Borrego was fairly kind to us (if you ignored the temperature). Winds at 10-15 knots and a balmy 100° plus. Concerned with cramming everything into our two-day window, we spun the first prop on Friday at 0744--a Chapter record--and didn’t stop until 1925. In essence, we used the entire NOTAM, start to finish. The longest pause between flight groups was never more than 20 minutes, and some stalwarts were on the judging line without a break all day. There should have been a jerky look-alike contest. These efforts got us about 60% through the planned flights, in good shape to finish on Saturday in time to fly the 4-Minute. More about that, later.

 

Newly appointed U.S. National Aerobatic Championships contest director Shad Coulson organized a great contest for 32 glider pilots at the Estrella Classic in Maricopa, Arizona, February 16-19, 2023.

 

Estrella Sailport continues to be an excellent site for the contest with wide open spaces, two tow planes and experienced personnel working out of AZ Soaring. 

 

The new Primary Glider category attracted six pilots. Four of them were new to the sport. The other two were experienced competitors, Safety Chairman Keith Doyne and Achievement Award Chairman Dave Watson, who flew for a Stars patch.

 

The first day of competition was a beautiful sunny winter high desert kind of day with cool temperatures in the morning and a bit warmer in the afternoon. All categories flew their Known sequences. The primary competitors first flight saw new competitor, Brian Izard out in front with 76.23%. followed by another newcomer Vivian Pfledger with 73.95%. USAF Academy pilot Daniel Kim placed third on the Known with a 71.13%.

In the second Primary flight the three rearranged places with Daniel finishing first with 75.06%, Brian in second with 73.04% and Vivian in third with 71.67%. By their third flight it was anyone's game. Vivian poured on the concentration and came out on top with 81.70% to clinch first place overall. Brian finished in second place with a steady score of 72.90% and Daniel landed in third place with 69.38%.

 

During day two the wind and a giant dust storm hit. Everyone had to stand down for about three hours. Mother Nature decided to give us a break and everyone set up to resume. In their first flight the Sportsman competition saw first time competitor Robin Simmons take first place with a score of 75.40%, followed by Paul Velarides in his third competition with a 72.23% and Dak Davis in third with 72.19%. By the second Sportsman flight, Dak was determined to move up earning a score of 78.72%, second place finisher was Oleg Shorokhov who had place sixth in the Known. Placing third in this second flight was Nikolov Svetoslav from the USAF Academy team with a 75.89%.

 

In the third flight for the Sportsman, Paul resurfaced to place first with an 80.48% and in second was Greg Borovykh who had consistently been finishing in fourth in the previous flights. Third place was Robin with a 78.83%. After the shuffle the final results showed that Dak Davis was the overall winner with Greg finishing second and Paul on the podium at third.

 

On Day Three of the Estrella Classic the three Intermediate competitors found themselves with Dave Watson in the lead and USAF Academy team members, Gretchen Cox and Kelly Murphy in second and third respectively. Dave placed first in each flight with a final overall score of 78.84%. Gretchen finished in second place overall with a score of 62.55% and Kelly finished third with 59.67%.

 

Congratulations to all the competitors and special thanks to Shad Coulson for his excellent contest director skills and Jason Stephens plus all of the AZ Soaring personnel who worked the contest!

 

Primary 1st place: Vivian Pfledger 2nd place: Brian Izard 3rd place: Daniel Kim	Sportsman 1st place: Dak Davis 2nd place: Greg Borovykh 3rd place: Robin Simmons	Intermediate 1st place: Dave Watson 2nd place: Gretchen Cox 3rd place: Kelly Murphy

 

The Intermediate category was dominated by the USAF cadets. Patrick Koenig ended up finishing in first place with a total score of 75.26%. It was a tight competition between Patrick and his fellow cadet Andrew Dever who finished in second place with a total score of 75.21%. Coming in third was another cadet Dante Cyrus with a total score of 73.90%. Getting high raves for his flying was fifth place finisher civilian Logan Satterfield who won first place in both the Know and the Unknown flights. Both scores were in the 80% range and if not for errors in the Freestyle flight between figures 5 and 6 it was likely he would have come out on top.

All the scores can be found at: https://iaccdb.iac.org/contests/795 

 

 

 

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April 22 The Hammerhead Roundup (CA)

Practice Day: Thursday, April 21      Contest days: Friday and Saturday, April 22-23 

READ THE IAC CHAPTER 36 May 2022 Newsletter 

IAC Chapter 36 has held some very well attended contests in past years, but this one topped them all!

15 first-time competitors entered in the Primary category to get their feet wet in the world of aerobatic competition. “My first aerobatic competition was a blast and I learned so much,” Kendra Hart said. “I’m not sure there’s another sport where everyone is helpful, willing to mentor and share tips.”

The outstanding number of pilots in Primary and Sportsman are a credit to several flight schools: many thanks to XL Aviation, Pilotmakers, Derick Day, and Mark King for bringing so many new contestants.

All categories were able to get in all three flights despite some crazy wind. In the Known flight for the Primary competitors, newcomer Adam Fern in a Great Lakes, blasted his way to number 1 with a score of 84.02%, followed by Shane Short in a Pitts S-2C with a 79.22% and Kamrym Lamprecht with a 78.48% flying a Yak 52.  Adam stayed on top by also winning the Freestyle and the Unknown to finish with an overall score of 82.72%. Second place finisher was Shane Short with a 79.92% and third place over all was Dragos Moroianu with a final score of 77.95% flying a Pitts S-2C.

There were 12 competitors in the Sportsman category including 2021 U.S. National Sportsman Aerobatic Champion Philiip Gragg. The scores ended up very close with Phillip taking the first-place trophy with an overall score of 82.31% flying his Pitts S2-A, followed by Michael Coats in his beautiful Christen Eagle II with a final score of 79.93% and finishing third was Sean Moran flying a Pitts S-2C with a final score of 79.52%.

The Intermediate category saw an interesting mix of Yaks, Great Lakes, a couple of Lasers and a Decathlon. Again, scores were tight with five of the seven pilots placing first through third in at least one flight. In the end Alexander Huey came out on top with a final score of 80.00% flying a Laser 200, followed by Howard Kirker with a final score of 78.85% flying his Great Lakes and third place went to Josh Horwich flying his Laser 230 with a final score of 78.22%

Eric Moore came out on top in the Advanced category. He started strong in his Laser 230 winning first place in the Known sequence with a score of 73.57%. The Freestyle brought him down to third place when both Barrett Hines in an Extra 300 and Duncan Koerbel in an Extra 300L finished in first and second respectively. In the Unknown Barrett placed first with a score of 71.39% followed by Mario Mena in his Extra 330SC with a score of 71.05% and Eric again came in third with a score of 70.48%. When the dust settled and the scores were tabulated Eric Moore finished first overall with a score of 70.97%, in second Mario end with a score of 67.31% and third place was clinched by Barrett with a score of 66.53%.

In the Unlimited category A.J. Wilder, in his Extra 330SC, and Hiroyasu Endo, flying an Extra 300, battled it would for first place. A.J. won the category and earned a Stars Achievement award as well.

Congratulations to Contest Director Bryan Jones and all the volunteers and pilots for a great contest!

See detailed scores online here: https://iaccdb.iac.org/contests/794

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Craig Rembold posted to IAC Chapter 36 San Diego Hammerheads @chapter36

 

 

 

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June 3 Northern California Aerobatic Showdown (CA) AKA IAC WEST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS 

IAC 38 is excited to announce that we are moving our annual contest to Tracy (KTCY) this year.  We expect to put on a great contest this year as this contest and this is the 2022 IAC West Open Championship.  We are also planning to have gliders - but need to know NOW if you plan to fly a glider as we as still trying to arrange a tow plane.  We just received the waiver so more information will be released as we finalize the details.

Practice and Registration: June 1-2  |  Contest days: Friday, Saturday, June 3-4

Pre-register online here: https://www.iac.org/contest/2022-06-03-iac-west-open-championship-tcy-c…;

 

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September 3 Redlands Aerobatic Cup (CA)

Mark your calendars for the second edition of Southern California's newest contest, the Redlands Aerobatic Cup, to be held over Labor Day weekend at KREI. Registration and practice is Friday, September 2 contest flying is Saturday and Sunday, September 3 and 4, 2022. 

Pre-register online here:  https://www.iac.org/contest/2022-09-03-redlands-aerobatic-cup

 

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2021 Regional Series contests -Southwest Region Update

AT A GLANCE: Southwest regional series standings . A reminder, competitors must fly 3 contests to qualify for the regional series. The U.S. National Aerobatic Championships may serve as a wild card for all regions.

Southwest region qualified leaders are:

• Primary: 1st place Geraldo Ortiz; Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic and Redlands Aerobatic Cup
• Sportsman: 1st place Mark King; Coalinga G Fest, Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic, Redlands Aerobatic Cup, U.S. Nationals
  • ​ 2nd place Marianne Fox; Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic, U.S. Nationals
  • 3rd place Sean Moran; Coaling G Fest, Hammerhead Round up, So Calif Classic
• Intermediate: 1st place Brittanee Lincoln; Coalinga G Fest, Hammerhead Roundup, Redlands Aerobatic Cup, U.S. Nationals
  • 2nd place Mike Eggen; Coalinga G Fest, Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic
  • 3rd place Eric Moore; Hammerhead Round up, So Calif Classic, Redlands Aerobatic Cup
• Advanced: 1st place Matt Dunfee; Hammerhead Roundup, Southern Calif Classic, U.S. National Aerobatic Championship
  • 2nd place Michael Hartenstine; Coaling G Fest, So Calif Classic, Redlands Aerobatic Cup
  • 3rd place Dave Watson; Coalinga G Fest, Hammerhead Roundup, Redlands Aerobatic Cup, U.S. Nationals
• Unlimited: 1st place Jim Bourke; Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic, U.S. Nationals
  • 2nd place A.J. Wilder; Coalinga G Fest, Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic, U.S. Nationals
  • 3rd place Rory Moore; Coalinga G Fest, Hammerhead Roundup, So Calif Classic, Redlands Aerobatic Cup, U.S. Nationals

 

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COALINGA G FEST