By Taylor Mershon, Editor, IAC 442603
Recognizing Excellence: A Look at IAC's 2024 Non-Flying Award Recipients
The International Aerobatic Club (IAC) proudly celebrates individuals who make significant contributions to the sport of aerobatics, both in the air and on the ground. These dedicated volunteers are honored with the annual Non-Flying awards. Let's explore the recipients of four 2024 awards: the Robert L. Heuer award for excellence in judging, the Frank Price Cup for overall contributions, the Kathy Jaffe volunteer award, and the Harold E. Neumann chief judge award.
Dave Watson, image from IAC archives.
Robert L. Heuer Judging Award: Dave Watson
The Robert L. Heuer Judging Award recognizes the outstanding aerobatic judge each year for their outstanding performance during the calendar year. The idea for this trophy was conceived by Sam Burgess of San Antonio, Texas, who also provided the permanent trophy to acknowledge the significant achievements made by judges in competition aerobatics. While not strict requirements, general guidelines for this award include National Judgeship and having judged a minimum of three contests, one of which should have been the IAC Championships or the U.S. Nationals.
This year, Dave Watson has been honored with the Robert L. Heuer Judging Award. Dave is known for his unwavering dedication to excellence in judging. His long-standing involvement in IAC competition is evident: he has attended over 110 contests! His expertise is widely recognized, so much so that Sean D. Tucker, a renowned aerobatic air show pilot, hired Dave as his coach upon his return to IAC competition flying after a 37-year hiatus. Over the past two years, Dave has notably mentored and supported nine IAC members through the process of becoming Grading Judges, a substantial effort that significantly benefits California chapters and the IAC as a whole.
Alice Johnson, image from IAC archives.
Frank Price Cup for Greatest Overall Contribution: Alice Johnson
The Frank Price Cup is an annual award presented to recognize the person who has contributed the most to the sport of aerobatics in a calendar year. This esteemed award was conceived and donated by R. J. Rouse of Texas, serving not only to recognize outstanding individuals in aerobatics but also to honor aerobatic pioneer Frank Price, who holds the distinction of being the first American to compete in the World Aerobatic Championships. The recipient of this award receives a laser-cut plaque featuring a photograph of the permanent trophy, which itself remains on display at the IAC pavilion in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The presentation of the plaque takes place at the IAC Annual Gathering Dinner during EAA AirVenture.
Alice Johnson is the well-deserving recipient of the 2024 Frank Price Cup for Greatest Overall Contribution. Alice's dedication has been extensive, particularly in her role as U.S. National Advanced Aerobatic team manager for the 2023-2024 contest season, which included the World Advanced Aerobatic Championships (WAAC) held from October 25th to November 3rd, 2024, at the Jean Airport in Nevada. This followed her previous service as Unlimited U.S. National team manager in the 2022 contest season, highlighting her continuous involvement, since world aerobatic championships alternate categories annually.
Her contributions include working hard for several years for the U.S. aerobatic teams, and most recently taking Rob Holland and AJ Wilder to Poland for the World Aerobatic Championships (WAC), where Rob Holland achieved significant success by winning the Four Minute Freestyle and earning a podium spot in the traditional contest. To help make that possible, Alice was responsible for arranging practice camps stateside and coordinating practice flights in Poland. She expertly managed team logistics, including arranging hotels and rental cars, preparing uniforms, attending briefings to free up pilots, and organizing dinners, effectively keeping the team running smoothly. Furthermore, her skillful direction of the U.S. Unlimited aerobatic team's registration and planning for the 2024 WAC in Zamosc, Poland, allowed team members to prepare and compete at the highest level.
Beyond team management, Alice is a prominent volunteer for the IAC. She has served as the volunteer coordinator for the U.S. Nationals, where she masterfully manages numerous volunteer roles for the world's largest aerobatic contest, while also ensuring volunteers have ample time to rest and prepare for their own competition flights. She is known for meeting all volunteers and competitors with smiles, kindness, and enthusiasm. Alice was instrumental to the success of the 2024 U.S. Nationals contest, collaborating with the Contest Director for months in advance on the schedule and event details.
Jim Bourke presents Lorrie Penner with the 2024 Kathy Jaffe Volunteer Award at AirVenture 2025. Photo by Taylor Mershon.
Kathy Jaffe Volunteer Award: Lorrie Penner
The Kathy Jaffe Award recognizes an outstanding volunteer during a calendar year. This award honors individuals who consistently, unselfishly, and eagerly accept responsibilities, meet them with tireless effort, efficiency, and a smile, and prioritize the needs of others, thereby enhancing the aerobatic experience for everyone. The award was donated in memory of Kathleen "Kathy" Jaffe, whose remarkable spirit and enthusiasm for aerobatics were legendary. Kathy was deeply involved in the community, serving as president of IAC Chapter 52, contest director, newsletter editor, and a contributor to Sport Aerobatics magazine. She also shared her passion by lecturing on the joy of flying and aerobatics to various groups, including schoolchildren, and was herself a competition pilot before her passing in 1999. The recipient of this award receives a plaque with their name engraved, funded by the Kathy Jaffe Memorial Fund, which also funds the Master trophy displayed at the IAC pavilion in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The plaque is presented at the IAC Annual Gathering Dinner at EAA AirVenture.
Lorrie Penner is the deserving recipient of the Kathy Jaffe Award for Outstanding Volunteer of 2024. At the end of 2024, Lorrie transitioned into retirement from her long-held editor position at the IAC. She did this after training the new editor for a few weeks, which alone was a task that included many volunteer hours. Since then Lorrie has continued to mentor and support the new IAC editor. It is incredibly special that Lorrie maintains this relationship, and the type of person to do something so special like that typically doesn’t just do a one-off kind of thing; it’s often a pattern of behavior that you can find repeated in their lives over and over if you look closely enough. And that, in a nutshell, describes Lorrie’s volunteerism and dedication to doing whatever it takes, regardless of pay or instant personal reward, to move an entity like the IAC forward, one piece (or, one editor, in this particular case) at a time.
However, it doesn't do Lorrie justice to attempt to describe her volunteerism in one lousy nutshell. Lorrie Penner has done every job (well, almost) for the IAC for the past two decades! She has been involved in her local chapter, IAC 34 in Ohio, since 2003. She served as secretary for over 15 years and has been the chapter treasurer for the last few years. She has also written the chapter newsletter for 20 years.
Lorrie is the Registrar, Scoring Director, and Volunteer Coordinator for the The Ohio Aerobatic Open competition; she is well-versed in all volunteer positions and has trained multiple volunteers in how to fill these roles. Outside of the Mid-America region, Lorrie travels annually to Maricopa, Arizona, to serve as the scoring director for the US National Unlimited and Advanced Glider National Championships and the Estrella Classic Glider competition. She has also been a supporter for office volunteer positions at the Yooper Looper and the Michigan Open.
Lorrie has been the official photographer for the last three years at the U.S. Aerobatic National Championships and she implemented and has continued to fuel the growing-in-popularity LIVE cast of the event with commentary, which can be viewed annually on the IAC's YouTube channel and reached over 50,000 views in 2024. For the past five years at EAA AirVenture, Oshkosh, Lorrie filled her role as IAC editor by taking photos and interviewing for the magazine. As an extension of this effort, she volunteers around the IAC building and recruits IAC members to shoot videos and take pictures for posting to IAC social media. Another AirVenture volunteer gig for Lorrie is coordinating the IAC chapter camping. This includes working with EAA and IAC members to list all campers, make payments, and arrange the staking out of the camp sites. In 2024, she arranged a special evening cookout for all the campers, which was attended by over 50 IAC members and enjoyed by all attendees. For all her efforts and dedication to the organization, Lorrie is the perfect person for the Jaffe award.
Lorrie Penner, image from IAC archives.
Harold E. Neumann Chief Judge Award: Tom Myers
The Harold E. Neumann Award is presented to acknowledge the most outstanding chief judge for their contribution during a calendar year. The award guidelines highlight a person known for leadership qualities and fairness on the judge's line. The award recipient should be someone who conducts each contest flight professionally and is widely respected for their knowledge and experience of IAC rules and judging criteria. Additionally, this individual uses each flight program as an educational opportunity for competitors and judges through preflight and post-flight briefings. The family of Harold E. Neumann provided the permanent trophy in 1998 to recognize an outstanding chief judge and to honor Harold E. Neumann, a distinguished figure who was a Collier Aviation Trophy recipient, a Thompson Trophy Race winner, and an active IAC competitor and judge well into his 70s. The recipient of this award receives a plaque, while the master trophy remains on display in the IAC Pavilion in Oshkosh. The recipient plaque is presented at the IAC Annual Gathering Dinner at EAA AirVenture in the year following the contest year for which it is awarded.
Tom Myers is the 2024 winner of the Harold E. Neumann Award for Outstanding Contribution as a Chief Judge. Tom exemplifies the qualities of an excellent Chief Judge, demonstrating that the role extends beyond the judge's line to include leadership that goes beyond the act of judging itself. His knowledge is evident in his ability to make fair scoring decisions and to teach the next generation of pilots to become outstanding contributors to aerobatics. Tom frequently goes out of his way to help those who need it and offers an ear and an inquisitive mind to help with critical decisions, such as weather calls during competitions. With years of aerobatic and general aviation knowledge coupled with invaluable experience, Tom is also encouraging and sensitive to less experienced pilots, investing his time in challenging them to utilize their own knowledge and skills to make decisions and set goals. Rather than simply providing answers, he works through problems and thought experiments alongside those he teaches.
Tom has served as a judge for nine years at the Corvallis Corkscrew Competition, acting as Chief Judge for the last two. He is extremely knowledgeable on rules and contest procedures, engaging, friendly, and great to work with. As an active aerobatic contestant and volunteer, he consistently performs as a Chief Judge, demonstrating a strong orientation toward safe operations while fostering an enjoyable atmosphere for competitors and judges. He is always ready to help ensure a contest's success and safety and readily shares his deep knowledge of the sport to improve it for everyone involved.
Tom Myers, image from IAC archives.
