aviation, and I walked away from the business world to pursue my dream of being a pilot. I now fly professionally and am currently working as a contract pilot so I can make time in my schedule to prepare for the WAAC.

I experienced my first aerobatic flight and learned about the IAC and competition aerobatics in 2019. To say aerobatics has become a part of my life is an understatement. When I thought flying couldn’t get any more fun, I discovered what I refer to as “vitamin G,” and I now need my regular dose.

I vividly remember my first IAC contest in Borrego Springs, California, flying Primary in a Super Decathlon with a safety pilot. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once. I recall feeling like I was flying with my hair on fire; everything seemed to happen so fast. I was in complete awe of the upper-category pilots. I could not fathom how they managed to stay in the box, maintain awareness of their positioning and direction, and fly seemingly impossible sequences. (With “flicks”! What was a “flick”? I didn’t even know.) And cleanly flying an Unknown seemed like something only superhumans could do. I was even more inspired when I attended the U.S. Nationals and first watched the Unknowns being flown. It was incredible to watch such beautiful flying and see some of the world’s best pilots fly through an Unknown flight like it was their Freestyle.

I am grateful for my family and friends, who have supported me and believed in me in this journey — specifically, my parents, Roger and Mable, who taught me I can do anything; Dave Watson, who introduced me to aerobatics and the IAC, and was my coach and mentor; and Craig Gifford, who shares his knowledge and experience, helps refine my flying, and believed in me when I doubted myself.

I am honored to represent the United States at the WAAC and to be a part of a team with so much experience and talent. I am eager to learn from my teammates and grow as a pilot. This is going to be a great year!

Kyle Collins, Ph.D.

Kyle’s aviation journey began during his undergraduate studies at Georgia Tech in 1990 when he became involved in competitive four-way formation skydiving. Over a 15-year period, he competed at the world level and completed over 5,000 jumps. After working as an engineer in the sport parachuting industry and running his own computer-aided design consulting firm, Kyle pursued graduate degrees from Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering in 2002. He obtained his private pilot certificate, instrument rating, and commercial certificate in 2006 after discovering his passion for flying. Now, with more than 1,000 total hours of flight time, Kyle has obtained his certificated flight instructor certificate.

Following the completion of his doctorate degree in 2008, he continued working as a research engineer at Georgia Tech’s Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), where he focused on multidisciplinary design optimization of rotorcraft in aeromechanics and aeroacoustics. During his tenure at ASDL, he led the rotary and fixed-wing design branches of the Advanced Concepts Division and subsequently the aviation safety and certification branch of the Transformative Aviation Concepts Division. In 2013, while working on his tailwheel endorsement in a Super Decathlon, Kyle developed a love for aerobatics and went on to purchase a Pitts Special S-1T.

Progressing through the Sportsman, Intermediate, and Advanced categories, he became involved with IAC Chapter 3. In the fall of 2019, he joined the Eagle Flight Research Center (EFRC) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as an assistant research professor, later becoming the interim director of the EFRC. His research now focuses on the certification, propulsion, and flight-control aspects of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

In January 2022, Kyle purchased Aaron McCarten’s Panzl with the goal of becoming a U.S. Advanced team member. He practiced consistently and participated in contests, ultimately placing sixth overall at the U.S. Nationals in Salina, Kansas. He is excited to represent the United States at the World Advanced Aerobatic Championships in Las Vegas later this year.

Marco Bouw

I first started flying at 17 and have progressed in my training all the way up to an airline transport pilot certificate with multiple type ratings. I started out as a truck driver with my family company until I was able to achieve my ratings and become a full-time pilot. I am now a full-time pilot for a Part 91/135 company flying the Bombardier Global 5000/5500/6000.

I got my start flying aerobatics in a Citabria back in 2010 before buying my own Pitts Special S-1S. A few years after acquiring my Pitts, I had an unfortunate accident and totaled the aircraft. A few years later I bought a Laser Z200, which I flew for three years and used to qualify for the 2023 U.S. Advanced Aerobatic Team. I have since sold the Laser and moved on to my dream airplane, the Sukhoi Su-31. This particular tail number is familiar to spectators at the world championships, as it has been associated with greats such as Mikhail Mamistov, who won a bronze medal at the 2013 WAC, and had completed many top 10 finishes with its previous owner, Michael Racy.

I believe that as you progress through your career, there are always people to inspire you at different times, but the person who inspired me to compete and fly a level above what I thought I could achieve was Hubie Tolson, a former U.S. team member in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009. Because of him, I decided to fly a Sukhoi, and I developed such a love for the aircraft.

This year’s WAAC is fascinating not only because it is on our home soil, but also because we’ve assembled a diverse group that consists of both seasoned world competition pilots and those — like me — who will be attending their first world championship event. Looking to October, we have a lot of work to do to get ready. As for me, I’m learning a new airplane, but the excitement that comes with doing so makes me confident that I’ll be ready for the WAAC.

Lastly, I would like to thank my wife, Megan Bouw, and my mum and dad, Martie and Marie Bouw, for their help in getting me to this point and the sacrifices they made to allow me to chase these dreams. I’d also like to thank the team donors and sponsors, as well as the IAC for creating a great club for pilots where straight and level isn’t enough!