By Lorrie Penner, IAC 430136
“After the practice day we had a nice pizza party and a wine toast to our longtime Chapter 23 member and former president, Bob “Merlot” Stark,” post by Mike Cappiello, president IAC 23 after the 88th Sebring Aerobatic Competition. “We shared many stories and memories about Bob. There was definitely a funk in the air with a loss of two great aerobatic pilots recently, but I think everyone did their best to keep their heads up and keep going, because I know Bob and Rob would have wanted it that way.”
Robert “Bob” Stark, IAC number 18335 had been a member since 1991. Bob had a true passion for aerobatics and the time he spent with the people in and around the sport. Very early on, he became involved with the U.S.A. Advanced Aerobatic team, first as a member of the team in 1999 and then helping the team solve some problems with shipping aircraft to the 2000 Advanced World Aerobatic Championships (AWAC at that time, now renamed WAAC).
Photos courtesy of Lorrie Penner
The first aerobatic competition that Bob flew was in the Basic category in 1991. By the time he became a member of the Advanced team, he had flown 20 contests and had won first place in the Intermediate category at one of the 1996 Sebring, Florida contests. He had a total of 2000 hours flight time and 450 hours of aerobatic time. His mount of choice was a 1997 Giles G-202 with a 200 hp Lycoming engine and an MT propeller.
“On July 3, some 60 pilots representing up to 15 nations around the world will begin flying the qualifying flights at the 3rd Advanced World Aerobatic Championships. The site will be Mnichovo Hradiste Airfield - not far from Prague in the Czech Republic,” wrote Karen Diamond in the May 1999 issue of Sport Aerobatics.
The team consisted of Paul Donner, team captain, Glenn Frick, Gary Henry, Bradford Lang, Bill Marcellus, Maynard Smith, Bob Stark and Dave Swartz. Securing aircraft was tough, but Bob was able to practice in a CAP 222 with the British Team and secured a 16th place overall finish out of 60 competitors. (September 1999 Sport Aerobatics). Smith, Swartz and Lang all flew a rented German-registered Pitts S-2B. However after 9 months of hard work to secure a Pitts S-1, then another Pitts S-1 both planes flew through, U.S. pilots , team captain Frick, Donner, and Henry had no plane to fly.
As the next round of world championships shaped up for 2000, the United States Aerobatic Foundation (USAF) had to make a decision on funding for an unprecedented back-to-back world championship situation:a change in the CIVA schedule. Both the Unlimited Team would go to France and the Advanced Team would go to Germany in the same year.. A USAF Blue Ribbon Panel decided to prioritize 70% funding to the Unlimited team and 30% to the Advanced team.
In the March 2000 issue of Sport Aerobatics, Paul Donner, US Advanced Team Captain, wrote:
“...We could not have done what we did without the efforts of many people like Bob Stark who committed at the 1999 US National Aerobatic Championships to field a first-class team no matter what it took. Without his leadership, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Photos courtesy of Lorrie Penner
In the same issue, Dal Donner, father of Paul, wrote:
“...On July 4, four airplanes arrived at our practice site in two containers.. Though they had not flown in, these pilots felt like they had just flown through a storm, were low on fuel, and had some doubt about where they were. …they needed a friendly airport.
Team manager Bob Stark (a former team member) had found a safe haven - the Aero Club of Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic. ..They gave us a warm welcome, hangar space, food, drink and most of all warm and unqualified hospitality.”
In the May 2000 issue of Sport Aerobatics, Stephen Cunningham, President of the US Aerobatic Foundation wrote:
“...This summer marks the second overseas trip for the United States Advanced team - the first time with their own aircraft. This feat was due to the work of one man, Bob Stark, Team manager. (Bob is a competitor too. He came in 16th in the world in 1999, so he understands what pilots need.) He put in hundreds of hours - along with his heart and soul. He arranged a significant financial contribution to transport the team airplanes.”
Without his previous team’s experience and knowledge gained, the Advanced team would have had a tough time even getting to 2000 AWAC with Bob’s dedication to the team and fundraising abilities. The Advanced team was successful in bringing home a bronze team medal, fiercely challenging the French for Silver.
In 2003 Bob once again became involved in world competition as the CFO for the 2003 World Aerobatic Championships held in Lakeland, Florida. Gerry Molidor first introduced the U.S. hosting concept in his President’s Corner article in 2002:
“ In just a few hours, your U.S. delegation to CIVA and I will be departing for the CIVA meeting in Germany. My job at this meeting is to deliver a presentation on our progress as the host country for the 2003 World Aerobatic Championship. Your club leadership has been working quietly behind the scenes on this project, and the excitement of it all is building rapidly. At the helm of the project is former U.S. Unlimited team member, U.S. National Aerobatic Champion, and Fond du Lac IAC Champion Phil Knight. Phil brings a wealth of experience to the job and understands how to host our friends from around the world. Second in command on Phil’s team is U.S. Advanced team member Bob Stark, who has held a number of management positions with past teams.”
After his 1999 trip with the Advanced team, Bob continued in competition winning a number of first place trophies in the Advanced category throughout the Southeast and South Central regional contests. In 2004, Bob won the title of U.S. National Advanced Aerobatic Champion. His last recorded contest flight was in 2012 at the 67th Sebring Spring Contest.
Photos courtesy of Lorrie Penner
Bob was a mainstay volunteering for many years as chief judge, grading judge and contest director at the Sebring contests. In 2022 Sportsman competitor Ed Haywood said about Bob,” Special thanks to contest director Bob Stark. He’s been very welcoming and very friendly to new pilots, who are at their first competition…to help walk them through the contest. He understands it can be a particularly intimidating part of getting into the sport.”
Between 2006 and 2022, Bob was chief judge at Sebring for over 170 pilots. He also was a grading judge from 2006-2009 and again in 2016 to 2021. During that time he judged a total of 550 pilots and gave out 6,657 grades.
In addition to contest volunteering, Bob served as IAC chapter 23 president for a number of years. Bob also participated in the IAC Achievement Award Program earning the Primary though Intermediate Smooth awards and the Advanced Stars awards.
In 2007 Bob served as the contest director for the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships. Monique Hartmann provided the group photo of chapter 23. She said, “We won the highest scoring chapter that year. Great year! Bob was CD.”
In the November 2007 issue of Sport Aerobatics, Bob wrote an article titled, “Directing the main event for competitive aerobatics in the United States.” In it he gave a bit of his background, which many of us will recognize as similar to our own experience.
“The first time I ever heard of the IAC was in 1991. I had just purchased a Steen Skybolt and was looking for people who might know something about the breed. Knowing that the Pompano Air Center did some aerobatic training (I didn’t realize how much they did at the time), I called to see if they knew of anyone who could help me. I managed to get through to Suzie Becker, who encouraged me to fly to Sebring a couple of weeks later to compete in the Basic category. At the time I really thought such competitions were for “professional” aerobatic pilots.
“Fast forward and I am the contest director for the largest, most important IAC contest in the U.S. Well, now I have to expose a dirty little secret. The people behind this contest just let you think that you are running the U.S. Nationals. The truth is, with a very experienced staff working with you, the contest nearly runs itself.”
Bob goes on to give credit to the many people who supported him as CD and the contest as a whole:
- The 2007 US Nationals committee; Allyson Parker-Lauck, Lisa Popp, Ann Salcedo, Doug Bartlett and Vicki Cruse.
- The 2007 officials; Doug Lovell-website designer, Nick Galyon -technical director, Michael Pritchett-scoring,Kathleen Moore - registrar, Ann Salcedo - volunteer coordinator, Dale Evans - starter, Charlie Harrison - Chief Judge Unlimited, Brian Howard - Chief Judge Advanced, Greg Dungan - Chief Judge Intermediate, Hector Ramirez - Chief Judge Sportsman/Primary, Jeff Stoltenberg - safety officer/medical director, Debby Rihn Harvey - Jury Chair, Doug Bartlett - Assistant CD.
At the end of his article he wrapped it all up neatly. “The one thing that stands out most in my mind is how professionally all the people involved conducted themselves. In the end, it turns out that an IAC competition is all about Professional People and Professional Pilots. Again, I offer a humble thank you to all those who helped make the 2007 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships a memorable and successful event.”
In a statement by Bob’s family, “Robert was adventurous, kind, adored his family and started his business from the ground up. He was the kind of man who could build anything, do anything."
To his IAC friends Bob was a professional who conducted himself for the betterment of the IAC. Thank you Bob for being the kind of man who could do anything and sharing your “can do” spirit and passion with the IAC. Blue Skies.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Bob Stark’s family. Bob, his son, and his granddaughter perished in an aircraft accident on April 12, 2025.
A memorial service is being held at Advent Lutheran Church, May 24 at 11am.
Photos courtesy of Lorrie Penner
