US National Aerobatic Championships Come to a Close

The last day of the 2014 US National Aerobatic Championships was today -- and it was capped off with the beautiful and always anticipated Four Minute Freestyle flights by six Unlimited pilots.  The contest finished before noon. 

National Champions are as follows:

Sportsman Power: Paul Thomson (Decathlon)

Sportsman Glider: Steel Shoaf (DG-1001)

Intermediate Power: Curt Richmond (Pitts S-2B)

Intermediate Glider: Joshua Wilson (DG-1001)

Advanced Power: Foster Bachschmidt (Extra 300LX)

Advanced Glider: Henry Leewenburg (DG-1001)

Unlimited Power and US National Aerobatic Champion: Rob Holland (MXS)

Unlimited Four Minute Freestyle Winner: Rob Holland (MXS)

All of the glider pilots came from the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. There were no civilian entries in the glider categories.

Primary category was also held, though Primary winners do not receive National Champion titles. The winner was John Rowe (Decathlon). 

The contest finished without incident and with only a few mechanical issues with aircraft. Weather was spectacular throughout the week and textbook perfect for an aerobatic contest.  Volunteers worked very hard to make it a success with pilots pulling double-duty in various contest positions and some having traveled to the Nationals just to volunteer on the judging line or in other positions -- all at their own expense. IAC is deeply indebted to those members.

Go to https://nationals.iac.org for full results and details.

The participants from the US Air Force Academy are shown below (photo by Reggie Paulk).