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The 2007 IAC Official Contest Rule Book is now available for downloading from the Members Only section of the IAC Web Site in the "Contest Information" section. The changes run from the minor, but helpful, reformatted page numbers; to changes to Free Program requirements for gliders, Advanced, and Unlimited power; to fairly extensive rewrites to clarify sections which previously had been identified as problem areas. 

The final results are in for the 2006 Collegiate Program competition. Twenty-four students participated with 11 entrants successfully competed at the 3 or more contests needed to qualify for the program. The Collegiate National Championship Team Award goes to Southern Illinois University, followed by Embry Riddle Daytona and the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Collegiate National Champion is Gerald Oliver from SIU, followed by Andrew Bochnovic, also from SIU, and Ryan Olson from Embry Riddle Daytona. See all Collegiate Program results at…

January 24, 2007 – The final results are in for the 2006 regional series competition. Forty competitors out of 58 total series participants received awards. Forty-two of the 58 entrants successfully competed at the 3 or more contests needed to qualify for the series in their respective region.

The regional series began in 2002 with 60 pilots competing for the series titles in 2002, and hit a high of 107 participating in 2004. To be eligible, a pilot must fly at least three contests during the year (two for the Northwest Region due to unavailability of contest sites) and one may…

Jenner Knight of San Diego, California, is the winner of the 2006 L. Paul Soucy Award with a three-contest score of 86.84%. To be eligible for the trophy, a pilot must have flown at least three contests during the season, one of which is the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships. The best two contests flown plus the pilot’s Nationals scores are used to determine the ranking. The award was conceived and donated by L. Paul Soucy of Louisville, Kentucky, one of the IAC’s first members and a board director who passed away in 1971.

With the resignation of Melissa Andrzejewski due to personal reasons, first alternate Goody Thomas from Rock Hill, South Carolina has been named to the U.S. Unlimited Team. Goody flies a Sukhoi SU-31 and is an airline pilot for AirTran. He is also an experienced air show pilot. This is Goody's rookie year on the Team. The U.S. Team will be competing in late June at the World Aerobatic Championships in Granada, Spain. For more information on the U.S. Team, please visit http://www.unlimitedaerobaticsusa.com.

The power and glider Known sequences for the 2007 contest season are available for download on the IAC Members Only website at http://members.iac.org/.

Robert Bismuth, the official photographer of the US Nationals, has created a 2007 wall calendar featuring a selection of the images he captured as official contest photographer during the 2006 US National Aerobatic Championships. The calendar contains some of the images from the banquet slide show plus other images Robert had in reserve. Its pages show aircraft, pilots and judges photographed during the week long event. You can view and order the calendar at <<LINK NO LONGER…

At the annual CIVA meeting, held this year in Krakow, Poland, the United States was awarded approval for hosting the Advanced World Aerobatic Championships in 2008. A presentation was made proposing the sites of Las Vegas, Nevada and Pendleton, Oregon; however, bids are being solicited for additional locations. Any IAC Chapter wishing to make a proposal for this event needs to do so by the spring IAC board meeting held in late April 27 and 28, 2007 in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information please contact Vicki Cruse at vcruse@earthlink.…

Debby Rihn-Harvey of La Porte, Texas, was crowned the overall 2006 U.S. National Aerobatic Champion at the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships in Denison, Texas that convened on Friday, September 29th. Rihn-Harvey is an eight-time winner of the Betty Skelton trophy that is awarded to the highest placing woman in the powered Unlimited category at the U.S. Nationals. Now, she can add the Mike Murphy Cup to her award repertoire which is awarded to the overall winner of the powered Unlimited category and the reigning U.S. National Aerobatic Champion. In addition, Rihn-Harvey will join the…

Say you’re an aerobatic pilot who wants to practice some maneuvers and your planned practice area is within four miles from the center of an airway and/or you intend to practice below 1,500 feet. You can’t just hop in the cockpit of your Pitts at the local airport and begin doing barrel rolls and hammerheads.

You first need to apply through a local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) for an FAA Form 7711-1, Certificate of Waiver or Authorization to establish an aerobatic practice area. Requirements for obtaining the practice area waiver are spelled out in chapter 48 of the FAA’s…