Both the Ohio Aerobatic Open scheduled for October 15-17 and Spring 81 scheduled for November 7-8 have canceled their contests. Although both were eager to hold their annual contests, they both have opted to have practice days.
Ohio, IAC chapter 34, had enough pilots, judges and volunteers to hold a contest and could comply with their state's COVID-19 guidelines, but a late start on an airport summer resurfacing project has left the ramp space at 50% capacity. Contest organizers regrouped and changed their planning over to holding a Training Camp/Practice Day led by former U.S. Unlimited Team Member, Brett Hunter. The chapter had sent out a survey asking if the contest was unable to proceed would participants be interested in a practice day. They recieved a great response that indeed 3/4 of the contest participants would show for a practice day. The chapter is in the process of confirming the practice day participation which will be limited to 10 airplanes due to lack of ramp space. Details can be found on their website at: https://chapters.eaa.org/iac34/event-calendar
Florida, IAC Chapter 23, has also converted their contest to Practice Days. Unfortunately they have the airport space, but could not get enough pilots and judges to run the contest. IAC 23 Chapter president Renee Brilhante said in an email, "As much as I’m ready to get back to competing as everyone else is we will not be holding the Fall Sebring 2020 Competition, instead we will have a sweet practice . We are still getting the insurance for a practice Oct 31-Nov-8th, and I expect a great turn out for that and a ton of fun and learning like you would for a competition. More news to follow." Visit the chapter Facebook Page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/IACChapter23 There is also some limited information on the IAC Event Listing pages: https://www.iac.org/event/2020-10-31-sebring-practice-days
A practice day in August 2020 at Sebring. Photo by Chris Magon
