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For those IAC members who are serving as National Judges at the US National Aerobatic Championships next week, please note that according to IAC policy, you must attend a Judges Refresher Course at the contest site.  This year's course will be held at 11:30 am, Sunday, September 21st, at the airport.  Just ask any contest official for the exact location.  The course will be administered by Charlie Harrison, Unlimited Chief Judge and judges school instructor. 

The Chairman of the Judges Program, Greg Dungan, has prepared an excellent 30-question written review that will accompany the…

Contest Director Gray Brandt and his staff have put the finishing touches on the Schedule of Events for the US National Aerobatic Championships which will begin on Sunday, September 21st.  Unlimited category will be first up on Sunday and will fly their Known compulsory sequence. 

The Schedule can be found as an attachment here in PDF and can be downloaded and printed for easy reference.  The US Nationals website (https://nationals.iac.org) will be updated as well.  IAC members and contest participants who want to sign up for messages on the…

There has been some confusion over the Unknowns that will be flown at Nationals by Advanced and Unlimited category pilots.  In the case of Advanced, competitors will fly one "Free Unknown".  Both Unlimited Unknowns that are on the schedule now will also be "Free Unknowns".  This is in accordance with IAC's Policy and Procedures manual (sections 503 and 504) and puts the Nationals in full compliance with IAC Board policy. 

The Free Unknowns are one of the most interesting aspects of the Nationals and have been used in world competition for several years.  The top 10 pilots of each…

We've seen Ephrata Washington earlier this year, when we wrote about the Apple Cup. It's a contest location about as far north and west as you can get in the lower forty-eight. The Fall contest at Ephrata, the Apple Turnover, had reported awesome weather. Says Contest Director Peggy Reidinger, "Not a cloud to be found the entire weekend, and the temperature was perfect."

Read something about The Apple Turnover

On the first weekend in September, the IAC Chapter 126 Buffalo Wings hosted their contest at Olean, NY.

Read from Hella Comat about the Bill Thomas at Olean.

Some of the problems that have afflicted the US Nationals in years past are being eliminated this year as IAC invests more resources into the event to upgrade its quality.

Gray Brandt, Contest Director, has commissioned the construction of new boundary judge sighting devices and these are being completed in California.  They will offer sturdy and stable sighting capability for decades to come. 

New radios, along with a repeater, will be leased this year and in use to prevent the communications problems we have had in the past when judges are located on the west side of the…