World Aerobatic Championships, Burgos Spain 6/22/05 - 7/2/05

US Aerobatic Team Website ^ | 6/21/05 | Dasher

[Dashing Dasher]

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a little known international sporting competition.

The US Aerobatic Team takes on the world at Burgos, Spain. I would like to share my interest in this sport with my FReeper FRiends. I hope you find this interesting.

I am getting updates from three of the team members on a regular basis - plus there is a website that will have scores, updates, pictures, etc. keeping all of us FANS involved in the day to day competition going on in Spain.

This competition is held somewhere in the world every other year. Last time (2003), it was in Lakeland, Florida, USA. Trophies are given out for individuals and for teams. In 2003, the Russians placed 1, 2, 3, with the highest ranking USA Pilot, Robert Armstrong, coming in fourth place. The team results were Russia, France, USA.

These are the best (competition) aerobatic pilots in the world. The United States has a team of ten - six men and four women - who will be representing us.

Other countries we know will be bringing teams include Russia, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, plus - who knows who else will show up... There is word we will see pilots - but maybe not whole teams from Finland, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, and Czech Republic. A minimum of three pilots is necessary to form an actual team.

The US Team will be flying several different airplanes. The American Made Zivko Edge 540 will be flown by Vicki Cruse, Janet Fitzke, and Kirby Chambliss. Also American Made is the Panzl S-330 which will be flown by Allyson Parker Lauck. Debby Rihn-Harvey has competed in the Worlds three times and David Martin, another WAC Veteran, will be flying the French made CAP-232. Robert Armstrong will be flying a CAP-231. Hubie Tolson, Michael Racy and Zach Heffley (our youngest team member at 24) will be flying the Russian Sukhoi 26.

Each competition starts with a Known also known as a Compulsory or Q program. Each pilot will fly the same sequence of maneuvers and will be judged by an international panel. The next program is the Freestyle. This allows each pilot to put together a sequence of maneuvers of their own creation.

Once the first two programs are flown, the first of the two Unknowns begin. These are a set of flight sequences designed by committee and given to the competitors 24 hours before they need to fly them. This is very difficult and is really separates the wheat from the shaft, if you know what I mean.

I will continue to update this thread to keep everyone up to date on what is happening in Spain. Please feel free to visit these websites for additional information – or if you have specific questions – let me know. I’ll try to answer them for you.

http://www.usaerobaticteam.com/htmlfile/index.php

http://www.iac.org

http://events.fai.org/aerobatics/calendar.asp

[jaydubya2]

Dash,
Have you seen this video of Jurgio Kairio flying under a bridge? Unbeleiveable!!

http://www.inna.lt/kairys-video02.html

[Dashing Dasher]

Yes, it's amazing.

Jurgis is probably one of the best sticks in the world.

Have you had a chance to see the Red Bull Air Races?

http://www.redbullairrace.com/

I was lucky enough to see them practice and perform last year at Reno. They will be performing this year at SF Fleet Week. I cannot WAIT!!!

Peter Besenyei is in the same class as Jurgis. Unbelievable.

[jaydubya2]

Great site! I can see I'll be wasting some time there. What are those angled brackets at the wingtips that some aero planes have? Are they to aide in orientation or something?

[Dashing Dasher]

They are Aerobatic Sighting Devices.

It helps us find verticals and 45 degree angles quickly during a sequence.

The Red Bull Site is one of my favorites. Check out the Co-Pilot - which let's you fly along the course. AWESOME!!!

(Not that I'm into this stuff or anything!)

[Dashing Dasher]

http://www.redbullcopilot.com/

[Dashing Dasher]

Update 6/23/05 from Burgos, Spain

Today we woke up to rain. The storms that came through last night
decided to stay. We arrived at the airport for the 9:15 briefing just
to find out what the plans were for today. Several people have
emailed me asking for the order of flight. I took a photo of the
order and will send it with the link later.

This morning the contest director informed the pilots that each night
by 8:00 PM, they would post a weather forcast for the evening to let
us know whether or not thunderstorms are expected. If the weather
looks good, we will leave our airplanes out tied down. If the weather
looks bad, we can move to the hangar, and the organizers will provide
volunteers to help the Teams move the airplanes. This announcement
made the Teams very happy.

The briefing was brief since it was obviously not flyable at the
time... We reconvened at 11:30, and although the weather was getting
better, it was still not yet flyable, so we broke for lunch from 12:30
to 2:00, with a 2:00 PM briefing. The rain stopped and the clouds
began to lift during this time, so at 2:00 PM we briefed for the Q
Programme. This was my first time to attend a WAC briefing as a
pilot, and it was really interesting to see how things are done. The
clouds were still at a questionable height, so the International Jury
designated a break between figures 3 and 4 of the Q Programme.
Several of the Teams questioned this decision and asked for the break
to be between figures 4 and 5. A poll of all Team Managers was
conducted, and 7 of the 8 Teams preferred the break between 4 and 5,
so the break was changed.

We prepared to get started to fly just as the wind picked up. Most
everyone there was concerned that the wind was out of the allowable
limits. The official weather reporters were doing their job to get a
reading on the wind and cloud height as a gust of wind completely
picked up the Team Tents and destroyed them. It was a sight to
behold. Several of the flag poles were blown over! Before and after
photos will be posted shortly.

I believe the only occupied tent at the time was the US Tent. Inside
were Team Manager Marta Meyer, Team Coach Alan Geringer, Alan's better
half Sondra Thomas, Team Mechanic Charlie Wolff, Charlie's better half
Bonnie, and Team Pilot Vicki Cruse. All escaped uninjured.

In addition to the Team tents, the runway starter's tent was also
upended. At that point, the organizers decided to call it a day. The
weather has now cleared, and we are hoping it will continue tomorrow.

[Dashing Dasher]

Rank	Pilot	Country	[Known]	pp %
1	Renaud ECALLE	FRA	2665.4431	78.63
2	Sergei RAKHMANIN	RUS	2630.4503	77.59
3	Svetlana KAPANINA	RUS	2626.5911	77.48
4	Mikhail MAMISTOV	RUS	2607.1380	76.91
5	Robert ARMSTRONG	USA	2597.6366	76.63
6	Oleg SHPOLYANSKI	RUS	2594.1391	76.52
7	Svetlana FEDORENKO	RUS	2583.3094	76.20
8	Zach HEFLEY	USA	2581.5061	76.15
9	Elena KLIMOVICH	RUS	2575.9937	75.99
10	Hubert TOLSON	USA	2546.6217	75.12
11	Kirby CHAMBLISS	USA	2524.8038	74.48
12	Pascale ALAJOUANINE	FRA	2521.7921	74.39
13	David MARTIN	USA	2520.1718	74.34
14	Maurizio COSTA	ITA	2493.6310	73.56
15	Jean-Michel DELORME	FRA	2488.5513	73.41
16	Andrey BESPALOV	RUS	2485.0232	73.30
17	Victor CHMAL	RUS	2478.5813	73.11
18	Francois LEVOT	FRA	2477.6360	73.09
19	Larisa RADOSTEVA	RUS	2470.8826	72.89
20	Castor FANTOBA	ESP	2461.1581	72.60
21	Matthieu ROULET	FRA	2417.0554	71.30
22	Laurent NARJOUX	FRA	2413.1562	71.18
23	Gerald COOPER	GBR	2395.0060	70.65
24	Alex MC LEAN	ESP	2387.8339	70.44
25	Vicki CRUSE	USA	2363.2163	69.71
26	Sergio DALLAN	ITA	2352.4308	69.39
27	Vladimir POPOV	RUS	2342.0425	69.09
28	Allyson PARKER-LAUCK	USA	2318.9061	68.40
29	Kathel BOULANGER	FRA	2288.8476	67.52
30	Juan VELARDE	ESP	2254.7220	66.51
31	Deby RHIN-HARVEY	USA	2254.1318	66.49
32	Renzo VOCERI	ITA	2209.9791	65.19
33	Nicolas IVANOFF	FRA	2205.9461	65.07
34	Janet FITZKE	USA	2204.4118	65.03
35	Klaus LENHART	GER	2185.6504	64.47
36	Klauss SCHRODT	GER	2182.3022	64.37
37	Tom CASSELS	GBR	2161.6131	63.76
38	Val RAHMANI	GBR	2160.6530	63.74
39	Hans-Peter ROHNER	SUI	2143.4236	63.23
40	Daniele LOCATELLI	ITA	2079.9291	61.35
41	Elena CORTE	ITA	2077.6006	61.29
42	Nick ONN	GBR	2072.7470	61.14
43	Guido GIRAUDO	ITA	2053.1126	60.56
44	Irene PASINI	ITA	2015.5049	59.45
45	Pierre MARMY	SUI	2009.7961	59.29
46	Paolo ZOPPI	ITA	1791.5412	52.85
47	Juan SOCIAS	ESP	1763.8038	52.03
48	Michael RACY	USA	958.5920	28.28

[bootless]

Thanks, Dash! I appreciate it.

Guess who got to sit right-seat safety pilot in a Helio Courier yesterday in a video/photo shoot of that multicolored airship at HWD? (Me!) Thank God for my Relief Band ...

[bootless]

Is Vickie Cruise on the team?

[Dashing Dasher]

Yes!
She's in 25th place after the First Q Programme.

Do you know her? She's AWESOME!!

http://civa.mwebservices.net/WebServer/

http://www.usaerobaticteam.com/htmlfile/index.php

[Dashing Dasher]

I'm working on getting a VIP ride in the multi-colored airship this week.

Crossing my fingers....

Helio - with Robert from Schellville?

[bootless]

Duh on me! I didn't read your write up - yes, that's Vicki, and yes, I spelled her name wrong.

Good luck to her - we met once at the Kitplanes dinner at OSH.

[bootless]

Yes, she is awesome. I have a great deal of respect for her, both personally and professionally. We've only met at the KP dinner a couple of years ago ... very nice! I wish her, and all of you, fair skies!

[bootless]

Lucky you! Jose was an awesome pilot - we did the photo and video work over the Golden Gate and then over Oakland. The conditions were NOT ideal ... low ceilings and COLD. But the footage came out fine. They were rocking and rolling, but he did a great job. Bob (yes, from Schellville) did some yanking and banking to stay with the airship. Hence the ReliefBand (which Patty W endorses but DOES NOT NEED TO USE. Lucky her.).

I've known Bob for years - my business partner even longer than that. They create absolutely awesome aerial footage. Ask him about the DC-3 shoot(but don't get into politics... :-) ).

I love the Helio, what with all the slats and flaps and stuff. Taking off yesterday, the tower controller snipped at him, "Do you know you're taking off from Charlie INTERSECTION on the right?" Uh, yeah. We were up in about 200 feet, I think. :-)

So, you know Bob?

[Dashing Dasher]

My ex= flies out of Schellville.
I spent about four years at that airport.

Bob probably knows me - but maybe not by name. I would never discuss politics with him ... my ex- warned me. ;-)

Yes, Jose was terrific today - and seemed happy to get me a ride this week. I'm THRILLED. More soon on that.

I flew both my girls today - now I'm exhausted.

[bootless]

Ahhhh! That splains it! I'll Freepmail you tomorrow so your terrific thread doesn't get hijacked by me. :-)

Did you fly in the airship today? What was it like?

[Dashing Dasher]

Going on Wednesday or Thursday.

Spoke with Jose today. The guys at HWD told him I was a VIP.

;-)

[bootless]

That's terrific - have a wonderful flight! Will they let you drive? :-)

[Steelerfan]

If you get a chance, could you translate some of this into English to describe the maneuvers involved? It looks extremely cool. Thanks.

[Dashing Dasher]

I'll try - here it goes.

The dot with the number gives the the sequence of maneuvers. The flight is flown into the wind (see the top - where it says wind direction.

1. Pull to hammerhead 1 and 1/4 snap rolls on the up line; 3 points of a four point roll on the downline. End of figure.

2. Half square loop with 1 and 1/2 two point rolls on the vertical upline. Lay out on top. End of figure.

3. 1 and 1/4 spin with a 3/4 roll after the spin. End of figure.

4. Sharks Tooth - Pull to a 45 degree upline 1 and 1/4 snaps rolls and 3/4 roll in the same direction. Push vertical 1/2 roll on the downline. Pull out. End of figure.

5. Loop with a 1 1/2 snap and a half roll on top. Egads!

6. Half Loop (aka Immelman) with a full roll on the bottom, half loop up and an inverted snap and a four point roll on the top. Out inverted. End of figure.

7. Rolling turn - aka Roller. 180 degree turn with a full roll to the outside and then a half roll to the outside. These are REALLY hard. end of figure.

8. Tailslide - pull to the vertical and when the plane starts to stall - let it slide backwards approx 1/2 the length of the fuselage and then point the noise down and throw in a half snap roll on the downline. End of figure.

9. This is affectionately called a "lay down humpty". I'm not kidding. Pull to the 45, 4 point roll half loop, 45 degree downline 3/4 inverted snap followed by a 3/4 roll in the opposite direction. Out inverted. End of Figure. End of sequence.

Now, string all of these together.

Oy Vey!